10 Video Game Franchises That ALWAYS Get It Wrong
1. Sonic The Hedgehog
If there were ever a TED talk on how to continually ruin one of the most legendary characters of all time, SEGA would surely be in the running as its keynote speaker.
At one point legitimately seen as a solid competitor to Nintendo and Super Mario, the early Sonic the Hedgehog titles were always the games cool older brothers would play. Filled with blistering levels and a swagger his Italian plumber rival could never hope to match, SEGA's main mascot dominated the early part of the 1990s.
However, since then, the Sonic series has been a long and frustrating timeline of poorly-made games and baffling creative directions. The struggle of transitioning the franchise from 2D platformer to 3D led to the dark age of the mid-2000s, where SEGA manic brainstorming led to everything from Shadow being kitted out with a machine gun to Sonic being smooched by an anime princess.
In more recent times, the failed Sonic Boom reboot managed to find a way of being a tone-deaf and poorly made game, whereas most people wait for buses for a longer time than it takes to complete Sonic Forces.
Even the most recent addition to the franchise, Sonic Frontiers, is not a title most fans are ready to shout about and recommend in its entirety. Whilst it is easily the best entry since Generations, there are still a number of glitches and instances where it struggles with severe pop-in, even on Xbox Series X and PS5, reminding gamers that SEGA aren't able to smash out a 10/10 title with the Blue Blur just yet.