10 Video Games That REALLY Should've Been Cancelled
5. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
By the millennium, there was no mistake Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't compete with Super Mario. Nevertheless, the ring-collecting hero was still a respected brand, featuring in great titles like the Sonic Advance trilogy and Sonic Adventures 1 + 2.
But as the franchise's 15-year anniversary approached, Sonic Team decided it was time for Sega's mascot to get back on top, incentivising them to work on a massive reboot.
Despite how large the project was, the team behind Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was tiny, since half of the developers were working on a separate game at the time. Sega pushed for Sonic '06 to be released before Christmas, giving the team zero time to finalise anything. Sonic co-creator and head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, knew he was on a sinking ship, since he walked out in mid-development.
And the rest is history. Sonic '06 was an unmitigated disaster, suffering from unbearable loading times, visual bugs, and enough glitches and clipping issues to render it unplayable.
What's worse is the stench surrounding this trash has followed the furry speedster ever since. Many former Sonic fans haven't revisited the series since, missing out on many great titles, including Sonic Colours, Sonic Generations, Sega All-Star Racing, and the masterful Sonic Mania.
Considering how Sonic '06 turned out, it's easy to see why it's often considered the gold standard of how one game can ruin a popular brand.