7 Video Games That Exploited Your Nostalgia (And WON)
5. Taking Sonic Back To His Roots - Sonic Generations
As we're all well aware, Sonic as a mascot and as a video game icon, has had so many Ups and Downs that Simon Miller is looking to sue him. From the utter doldrums of his furry baiting Sonic '06 days to the disasterpiece that was Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric, Sonic has tasted defeat in the public space enough to make Sonic Team sweat buckets.
Which made the glorious love letter that was Sonic Mania all the more special. This game was piano-wire tight, looked utterly amazing, and sounded like if Jesus came back in chiptune format.
However, it's not being included on this list, for while it is one of the truest nostalgia pops going, it wasn't made by Sonic Team. It was made by true fans and supported by outside dev teams, and as such is the best thing the team behind Sonic had nothing to do with.
Yet before it sounds like I'm bashing on Sonic Team, I want to talk about Sonic Generations, a title produced by the assigned devs which actually hit that sweet nostalgia target by giving fans exactly what they'd been crying out for for years. 2D Sonic.
Sonic Generations traded heavily on letting fans "go back to the good old days" with 2D Sonic sections that even featured the retro design of everyone's favorite quick-stepping hedgehog, and as you'd expect, this gambit absolutely worked.
Sales were much higher than previous 3D escapades and critical reception, especially of these sections was through the roof. We asked, we got, we thanked Sonic Team for the lack of bestiality.