Lets start off by being honest and to the point, Sonic has not had a wholly great 20 years to look back on, so what is there to celebrate? But more importantly what has he got to look forward to? Well there is one last hope on the horizon in the form of Sonic Generations. The latest Sonic and Sega game that must see the hedgehog back on form, but first lets see where it all went wrong.
My Generation
Before I start I will admit that I am a life long Sonic fan. My first console was a Mega Drive and the first Sonic game I ever played was Sonic the Hedgehog 2. So I can remember the glory days, the days when his games were fun, simple and fast. But something terrible happened, something went wrong and that took place around the transition to 3D. Surely it was inevitable that creating a 3 dimensional game with a lightning fast character was going to have its problems? But at what exact point did it go wrong?
Sonic Xtreme(ly unfortunate)
Personally I feel the turning point was the cancellation of Sonic Xtreme for the Sega Saturn. Sega were in need of a Sonic game for their struggling console, the Playstation had Crash Bandicoot and the Nintendo 64 had the much-loved Super Mario 64. Sega needed a flagship platformer and it looked like Sonic was going to make his return in his first 3D debut. The game was making good progress and was scheduled for a release date in time for Christmas 1996. From the videos you can now find on youtube (gameplay footage), they show Sonic running through various levels with a fixed camera view creating a fish eye lens effect giving the player more view of the world. Sonic was also able to walk on different walls changing the direction of the gravity giving the game much depth in 3d dimensions. Sonic could run left, right, forwards, backwards, up, down and around looping all through the three dimensional space. The game really looked to explore the ability to move in more than two dimensions. I guess similar in the way that Mario Galaxy a game that experimented with 3 dimensions and gravity, allowing Mario to walk up side down and all around on miniature planets. And look how successful that game was! Unfortunately in 1997 the game was cancelled due to various issues of unrest and drastically trying to meet a tight deadline in the development phase. Instead the Sega Saturn had a port of the Sega Mega Drive game Sonic 3D and fans would have to wait until 1999 for the first full 3D Sonic game. But by this point it was too late, Sega had already chosen a path to take their future Sonic games and that was by copying the very successful and now standard blueprint for platformers, Mario 64.
Ran too fast and missed platform
When Mario 64 came out it reinvented the platforming genre, allowing players to freely explore 3 dimensional worlds, take on diverse missions within these worlds and got rid of the timed linear from point a to point b levels. A style of gameplay that has been copied by many games including Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast, released in 1999. Now Sonic Adventure wasnt that bad but it wasnt great either. The game excelled when you were zipping through Sonics levels at full speed twisting and looping, running down skyscrapers and being chased by a giant killer whale. But then we had to put up with playing with five other characters including two very pointless new ones; a robot E-102 Gamma and a fat cat called Big The Cat (how original!). These two characters introduced new gameplay elements and slowed it down. Bigs levels were basically Sega Bass Fishing. Why would I want to go fishing in a Sonic Game! I respect Sega trying to add more depth to the game but Fishing? Anyway the game also included free roaming adventure stages (as they were called), where Sonic would run around talking to people in between his main levels. But I remember Sonic being so hard to control with his high-speed movement in a world designed to slow the action down and allow the player to explore. The camera did not help either and would swing round wherever it wanted. These elements of gameplay are just not suited for very fast characters. The game was also rushed to be finished (was it finished?) and got released with various un-fixed bugs. This set the template for future Sonic games, bad camera work, awful new characters, free roaming stages, rushing and never finishing the final product. When Sonic Adventure 2 came out it did try to address some of these problems. The adventure stages were scrapped and were deemed to slow, but that was it. What was worse was that there was hardly any Sonic gameplay and the supporting cast increased and the game still suffered from glitches and poor camera work. For Sonics 12th Birthday Sega released Sonic Heroes in 2003 on multiple platforms. A game that received mixed reviews and still suffered from glitches (PS2 version), poor camera angles and a host of characters (although no new but old faces. Some welcome some not). Some of the level design was repetitive and painful, filled with endless grind rails and frequently visited bottomless pits. Could Sonic afford to keep falling? The answer unfortunately is yes, a game so bad its painful to write about! That game was the self-titled Sonic The Hedgehog, released in 2006 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 to celebrate his 15th birthday. It has to be Sonics lowest point, what a great birthday present! The game was just awful showing every aspect of why Sonic games are failing today. Bad camera angles, the free roaming adventure stages were back (why?) and it was once again unfinished, giving the game a modern Sonic glitch experience. But worse of all, were the new characters and how they interacted with Sonic, notably yes youve probably guessed it, Princess Elise! The fateful kiss of death to Sonics career! Why oh why did someone at Sega think that he needed a kiss from a princess? Did someone at Sega say Do you know what, all Sonic needs is to get laid! A bit worrying by Sega considering its only Sonics 15th birthday! Let's keep moving.
The Loop-da-Loop
Although Sonics outings on the home consoles were giving him a hard time, he was thriving on portable consoles with great acclaim with the Sonic Advance series and Sonic Rush. Games that went back to his 16-bit side scrolling roots that many fans still enjoy. So the obvious direction to take the franchise was to look to his past and not by trying to create a new concept by giving him a sword! As seen in the Wii game Sonic and The Black Knight. This lead to Sonic Unleashed released in 2008. A real step in the right direction by having levels made up of 2D and 3D elements. But the game still suffered from adventure stages and new characters including the decision to turn sonic into a warehog! So over the years Sega have tried to get Sonic laid, gave him a sword and turned him into a werewolf. Inventing new and elaborate ways to anger and disappoint their fans.
A New Generation
And now its Sonics 20th birthday, 20 years of Sonic games that most of us are trying to forget. So what does Sega do now? Well obviously from mentioning at the beginning, Sonic Generations. A game that celebrates the 20 years of Sonic The Hedgehog and on his very birthday, 23rd of June, they released a demo of that very game for only 20 days. Playable is the very first level from the 16-bit classic Sonic The Hedgehog, the Green Hill Zone. Recreated in stunning next-gen graphics and I have to say, it looks absolutely stunning. How I personally feel Sonic games should look like today. Even the original plump Sonic design returns and is playable in the demo. The Levels from the Sonic games that will appear are: Green Hill Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) Chemical Plant Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992) Sky Sanctuary Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994) Speed Highway Sonic Adventure (1999) City Escape Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) Seaside Hill Sonic Heroes (2004) Crisis City- Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) Rooftop Run Sonic Unleashed (2009) Planet Wisp Sonic Colours (2010) Casino Night Sonic 2 (will only be available via download) The returning bosses are: Metal Sonic Shadow The Hedgehog Silver The Hedgehog Death Egg Perfect Chaos Egg Dragoon Time Eater This information had been leaked from the demo by hackers who dived in and retrieved the files. Revealed on the Sonic Stadium website. Having played the demo now for the past week, I have to say its not too bad, not perfect but hey, the games not coming out till November, so plenty of time to change that. The level design is very reminiscent of the original level from the mega drive, with certain boxes and badniks in familiar places. Sonic also moves much faster than the originals too and incorporates his spin dash move from Sonic 2. The Physics and Sonics movements though leave a little room for tweaking. Moving him feels quite forced and he doesnt have the same feel and flow from the originals. But apart from that, great start! Lets hope Sega dont screw it up by rushing for the release date, bad camera work, Slow monotonous adventure stages and adding a Jar Jar Binks!
Will Sonic meet a mid-life crisis?
To save our much loved video game character, Sega have decided to look to the past to create an enjoyable game for the present. But where does that lead Sonics future? How long can Sonic live on his past? We do live in a post-modern world, but when you look at Mario, his games are always finding a way of reinventing the rulebook. Does that mean time is running out for the spiky blue blur? Or are we about to see Sonic move into the fast lane of catch up, over take and reinvent! Because if not this 20 year olds going to end up unemployed like the rest of us! What are your opinions on the Sonic Generations Demo? Are you hardcore Sonic fans enjoying it or fearing for Sonics future?
Lets start off by being honest and to the point, Sonic has not had a wholly great 20 years to look back on, so what is there to celebrate? But more importantly what has he got to look forward to? Well there is one last hope on the horizon in the form of Sonic Generations. The latest Sonic and Sega game that must see the hedgehog back on form, but first lets see where it all went wrong. 
