Retro|Spective 061R: Sonic the Hedgehog

[wakka]

Those graphics are atrocious

I feel like this thread really brings home just how quickly Sega started pimping Sonic out on the reg into sub 5/10 games.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 12 - Sonic Pocket Adventure
Though supervised by Sonic Team, SNK made this NGPC entry for their own handheld which took elements from prior 2D Sonic titles and put them together to deliver a pocket sized incarnation of the franchise. The game was very well received with the main criticism being that it too heavily borrowed from Sonic 2. Its team of developers later went on to form Dimps who would go on to work on more entries.







Was this a good time to discover a blue ball through your pants pocket?

[wakka]

A really fun game. I like Sonic Pocket a lot. It's a great example of that thing we don't really get any more, in the age of Switch and Steam Deck, which is a shrunken down version of a title designed specifically for handhelds.

It does borrow heavily from Sonic 2 but really, that's no bad thing. If anything I wish more Sonic entries had

[Asura]

Game 12 - Sonic Pocket Adventure
Was this a good time to discover a blue ball through your pants pocket?

I loved this one. It's a bit of a shame because it was fantastic, but on modern handhelds feels a bit superfluous now.

I didn't play it quite as much as some of the other titans of the platform, like Match of the Millennium or Cardfighters Clash, but it definitely saw plenty of play back-in-the-day.

[wakka]

Was this a good time to discover a blue ball through your pants pocket?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 13 - Sonic Advance
Having formed Dimps, the developers behind the NGPC got to make the first non-Sega platform Sonic entry. The result was this GBA entry with four playable characters to play as which largely continued much of the classic gameplay in a short entry that incorporated some of the elements taken from the Adventure entries.







Did this Advance the 2D entries?

[Asura]

Game 13 - Sonic Advance

I have played this end-to-end and do not remember a single zone. The only thing I remember are the nicely animated sprites.

[Neon Ignition]

That's kind of the issue with Advance, it doesn't look as good as the latter MD games (though I get why the GBA meant it took this look) and it's all kind of forgettable

[Neon Ignition]

Game 14 - Sonic Advance 2
A Sonic game with a 2 in the title must be great, right? Turned out in just eight months, the sequel is very much more of the same from the prior entry but tweaked some of the more criticised elements to iron out the experience. Some reviews however stated the game was overly difficult. Also, the point where the awkwardly title Cream the Rabbit appeared.







2 Good or 2 Bad?

[Neon Ignition]

If it's possible, Sonic Advance 2 has slipped from my memory even more than the first. The Cream meme's on UK Resistance are probably its greatest legacy

[Hirst]

If it's possible, Sonic Advance 2 has slipped from my memory even more than the first. The Cream meme's on UK Resistance are probably its greatest legacy

Christ, I thought I was the only one who still remembered the weirdest era of UK:R.

[Asura]

Christ, I thought I was the only one who still remembered the weirdest era of UK:R.

BLUE SKIES FOREVER

[Neon Ignition]

Game 15 - Sonic Advance 3
Adding in a team mechanic that received a mixed response, the final Advance title was otherwise well received and was more of the same otherwise for this arm of the franchise.






Did Advance 3 prove its worth?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 16 - Sonic Rush
The last entry to have Naka's involvement was the the one that saw the franchise migrate to Nintendo DS. Rush spread the action over the dual screen display and introduced Blaze the Cat to the series. It also made use of 3D for the boss battles as well as stylus operated special zones.







Did this entry give you a Rush?

[Dogg Thang]

It did not.