Over the course of my life I think I've played about 300 different videogames (more or less). I've had a PlayStation 3 for for almost 3 years now and I ready own 36 games And Steam lists 132 games under my username (it's actually a little bit less than but it's still a lot).* The Sonic The Hedgehog series stands out because it's kind of my “first love”.
I can't remember what it was that made me love sonic so much and why still call myself a fan.As a child I found a certain kind of “magic” that I still can't articulate this day. It isn't childhood nostalgia, I've played the “classic trilogy” (sonic the hedgehog one, two and three) in every stage of my life and I still find that same feeling; I only look at them differently as I get older.
Whatever is it makes me love sonic the only thing I know for certain is that it's gone. I've already said before that Sega had given up trying to do anything with the character. Sonic Generations not only proves this but that Sega lacks confidence in that strategy. Half of sonic Generations will use the mindless and spastic gameplay pioneered by Sonic Unleashed a few years ago (which was well-received by its virtue of minimal cast and nothing else). Sonic adventure might've been a unfinished, broken and often ill-conceived game but I still like it more than Sonic 4 or Unleashed.
Sonic adventure had the heart and character of sonic 3 (most of the time) while moving the series forward. It expanded on Sonic 3's back story while introducing a new concept; there is a world that sonic lives in. It's sequel even approached basic literary competence (a script was average for a game published in 2001). Both games creating new memories for fans without relying on nostalgic fan service (except for Sonic Adventure 2's secret level but that was to mark sonics 10 anniversary). Many people don't want Sonic to talk saying that his speaking voice and dialogue are annoying. But it has been proven in the past that you can have good acting and writing in a videogame: Silent Hill 2, any Sam and Max game, the first half of Brutal Legend, the Metal Gear series, Final Fantasy Tactics, Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 and 4, Half-Life 2, Dragon Quest 5 are all well-written and there are a set of uniform character traits for Sonic despite depictions of the character varying wildly so it is possible for Sonic game to have a good story.
The problem is fans and especially Sega lack the confidence and objective thinking to do anything but replicate from memory. However this is still a special occasion for me, so I'll go someplace nice for lunch today. Hopefully I can drink enough to forget the 10 years that come after Sonic Adventure 2, at least for a little while.
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