Over the course of 2020, I’ve been slowly but surely buying Sonic games. Specifically, bad ones. The plan was to, over the year, spend over £100, which is about $138 USD, on rubbish Sonic games.
I finally got to try out the storybook games recently, completing the collection. Here are my opinions on these games, and if I think they are as bad as people claim.
I’ll be listing them off from least expensive to most expensive. All games were bought from CEX, so that’s what these prices are based on.
Without further ado, let's jump right into it.
Jakus Spends $100+ on Bad Sonic Games (and severely regrets it)
Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2) - £2.50
Shadow the Hedgehog is a mess. I borrowed a friend’s PlayStation 2 to play this, and to say they were confused when I informed them that I wanted to use it to play Shadow the Hedgehog would be an understatement.
While I appreciate the attempt to make the Sonic series quote-en-quote ‘edgier’, I think this game was a step in the wrong direction and just ended up being a confusing mess with ten endings.
Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) - £5
I’ve been wanting to try the storybook games for some time, and I’ll be honest - I was disappointed. The controls for Sonic and the Secret Rings are absolutely horrible, as you’re stranded with just the Wii Remote - and we all love motion controls, right?
Pair that with gameplay that generally isn’t fun, and weird Mario Party-style minigames and you get an odd but generally not very fun experience.
Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii) - £6
Sonic and the Black Knight is much the same. Despite having better controls, this one genuinely plays like the Sonic Dash mobile games. The gameplay works for free mobile endless runners, but not for a full-price console game. Sorry, but the storybook series really didn’t strike a chord with me.
Sonic Free Riders (Xbox 360) - £6
Sonic Free Riders was made for the Xbox Kinect. Yah, off to a good start. On top of the worst controls possible, the game itself is a huge downgrade from the highly creative and unique Sonic Riders games that preceded it.
Also, exercise? In MY Sonic game? Ha, I don’t think so. Joking aside, multiplayer is kinda funny because you have to hold hands to play - if you have a partner, maybe you should play Sonic Free Riders together. And they say romance is dead.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U) - £15
I know, I know. Low hanging fruit. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric has bad gameplay, bad graphics, forgettable music and glitches galore.
While other ‘terrible’ Sonic games, such as 2006, can be enjoyed to some extent because of the “so bad it’s good” mentality, Sonic Boom just makes me sad.
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS) - £15
The first of two Sonic Boom 3DS games, Shattered Crystal suffers with many of the same problems as Rise of Lyric, but has the benefit of being 2D and on a handheld, which helps improve the feel of the game and hides its flaws just a little bit.
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (3DS) - £15
Released during the year of Sonic’s 25th Anniversary, Fire & Ice honestly could be worse. It’s a bit boring, but it works as a functional game - a praise that cannot be extended to the other Boom games.
Despite being arguably the worst game to come out of the 25th Anniversary, Fire & Ice could have been a worse send-off to the Sonic Boom spin-off series, so at least it’s not plain bad.
Sonic Lost World (Wii U) - £18
Sonic Lost World isn’t even bad, per se, it’s just not good. Lost World feels like what you’d get if you tried to make a Mario game using the Sonic world. And, well, the similarities are there.
The strangely shaped planets Sonic runs along are not dissimilar to those seen in Super Mario Galaxy, and many parallels can be drawn between the game and the New Super Mario Bros. series, such as the generic level themes, the Deadly Six being a Koopaling knock-off, some of the bosses being strangely similar, and more.
Still, not bad, I guess?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (PS3) - £18
Ah, the big one. Sonic 06. Everyone likes to make out that 06 is the worst thing to come out of this franchise, but honestly I disagree. As mentioned before, 06 can be dumb fun if you’re not trying to seriously play the game. The glitches, bugs and weird, weird character designs and story can be used for a few laughs.
I’m not going to bother talking about the whole Sonic-Elise human-hedgehog duo, because the point has been exhausted. Yes, it’s weird, we get it.
I don’t hate the game. The story is generic, sure, but the music is amazing and the gameplay can be quite fun at times. Unfortunately, this game fails both as a reboot for the series, and as a celebration of Sonic’s 15th Anniversary.
The game wouldn’t be nearly as hated as it is if it wasn’t for the abundant glitches, the kiss scene and the fact that it was full price. As I say, it could be worse. Sonic Forces was painfully underwhelming, Sonic Boom is an unplayable mess, but 06? Sometimes, just sometimes, good fun.
Total Price of Games = £100.50 / $139.53
Well, there you have it. In conclusion, I need to stop spending money.
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