Welcome, gamers and gamerettes everywhere, to The Spindash Awards. This is an annual* blog where I give an overview of everything that happened with Sonic in 2021, and then rank each thing on a scale of one to ten. At the end, I’ll give awards based on the best thing to happen, and the worst thing to happen in 2021.
*by annual, I mean I’ll do it once and then never again.
2021 was a huge year for Sonic. It was the 30th Anniversary of the franchise, and so we got a ton of new content, several game announcements and more.
A Slow Start
But for the first few months, there was... nothing. Roger Craig Smith, voice of Sonic, announced that he would be stepping down from the position in January, however this decision was reversed within weeks.
In May, it was announced that the sequel to the 2020 Sonic movie was in development. The first movie was a huge success, so this instilled hope in a lot of fans.
Unstoppable
The lack of news changed on May 25th, when SEGA posted the ‘Unstoppable’ video to the Sonic YouTube channel, teasing that something would be coming soon for the 30th Anniversary.
This thing came quickly, in the form of Sonic Central - a Nintendo Direct-style presentation that would announce a lot of content for the year to come.
Sega announced three new games - Sonic Colours Ultimate, Sonic Origins and an unnamed 3D game coming 2022. They also announced a ton of collaborations, with games such as the Tokyo Olympics 2020 game, Two Point Hospital and even teasing a Minecraft collab.
Sonic Central was a good insight into what Sonic fans could expect to see, after so long of next-to-nothing, with Sonic fans constantly fighting with each other over the lack of announcements.
Rating: 8/10
Sonic Official Returns
Sonic Official returned for Season 5 on June 10th. Sonic Official is a community-focused livestream series where members of the Sonic marketing team chat, show fan art and sometimes obscure media from the franchise. It is good for the community but as a series is relatively uninteresting. Season 5 ran through December 2nd.
Rating: 3/10
Worlds Collide
Sonic and Minecraft collided in a DLC Pack for Minecraft on June 22nd. This DLC Pack includes a world with unique levels, unlockables, music and minigames, a texture pack (which can only be used with said world), and a skin pack with 24 cosmetic skins.
There were also separately sold emotes, such as Sonic’s iconic waiting pose and his run, and free character creator items for players to put on their own skins.
The DLC is generally seen as a success, with most of the criticism drawing to its repetitive gameplay and some of the skins looking a little... off. Personally I enjoyed it, however its price point is ridiculous. It costs more than Minecraft itself does on mobile devices. Combined with the separately sold emotes, leads to this being an overpriced, under-delivering DLC pack.
Rating: 6/10
Let The Music Speak
On June 23rd, the exact 30th Anniversary, the Anniversary Symphony was broadcasted. It features over two hours of beautiful renditions of Sonic songs, comprising roughly one hour of orchestral renditions and one hour of rock renditions by Crush 40.
The Anniversary Symphony was easily one of the highlights of the anniversary, and I highly recommend any Sonic fan to take a listen.
Rating: 10/10
The Blocky Crossover Expands
The Minecraft x Sonic crossover continued on July 12th with the Hive x Sonic Event, a collaboration between Sonic and the Minecraft ‘Hive’ server.
Players could explore Green Hill Zone on the server, collect rings, unlock cosmetic items for the server and play Sonic-themed minigames.
The collaboration ran from July 12th to July 26th, and was received better than the DLC pack. I didn’t get a chance to play, but from what I’ve seen it looked like fun.
Rating: 8/10
Sonic Rings Series
The Sonic Rings Series arrived on July 15th. It claimed to be a series that celebrates the fanbase and their memories of Sonic, but was in reality a poorly-hidden G FUEL brand deal. A good idea, with a disappointing outcome as many well-known community members who have contributed a lot towards Sonic over the past years were excluded. Some, such as The Completionist and DanTDM, did make it in.
Rating: 3/10
Sonic Becomes A Registered Medical Professional
Another collab arrived on July 30th, putting Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in Two Point Hospital, along with some themed decorations. It’s... fine?
Rating: 4/10
Rise of the Wisps
Following 2018’s Sonic Mania Adventures and 2019’s Team Sonic Racing Overdrive and Chao in Space, Sonic Colours: Rise of the Wisps arrived on August 19th. It is a really neat two-part animated short, created to promote the upcoming Sonic Colours Ultimate.
Rating: 9/10
Sonic Colours Ultimate
Sonic Colours Ultimate released on September 7th. It was not good.
Sonic Colours is a good game. The quote-en-quote “remaster” is not. Sonic Colours: Ultimate is a terrible excuse for a ‘remaster’. It has very few additions, and the ones it does include either don’t add to the experience, or actively make the game worse.
This is an embarrassing game, and it makes it clear that SEGA doesn’t care what they release - because Sonic fans will just eat it all up anyway.
By no means am I going to shame you if you buy the game, I just strongly advise that you don’t. Just avoid the port where possible. They are very slowly patching the game to fix the issues, but that doesn’t justify this shoddy job. The game should have been completed upon release, and I am disappointed that SEGA has, once again, provided a poor excuse for a Sonic game.
Full Blog: Sonic Colours Ultimate is Embarrassing
Rating: 2/10
Sonic The Cookie
Sega teamed up with Cookie Run: Kingdom for another collaboration. They put Sonic and Tails in the game. Sure? It’s a gacha game about collecting cookies, what did you expect?
Rating: 4/10
Classic Sonic and Tails Roll In
Yes, another collaboration. This one with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, which arrived on October 1st. This put Classic Sonic and Classic Tails as characters in the game. It’s pretty average for what it is, really. At least it’s actually a Sega game this time, I guess.
Rating: 5/10
Hunting The Monsters
Yet another collaboration arrived on November 26th. Sonic crossed over with Monster Hunter Rise, boasting new quests, Sonic and Tails gear, and figurines to decorate the player’s home.
Rating: 2/10
The Worst Virtual Concert Ever
Sega then teamed up with crypto-bro Steve Aoki for a ‘virtual concert’ on November 30th. Clocking in at 50 minutes, it was a VR-filled nightmare with free models of Sonic and the gang doing terrible scripted dances while stages from Sonic Generations were filled with seizure-inducing lighting. Fun!
This concert was not good. In fact, it was awful. I only watched it because I heard how bad it was, and in that respect, it did not disappoint. They didn’t even play any Sonic music in a SONIC-THEMED CONCERT. Nice one, guys.
You want a good virtual concert? Watch the Fortnite ones. They actually care and create some visually stunning concerts with amazing music. You could even interact with the latest one while it broadcasted live in-game, as the player. Do better, Sega.
Rating: 1/10
I Spy With My Eye... Sonic Movie 2!
The Sonic Movie 2 poster was revealed on December 8th, with a trailer promised to follow on December 9th. It looks really good! The poster shows Sonic and Tails on the Tornado biplane, with Robotnik following close behind in the Eggmobile.
This blog will be released a few hours before the trailer premieres, so it’ll be updated later to add that and a rating.
First Look At A Mystery Game
A trailer for either Sonic 2022 (supposedly titled Sonic Frontiers) or the Sonic Origins collection will be released on December 9th during The Game Awards.
Edit: Sonic Frontiers looks good. A bit BOTW-inspired, but that's not a bad thing. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.
THE AWARDS
A lot happened for Sonic during 2021, but I’ve been able to determine the absolute best and the absolute worst of this year. So, here are the awards!
THE BEST OF 2021
This one was easy. And the award goes to... Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony!
THE WORST OF 2021
I was split between a couple here for a bit, but I think I know what it has to be. And the award goes to... Sonic x Steve Aoki Virtual Concert!
Better luck next time, Sonic Colours Ultimate.
MOVING FORWARD
Moving into 2023, my coverage of new Sonic content will be coming to an end. Despite this there is a lot to look forward to, from Sonic 2022 to Sonic Origins. Enjoy that, Sonic community!
ASSET:Announcements
I have an announcement of my own!
Sonic Adventure Retrospective - Coming Spring 2022
Aw yea, this is happenin’!
I started my review series back in August 2020, and with the release of my Sonic CD retrospective in October, this was the inevitable next step. My next retrospective blog, the Sonic Adventure Retrospective, will be released next year.
Thank you for attending The Spindash Awards 2021! Thanks for tuning in, I cannot wait to never do this again!
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