How SEGA Could Improve the Sonic Games

You can’t deny that Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most popular series in gaming. However, the games in the series are a mixed bag. SEGA has proven that they can make good games, but it feels like over the years they’ve been unsure on what makes a good Sonic game. As someone who’s been a fan of the series for many years, here are my thoughts on how the Sonic games should be done.

Also, be sure to check out our thoughts on what will happen with Sonic in 2020.

Create good stories

Sonic and Shadow going over the moon.

Sonic Colors was released in 2010. Ever since then, it feels like the stories in the Sonic games have been either average or bad. The stories have just been filled with corny dialog and terrible character moments. It’s a shame because this pales in comparison to what we had before. Sonic Adventure 2 had multiple stories from different character perspectives to make the audience understand their motives. Both of the Sonic Storybook games had simple yet interesting stories with a twist that kept people invested. Not all of the stories in these games need to be super serious, but they need some form of intrigue and good character writing to keep the audience’s attention.

Develop long levels and good bosses

One of Sonic Forces‘ many issues was how short the levels were. Players could complete some levels in under a minute. Combine that with Modern Sonic’s boost gameplay and you can complete the entire game in less than two hours. Even the final boss in that game was just a copy/paste from the final boss in Sonic Colors. On the subject of Colors, aside from the final boss, all of the bosses were the same with minor differences. SEGA should make the levels long enough with some challenging gameplay and platforming to please the players. Some challenging bosses that stand out from each other would also be nice.

Add in multiple characters and playstyles

Sonic in his Werehog form.

Sonic is one of my favorite characters to play as. However, I don’t just want to play as Sonic throughout the whole game. These games should have more characters to play as. Games like Sonic 06 and Sonic Heroes let the players chose what characters they could play as other than Sonic. On top of that, they had different playstyles. I love Sonic’s speed stages, but I don’t only want to play this kind of gameplay style. Knuckles had his gliding and climbing abilities. Silver had his psychokinesis to fight against enemies. Playstyles like these add diversity to these games. I welcome multiple characters and playstyles because it freshens things up. It could also give the developers ideas on how they could experiment with the levels and how they’ll function with these playstyles. 

Separate modern and classic Sonic 

Classic Sonic in Sonic Forces was nothing more than a baiting tool; made worse since his levels weren’t that good either. I enjoy both versions of Sonic. However, they’re more effective when they’re in their own games. Sonic Mania did so well because it was a callback to Sonic’s 2D games. Modern Sonic since Sonic Adventure introduced 3D gameplay that many people enjoyed and still do today. These two were perfect in Sonic Generations and it should’ve been the only time they shared a game together. There’s always going to be fans who prefer one Sonic over the other. It’d just be better to keep them in their separate playstyles. Classic Sonic being in 2D and Modern Sonic being in 3D with little 2D sections added in.