Sonic is back in a big way these last few years! After 15 years of mishandling the franchise (but not as bad as the mishandling of the Hellraiser franchise), Sega greenlit a third-party-developed Sonic game that proved to be the spark to light the fire. Fortunately for fans, the fire is still lit! That title is, of course, 2017’s Sonic Mania; a beautiful game that took the world by storm going on to unanimous critical reception. Deservedly so as developers Christian Whitehead and Headcannon blended faithful fan service with innovative fun, easter eggs, and straight up exceptional gameplay.

For the 15 years between Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Mania, Sega repeatedly missed the mark in delivering the goods. Their internal teams truly lacked understanding in their fans’ desires. Not all of the titles were disasters, but literally only one title is worth mentioning. That outlier is Sonic Generations; an enjoyable experience, and a noble effort at blending classic Sonic fans with modern Sonic fans. Yours truly (that’s me) had a great time playing through Sonic Generations, but in my heart, it just never felt right. Something was amiss. That spark of nostalgic excitement never quite overpowered my trepidation for Sega’s Sonic-output.

When I saw the first Sonic Mania trailer, I marveled at the gameplay and art design, dreaming of what could be. But I had my reservations…

“Is this more of the same crap? Is this going to continue Sega’s backslide until Sonic goes the way of once-heralded Atari classics?”

The negative anticipatory thoughts were running amuck inside my bigass head (it’s big because I need more room to hold all this brainpower). Despite my apprehension, my love for Sonic (via life-changing nostalgic memory) persevered. I kept an open-mind for what Sonic Mania could do for me. Then the early pre-release reviews started to drop and I couldn’t believe the hype.

“Is this real? Are they serious? Is there a negative-review-embargo or something?”

Sure enough folks… the hype WAS real! And the rest is history.

From 2017 to 2023

And let’s recall something major here: Sonic Mania was NOT developed by Sega, which is somewhat ironic but also telling of Sega’s ineptitude at developing Sonic games. A few months after Sonic Mania dropped, Sega released their own in-house Sonic game… Sonic Forces. This game is best described as “average.” Although not bad by any stretch, Forces feels a little underbaked and lacking in purpose and excitement. But this wouldn’t be it for Sonic. Sonic Mania was just the beginning of great things to come (truly great things).

2019 saw the release of Team Sonic Racing, a game that I find to be pretty damn good. It’s not wildly inventive in the racing genre, or even the kart racing genre, but it is gorgeous, solid, and pretty fun! I like the way the karts feel, I like the weapons systems, and I like the character choices. But it’s not without its blemishes. Some of the single-player missions feel forced and out of place, and the menu navigation feels a little confusing. Despite these minor personal issues with the game, Team Sonic Racing continues Sonic’s upward trend.

2020 and 2022 gave fans the Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 movies, which are truly exceptional movies. I can’t find a single fault in either entry, but personally, the fan in me would have looooved more easter eggs! But that’s nobody’s fault. Homage is paid aplenty while introducing Sonic to an entire new generation! Based on early art design for Sonic in the first movie, and their previous wrongdoings within the franchise, this easily could have been disastrous.

As 2023 rolls on, the Sonic-bonfire set ablaze by Sonic Mania’s spark is showing little signs of burning out. This is evidenced by the hype and delivery of some of Sonic’s highest rated games and best selling games this century! 2022’s Sonic Frontiers brings Sonic into an entirely new world and design than ever before: an open-world! We’ve never seen Sonic in the open like this as his games are always fairly linear. Fans and critics praised the new style which has led to Sonic Frontiers being the best-selling 3D Sonic game of all-time. But the fun and excitement doesn’t stop in Frontiers‘ Starfall Islands… A free-to-play fan-made point-and-click visual novel game called The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2023) is now (at the time of this writing) one of Sonic’s highest-reviewed games of all-time.

HERE WE SIT

And so here we are… Summer 2023. With Sonic Origins Plus on the horizon (releasing via hardcopy June 23, 2023), perhaps this is the end of the line for Sonic’s resurgence? Is this it? We’re going to close out the year with a fan-made point-and-click game + a compilation game (yet another Sonic compilation game)? Who knows. Sonic’s next game could be an absolute dud. While I want to believe they have overcome the folly of their ways, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see them revert back to their old habits.

BUT WAIT……..

Just announced in early June 2023: Sonic Superstars! A new-and-upcoming 2D Sonic game featuring classic playable characters in Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and (gasp) Amy!! With new gameplay, 3D visuals on a 2D platforming playfield, and plenty of new mechanics, it feels that NOW is the time for Sonic to launch his stardom into the stratosphere. It’s tough to say how much young’ns will care about this new Sonic game, after all it does harken back to an older era. But it is possible — yes, it is possible — that Sonic’s star will continue to shine bright. Let’s raise a glass and toast to the relentless and triumphant return to glory for Sega and Sonic. Not to be harsh, but Sega is lucky that us Sonic fans are as forgiving as we are because we have been burned before. This fan, however, isn’t afraid of the fire anymore.

CHECK OUT THE NEW SONIC SUPERSTARS TRAILER HERE!

SONIC IS BACK, BABY!