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Post by SharksFan99 on Jun 9, 2018 19:28:47 GMT 10
I thought this might be an interesting idea for a thread, because I've read numerous discussions online about the popularity of Sonic the Hedgehog over time and there doesn't seem to be a consensus as to when Sonic became irrelevant. What are your thoughts on the topic? When do you think the Sonic the Hedgehog series became completely irrelevant?
I personally think Sonic became completely irrelevant shortly after the release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which was a massive commercial success back in Late 2007/Early 2008. I've never been a huge gamer, so I simply might not have enough knowledge on the matter, but I can't say that I am aware of any Sonic game which has received universal acclaim since the release of the "crossover". Sonic Unleashed was a moderate commercial success, but it never quite rejuvenated the series as what had been hoped for.
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Post by smartboi on Jun 10, 2018 4:30:09 GMT 10
The sonic franchise has an incredibly bizarre history. I would say from 2005 (when Shadow the Hedgehog was released) until 2010 ( when Sonic Colors was released) Sonic was at rock bottom. From 2010 to 2014 Sonic had a miniature golden age (both Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations are critically acclaimed), then after Sonic Boom in 2014 he became a huge meme. Since the release of Sonic Mania in 2017, people have kind of been warming up to him again. So I'm pretty sure Sonic is currently somewhere in the middle between relevant and irrelevant.
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Post by #Infinity on Jun 10, 2018 6:14:49 GMT 10
Sonic the Hedgehog has pretty much always been relevant since 1991 because his cult fanbase is so enormous, whether it be DeviantArt furries or 16-bit war veterans. Sonic games still get regularly released to this very day, even though the majority of them get lousy reviews.
That said, I would say Sonic was most relevant from 1991 to 1994, during the height of the Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry, release of the original Genesis trilogy, and run of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Sat. AM. Once Sega's bad marketing decisions in the mid-'90s, including the lack of a flagship Sonic game for the Saturn, as well as Nintendo's runaway hit Donkey Kong Country turned the tide of favour more towards the Super Nintendo, Sonic started to become less relevant and for a period was replaced by Crash Bandicoot as Mario's biggest rival.
The Sonic Adventure era (1999-2001) brought back some decent attention to the franchise because those were the first main games since Sonic 3, not to mention they were pivotal in fleshing out the series' expanded universe and cult fandom, but as a kid who grew up during those years, I can say nobody I knew talked about or played those titles the way they were gushing over Nintendo, at least not to my recollection. I do remember Sonic being promoted at Denny's, probably tied to the release of Sonic Adventure 2, but I'm still certain Sonic was already nowhere near as culturally significant as he was in the early '90s.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Jun 10, 2018 18:20:18 GMT 10
The sonic franchise has an incredibly bizarre history. I would say from 2005 (when Shadow the Hedgehog was released) until 2010 ( when Sonic Colors was released) Sonic was at rock bottom. From 2010 to 2014 Sonic had a miniature golden age (both Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations are critically acclaimed), then after Sonic Boom in 2014 he became a huge meme. Since the release of Sonic Mania in 2017, people have kind of been warming up to him again. So I'm pretty sure Sonic is currently somewhere in the middle between relevant and irrelevant. It's interesting that you consider the Sonic franchise to have been at rock bottom during the Late 2000s, because I remember the release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games really rejuvenated the series and introduced Sonic to a new generation of fans. It may have been a cross-over game, but I would definitely still consider it when considering his popularity/relevance during that period of time. I do agree though about the Mid 2000s being a low point for the series. Sonic the Hedgehog has pretty much always been relevant since 1991 because his cult fanbase is so enormous, whether it be DeviantArt furries or 16-bit war veterans. Sonic games still get regularly released to this very day, even though the majority of them get lousy reviews. That said, I would say Sonic was most relevant from 1991 to 1994, during the height of the Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry, release of the original Genesis trilogy, and run of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Sat. AM. Once Sega's bad marketing decisions in the mid-'90s, including the lack of a flagship Sonic game for the Saturn, as well as Nintendo's runaway hit Donkey Kong Country turned the tide of favour more towards the Super Nintendo, Sonic started to become less relevant and for a period was replaced by Crash Bandicoot as Mario's biggest rival. The Sonic Adventure era (1999-2001) brought back some decent attention to the franchise because those were the first main games since Sonic 3, not to mention they were pivotal in fleshing out the series' expanded universe and cult fandom, but as a kid who grew up during those years, I can say nobody I knew talked about or played those titles the way they were gushing over Nintendo, at least not to my recollection. I do remember Sonic being promoted at Denny's, probably tied to the release of Sonic Adventure 2, but I'm still certain Sonic was already nowhere near as culturally significant as he was in the early '90s. I agree that Sonic the Hedgehog has a large fanbase, although i'm not sure if his devoted fanbase is enough to justify his continued relevancy. The most recent games haven't performed well commercially and Sonic hasn't been at the forefront of the video game industry for quite some time now, arguably not since the release of Sonic Generations back in 2011.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2018 17:41:20 GMT 10
Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania feel like a linger to the past.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2018 17:47:43 GMT 10
It's interesting that you consider the Sonic franchise to have been at rock bottom during the Late 2000s, because I remember the release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games really rejuvenated the series and introduced Sonic to a new generation of fans. It may have been a cross-over game, but I would definitely still consider it when considering his popularity/relevance during that period of time. I do agree though about the Mid 2000s being a low point for the series. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was the sh*t! I also played the Winter Games and London 2012 installments too. Winter Games was my favorite. Though, I never got Sochi 2014 or Rio 2016, I almost forgot they existed.
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Post by astropoug on May 3, 2021 6:11:42 GMT 10
1991 to 1994 was the golden age of Sonic. 1993 in particular was probably the peak, with the release of Sonic CD, Sonic Spinball, and the Sonic cartoons SATAM, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
1995 was when the Saturn came out, and no launch title came out. Knuckles Chaotix was released that year. It would've sold well had it not come out for the failed 3DX add-on.
Anyway, the Saturn's only Sonic games were the terrible Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R. Combine that with all the hype around Super Mario 64 in 1996, as well as Crash Bandicoot becoming huge, and it's safe to say Sonic lost relevancy, particularly by 1996. Sonic Adventure was sort of a rebirth of the series for better or for worse. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast was a failure, but I'd say there was sort of a second golden age between 2001 to 2004, when Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Adventure DX, the Sonic Mega Collection, and Sonic Heroes all came out. However, the franchise became more mocked in 2005 when Shadow the Hedgehog came out, and then it got REALLY bad in 2006 when Sonic 06 came out, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog's TERRIBLE GBA port. Sonic and the Secret Rings was also panned. Sonic Unleashed is good but was hated at the time for the werehog. Sonic and the Black Knight is better than Secret Rings but still not great. It wasn't until Sonic Colors came out in late 2010 that the dark age ended, and the franchise became respected again. However, Sonic Boom came out in 2014, and made Sonic a laughing stock again. Now, Sonic has recovered once again due to Sonic Mania in 2017, and the Sonic movie in 2020. Originally, the trailer for the Sonic movie got tons of hate, but they listened to fans and redesigned the character. The movie became one of the highest-grossing movies of 2020.
Still, nothing will beat the 1991-1994 golden age, with 2001-2004 being a close second (and IMO where the franchise's modern fandom developed).
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Post by John Titor on May 3, 2021 6:14:44 GMT 10
OP to answer you 
astropoug likes this
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2021 12:00:47 GMT 10
I've heard it said that Sonic transitioning to 3D was the beginning of the end.
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