The Fall and Hopeful Rise of Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega has finally, finally realized that Sonic just isn’t the same anymore, and that the fans are pretty much fed up with the direction of the franchise. For the past several years we’ve seen tons of Sonic games unleash a few good ideas and a few good levels, and perhaps even a few glimpses of hope for a true-blue comeback. Nonetheless, the sales haven’t been impressive, the word-of-mouth is just not there, and Sega has yet to truly capitalize on its biggest franchise. It does also hurt them that the games are rather crappy.





The best-selling video game in the Sonic line was Sonic 2, which sold an astounding 6 million copies. The Sonic trilogy sold 12 million copies within the SNES/Genesis death battle in early 90s. However once the new millennium started the console Sonic games just weren’t selling in the high numbers Sega was used to seeing. No matter how many reboots were thrown at Sonic, no new image or attitude could deliver. Sonic Generations couldn’t do it, Sonic Unleashed couldn’t really do it, Sonic Boom is a disaster. Even though the Sonic Adventure games did do surprise-surprise success on the Gamecube, it was far from the days when the hedgehog could be mentioned with the likes of Mario and Donkey Kong.

But if there’s a place where Sega should fully focus on, it should be the handheld market. For some odd reason, Sega is focusing all its efforts on the Playstation and XBox fronts----when this century has seen the best of Sonic in the Nintendo handhelds. Sonic Advance series (great games by the way) has sold 5 million copies on the Game Boy Advance---a handheld that saw tons of software sales but seldom in pure bulk. The Sonic Rush series (which features the best Sonic game in the past decade) sold over 4 million in the DS line. The numbers do exist, and the fanbase is willing to return back to Sonic in the way Nintendo gamers continue flocking to the Mario franchise. It just might not be in the eighth or ninth generation console battles.

Back to basics should be the approach, and scaling Sonic back into the Nintendo handheld market might be the best way to do it. Sonic flourishes best on the DS systems because it has the technology to make the games very fast, intense, and without issues---yet also isn’t strong enough to pull off the console gameplay that we’ve learned to hate. The other reason is because the Nintendo fanbase resonates and accepts Sonic far better than the fanbases of the competitors. Sonic needs to remain in 2-D as the style of gameplay suffers immensely with an added dimension. Mario can work on 2-D and 3-D because speed isn’t its special point—its creativity, variety, and replay value. Sonic’s best work involves furious speed, roller-coaster-like action, and relentless challenge. Pitting Sonic on 3-D and trying to duplicate this style just doesn’t work---you’d have to give them a totally new gameplay mechanic—which would then remove its Sonicness from the equation.

Sonic Rush is where they need to truly focus on if they want to win their fans back. Sonic Rush was lengthy, had big boss battles, elongated levels, and stripped back on storyline in favor of just throwing you tons of content. Sega needs to stop trying to tell a story, they have plenty of other franchises to pull off storylines to interweave with the gameplay. Sonic just needs to go, and keep going. And they need to give Sonic a break from the console market, instead building hype and anticipation through scattered games in the handheld front. Let’s take Pokemon for an example—when they finally upgrade it to the console market with a true official adventure, it will probably become the best-selling Nintendo game since Wii Sports. Sorry, drifting, let me get back on topic.

And once they decide to return back to the Playstation/XBox/Wii world, the path should be more New Super Mario Bros. and less Super Mario Galaxy; more Sonic Adventure 2 and less Sonic Colors. Less story, less exploration, less pointless side-quests (Seriously, the Chaos World was abysmal), and focus mainly on levels, speed, and plenty of characters to roam with. The Sega team does have some ideas, does still have the potential of delivering another classic, but needs more direction and less production. There is hope, nonetheless a restructuring of the franchise is needed. At least Sega knows that something needs to be done.

Admitting it is always the first step……..if only other companies would follow along….

The Random Little Game that (Unexpectedly) Could

No analyst could have ever predicted this. Not one could have ever seen this coming.

Splatoon isn’t just selling well after minimal advertising and expectations, but it’s become one of the biggest games in WiiU’s history, the best-selling WiiU game in 2015, and the most successful new Nintendo IP since Xenoblade. After seeing multiple sequels based off of the usual Nintendo properties not do well in a quickly-dying console, this game rose out of nowhere and was shoved into the WiiU lineup as a bridge between Smash Brothers and the upcoming Xenoblade sequel (Super Mario Maker wasn’t treated as a major game but has become a hardcore title, but that’s a discussion for another day).

It destroyed multiple notions on its way to over 2 million copies sold (and still counting with bundles and extra goodies on the way). It was assumed that after Goldeneye (I know, reaching farrrr back) and the Metroid Prime Trilogy that shooters no longer sell well on a Nintendo console; with Call of Duty being an absolute bomb in the Wii/WiiU systems while selling millions anywhere else. It was assumed that new IPs just don’t work on Nintendo consoles, as we see awesome ideas and clever newer Nintendo experiences from this century reduced mostly to the handhelds (Phoenix Wright, Professor Layton, Golden Sun, Brain Age, Elite Beat Agents, etc.). Lastly, it was assumed that a game that clearly is reliant on Nintendo’s online functionality would fail and burst into flames. Instead, the online community for Splatoon is even more vibrant (and nearly stronger) than that of Smash Brothers WiiU.

There is a chance that it’s a fluke success, which sometimes happens even in the cutthroat gaming industry. In a random example, Just Dance 2 for the Wii sold nearly 10 million copies, more than any Metal Gear Solid game to date. Or, it could be the ultimate proof that Nintendo needs to continue producing these new IPs or at least do a better job bringing some obscure ones out from the dead. This current gaming generation is lacking in many genres, and the third-party shooter genre is one that is extremely rare. Nintendo needs more RPGs (an answer to Final Fantasy), more racers (a response to Forza), more shooters (Advance/Battalion Wars has been quiet lately), and most importantly more mature titles outside the usual suspects of Zelda and Metroid (Eternal Darkness 2 may never happen, but something along these lines).

The main reason for the lack of hardware sales during Nintendo’s eighth generation is the lack of exciting software. Unlike the Wii and especially the DS, there just hasn’t been that many new and innovative titles to convince the disgruntled hardcore and fleeting mainstream gamers to purchase a WiiU. Splatoon however is the ultimate proof that if you throw a good fresh title in the market, the gamers will reward you and will come back in droves. From the ashes of a usually-slow season in gaming, we see Splatoon becoming the sixth best-selling game in all of 2015. Nintendo needs to take note as they prepare for the next generation with the NX, whatever that eventually becomes.





But yea, also expect a Spla2oon in the horizon.