Top 10 Worst Moments In The Sonic Franchise
The Sonic franchise has been around for more than 30 years, and during this time, there have been plenty of missteps. From rushed games to botched designs and controversial voice cast changes, there have been plenty of things that have caused fans of the blue blur to be up in arms. Here are the top 10 worst moments in the Sonic franchise.
10. Making Super Sonic paid DLC in Sonic Forces
What once was a show of skill and determination in the Sonic games, 2017’s Sonic Forces DLC was offered to gamers initially as limited-time free DLC, then paid DLC, and then back to free DLC. This was a controversial move that was lambasted by Sonic fans. The Super form was available free of charge in the previous games, and it was already in the data for Sonic Forces itself. The fact that players were being charged $1.99 for something that was already in the game tarnished the title's already blemished reputation.
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9. The attempt to re-capture the old-school Genesis/MegaDrive Games through Sonic the Hedgehog 4
2010 was a good and bad year for the speedy blue hedgehog. It featured the release of Sonic Colors, a game that won over critics at the time and put Sonic on the path to redemption, but it also had the release of the controversial and critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. The game was panned for its flawed physics and rather derivative level design, but to a certain vocal subgroup of Sonic fans, the biggest issue was the decision to use the modern design in this attempt to recapture the classics. These fans were so enraged by this that they decided to boycott the game...by purchasing the 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog. This was not a well-thought-out protest, as Sega got money either way. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II was received much better, however.
8. The attempted reboot through Sonic Boom
In 2014, Sega was attempting to either branch out or completely reboot the franchise through the cartoon Sonic Boom and its accompanying video games Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Wii U and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal on the Nintendo 3DS. This iteration of the franchise featured mildly controversial redesigns for the characters, but they were given a pass in light of some of the more glaring issues in the games, particularly the Wii U title. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, developed by BigRedButton, was marred by glitches, flawed level designs and story, low-quality visuals, and an overall dull gameplay loop. The game, however, was marred by a troubled development, with the team having to develop around the technical limitations of the Wii U after initially developing the title for much more powerful hardware. Though the 3DS title and the cartoon were much more well-received, this bad title did tremendous damage to the brand as a whole. Additionally, though the show was rather well-liked by fans, it was not treated well by the network it aired on, Cartoon Network. The show received only two seasons and was shifted over to Boomerang for new episodes in late 2016.
7. The character of Infinite: A story of wasted potential
Infinite, the primary antagonist of 2017's Sonic Forces has been met with a lot of criticism. The primary criticism of him is that he was wasted as a character. His power and backstory were rather underdeveloped, and he is seen a little bit as a joke within the fanbase for bad dialogue such as "I am not weak!" However, there are those who would like to see him return, so perhaps in a future installment, these issues would be resolved.
6. The rough development of the canceled Sonic X-Treme
Sonic X-Treme was a planned Sonic game for the Sega Saturn. It was meant to be the hedgehog's jump into 3-D, but it was marred by several development issues. The game was being developed by Sega Technical Institute in America, and it began life as Sonic Mars on the ill-fated Sega 32X. However, it soon moved to the Saturn as the team ran into technical challenges. The challenges didn't stop there, however, as there were several internal conflicts. During development, the team wanted to use the engine from the title Nights into Dreams as a basis. One of the heads of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, however, got wind of this and threatened to leave Sega if the engine was used. Multiple turnovers and shifts in personnel occurred, and two members of the team became ill during production: Chris Coffin and Chris Senn, the latter of which were given six months to live at the time.
Ultimately, the game was canceled after the team soon realized that the Holiday 1996 deadline could not be met. In its place was a port of the isometric Genesis/MegaDrive game, Sonic 3D Blast. This was a huge blow not only to Sonic but the Sega Saturn as well, with many saying that the lack of a mainline Sonic game on the system contributed to its lower sales.
5. The disastrous port of Sonic Colors Ultimate
In late 2021, a remastered port of Sonic Colors, called Sonic Colors Ultimate, was released for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Upon release, however, there were several glitches found in the game. In particular, the Switch version featured a graphical glitch that had the potential to cause seizures. The PS4 and Xbox versions featured poor sound mixing and going out of bounds occasionally while on the rails. There were patches that addressed the glitches (and the fact that the developer, Blind Squirrel, used Godot engine without proper attribution), but the fact that they were even in the game at all marred the game's reputation.
4. The English voice-over switch of 2005
Though in Japanese, the voice cast for Sonic and his friends has been largely consistent since 1998. This is not the case for the English cast. The first English cast for the games was first unceremoniously replaced in 2005. This cast, at the time of replacement, included Ryan Drummond as Sonic, William Corkery as Tails, Scott Drier as Knuckles, Jennifer Douliard as Amy Rose, and the late Deem Bristow as Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. In their place was the cast from the 4kids Entertainment English dub of Sonic X, which included Jason Griffith as Sonic, Amy Palant as Tails, Dan Green as Knuckles, Lisa Ortiz as Amy Rose, and Mike Pollock as Dr. Eggman. The then-current cast was not alerted of this change, as stated by Ryan Drummond in an email he had sent to his fans:
"I am NOT leaving Sonic’s voice by choice,” Ryan explained. “Sega decided that product continuity WAS important to them starting with this new Shadow game. So, WITHOUT TELLING ME, they have *replaced* me as the voice of Sonic with the fella who does Sonic’s voice for the Sonic X show. I was only told after it happened… Now I have no ill-will towards the new voice… I DO, however, have issue with Sega for having no grace in letting me go from my position.”
It turns out that Sega wanted to keep brand consistency within the anime and the games, which had not been a concern when casting for Sonic X took place. Drummond initially had asked to voice the character in the anime and had even offered to relocate to New York where the recording was taking place. However, 4kids went with their own in-house talent instead. This would not be the only time the cast was changed. The English voice cast was once again changed in 2010 to the Studiopolis cast featuring Roger Craig Smith as Sonic. Interestingly, Ryan Drummond almost returned to the role during that time, but Sega wanted the actor to leave his union, so he passed. He reached out again in 2021 when Smith briefly left the role, but Smith ultimately returned to voice Sonic later that year. Fans can still hear his voice in the fan audio drama Sonic and Tails R, but this change ultimately caused division in the fandom that exists to this day.
3. The kiss from 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog
You all knew this was coming. The 2006 title, Sonic the Hedgehog, is marred by several issues, including gameplay, glitches, story, and even voice acting, but the one thing that was focused upon was the kiss between the human princess Elise and Sonic the Hedgehog. In this game, Elise must kiss Sonic in order to bring him back to life. Fans reacted with shock and horror at this controversial smooch. This moment is often brought up as a popular joke in the fanbase.
2. The many lawsuits of Ken Penders
Ken Penders is an artist and writer who used to work on the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics. In 2009, he filed lawsuits against Sega and Archie over the copyrights of the characters and concepts used in the comics. In 2011, he sued Sega and Electronic Arts over the character Shade in the game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. As a result of these lawsuits, Archie removed Penders' characters from the comics, and his previous material was not reprinted in the digests. Additionally, Penders recently sued Paramount over the Echidna Warriors featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. These legal troubles and Penders' misunderstanding of the nature of his characters has caused him to be a source of ire among fans.
1. The first design for Sonic in the 2019 trailer for the film Sonic the Hedgehog
Though the Sonic Cinematic Universe is noted for its success nowadays, when the first trailer for the first installment was released, that was not necessarily the case. There were several issues that were pointed out, but the most glaring was the horrific design of the blue hedgehog. The design was so bad that it caused outrage from even outside of the Sonic fanbase. Thankfully, the design was changed to the one we know and love today.
What do you think of our list? Though the franchise has plenty of downs, it still has plenty of ups! There's a reason why this franchise has been going strong for over 30 years.
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