Sonic the Hedgehog/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Series:

  • Alas, Poor Scrappy: Upon the announcement of Big the Cat's retirement from the series the fans reacted by writing memorial poems as well as a Filk Song to the tune of "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett".
  • Alternative Character Interpretation:
    • Is Amy really in love with Sonic, or is she trying to hook up with him just so she can be famous too? She always acts like an obsessive fangirl when she's around him, and even he finds it annoying. Plus, Sonic being a hero means he's famous or will be famous someday, and maybe Amy wants to be with him just because then she can claim to be "the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog's girlfriend!"
    • Sonic himself has a few:
      • A few lines from his Sonic Adventure theme song, "It Doesn't Matter", could be used to argue that Sonic is less motivated by morals and more by the dangerous thrills his adventures provide. The Sonic Heroes manual mentions that he hates oppression, but does he fight it for the sake of the actual oppressed or does he fight for the sake of his own ego? Sonic also claims he is the "world's fastest hedgehog" in Sonic Adventure 2. But does this come from his own self-confidence in his abilities or is it coming from his ego after meeting other characters that either kept up or even surpassed him in speed such as Shadow or later on such as Blaze, Gameplay and Story Segregation or not?
      • There's also an argument to be made for Sonic being a Stepford Smiler who's actually really lonely - in the ending to Sonic Adventure 2, he is clearly still struggling to process Shadow's Heroic Sacrifice and is much more melancholic and depressed than what we've seen from him thus far. When Amy goes to ask what's wrong with him, Sonic assures her that it's nothing and goes right back to talking in a cheerful tone when informing her that it's time to head back home, though not before turning back and solemnly waving goodbye to the fallen Shadow. This is especially ironic because of how much he goes on about The Power of Friendship in games like Heroes, Rush, and Forces, but perhaps he's doing this to cover up the fact that he doesn't have any real friends despite surrounding himself with a bunch of people, while still not wanting them to know about it (some of the stories for certain games have centered around Sonic forming unambiguously genuine connections with characters like Chip, Shahra, or Merlina, but these characters have only lasted one game and are never heard from again). This could also explain Sonic's seeming nonchalance towards events that should have some sort of psychological effect on him in games like Unleashed or Forces: he's putting on a mask and only pretending to be nonchalant.
    • Shadow the Hedgehog has as many interpretations as he does songs, including not only the various Shadow the Hedgehog theme songs ("I Am" specifically questions his moral alignment outright), but the various songs from Sonic Adventure 2 (such as the White Jungle theme, "Rhythm and Balance"). The franchise has long settled on the heroic "All Hail Shadow" as his anthem, which still shrouds him in ambiguity. Violent ambiguity.
    • Knuckles is the biggest case of Depending on the Writer in the whole franchise, from The Trickster in his debut to The Stoic during the Adventure era to laid-back strongman for Heroes to Hot-Blooded competitor in spin-off titles. And then there's the matter of his level songs from Adventure 2, which are positively rife with Intercourse with You.
  • Animation Age Ghetto: While not as blatant as that of Super Mario Bros., some people think Sonic the Hedgehog is childish, just because of its usage of cartoon Funny Animals in a colorful world. The series did dip into Darker and Edgier multiple times to counteract this impression, fortunately, despite facing a bit of a backlash from people still entrenched in the ghetto.
  • Anvilicious:
    • The franchise has a bit of an issue with this sort of thing, since both Sonic Heroes and especially Sonic Forces preach to the choir about how friendship and having a partner by your side can make you better than any evil that dares try to stop you. Heroes gets off the hook for the most part because, well, you do work in multiple groups of different heroes and manage to save the day. Forces, however? No-one outside of Modern Sonic and your custom character does anything[1] so the whole message kinda breaks cleanly in two.
    • Sonic Rush also shoves The Power of Friendship down your throat, during the cutscene in the Last Story preceding the fight with the Eggmen.
  • Awesome Ego: The main character. Without his 'tude, he wouldn't be popular at all.
  • Awesome Music: Has its own page.
  • Base Breaker:
    • Sonic himself: A cool guy with a golden heart, or just an annoying and stupid git who doesn't learn anything over the games?
      • Some fans prefer Sonic's characterization as a "hedgehog with the 'tude" which was mostly apparent in the television series and the comic books. Other fans, however, don't mind him being portrayed as the cocky yet kind-hearted hero he is in the games (i.e., Sonic Adventure, Sonic Unleashed, etc.) and aren't too fond of his characterization in the comics.
      • Due to the series' change in tone since Sonic Colors, people have been split down the middle with Sonic's ramped-up personality. Some people think he's an obnoxious joke machine who never takes anything seriously, the breaking point being when in Sonic Forces, he is supposedly being "captured" for six months and acts as if everything merely inconveniences him and jokes around with Infinite, compared to games before when despite still cracking jokes and constantly showboating, still understood when things were serious. The other side prefer his jokey attitude as a reminder of the Saturday morning cartoons, and don't mind his humor at all, to the point of preferring it over failed attempts at being serious.
    • Tails started as a inseparable friend who idolizes Sonic. Now, is he an independent genius kid who is like a little brother to Sonic or a useless fox who talks a lot? His performance in Lost World got some hate as well, on top of the perception that he has also lost a lot of character development between the Adventure era and the Modern era; turning him into a Non Action Guy. Despite this, he still remains one of the most popular characters.
    • Knuckles started as a cocky and mistrustful rival who protects the Master Emerald. Now, is he some kind of big brother who is always looking out for his friends but sometimes makes mistakes? Or is he some Plucky Comic Relief who always does the wrong thing? There are also those who think he's a "gangsta" type character, which can be blamed on the use of hip-hop music for his theme songs in the Adventure series, even though his actual character doesn't fit that stereotype whatsoever.
      • In the topic of his personality, there are some fans who prefer the aforementioned cocky and mistrustful characterization in his debut where he would chuckle every time he traps Sonic and Tails. Some others prefer his stoic and serious characterization in the Adventure series, and consider it a good contrast to Sonic's carefree personality. Then there are some who liked his gruff, hot-headed personality from Sonic X, which provided some comical moments.
      • Some feel he should revert to his role as the lone guardian of the Master Emerald instead of going with Sonic and Tails in their adventures, while others don't mind him being the powerhouse member of the team and feel that him being a guardian would be limiting his involvement with the series.
    • Amy Rose always had a complete Broken Base. Is she shallow and selfish for taking her love too far, or is she just a nice girl who just follows her heart and isn't afraid to show her emotions?
    • Shadow. Is he a good rival that is cool and likable, or is he just a lame Evil Counterpart of Sonic made just to fit in said trope? Is his backstory a good way to add more story and complexity to the franchise, or is his backstory pointless?
      • In addition, his return to the games garnered some mixed views. One side says that bringing Shadow back cheapened his Heroic Sacrifice in Sonic Adventure 2, thus turning him into a Creator's Pet, while others say it's good just to see Shadow make a reappearance. Then after the release of his self-titled game, there's a split on whether Shadow is still a good character who's just been the victim of overexposure and bad writing, or a glorified Gary Stu who should have stayed dead after his debut and just does not fit with the whimsical nature of the series. (The latter point of detraction was given even more fuel thanks to a completely random and inconsequential boss fight in Sonic Boom" Rise of Lyric, strangely enough.)
      • There are some fans who were less than pleased that Shadow had taken Knuckles' role as the arch-rival due to him being the aforementioned lame Evil Counterpart and feel that Knuckles had become a less relevant character since Shadow's inclusion to the series. On the other hand, others find him to be a good match to Sonic and feel that Knuckles wasn't really that much of a rival because he would always get tricked by Eggman into fighting Sonic.
      • There's a divide on whether or not Shadow should serve as a GUN agent. One side says that joining GUN would give him more purpose, while the other side states that it doesn't make sense for him to join a military organization who killed his best friend/surrogate sister.
    • Dr. Robotnik started as a simple yet effective Evil Genius, enslaving cute animals into robots, destroying nature, lying to Knuckles, and using the Chaos Emeralds' power to create his own empire. Nowadays, his name is Eggman and his design changed many times with games -- this is a result of the American canon (and name) being effectively banished in favor of his Japanese canon. Is he the man with the master plan, ready to destroy/trick/enslave anything that stands in his way and conquer the world by any means necessary, but unluckily Sonic gets in the way? Or is he getting worse every game, making silly or exaggerated plans instead of evil or efficient ones, unleashing a Sealed Evil in a Can (accidentally destroying the world), and losing control over his own robots/minions?
    • Silver. Is he a good character with an interesting ability, deep plot, and unique characterization, or an unlikable Jerkass who is also a huge idiot?
    • Fans will also argue constantly over romantic pairings between characters, despite the fact there are no official romantic couples whatsoever in any of the games. The only official pairings of any kind have been from the SatAM/Archie end of things, and they will go so far as to whine about those couples because they don't conform to personal preference. Some fans are known to push their personal beliefs on Sonic fanon as absolute truth, to the point you'd think some of these people were the legal owners of the series. If you want to avoid an argument, then do not, under any circumstances, bring up which Sonic characters should be dating. The worst case scenario is if the pairing(s) involve child characters such as Cream, for example. This also applies to crossover pairings as well, which caused many fights and arguments between the fans and haters. No doubt a major reason Sega avoids any Official Couples is because they fear Fan Dumb backlash, given what they already have to put up with.
    • Try asking Sonic fans who is Sonic's true rival. Some will say Knuckles, due to him being the one to knock Sonic out of his super form and also being a foil to his character (strength to his speed, solitary lifestyle to his carefree lifestyle). Some will say Shadow due to him being a darker counterpart to him and having similar abilities like him (both are hedgehogs, both are fast, etc). Some will say Metal Sonic because of him being an evil robotic counterpart and that he solely wants to defeat Sonic so he can prove himself to be the real Sonic. A few Take a Third Option and accept ALL of them as Sonic's rivals.
  • Broken Base: Shattered, actually, about every single thing about the series. And each faction hates all of the others. This article best sums up the fandom's splintered state.
    • The series is usually divided into three distinct eras which are each defined by distinct characteristics of the series "main" games; the classic era (1991-1998, Sonic the Hedgehog to Sonic R), the Adventure era (1998-2006, Sonic Adventure to Sonic Riders), and the modern era (2006-present, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 onwards). [2] Certain fans of the classic era dislike everything from the Adventure era and onward, while certain fans of the Adventure era dislike the games of both the classic and modern eras, a situation that Sega has actually become aware about. Funny enough, most people from the modern era tend to like all Sonic games. Keep in mind that this doesn't even include the cartoons, comics, and other media released over the years, which have also broken the fanbase.
    • The notion of whether or not games like Sonic 3D Blast, Shadow the Hedgehog, and the Storybook games are main series games or spin-offs have also caused some conflict. Aside from the fact that all of these games are platformers with a major degree of speed involved, this is often mistaken for being due to the continuity of the games. Shadow The Hedgehog is justified, as it tries to conclude many of the plot points found in both Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, while the plot of Sonic and the Secret Rings was directly referenced by Sonic himself in Sonic Generations.
    • There are some fans who consider Sonic Heroes to be the last good Sonic game before the Dork Age, while others consider the game the beginning of the Dork Age. Then there are arguments about whether Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) worsened the Dork Age. Spinning it in the opposite direction, fans are split on whether the Nintendo-exclusive Sonic Colors or the multiplatform Sonic Generations should be considered the title that brought the series out of the Dork Age, and again on whether or not the series is in another one at the moment (with divisive titles like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces directly following up on acclaimed ones like Generations and Sonic Mania to jarring effect).
    • As shown with Sonic the Hedgehog 4, a game specifically designed to pander to old-school fans, even the slightest mention that the game deviates from the original formula, for good or ill, or that it has a flaw, be it real or imaginary, is enough to send fans into a flame war. When the second episode was announced, some fans cheered that the addition of Tails and two-player co-op is a move most wanted and it'll add a lot of gameplay replay value, while others complained that it's just a crappy throw-in just to cover up the problems that it'll bring over from the first episode. [3] It went From Bad to Worse when Tails was clarified to be a mandatory co-op character instead of having him and Sonic be separately playable (with a co-op option) as they were in previous games. Fans were very disappointed.
    • Speaking of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, one of the loudest (if not, the loudest) points of contention over the game's reveal was the game's use of "green-eyed Sonic": in particular, the use of the character designs used from Sonic Adventure and onwards, instead of the original character designs for the Genesis and Saturn era of Sonic titles. Some in favor of it argued that the game was supposed to be a sequel to the Genesis fans, and thus it should be supported with the designs used for those titles; they also noted that the PR team for the game leading up to the reveal had tons of callbacks to the original designs. Others who argued in favor of the new design that Sonic 4 was not only a new title (hence it should use the designs used for the newer games), but the original designs hadn't been used in a new game over a decade. The debate faded away though with the release of Sonic Generations, which had both the original "Classic" Sonic and the current "Modern" Sonic designs as playable characters; and was entirely absent come Sonic Mania, which became the first game in years to exclusively use the original designs.
    • In regards to Lost World, the amount of flak the game had received from some fans over the game's more simple, stylized/cartoonish art style (compared to past games' more detailed, semi-realistic art style) alone, coupled with the aforementioned light-hearted tone the game is continuing from previous installments, led to some calling Lost World the worst of the Sonic franchise and accusing it of being a Mario clone before it even released. Years after release, fans remain split on whether it was a good entry (citing the multiple paths you can take to complete the levels and its complex mechanics) or a bad entry (criticizing its slower pace and underwhelming story). The two DLC levels that crossover Sonic with Yoshis Story and The Legend of Zelda further muddy the issue, with opinions ranging from them making the game worse to the DLC possibly being better than the main game.
    • With the release of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, there are arguments on whether or not this is worse than Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
    • There's a recurrent argument about whether or not Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is considered to be a "Sonic Adventure 3." Some fans consider it to be a spiritual successor of the two Adventure games due to the similar gameplay and features such as the adventure fields (for Adventure 1), while others feel that the game isn't worthy of being considered a "Sonic Adventure 3" due to certain issues of the game (such as the glitches). Before 2006, some fans considered Sonic Heroes to be the closest thing to an "Adventure 3" due to the game taking place after Adventure 2, though other segments of the fandom disagreed because they felt Heroes was closer to a modern imagining of the Genesis titles in terms of gameplay and level design than it was to the Adventure games. A few could consider Shadow the Hedgehog to be Sonic Adventure 3, as it finishes off Shadow's character arc in the series which started in Adventure 2 and was slightly expanded on in Heroes. In other cases, there are people who consider Sonic Unleashed as Sonic Adventure 3 since it was, in fact, originally planned to be titled "Sonic Adventure 3" and was actually released in Japan as Sonic World Adventure. And, of course, there are some fans who don't consider any of the said games a "Sonic Adventure 3" and probably won't be satisfied unless there is a game clearly titled "Sonic Adventure 3". Speaking of which...
    • While professional critics have become generally unfavorable to both titles in recent years, there are mixed views within the fanbase as to how well the Adventure games have held up over the years. This overlaps with the arguments on alternate playstyles (see below).
      • When viewed as having aged badly, Sonic Adventure is considered to be overly glitchy (albeit not to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) extremes), having unneeded fishing, shooting, and/or chase sections, shoehorning all of the characters into mixes of the same 11 stages making level design less cohesive for all of them, and a badly acted plot; however, the views on the rest of the gameplay are more varied and some people still enjoy the game's attempt at story.
      • Sonic Adventure 2 has seen a bigger drop in prestige, with all the gameplay outside of Sonic/Shadow stages being viewed as controlling badly. The story is viewed by those who dislike it as clichéd, too dark and realistic for a Sonic game, and, worst of all, on top of introducing Shadow to take over for the following few installments, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle helped introduce an entire generation of Sonic fans that would eventually conflict with the older fans. However, the improved and expanded Chao Garden is usually seen as a bright spot to the extent where some like to play it just to experience that section, and the stages that were well-liked are favorites among some fans. Others go as far to believe that it makes up for its gameplay by being surprisingly mature and genuinely emotional. And then there's a camp that feels like the Tails/Eggman stages get a bad rap just for not being the Sonic/Shadow stages when they're actually overall well-designed around their playstyles in their own rights, controlling much less awkwardly than throwing Gamma into stages built around more maneuverable characters. Even fans of Knuckles/Rouge's stages, as well as their predecessors in Knuckles' Adventure 1 levels, will freely admit that they can be more than a little frustrating, though.
    • Before Unleashed, there was a great deal of argument on whether the series had too many characters, as some felt that they took away too much focus from the core of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles and that many of them had either annoying and/or clichéd personalities and/or poor designs. It certainly didn't help that many of them (Tails and Knuckles included) had completely different styles of gameplay from the core Sonic style, which exacerbated matters.
    • With the absence of other playable characters from Unleashed onward, it's nearly universally agreed that there needs to be more playable characters again. However, in the infamous "Alternate Gameplay" debate, fans cannot agree on how they should be implemented.
      • Many are against "alternate gameplay" due to it taking away focus from the "main" Sonic gameplay and turning many Sonic games into a collection of smaller games. It's often cited that there is next to no backlash against the playable characters in the classic Sonic 3 and Knuckles as well as the Dimps-developed Advance and Rush games, all of which have characters that fit neatly into the same gameplay style as Sonic. People who argue against alternate gameplay feel that it has unfairly sullied the reputation of playable characters at best and that it has been the downfall of the series at worst, or that it's an effect of Sonic Team's pathological need to put some sort of alternate gimmick in every game.
      • However, many other fans, mainly those of the Adventure games, think that "alternate gameplay" is the superior way to implement playable characters. These people feel that making the other characters have different levels/paths and/or goals make them much more satisfying to play as, since their unique goals actually take advantage of their abilities. As a corollary, many of these fans think that characters like Tails and Knuckles are Game Breakers and that shoehorning them into Sonic's playstyle causes the game to lose challenge, not to mention making Sonic, the main character himself, seem underpowered, as his speed doesn't allow the freedom that flying or gliding and climbing do.
    • The Hub worlds in a number of games, such as Sonic Adventure. Some find them to be interesting and enjoyable when it comes to exploration and interacting with people, while others feel they're unnecessary and would prefer the stage-to-stage formula that the majority of Sonic games usually have.
    • As if the fanbase couldn't get even more divided, the reveal of the Custom Hero feature in Sonic Forces divided it even further. Some fans are thrilled to be able to make their own Original Characters canon, and think that the gadget weapons bring a lot of variety to the gameplay. Others think it's the worst idea in the whole franchise, noting how Sonic fan characters tend to leave much to be desired and that the Custom Hero's gameplay brings down the two existing playable Sonic characters, or feel that the Custom Heroes are a good idea full of wasted potential. Still others who have wanted established characters other than Sonic playable again for years are absolutely chagrined that Sonic Team literally chose to make a OC creator playable over the existing cast. As for the game itself... well, it takes Contested Sequel to a level not seen since the original Sonic Adventure. Some fans view it as a flawed, but enjoyable enough game, while others despise it for its sloppy level design and uninspired gameplay or feel that its flaws, although forgivable on their own, are only magnified by the fact that the game is meant to celebrate 25 years of Sonic.
    • Sonic Mania, critical acclaim aside, managed to infuriate many Adventure-era fans who are upset that the classic era fans are being pandered to again.
    • And combining the two Sonic games of 2017, just as there are fans of Sonic Mania who dislike Sonic Forces for its lower-quality gameplay, there is also a quieter segment of Sonic fans who are into Sonic for the characters and lore, not the gameplay, and prefer Sonic Forces over Sonic Mania because of the greater emphasis on story, world-building, and spectacle, and the return to the Darker and Edgier storytelling after the more lighthearted nature of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Lost World.
    • Some think the games released on the Master System and Game Gear are inferior, poorly-performing, and lackluster, while others consider them underrated gems, a few even going so far as to say they liked them more than their 16-bit counterparts.
  • Canon Sue: Arguable cases include:
    • God Mode Sue: Knuckles in The Movie, where he has a Big Damn Heroes moment to effortlessly save Sonic and Tails from Metal Robotnik. Oh, and he can fly too. In every other continuity, he only glides.
      • Shadow is occasionally criticized as such; he's overpowered in nearly every case except his own game because of the gun usage.
  • Common Knowledge:
    • Sonic is often thought of as being aquaphobic. While this is canon in some adaptations, it isn't canon in the games. He simply can't swim and has the same fear of drowning that everyone else has, especially people who can't swim.
    • Everyone claim that his love of chili-dogs became game canon in the Sonic Storybook Series. It was made canon in the Japanese manual to Sonic Advance 3. There's also some common misinformation about where his love for hot-dogs came from - the earliest known reference was in an early Sonic the Comic issue (though it was veggie dogs instead of chili dogs).
    • For a long time, it was rumored that Jaleel White, voice actor of Sonic in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Sat AM and Sonic Underground, was considered for the role of Classic Sonic in Sonic Generations, but turned down the role or wasn't available. Jaleel White tweeted that he was never approached by Sega about voicing Classic Sonic, who was always intended to be mute.
    • It seems to be common knowledge that Cash Cash performed "Reach for the Stars" and "Speak with Your Heart", the main themes to Sonic Colors, even though it was only the singer, Jean Paul Makhlouf (and his brother Alex on "Speak with Your Heart") performing and not the entire band.
    • Sonic lives on Mobius. Except he doesn't. "Mobius" is a concept from Sega of America and Sega of Europe that was starting to be discarded even in the Sega Saturn days. In Japan, Sonic and company have always lived on an alternative version of Earth, which had humans and talking animals co-existing. In many western adaptations, he lives on Mobius or some other non-Earth planet. The games firmly establish that the planet he's on is Earth.
    • It's common knowledge that the Sonic games are made in Japan, with the dialogue being originally written and voiced in Japanese before being translated into English. While this was originally the case, even Sonic Adventure 2 was made in San Francisco (though the Japanese script and voice track was still the original), and as of Sonic Colors the games are made in America, with the English script and voice-acting being done first.
    • It's common knowledge that the robot Sonic boss in Death Egg Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is named Silver Sonic, and the Sonic robot in Sonic 3 and Knuckles is named Mecha Sonic. In fact, in official materials (both Japanese and English), both bosses are named Mecha Sonic. The name Silver Sonic was used for the Sonic robot in the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but only in the American materials - in Japan, it was still called Mecha Sonic. In 2013, Sega wrote a recap of the classic games in order to promote the then-upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4 that referred to both Sonic robots as "Mecha Sonic" [4].
  • Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: The fanbase is very quick to start ranting and raving about how any new game will "ruin Sonic forever", often months or years prior to the entry's release. Let's not even get into the squabbling that occurs after a game is released.
  • Complete Monster: Eggman Nega (whose actions at the end of Sonic Rush Adventure disgusted Eggman) and Black Doom (whose plot is an easy candidate for Nightmare Fuel) are major examples. Mephiles the Dark also counts, except that his plan is too convoluted to take seriously.
  • Critical Dissonance: There is an increasing disconnect between fans of the franchise and professional reviewers, from both directions. It does not help that several Sonic fans tend to be abnormally rabid in defense of their icon of devotion. It has gotten to the point that many fans of the series outright dismiss reviews from certain outfits due to this dissonance, considering the reviewer/site untrustworthy due to the critic’s past mistakes. For instance:
    • Sonic Chronicles received relatively decent reviews but was disliked by fans, mainly due to mediocre gameplay, a soundtrack that just sounds like bland Midi covers of other music from the series, and being an Obvious Beta.
    • Both episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 received this treatment, though fans were much kinder to Part 2.
    • This can even happen when fans and critics agree on a game’s merits (or lack thereof). Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) was universally reviled, but fans were angry because they considered the official critical scores (averaging around 6.5) insufficiently low. It is more divisive now, ranging from "terrible", to "not that bad", to even (as far as a Vocal Minority of fans are concerned) "actually pretty good".
    • Sonic Unleashed had the dissonance happen from the opposite direction. The game received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics (IGN rated it worse than Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)), but fans — while admitting it was nowhere near perfect — thought it was a huge step in the right direction for the series. Though nobody much liked the Werehog.
    • Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations have been praised as a return to form for the series, but didn't sell as much as other games in the series. The people who bought them are generally divided. One camp loved the Lighter and Softer tone, music and gameplay. A second camp despised the humor focused story, cartoonish art direction and music, difficulty, and perceived attempts to copy Mario.
    • The Adventure era games are also polarizing, despite praise. Criticisms include Polygon Ceiling, boring characters, boring story, and dated voice acting.
    • Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal got this treatment in contrast to Rise of Lyric which is universally reviled by fans and critics alike (many calling it worse than Sonic ’06). Most critics despise it as much as they despise Rise of Lyric while fans give it a So Okay It's Average, the general consensus being that while it has its share of faults, it is a step up from Rise of Lyric due to it being free of technical glitches and at least attempting to feel like a true Sonic game.
  • Designated Protagonist Syndrome: Sonic's role in most of the game's plots is to generally be The Hero who saves the day; while he does have a fairly charismatic personality, he remains static for most of the series. It's the supporting cast that get most of the Character Development, most of which bounces off of Sonic himself. This also extends to gameplay, primarily in the 2D titles; Sonic tends to be simplest character in terms of abilities while it's the likes of Tails, Knuckles, and Amy who get all of the variations of his gameplay style.
  • Dork Age: No one can seem to decide on when it was, but most fans agree that at some point or another there was a Dork Age in the series.
  • 8.8: Fans flipped out at Unleashed's atrocious scores in the press (in a few cases, worse than the universally-panned Sonic '06), many of which blamed the Werehog for ruining the game entirely.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Most of which became Breakout Characters; started out with Knuckles, then Fang/Nack, and then Shadow, but nowadays it appears to be Blaze the Cat, one of the few Sonic characters who evokes a generally positive response from the highly Broken Base when she is speculated to appear in a new game. The critics still hate her, though.
    • Some characters from alternate medias qualify to an extent as well. Princess Sally Acorn, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts, who all were originally derived from background characters in the original games, became main stars in their respective shows and have pretty valid fanbases. During the early nineties, Sally arguably appeared on more merchandise than Knuckles and Tails.
    • Mephiles. While his plans are a complete mess, he's considered a pretty good villain by the fans; some fans even want him to make a reappearance in a Sonic game.
    • E-102 Gamma is one of the few newer characters in recent games to not attract much bile, mainly due to not truly coming back from the dead, and his whole life being a Tear Jerker.
    • Rouge the Bat has more fan art than any other Sonic character, and she isn't even a main character. This is probably due to her being a Memetic Sex Goddess.
    • Espio has a huge fan base despite not having as much screen time as other Sonic characters.
      • That seems to be true of the Chaotix trio (re)introduced in Heroes, as they've played in a part in (almost) every game since.
    • For some of the more self-aware parts of the fandom, Big The Cat: he has a unique character design and does a solid enough job as comic relief. They aren't so keen on the fishing mechanic, but even that has its fans...
  • Fan Dumb / Fan Wank: A prime example. There was even an article in Wired magazine about it.
  • Franchise Original Sin:
    • Sonic Adventure was well received as the first 3D Sonic game, but introduced what future games would be criticized for overusing, such as Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds as an Eleventh-Hour Superpower instead of an optional unlockable, Eggman being upstaged by a Monster of the Week that goes out of his control, and the presence of alternate gameplay styles.
    • Some others thought Sonic 3D Blast foreshadowed the problems with the 3D games. Gameplay is slowed-down and running controls are loose and slippery, while the "get to the end as quickly as possible" goal was replaced with "find all of the birds and guide them to the exit." While this would have been ignorable if it stayed to the spin-off series, this possibly led to experimental gameplay mechanics like Big the Cat's stages in the Adventure games that deviated too much from the Sonic formula.
    • Some also believe that SEGA's very loose policy on canonicity of side materials (most notably the TV shows and the comics) created a Broken Base as early as 1992 - one year after Sonic was introduced - as Sonic fans started siding with one particular interpretation while viciously attacking the other ones, not unlike today's Broken Base with Sonic (only with gameplay more than story, not that that is rare). During the '90s, however, Sonic fans had a common enemy in Nintendo and Mario, so the cracks didn't become visible to most until 2001 with Sonic Adventure. At this time, SEGA exerted greater enforcement over canonicity rendering all other storylines non-canon, followed shortly by SEGA's financial collapse and subsequent alliance with Nintendo. With the barriers torn down and no uniting force, the bickering became the Sonic fandom's most infamous trait.
    • Sonic Colors is easily one of the most polarizing games in the series for its music, content, and especially storyline, but most will agree that most of the boss fights are too easy. This was a problem in Sonic Adventure, but only with the character battles, of which there are only three (Sonic vs. Knuckles, Tails vs. Knuckles, and Sonic vs. Gamma). That flaw in turn technically had its origins in Sonic & Knuckles with its sole character battle.
    • This episode of Errant Signal argues that the early marketing of the Sonic games, which focused on how fast Sonic could go, eventually led to problems in the 3D games as SEGA started to buy into their own marketing hype. Maintaining control of Sonic's momentum was the main facet of the gameplay in the older 2D games, not simply speed for its own sake, something that was forgotten in the post-Adventure Sonic games. This sent the franchise running straight into the Polygon Ceiling, leading to games where poor controls designed more for high speed than precision led to exercises in controller-throwing frustration. Only starting with Sonic Unleashed and especially with Sonic Generations did SEGA finally figure out how to do Sonic in 3D, mainly by rediscovering the focus on controlling Sonic's speed rather than simply going as fast as possible.
    • Sonic is perhaps one of the few franchises that can claim to have suffered from Franchise Original Sin in different eras, with certain aspects of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations being criticized in later installments.
      • In the era from Adventure to 06, a lot of focus was placed on the supporting characters. Many felt that this got out of hand, with the cast becoming too bloated, the different playstyles not being well executed, and not having enough Sonic in Sonic games. Starting with Unleashed, Sonic Team drastically cast back the role of the supporting cast, with everyone except Tails making cameo appearances at best. By the time of Sonic's 25th anniversary, the other characters had been neglected for so long that many fans had become desperate to be able to play as them again, or at least wish for them to be given a more significant role in the plot. The final boss fight of Generations tends to receive a lot of scorn in particular, as the returning characters do nothing except cheer both Sonics on.
      • After struggling to break through the Polygon Ceiling for so long, Unleashed featured a mixture of 2D and 3D gameplay, with the 2D sections being fairly brief and integrating seamlessly with the 3D sections. Colors featured an abundance of 2D gameplay, a fact that some have criticized when looking back at the game. Generations split the gameplay between 2D stages with Classic Sonic and 3D stages with Modern Sonic. Despite this, Modern Sonic's stages still featured a fair amount of 2D sections, which tended to last longer than the sections in Unleashed. Lost World featured another 2D/3D mix, along with a lot of divisive new gameplay elements. By the time Sonic Forces was announced, many fans had begun to feel that the 2D sections had become a crutch, and felt that Classic fans were being unfairly pandered to, especially with Sonic Mania being scheduled to release in the same year. Classic Sonic's return, along with the confirmation that Modern Sonic will again have 2D sections in his levels has become one of the most common prerelease criticisms for Forces.
      • Classic Sonic's original introduction in Generations was a move that was universally praised. Because of that game's massive success, SEGA began to market Classic Sonic heavily in the following years, giving him multiple appearances in other games, his own comic book and his own anniversary title in Sonic Mania. While the fanbase loved his inclusion in Generations and products featuring him tend to sell well, many fans have increasingly criticized SEGA's seeming decision to treat him as his own separate character, instead of a younger version of Sonic. The decision to make him a mute character also made it difficult for him to distinguish himself from his modern counterpart. When the first trailer for Sonic Forces was released, the reaction to Classic Sonic's appearance was much more ambivalent than it was for Generations, with many fans questioning why he needed to be there (which gave the game the derisive nickname of Sonic Generations 2, not helped by the fact that Sonic Team promised that it wouldn't be a sequel to Sonic Generations gameplay wise). Whereas Classic Sonic was considered a great idea when he had only appeared in Generations, these days he tends to be held up as a symbol of SEGA relying too much on nostalgia pandering, instead of being willing to truly push the series forward.
      • The Lighter and Softer storyline of Unleashed was seen as an antidote to the perceived bleakness of 06, but the subsequently Denser and Wackier storylines proved to be divisive with many finding them stupid and immature. The prominence of Sonic Boom only broke the base even further.
  • Fridge Brilliance: This might be pushing it a bit, but consider this: Omega was found in the same room as Shadow in the beginning of Sonic Heroes. During the fight with Devil Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman tells Shadow that after his sacrifice at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, he saved him with one of his robots. Could it be possible that Omega was the one who saved Shadow, and Eggman ordered Omega to guard the room that Shadow had been preserved in, then something could have happened that made him malfunction and go berserk? Just a thought.
  • Game Breaker: Cream in Sonic Advance 2. Makes the bosses a lot easier. She's a game breaker again in Sonic Chronicles, where she can provide all but unlimited special move use for everyone[5]. She also breaks the game in Sonic Battle, where all of her moves are good or decent at worst. That's saying something. Her slightly below average stats don't change this either.
    • Also the combination of Knuckles with Tails as your partner in Sonic Advance 3 made most levels a joke, considering their combined aerial abilities.
  • Gannon Banned: Numerous examples in the series. Common mistakes that get ire from Sonic fans include:
    • Calling Shadow's Super Form "Hyper Shadow", a mistake stemming from Prima's Sonic Adventure 2 game guide. This one is a surefire way to light the fuse to a Flame War.
    • Mention any of the old backstory used in English speaking countries prior to Sonic Adventure (i.e. Mobius, Sonic's speed coming from his sneakers) and you'll likely be blasted by a group of "Only the Japanese stuff counts" purists. Which will then trigger a war with the "It's our childhood memories and we don't care if it's not really canon" fans.
    • Not to mention confusing the Archie, Fleetway, or cartoon continuities with the canon of the games.
    • Debating over whether Sonic the Hedgehog is really canon.
    • Debating whether Ivo's real name is "Robotnik" or "Eggman" is another classic flame war kickstarter. Sega settled the issue[6], but even this works as well as Shigeru Miyamoto's word on Shiek's gender.
    • Oh, and do not spell Rouge as Rogue. Just don't.
    • Referring to Rings as "Coins"
    • And lastly, do not call Tails a girl. He is a boy...though he doesn't necessarily act like one
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Sonic is widely more popular in America and Europe than he is in Japan, his country of origin. There's a particularly fanatical subset of fans in the UK, thanks to Sonic the Comic. There's yet another slight fanbase division over international differences.
  • Goddamned Bats: Strangely enough, Rouge isn't an example.
    • Nearly every single enemy in the second half of Sonic Chronicles can act as this due to either ridiculous defenses, regenerating health, poisoning you every chance they get, leeching off your health, or any combination of the previously mentioned.
    • The Raptor Hawks in the first half of the game probably count, too. Although there's only six of them at the most, they have 120HP, do ~50 damage per hit, and can use "Evading" whenever they want. It's a good thing when they use their Special move, Feather Barrage, because it's easy to counter.
  • Guide Dang It: Act 2 of the Carnival Night Zone from Sonic 3 still haunts people to this day.
  • Hate Dumb and Fan Haters: Just as bad as the Fan Dumb.
    • And sometimes they're all the same "fans".
  • Internet Backdraft: Anything about this series can cause massive Flame Wars.
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Most fans play the 3D games for the Sonic gameplay rather than for the many, many other gameplay styles, even when it can comprise as little as 1/4th the length of the entire game. This has resulted in Sonic being the only playable character in some of the more recent games.
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Sonic and Tails. Let's just say that pairings with them can get rather silly at times.
    • It's made all the more confusing because neither of them is particularly interested in romance (bar Sonic X and the comics), to the point where Tails outright hates romance in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and, to a lesser extent, the games.
  • Memetic Mutation:

Sonic (to Metal Sonic): "You might know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you, since I know everything you're going to do! Strange, isn't it?! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

    • Sonic 2006 brought us this:

Sonic: Uh oh, gotta speed up!

  • Memetic Sex God: Rouge, again.
  • Moe: Cream, along with her pet Chao, Cheese.
  • Most Annoying Sound: Any variation of "Be careful not to fall!"
  • Narm Charm: The corny dubs of most of the games may be annoying, but the thrill of the gameplay is usually worth it.
  • Never Live It Down: The series not only has a massive amount of these, but it seems to gain one or two every other year.
    • In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), widely considered the worst 3D Sonic game, there are hints of romantic feelings between the very human Princess Elise and the very non-human (if still anthropomorphic) Sonic, but it's entirely on Elise's side. Not that this minimizes the Squick much, but if there's someone to blame for the romance, it's the way the character is.
    • And then, when it looked like the games were finally getting good again (or, in Sonic Lost World's case, decent-ish), along comes Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, which more or less did everything that 06 did. It's not called names like Sonic '14 or Sonic 06 2 for nothing, after all. Another piledriver to the franchises' reputation, and one that will likely stick around for a long time. Never mind the fact that it's part of a spinoff franchise and that it wasn't even developed by Sonic Team themselves, but you will still often find its detractors lumping it in with main series games when talking about bad Sonic games.
    • The port of Sonic the Hedgehog 1 to the Game Boy Advance was considered to be a complete failure. Considering that the GBA is technically more powerful than the Sega Genesis, the port should have been able to run without problems. Instead, the port is stuffed with massive frame rate drops for no reason, butchered sound and music, and altered physics (all caused by forcing the team to use the Sonic Advance engine, which wasn't meant to handle a game like the original Sonic games) that make playing the game extremely difficult. To top it off, the game was, alongside the above Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), supposed to be a celebration of Sonic's 15th anniversary. Sega completely screwing up a simple port showed that they simply didn't give a shit and tried to cash in on the Sonic fanbase. Fans still have not forgotten about this, especially so soon after Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) came out.
    • Ever since Knuckles was fooled into thinking Sonic was the bad guy in Sonic 3 and Knuckles he has earned a reputation as a gullible idiot who will believe anything Eggman tells him. This has happened, to a far lesser degree in Sonic Adventure, itself over 10 years old, and again in Sonic Advance 2. Lampshaded by Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog & Mega Man: Worlds Collide:

Sonic: "So, which is it, Knuckle-head? Did Eggman trick you into getting robotized? Or did you get kidnapped? 'Cause they're both really embarrassing."

    • Speaking of Sonic 3, it is known as "the game with the freaking Carnival Night Zone barrel". Urban legends have popped up about how Sega's hint hotlines would begin with automated messages on how to use the spinning bouncing barrels.
    • Sonic Heroes forever cursed Shadow with a reputation as an amnesiac constantly wangsting about being uncertain of his true identity, even though he almost immediately got his own game which resolved all that.
      • Shadow even had a decidedly un-angsty line, giving off a riff Sonic would've been proud of. To Sonic himself.

Shadow: "Well, I guess it'll be a date to die for."

      • Shadow is also known for using the word "damn" thanks to his self-titled game.
      • And then the Sonic Boom games turned him into something even worse.
    • On a related case to Sonic, Dimps. This development studio made some nice 2D platformers for the series, and some other well-received games. But the only things they'll ever be remembered for is "ruining Sonic the Hedgehog 4", an obsession with speed boosts and stupidly hard Special Stages. There's at least one ROM hack of Sonic 2 dedicated to "mocking" their use of the boost pads, by sticking them everywhere.
    • The "Green Eyes" complaint from YouTube user A Knothole Resident.
      • And then the "Blue Arms" from Sonic Boom.
    • Silver the Hedgehog is remembered for screaming " IT'S NO USE!" in his infamously hard battle.
    • Vector the Crocodile, who will always be best remembered for four infamous words he shouted in Shadow the Hedgehog: "FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!"
    • No matter how good Sonic's post-2006 games are (e.g., Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations), reviewers [7] will never let us forget that the quality of Sonic games went through a rough patch in the mid 2000s.
    • There's the Sonic Cycle. People still quote this as a reason the new Sonic game will obviously suck.
    • There's also Big the Cat. The way people talk about him, you'd think Sonic Adventure was purely about fishing. And get this, his voice actor is actually the same guy who voiced Duke Nukem, even though you wouldn't really know it from his higher tone compared to the Badass Baritone that the Duke employed. To an extent, this applies to other playable characters, as well as the very concept of additional playable characters. This sort of switched a bit when the games cast was reduced to just Sonic and Tails; and people could see first-hand what poor characters they were. So while the characters haven't returned per-se, they're slowly being used more frequently. Even Big has sort of made a comeback, for better or worse.
    • For Sega as a whole, Sonic seemingly being the only franchise Sega still works on at this point and fans believing that Sega has stopped making games for all of its others (or at the very least, not localizing them outside of Japan). This is due to Sonic being Sega's Mascot on top of being its only consistent Cash Cow Franchise, as well as being the only one for Sega that has a greater success outside of Japan than within it, with the opposite mostly being true for Sega's other current franchises due to their lower sales or mainstream appeal in comparison to Sonic's. This thought was only further compounded on by Sega fans due to the above controversy the series has gained over the years with several of its own games despite or because of said Cash Cow Franchise status, and how this may be getting in the way of other Sega franchises to get known by a bigger audience alongside Sonic. Almost nobody knows about Phantasy Star Online 2, Shenmue III, maimai and Chunithm.
    • The 3D Sonic games (Adventure and Heroes in particular) often get a lot of heat for adding lots of extra playable characters to the roster, to the exclusion of Sonic. Between Adventure and 06, only 6 new playable characters were added (Heroes and the much maligned 06 each only adding one each, the Adventure games each adding two), all the rest of the (playable) cast was from earlier Sonic games (or in Blaze the Cat's case, the 2D Sonic Rush series).
    • And, of course, the fanbase. Either they're small kids with poorly-made self-insert "OC's" with a knack for making disgusting, cringeworthy fanart OR a bunch of obsessive man children who think that every tiny change has ruined their beloved franchise. No, you're not allowed to imagine a perfectly normal, perfectly reasonable Sonic fan who just likes Sonic. As far as the internet is concerned, they don't exist [8]. "Fans" like Chris-Chan don't exactly help that stereotype.
    • Sonic's 25th Anniversary in general. For all the hyping up that was given for it, it ultimately was a shambles. The questionable quality of the two games released in 2016 aside, the games celebrating the occasion were not released until the year after, and the various merchandise released during that time was either Classic or Boom. Liked Modern instead? You were out of luck. The infamously horrible livestream can't exactly be left out, either.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Has its own page.
  • Nightmare Retardant: Possibly played deliberately with E-102 Gamma. With his intimidating design, lifeless facial features, Machine Monotone and deadly abilities (he came close to blowing Sonic's brains out point blank at one point), he may have made for a genuinely terrifying and imposing creation of Eggman's, if his sentience didn't get in the way. Even his theme qualifies both as Nightmare Fuel and a pure Tear Jerker.
  • Older Than They Think:
    • A good number of fans seem to think that Amy has only been around since the Sonic Adventure days/is a recent addition. She has actually been around for about or (at least) almost as long as Tails (depending on whether you count the manga or Sonic CD as her debut).
    • The Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced Tails as being "weak", being easily captured by Robotnik. Fast-forward twenty-five years, and Sonic Forces' story was criticized for portraying Tails as cowering at Chaos (a character that had long-since been defeated) and having very little agency within the plot.
    • Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
      • One of the most polarizing elements of the game was the character of Princess Elise, who many people remarked as looking incredibly out-of-place next to Sonic and pals, but realistic human characters had been around since Adventure without too much complaining. Elise was just the first one to be a major character who regularly interacted with the cartoon animals, which threw the contrast in far sharper relief (and the romance just made it even more questionable). And while Adventure did have realistic humans, the technology demanded they be stylized to a certain degree. Seventh-gen hardware allowed for a lot more photorealism (which was the game's goal to begin with), which, again, put a spotlight on how poorly they fit in with the cartoon animals.
      • Sonic's questionable choices in human romance traces all the way back to before the first game was even released, when Sega of Japan tried to pitch his character design with a human girlfriend named Madonna. It didn't make it into the game at all.
  • Popularity Polynomial: Sonic's popularity has gone up and down over the years. It's currently on an up trend due to a string of acclaimed games such as Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II.
  • Ron the Death Eater: Sonic himself. He very often has his character mutilated and warped into an abusive boyfriend and even a Complete Monster towards Amy Rose by ShadAmy and KnuxAmy shippers in fanwork.
  • Rooting for the Empire/Evil Is Cool: Robotnik/Eggman might be a Fat Bastard, but in most of his incarnations he's also brilliant, stylish, and chews the scenery to the point that a better nickname might be Hamman.
  • Ruined FOREVER: Many Sonic fans cry Ruined FOREVER after any game is released after another one, usually with a controversial choice. It also happened when the game voice cast was replaced with 4Kids one.
  • The Scrappy: Take your pick; every medium has one. The main ones from the games are Big, Cream, Silver, Princess Elise, and Exposition Fairy Omochao. Even Shadow counted at one point, given that he is a Base Breaker.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny: The older entries evoke this in two ways:
    • Firstly, the speed which the eponymous Blue Blur ran through the levels in the first game in the series really seemed quite blistering to gamers of the day, even if nobody would think twice about it now, especially in light of the jaw dropping speeds Sonic reaches in later games like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations (the latter compounding this by showing that the younger Sonic is canonically slower than the older one, if just mildly).
    • Also, in order to truly see the heavily promoted "edginess" of the character, which has worn dry over time due to familiarity and Sonic's numerous imitators, you really need to be aware that when Sonic first appeared in 1991, the vast majority of platform heroes were promoted as squeaky-clean and cutesy. A teenage hedgehog with a spiky hairstyle and a self-confident smirk was enough to seem uber-cool by comparison.
  • Shoo Out the New Guy: Silver started out overhyped, but since Sonic '06 and the Rivals games, he's pretty much been reduced to being a member of multiplayer rosters.
  • So Bad It's Good: Among the usual candidates named for this are multiple song lyrics, most strikingly We Can, My Sweet Passion, and the in-level Knuckles raps from Sonic Adventure 2, the campy dialogue during levels, and, to a lesser extent, in some cutscenes, and almost everything about Shadow the Hedgehog.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The fandom has expressed this frequently, often over changes that only mildly affect gameplay:
    • One of the loudest criticisms of the franchise was the relevance of other characters prior to Sonic Unleashed - some people hate everyone but Sonic, to the point that some fans even hate everything in the series but the first game, only because of the presence of other characters. It ultimately came to a head in the Milestone Celebration title Sonic Generations, where fans and even some critics whined about the presence of other characters, and in the case of the latter viewed it as a flaw that justified docking points from the game's review score as a result, despite said characters not having any major impact on the game whatsoever - aside from some missions, a cutscene of a few lines of dialogue between them and one of the two Sonics, they are otherwise just imprisoned characters for Sonic to rescue. A lot of these complainers also ignore the fact that there were plenty of characters before the game went 3D with the Adventure series, and rival franchise Super Mario Bros had certainly a heck of a lot more characters prior to that point. It's worth pointing out that Mario started out with more characters in its first few games! From this logic, Sonic Underground would be a faithful adaptation.
    • While the Adventure games and later titles do have their fair share of problems, there are some people who think the transition into 3D was a terrible idea.
    • Shadow the Hedgehog was slammed by fans for its Darker and Edgier tone, most notably embodied in Shadow packing heat and cursing.
    • When it was first revealed, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was the tip of the mountaintop in terms of trivial complaints. Among the loudest complaints of the three seconds of gameplay footage were "plastic graphics," "horrible running animation," and, of course, the presence of "green eyed-Sonic" [9]. The critique over time did grow more legitimate though - the gameplay felt nothing like the Genesis games, a lot of features and gameplay advancements made over the past games were stripped out, the music sounded different, among others. The second episode did not help to alleviate those problems, thanks to the reveal of Tails being demoted down to a required co-op character compared to the past Genesis titles. Sonic 4 is also a special case of the game being this and It's the Same, Now It Sucks.
    • Some people slammed Sonic Lost World for overhauling a few staple aspects of the franchise, most notably the art style, which quickly became a favorite target. It didn't help that word-of-mouth from people with early access to the game, and subsequent lackluster reviews proved their criticisms valid that the game was essentially riding the coattails of Super Mario Galaxy.
      • Ironically, Lost World is a bit of a remake of the never-released, never-finished Killer App for the Sega Saturn that people had been wanting made for literally over a decade.
    • Sonic Boom has been met with complaints on the day the trailer was revealed. People complained not about the game itself, but the character redesigns; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy have been tweaked to look older (around the ages of 14-18) and Knuckles had the biggest change by becoming taller and gaining a lot of muscle mass in his upper body. Sonic's arms was also changed from flesh colored to blue fur so it would match the rest of his blue body. There are now also complaints about the change up in gameplay, with the game taking on some Ratchet & Clank styled beat'em up portions. Despite the fact that they still included trade-mark speed-sections, where the aim is to speed along them, fans aren't taking kindly to these new elements. All this, despite the game being a westernized spin-off.
  • Uncanny Valley: Present in the series starting with Sonic Adventure (though it doesn't have this effect now) and peaking in |Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, with the Anthropomorphic characters compared to semi-realistic humans. Averted starting in Sonic Unleashed, which has stylized humans.
  • Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
    • We're meant to feel sorry for Elise in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 especially at the end when she has to forget all about Sonic, but it's very hard to sympathize with her, since she's a very bland character who does almost nothing aside from get repeatedly kidnapped, it's difficult to believe she and Sonic somehow formed a special bond since they don't actually interact that much, and Elise outright says she doesn't care what happens to the world and only cares about Sonic, which makes her come off as very selfish.
    • A major conflict in Sonic Lost World is how Tails starts feeling like Sonic is beginning to lose faith in him in favor of Eggman, and just wants to be of use to his hero. However, this ignores the fact that Eggman is the only one capable of disabling the machine since he was the one who made it, and Tails makes no objections to even allowing him to help in the first place. In fact, this has the side effect of making Sonic Unintentionally Sympathetic, as he's treated negatively for his earlier actions that kicked off the plot despite his genuine remorse and trying to make amends. The plot is firmly on Tails' side of the conflict and in the end, it's Sonic who apologizes to Tails for "not trusting him enough". And the whole conflict ends up being moot anyway when Tails just randomly disables Eggman's machine to begin with.
  • Video Game Movies Suck: Averted with the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film. While not everyone enjoys the movie, it has gotten positive reviews.
  • Villain Decay: Reverse-proportional to Eggman's Character Development. As he becomes more and more humanized and sympathetic, he becomes less and less evil. Of course, Eggman has many fans precisely because of this morality shift, so perhaps it isn't all bad...
    • He's been getting more dangerous as of recent games. Interestingly this is done without compromising much of his clownish semi-likable personality from before.
  • What an Idiot!: The Nocturnus tried to conquer the ancient world and they did conquer the Twilight Cage -- and given the Cage's Year Inside, Hour Outside effect, Shade probably took part in both conquests. Why did she not expect Ix to actually want to conquer Earth?
    • This is even played up in one episode of the TV series -- when a rival genius' shapeshifting robot defects, Dr. Robotnik boasts that he deliberately designed Scratch and Grounder to be idiots, so they'd never defect.
  • The Woobie: E-102 Gamma. First major character to be killed off, after a lifespan of less than a week, which unlike Shadow or Emerl, was not commemorated or recognized by the other heroes. He shares this with Chip. But, if you pay attention to the chronology, he only got to live for one day.

YMMVs for the Sega Genesis game

  • Nightmare Fuel: The infamous drowning music, which would become a recurring jingle in most games in the franchise with bodies of water that don't act as automatic Bottomless Pits. And since Labyrinth Zone is considered the hardest of the water levels in the series, you can expect to hear this a lot.
    • If you don't know the shortcut, Scrap Brain Act 3 (which was actually Labyrinth "4") is harder to some.
  • Porting Disaster: The Game Boy Advance port Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis, which features terrible physics (due to not using the original game code), butchered audio, and slowdown. To make matters worse, this massacre of a classic was released to mark the 15th anniversary of the series. The port of the game on the Sega Dreamcast's Sega Smash Pack: Volume 1 compilation fared better, but was also marred by butchered audio.
    • The DS port is apparently far better.
  • Scrappy Level: Labyrinth Zone, and Marble Zone for younger players.
  • They Just Didn't Care: The Game Boy Advance port. Look above for more details.

YMMVs for the Game Gear/Master System game

  1. ↑ Knuckles leads the Resistance against Eggman, but that's about it. Tails goes from Sonic's sidekick to such a pushover that he cowers before Chaos, a being he has canonically beaten multiple times in much stronger forms. And Classic Sonic just sort of sits there and does nothing outside of reminding you that you could have bought Sonic Mania instead if you really wanted to play as him
  2. ↑ The handheld entries generally aren't discussed, but can loosely be divided into the classic era (1991-1999, Sonic the Hedgehog for Game Gear to Sonic Pocket Adventure) and the modern era (2001-present, Sonic Advance onwards).
  3. ↑ Even after they stated that the physics were getting fixed this time around.
  4. ↑ The back of the box of the US version of Sonic 3 and Knuckles referred to the blue Sonic robot as Metal Sonic, though this was most likely an error caused by the localizers believing this to be the same Sonic robot as the one in Sonic the Hedgehog CD (officially named Metal Sonic) despite the two being completely different robots.
  5. ↑ especially if you give her Ferox, which makes Action Commands automatically succeed, or better yet, actually master her Action Commands so that you can pull them off reliably
  6. ↑ both names are official; Robotnik is his real name, while "Eggman" is the nickname that everyone uses instead
  7. ↑ and, thanks to the new owner of their Twitter page, SEGA themselves
  8. ↑ they do, by the way. They just tend to be drowned out a tad
  9. ↑ which was essentially complaints about the Adventure-era designs being used instead of the Genesis-era designs.
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