Sonic wasn’t just enjoyed in normal side scrolling game fashion. There were quite a few off shoot versions that featured Sonic and crew. Things like Sonic Spinball, Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Sonic 3D Blast. These games definitely weren’t along the traditional lines of the Sonic series, and seemed to play off of popular games or concepts of the time.

While one or two of the off shoot games were no more than Sonic games in “branding only” as Sonic himself didn’t appear in them, they did feature Sonic characters and although they did not feature any story line enhancements, they did give fans of those characters a little taste of fun. They gave them a little fun when usually Sonic was the featured member of a majority of the games.

Were These Games Successful?

It’s hard to measure the success of a game that doesn’t forward storylines or really offer anything to the series other than fan pleasure.

These games were not some of the most fantastic sellers in the series, with the exception of the Mario and Sonic Olympics cross over. The pair together made a game so enjoyable that a sequel is planned for later this year themed in the Winter Olympics.

There have been many next gen system versions of the Sonic games. They have slowed morphed from the side scrolling, dual button pressing adventures of old, to the 3D and complicating world of complicated and advanced gaming. Instead of just collecting things and jumping around, now you collect things, slay creatures, and use a lot more than two buttons to do all of this.

What Are Some Of The Downfalls Of These Newer Games?

Some of the downfalls are just the rapid advancement of gaming in general. The games have shifted from being focused solely on a fantastic story line and average graphics, to fantastic graphics and average thrown together story lines.

Older games always had a story that entwined the user in the game and had them always craving more. Always wanting to learn that next little bit about their character and always bringing the character to life through whatever means they could. You would actually feel bad back in the older gaming days if your character died.

These days, there are walkthrough videos, cheat codes, and other methods of just racing through a game with little effort. These work a rounds cause the game experience itself to degrade. When you can put in a 10 or so length code and be done with a game and see the “ending” instead of spending numerous hours at the TV working through it with much pain and annoyance and gaining a bond with your on screen “you”, then it is nothing but simply another game.

The most unique and pleasing games allow you to relate to whatever character you are controlling and immerse you in the situation that your character is going through. When you bond with a character, you go through the game rooting for them and hoping for the absolute best. When those principles get bypassed due to the short cuts and “easy mode” afforded to us by the internet and the “power gamers” that finish the game 24-48 hours after it is released and then post the chronicles of their journeys in walkthroughs and various other methods, it causes a complete degradation of the video gaming experience and in the end not only harms that title, but can also harm future titles because the enthusiasm will be lacking that is normally generated by fans that enjoy the game, but may have not gotten as much out of it due to one of the above issues.

By: Robert M Raymond