[Sonic] So, over the last month some streamers I watch have been goin' through various games they missed out on. Unfortunately, by sheer happenstance, this ended up with the realization that over time they'd skipped on the WORST games. And it has reconfirmed a hot take of mine:
Sonic 06 is not as bad as the internet would have you believe.
It's generally actually like. Okay. It's not the great and mighty disaster that needs to be flogged endlessly in every Sonic analysis ever made over the last 18 years, and it's not worth Sega having bent over backwards to flee away from it.
I stand by the opinion that the game would go up a whole letter grade without the medal hunting. But also 1) I don't think Bob and Dan ever figured out how to drift in the daytime stages, which uh. IS IMPORTANT. And 2) I don't think they EVER understood how the mission hubs worked.
It was still refreshing to see someone approach Sonic 06 and walk away going. "It's fine, it's not the game you should be flogging in that generation, its problems aren't even fully the devs faults."
And the thing about the Unleashed hubs is that they're not like. Very intuitive.
When I tried my replay a couple years ago, I vividly remember in the process of trying to unlock something in not-China, I lost all my lives in the hub and went into a stage with 0 lives.
But yeah no it's like, genuinely impressive how many Sonic games came out in like, that small stretch and also how many of them were just. COMICALLY dogshit.
That said rolling ALL the way back, you're right that Unleashed would absolutely go up, I think, multiple points without the medal hunting.
Unfortunately, it gates itself so severely by them that you can run up against that very early and then that's Just The Game for a good while afterwards.
The way they're designed you should never have to be searching for those in the speed stages, to do otherwise was just a monumentally psychotic decision.
kinda hard agree on sonic 06 not really being that bad other than the part where it's broken. Like, the game frustrated me enough that I had to stop playing multiple times when I played it back when because I was about to scream at the TV. But that's not really design problems as just... game buggy and broken
Something were now seeing that I no doubt expect Flynn is party to, is that there’s good ideas to be mined out of that era, they just need games they’re allowed to complete
Sonic 06 is not as bad as the internet would have you believe.
Okay.It's not the great and mighty disaster that needs to be flogged endlessly in every Sonic analysis ever made over the last 18 years, and it's not worth Sega having bent over backwards to flee away from it.When I tried my replay a couple years ago, I vividly remember in the process of trying to unlock something in not-China, I lost all my lives in the hub and went into a stage with 0 lives.
So like.
I get it.
"Okay you weren't good. But. But. You were really just undercooked, there was far worse."
Advance 3: 2004.
Rush: 2005.
Shadow: 2005
'06: 2006.
Secret Rings: 2007.
Rush Adventure: 2007.
Chronicles: 2008.
Unleashed: 2008.
Black Knight: 2009.
Unfortunately, it gates itself so severely by them that you can run up against that very early and then that's Just The Game for a good while afterwards.