How to fix: Sonic

Ask any gamer about Sonic in the early 90s when the console wars where just kicking off once more and you will learn about a mutral respect between both competitors while they tried to announce their console is better. However as years went on Mario became successful, and Sonic became more and more in the dumps. What happened if often asked by everyone who remembers the series, and more importantly how to fix the series always comes up in some way or another within the community. The official series with a tacked on Internet meme which describes the cycle from loving the game to ending up playing it and hating it forever, verses fan games which just aren’t as good as the series they clam to fix.

The series also has another major problem besides the fan stigma which is that fans don’t know what they want from the series. This is much more evident then many other series, even ones like The Legend of Zelda series. This problem causes fans and the developers themselves to pick and choose what they think makes a Sonic game. Is it speed? Graphics? Characters? Story?

So the question is, how does a series like Sonic get fixed? Especially when the series world is filled with inconsistencies, bad ideas and blind nostalgia. Quite simply, one of the least preferred, but most discussed options of giving the series a rest for a while is the only way the series can return to its highest points and possibly even further. While there are some Sonic titles of resent which hit the mark of acceptable, such as Colours, the majority do not.

I feel one of the major reasons the series has so many misses compared to the few hits, is due to that the developers and publisher must be just sick of the series and in a creative hole. They tried to do the whole “old school” thing to please the fans, and even that failed, not because the concept was bad, but because of execution and design choices which ultimately is the primary cause of many of the series short comings. There is a strong concept there, however the design choices are lacking and pushing the games down. Also another reason could be target market and style of game choice. It’s not necessary a good observation, or a bad one- but does Sonic have to be a big budget title like Mario for example? Can’t we see just a streamlined version which adapts itself more for the mobile gaming emergence and feels more like Angry Birds then Call of Duty? In terms of target, concept and design? The simplified ideas and targeting a specific area of the industry such as mobile gaming could primary save the franchise by allowing the developers to rescope what makes a Sonic game and get the core elements into an easy pick up and play title. Then once the idea works and becomes successful, they could consecrate once more on making it big budget, console and adding the more detailed stories/concepts.

However the problem with streamlining Sonic and putting it on the back burner for SEGA is a big one. The publisher barely has any key franchises which have a strong fan base backbone, which means financially, while they do produce other games which sell well, the success that Sonic still lies even in its shattered self gives SEGA the cash flow which allows them to stay alive as well as relevant in the eyes of gamers. Moving one of their key franchises to a mobile ecosystem which while the ecosystem has its ups, it has many downs which are the key reasons why many there is still a considerable diversity in the industry when it comes to options and strategy for releasing games.

So if SEGA can’t put all their eggs into one basket and mobilise the series for a period of time just to get the fundamentals which they have long forgotten, actually I will stop myself there, forgotten isn’t the word which should be used, as they haven’t forgotten anything, they remember quite well what Sonic was, is and will be, what the problem is that many of their ideas have collided with that they see as key functions of the series. The idea of streamlining the series for mobile would be more to make a basic quick to develop title which would encapsulate small pick up and play worlds which has Sonic just running and collecting coins, with no catches. No escalated story plots, no crazy concepts, just the core game play principles which are still the fundamentals to many of their games today. The game wouldn’t be for gamers, while it could be a success, its fundamental purpose would be to reteach the core concept of the title.

Even if a big budget title needed to happen, SEGA shouldn’t rush into it. What they need to do is something a bit unorthodox, they need to research the series. Look into what the series was, from the original releases and detailing every pixel and what it represents to the game, as well as controls and then look over the newer releases. Even unsuccessful Sonic games or bad Sonic games have a good concept at the core of them, the craziness does have some method, that needs to be researched and it needs to be outlined why the various concepts never worked. I’m not saying to a game based on what the consumers interests are and successful titles are at the time, last time that happened we got Shadow and Sonic 2006. What needs to happen is the reverse, they need to look at themselves and see the series from a developers point of view, as well as looking at the concepts and direction which went into the titles over the years. By looking at their mistakes and as well as their successes, they should be able to mold the two.

For me what a Sonic game in the future should explore if it is a big budget title is to move the camera to a more over head view. As well as making the world filled with voxels and that pixel style which looks super awesome. That and make the world ever moving and exploding, make Sonic be able to effect the world by running into a hill really fast and just make voxel dirt fly everywhere. Give the feeling of speed, breakable objects and gold coins. It might not be a fan favorite idea, nor where the series should head, but its an interesting idea which for me is the direction which I want to see Sonic go.