Sega Released 32 Sonic Games in the '90s. Which Ones Are Still Good?
Besides the Obvious Ones
Sonoran Videogame Society is an email newsletter dedicated to exploring and playing video games with readers like you. Some articles are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!
That title is not clickbait, friends.
Sega released 32 honest-to-goodness Sonic the Hedgehog games on all sorts of platforms in the 1990s. Platforms you remember like the Genesis and Game Gear, and platforms you don’t, like the I-still-don’t-know-how-it-works Pico.
If you loved Sonic the Hedgehog in the 90s and you owned all of Sega’s systems and random expensive add-ons, the company spoiled you rotten with an all-you-could-play buffet of blue spiky riches.
But as we all know, games age. They decay. Sometimes the games we used to love back when they were shiny and brand new just don’t feel as good to play after decades of quality-of-life improvements.
With this article, we’ll be looking at each of the 32 games in Sonic’s ‘90s catalog and asking some hard-hitting questions like…
Is Sonic 3 & Knuckles really as fly as you remember?
Why do people hate Sonic Labyrinth?
And which Sonic racing game does a better job at conveying Sonic’s high-intensity speed: Sonic Drift 2 or Sonic R?
(Warning: these questions may not receive adequate answers).
We’ll also be assigning each Sonic game one of the following scores:
MUST PLAY!
MUST MISS!
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS?!
Alright, enough preamble. Onto the list!
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (GENESIS, 1991)
One of the best character debuts in gaming history. Sonic the Hedgehog was so good, it catapulted both the titular hedgehog and the Genesis onto the ‘It List’ overnight. Sonic’s design was both cute and cool, and appealed to little kids and young adults alike. The precise platforming combined with thrilling bursts of speed was like nothing else on the market. Each of the eighteen levels had multiple routes for extra replay value. And Masato Nakamura’s soundtrack transported you into Sonic’s world with its haunting, energetic melodies. Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega at the height of their powers.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (GAME GEAR/MASTER SYSTEM, 1991)
While not as groundbreaking (or as fast) as its 16-bit brother, Sonic the Hedgehog for Master System/Game Gear doesn’t skimp on classic Sonic gameplay. Rather than squash the Genesis version down into a horrific unplayable port, developers Ancient wisely tweaked the game to play like a modified version of the original. Plus, Yuzo Koshiro of Actraiser and Streets of Rage 2 fame handles the composer/arranger duties, so the soundtrack is as good as the Genesis version.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC ERASER (MEGA DRIVE, 1991)
Released exclusively for Sega’s Meganet download service in Japan, this falling-block puzzle game hardly has Sonic in it at all. Like Columns or Tetris, you twist and turn clusters of shapes around until three of the same type land next to each other and disappear. Whether you’re playing against the computer or with a friend, two Sonics look blankly onto either side while you try desperately to make the pieces fit. If you get a triple combo, Sonic spin dashes into the opposing side’s Sonic, leaving him goofy and dizzy. This dizzy animation is the best part of an otherwise forgettable and stupid puzzle game.
MUST MISS! / THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS?!
FIND IT ON: The Internet, but you probably shouldn’t bother.
WAKU WAKU SONIC PATROL CAR (ARCADE, 1991)
A children’s arcade game where Sonic takes on the role of Officer Sonic and chases Eggman off the streets of AnyPrefect, Japan. Yes, this is a Japan-only arcade release, which means few of us will ever play it as it was originally intended. Still, I’m glad Sega made it, if only to have an official drawing of Sonic wearing an adorable policeman’s cap.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT IN: Arcades in Japan, maybe?
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (GAME GEAR/MASTER SYSTEM, 1992)
Contrary to popular belief, Tails actually debuted in the 8-bit iteration of Sonic 2 a month prior to 16-bit Sonic 2‘s release. Sort of. Sonic’s two-tailed fox buddy is in full-on captured princess mode here, and is used by Robotnik to lure Sonic to his Crystal Egg lair. So yeah, Tails’ presence on the box art and in the title screen? A dirty lie for sweet, sweet sales. Despite this bait and switch, Sonic 2 is another great 8-bit Sonic adventure, and is completely distinct from the 16-bit version.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (GENESIS, 1992)
While I personally prefer the original Sonic for its simplicity – six zones, no extra characters, no extra moves, gotta go fast except not really – Sonic 2 is still an epic blockbuster experience. There’s zones designed purely for speed (Chemical Plant), zones designed to piss you off even as you’re jamming to the BGM (Mystic Cave), and zones that shouldn’t have gotten past the concept stage (Metropolis). The Spin Dash makes its debut here, as does the golden-locked Super Sonic (if you get all the Chaos Emeralds), and Tails as the little brother who just won’t go away. There’s also an overblown plot about Robotnik’s Death Egg. In short, Sonic 2 is everything wonderful and terrible about the Sonic franchise.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SEGASONIC THE HEDGEHOG (ARCADE, 1993)
Sonic… in the arcades! Makes sense. Even though Sega was doing gangbusters with the Genesis in ’93, the arcade scene was still their bread and butter. Putting their most popular character into an arcade platformer seemed like only a matter of time. Except… wait? It’s not a platformer? It’s an isometric trackball running game co-starring two new doofus animals? Huh. SegaSonic was supposedly released outside of Japan in both Europe and the US, but I never saw the cabinet anywhere back in the day. I’ve attempted to play this game via MAME, but trackball controls are notoriously difficult to emulate well. Perhaps Sega will grace us with a re-release one day. Until then, one thing’s for sure: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel are no Sonic the Hedgehog.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: The Internet
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG CD (SEGA CD, 1993)
As a wise executive once said, every popular franchise will eventually make time travel a key element of the story. In Sonic CD, you could travel to the past, present, and good and bad futures in each of the game’s seven zones. This makes for a grand total of a bazillion unique playthroughs - if you’re keen enough to play through this ambitious, convoluted mess more than once. Maybe I’d like Sonic CD more if it would let me move forward rather than force me to experiment with its non-linear time-traveling mechanics. Still, as lukewarm as I am on the game, I can’t front on the animated intro, the cheesy “Sonic Boom” title song, and the debut of Metal Sonic.
MUST PLAY! (WEIRD AS HELL, PLEASE TRY)
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC CHAOS (GAME GEAR/MASTER SYSTEM, 1993)
Another 8-bit Sonic game that’s good, but isn’t much different than the ones that came before it. OK, you can play as Tails (otherwise known as Easy Mode) and Sonic has Rocket Shoes that lets him zoom around the stage, but otherwise Sonic Chaos is more of the same bounce and spin goodness.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC SPINBALL (GENESIS, 1993)
Sonic Spinball isn’t a great Sonic game, but it is a great video pinball title. Sonic spends half his time curled up in a ball anyway, so it only makes sense to thwack him with flippers and rack up some points in the meanwhile. The four pinball “tables” are surprisingly well designed, the bosses are memorable and terrifying (that Robotnik scorpion), and the bonus stages feature appearances from characters in the cartoons. Truly Sonic’s most underappreciated Genesis outing.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sega Genesis Classics
DR. ROBOTNIK’S MEAN BEAN MACHINE (GENESIS, 1993)
Today, Mean Bean Machine is discounted by the Internet as just a reskin of Puyo Pop and not a very good one. But here’s the thing, you knuckleheads: Puyo Pop didn’t exist in America in the 1990s. Nobody knew what Puyo Pop was back then, and thus, Mean Bean Machine was hailed as a true puzzle game classic. A pauper in emperor’s clothing, sure, but Puyo Pop’s foundation is so rock solid, it can handle the insertion of obnoxious Sonic characters from the 1993 animated cartoon.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sega Genesis Classics
DR. ROBOTNIK’S MEAN BEAN MACHINE (GAME GEAR/MASTER SYSTEM, 1993/1994)
Yeah, Mean Bean Machine looks pretty rough on an 8-bit console/handheld, but if a Game Gear or Master System is all you have, you’ll take what you can get. That said, if you do have a Genesis, why are you clowning around with this version?
TOTALLY A SONIC-ISH GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SEGASONIC COSMO FIGHTER GALAXY PATROL (ARCADE, 1993)
Sonic exchanges his officer’s cap for a bad-ass spaceship in this “sequel” to Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car. Robotnik isn’t just speeding without a permit across Japan this time. He’s stealing animals and suffocating the life out of them in space. For Patrolman Sonic, this abhorrent behavior simply won’t do. After you beat up Robotnik, the Galaxy Patrol gives your performance a star rating, then it’s back to traffic duty. Enjoy fighting the cosmo while you can.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT IN: Japanese arcades, perhaps.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (GENESIS, 1994)
Sonic 3 by itself is usually considered a half-game by most folks, a whistle wetter for the Lock-On Madness to come. And while there’s truth in this statement, the game succeeds on its own merits. Sonic 3 introduces the last great Sonic side-character, Knuckles, into the fray. Along with the hypnotic pseudo-3D special stages (introduced nearly a year before Donkey Kong Country‘s pseudo-3D blew minds everywhere), the bubble/lightning/fire shield items are some of the best in the series. The return to six zones is also a welcome one. Sonic 2 is way too long, and Sonic 3, when paired with Sonic & Knuckles, feels like some sort of neverending Sonic buffet hell that Sega’s forcing down your throat. Oh, and some musical savant named Michael Jackson helped compose some of the amazing soundtrack. Sonic 3 – in every way – is just right.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus - but not by itself. Only in the & Knuckles format.
SONIC DRIFT (GAME GEAR, 1994)
Before Sonic R befouled our screens with its clumsy racing and poorly rendered models, Sonic Drift set Japanese gamers hearts ablaze with its chibi kart action. Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Robotnik are your racers here. The six tracks here are based off of the zones found in Sonic 1, and come in three variants each for a total of eighteen tracks. Was Sonic Drift the first Mario Kart imitator? Maybe so. But even with the Game Gear’s tiny, blurry screen obstructing our vision, the racing within was better than it had any right to be.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC TRIPLE TROUBLE (GAME GEAR, 1994)
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles star alongside Robotnik, Metal Sonic, and a new character, Nack the Weasel in the last of the traditional 8-bit Sonic outings. Triple Trouble is fine, but, apart from the ensemble cast, is otherwise indistinguishable from the other Game Gear games.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG’S GAMEWORLD (PICO, 1994)
Surely Sonic the Hedgehog’s Gameworld is a game. It says so right in the title! According to Wikipedia, “The game takes the form of a picture book and changes the set of tasks the player must accomplish when a page is turned. Aimed at children ages four to seven, Gameworld stars Sonic, Tails, and Amy and features 13 minigames that are designed to teach the player problem solving.” Call me crazy, but I bet kids would rather play Sonic’s original adventures than this misguided edutainment.
MUST MISS!
FIND IT ON: eBay or the Internet
TAILS AND THE MUSIC MAKER (PICO, 1994)
Hey kids, do you like pretending to make music? Do you like two-tailed foxes who have PhDs in music theory? Did your parents mistakenly get you the Pico instead of that Genesis you really wanted? Well, you’re in luck! In Tails and the Music Maker, you’ll guide Tails with the Pico’s Magic Pen across several pages of music-themed madness-er, educational product.
THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS?!
FIND IT ON: eBay or the Internet
SONIC & KNUCKLES (GENESIS, 1994)
The beauty of Sonic & Knuckles‘s bulbous cart, complete with advanced Lock-On Technology, is that it’s actually a million games in one. There’s Sonic & Knuckles by itself, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic 2 & Knuckles, and whatever Genesis game you can think of & Knuckles. If you choose to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles, you can control either Sonic, Tails or Knuckles in the most exhausting 16-bit Sonic game ever. Thank God you can save or else nobody would have finished this adventure. In Sonic 2 & Knuckles, you can – wait for it – control Knuckles in Sonic 2. Knuckles can climb and glide through all of Sonic 2 if you want; perfect for speedrunners. Put almost any old Genesis cart you want on top of Sonic & Knuckles and you can play some ‘Blue Sphere’ bonus levels. Sonic 1 unlocks all the ‘Blue Sphere’ levels, while other games usually only give you one or two levels. So you see how Sonic & Knuckles was designed to consume the souls of all Genesis games that try to mount it. This is how Lock-On Technology works. “No WAY? NO WAY!”
MUST PLAY! (ALL OF THE GAMES)
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC SPINBALL (GAME GEAR/MASTER SYSTEM, 1994/1995)
Portable Sonic Spinball sounds like it’d be a gay ol’ time, but not on the Game Gear. Trying to keep track of Sonic as he bounces all over the place at five frames-per-second is Sonic hell in its purest, most unholy form.
MUST MISS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC DRIFT 2 (GAME GEAR, 1995)
The original Sonic Drift feels like a tech demo compared to Sonic Drift 2. Seven characters instead of four and eighteen different courses (instead of six courses with three different designs) make this a formidable Mario Kart competitor… or it would be if it wasn’t on the ailing Game Gear. If any Game Gear Sonic title deserves a chance to shine on a non-blurry, high-res screen, it’s Sonic Drift 2.
MUST PLAY! (NOT ON THE GAME GEAR)
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
KNUCKLES CHAOTIX (32X, 1995)
It’s been about two decades since I played this loving ode to Depression-era jailbreak, but what I remember isn’t great. Knuckles and his rabble-rousing crew of misfits – Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and other Sonic characters you forgot existed – must navigate their way through Carnival Island while tethered together via a Ring Leash. The traditional Sonic stage design is fine, but the Leash itself makes progress slow and cumbersome. Worth a play just to see how bizarre it is, but not something to return to.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: eBay or the Internet
TAILS SKYPATROL (GAME GEAR, 1995)
Tails’ first solo outing is not the kid-friendly adventure you might expect. Tails must fly – and never stop flying – through four incredibly difficult worlds after the evil witch, Witchcart. He has a ring that functions as both a weapon and a way to latch onto numerous knickknacks across each level. If Tails lands on the ground or touches anything without the ring’s permission, he will die. If you’re not one with the cumbersome controls, you may as well give up on your Skypatrol duties.
MUST MISS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
TAILS ADVENTURE (GAME GEAR, 1995)
Tails Adventure ditches Sega’s stupid ring obsession for a neat action platformer with puzzles and RPG elements. I say “neat.” I’ve never actually played Tails Adventure, but it seems like a refreshing change of pace from the traditional Sonic formula. Plus, the story takes place before Sonic and Tails ever met. Sounds like a sleeper hit to me.
MUST PLAY! (MAYBE, WHY NOT)
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC LABYRINTH (GAME GEAR, 1995)
Gamers and critics alike cried foul at this slowed-down version of Sonic upon release. Robbed of his speed and his jump, Sonic can only spin dash and collect keys across Robotnik’s labyrinth of robotic horrors. With the isometric viewpoint, slow movement, and emphasis on collecting things, it’s fair to say Sonic Labyrinth was the portable precursor to Sonic 3D Blast. Both games were regarded by many as the worst Sonic titles of their day, although I kinda like them? They’re not in the pantheon of great Sonic platformers, but their more relaxed pace is a sign that Sonic contains multitudes. We can’t go fast all the time. Sometimes we gotta slow down.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC THE FIGHTERS (ARCADE, 1996)
Allow me to date myself for a second: I once played an actual Sonic the Fighters arcade machine at a newly opened Gameworks back in ’96. Because the game was new and because Gameworks thought new arcade machines should be set to ludicrous prices, I paid a dollar for one round. The 3D graphics, large heads, and ringed arenas threw me for a loop. I couldn’t tell if the game was more strategy-based like Virtua Fighter, or more aggressive like Tekken. Espio the Chameleon (my preferred fighter) was hard to control. I shimmied and shook around the arena more than I actually attacked. I died in the first match and decided that was enough. Later I bought the Sonic Gems Collection on Gamecube and was grateful to discover that my eleven-year-old self wasn’t the main problem. Sonic the Fighters is just plain awful.
MUST MISS! / THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS?!
FIND IT ON: The PS3 PSN store, believe it or not.
SONIC 3D BLAST (GENESIS/SATURN, 1996)
Sonic’s first major misstep isn’t as bad as you remember, and not nearly as good as it should have been. Rather than focus on speed, Sonic 3D Blast has Sonic collecting Flicky birds by killing all the enemies in each stage. Once he’s delivered all the birds to a ring, the end of the stage opens up and it’s on to the next collect-a-thon. If the Flicky collecting had been better integrated into the traditional speedy Sonic formula, perhaps 3D Blast would be more highly regarded. As it stands, searching for enemies and collecting Flickies gets old about halfway through the game. The Saturn port – with its different special stages, slightly sharper graphics – is the best version of the game.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC’S SCHOOLHOUSE (PC, 1996)
More disturbing early-3D edutainment from Sega, this time on the PC instead of the Pico. A couple points of interest: Sonic’s Schoolhouse marks the first time Sonic’s voice was heard in a game. Also, Sonic’s sprite was taken from the cancelled Sonic X-Treme for Saturn.
MUST MISS!
FIND IT ON: The Internet. Not even eBay can contain Sonic’s esoteric teaching methodologies.
SONIC BLAST (GAME GEAR, 1996)
Sonic Blast‘s rendered character models are hilarious. Knuckles and Sonic walk like they have large suppositories crammed up their rear. The game itself is not a port of 3D Blast, but rather, a spartan, mediocre 2D side-scroller that has more in common with other Sonic Game Gear games. Worth playing once just to see Knuckles and Sonic try in vain to walk through a loop-de-loop, only to saunter backwards because their huge bodies don’t have momentum.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS! / MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: Sonic Origins Plus
SONIC JAM (SATURN, 1997)
I really wanted Sonic Jam to have an official exclamation point in its title a la Barkley’s Shut up and Jam! Alas. In 1997, Sega – tired and desperate to fill their dying Saturn with some sort of Sonic content – couldn’t even muster some enthusiasm for their first excellent Sonic compilation. Not only did Sonic Jam include every Sonic game to date (save for Sonic Spinball and the just-released Sonic 3D Blast), including the Lock-On games like Blue Sphere and Sonic 2 & Knuckles, it also featured “Sonic World,” a 3D hub world where you could control Sonic and look at art, character profiles, and history. For the few crazies who owned a Saturn but never owned a Genesis, Sonic Jam was the perfect collection.
MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: eBay or the Internet
SONIC R (SATURN, 1997)
Sonic R is the first (of many) “so bad, it’s good” Sonic games on this list. Rather than remake Sonic Drift 2 into an amazing 3D kart racer, Traveller’s Tales opted for a predominantly on-foot approach for Sonic and co. (only Amy and Robotnik use vehicles). While Sonic is primarily known for running fast, with Sonic R‘s poor controls and awkward handling, you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s never run a day in his life. When Sonic (or whoever you end up controlling) gets going, flying off the track and getting hung up off course is bound to happen. Running fast and making tight turns without slowing to a dead crawl is nearly impossible. The cheesy technopop, complete with vocals, complements the game’s general WTF-ery. What should be a standard Sonic racing game is actually a pretty damn weird experience.
THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS?! / MUST PLAY!
FIND IT ON: eBay or the Internet
SONIC ADVENTURE (DREAMCAST, 1999)
With a convoluted story, six playable characters, and janky camera angles, Sonic Adventure brought a firm end to the hedgehog’s simple, two-dimensional “run left-to-right” ethos. Many fans would have been content with a “let’s go fast and gather the Chaos Emeralds from Robuttnik” style, but Sega’s ambitiousness means you’ll be racing with Tails, clobbering enemies with Amy’s sledgehammer, fishing with Big the Cat, and raising virtual pets named Chaos (pronounced ‘Chows’). Awkward camera angles, ugly 3D models, and bipolar gameplay doesn’t stop Sonic Adventure from being a serviceable title. No way would I have invested 42 hours in the Gamecube DX version if the game wasn’t somewhat engaging.
TOTALLY A SONIC GAME THAT EXISTS!
FIND IT ON: Steam, PS3, Xbox
other images courtesy of IMDB, GameFAQS, Game Fabrique, Sonic the Hedgeblog, Arcade History, Sega Forever, MobyGames, Retrogaming.com.ar
It’s great to revisit some of these games, even the bad ones. Some of the Game Gear games have been ported to the Master System and Sonic 3D Blast got that sweet director’s cut from original programmer Jon Burton himself.
I remember playing Sonic Adventure for the first time at an Electronics Boutique in the mall, and it blew my mind. So vivid, so 3-D, so big and so graphic. But on the Dreamcast it was sadly no Mario 64. Clunky and confusing and not memorable. Still gave it another shot on GC. Fortunately the system had other gems like Skies of Arcadia and Soul Calibur.