The history of theSonic the Hedgehogfranchise has been a peculiar one. Unlike his former rival Mario, who was created as a replacement for an already famous character after Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo lost the Popeye license, Sonic was specifically created to challenge Nintendo’s dominance over the video game industry. The idea was worth it for the first couple of years, but ever since the original Genesis trilogy ended,Sonic the Hedgehoghas been through strange creative cycles. BetweenSonic 3’s release and now,Sonichas been through at least three “dark ages.
Due to this,Sonic the Hedgehoghas had different “eras” that clearly clash with each other in terms of their vision of the series. The “classic” era focuses more on the signature high-speed platforming, is generally more colorful, and features younger-looking versions of the characters. The “modern” era features the large ensemble of characters, the more stretched out and detailed designs, and the shonen-like qualities the series is now known for. These two eras never interact with each other in any way, and that should be changed moving forward.
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Sonic’s Potential
TheSonicseries is in a strange spot. It seems to be doing well in every medium, but the very one that spawned it. TheSonicmovies have been critically and commercially successful, especially for video game adaptations, andthe IDWSoniccomicshave won over fans that were frustrated with the increasingly one-dimensional and pseudo-meta writing in the games. However, the games have been struggling. The lastSonicgame to truly capture the hearts of fans wasSonic Mania, an intentional tribute to the Genesis games. As far as Sonic Team’s works go, the last game in the series to do so isSonic Generations, which was released over a decade ago.
WithIan Flynn penning Sonic Frontiers’ script, the future is looking brighter for the Blue Blur, but it could be so much more if these two eras interacted. This is especially applicable to the comics. Because they do not interact, characters like Mighty the Armadillo, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear are unable to appear alongside “modern” characters like Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat, despite the latter two being as important as the big players of the classic era.
The Sonic universe is vast, and restricting the kind of settings and character interactions that can be explored doesn’t help the franchise whatsoever. Minor characters like the aforementioned Mighty being brought into the modern games, and characters like Blaze the Cat showing up in classic-style works contributes to the characters’ flexibility. In contrast, reducing them to one role in one kind ofSonicproduct will harm the series in the long run.
Sonic Frontiersreleases in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
