Sonic the Hedgehog has always been at war with itself.

The main reason for this is simple - Sonic does not give a shit about your level design. If he can launch himself over half of it, he will. Once you've had a taste of that speed, the first game is nigh unplayable - without a stationary spin dash, a way to go from standing still to generating speed, you can't get back your lost momentum.

See, Sonic wants to run forever, and never stop - I do too. That's why these levels are so frustrating. The springs that are flinging you back, the spikes and walls you suddenly find yourself pushing against. The enemies taking your rings, slowing time. What they're all doing is vile - they're stealing your speed, halting your forward momentum. Making you jump, duck, and dodge - or worse, making you stop and think.

If Sonic got the game he wanted, it wouldn't be particularly challenging. It wouldn't technically be a "well-designed" game. It would be all go, full speed ahead. Why would Sonic stop to take in the scenery, to solve the puzzle, to jump over enemies and across platforms when he could just plow through it all? It's like my music teachers always said - you can't be all loud, all the time. You need softer moments. You need dynamics.

What Sonic needs is to go fast.

What I need is a game that doesn't exist. I want to be able to play it lying in bed, not worrying about timing or animation frames. I want to shoot, but not think, but still feel. Leveling up, managing inventories, role-playing - all things love, but not what I need right now. I realize that what I need is the Sonic game that all Sonic fans remember playing - the one that doesn't exist. This (admittedly less horrifying) Candle Cove of a Sonic game could have been born from anywhere - for me, it was directly in my hands, in the Game Gear and Game Boy. It doesn't matter what your first was, really. As long as you remember going fast.

What Sega needs is to collect our memories of that speed, that energy and freedom that really only existed in the small moments when the world wasn't designed to stop us, and show us that it was real.

P.S.

This came from a bit of messing around with Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (wonderful achievement icons in that game :y ), plus a lifetime of messing around with Sonic games (and recently starting to read Tim Roger's stuff on Super Mario Brothers for the first time). I often find myself wondering - usually when others are advocating for this patchwork ghoul of a franchise to be put to rest - why am I a Sonic fan? I mean, the answer probably lies in how much my sister and I played Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, but I had a feeling it goes deeper. If you've got similar Sonic memories, or if my musings on mechanics don't match up (or are wholly inaccurate) I'd love to chat about it! I also thought Sonic the Hedgehog 3 did some cool stuff with simple, seamless story-telling that didn't really fit in with the post above.

P.S.S.

I was about to go to bed after playing a bit of everything - and finding the single greatest video game introduction in the history of the medium, Kid Chameleon (see below). I figured I got my enjoyment and should split before the awkward come-down (I was going to give Sonic the ol Irish Goodbye). Then, on a whim, I decided to stick around and try out some Sonic Spinball. That game is dope. Some day I'll write a god damn treatise on why it's the best pinball game I've ever played, though I should probably play more than ten minutes of it.

Speed is definitely essential to any good Sonic game for sure. My best memories of Sonic were levels that allowed me to dodge obstacles and enemies with great speed. My worst memories belong to underwater levels that killed all sense of momentum and really cramped my play style.

I think rhythm is also an important part of any Sonic game (or really any platformer), too. Take Super Meat Boy for example. Despite its difficulty, if you can really nail the fundamentals you can fly through almost any level with ridiculous speed yet there is still a rhythm to it. You have to time jumps with obstacles and enemies perfectly to get that sense of speed. I think Sonic developers could benefit from looking at SMB for help with level design. Sonic could provide some challenge while also allowing for the speed that we all love so much.

@j_unit2008: Yess I would be all about a Sonic game that takes inspiration from SMB. I've only played a bit, and I had a secret weapon when it got too tough (a friend who is much better than me at video games), but I'm definitely gonna revisit it on my search for something satisfying.

Sonic has never been the game that people have wanted it to be. Crappy platforming sections have been in the games all the way from the beginning.

Sonic games (2d ones) have had pretty decent story telling in a silent film kind of way, with great, memorable music and visually stunning environments. I still go back and play the epic that is Sonic 3 & Knuckles marvelling at the world they built.

I quite like the first three games, but the Sonic fandom as it is now - full of cursed games and constant disappointment - was born during the Sonic Adventure/Sonic Adventure 2 years. I think, for the most part, fans of the original games (as they were coming out) have moved on and accepted their terribleness. I have a lot of affection for a good Sonic game, but I think it's ultimately a design myth in many ways. Everyone who wants one wants it to represent a gaming ideal they never actually fell in love with. Adventure and its characters inspire this passion for this ultimate Sonic game, but I don't think it can ever happen.

Also, Generations should have been the final game in the series. It was a pretty fun mix of old-and-new.

Freedom Planet is the best Sonic since Sonic 2. Go and play that instead!

All of the previews suggest this new 3DS one is quite good as well.

My friend did have a Sega CD and he did have Sonic CD so that was probably my favorite growing up. I remember my older brother having a Neo Geo Pocket and there was some weird Sonic game for it that I remember sort of being alright.