Why I Couldn't be Happier about Sonic's Return to Form

Have you heard the news? That's right, Sonic has officially backed away from silly gimmicks, broken The Sonic Cycle and saved his spikey skin, and I couldn't be happier. Sonic Colours on Wii and DS along with the downloadable Sonic 4: Episode 1 have received rave reviews from many a journalist recently, and if Sega continue to make Sonic games as awesome as these then the blue dude is officially awesome for the first time since the Mega Drive and Sega CD days. Of course, I liked Sonic Unleashed a lot, but I was clearly in the minority. This time though, things are oh so different. Now that Sonic Colours and Sonic 4 have received these rave reviews, fans and gamers in general who know about Sonic can rest easy. All those years of pain and stupid gimmicks are finally over, and the 'Hog has a bright future ahead of him. Although, there is that new Sonic Riders game coming to the Xbox's Kinect line, but just ignore that.

Weirdly, Sega have made the decision to remove all the 'bad' Sonic games from shelves, including last year's awful Sonic and the Black Knight. This is pretty good news, and a clever move from the company in my eyes. Why? Picture the scene. There's a guy who wants to get into Sonic games, but doesn't know the slightest thing about them. He picks up an awful title in the series and takes it as a first impression, imprinting the fact that "all Sonic games suck" into his mind and never buy a Sonic game ever again. So if Sega take away all these ruined titles, they'll get more sales. And of course, more money for Sega means more money to produce more awesome Sonic games. Everyone's a winner!


A while ago Sega also confirmed the next Sonic title in the main series, before Colours is even out! It sounds awesome, and is a great celebration of all (good) things Sonic-related. Apparently they're doing another 'Sonic Unleashed daytime levels' style game like Colours, but it'll be set in such classic stages as the mighty Green Hill Zone. I know we've got to wait until sometime next year 'till we can discover anything more about this game, but just the confirmation is enough to make fans go nuts. 2011 certainly is looking like an awesome year for gaming already, and if the new Sonic game is any good it'll definitely contribute to the oh-so lovely awesomeness raised by the likes of the 3DS and Skyward Sword. Roll on next year!