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Why Are You Still a Sonic Fan?


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Well, it seems like hatred for the Sonic franchise has reached another threshold thanks to Sonic Boom. Shattered Crystal's critical response has been lukewarm, while Rise of Lyric has been doing terribly worse. People are already calling it Sonic '14.

I myself have recently taken my second sabbatical from the Sonic series, in order to decide whether or not I still want to be a fan or not. As of late, I've gotten sick of the negativity and vitriol this franchise has been accumulating since the death of the Dreamcast. Honestly, I'm beginning to think that maybe the haters are right and that Sonic isn't worth supporting anymore, that he'll never be respected again, and that it's time to give up.

Sonic's been a big part of my life since I was 4, but if he's going to continue to draw one negative response after another that I have to deal with as a fan, then it's not something I think I want to endure anymore.

So, I ask you. Why are YOU still a Sonic fan? Why do YOU still support this franchise after all that has happened with it. With all the ups and downs and the constant hate that it has gotten, what is keeping you from jumping ship and hating Sonic the Hedgehog like everyone else?

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Because I stopped giving much a shit about the insults Sega keeps shitting out and calling Sonic games. There are still several truly great Sonic games that I love and some fans keeping the spirit alive, and we're creating actually good Sonic games in the absence of Sega's competence. The rest of the fanbase can maul each other and Sega and Dimps and "Sonic Team" can keep hammering themselves into oblivion for all I care. If there was anything left of "official" Sonic, it died with Sonic 4.

Edited by Mr Lange
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Because I stopped giving much a shit about the insults Sega keeps shitting out and calling Sonic games. There are still several truly great Sonic games that I love and some fans keeping the spirit alive, and we're creating actually good Sonic games in the absence of Sega's competence. The rest of the fanbase can maul each other and Sega and Dimps and "Sonic Team" can keep hammering themselves into oblivion for all I care. If there was anything left of "official" Sonic, it died with Sonic 4.

I wholeheartedly Smurfing agree with this statement. I'm more attracted to the fandom than ever. I've even wrote an essay of Sonic 4 killing Sonic for real. Both the fangames and the commercial spiritual successors are awesome.

Edited by Miru
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Personally, it's because I'm like this very specific form of "furry" (does it even count) in that I just like the Sonic character designs. In fact, I grew up not on the games, or the shows, or the comics, but from... Newgrounds animations and Deviantart fanart... yeah.. In fact, I might not even count as a "real" Sonic fan because I actually don't like platformer games. Because of that I have this firm belief that Sonic is a thing by the fans and for the fans to make and enjoy, and this website seems to agree.

 

I could technically move on from the Sonic fandom and go on and make my own thing, but I'm just so entranced by the character designs that it activates my misanthropic subconscious to stop being a human for a second and become a hedgehog.

 

Sure, the fanbase is some of the most infamously broken of all, but so are a lot of things in 2015, from Star Wars, to Bionicle, among others... It's so broken that it's become fragmented into sub-fandom "factions" that don't squabble amongst each other, me being in the "edgy Sonic" camp", but this might not be a necessarily bad thing if Sega tries to cater to all the different types of fans. And it would seem, everything is going in all directions, which is good. Sonic Boom (the show is good, I deny the games' existence) is catering to fans, new and old, who want a comedic take on Sonic, the 2015 movie caters to "edgy" fans like me, and the games continuing on their thing, catering to the old fans. Not to mention, the comics which have a whole different fandom and even universe of their own.

 

The problem with Sega is that it's not trying to cater to some of the most influential and militant of all the Sonic factions, which are the die-hard retro fans, who want more of the Sonic they remembered, whom many critics are part of this . That's why I don't like Freedom Planet: it's draining away all the old, cynical retro fans because Sega isn't catering to them, so they have no more hope for Sega and look to others to get that 2D Sonic experience.

 

So what is the answer then? Communities like these are the answer. If we hate Sega for what they've done, then we make things for ourselves. Since I'm never going to see sonic characters with guns again, then I'll make my own.

 

Also, Ryan sir, I apologize if I contacted you at random, which may seem weird, but you never replied to me?

Edited by StreaktheCommandante
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I get the feeling I'm more of a "fan" than anyone developer at SEGA by now. The same could be said for a lot of the community, so many people show much more passion in their ideas and works. Honestly, though, I can't really call myself a fan if we're speaking on a franchise basis; at this point I consider myself a fan of specific games and of the community that continues to create their loving tributes to Sonic in one way or another.

 

And honestly, I'm still waiting for SEGA's other franchises to actually be given some attention or be bought out by a different developer so we can see them rise from their graves. I'd be totally fine with them just killing Sonic to give JSR or something some love, but of course they're not gonna do it.

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No matter how bad the current games can be, they don't displace how much I enjoy the classic games. I still regularly play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my phone and at times dabble into playing Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog CD.

 

And honestly even as bad as Sonic Boom has been, I was never really interested in that segment of the Sonic series, much like I have no particular interest in any of the spinoff Sonic media except for the OVA. I ignore plenty of poor, downright awful pieces of media Marvel shots out for their major characters like Hulk or Spiderman but I still remain a big fan of those series, I just tend to pick and choose which continuities I think I'd be interested in. Despite how badly they've gone at lengths to ruin a character just for a few extra comic book sales, I still would very much call myself a Marvel fan because at time they still managed to bring out some quality pieces of entertainment.

 

Likewise I think SEGA has had a decent period recently going from the lows of 06 back to some highs with titles like Sonic Colours (This is another Sonic game I'm not fond of, but I know it has plenty of fans!) If it's good like Sonic Generations and Sonic and Allstars Racing Transformed? Great! I'll be there to get as much enjoyment out of the games as possible, if it's bad? I'll just ignore it and forget it even exists (I've yet to play through bad titles like Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.) I've dealt with Sonic games on this basis since Sonic Heroes and it's served me well. I've found SEGA JP/EU did a good job between Sonic Colours to Sonic and Allstars Racing Transformed, hopefully they find that consistency again, it wasn't the best idea to let SEGA US handle a spinoff of the franchise after they budgeted that colossal failure in Aliens: Colonial Marines, at least people got the Sonic Boom animation out of it, eh?

 

But I think you'll find this is a problem in most fandoms. I'm a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I know a large group who absolutely hate anything that came after the original cartoon (Personally, I think the successors are superior to the original.) likewise every single episode of Doctor Who is always met with "Moffat has ruined the series YET AGAIN!" you'll find people being extremely critical in one aspect or another.

 

Would I swear off the franchise and that it has no hope? No that's downright silly. Will I be optimistic, to the point that I'll take any insult to the franchise as an attack at me? Again no way! I'll evaluate on a media by media basis and decide if I want to participate either my time or money, if not, move on till the next!

 

And honestly, I'm still waiting for SEGA's other franchises to actually be given some attention or be bought out by a different developer so we can see them rise from their graves. I'd be totally fine with them just killing Sonic to give JSR or something some love, but of course they're not gonna do it.

 

The series that's blocking a new Jet Set Radio isn't Sonic but Yakuza since most of the developers are working. SEGA isn't going to kill that series anytime soon : P

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Sonic Boom is just a spin-off. There are some bad Mario spin-offs too, but people doesn't stop being a Mario fan.

Other than Sonic Boom, the last Sonic game was Sonic Lost World and wasn't not half bad. Same for Sonic 4 Ep 2. And Generations (Edit: And Colors) was a pretty good game. I don't see any reasons to stop being a Sonic fan.

Edited by Mors
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Well I'm still a Sonic fan since 1996 of christmas day! Oh the first game was just a wonderful childhood experience, and a few months later came Sonic 2! Boy was that the hype of my life! Me and my brother always play that badass game for a while (I was Sonic and he was Tails). Then about 2 years later...SONIC 3 FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!! Best birthday present of all in my life. As the years go by a bit, Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 for gamecube, Sonic Mega & Gem Collection was another awesome experience...ok I guess that's enough flashback...

Anyway...what I'm saying is that being a Sonic fan still is wonderful and will keep on playing Sonic games (even if it's terrible...hm...I think that there are some terrible games that I've played). But to be honestly with everyone...I hate the Sonic Boom games (well I tried the demo BUT BOY WAS IT TERRIBLE! I might try the wii u...maybe). BUT wait everyone! That doesn't mean that I have the Tv series. The Tv series was good, so good that I haven't watch a good Sonic cartoon for a long time (Sonic X was good in the original japanese but 4 KIDS RUIN IT!!).

Well people, blame Sega, Sonic teams or Dimps (or whatever the hell it is), blame them for not making Sonic the same as he was! Atleast Taxman reminded us the good side of Sonic with his badass remastered version of Sonic 1, 2 & CD. So don't you forget guys.

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I've already said this before around here somewhere, but here's the gist:

 

I owe myself to sonic, and I owe my future to sonic. Sounds kind of weird, but it's true.

 

If it weren't for sonic 2 and the air speed cap, I would have probably never been interested in the way games work. I wouldn't be here, and I probably wouldn't have a future ahead of me. I probably would have stuck to art and music, instead of combining those in my work.

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Because Sanic its too fats.....

right....

 

i have no idea why i like sonic on the first place. But, seeing alot of haters did this and there makes me dont want to leave this franchise. Seriously, i never thought that Sonic had alot of haters.

And, it feels good when i see alot of fan still want to get Sonic from the hell.

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I'm not. At least, I haven't been for years. I'm a fan of good videogames. And if Sonic has taught me anything in the last few years, it's that a cast of characters does not make a good game. 

 

But no, i'm no longer an actual sonic fan. There isn't a single old IP that Sega still develops for that they haven't completely ruined for me, including Sonic. In fact, I think one of the best things that could happen to Sonic is for Sega to disappear and for some other company that doesn't suck to inherit their IPs.

 

People keep begging for Sega to bring back their old IPs, but when has that ever worked out? Sonic never works, Nights sucked, and Phantasy Star isn't even remotely recognizable anymore. I cringe when i try to imagine what they would do if they pushed a Jet Set Radio 3. So yeah, i'm pretty much an anti-fan at this point.

Edited by Serephim
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...Wow. The hatred, vitriol and overall negativity here is astounding. I can see that this was the wrong place to ask for an opinion on this subject.

 

Frankly, I feel that I should remain the open-minded (though wiser) Sonic fan I've always been, if only to avoid the miserable alternative I've seen in this topic. Could one of the mods please close this? I'm done with it...and, honestly, this forum, too. I really don't belong here. -_-

 

(And Streak, I believe  I've already responded to you on deviantART.)

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...Wow. The hatred, vitriol and overall negativity here is astounding. I can see that this was the wrong place to ask for an opinion on this subject.

 

 

It comes with being a fan, and it's a byproduct of past love. I attribute it to why long running game franchises tend to have such extreme splits. Either way, this forum is the last place you can expect to get bonfire happy huddles. 

 

 

Honestly, I'm beginning to think that maybe the haters are right and that Sonic isn't worth supporting anymore, that he'll never be respected again, and that it's time to give up.

 

 

People have been feeling this way since the Dreamcast...and a group breaks off with every entry forward. But there's only so long one can hold out on faith for a "next time" where they "get it right". 

Edited by Serephim
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I still have hope for Sonic. Sonic Boom is just another spinoff for the line of spinoff games like Sonic Riders, Chaos and the sega all stars games. Weither or not the spinoffs are good is another story but I don't think a minor spinoff is going to "happy feet wombo combo" me out of the sonic series yet. If Sonic Team messes up the next main stream game even after Sonic is no longer stuck to nintendo then I may consider giving sonic a break.

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...Wow. The hatred, vitriol and overall negativity here is astounding. I can see that this was the wrong place to ask for an opinion on this subject.

 

Frankly, I feel that I should remain the open-minded (though wiser) Sonic fan I've always been, if only to avoid the miserable alternative I've seen in this topic. Could one of the mods please close this? I'm done with it...and, honestly, this forum, too. I really don't belong here. -_-

 

(And Streak, I believe  I've already responded to you on deviantART.)

There's a difference between being open-minded and being blinded by optimism. I think everyone by this point has decent justification for being pessimistic about the franchise, but expressing that doesn't mean we're throwing out nothing but hate. It just means we're not as starry-eyed as you might be, but we hold value in the series and communities for various reasons regardless. I understand it's frustrating to see negativity surrounding something you enjoy, but the truth is most of the community is rather jaded at this point. It's pretty rare to find a "fan" that isn't either too young to scrutinize anything or isn't extremely cynical about Sonic's continued spiral.

 

If you're really going to leave, I can't stop you. However, I'm going to tell you that you won't find attitudes at any other major Sonic forum that don't largely fall into those two categories I mentioned.

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...Wow. The hatred, vitriol and overall negativity here is astounding. I can see that this was the wrong place to ask for an opinion on this subject.

 

Frankly, I feel that I should remain the open-minded (though wiser) Sonic fan I've always been, if only to avoid the miserable alternative I've seen in this topic. Could one of the mods please close this? I'm done with it...and, honestly, this forum, too. I really don't belong here. -_-

 

(And Streak, I believe  I've already responded to you on deviantART.)

 

Well, first off, I didn't seem to get a notification for some reason... maybe you should try that again?

 

 

 

And second of all, it's to be expected with any community that has retro and gamer fans, and a place where 2D games are made usually translates into the fact that people aren't getting what they want in a Sonic game, so they're making their own. Retro fans are belligerent because they have a very specific definition of what a "sonic" game defines...

 

Just imagine if Sonic Boom or Shadow the Hedgehog weren't based on the Sonic IP. Sure the technical faults leave much to be desired, but they got needless hate for simply being labeled with "Sonic" on them, even if they weren't such bad games after all. (Though I must agree, '06 is just objectively bad). That's really the reason Sonic gets so much hate these days: the most influential and militant of Sonic fans believe that any deviation of "Sonic's purity" must be destroyed.

 

Sometimes it loops into hypocrisy, because people will complain if the mainstream Sonic games become too "dark and edgy" but ignore or even celebrate the dark themes of the comics. Those two fanbases are so distant and disparate that you probably won't find them in each others' communities, though a rough guess suggests most of you have read the comics.

 

 

 

From all of this and my own observations, I could group Sonic fans into three types: Those who only care about the games (call them "Gamers"), Those who care about the story and character designs (call them "Mobians"), and those who overlap both (and we can call these, "Fans").... though I may be wrong, or make really vague stereotypes... but hell, I'm sure it's pretty accurate.

 

The Gamers are those who want to play Sonic, but only as a video game; they won't be die-hard fans because they simply like the games, and if they don't like it, they're going to play other games. They're the most numerous outside the fanbase, because Sonic is just another game they've played instead of a fandom they're in. If they are die-hard Sonic fans, expect them to have a canon Sonic character as their avatar, and probably are retro fans. They're most influential because professional critics are in this camp.

 

The Mobians are those people making fanart and fanfiction, and usually have a Sonic-based character as their avatar. Some of them ship, some of them make fancharacters, and some just go along with their lives, but most importantly they all actually care about the characters and plot of Sonic franchises, whether it's the games, or the comics... but they might not actually play the games, or only a few. Some of these people, if they've had enough of Sonic, just become regular furries, but only some. Judging by my observations, I believe we mostly fit in this camp.

 

Then of course, are the Fans. Most of us are probably here. They are like Mobians but do focus on playing the games as well.

 

All of them can be crazy. We've discussed what crazy Gamers can do. Mobians can argue and flame over non-canon relationships and some even act like they're in a relationship with fictional Sonic characters. And Fans can be both.

 

The problem is the human element. So the solution is just to eliminate all humans to see our own problems, and what's so wrong with ourselves.

 

 

 

Eh, what am I to say, I don't even like platformers, and I wasn't even born yet in 1991. The reason I'm on this site is because I want to join a fangame community that solves its own problems enough not to complain all the time. Our fanbase is fucked, but not the franchise I suppose.

Edited by StreaktheCommandante
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...Wow. The hatred, vitriol and overall negativity here is astounding. I can see that this was the wrong place to ask for an opinion on this subject.

Frankly, I feel that I should remain the open-minded (though wiser) Sonic fan I've always been, if only to avoid the miserable alternative I've seen in this topic. Could one of the mods please close this? I'm done with it...and, honestly, this forum, too. I really don't belong here. -_-

(And Streak, I believe I've already responded to you on deviantART.)

You asked for opinions and you got em. Deal with it.

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I wanted to save this image for a more elaborate topic in the future, but to hell with it.

 

This is why Sonic games are no longer good Sonic games.

 

lXpTV6y.png

 

The "legacy" diagram is what made Sonic games what they were. It's what set them not just apart, but ABOVE every other platformer. Without that, you don't have a Sonic game, you just have a platformer; no matter how many slope-looking things and rings and animal characters you cram into it.

The games have been gradually reducing more and more to the "modern" diagram on this chart, and Lost World finally achieved it along with making more bad design choices on top of it.

This is not about "purity". The Advance games lost some of the gameplay depth, Rush even more so, but they were still good Sonic games. It doesn't have to be perfect, even though ideally it should be very close or the same as the Genesis games. Or hell, find ways to improve that formula.

But, not only have they not been improving the formula, they've been making it worse, and worse, and worse. We're not afraid of "change" or them "trying something new". We're pissed off that their "trying something new" always comes with more compromises and once again fails to address the glaring flaws that were left behind by their previous attempt to reboot the gameplay. And of course, they continue to avoid the two big formulas that were really good and did phenomenally well; the Genesis formula and the Adventure formula. Trying a new formula won't work if they only use 10% of the ingredients they used to have. Generations was moving in the right direction, then they promptly discard all of that as if they had no idea what they were onto. The jump from Generations to Lost World shows they really have no idea what they're doing.

Don't even get me started on Sonic 4.

 

I'll go into this in the future with a more thorough explanation, I'm hoping to make a video on it as well.

 

The problem with Sonic is not the fans.

It's not some obscure detail.

It's not one isolated issue like too many unused characters.

The real split in the fanbase are those who can see the difference illustrated above, and those who can't.

Those who can are either awaiting, or have given up on, Sonic's return to form as a game series, preferably with the same rich and beautiful aesthetics that walked hand in hand with it.

Those who can't are squabbling over the more stupid features irrelevant to what makes a Sonic game, such as whether or not Silver should be canon or why Black Knight didn't get a sequel. They're engrossed more in the lore or the themes than the games themselves, because they can't recognize what a Sonic game is. To them, Sonic games are just a container for all the ridiculous ideas Sega craps out, and they're only fans of those ideas. This is why they're quick to refute the difference in quality between old and new games, accuse 90s fans of being "blinded by nostalgia", and will blame any problems the franchise has on the fanbase, voice actors, and other such nonsense.

Edited by Mr Lange
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Story time, kids! Take your seats!

 

Anyways, I was in elementary school, where I was kind of a loner. Not really sure why I was a loner, but I was. At that point, I wasn't an avid fan of video games and whatnot because I didn't have interest in them. One day I was hiding near the playground where everybody was playing. Suddenly, this awkward kid came up to me and see if I wanted to play a game called "Sonic Genesis" (At this point, Sonic Genesis barely came out). At that point, I didn't grasp the difference between a good game and a bad game, but I remembered loving the crap out of the game. This kid later came to my house, conveniently, with a Sega Genesis, and we played the Sonic trilogy for the entire rest of the day. As years gone by, I'd have more and more friends drop by so we could play some Sonic games, even though games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed were released.

 

I guess the point of that little story is that I made friends because of Sonic the Hedgehog and his games. That is (partly) the reason why I am still a Sonic fan today, so I know that I can spend time with my friends of how much this new Sonic game is kickass. If a Sonic game sucks, me and my friends would banter on how bad it is (We would usually just have meet ups just to make fun of Sonic '06. That game reached clown status, ladies and gentlemen). The point of Sonic, since its inception, is so we could have fun while playing the game, and to this day, that point hasn't changed for me.

 

What also helps is the Sonic fanbase. For as rabid as they can get, at times, they shine like a gem. The fandom may be crazy, but they are very much devoted to give us awesome things like fan games, hilarious videos, etc. For example, have you ever noticed that people appreciate Sonic the Hedgehog so much that they devote all of their free time to make fan games? Special mention goes out to fan games like Sonic BtS/AtS and (To some extent) Freedom Planet. Another example is the Sonic Shorts series.

 

 

They were inspired by a great franchise to make games and videos that is also great, and thus, we get more out of Sonic.

 

As for the future of Sonic the Hedgehog, I am really optimistic. Even though Sonic Boom flopped, I still look forward to what Sonic Team has in store for us. For me, if a Sonic game is good, it hits it right out of the ball park (Sonic Colors, Generations, Sonic CD Re-release). I have a gut feeling that very good Sonic games are on the way for us pretty soon, and I am hopeful that they will appease some of the hardcore pessimists in this thread. (KIDDING. Jeez.) I'm with you, Ryan. I'm hopeful.

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Why am I still a Sonic fan?

because I liek 2 go fast

 

I've been playing sonic games for a good half of my life- I got into the fanbase pretty late.  I loved SA and SA2, those two games defined the later half of my childhood.  I've just emotionally invested myself into the sonic series for so long I just can't leave lol

 

Granted I've also expanded into multitude of other games, but Sonic games are just those games I can come back to, just to have fun playing and relax.  There's nothing convoluted about how to play like League of Legends.  There's no annoying ass 6 year old telling me how hard they boned my mother like on CoD multiplayer.  There's no dickish hard level design like in some other games out there...ohshitwaitthereseggmanland

 

tl;dr sonic is love sonic is life

unless it's pokemon or league

<3

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