What is a Sonic anyway? A Sonic The Hedgehog retrospective

Sonic the hedgehog used to be a rival to Mario himself, but he's been in a bit of a rut (to put it lightly) for the last 20 years. Why is this? What is 'proper' sonic? What kind of twisted subhuman filth is responsible for Labyrinth Zone?

A woefully under equipped Architect tries to answer these questions and more in an attempt to get to the bottom of Sonic's problems and successes, once and for all.

You saw:
Sonic the Hedgehog- 1991
Sonic 2- 1992
Sonic 3+ Knuckles- 1994
Sonic Adventure- 1998
Sonic Adventure 2- 2001
Sonic Unleashed- 2008
Sonic 4 Episode 2- 2010
Sonic Generations- 2011
Sonic Boom- 2014
Sonic Lost World-2013
Super Mario World- 1990

Interesting Links:

[HeeminGaminStation]

7:30 "you'll probably miss it on your first run of the level"

I have played that game probably over 60 times in the last 30 years and I am just now learning about this short cut.

[spudsbuchlaw]

"(Sonic 3) has a pretty noticable drop in music quality, "
Excuse me?

[rocklee]

I wrote:
"You are the fastest thing alive, but watch your step."

[MattLohkamp]

for what it's worth, i SERIOUSLY prefer black bars for letter boxing - the blurred mirroring of the edges of the screen are super distracting.

[tatters]

"Blue, yeah, fast! Fight eggman and doesn't afraid of anything."

Clearly I came up with the best 10 word description.

[Alzter]

Adam: "Before I talk about the next game, a small intermission..."

Me: "Damn it, not another sponsorship for Raid Shadow Legends or Squarespace..."

"Because I want to talk about Rings."

Me: "p h e w"

[PostMesmeric]

Interesting. I've kinda been burnt out on Sonic analyses these days, because most videos like this tend to run in circles or talk about stuff that's already been covered repeatedly, but I was engrossed in what you had to say. I especially liked how you mentioned Yuji Naka's "play to perfection" ideology, because it spelled out a lot of stuff that other analysis videos I've seen have overlooked. It added an interesting new dimension to your argument. Great work. I'll check out your other videos too.

[bunnybreaker]

When Sonic Unleashed came out I was in a strange situation where my then girlfriend loved the Werehog levels, but didn't like the Sonic levels and I was the opposite. We really enjoyed the game since we only had to play the levels we liked, but I could never imagine going through the whole thing myself.

[involuntaryascetic]

I must respectfully disagree with you about SA2 rails being automatics. There's a mechanic where you hold the action button to speed up but if you don't lean into a sharp corner you fall off, creating the improvable areas that are key to sonics design. However I will admit most players don't know how it works as the game never explains it. even I don't fully understand it myself. With this newfound insight into the rail mechanics, I'd like to take another look into final rush, sonics final level. while it is absolutely flooded with rails when you know how to go faster on them it becomes a non-linear level with design akin to the old Genesis levels with numerous alternate routes and shortcuts.

[KingTwelveSixteen]

On the bit where "you have to slow down" in Launch Base Zone, you could have used the lightning shield to double-jump over the whole thing. As a veteran player of Sonic 3 & Knuckles I imagined it in my mind's eye instantly on seeing that part. You could also do it without needing the shield using the default spin attack; jump through the first laser, break the spiky dude with the spin attack, and just continue on without stopping.

[cirnosnumberfan]

"Sonic 3 dropped in music quality"

... Say sike, right now

[sth]

I've never played a sonic game. I'm honestly not interested. I, generally speaking, don't like platformers. If the fact that I sat through a nearly 50 minute video about a topic I'm relatively uninterested in without realising how long it was isn't a testament to your skill as a writer, I don't know what is. Very well done!

[Khrene]

Description of Sonic as a character:

Sonic is an ecoterrorist/rebel with super speed.

Description of Sonic games' mechanics:

Gather items, and keep momentum while dodging obstacles.

[JoViljarHaugstulen]

The great thing the Chao garden provided was some progression that wasn't tied to skill so it gave some sense of progression even for more casual players who didn't care about improving their score it was also a great side activity providing some variety preventing things from getting dull or repetitive as quickly

And I personally found it pretty fun and nice (though I am not someone who can really comment much on Sonic games as I have only played Sonic Adventure 2 Battle)

[SuperGamefreak]

Truthfully sonic heroes would have been a decently comparison to being a decent upgrade to sa2 with some of the issues with puzzle design

[bisco]

21:30
I wouldn't call Shadow an edgy "alter ego".
I'd call him an edgy COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHARACTER!
In fact, come to think of it, the titular Sonic is the one character we know the LEAST about. Think about literally any character that isn't Sonic, and compare their backstories. Or, in Sonic's case the lack there of. Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge... EVEN JET THE HAWK. We know more about them than we do the main character. In fact, in a lot of the story-heavy games, the villains have just as much, if not more screen time! (I really don't know what the point of this was)

[GustavoCosta]

"noticeable drop in music quality"
Oi m8, are ye pickin' a fight?




Very good analysis though.

[vivisectedstar]

My initial 10 words or less description:


"a blue hedgehog runs really fast with good music"

[dominicjannazo]

I strongly disagree specifically with your assessment of final rush in SA2. IMO, it is one of the most classic-seeming levels in 3-d sonic, because of the mastery it allows. if you are good at the mechanics it uses, you can completely blow the level apart and turn it into basically a giant jungle gym in space. It has far better replayability than other levels, and lots of alternate routes that feel rewarding.

[thelastwindwaker]

You weren't kidding about calling yourself an outsider of the fandom cause this video had all of the hallmarks of what Sonic fans have had to deal with over the years. Right down to the "Sonic had a rough/rocky history something something 3D" and bringing up Big the Cat.