The Unfortunate Legacy of Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog: the beginning of the end.

0:00 Intro
4:40 Past
22:33 Present
42:55 Future

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#KingK #Sonic06

[riku]

Thanks for the Shadow write up at 17:26. It's nice to hear someone recognize that Shadow is a hero that wants to help humanity.

[playbossthebest]

This game is rushed in a deeply fascinating way: it's packed with content and very long. Instead of cutting stuff that wasn't quite done it feels like they... Left it there, no matter the quality. This leaves us with a game that is completed in theory but absolutely busted in practice. I know that they cut a lot of stuff anyway, but I still find it extremely odd that this is the route they took while developing the game (that's probably what happens when you take an earlier build and put the newly developed content in it before release)

[DesignDoc]

06 is iconic in so many ways, maybe for the wrong reasons but it's iconic nonetheless. It's been an interesting ride with this game to say the least. For as much harm that it's caused the community and the franchise itself, it has also (incidentally) more good than you'd think. Thinking back on it, this game is quite important to me. It was the first "let's play" series I ever saw with the Something Awful LP. I probably wouldn't have met most of my closest friends without it and I don't know if I'd be making stuff on Youtube in the same way. Its horrible flaws and half finished nature helped me begin to appreciate all the little nuances that go into game design. So, thanks 06.

Also P-06 is a genuinely good time that I'd recommend any Sonic Fan to try out, it's still flawed in a lot of ways but it's so much fun despite all of that.

[numbug]

I'd just wanna mention that Maria does not come up once in this story, and given that Shadow 05 ends with Shadow consciously and deliberately choosing to put his past behind himself and decide what to do based on who he is now makes 06's story even stronger.

When he's saying "if the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have", he's not doing it out of a sense of morality installed by Maria, he's doing it because that's what he as an individual wants to do. He really is a hero at heart.

[RyudanX]

This is the most measured, sensible take on Sonic '06 I've ever seen. This game is a true example of what happens when game development goes horribly wrong, and I agree that this truly could've been the follow-up to the Adventure series everyone asked for.

If anything, I want to download Project 06 to see for myself what this game for what it truly could've been.

[Braxmegaman]

I remember when Forces was coming out, I was so intrigued by Infinite. Based on his name, theme, and the ideas introduced in Generations, my theory was that he was somehow a collapsed multiversal singularity of all the OCs from everyone's game.
For those who don't know, he's just Some Guy who got kicked in the face by Shadow once, and never got over it.

[ryanwelch]

This is perhaps the most unique look at Sonic '06 I have seen. Most videos on it mostly talk about the gameplay bugs, odd story beats (the dreaded sonic kiss), and how the only saving grace is the music. If not that, then it's development history. Never has anyone discussed this games impact on how people discuss the Sonic franchise and even the development of Sonic games since. Watched this with my brother and he asked about my thoughts about the game and I was not favorable when describing it. After the video, I was blown away by how there were elements in the game that were praise-worthy. I even paused to mention the Solaris fight was actually really good when I finished the game.

I never considered how much communities have stained discourse surrounding this game. Kudos to you, King K.

Edit: To clarify: This is the most unique take *I* have seen. There have been many videos made on '06, and the popular ones tend to dunk on this game on some degree. I haven't seen a take like King K's before. There are probably vids that have made similar takes, I just haven't seen them.

[mercury]

The absolute most insane thing about project 06 is that allegedly the dev has NEVER actually played sonic 06 yet somehow its so incredibly faithful to the source material. I myself have played 06 and yet this guy has a better understanding of what sonic 06 was supposed to be than I ever could

[wreday]

Those lyrics during the credits are so ironic. "Life's an open book", "A compromise does not exist", "Never fear the fall". But in reality the series hasnt been doing any of that anymore, they dont want to push the envelope just as you said. So scared of failure, so scared to do new things, so many compromises... i dont blame Sega, especially after Boom, but most of their failures were in some way or another their own fault.

[Divock]

that rant on the way people approached sonic after 06 came out was one of the most depressing perspectives on this game that I've ever heard and I already considered the rushed development depressing

i've never even played it but i felt that

[gg-njwv]

Im so glad theres someone else who relates to this feeling I have about the early 2000s Sonic games. Like I know they're not great man but they held my attention and intrigue anyway and they're very nostalgic for me.

[grfrjiglstan]

There's some things a story just can't recover from. For this one, it's that all Mephiles had to do in order to immediately accomplish his goal and end the entire world was to squirt a little lemon juice in Elise's eyes.

[Mcawsome]

I got this game when I was about 12, knowing people didn't like it, thinking to myself, "How could anyone not like a game with sonic, shadow, and silver as playable characters with diverse movesets?" I was able to get through sonic's story, but I only got about halfway through silver and shadow's stories before I threw in the towel and sold the game. It was just too frustrating man.

[blizz]

an unleashed retrospective would go so hard. Ur opinions are so on point and is expressed in such an intelligent way

[goddessofanguish]

I love how this video compliments the Shadow one so well (with the bittersweet ending) but also its is own thing, fantastic job! I'm also really glad you didn't mention the infamous kiss - you showed it yes but script wise, you didn't go for the low hanging fruit that everyone goes for. You put it so eloquently when you said you love the games 'spirit' when it comes to favourite - that's such a nice way to put it.

[wolfpack_]

I'm really glad Project 06 gave this game a second (and generally positive) lease on life. Over the years I've heard a number of veretan fans talk about how a lot of the level design in this game (mostly the Sonic stages) was still great despite requiring a masterful execution of platforming to fully enjoy. Seeing fan projects that take the good parts of poor games and elevating/reworking it to the point were it's not just playable but genuinely fun for anyone makes me happy

[zanmaru]

The reason most people consider Shadow an edgy bad guy is simple: that's how Sega marketed him, prominently portraying him in front of dark clouds with a glock in one hand in an era where GTA was still the hot new thing.

Most people never played Shadow or Sonic 06 or if they did, they didn't take them seriously. And arguably Shadow WAS a villain through most of SA2, coming very close to committing genocide before fully regaining the memories of the promise he made.

That he's not a villain through most of the games he's featured in is true but it's clear why he's often presumed to be one.

[Fannintendociccio]

As someone who isn't really a fan of sonic, just having glimpses on it every once in a while, but being a very big Kirby fan, honestly I can see the actual passion of the devs when making the games up to 06. I can feel the same passion in both of these series, trying to take itself seriously enough and telling great connected stories. But Sega chewing more than it could with the 3d games and having the fandom seemingly mob bombarding them with complains and causing the series to lose any strength or will to try anything with time is incredibly sad. I've always seen 06 and the previous as in really trying to do something cool and caring for it, just it was either not executed perfectly, deliveries being silly or weird but still had heart, and 06 with being so flawed but still passionate. I honestly would be distraught if something like this would happen to Kirby, I'm so thankful that a case of rushed game and stuff didn't cause this phenomenon for Hal.

[Garrulous]

This resonated a lot with me. I did love this game when I was younger but eventually it became that bastion of failure you talked about. And it's absolutely understandable and relatable to not have any hope regarding future entries especially after Forces. My cold dead soul has come around after Frontiers, but I know it won't be for everyone.

I hope you enjoy Xenoblade 3!

[quonit]

I've been working for over a year on my own Sonic 06 video essay and let me just say I'm so glad there's another good one out there. I cannot explain how much I appreciate this video existing