The first Sonic Adventure--to this day, I consider it the fluke that (sadly) got me back into Sonic.

Though I haven't played the game in years, and I'm afraid if I play it today I would find that it has aged terribly in my eyes.

All other Sonic 3D games have been dissappointing or just plain wretched.

I haven't really enjoyed the handheld games to play them over and over again--though I did like Sonic Rush's OST.

Sonic 2K6 was the last "Real" Sonic game, in that it generally tried to stick to the established formula (for better or worse). It was completely terrible, of course, but my criteria for being a "Real" Sonic game does not require it to be a GOOD Sonic game.

The last GOOD Sonic game was easily (and regrettably) SA2 for the consoles, and probably Sonic Advance [1] for handhelds (although to be fair, Rush wasn't all that bad - it just wasn't my cup of tea). Those were what, 2001? Astounding just how far back that goes.

Sadly, though, with Advance 2 the 2D games jumped the shark, and with Heroes the 3D games followed suit. As soon as Shadow rolled around, there was no doubt left in my mind which side of the metaphorical "shark" we were on.

Sure, some things are pretty awesome for the franchise right now; namely, his chummy relationship with Nintendo, down to being in an Olympic game with his former rival Mario and being in what may be the best game ever - EVER - aka Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Bioware RPG is probably going to be awesome just for the fact it's a Bioware RPG and Bioware makes awesome RPGs that don't fall back on the derivative turn-based combat (need proof? Go play Mass Effect). But then, you have to look at just how sad that is - the most awesome things happening to the franchise are happening in the hands of Sega's former rival and in the hands of an otherwise completely unrelated Canadian developer. Whenever it's up to Sega to make their own game, it comes out ho-hum at best (Secret Rings), a downright sin against humanity at worst (Sonic 2K6).

For that matter, Sega's flat-out WHORING the franchise, putting the poor blue fella in more spin-offs at once than you can shake a stick at (Sonic partakes in the Olympics! Sonic plays Tennis! Sonic goes air-boarding! Sonic kicks Solid Snake's ass! Sonic goes RPG-ing! Sonic drinks a Coke!). Maybe it's time to slow down...?

I personally love Sonic and the Secret Rings, and simply ignore Shadow and Sonic 360. While Heroes was a definite miss, it wasn't until Shadow that gamers started to completely turn against the franchise across the board. I dont have an Advance or DS, so i can't weigh in on those games.

The last real authentic Sonic game for me was Sonic Rush Adventure...2D Sonic is still my greatest guilty pleasure...well the Advance games were kind of weak.

I'm a whore. Any mainstream game with Sonic's name in the title is "real" enough for me.

Enjoyable?

Well. I loved Sonic Rush like a fat person loves cake. It ticked all my boxes and let me spend a full year time trialing.

Sonic Rush Adventure I freaking enjoyed, but never to the same extent.

Secret Rings I completed, had fun with, but never felt masochistic enough to push beyond that. Not that it was bad, just tedious after the story mode was done.

Adventure 2... funny, it was also the first Sonic game I played the whole way through.

Sonic Adventure 2 is the last one I bothered to finish. Sonic Heroes killed my spirit.

And knowing you, it's all the more reason to praise Sonic Heroes.

Don't give up.

The last "REAL" Sonic game?

For console, it'd have to be Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic Heroes was good, but too many bottomless pits. *shudders*

Sonic Rush Adventure takes the cake on the handheld front.

In terms of anything 3D, I'd have to say SA2. I actually got sick of Sonic Heroes after beating three out of the four stories and barely managing to get one chaos emerald, and I refuse to play anything beyond that.

As for handheld, I think it would be Sonic Rush. I haven't played Sonic Rush Adventure yet, so I can't judge there. Sonic Rivals for PSP was okay, but it got pretty boring. The Advance games were cool, but it pales in comparison to Sonic Rush. I still love all my classic Megadrive games, though.

lol same here @ Kaze... I said to hell with the chaos emeralds

I liked SA1, SA2, and even Sonic Heroes when I got used to the concept, and the quirks. As far as the handheld games, I've gotten varied levels of enjoyment out of all of them, though I am not above criticizing certain aspects of those games.

For home consoles I'd have to go with SA2. It's the last game where I can play as Sonic, without a team or amigos or partners or whatever, and have a lot of fun.

The purist in me says Sonic 3 and Knuckles. 2D was how Sonic started out and what I grew up on, and that freedom - rather than all of this "mission" stuff and linear pathways - will always mean "Sonic" for me. I've never seen it as purely about speed.

Basically, I didn't like the SA reboot. SA2 felt like the last time that even that original spirit was touched in the mainstream titles - but even there, it was linear, glitchy and handwalking the player through things.

This is why I like the Advanced series as a throwback, and SAd3 in particular: sprawling levels which have enough hazards to've been designed by someone out to kill you, replay value through searching but not ramming this whole "mission" idea down your throat, no trying to cram in epic storylines that the writers don't know how to handle afterwards... Just playable games. 🙂

Of the more modern games, SAd3 is the last reminder of what the franchise used to be.

Shadow was quite fun. You could blow up the internets. Sonic Next was just too weird. It isn't so much "wow this is Sonic in the real world!" its more "Wow, that's kinda nice, but I have just glitched through the loop de loop".

Last real Sonic game? I kinda agree with Vecktaur (copyright that before Nintendo) that Sonic Heroes wasn't all that terrible. Wasn't particularly great

Last good one - (not including Riders, which I love) Was probably Sonic Adventure 2. It was enjoyable.

The Advance series were alright. Hated Rush. Kinda want to play Rush Adventure, Rivals and Secret Rings.

Hm...

Sonic 3 and Knuckles. I'm not going to say Adventure 1 and 2 even though I was wowed by them. Adventure 1 was a good game as was Adventure 2, but they are nowhere near as tight, refined, or well honed as S3&K. It is widely considered the pinnacle of the series for a reason.

Everything that has followed Adventure 2 has only declined since sadly.

The Advances were nice steps up. I liked Rush, but I'm still not sure how I feel about Rush Adventure, which I feel is a step back down, but I think thats for another thread.