History FranchiseOriginalSin / SonicTheHedgehog

* The egregious amount of pop in has become one of the most widespread criticisms from fans and critics. However, the Hedgehog Engine has always had trouble with draw distance and pop in as far back as ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''. The difference is that in previous games that used the Hedgehog Engine, the camera was locked in place most of the time, which, combined with the linear level design, hid the pop in and made it out of view most of the time. In ''Frontiers'', however, the levels are non-linear and the camera is mostly unlocked and able to move a full 360 degree angle (outside of some platforming segments, some of the boss fights and the Cyber Space levels), which, as a result, exposes the pop in that would've been hidden in past games.

!! ‘’ VideoGame/SonicFrontiers''

* One of the most polarizing elements is the character of Princess Elise, who many people remark as looking [[RealisticSpeciesCartoonySpecies incredibly out-of-place next to Sonic and pals]], but realistic human characters had been around since ''Adventure'' without too much complaining. Elise is just the first one to be a major character who regularly interacts with the cartoon animals, which throws the contrast in far sharper relief (and the romantic subtext just makes it even more questionable). And while ''Adventure'' does have realistic humans, the technology demanded they be stylized to a certain degree, and ''Anime/SonicX'' does much the same outside of the games with an anime art style that makes the animal characters and human characters fit together better (though it helps that it's a fish-out-of-water story to begin with, with Sonic and friends being contextually out of place as a plot point). Seventh-gen hardware allowed for a lot more photorealism (which was the game's goal to begin with), which, again, put a spotlight on how poorly they fit in with the cartoon animals. Not helping matters is that, outside the pre-rendered cutscenes, the human characters (with the possible exception of Eggman) fall squarely into the UncannyValley. ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' addresses this sin, however, by giving the humans more cartoonish proportions to better fit in with the funny animals.

* Many point to Issue 50 as the moment the series started going downhill, mainly because it [[KilledOffForReal killed off its main villain]]. Issue 50 was meant to be the GrandFinale for the comic, so killing Robotnik was the natural conclusion. However, the comic was renewed at the last minute, [[PostScriptSeason resulting in a general lack of direction]]. Though "The Big Goodbye!" (and its revised version, "For Whom the Bell Tolls") is seen as a lot better than what came after, there's a reason why ''Sonic'' fans [[BrokenBase argue]] over whether or not it was one of the last good stories during Ken Penders' tenure as one of the lead writers, [[DorkAge or one of the first bad ones]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW-nMRZGpgA This episode]] of ''WebVideo/ErrantSignal'' argues that the early marketing of the Sonic games, which focused on how fast Sonic can go, eventually led to problems in the 3D games as SEGA started to buy into their own marketing hype. Maintaining control of Sonic's momentum is the main facet of the gameplay in the older 2D games, not simply speed for its own sake, something that was forgotten in the post-''Adventure'' Sonic games. This sent the franchise running straight into the PolygonCeiling, leading to games where poor controls designed more for high speed than precision lead to exercises in controller-throwing frustration. Only starting with ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' and especially with ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' did SEGA finally figure out how to do Sonic in 3D, mainly by rediscovering the focus on controlling Sonic's speed rather than simply going as fast as possible (and there are some who say that they still haven't completely figured ''that'' out, either).

** After struggling to break through the PolygonCeiling for so long, ''Unleashed'' featured a mixture of 2D and 3D gameplay, with the 2D sections being fairly brief and integrating seamlessly with the 3D sections; this was well-received as it was the first time 2D Sonic gameplay had been featured on a console since ''Sonic 3&K''. ''Colors'' features an abundance of 2D gameplay, a fact that some have criticized when looking back at the game. ''Generations'' splits the gameplay between 2D stages with Classic Sonic and 3D stages with Modern Sonic. Despite this, Modern Sonic's stages still feature a fair amount of 2D sections which tend to last longer than the sections in ''Unleashed''. ''Lost World'' features another 2D/3D mix, along with a lot of divisive new gameplay elements. By the time ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' was announced, many fans had begun to feel that the 2D sections had become a crutch to compensate for not knowing how to implement good 3D gameplay, and that Classic fans were being unfairly pandered to, especially with ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' releasing in the same year. Classic Sonic's return, along with Modern Sonic once again having 2D sections in his levels, is one of the most common criticisms for ''Forces''.

* The combined ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' foreshadows much of the franchise's problems with "[[GameplayRoulette alternate gameplay]]" by virtue of introducing characters with powerful aerial abilities such as flight and gliding. The "alternate gameplay" of the [=3D=] ''Sonic'' games is often criticized for feeling out of place with the high-speed intention behind ''Sonic'', forcing players who don't enjoy them to contend with much slower-paced gameplay in order to get to the high-speed gameplay they like. However, the level design of ''3 & Knuckles'' is often noted to be much slower paced and winding compared to the more fluid design of its predecessor ''Sonic 2''. This is because ''Sonic 2'' was designed solely with Sonic's speed and jumping in mind, as Tails' signature helicopter flight in that game wasn't controlled by the player merely served as a means of getting a [=P2=]-controlled Tails back on screen. ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', on the other hand, is designed with supporting Tails' flight, Knuckles' gliding and climbing, and Sonic's lack of such vertical and aerial abilities all at the same time, forcing the level design to implement more slow-paced sections just to keep all three characters "balanced". The alternate gameplay of ''Sonic Adventure'' and beyond was merely a method to keep Tails and Knuckles' signature aerial abilities completely intact as opposed to shoehorning them onto Sonic's stages and allow them to completely break the game, and the lack of other playable characters in later [=3D=] ''Sonic'' games can even be seen as a pragmatic response to the "alternate gameplay" becoming so divisive itself, as it would give the developers a three-way MortonsFork between shoehorning characters onto stages that aren't designed for Sonic's lack of flight or gliding, retiring or nerfing those aerial abilities from the characters in question and angering fans who like them, or bringing back "alternate gameplay" wholesale and angering fans who dislike that.

* A common criticism in recent ''Sonic'' games is the use of automated and {{Scripted Event}}s over gameplay. However, as some have noted, the use of automated scripted segments goes all the way back to the very beginning (aka, this game), as some zones, such as Green Hill, Labyrinth and Star Light, featured sections in which Sonic goes on a scripted path with little-to-no player input. The difference though was that such segments were usually incredibly brief and non-intrusive, usually only lasting a few seconds at most before giving control back to the player. Later entries, particularly the 3D entries, would have much more elaborate and longer scripted sequences, often taking up larger chunks of the zone and taking control away from the player for much longer, leading to the growth of the aforementioned criticisms.

* [[https://www.avclub.com/the-best-worst-and-weirdest-games-from-25-years-of-so-1798248702/amp This article]] says that as good as ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' is, it's also "where the weaknesses that would sink the lesser Sonic games began to manifest", namely more story, more characters, and a more muted visual style (the "realistic" palette of ''Sonic 3'' is merely ArtEvolution, but things started to backfire with ''Videogame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' mostly resembling a RealIsBrown action game and ''Sonic '06'' pushing realism so hard it just looked bland instead, to the point a reversion ensued with the cartoony ''Unleashed'' and the flashy ''Colors'').
* One of the most common complaints about the infamous ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' is that it was [[ObviousBeta too glitchy even for its time]]. This can be seen with this game, which had to acknowledge and pass off the enormous number of glitches for its first half as "[[HandWave diabolical traps]]". Both games also ended up like this due to Sega [[ChristmasRushed rushing development in order release it by a certain date]]. The difference is that ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' had the lock-on gimmick to fix many of its more intense glitches and offered many good qualities even with its previous ObviousBeta state. ''Sonic 2006'' never got a fixed version or patch and many believe that the game would still be bad even if the glitches were fixed due to various [[ScrappyMechanic questionable design choices]].

* Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds as an EleventhHourSuperpower instead of an optional unlockable. The climactic nature of the fight managed to undo a lot of potential animosity, but once it became the standard for every game, it was harder to justify. ''Heroes'' in particular snapped the fanbase's patience with the idea, as there isn't even a good story reason for why Super Sonic has to be a final-boss-only affair; you still collect the Emeralds in bonus stages like the old games, unlike in ''Adventure'' and its sequel, where virtually every instance where an Emerald is found or changes hands is relevant to the plot.

* While the first ''Sonic Adventure'' planted the seeds for the series [[CerebusSyndrome shedding its surreal, cartoon-like tone in favor of a]] [[DarkerAndEdgier serious]], sometimes whimsical Shonen Anime style of plot and writing, ''Sonic Adventure 2'', more than any other game in the series, is truly responsible for crystallizing it. While this game's story is far darker than those of previous ''Sonic'' games, it also features attempts at a stronger narrative and actual CharacterDevelopment that allowed fans to look past that. Later attempts to apply a serious story to the series tended to lack satisfactory narratives and CharacterDevelopment, and without any of the qualities that made the stories of the ''Adventure'' games work, all that was left were ([[ExaggeratedTrope now even more ramped up]]) DarkerAndEdgier aspects that made the series seem like an over the top parody of itself, especially with Shadow's spinoff game and the highly controversial 2006 game.

* The ''Knuckles'' comic was another problem, with Penders deciding not to expand on clues left behind in the video games at the time--indeed, he claimed to have never played the games before joining the comic. Instead, he used the comic more to [[WorldBuilding world-build]] a society of echidnas, mostly because Sega wouldn't let him get away with anything like that with Sonic himself, but they completely ignored what he was doing with Knuckles, giving him carte blanche to do basically whatever he wanted. It worked out for a while, mainly because it helped flesh out the comics' world, and the stories themselves were good enough. After ''Knuckles'' merged back into ''Sonic'', though, [[SpotlightStealingSquad Knuckles' story was given an increasingly heavy focus while Sonic's fell by the wayside, even though the comic was named after him.]] All of this culminated in the "Great Harmony" subplot, where Knuckles is proclaimed [[TheChosenOne The Avatar]], one of two heroes prophesied to bring about the eponymous event, while Sonic is just "another champion". This CreatorsPet mentality towards echidnas would eventually cause Penders to trigger the lawsuit that helped kill the comic entirely, though in this case it was Penders himself getting a case of SmallNameBigEgo and burning every bridge in the process.

* The combined ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' foreshadows much of the franchise's problems with "[[GameplayRoulette alternate gameplay]]" by virtue of introducing characters with powerful aerial abilities such as flight and gliding. The "alternate gameplay" of the [=3D=] ''Sonic'' games is often criticized for feeling out of place with the high-speed intention behind ''Sonic'', forcing players who don't enjoy them to contend with much slower-paced gameplay in order to get to the high-speed gameplay they like. However, the level design of ''3 & Knuckles'' is often noted to be much slower paced and winding compared to the more fluid design of its predecessor ''Sonic 2''. This is because ''Sonic 2'' was designed solely with Sonic's speed and jumping in mind, as Tails' signature helicopter flight in that game wasn't controlled by the player merely served as a means of getting a [=P2=]-controlled Tails back on screen. ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', on the other hand, is designed with supporting Tails' flight, Knuckles' gliding and climbing, and Sonic's lack of such vertical and aerial abilities all at the same time, forcing the level design to implement more slow-paced sections just to keep all three characters "balanced". The alternate gameplay of ''Sonic Adventure'' and beyond was merely a method to keep Tails and Knuckles' signature aerial abilities completely intact as opposed to shoehorning them onto Sonic's stages and allow them to completely break the game.

* One of the most polarizing elements is the character of Princess Elise, who many people remark as looking [[RealisticHumansCartoonyAnimals incredibly out-of-place next to Sonic and pals]], but realistic human characters had been around since ''Adventure'' without too much complaining. Elise is just the first one to be a major character who regularly interacts with the cartoon animals, which throws the contrast in far sharper relief (and the romantic subtext just makes it even more questionable). And while ''Adventure'' does have realistic humans, the technology demanded they be stylized to a certain degree, and ''Anime/SonicX'' does much the same outside of the games with an anime art style that makes the animal characters and human characters fit together better (though it helps that it's a fish-out-of-water story to begin with, with Sonic and friends being contextually out of place as a plot point). Seventh-gen hardware allowed for a lot more photorealism (which was the game's goal to begin with), which, again, put a spotlight on how poorly they fit in with the cartoon animals. Not helping matters is that, outside the pre-rendered cutscenes, the human characters (with the possible exception of Eggman) fall squarely into the UncannyValley. ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' addresses this sin, however, by giving the humans more cartoonish proportions to better fit in with the funny animals.

* Related to the issues of juggling CharacterFocus among the franchise's roster, while this game didn't quite ''start'' the trend of introducing characters with nothing to do outside of the plot of their original game (which really began with ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Knuckles]]''), this game started showing the limitations of that approach with Gamma [[spoiler:dying]] and Tikal and Chaos just {{Disappear|s Into Light}}ing. At the time, it wasn't a really big deal, since, again, there was nothing left for these characters to do after their stories ended, but over time, the franchise has accumulated Big (and Froggy), [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 Shadow]], [[VideoGame/SonicBattle Emerl, Chaos Gamma]], [[VideoGame/SonicRush Blaze]], [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Silver, Princess Elise III]], [[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Shahra, Merlina]], [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Chip]], and others who are all nowadays just floating around in the margins. While the especially popular Knuckles and Shadow have stuck around in the main cast, this has mostly been accomplished by [[TheArtifact ignoring their backstories]].

* The stage Green Hill Zone has become infamous over the years for being constantly reused as a NostalgiaLevel. This game features Green Hill Zone as a NostalgiaLevel, but it was an optional bonus level as your reward for collecting all of the Emblems, and the stage had not reappeared in a mainline ''Sonic'' title since the first game. When later games reused Green Hill Zone, they had it as the mandatory first level as opposed to kicking off the journey with an original stage, and it reappeared so frequently (it was featured in ''both'' of 2017's Sonic titles, ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and ''VideoGame/SonicForces'') that fans began to view the reuse of Green Hill Zone [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks with contempt]].
* The existence of the Last Story at all. While the first game planted the seed with Super Sonic's (brief) story, this game codified it, and tends to get the blame for games like [[VideoGame/SonicHeroes Sonic Heroes]] and [[VideoGame/ShadowtheHedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog]] taking this trend [[ExaggeratedTrope up to eleven]] in some questionable ways:

* ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' was the first game to have non-boss enemies that were ''not'' [[OneHitPointWonder One-Hit-Point Wonders]], but instead had varying amounts of HP to deplete, as well as having "combat arena" segments where it was mandatory to defeat enemies to advance further in a stage. However, the idea of having enemies that could take a beating wasn't problematic here because it had mechanics to take the edge off — a level-up system to make the characters stronger (and thus capable of dealing more damage) and the three-man team system giving each team a "Power" character whose main job was to be the heavy hitter and plow through the big enemies and combat arenas. The next game, ''Shadow the Hedgehog'', kept the beefy enemies and ditched the team system, but compensated in its own way through its weaponry system, and the later stages with the beefiest enemies also tended to have the strongest weapons that could easily shred their health meters. While the weapons did have limited ammunition, there was practically always more than enough to kill everything in the stage with as long as you held your fire while there were no enemies in sight. ''Sonic 06'' is where the beefy enemies and combat arenas became problematic, as all three core characters (and the six Amigo characters) had ''much'' worse DPS than in ''Heroes'' and ''Shadow''. Sonic was restricted to laggy Homing Attacks, Bounce Bracelet bounding, and grounded spin-kicks, making his DPS flat-out ''mediocre'', and he had absolutely no way to improve it. Shadow and Silver fared better in the DPS department, being able to attack at a faster pace than Sonic to deplete big enemies' health bars a little more quickly; Shadow's fighting style was literally a better version of Sonic's, with a mid-air combo system allowing him to lock on to an enemy and pummel them several times in quick succession, while Silver relied on using his psychokinesis to pick up nearby objects and fling them at enemies, which he could do at a fairly rapid pace as long as he had enough objects to throw and enough energy to pick them up. Shadow and Silver also had ways to improve their DPS even further — Chaos Boost and vehicle-mounted weapons for Shadow, and stronger objects such as explosive crates and spike balls for Silver — but lacked consistent access to their improved DPS. The end result was what was once a minor flow-killer now made level progression a nigh-unbearable slog. Thankfully, SEGA listened to the fans' dissatisfaction and have largely dropped both beefy enemies and combat arenas; both made a single major encore appearance in the nighttime stages of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', where it actually made ''sense'' for them to be present due to the slower-paced BeatEmUp gameplay style, and the daytime stages of ''Unleashed'' and all stages of subsequent games have gone back to having all non-boss enemies be destroyed with just one attack. (Beefy enemies and combat arenas are also present in ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'', but once again, it makes sense to have them due to the WideOpenSandbox gameplay style, and Sonic has been given access to a wide variety of powerful and/or rapid-fire attack options to deal with the tankier enemies.)

* SEGA's very loose policy on the canonicity of side materials (most notably the cartoons and comics) created a BrokenBase as early as ''1992''-- one year after Sonic was introduced-- as Sonic fans started siding with one particular interpretation while viciously attacking the other ones, not unlike today's Broken Base with ''Sonic'' (only more so with gameplay than story, though the latter isn't rare either). During the '90s, however, Sonic fans [[UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars had a common enemy in Nintendo and Mario]], so the cracks didn't become visible to most until 2001 with ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. At that point, SEGA exerted greater enforcement over canonicity, rendering all other storylines non-canon, followed shortly by its financial collapse and subsequent alliance with Nintendo. With the barriers torn down and no uniting force, the bickering became the ''Sonic'' fandom's most infamous trait.

* The presence of [[GameplayRoulette alternate gameplay styles]], ironically, is ''worse'' in some ''Adventure'' routes than in its followers, with Big the Cat's infamous fishing action stages being especially disliked. But ''Adventure'' also segregates these alternate gameplay styles into their own story paths; while you need to play every story for the TrueFinalBoss, there's never a worry when you're playing Sonic's story that you'll be playing as anyone except Sonic (the sole exception being the flight minigames where the player is technically controlling Tails, but the Sky Chase special stages are fast-paced and fun enough that few can complain). Later games have different gameplay styles on a level-by-level basis, or even interrupting a character's level to have you start playing another. There's also the fact that ''Adventure'''s takes on Tails and Knuckles are generally well-liked and not too dissimilar from Sonic, while their appearances in later games to be much more divergent, inconsistent, and clumsily executed.

* The game started a trend in the series where it began shedding its surreal, cartoon-like tone in favor of a serious, sometimes whimsical [[ShonenDemographic shōnen]] style of plot and writing. While this game's story is rather serious, it wasn't too dark compared to the previous games (most of its darker elements are relegated to FridgeHorror and InferredHolocaust) and its tone and CharacterDevelopment made it far more ambitious than the Sonic games before it and allowed it to be well-received. As the series went on, not only did [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny the novelty of having serious Sonic stories wear off as they became more common]], but later games tended to lack the CharacterDevelopment and lore building to the original series that made this story work, and the dark aspects were ramped up to the extent that the series was seen as becoming an over the top parody of itself, reaching its apex with Shadow's spinoff game and the highly controversial 2006 game.
* Related to the issues of juggling CharacterFocus among the franchise's roster, while this game didn't quite ''start'' the trend of introducing characters with nothing to do outside of the plot of their original game (which really began with ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Knuckles]]''), this game started showing the limitations of that approach with Gamma [[spoiler:dying]] and Tikal and Chaos just {{Disappear|s Into Light}}ing. At the time it wasn't a really big deal, since, again, there was nothing left for these characters to do after their stories ended, but over time the franchise has accumulated Big (and Froggy), [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 Shadow]], [[VideoGame/SonicBattle Emerl, Chaos Gamma]], [[VideoGame/SonicRush Blaze]], [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Silver, Princess Elise III]], [[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Shahra, Merlina]], [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Chip]], and others who are all nowadays just floating around in the margins. While the especially popular Knuckles and Shadow have stuck around in the main cast, this has mostly been accomplished by [[TheArtifact ignoring their backstories]].

* While the first Sonic Adventure planted the seeds for the series [[CerebusSyndrome shedding its surreal, cartoon-like tone in favor of a]] [[DarkerAndEdgier serious]], sometimes whimsical Shonen Anime style of plot and writing, Sonic Adventure 2, more than any other game in the series, is truly responsible for crystallizing it. While this game's story is far darker than those of previous Sonic games, it also features attempts at a stronger narrative and actual CharacterDevelopment that allowed fans to look past that. Later attempts to apply a serious story to the series tended to lack satisfactory narratives and CharacterDevelopment, and without any of the qualities that made the stories of the Adventure games work, all that was left were ([[ExaggeratedTrope now even more ramped up]]) DarkerAndEdgier aspects that made the series seem like an over the top parody of itself, especially with Shadow's spinoff game and the highly controversial 2006 game.

* The stage Green Hill Zone has become infamous over the years for being constantly reused as a NostalgiaLevel. This game features Green Hill Zone as a NostalgiaLevel, but it was an optional bonus level as your reward for collecting all of the Emblems, and the stage had not reappeared in a mainline Sonic title since the first game. When later games reused Green Hill Zone, they had it as the mandatory first level as opposed to kicking off the journey with an original stage, and it reappeared so frequently (it was featured in ''both'' of 2017's Sonic titles, VideoGame/SonicMania and VideoGame/SonicForces) that fans began to view the reuse of Green Hill Zone [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks with contempt]].

** Shadow the Hedgehog: Ten different endings, all of which require a [[KarmaMeter different path]] through the levels to reach. Some are simple and straightforward, while others require huge collect-a-thons with no radar or hints. This would have worked fine with a level select feature - just load up the stage and pick a different ending. But instead, you have to do ten full playthroughs, all to reach a (canon) Last Story that ''nullifies them all''.
* This was the first game where the final boss, the Biolizard [[GenericDoomsdayVillain had no real personality and is just a Generic monster]].[[note]]Chaos was similar but he also has a tragic backstory to make him less Generic.[[/note]] but story-wise most fans accept this because Biolizard is more an extension of the dead Dr. Gerald Robotnik's will [[GreaterScopeVillain who is the real villain of the story]]. Later games would use the GenericDoomsdayVillain tropes without an interesting character behind the monster.

* The ExecutiveMeddling was there from the beginning, with Creator/{{Sega}} executives having a role in what gets produced, the earliest true flex of their influence dates to the uncancellation of the comic at issue 50. They allowed Robotnik to be killed off, but mandated Ken Penders to undo the other major death of the issue, that of Sally Acorn. Since Sally's death had been widely criticized for the way it was handled, this was and still is generally seen as a positive move. However, by the time the comic was canceled, this had blown up to the point that there were ''entire mandates'' on how the comic should be written. This criticism followed to the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW comic]], due to the comic being ''even more'' editorial-driven, and introducing highly unpopular mandates (such as game characters [[TheBusCameBack who returned from a two-decades long real-life absence in]] ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' [[ExiledFromContinuity no longer being allowed to be used]], while previously, they were recurring Archie characters in spite of the game canon having them on a LongBusTrip at the time).

** Related to the above; the ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters abundance]]'' of characters as well. Almost ''every'' game introduced a new major recurring character, starting with Tails (Sonic 2), Amy and Metal Sonic (Sonic CD), and Knuckles (Sonic 3). Initially, these characters were rather popular and considered fresh additions (and because of the GrandfatherClause, you'll find very few who hate these four in particular) that added to Sonic's world. But these characters became increasingly numerous, and started to overshadow Sonic himself, and were often tied to questionable gameplay styles. Public opinion started to turn against them, and fans demanded for the cast to be cut down, which led to the aforementioned era of having Sonic as the only playable character.[[note]]Barring sports spinoffs such as the ''Olympic Games'' series that crossed over with ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', which allowed for the other Sonic characters to be playable.[[/note]] The only games to actually avoid the trap of too many playable characters and/or the GameplayRoulette problem are ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and, strangely enough, ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'', of all games - the latter's surprisingly classic-style implementation is largely overshadowed by its main issues, but ''Mania's'' example is often cited as what Sonic Team should've been doing all along in this regard.

* Related to the issues of juggling CharacterFocus among the franchise's LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, while this game didn't quite ''start'' the trend of introducing characters with nothing to do outside of the plot of their original game (which really began with ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Knuckles]]''), this game started showing the limitations of that approach with Gamma [[spoiler:dying]] and Tikal and Chaos just {{Disappear|s Into Light}}ing. At the time it wasn't a really big deal, since, again, there was nothing left for these characters to do after their stories ended, but over time the franchise has accumulated Big (and Froggy), [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 Shadow]], [[VideoGame/SonicBattle Emerl, Chaos Gamma]], [[VideoGame/SonicRush Blaze]], [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Silver, Princess Elise III]], [[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Shahra, Merlina]], [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Chip]], and others who are all nowadays just floating around in the margins. While the especially popular Knuckles and Shadow have stuck around in the main cast, this has mostly been accomplished by [[TheArtifact ignoring their backstories]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' would attract ire for reserving the Chaos Emeralds' GoldenSuperMode for Sonic, but Knuckles and Tails have always received the inferior PowerMakeover--even in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', only Sonic ever got the full PowerUpFullColorChange and ExpositoryHairstyleChange; Knuckles and Tails only got PowerGlows. The big difference between the two cases is that in ''S3&K'', each character could earn and use a SuperMode in his own right during their individual adventures, while in ''Heroes'', the PowerUp is restricted to one battle with the RailShooter FinalBoss, ''and'' the preceding cutscene clearly shows only Sonic gets an actual SuperMode; Tails and Knuckles only get golden {{Deflector Shield}}s a moment or two later, as though Sonic were merely lending them power. This naturally undercuts what is ''supposed'' to be the triumphant entrance of supposed friends and equals into battle against the TrueFinalBoss by also making it clear that Tails and Knuckles have been demoted to Sonic's backup dancers.

* ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' would attract ire for reserving the Chaos Emeralds' GoldenSuperMode for Sonic, while Knuckles and Tails just got a golden PaletteSwap of a [[DeflectorShield normal barrier]], but Knuckles and Tails getting a less impressive SuperMode has basically always been the case. Even in this game, only Sonic ever got the full PowerUpFullColorChange and ExpositoryHairstyleChange in his PowerMakeover--Knuckles and Tails only got PowerGlows. It was more tolerable in this case because the contrast wasn't as stark as in ''Heroes'', Knuckles and Tails could have a full adventure independently with their own SuperMode, there were notable {{Power Up}}s for the characters who got them (Tails got those four Flickies), and they were freely available once unlocked--in ''Heroes'', the power up is limited to the RailShooter final boss and the superior graphics make the lack of visual upgrades for Knuckles and Tails much, ''much'' more obvious, giving the impression that, in a game about friendship and teamwork, Sonic's "friends" are really just his {{Sidekick}}s.

----

!! ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'':

''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was well received as the first proper 3D ''Sonic'' game and remains popular today, but introduced what future games would be criticized for overusing.

* ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' would attract ire for reserving the Chaos Emeralds' GoldenSuperMode for Sonic, while Knuckles and Tails just got SomeKindOfForceField, but Knuckles and Tails getting a less impressive SuperMode has basically always been the case. Even in this game, only Sonic ever got the full PowerUpFullColorChange and ExpositoryHairstyleChange in his PowerMakeover--Knuckles and Tails only got PowerGlows. It was more tolerable in this case because the contrast wasn't as stark as in ''Heroes'', Knuckles and Tails could have a full adventure independently with their own SuperMode, there were notable {{Power Up}}s for the characters who got them (Tails got those four Flickies), and they were freely available once unlocked--in ''Heroes'', the power up is limited to the RailShooter final boss and the superior graphics make the lack of visual upgrades for Knuckles and Tails much, ''much'' more obvious, giving the impression that, in a game about friendship and teamwork, Sonic's "friends" are really just his {{Sidekick}}s.

!!Comics
* A lot of the complaints about ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' aren't exactly new.
** Many point to Issue 50 as the moment the series started going downhill, mainly because it [[KilledOffForReal killed off its main villain]]. Issue 50 was meant to be the GrandFinale for the comic, so killing Robotnik was the natural conclusion. However, the comic was renewed at the last minute, [[PostScriptSeason resulting in a general lack of direction]]. Though "The Big Goodbye!" (and its revised version, "For Whom the Bell Tolls") is seen as a lot better than what came after, there's a reason why ''Sonic'' fans [[BrokenBase argue]] over whether or not it was one of the last good stories during Ken Penders' tenure as one of the lead writers, [[DorkAge or one of the first bad ones]].
** The ''Knuckles'' comic was another problem, with Penders deciding not to expand on clues left behind in the video games at the time--indeed, he claimed to have never played the games before joining the comic. Instead, he used the comic more to [[WorldBuilding world-build]] a society of echidnas, mostly because Sega wouldn't let him get away with anything like that with Sonic himself, but they completely ignored what he was doing with Knuckles, giving him carte blanche to do basically whatever he wanted. It worked out for a while, mainly because it helped flesh out the comics' world, and the stories themselves were good enough. After ''Knuckles'' merged back into ''Sonic'', though, [[SpotlightStealingSquad Knuckles' story was given an increasingly heavy focus while Sonic's fell by the wayside, even though the comic was named after him.]] All of this culminated in the "Great Harmony" subplot, where Knuckles is proclaimed [[TheChosenOne The Avatar]], one of two heroes prophesied to bring about the eponymous event, while Sonic is just "another champion". This CreatorsPet mentality towards echidnas would eventually cause Penders to trigger the lawsuit that helped kill the comic entirely, though in this case it was Penders himself getting a case of SmallNameBigEgo and burning every bridge in the process.
** The revelation that [[spoiler:Espio is a member of a ninja clan and his betrayal of the Chaotix to the Iron Dominion (said ninja clans' masters)]] was only the latest in a series of {{Retcon}}s[=/=]{{Face Heel Turn}}s involving certain characters during Ian Flynn's run, most famously Fiona Fox revealing out of nowhere that the only reason she fell in love with Sonic was because of [[EvilTwin Scourge]], and then betraying the Freedom Fighters to be his girlfriend. While not without controversy, it slid by, as Fiona was a mostly forgotten CanonForeigner before ''exploding'' in popularity as a villain. With [[spoiler:Espio]], however, he was not only a popular character as a hero, but also a character straight from the games, and it became far harder to ignore.
** The ExecutiveMeddling was there from the beginning, with Creator/{{Sega}} executives having a role in what gets produced, the earliest true flex of their influence dates to the uncancellation of the comic at issue 50. They allowed Robotnik to be killed off, but mandated Ken Penders to undo the other major death of the issue, that of Sally Acorn. Since Sally's death had been widely criticized for the way it was handled, this was and still is generally seen as a positive move. However, by the time the comic was canceled, this had blown up to the point that there were ''entire mandates'' on how the comic should be written. This criticism followed to the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW comic]], due to the comic being ''even more'' editorial-driven, and introducing highly unpopular mandates (such as game characters [[TheBusCameBack who returned from a two-decades long real-life absence in]] ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' [[ExiledFromContinuity no longer being allowed to be used]], while previously, they were recurring Archie characters in spite of the game canon having them on a LongBusTrip at the time).

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was well received as the first proper 3D ''Sonic'' game and remains popular today, but introduced what future games would be criticized for overusing.
** Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds as an EleventhHourSuperpower instead of an optional unlockable. The climactic nature of the fight managed to undo a lot of potential animosity, but once it became the standard for every game, it was harder to justify. ''Heroes'' in particular snapped the fanbase's patience with the idea, as there isn't even a good story reason for why Super Sonic has to be a final-boss-only affair; you still collect the Emeralds in bonus stages like the old games, unlike in ''Adventure'' and its sequel, where virtually every instance where an Emerald is found or changes hands is relevant to the plot.
** Eggman being upstaged by a MonsterOfTheWeek that goes out of his control. The idea was a cool change of pace, but when it became Eggman's role in nearly every game to be a DiscOneFinalBoss for some new baddie, it got old quickly and put Eggman through some major VillainDecay, needing later games to restore some of his old threat.
*** Additionally, the cases of Eggman getting upstaged in ''Adventure'' and its sequel still gave the doctor enough relative nuance and context to prevent decay, or at least keep it from going too far. While Perfect Chaos does betray him at the end of ''Adventure'' by destroying Station Square, Eggman's original plan is exactly ''for'' that to happen, but only on ''his'' terms. In ''Adventure 2'', despite being subtly manipulated by [[spoiler:Shadow and Gerald]] over the game, he still shows off some agency in manipulating other events himself (e.g. the Prison Island heist, tricking Tails into telling him which Chaos Emerald was the real one) and puts his own effort into defeating the ultimate threat. ''Heroes'', however, has him spend most of the game [[spoiler:locked in a room by Metal Sonic while [[ActuallyADoombot robotic decoys]] are deployed in his place as enemies]], with several of the following games having him be treated as effectively an afterthought to the greater narrative even when he was still being built up as a major villain.
** The presence of [[GameplayRoulette alternate gameplay styles]], ironically, is ''worse'' in some ''Adventure'' routes than in its followers, with Big the Cat's infamous fishing action stages being especially disliked. But ''Adventure'' also segregates these alternate gameplay styles into their own story paths; while you need to play every story for the TrueFinalBoss, there's never a worry when you're playing Sonic's story that you'll be playing as anyone except Sonic (the sole exception being the flight minigames where the player is technically controlling Tails, but the Sky Chase special stages are fast-paced and fun enough that few can complain). Later games have different gameplay styles on a level-by-level basis, or even interrupting a character's level to have you start playing another. There's also the fact that ''Adventure'''s takes on Tails and Knuckles are generally well-liked and not too dissimilar from Sonic, while their appearances in later games to be much more divergent, inconsistent, and clumsily executed.
* SEGA's very loose policy on the canonicity of side materials (most notably the cartoons and comics) created a BrokenBase as early as ''1992''-- one year after Sonic was introduced-- as Sonic fans started siding with one particular interpretation while viciously attacking the other ones, not unlike today's Broken Base with ''Sonic'' (only more so with gameplay than story, though the latter isn't rare either). During the '90s, however, Sonic fans [[UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars had a common enemy in Nintendo and Mario]], so the cracks didn't become visible to most until 2001 with ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. At that point, SEGA exerted greater enforcement over canonicity, rendering all other storylines non-canon, followed shortly by its financial collapse and subsequent alliance with Nintendo. With the barriers torn down and no uniting force, the bickering became the ''Sonic'' fandom's most infamous trait.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'':
** One of the most polarizing elements is the character of Princess Elise, who many people remark as looking [[RealisticHumansCartoonyAnimals incredibly out-of-place next to Sonic and pals]], but realistic human characters had been around since ''Adventure'' without too much complaining. Elise is just the first one to be a major character who regularly interacts with the cartoon animals, which throws the contrast in far sharper relief (and the romantic subtext just makes it even more questionable). And while ''Adventure'' does have realistic humans, the technology demanded they be stylized to a certain degree, and ''Anime/SonicX'' does much the same outside of the games with an anime art style that makes the animal characters and human characters fit together better (though it helps that it's a fish-out-of-water story to begin with, with Sonic and friends being contextually out of place as a plot point). Seventh-gen hardware allowed for a lot more photorealism (which was the game's goal to begin with), which, again, put a spotlight on how poorly they fit in with the cartoon animals. Not helping matters is that, outside the pre-rendered cutscenes, the human characters (with the possible exception of Eggman) fall squarely into the UncannyValley. ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' addresses this sin, however, by giving the humans more cartoonish proportions to better fit in with the funny animals.
** Sonic's questionable choices in human romance trace all the way back to [[OlderThanTheyThink before the first game was even released]], when Sega of Japan tried to pitch his character design with a human girlfriend named Madonna, who didn't make it into the game at all. However, even that may count as an example since concept art shows it as being inspired by [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Roger and Jessica Rabbit's]] relationship, which openly embraces the absurdity of a FunnyAnimal-human relationship for comedy, compared to how Sonic and Elise's relationship is treated rather seriously and thus felt jarring as a result.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW-nMRZGpgA This episode]] of ''WebVideo/ErrantSignal'' argues that the early marketing of the Sonic games, which focused on how fast Sonic can go, eventually led to problems in the 3D games as SEGA started to buy into their own marketing hype. Maintaining control of Sonic's momentum is the main facet of the gameplay in the older 2D games, not simply speed for its own sake, something that was forgotten in the post-''Adventure'' Sonic games. This sent the franchise running straight into the PolygonCeiling, leading to games where poor controls designed more for high speed than precision lead to exercises in controller-throwing frustration. Only starting with ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' and especially with ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' did SEGA finally figure out how to do Sonic in 3D, mainly by rediscovering the focus on controlling Sonic's speed rather than simply going as fast as possible (and there are some who say that they still haven't completely figured ''that'' out, either).
* ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' is perhaps one of the few franchises that can claim to have suffered from FranchiseOriginalSin in almost every game in the series, as aspects of every game have been criticized in later installments. Even attempts to address critic and fan complaints that were initially well-received have been complained about later on, frequently due to perceived overcorrection.
** In the era from ''Adventure'' to ''Sonic '06'', a lot of focus was placed on the supporting characters. Many felt that this got out of hand, with the cast becoming too bloated, the different playstyles not being well executed, and not having enough Sonic in ''Sonic'' games. Starting with ''Unleashed'', Sonic Team drastically cast back the role of the supporting cast, with everyone except Tails making cameo appearances at best. By the time of Sonic's 25th anniversary, the other characters had been neglected for so long that many fans had become desperate to be able to play as them again, or at least wish for them to be given a more significant role in the plot. The final boss fight of ''Generations'' tends to receive a lot of scorn in particular, as the returning characters do nothing except cheer both Sonics on.
** Related to the above; the ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters abundance]]'' of characters as well. Almost ''every'' game introduced a new major recurring character, starting with Tails (Sonic 2), Amy and Metal Sonic (Sonic CD), and Knuckles (Sonic 3). Initially, these characters were rather popular and considered fresh additions (and because of the GrandfatherClause, you'll find very few who hate these four in particular) that added to Sonic's world. But these characters became increasingly numerous, and started to overshadow Sonic himself, and were often tied to questionable gameplay styles. Public opinion started to turn against them, and fans demanded for the cast to be cut down, which led to the aforementioned era of having Sonic as the only playable character.[[note]]Barring sports spinoffs such as the ''Olympic Games'' series that crossed over with ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', which allowed for the other Sonic characters to be playable.[[/note]] The only games to actually avoid the trap of too many playable characters and/or the GameplayRoulette problem are ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and, strangely enough, ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'', of all games - the latter's surprisingly classic-style implementation is largely overshadowed by its main issues, but ''Mania's'' example is often cited as what Sonic Team should've been doing all along in this regard.
** After struggling to break through the PolygonCeiling for so long, ''Unleashed'' featured a mixture of 2D and 3D gameplay, with the 2D sections being fairly brief and integrating seamlessly with the 3D sections; this was well-received as it was the first time 2D Sonic gameplay had been featured on a console since ''Sonic 3&K''. ''Colors'' features an abundance of 2D gameplay, a fact that some have criticized when looking back at the game. ''Generations'' splits the gameplay between 2D stages with Classic Sonic and 3D stages with Modern Sonic. Despite this, Modern Sonic's stages still feature a fair amount of 2D sections which tend to last longer than the sections in ''Unleashed''. ''Lost World'' features another 2D/3D mix, along with a lot of divisive new gameplay elements. By the time ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' was announced, many fans had begun to feel that the 2D sections had become a crutch to compensate for not knowing how to implement good 3D gameplay, and that Classic fans were being unfairly pandered to, especially with ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' releasing in the same year. Classic Sonic's return, along with Modern Sonic once again having 2D sections in his levels, is one of the most common criticisms for ''Forces''.
** Classic Sonic's original introduction in ''Generations'' is a move that was universally praised. Because of that game's massive success, SEGA began to market Classic Sonic heavily in the following years, giving him multiple appearances in other games, his own comic book, his own anniversary title in ''VideoGame/SonicMania'', and his own web animation miniseries. While the fanbase loved his inclusion in ''Generations'' and products featuring him tend to sell well, many fans increasingly criticized SEGA's seeming decision to treat him as his own separate character, instead of a younger version of Sonic. The decision to make him a HeroicMime also makes it difficult for him to distinguish himself from his modern counterpart. When the first trailer for ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' was released, the reaction to Classic Sonic's appearance was much more ambivalent than it was for ''Generations'', with many fans questioning why he needed to be there (which gave the game the derisive nickname of ''Sonic Generations 2'', not helped by the fact that Sonic Team promised that it wouldn't be a sequel to ''Sonic Generations'' gameplay wise). Whereas Classic Sonic was considered a great idea when he only appeared in ''Generations'', these days he tends to be held up as a symbol of SEGA relying too much on nostalgia-pandering and making the franchise seem stuck in the past, instead of being willing to truly push the gameplay forward.
** Starting from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', the games would go on to have [[CerebusSyndrome increasingly dramatic and over-the-top storylines]]. Initially, this was pretty well received, or at least wasn't considered a problem. However, by the time ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' rolled around, consensus was that the series became ''too'' melodramatic for its own good, and the questionable executions of said melodrama led the reputation of the series to tank, reaching its nadir with ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. Sega seemed to have got the message and subsequent games became much DenserAndWackier as a result, which ironically created ''another'' sin in the form of people starting to feel the series veered too far in the ''other'' direction and became ''too'' juvenile and lighthearted with games like ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld''.
** Even the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 original game]] foreshadows Sega's many questionable design choices to come. The game was sold on its speed, yet at least half of its stages require slower, more methodical platforming, which not only goes against players' instincts, but the momentum physics actually work against the player in such levels. What makes it less discussed for this is mostly that Green Hill Zone, the first stage, works very well as an opening salvo, due to it largely lacking annoying obstacles or stop-and-start level design, meaning that players still got a great first impression. While not as blatant as the UnexpectedGameplayChange Sega included with non-Sonic characters or the initial previews of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', or spinoffs such as ''VideoGame/SonicLabyrinth'', which was deliberately designed as a [[OxymoronicBeing slow Sonic game]], the seeds were already planted for Sega deviating from the speed Sonic is most known for.
* [[https://www.avclub.com/the-best-worst-and-weirdest-games-from-25-years-of-so-1798248702/amp This article]] says that as good as ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' is, it's also "where the weaknesses that would sink the lesser Sonic games began to manifest", namely more story, more characters, and a more muted visual style (the "realistic" palette of ''Sonic 3'' is merely ArtEvolution, but things started to backfire with ''Videogame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' mostly resembling a RealIsBrown action game and ''Sonic '06'' pushing realism so hard it just looked bland instead, to the point a reversion ensued with the cartoony ''Unleashed'' and the flashy ''Colors'').

!!Games