PlanetDreamcast | Features | The Games of Sonic (1995 - Present/Unreleased Games)

Sonic Week: Day 2 - The Games of Sonic (1995 - Present/Unreleased Games) Even more Sonic game action. - by Reojojo - Page 1/2 Sonic the Hedgehog has been a Sega icon since his introduction in 1991. He's appeared in tons of games over several different consoles. He's touched our lives like no other hedgehog ever has. So we've decided that it was time to show him exactly how much he means to us. We've pit together a week full of Sonic stuff for you all to enjoy! Today, we're taking a look at some of the more recent Sonic games, starting since 1995. Also, we'll touch upon the Sonic games that never made it to retail. Here is a list of games that featured our favorite hog. Sonic Drift 2 - Sega Game Gear On the road again with Sonic and his crew. Exactly as the name implies, Sonic Drift 2 is the sequel to the first Sonic Drift. The visuals are better, there are more characters, and finally elevation in the tracks. However slowdown made it crawl along and though a two-player mode was included, few people still had their Game Gears by 1995. Other: Released: 1995 Sonic Labyrinth - Sega Game Gear Sonic Madness. This is the best of the Sonic games when it comes to putting somebody to sleep, in my opinion. Sonic Labyrinth is bascially Marble Madness with Sonic playing the marble. The player controlled Sonic as he rolled slowly through several mazes, and solved some pretty disjointed puzzles along the way. The game was just too slow and difficult to keep anyone's interest. Other: Released: 1995 Sonic the Fighters - Arcade Let's get it on with the fighting... Sonic style! Anybody who's played Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64 will be able to understand this game; Sonic the Fighters took recognized characters and put them in a toned-down fighting game. The goal: to make a lot of money. Actually, Sonic the Fighters was quite good, but just like Virtua Fighter Chibi (Virtua Fighter Kids in the US) it never really caught on. This may be due to the fact that Sonic Team did not develop the game. The game was actually developed by AM2, who are responsible for Shenmue and the Virtua Fighter series, as you probably already know. It used a rather odd 3-button control scheme: punch, kick, and dash. As you can probably guess, it wasn't too successful. Other: Released: 1996 Sonic 3D Blast - Sega Saturn Sonic goes isometric on the Saturn... Sonic 3D Blast is an odd creature... Developed by Traveller's Tales from the UK, it was Sega's attempt to make a 3D platformer that would make the Saturn competitive. The major problem was that it wasn't actually 3D, just 2D viewed from an isometric perspective. The object of the game is to collect Flickies (those little birds that appear when an enemy is defeated) and bring them to certain rings. The special stages were just like those from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis, only this time rendered in full 3D. Though quite interesting, it didn't really do justice to the Saturn or the Sonic series. Other: Released: 1996 Sonic 3D Blast - Sega Genesis ...and also on the Genesis. Though it was a downgraded port of the Saturn version, (much like the SMS Sonic games) this game really shows off the power of the Genesis. The sound and graphics were toned down, and the bonus stages were changed, but otherwise an extremely solid port. While the game wasn't all that spectacular on the Saturn, it really show what Sega's aging console could do. Other: Released: 1996 Sonic Jam - Sega Saturn A taste of 3D. A compilation of all the Genesis Sonic titles, this was easily the best Sonic game available on the Saturn. Apart from the standard games, there was also a fully 3D version of "Green Hill Zone" where you could unlock secrets for the other games and look at a bunch of Sonic artwork. This was a hit from start to finish, with everything imaginable done right. The only special note is you could now spin dash in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Other: Released: 1997 Sonic R - Sega Saturn Run with the Sonic crew. A successor to the Sonic Drift games, this Saturn racer was actually quite interesting. It was in full 3D and looked great, for a Saturn title, with plenty of characters and extras. In fact, there was plenty of replay value due to a load of unlockable secrets and the fact that there was tons of exploration to do. However, some people disliked it, saying the racing action wasn't up to par. I'd say it's worth checking out. Other: Released: 1997 Want more? Go to the next page, then! Special thanks goes too our hosted site, Shadow of a Hedgehog, for most of the media and some great info.