Compared to other video game franchises, Sonic the Hedgehog has had a very rough time transitioning from 2D to 3D, so we’re going to take a look at what are the worst and best of his major 3D outings!
A few notes before we begin; we’re only looking at his major 3D outings, so no 2D games or spin-offs like the Storybook subseries. Plus, if a game was released for multiple systems and there are significant differences between the two versions, then we’ll count them as their own separate entries. With that being said, here’s our ranking of every major 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game!
Calling Sonic the Hedgehog, also known as Sonic 06, the worst 3D Sonic game is just a given by this point. The game is borderline unplayable and broken in numerous different areas regardless of whether you play as Sonic, Shadow, or the newcomer Silver. Rarely does it ever seem like this game is being played as intended and it’s even rarer that its ideas actually come together cohesively. Fans have tried, and mostly succeeded, to get this game into a playable state, but the damage has been done. Sonic was a joke for a while, and that’s all thanks to Sonic 06.
For the longest time, Shadow the Hedgehog was technically a spin-off, but thanks to Sonic x Shadow Generations, I suppose it’s now canon. Shame, since this game is terrible.
While going fast as Shadow is enjoyable, having tedious level design, poor shooting mechanics, and aggravating mission structure limits any enjoyment players could have. Even if you do manage to complete a playthrough of the game, it requires a staggering 10 playthroughs just to unlock the true ending, and that’s assuming you don’t get bored playing the same dull stages over and over again. Theme song’s a banger though.
Sonic Forces takes concepts from earlier games and attempts to throw them in a blender to please fans but does anything but, delivering a Sonic game on autopilot. Classic Sonic is back for no reason other than to blatantly feature terrible 2D stages, boss fights are retreads from other games, and the massive cast featured here does absolutely nothing. You get a customizable avatar with their own unique gameplay, which is the best thing about the game, but Forces ends after four hours and well before it ever has a chance to get started.
While Sonic Forces feels like it’s on autopilot, Sonic Lost World feels like soulless. The game presents players with basic and generic worlds ripped right from a New Super Mario game, delivering one of the most generic Sonic games of all time. Levels have virtually no personality and while the gameplay is fine, it’s unambitious and safe. Having parkour mechanics is a fun idea, but they’re rarely used as the game puts more of an emphasis on its weird tube-based level design.
For the longest time, Lost World was stuck exclusively on the Wii U and maybe it should have stayed there.
Sonic Heroes is, in a lot of ways, a throwback to classic Sonic games. Instead of focusing on narratives, Sonic Heroes puts gameplay first, having you play as three different characters on a single team trying to reach the goal. It adds some variety, but after a certain point, most of the game’s charm almost completely wears off. One playthrough is fine, but having to play four different campaigns is a slog, especially when you have to go through levels that can last upwards of 20 minutes multiple times. Add in some wonky physics and glitches, and you have a game that is often more frustrating than fun.
When I first played Sonic Unleashed, I played the Wii/PS2 version, which was a more stripped-down version of the PS3/360 version, and it was a perfectly serviceable experience. Performance issues aside, the focus on speed made Sonic Unleashed a fun experience and one perk the Wii/PS2 version had was easier level progression thanks to the lack of medals you needed to acquire.
That being said, this is still Sonic Unleashed and half of the game is still a God of War clone, grinding to pace of the game to a halt. Like its HD counterpart, Sonic Unleashed can be fun, but being stuck on a technologically inferior system does hurt it.
Compared to most other 3D Sonic games, Sonic Frontiers is a genuine evolution for the franchise, switching out the level-based progression for a more open-world structure. At points, it’s great. Seeing Sonic run around expansive environments and freely platform around the world is fun, as are battling the massive Titans. At points, it’s a slog. The environments are drab and boring and when the game actually decides to do more traditional levels in the form of the Cyber Space stages, they’re all rehashes of previous stages, but worse.
It’s a good rough draft for a future open-world Sonic game though, so hopefully the next attempt will refine what’s there.
When Sonic Adventure was first released, it was heralded as an excellent transition for Sonic into the next dimension. Now, that praise is much more muted, and I personally find less and less to enjoy about the game, but it’s still fun. Running around as Sonic is a blast and several of the other characters you play as, like Tail, Knuckles, and Gamma, all deliver fun sequences that, while short, don’t overstay their welcome. The overarching narrative is a nice plus, but in retrospect, Sonic Adventure has become more dated as time goes by.
The HD console version of Sonic Unleashed is, unsurprisingly, better than its Wii and PS2 counterparts, but the massive jump in quality between the Sonic stages is staggering. The sheer sense of speed that players get in the daytime stages is euphoric and even if the progression is a bit wonky, the highs are so high that this set to standard for Sonic games for an entire generation. Just… not the Werehog stuff.
Again, the Werehog segments are a pale imitation of action-beat ’em-up games of the time and they’re nothing to write home about. They’re not as tedious as the Wii and PS2 versions, so they don’t diminish the overall experience that much, but it prevents me from putting them any higher.
It feels weird calling Sonic Colors a 3D Sonic game given how most of the game is actually played in 2D, but Colors is such a well-polished experience that it hardly matters. The amusement park-themed levels all add a nice bit of visual spectacle, but it’s the Wisps that truly make the game shine, incentivizing players to replay earlier levels with new powers to discover new paths and secrets. Colors does feel a bit padded out at points, forcing players to replay small sections of stages to progress, making returning to some of these stages a bit hard to swallow, but rightly deserves the praise it has accrued for how energetic it all is.
Sonic Generations is a celebration of everything Sonic and you can see all of the love present in it. Each major Sonic game is represented faithfully and recreates standout levels in both 2D and 3D glory, with plenty of side missions for players to take part in. Honestly, the game is a bit short if you’re just playing through the campaign and never touch these side missions, but what you’ll find is so well-designed that it hardly matters. If you want a perfect distillation of what makes Sonic so captivating, Sonic Generations is that game.
I may be a bit biased in loving Sonic Adventure 2, but can you blame me? It took everything that worked in Sonic Adventure and refined it to a mirror shine. The Sonic and Shadow stages are fast-paced thrill rides. The Tails and Eggman stages are great shooters that make you strive to get a higher score. The Knuckles and Rouge stages… exist, but they don’t actively harm the rest of the game. Each stage is just so replayable and well-designed that I actively want to go back and play each of them even if I don’t have to. Add in a surprisingly solid story and one of the best and most eclectic soundtracks in gaming and you easily have a game that has won the hearts of gamers.
Take everything I said about Sonic Generations and just add more. It’s just Sonic Generations but with more content, better visuals, and a better protagonist. The Shadow stages shouldn’t be as good as they are, but these new additions are just as excellent as the base game. Shadow just has so many fun abilities that can be used in both 2D and 3D that his stages are honestly better than most of the stages from the base game. There’s something for everyone in Sonic X Shadow Generations and even though it may be a bit soon to declare it as such, if you were to say it is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, I can’t think of many who would disagree with that.