And here’s another piece of the marathon talking about an important specific episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. This time around, it’s for the episode that was designed to celebrate 20 years of the yellow sponge we all know and love called SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout. While it didn’t necessarily act as the finale of Season 12 nor the show as a whole, it’s executed in a way that this could have been the very last episode of SpongeBob and it would be extremely satisfying. To discuss exactly why, let’s dive right into SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout.
The special sees the citizens of Bikini Bottom and all of SpongeBob’s friends and loved ones coming together to plan a surprise birthday party for SpongeBob himself. While the likes of Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Mrs. Puffs and…….Bubble Bass of all people prepare for a fiesta in SpongeBob’s own pineapple home, Patrick takes SpongeBob on a tour of the surface world to buy enough time for everyone to get the party ready. It’s when touring the surface world where the two BFFs come across their real-life selves, seeing how the OG cast would operate if the show took place out of water and were all playing completely human characters. Also, we see Patchy the Pirate who once again attempts to get to Bikini Bottom to meet his #1 idol and give him a special birthday president.
The ingredients for SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout can be seen from the initial premise right there. This is an episode that is clearly hear to celebrate and homage 20 years of SpongeBob SquarePants. You have all of the side characters from the show coming together to recognize the importance of SpongeBob’s role in Bikini Bottom, you have live-action cameos from not just the OG cast but also many notable celebrities such as Kel Mitchell, Jack Griffo, Daniella Perkins, and even David Hasselhoff that add to the gags and humor of the episode, you have SpongeBob and Patrick going on an adventure that they haven’t really gone on before, and it even gives an actual arc to Patchy the Pirate that makes the character feel like he’s come full circle. And the best part is that, it’s pretty much able to deliver on all of those fronts.
Of course, it’s pretty difficult to talk about SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout without drawing comparisons to SpongeBob’s last anniversary episode, A.K.A. the controversial Truth or Square, the episode that was designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. For the most part, Big Birthday Blowout able to do nearly everything that loathed special did wrong. It has the right mix of live action and animated bits without one end overshadowing the other, the majority of the focus goes to the actual SpongeBob characters, it has a plot that has actual momentum, it has gags that are actually quite funny, there’s celebrity cameos that are used sparingly, and Patchy the Pirate has the right amount of screentime and isn’t around long enough for us to get sick of him. It also helps that there was no ads that promised so much reveals and answers to certain questions that the actual finished episode never really had. Whatever Truth or Square was trying to do, Big Birthday Blowout is actually able to do it.
Going back to the title of this article of the marathon as to why I believe this should have been the final episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, it’s mostly because this feels like an actual definite endpoint for the series, arguably even more so than the first movie itself. Heck, had SpongeBob ended after the first movie like originally attended, this special could have still worked as a suitable epilogue 15 years later. This would’ve worked perfectly as being a special “revival” movie for Nickelodeon, similar to what they did with Hey Arnold! and Rocko’s Modern Life recently. It just has that sense of history and passion that everyone remembers about SpongeBob’s glory day while also realizing how far the character himself has come.
And by the end of SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout, SpongeBob has done a lot for himself. He got to tour the surface world with his best friend that he had never been able to before, he got to see how human versions of himself would have played out in that surface world, you got to see the importance that SpongeBob has had on Bikini Bottom and himself throughout 20 years, and perhaps the most unique of all, Patchy the Pirate had finally got to meet his hero in a way that felt sweet and genuine instead of creepy. He even gets one last song to himself, a bunch of well-known celebrities congratulating SpongeBob and wishing him a happy birthday, and best of all, it gave a very special dedication card to the late great Stephen Hillenburg, which I imagine this was one of the last episodes he produced before his unfortunate passing.
I honestly believed had SpongeBob ended after this episode, people would have looked more fondly on the series as a whole rather than just the first three seasons and the original movie. It’s then that more and more people would have discovered some of the latter seasons, particularly Seasons 9, 10, 11, and parts of 12 and see that the series still did have some life left in it. And just before it was about to run out of live once again (the other parts of Season 12-onwards), it was able to end the series on it’s own high, unique note before wearing out it’s welcome once again. It unfortunately didn’t do that but it’s nice to think about it if that was the case.
That’s not to say the episode is perfect by any means. There are certain jokes that get quite old and aren’t very funny, the final song itself is quite…..bleh and not very memorable, and the animation can get WAY too over-the-top and expressive for my likings, something which can be an issue for me throughout a good chunk of the newer episodes coming out. Also, how is it you bring Mindy the Mermaid back but NOT have her have a speaking line or two. I mean you could get all of these other celebrities for a cameo but you could NOT grab Scarlett Johansson for a day or two?
Even so, the heart and passion behind Big Birthday Blowout is clearly on screen for everyone involved. This really felt like an anniversary special that felt like there was time, effort, and care to it that wasn’t present in Truth or Square. Whether that’s because Nick actually didn’t rush and crunch the cast and crew this time around or not, I’m glad that time, effort, and care was able to be felt throughout SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout.
Although Big Birthday Blowout wasn’t the technical end of SpongeBob SquarePants, I think it represented the end of the show for a lot of people. Similar to how I believed that Hello Bikini Bottom! represented an end to Gen Z’s era of the show and Nickelodeon as a whole, I feel like Big Birthday Blowout represented the end of Stephen Hillenburg’s run of SpongeBob SquarePants. This was that one last special episode where you can feel the dedication, inspiration, and just pure finger prints that Hillenburg brought to this series. After all, he was the man that created SpongeBob SquarePants in the first place. Now that he’s gone, SpongeBob will never be the same again.
While some good things have come from SpongeBob in the past five years since Hillenburg’s passing such as The Cosmic Shake video game and (if the leaked version I watched online months ago is any indication) Plankton: The Movie, Big Birthday Blowout still feels like the true definite ending/epilogue of the series. No matter when you stopped watching the show or what era of SpongeBob you preferred, this 20th anniversary special feels like the best love letter possible to SpongeBob SquarePants. While there is still one more era of SpongeBob to talk about for next month, I can’t help but feel Big Birthday Blowout is where the series’ train should have had a definite stop.
Thank you Stephen Hillenburg and I hope you are resting peacefully in heaven right now!
Moana 2 is soon to hit theaters just in time for Thanksgiving, like most Disney films around this time of year! This is an upcoming animated sequel that has been receiving it’s fair share of hype while also sharing it’s fair share of skepticism as well. The main reason for the latter is not only so much of Disney’s rather iffy track record with sequels but more of the development history that has been reported with Moana 2! That development history being about how the film was originally going to be a streaming series for Disney Plus until it was reworked to be a theatrical sequel, around nine months prior to release. Disney may deny publicly otherwise but this was clearly done in the response of last year’s Wish being a massive flop at the box office, leading them to release their next film on a familiar IP in the hopes of making quick bucks to make up for losing hundreds of millions of dollars of that failure! And if early projections says otherwise, they might get exactly what they were hoping for, with having potential to making Inside Out 2 level box office numbers worldwide!
As much as I am looking forward to Moana 2, I feel like I’m more interested of hearing what went on from behind the scenes that lead to the development state that it’s been in than I am of the actual film itself. Not only because of the recent horror stories about the development of big animated films such as Across the Spider-Verse, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Inside Out 2, but what we learned over the years about what happened to another recent Disney sequel with an insane development history. That film I am referring to is no other than Frozen 2!
Frozen 2 released around five years ago. Despite not getting the same amount of praise that the first movie did, it went out to become a MASSIVE box office success, grossing over 1.4 billion dollars worldwide, becoming one of the highest animated grossing films of all time, only passed by Disney’s own The Lion King (2019) (Yes, that technically counts!) and Pixar’s Inside Out 2. And while those successful numbers are quite crazy, I don’t think it was anywhere near as crazy than the reported development history from it. A reported development history that was confirmed by no other than the Disney Plus exclusive documentary of Frozen 2 titled, Into the Unknown. The documentary that basically straight up admitted that the entire film was basically being made up on the fly, with the entire cast and crew being crunched and rushed for time in order for the film to make it’s Holiday 2019 release slate.
Now, I know the big question that most folks likely have is how Frozen 2 could have been rushed exactly? After all, the first film came out in 2013, six years before the sequel and it was confirmed by Disney that a sequel was in the works in 2015. That would have at least been four to six years of development time in between each movie. Well, just because something was ANNOUNCED to being in the works does NOT mean that’s when the active development of the film started.
Before they could get around to Frozen 2, Disney Animation have to work on films that were already planned for release slates beforehand such as Zootopia, Moana, and Ralph Breaks The Internet. There was also having to deal with the mess involving John Lasseter being forced out of Disney and Pixar after sexual allegations came about him in 2017, forcing Jennifer Lee to take over as Disney’s CCO the following year in 2018 and up until this year, where she stepped down to focus solely on Frozen 3 & 4 and will now be succeeded by Jared Bush. Because of all that and likely more, I would imagine Frozen 2 didn’t start any actual development until either late 2017 or early 2018. And even then, that was likely only the pre-production, with the actual production not starting until even later than that.
One last element you have to keep in mind was that 2019 was originally set to be Bob Iger’s last year as CEO of Disney before he would step down and let someone else take over. Of course, we all know that plan completely fell apart so hard to the point that Iger had to come back to fix the mess that he inherited/created but before that, 2019 was suppose to be the swan song for his time at Disney, with Bob Chapek acting as his successor. Because of that, he wanted to go out with a complete bang if not for the audience but also all the higher ups and stockholders as Disney.
In 2019, Disney had an ABSURD slate of theatrically released films from their IPs they owned that were set to come out that year, many of which had potential to be billion dollar grossers. You had the Marvel Cinematic Universe which was set to end the Infinity Saga with the likes of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. You had Star Wars that was set to end the Skywalker Saga with The Rise of Skywalker. You had Pixar releasing yet another installment of their most critically acclaimed franchise with Toy Story 4. You had the live-action (or not) remakes/adaptions of beloved Disney animated classics such as Aladdin and The Lion King. And of course, you also had Disney Animation themselves releasing their long-awaited sequel to one of their most successful films ever in Frozen 2. Because of that, Disney was able to end the pre-covid era of cinema with SEVEN billion dollar grossers that year, with every single one of these films that I’ve mentioned cracking at least one billion dollars worldwide. While not all of these were critical successes, they certainly were successes in the eyes of the higher ups and shareholders at Disney.
Once you take into the context of the sky high expectations that fans of the original Frozen had along with the Disney corporation demanding that the sequel be out by the Holidays of 2019, you likely get a sense that this was going to be a nightmare of a film to make with so much pressure in and out for everyone involved. And if the Into the Unknown documentary is anything to go by, that was exactly the case for Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, and everyone else making Frozen 2.
I’m not going to go into every single specific mentioned in this documentary but there are PLENTY of points worth bringing up in the form of cliff notes. I will also share a link at the end of this article with Schaffrillas Productions’s video about this exact documentary and even repeat a few points he stated during it. But here we go:
The crew didn’t fully know the plot or even premise of the film at the start and would only figure out major key things later on down the road.
They initially had no idea who the voice was that kept calling Elsa, with many conflicting opinions on who the voice was and what it was suppose to mean for Elsa.
Songs were written before knowing how they would play a role in the story.
Show Yourself languished in development hell and almost got cut from the movie entirely because of how vague it was and unsure what it was suppose to mean for Elsa and the audience.
Lost in Woods came together really well, with little to no issues making it.
By the time the first trailer came out, no animation had actually been completed for the film outside of the bits shown off in the trailer. This was literally just NINE months before Frozen 2 was set to premiere.
The very first test screening that took place in May 2019 gained very mixed reactions from the audience. While adults liked it, kids were very confused about it.
This led to numerous rewrites to make the movie clearer towards kids and to answer questions that the crew still didn’t really know the answer to.
Additional rewrites included scenes of extra comedy, most notably the stand out sequence where Olaf is recapping the events of the original Frozen.
The ending got changed constantly, with the crew only deciding that the voice would be Elsa’s mom just a FEW months before the movie was supposed to be released.
Tons of scenes and shots that had been worked on for months got thrown out entirely because they were considered to be too “boring” for younger audience.
The crew were constantly crunched throughout development, especially in the final few months For ex.) Editor Jeff Drahiem had to constantly wake up at 3 AM to clock in and work from 14 to 15 hours a day during the final stretch of development to make sure the film got done on time.
So, yeah! I think you can understand why the reported development history of Frozen 2 was just INSANE! What makes it even more insane is how Disney had the audacity to release a full documentary of this, where the cast and crew are being as directly honest as they come with their experience of working on Frozen 2. What was likely treated as an absolute triumph with Disney patting themselves on the back for the movie turning out as we all it did instead basically explained entirely why the film turned out as uneven and all over the place as it did to many people that watched it.
And yet, none of that really mattered to Disney or even anyone working on Frozen 2 because the film turned to be a complete success anyway. It still made over a billion dollars, it still sold plenty of merchandise during the holiday season, the franchise is still moving forward with additional sequels, and Disney is still repeating the same song-and-dance routine they did back then and do this very day. The fact that the production was rushed and the crew was overworked to complete exhausting doesn’t matter at all. All that matters is that the movie made money and that’s the only thing that Disney cares about.
To make matters even worse is the fact that Disney did not learn their lesson at all from Frozen 2 and continues to double down on their mistakes to this very day. So much so that it’s not shocking in the year 2024 to hear stories about a big new animated film from ANY animation studio having a rushed and crunched development cycle! From Across the Spider-Verse to Wish to Kung Fu Panda 4 to Inside Out 2, animators are getting crunched and overworked beyond repair in this day-and-age with likely little to no extra aid or even remorse to go along with it. It’s all that and more of is what is leading the animation industry to go on strike in order to get the respect and fair payment that they deserved.
Which honestly makes me concern for how Moana 2 will turn out. While I’m sure the film will be as visually stunning as the original and the cast and crew will give it all their best efforts, I can’t help but feel like we are seeing yet another rushed development cycle for an upcoming Disney sequel, especially in the wakes of this originally starting as a Disney Plus series and only being announced that it was turning into a movie just NINE months before the film is set to release. Regardless of how the actual quality of the film turns out, I DREAD having to hear the behind the scene stories as to what everyone was put through in order for Moana 2 to meet it’s Thanksgiving 2024 release slate.
I will say one thing! After hearing about the development history for Frozen 2, it has given me a TON more respect towards animators and the people that worked on this film. They are all clearly giving it their all and trying their very best to make the best film they possibly can. It’s only the mega corporations and higher ups that keep giving them ridiculous deadlines that keep holding them back from realizing their full potential. I honestly think it’s because of them that the finished film actually turned out to be watchable and even mostly enjoyable. It just makes me wish they were able to get the proper amount of time they needed and a better work life balance which could have led Frozen 2 to be as much of a classic as the original was.
Now, we must all embrace ourselves for Moana 2 and the Disney Plus documentary for it that will to come out next spring, where we will discover that they couldn’t figure out who the main villain was suppose to be until the day before the actual premier of the film. I sure can’t wait to watch the Moana 2 documentary subtitled How Far I’ll Go about six months from now.
Seriously! Look at this poor man, he look so nervous!
Whenever someone talks about Sonic in 3D form, it’s always that same form of boring, repetitive dialogue about how this is when the entire franchise went downhill. From turning Sonic eyes green to changing up the character design to being forced to play as Sonic’s “annoying” friends, that is always the kind of stuff you here from so-called critics. Similar to those that claim that SpongeBob has sucked since the first movie, the general conscious nowadays seems to be that Sonic reached his peak at the end of the classic era and that he just can never, ever be as good in the modern era.
Never mind the fact that games like Sonic Adventure 1, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic X Shadow Generations got relatively positive reviews at the time of their releases or even other games like Secret Rings, Unleashed (Wii), and Frontiers got at worst a fairly lukewarm response. History always tends to be rewritten by certain critics and reviewers everywhere that Sonic has not and will never work in 3D! (Or in IGN’s case, Sonic has never been good!) I find that to be the most hyperbolic and nonsensical statement ever! Yes, there have been a handful of 3D Sonic games that are legit bad but there are plenty of others that are either good, decent, or at worst “meh”.
The biggest problem with Sonic over the years is the way that SEGA and Sonic Team is constantly trying to reinvent the franchise instead of sticking to a working formula and building upon it. Even when they have that working formula, they will eventually scrap it so they could start over from scratches and make another game that feels more like an “experiment” than an actual game. As a result, the series has becoming multiple different things over the years and because of that, people now want multiple different things. The more you try to change courses with the series, the harder it will be to please people and the more inconsistent in quality the games will be. And that is something has been painfully obvious with Sonic in the third dimension.
Now that Sonic X Shadow Generations is out, here are my rankings every main 3D Sonic game to date from worst to best!
Fyi, despite being technically a 3D game, I am NOT gonna include 3D Blast because that game is just not worth bringing up!
Also, I’m including the storybook series because why not?!
And also, Unleashed on the Wii because it’s different enough than the HD version and plenty of folks out there have that as their definite version of the game.
17.) Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007)
While this might not be the game that caused the most damage to Sonic’s reputation, I can’t think of a more infuriating 3D experience than with Sonic and the Secret Rings! It’s Aladdin-like storybook premise involving genies and magic books is an interesting idea on paper but the execution for it is probably some of the worst I’ve seen in any video game!
The levels are poorly designed, the level progression and padding is beyond stupid, and the controls are easily the worst of any 3D Sonic game and perhaps any video game ever! Sonic has never controlled so awkwardly and has never had more outrageous design choices than the ones that are present here. Throw in an annoying theme song that plays nonstop, an idiotic bad guy with such an absurdly stupid plan, and a laughable ending and you got perhaps the worst Sonic game in the main series!
Sonic and the Secret Rings is not just the worst 3D Sonic game ever made, it’s one of the worst video games I’ve ever played period! This is the only game on this list that I never beat because I don’t have the patience or insanity to do so. And keep in mind, I’m someone that played through and beat all the other games on this list, even the bad ones! That should tell you something!
16.) Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (2014)
The most poorly received 3D Sonic title to date is not quite the worst thing to ever happen to the blue blur but it’s pretty damn close. It has a nice tone and cinematic feel to it with plenty of solid banter and voice work throughout. Unfortunately, when it comes to the actual gameplay itself, it’s about as unpolished and lackluster than you could possibly imagine for a video game!
The Ratchet & Clank treatment that Big Red Button Studios desires to give Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric does not work in the slightest, making the whole experience feel not so much like a Sonic game but a game that just happens to have Sonic characters in it. The level design is dull, the main villain Lyric is nothing more than generic bad guy #723, and plenty of folks have picked apart the number of bugs and glitches to death that it’s hardly worth bringing up. And also Shadow is here for literally no reason whatsoever!
The main results of Rise of Lyric is a show tie-in in game that was clearly rushed out of the gate to make it on time for the Sonic Boom TV series to premiere in November 2014. It’s a game that’s so bad that it practically killed Big Red Button before they even had a chance to get their foot through the door. While the main Sonic Boom show was able to win the hearts of many fans, this Wii U exclusive cash-in is best left ignored.
15.) Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Everyone and their mother have picked this game apart and for good reason. The story is dumb and nonsensical, the controls are completely broken, many of the side characters/missions are pointless, the loading times are obnoxious and way too long, and the glitches are just everywhere, EVERYWHERE! And of course, the beasility romance makes the love story in Twilight seem believable. However, as time goes by, there is something to admire about 06 as it has the kind of scale and ambition that most games in the series didn’t have up until Frontiers.
Sonic and Blaze the Cat are mostly fun to play as (*insert Chimanruler15 forgetting who Blaze the Cat is*), the music is amazing (a consistent quality in most Sonic games), and even the glitches can be quite fun to play around with and show off to your friends. Just a shame that Sonic Team shot themselves in the foot repeatedly making dumb decision after dumb decision during development with SEGA breathing down their neck to make sure it gets released on time by Christmas 2006.
Maybe it’s because many years has passed where the wounds have had time to heal and there’s been plenty of fan mods that have helped “fixed” the game but kinda like with Shadow the Hedgehog, I do find this to be a guilty pleasure in quite a bit of areas. Would I ever call the game good? Hell no! But would I call it the worst game ever made or even my least favorite Sonic game? Hell no as well!
14.) Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
The one time in the series where Sonic Team tried to make the Sonic franchise a bit “edgier” and more suited to “mature” audiences. Boy, was that a mistake! What we are given with Shadow The Hedgehog is a huge departure from the main series, despite still being canon to the main storyline of the franchise.
With aliens, machine guns, and a whole lot of “damns” thrown in the mix, this feels like a fan game with a script writing by a 10-year old edge lord who played way too much Call of Duty and learned a few bad words overnight. Yes, this is as completely stupid as it sounds. The most surprising thing is that the gun gameplay itself is actually quite solid and is actually the big highlight of the game. Too bad, the level themselves are too long, the narrative is convoluted as hell, and being forced to beat the game in TEN different ways in order to unlock the final story is padding at it’s absolute worst.
I will admit to finding this game to be a guilty pleasure in some areas since the plot and cutscenes are hilarious in a “so bad, it’s good” kind of way (“I’m going to destroy this damn planet!” kills me every time!). That being said, there is no damn way in hell I can call this a damn good game. (See what I did there?!). At least, this game and Black Doom would get (somewhat) of a redemption arc later on down the road nearly two decades later.
13.) Sonic and the Black Knight (2009)
The best thing you can say about The Black Knight is that it’s immensely better than Secret Rings. The controls itself are functional and the gameplay itself is actually playable. Plus, it looks and sounds great and the story/cutscenes themselves are pretty entertaining, with some of the best and sharpest writing in any Sonic game. And I don’t think Sonic has sounded any better than he does with this game with Jason Griffith killing it here! However, it still can’t quite unlock the potential of Sonic in these storybook settings.
The levels themselves are quite dull with not much challenge or momentum to it, the progression is still as dumb as it was in Secret Rings, and the majority of the experiences mostly just amounts to shaking the Wii remote over and over and over again. Not to mention, the game itself can be beaten in just three or so hours with not much post-game content for you to want to play more of it after you beat the main story.
For a game as bizarre of a premise as this, you would think it would leave more of an impression on you than simply “meh”. Sonic and the Black Knight was so “meh” in fact that SEGA basically abandoned doing any more of these storybook arc games due to the middling reception and sales for it. You can certainly do worse but you can also do a whole lot better.
12.) Sonic Lost World (Wii U) (2013)
When I brought up in the beginning how Sonic Team has this constant nag of always trying to re-invent the wheels instead of letting a good idea simmer, Sonic Lost World is a great example of what I was referring to. The follow-up to Sonic Generations sees Sonic Team NOT trying to take the boost formula one step further but instead, takes a page from Super Mario Galaxy with floating gimmicks and putting more focus on platforming than speed. Unfortunately, the game itself never quite understands why that gameplay worked exclusively for Mario and not so much for Sonic.
Sonic Lost World a perfect definition of throwing stuff as the wall to see what sticks. A good chunk of levels work well enough and are fun to play but there’s never a consistency to the main core gameplay because it’s never established what exactly the core of the game is. The game constantly changes the rules as you go on to the point where you wonder who this game was even made for. And don’t even get me started on the story which it’s tryhard “drama” between Sonic and Tails along with the main bad guys that are simply Skylander rejects and only rival The Doom Syndicate from Megamind 2 as being the most generic and one-note bad guys to ever exist.
There’s being ambitious and then there’s just being aimless. Despite having it’s moments, SonicLost World definitely leans much closer to the latter than the former. As the good old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
11.) Sonic Forces (2017)
After the mixed results of Lost World, Sonic Team goes back to the boost formula that made Unleashed, Colors, and Generations so successful, only to end up breaking what wasn’t originally broken. Imagine a more water-down version of Sonic Generations with a create-your-own character gimmick slapped onto it and this is basically what you get.
The levels themselves are way too short and easy, Classic Sonic is useless and butchered beyond repair, the story never goes far enough with wanting to act as a departure to the main series by letting Eggman win, and don’t get me started on Infinite and his “I AM NOT WEAK” nonsense. At least Modern Sonic is still fun to play as and there’s some enjoyment to be had with having your own custom character interact with the other main players of the Sonic franchise, even if they are about as “self-insert” as it gets.
You can make the argument that Lost World (and even Black Knight) are more polished and better made games but Forces does feel more in-line with Sonic and has at least clear idea of what target audience it has in mind. While I still find this game to be MASSIVELY over hated by Sonic fans and gamers anywhere (I seriously can’t take you seriously if you say this game is worse than Sonic 06!), there’s not much done in Sonic Forces that hasn’t been done better in plenty other Sonic games. It’s a perfectly middle-of-the-road game that deserves it’s middle-of-the-road ranking of the 3D Sonic games.
10.) Sonic Heroes (2004)
I’m gonna say straight up front that Sonic Heroes was the first Sonic game I’ve ever played. That lone fact alone makes me want to biased and put on my nostalgic goggles to have this game ranked much higher that it is. However, if I were to be unfortunately critical, I can’t deny that this game is very flawed and far from perfect.
There are good chunks of the game that are fast and fun, the level design themselves have plenty of neat gimmicks and designs that stand among the best in the franchise, the soundtrack is stellar with nearly every track being a winner, and the overall message and concept of teamwork is a great and interesting one for the Sonic series. Unfortunately, there are major issues when it comes to controls, physics, and repetition that really tank the experience for a lot of people. The game can feel too fast at times, the physics are quite sloppily, the special stages are a headache, and being forced to play the exact same game four times over in order to unlock the true final story is the exact kind of needless padding that tends to plaque a lot of Sonic games.
The good and bad of Sonic Heroes balance each other throughout the entirety of the game. It will mostly depends on what end you find yourself landing on more when playing it that will determine your overall feelings of the game as a whole. However, if there is any Sonic game that would benefit HEAVILY from a remaster, it’s this game! I’m grateful for Sonic Heroes for existing and getting me into Sonic but I wish the whole experience could have been more consistently great like the best Sonic games are.
9.) Sonic Unleashed (Wii) (2008)
The PS2/Wii version of Unleashed is quite different from it’s HD counterpart but it’s arguably the inferior version of this polarizing game. It’s doesn’t so much share the pros and cons of the HD version but has pros and cons of it’s own.
There’s no metal collecting, the night stages are much shorter, no forced hub world sections, you can actually explore the Gaia temples this time around, and even the final boss has a Punch-Out Wii section that I can’t help but love. However, there’s more night stages than necessary, less day stages than necessary, and getting extra lives is more tedious than necessary. Who seriously thought it was good idea to take away the “100 rings gives you an extra life” gimmick? It was a dumb idea when they did it in Lost World and it’s a dumb idea here. The first 2/3rds of Unleashed are relatively enjoyable with a proper balance of everything but the last third gets way too bloated and padded to a ridiculous level which will likely leave you quite exhausted by the time the credit roll.
There has been debates as to whether or not the SD or HD version of Sonic Unleashed is the better experience. I’m gonna put my foot down as say that the PS2/Wii version is the inferior version of this beloved/infamous 3D Sonic experience. It’s worth trying out if you are interest but definitely get it at a discount.
8.) Sonic Dream Team (2023)
This newest 3D installment made exclusively for IOS and Apple Devices makes for the first fully 3D Sonic game with multiple characters added to the main campaign since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Following the mixed results of mobile Sonic games with the likes of Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Sonic Dream Team is able to provide the most comfortable feeling mobile Sonic game to date, with no extra expenses needed to enjoy the experience.
Being able to take control as Sonic and his friends, Dream Team is able to use it’s Inception mixed with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater quite well, with a nice variety of levels, missions, and collectibles. The graphics are bright and colorful, each character are comfortable to control along with having their own unique ability, and how in the world is it that the cutscenes have more animation than Sonic Team’s recent console games? The story itself is quite meh and it will likely take you a level or two to get used to the controls but when you get past that, there’s quite a bit of fun to be had here.
While a part of me does wish this was made for consoles and hope we do at least get a console port in the future, Sonic Dream Team is a solid mobile game made exclusively for iPhone gamers that are willing to give up a few bucks a month for Apple Arcade services. If anything, this is at least a sign that SEGA and Sonic Team haven’t fully abandon Sonic’s friends and aren’t afraid to include them in their newest games that don’t involve the Olympics or kart racing.
7.) Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
Sonic Adventure 2 tends to be a fan-favorite of the series and the one that got an entire generation of Sonic fans into the series. It also introduced perhaps the most famous character in the series outside of Sonic himself in Shadow the Hedgehog. However, there’s a strong argument to be made that SA2 is more known for it’s reputation as oppose to it’s actual quality.
The Sonic/Shadow stages are as awesome as ever, the music still slaps, the story is cheesy but also entertaining, and the expansion of the Chao Garden along with the multiplayer mode helps increase the replay value of the game greatly, even more so than most Sonic games. Just a shame it’s still bogged down by mediocre-to-okay shooting stages with Tails and Eggman along with absolutely terrible treasure hunting stages with non-existent emerald radars with Knuckles and Rouge (Don’t get me started on those godawful water levels). I also don’t get that same sense of adventure that I got with the original Sonic Adventure due to the lack of hub worlds and containing more cluster phobic level design with all the playable characters.
Sonic Adventure 2 is a game I respect more than I actually love. I admire what it has done for the series and the foundation it has laid out throughout Sonic’s history. However, I still can’t help but shake the feeling that this is a game where the sums are better than it’s own parts. But the sums are constantly scattered throughout and pretty damn good when they occur. I’m definitely curious to see how the Sonic movie threequel is gonna adapt this game’s storyline.
6.) Sonic Frontiers (2022)
In many ways, Sonic Frontiers is guilty of many of the same flaws that have plagued prior 3D Sonic games. From being overly ambitious and unfocused to throwing random ideas left and right, there’s much you can pick apart about this game. However, unlike with most recent entries in the series, there is actually some charm hidden within like a beautiful little diamond in the rough, something that makes Frontiers stand out as fondly as some of the better 3D Sonic games out there.
The overall core formula and open zones work well here and does help set a promising template for future Sonic games. It’s also nice to see more care put into the story and characterization than it has been for quite some time. And I don’t think Super Sonic has been more badass here than ever. If it removed certain gimmicks that weren’t needed (*cough* pinball table *cough*) and it had more original and polished cyberspace levels, this could have lived up to it’s absolute ambition instead of feeling like it barley missed it in many spots.
Sonic Frontiers is about as imperfect as you can expect a Sonic game to be but for the first time in a long while, it did leave me with an actual sense of hope and optimism for the Blue Blur moving forward. This is a game that has grown on me since it came out back in 2022 and I’ve come to find more things to love and appreciate about it as time goes by. This is just a game that has faded very fondly in my memory. Fingers crossed that SEGA and Sonic Team can capitalize on the strengths of this game while leaving out the weaknesses and perhaps we can have even greater Sonic experiences for the immediate future.
5.) Sonic Unleashed (HD) (2008)
One of the most divisive installments in the franchise and I can certainly understand why. It was coming off the high heel of Sonic 06, that basically shattered the remaining good will that the franchise still had up to that point, it was at that point where professional critics was basically in full “2D Sonic=Good, 3D Sonic=Bad” mode, and of course there was the inclusion of the controversial gameplay style that was the Werehog. Even so, the HD version of Sonic Unleashed has the thrills and action that I want from a mainline Sonic the Hedgehog game in the third dimension.
The daytime stages delivers the exact sense of speed and fast platforming I could ever ask for in a Sonic game, the story is simplistic but still has that nice mix of light and dark nature that most Sonic games tend to ger wrong, the hub worlds are nice, the graphics still look great even 14 years later, the soundtrack is outstanding, and even I’m not shame to admit I even kinda (mostly) like that silly Werehog (put him in the fourth Sonic movie, you cowards!). The medal grinding is quite annoying, especially on a first playthrough, and there are some extras that were quite pointless (*cough* hot dog missions *cough*). This is also certainly a game where you really have to know the “ins-and-outs” of it to truly enjoy the whole experience.
I totally understand the reasons to love and hate Sonic Unleashed but I land myself far more on the positive side than the negative one. It’s a game that just has plenty of great elements to it that is easier to appreciate now than ever before. This game has been gaining a cult following over the years and I’m glad to admit that I was a part of it from the very beginning.
4.) Sonic Colors (Wii) (2010)
Sonic Team follow up Unleashed sees them adding more to the well-received aspects of it’s predecessor (the daytime stages) by building upon it along with removing the not so well-received aspects (the nighttime stages). As a result, we get one of the best 3D Sonic games ever made! (Yes, I said it! Come right at me!)
Sonic Colors understands the core appeal of Sonic by featuring top-notch speed, solid platforming, welcome new franchise additions with the Wisp power ups, and incredibly fun and unique level designs to boot. Sure, there may be a bit too much 2D levels for some and the story/humor is admittedly hit (any scene with Eggman and his robots) or miss (Baldy McNosehair) but none of that should be enough to taint the overall experience of Colors. It’s also nice to see a Sonic game that despite borrowing elements from Mario, is still able to provide a fresh and entertaining experience that certainly feels like Sonic the Hedgehog.
While some might find the recently ported HD remastered to be quite iffy, the original Sonic Colors is still pure gold. I can’t understand for the life of me of why the majority of Sonic fans have turned on this game so harshly but I still find it to be an overall great experience and one of my personal favorite games in the series.
3.) Sonic Adventure (1999)
I would be lying if I said that the original Sonic Adventure has aged well. The graphics, animation, dialogue, and voice work are all way below par and were barely passable at the time of the game’s release. Regardless, there is still more than enough about the first official 3D Sonic game that works well. And the stuff that works, works harder than nearly EVERY single 3D Sonic game that has ever been made.
Sonic has probably the smoothest controls in any of the 3D games with the level design perhaps being the best in not just modern form but in any form, Tails races with Sonic are a blast to play, Knuckles’ treasure hunting stages are actually enjoyable here because they move at a faster clip thanks to having an actually functional emerald radar, Gamma, despite having stages that were clearly not meant for him, are a ton fun and even Amy’s story has her moments, especially with that hammer mini-game. Big the Cat’s fishing missions still sucks but if you know what you’re doing, you can beat them real quick and move on to the next story with ease. It’s also nice to have a whole hub world to go exploring and to see many of the main Sonic characters have their own arcs and development, really making you feel like that you are going on adventures with these characters. Even the dated elements like the cheesy as hell animation is at least good for a laugh, both intentionally and unintentionally.
Has the game has aged? Absolutely! Does that make it bad? Absolutely not! There is still plenty to love and appreciate about Sonic Adventure many years later. It’s because of that and more that those enjoyments are some of the best not just in 3D Sonic but in the entire Sonic franchise.
2.) Sonic Generations (HD) (2011)
One of the very best 3D Sonic games to date is the one that certainly features the most Sonic out of all the games thus far. Sonic Generations acts a wonderful celebration of the first two decades of Sonic the Hedgehog by acting as the best possible love letter to the franchise that any Sonic fan could imagine.
Perfecting both the classic 2D style gameplay along with the modern 3D style gameplay by recreating the best levels from previous Sonic games and making them feel new and unique on their own. There’s plenty of awesome extras and unlockables which features some incredible remixes of the very best tracks in the Sonic franchise. Generations gets right what it needs to get right so well that it’s shortcomings don’t matter. It doesn’t matter that the story itself is practically non-existent, has perhaps too many city levels, could have used more “deja vu” cutscenes between Sonic and Tails, and the final boss itself is awful and extremely lackluster. It would have been also nice to see DLC that aren’t fan-made or modes for the PC version only.
Even when listing any possible shortcomings, nothing can take away the absolutely triumph experience that was Sonic Generations. I don’t think there is a Sonic game that I have gone back to more than this. If that doesn’t say anything about the overall quality and enormous replay value this game has, I don’t know what does.
1.) Shadow Generations
Recency bias aside, I can’t think of a better example of 3D Sonic in his absolute peak form than with Sonic X Shadow Generations. A 2024 remaster of Sonic Generations updated to modern consoles/PC would have been satisfying enough to longtime fans of the series but what makes this one stand out stronger than most is it’s inclusion to a brand new story mode involving fan-favorite Shadow the Hedgehog. It’s able to do Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury even better than the actual Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
When it comes to the remaster of Sonic Generations, it’s able to provide an even cleaner and smoother experience than before by moving at a crisp 60 FPS clip, no loading times, more collectibles hidden throughout the levels with the Chao, and even being able to play as an Adventure skin of Sonic. Hit-and-miss changes to the overall dialogue aside, this is perhaps the best version of Sonic Generations to date. When it comes to Shadow Generations, this might just be the very best version of 3D Sonic as a whole. With incredibly unique level designs, crazy and out-of-this-world set pieces, masterfully done remixes, a gameplay style that manages to combine the best elements of Generations and Frontiers respectively, and even quite a touching story about Shadow and the two people he cares about the most in Maria and Gerald Robotnik. This even manages to make Black Doom less lame. That’s how good this game is!
Call it cheating if you may but if there is one 3D Sonic experience that is 100% worth your time, look no further than Sonic X Shadow Generations. Not only do you get a quality remaster that managed to do everything that Colors: Ultimate couldn’t but it’s also able to give you an engaging story and gameplay with Shadow the Hedgehog himself, definitely more so than his DLC in Forces. Because of all that and more, Sonic X Shadow Generations is the best 3D Sonic game to date! Fingers crossed that the next 3D Sonic game is even better!
Adam's Blog 