Sonic is the new Spyro

So there's been a lot of talk about the upcoming Sonic Boom direction of Sonic.  A lot of fans are freaking out over the redesign with characters covered in bandages and jacked up Knuckles.

I love Sonic. I was one who was so happy playing Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations and I was thinking "Sega finally got it right!"  I was hoping they would build on the foundation of those two games, maybe make a longer game, bring back the playable friends in a fun and fast way, but then we got Sonic Lost World, a game that I still have no idea what Sega was going for namely throwing out the 3D mechanics that worked so well in the modern Generations stages in favor of some odd parkour system and stages that seemed way to similar to Mario Galaxy.

Then Sonic Boom was announced and at first, I wasn't sure what to think. The early gameplay trailer looked interesting and perhaps handing Sonic over to another studio was what the series needed to breathe new life into it.  I didn't understand the need to redesign everyone but it's not like Sonic was the only character to ever get a redesign.  Plus the creators were planning on giving Amy a personality beyond "obsessive whiny fan girl."

The problem is after E3, it's easy to see that Sega doesn't care about Sonic being "good" again, rather they're back to their approach in the early post Dreamcast years, where they got Sonic X on the air and starting cranking out Sonic stuff as an easy way to make money off kids. After all kids are stupid and they buy anything based on a TV show they like.  Look at all the crappy SpongeBob and Dora games that sell.  Alongside the Ratchet and Clank vibe I get from gameplay trailers,  so many hands on reports have said the game is so-so with the 3DS version being slightly better in being a side scrolling, Metroidvania type game.  But it seems like Sega's more interested in showing us E3 booths and all the tie in toys than promoting the game. They claim this is just a "spinoff" and that has no bearing on the Sonic we know but I can't help but think, they're only saying that to avoid fan pandemonium and outrage.

Remember Spyro the Dragon?  He was one of the PS1 mascots created by Insomniac and had fun 3D platformers, but then Insomniac broke ties with Universal interactive and lost the rights and Spyro went downhill making several mediocre to bad games.  The series was revamped into the "Legend of Spyro" series with a new backstory and a whole bunch of big name voice actors, but this didn't improve the series outside of cheap bargain bin kids games (much like his counterpart Crash Bandicoot) and finally Activision decided instead of selling Spyro back to Insomniac or trying to make a good game, they simply redesigned and repurposed him into Skylanders.  Now sure, Skylanders made tons and tons of money, but not because of Spyro's inclusion.  He was tossed in there for brand name recognition but now he's just one of a cast of many toys and a far cry from what PS1 kids grew up with and as long as Skylanders is making Activision money, any chances of ever seeing the original Spyro are dead.

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This I worry will be Sonic's fate.  Mark my words, if Sonic Boom becomes a big hit with the TV show and toys, then Sega will run with that because that will make them money meaning those of you holding out that we'll see Sonic Adventure 3 on the PS4/Xbox One or whatever, abandon all hope because Sonic Boom will be all that we see.  Hell, I'm surprised Sega didn't try some interactive toy based tie in where you could connect Sonic Boom toys to the game.

Guys. It's OVER. We gotta stop doing this to ourselves.  It's been over a decade since the Dreamcast died.  It's like Sonic died but we couldn't accept it, so we buried him in the Pet Sematary and he keeps coming back evil, corrupt and out to harm us.  At some point, for the sake of our sanity, we have to accept this as a series like Final Fantasy or Mega Man, with it's ups and downs instead of holding on to this sad hope that some magical game is going to turn it all around.  No amount of bad games are going to take away what the original Genesis trilogy (or whatever game is your favorite) gave to us. They'll always be there.  Being a Sonic fan does not mean having to accept every crappy game that comes out.  Even Mario, Zelda and Pokémon fans aren't afraid to admit there's some rubbish in there.  It's time to cut the cord. Detach.  If you want to give Sonic Boom a go, then more power to you, but I advise you to go into this not expecting some grand rebirth.  Sega has done with Sonic what Activision has done with Spyro or Namco did with Pac Man (see Ghostly Adventures).  I'd honestly rather see Sonic disappear like Mega Man then get drug through the mud like Spyro.