Even the most stalwart of Sonic the Hedgehog fans must admit the Blue Blur hasn’t had the most stable of careers. In the franchise’s 30-odd years, there have been some real stinkers ranging from horribly mediocre to just plain horrible.
If you’ve ever thought about getting into the series for yourself, then take a look through the list of 10 games below so you know which ones you shouldn’t play, unless you hate yourself or enjoy experiencing terrible games.
The 10 worst Sonic the Hedgehog games
Sonic Blast
Not to be confused with Sonic 3D Blast (which is pretty decent depending on who you ask), Sonic Blast was Sega’s attempt at using pre-rendered visuals after 1994’s Donkey Kong Country made it popular.
But while Sonic Blast‘s graphics may have been impressive for the time, it’s a thoroughly ugly game to look at nowadays. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game itself was fun but neither Sonic nor Knuckles control well thanks to how sluggish they feel. Between all this and the poor level design, there’s no reason to try this game outside of morbid curiosity.
Sonic Labyrinth
Sonic Labyrinth’s mere existence is baffling as it takes away Sonic’s most defining trait—his speed. After Doctor Eggman steals his shoes, Sonic is forced to slowly plod through boring and repetitive isometric mazes collecting keys so he can take his shoes back.
It’s not even a particularly great puzzle game for non-Sonic fans, with its only positives being its incredibly short length and its visuals not being anywhere near as ugly as Sonic Blast’s. If you want a better isometric Sonic game, stick with Sonic 3D Blast, which was primarily worked on by Traveller’s Tales—the studio behind most modern LEGO games.
Sonic Shuffle
Had Sonic Shuffle copied Mario Party wholesale, it would have been derided for its lack of originality—but at least it would’ve been fun. Instead, its efforts to distinguish itself from Nintendo’s party game held Sonic Shuffle back, with game boards that are far too large, uninteresting minigames, and just generally confusing rules.
Not even having Hudson Soft, the original developer of the Mario Party series, work on the title helped. At best, it’s a boring mess that’ll bring down the mood of any get-together with friends.
Shadow the Hedgehog
With how popular Sonic’s brooding lookalike became after his debut in 2002, it only made sense for Sega to give Shadow his own game. The final result—Shadow the Hedgehog—is a bizarre effort to make the series more mature by emphasizing gunplay and other weaponry, making all the characters swear, and having a story all about an alien invasion where Shadow must grapple with his own morality and amnesia.
Missions can be a boring chore to complete, the branching storyline makes very little sense no matter what choices you make, and its efforts to be adult and edgy only make it childish. I must admit, though, this one’s a guilty pleasure of mine and worth trying out for a laugh.
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
There are so many ways to experience the very first Sonic the Hedgehog game and all of them are perfectly valid, with one exception. This GameBoy Advance port, which launched as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations, is easily the worst way to play through Sonic’s debut.
It suffers from poor performance, lagging frequently throughout, and has screen crunch. What this means is that everything is zoomed in, making it extra difficult to tell when a pit, a platform, or an enemy is about to appear in front of Sonic as he speeds through the levels. It doesn’t even sound as good as the original game thanks to an unimpressively remixed soundtrack.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
2006 was not a good year for Sonic. Not only were fans gifted a terrible port of a great game, but also the hedgehog’s debut on seventh-generation consoles. Sharing the same title as the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 06 as it’s called remains a strong contender for the worst game in the entire series.
Its infamy has haunted Sega for almost two decades and was so awful many feared it had killed the franchise. Sluggish controls, horrendously long loading times, too many bugs and glitches to count, and a messy time travel story. There’s very little to praise about this game outside of its music, which is genuinely fantastic.
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
A turn-based Sonic RPG from BioWare sounds like a slam dunk, especially since it was coming fresh off the heels of BioWare’s first Mass Effect game. Sadly, it was not to be.
Although not without some neat ideas, particularly regarding the story, Sonic Chronicles is begotten with bizarre design choices and rhythm-based combat that some may find more finicky than anything. The worst part is the overall presentation though, with overly simplistic visuals, less than handsome 3D models, ill-fitting sound effects, zero voice acting, and possibly the worst music in the whole series. It’s honestly surprising this game got relatively decent reviews at launch.
Sonic Free Riders
The Sonic Riders series of racing games, where Sonic and pals use hoverboards instead of go karts, are an acquired taste but there is no defending Sonic Free Riders. Had this come out at any other time, it might’ve been fairly decent but Sonic Free Riders was cursed to be an Xbox 360 exclusive and a launch title for its Kinect peripheral.
That means mandatory motion controls for everything, with no option to use a normal controller. This would be less of an issue if the motion controls work, but they simply don’t. Even scrolling through menus can be a nightmare.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Believe it or not, some people actually like and defend Sonic 06 despite how terrible it is, yet I have not met anyone who is willing to stand up for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. Made to help promote the new Sonic Boom spin-off series, this action-adventure platformer quickly became another easy target of mockery because of the cavalcade of bugs and glitches it was plagued with.
This was in addition to the messy controls, poor camera, terrible writing, and possibly the most boring villain in any Sonic game. Combined with being a Wii U exclusive, it’s no wonder this is one of the worst-selling games in the franchise. At least the adjacent TV show was decent and genuinely funny.
Sonic Forces
Some will argue that Sonic Forces isn’t anywhere near as bad as the rest of the games on this list and depending on the time of day I’d agree, but it is most definitely disappointing. Forces had the misfortune of dropping just a few months after the incredible Sonic Mania, and where that game was a passion project and tribute to Sonic’s 2D career, Forces felt like it was made out of obligation.
The boost formula which was nearly 10 years old at the time had grown stale, not helped by awfully stiff controls and levels are unmemorable and shockingly short. The fan service was unsatisfying, the story tonally inconsistent, and the new villain Infinite failed to be as cool as his Linkin Park-esque theme song. Getting to make your own custom character was a neat addition though.
