Not having played any games related to the Sonic franchise before, I picked up The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and played through it in one sitting after having read about it in a post here on Lemmy. Safe to say, I absolutely loved every second of it. The art style, the characters and their dynamics, the murder mystery setting and the music. God, the music is bloody amazing, I’ve been listening to the OST nonstop. Anyway, the whole experience got me interested in the franchise the game is based on. I understand that TMOSTH was released as an April fools joke, making it quite different from the other games. Nevertheless I assume that especially the characters and music are of similar quality in the other entries. The issue I now have at hand is that due to my lack of knowledge about these games I’m unsure which ones to begin with and which ones to prefer or even avoid. Lists that I found online have been rather inconclusive and partially confusing to me. For this reason I’m looking for advice through this post. What’s a good starting point based on the aspects important to me and the experience I described? I suppose it is also important to note that my only gaming platform is a PC. I appreciate you reading through this post and thanks for any advice! <3
If you enjoy physics based gameplay like I do, the 2D originals are a great ball of fun. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are also tons of fun for the same reason although both games have annoying camera issues in some places. Sonic Mania is a much newer 2D game based on the originals and was great too. The newer 3D games are very hit and miss. They play like a glorified Temple Run game where you just mash a button and race through everything without having to think which can get tedious fast
Sonic fan for more than two decades here! It’s always great to see more people interested in the franchise!
I would say that maybe it would be good to start with Sonic Generations (or Sonic x Shadow Generations if you can afford it, which is the same but with the Shadow The Hedgehog story as an extra), so you get familiar with the gameplay of both classic and modern games, have a sense of where it’s going and decide whether to go ahead or not.
I see that your interest is more focused on the characters and their dynamics, fantastic! the best part of the franchise in my opinion!. In that sense I would say that your best option to go deeper after Sonic Generations would be the mythical Adventure saga (Adventure 1 and Adventure 2). They are the games in which much more emphasis was put on the characters and the story.
Already after this and if you are hooked is that I recommend that you play the classics. You can play Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles in Sonic Origins (although you can also emulate the Mega Drive games), and then there is Sonic Mania. Why not start with the classics? Because they are very much of their time: pure gameplay, simple and not so deep story, but very fun to play!
You talk about games, but let me recommend you to read the IDW Comics in a complementary way. They are REALLY good! If I remember correctly, one of the artists on the comics, Evan Stanley, worked on The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and the story of the game plays out very similar to how the Comics read. It’s also where you’ll find the most depth in the characters (and you’ll encounter the best story arc EVER written for the franchise, EVER).
To sum up:
- Sonic Generations (Or Sonic x Shadow Generations)
- Sonic Adventure 1 and 2
- Sonic Origins (Which are Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3 & Knuckles)
- Sonic Mania
- Extra: IDW’s Sonic comics.
Good luck and have fun!
Sonic 2 for the Genesis is my favorite game of all time. So I’d suggest starting with that one, personally. First Sonic was good too, but the second game refined the controls and made some small quality of life improvements. Then Sonic 3 + Knuckles and Sonic Mania are also excellent.
The 3D Sonics have been pretty hit or miss though. The controls are dumbed down and not nearly as tight as the classic 2D ones, although Frontiers was a step in the right direction.
Sonic mania is the only really good one since Sega made consoles.
And go figure, it wasn’t made by Sonic team
If you really liked the interactions between the characters, honestly I think The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog did that better than any of the other games did. If that’s the main appeal for you, you’ve already played the best one. I haven’t read the comics myself, but like others have mentioned, that’s probably what you’re looking for.
Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 feature many of the same characters as The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but the dialog isn’t really as polished. It’s an English translation of a Japanese game at a time when they were still trying to figure out how to do cutscenes in 3D Sonic games. But based on your criteria, I’d say those are a good starting point, though. They’re both on Steam. (The first game is called Sonic Adventure DX because it has the “upgraded” graphics that many fans think is actually a downgrade in art style. There are mods to change things back to their original look. I think this SADX mod installer installs all of them for you.)
Sonic X Shadow Generations has many of the levels from Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but lacks the same cutscenes and characters. The gameplay is great, though.
And if you liked the OST, then you’ll definitely like the music in the 2D games, especially Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic Mania.
