A Sonic Rant

Okay.
Today, please, let me rant.

Until a little while ago, I had remained blissfully unaware of the changes that SEGA had made to Sonic the Hedgehog. 

I drew this picture of Sonic myself. Just look at it. I'm so proud I could weep.

Allow me to clarify.
I grew up with Sonic Unleashed. It was the first Sonic game I ever played. Well; first official Sonic game. I also played a bit of Ultimate Flash Sonic. I loved Unleashed from the first level. I was impressed by the storyline, and they really gave the game some depth. the cutscenes were CGI-grade awesome, and they somehow created an entire world. It was a truly epic game. Not only that, but the gameplay was phenomenal. With a flick of the wrist, you could boost, attack enemies, and the like.

And I don't see why everyone was hating on Sonic the Werehog's battle-based levels. I actually thought it was kinda fun.

I still remember the sheer excitement I felt when I finally battled the final boss!

Then, last year, I got Sonic Colors. And boy, what a shock. there was a 4-year gap between the games, and apparently, somewhere in those four years, they decided to change the voice actor for Sonic. This is more than a minor tweak. The voice actor for Unleashed, Jason Griffith, perfectly depicted Sonic's free-spiritedness and sense of adventure, making him sound older, yet still like a teenager. While I didn't realize it before then, Jason Griffith perfectly portrayed Sonic the Hedgehog. But the new guy... butchered it. He sounds like a 30-year-old trying to sound like a teenager. I just can't match that voice to the mouth emitting it. They have to bring back Griffith!

And now even the dialogue is worse. Sonic doesn't sound like himself anymore, and for whatever reason, the creators seem more intent on comedy than actual plot. They have so many cheap gags I'm starting to wonder if they even take themselves seriously anymore. They've trivialized and undignified Eggman so much that it's not even fun to beat him anymore. he's gone from evil genius to bumbling fool. For more on that, check this out: Tvtropes Sonic Colors fails. In Unleashed he was intent on summoning an ancient creature in order to establish a global empire. In Colors he steals one planet for its aliens, four others for no apparent reason, and makes a freaking amusement park out of it, calling it an evil plot. Not only is that silly, it's really kiddy, too, along with the rest of the game. 

Now, I don't deny that Sonic Colors definitely has some merit, and it did introduce the Color Powers, which are like powerups for Sonic. But while this might've been a fun game mechanic for just one game, it's become a dumb gimmick, and one of the things that's always seperated the Mario and Sonic series in Sonic's lack of powerups, making the gameplay more dependent on the player than on the level. And what's worse, in Colors, they totally eliminated the Spindash, a classic move that's been a vital part of the series since Sonic 2!

In effect, what SEGA, the video game company responsible for Sonic, did was redo Sonic the Hedgehog, making the plots less interesting and making Sonic much more silly. In my view, they kind of ruined him.

I apologize if I lapsed into gamer-speak at any point in this rant. Thank you for sitting through all of my seemingly endless yapping. If you disagree, whatever, It's my opinion. If you agree or support my view, then please, post the "Sonic Unleashed fan" picture on your major social networking site, with a subtitle about your thoughts about the old Sonic, the tag #BringBackSonic, and this link: http://www.colinsroom.net/raucous-endeavors/a-sonic-rant. You can also help by Tweeting, Facebook liking, or +1'ing this post, using their respective buttons on the blog. Or not. You know, if you want to... this is a rant, after all. The +1 button can be found at the top of this page. And if you share my Sonic drawing, just mention who made it. Colin out! ß:^)