Sonic Unleashed (2008)
While some may make the argument that the Sonic Cycle goes way back to the Sonic Adventure/Sonic Heroes days, Sonic Unleashed is probably the safest place to anchor the prophecy to.
It really is the game that embodies the cycle. Fans rightfully got excited about the beautiful visuals, fast-paced daytime gameplay, and as always, top notch music. While the stages that featured regular Sonic needed some work, they were OK. That gameplay would provide the foundation for the definitely not miserable Sonic Generations which, while not good enough to break the cycle and restore Sonic to its former glory, was good enough to avoid being on this list.
What skeptical fans didn’t love seeing was the Werehog (gosh it’s just as stupid sounding now as it was in 2008), which featured slow, repetitive beat-em-up gameplay that did nothing but act as roadblocks to the more enjoyable parts of the game. Still, fans held out hope for Sonic Unleashed, that it would be the game that finally showed the world that Sonic was finally back. Yeah, no. Sonic Unleashed mostly sucked, the Sonic Cycle continued, and Sonic certainly wasn’t back.
