Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (2010)
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 might be the “best” game on this list. It really isn’t a terrible game. However, it’s perhaps the most offensive and disappointing, because it had the audacity to title itself Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and then feel nothing like the classic Genesis games it was trying to follow.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. Fans across social media and game forums were convinced that this was it, the end of the torture, just because it was a 2D game called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Although it didn’t look like the classics (never forget the Green Eyes vs. Black Eyes debates), it could still end up playing like one.
I don’t blame those people. Out of nostalgic love, people still trusted SEGA to do the right thing and give fans what they have been asking for years now. By putting Dimps in charge, whom at the time were more or less trusted to handle a Sonic game, SEGA’s heart was in the right place. However this crash and burn was probably the hardest of all.
The game that dared to call itself the direct sequel to the beloved Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles, winded up being a major disappointment. Its gameplay had little in common with the original games other than being 2D. The homing attack’s presence in a 2D game was considered sacrilege by many, and worst of all, the physics felt completely off. It was hard for Sonic to get any natural momentum and speed, and would sometimes stick to walls like this.
It was playable, and at times enjoyable if you could get over it not being anything like the Genesis games, but it was still a major let down considering the hype and belief that it could break the Sonic Cycle.
