Sonic 25th Anniversary | Top 10 Sonic the Hedgehog Games

10. Sonic Adventure

While it isn't as ground-breaking or revolutionary as such titles, Sonic Adventure did serve the important purpose of showcasing the graphical prowess of the Dreamcast. The intense speed and visual fidelity wasn't possible on rival systems, so while it wasn't exactly a feat of platforming perfection, it did encapsulate all of the promise of what the Dreamcast era could provide. This ethos is evident in other ways, like the introduction of six playable characters, each with their own story arc and different gameplay mechanics. One such character, robot E102-Gamma, introduces shooting stages to the series for the first time in an effort to attract different types of gamers. The robot and his gameplay component were all crowd-sourced elements that came about via developer dialogue with fans in the Sonic Team forums. Then there's the Chao Garden, which is perhaps the most famous for the Dreamcast's detachable VMUs. Players could raise adorable creatures known as "Chaos," which could be taken out on the go, Tamagotchi-style, with the VMU. It's these small, but exciting, additions that made the game so successful.

Sonic Adventure is the best-selling Dreamcast game of all time. Though some Sonic fans refuse to acknowledge the mainline 3D games of the series, for most, even the game's downsides work in its favour. Famously tacky voice acting, a dodgy camera, a questionable story and the unrelenting nineties vibe all form part of the fun in this classic.
- Tom B

9. Sonic the Hedgehog (GG/MS)

This 8-bit Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't just a dumbed-down port, though; it was an all-new and original adventure with its own stages and boss battles, and although it lacked the screen space and power to showcase the speed of the hedgehog, this was a solid 2D platforming affair that added quality to the Master System and Game Gear's libraries.

It retained a lot of what made the Mega Drive Sonic the Hedgehog iconic, whilst putting its own twist on proceedings, and followed up with a great little sequel that added mine carts, gliding and the debut of Tails into the mix. Anyone thinking about giving the origins of Sonic a go should definitely seek out this 8-bit alternate take on the speedier formula of the Mega Drive series.
- Az

8. Sonic Adventure 2

A marked improvement over SA1 meant a lot of the complaints could be glossed over. Despite the cheesiness of the story and frustrating elements, Sonic and Shadow's loopy, speedy stages and a killer soundtrack helped to redeem it and somehow keep a desire to come back for more with all of the challenges to complete.

Ironically, though, perhaps the biggest draw for most fans of SA2 was the Chao side activity. These cute little Tamagotchi-like pets were introduced in the first Sonic Adventure, but here, they could be raised, fed and developed into evolved creatures, capable of taking part in swimming, running and fighting events. Literally hours could be wasted on raising them, as you tried to turn them into the best of the best, and stand them on the first place podium of each mini-game and move them through each class ranking system. This was taken to another level for those with Sonic Advance and the ability to transfer your Chao onto the portable GBA, able to raise them anywhere. It might not sound very "Sonic-y," but it was a hugely popular area inside the main game, and might be one of the sole reasons Sonic Adventure 2 is still some fans' favourite 3D Sonic title.
- Az

7. Sonic Advance

Sonic Advance offers four playable characters, each with special skills. Sonic is the quickest, Knuckles can punch and glide, Tails can fly, and Amy carries a hammer around with her. Featuring nine zones, each with two acts and a boss battle, the game nails the distinct sense of level aesthetic and gameplay balance that made the original 2D series so successful. In addition, it served as the VMU alternative for Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, allowing a variety of Chao-based mini-games.

Compared with the classic 2D games, Sonic Advance places more of an emphasis on reaching great speeds. However, this is counter-balanced by the inclusion of bonus worlds to discover within each level, giving the player a reason to slow down. This is especially true considering that the full collection unlocks a special ending. Overall, Sonic Advance is definitely worthy of a place on this list!
- Tom B

6. Sonic Colours

In order to try and remedy this, SEGA's Sonic Team blended 2.5D side-scrolling sections with tighter, more considered 3D sections to create a game that was a solid stepping stone in finally nailing that 3D Sonic the Hedgehog formula. The studio went back to basics, removing gimmicks like swords and motorbikes, and opted for more traditional platforming. That said, Sonic Colours does mix things up with alien power-ups called Wisps, which transform Sonic into gravity defying beings, block breakers, rockets, drills and more - think Kirby, but within the quirky SEGA vibe. It may sound like the recipe for a mish-mash of ideas, but Sonic Colours blends these new additions seamlessly into the mix, where they become a natural encounter rather than thrown in without consideration for level design or solid platforming.

It's been almost six years since Sonic Colours hit the scene, and the game still holds up as one of Sonic's best adventures to date, and worth playing if you can get your paws on the Wii version.
- Jorge

5. Sonic Generations

Taking players on a trip down memory lane, each level is a throwback to some of the highlights of the series, with remakes of Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, City Escape, Rooftop Run, Planet Wisp and more all in 2D and 3D forms, with Classic Sonic taking on side-scrolling versions and Modern Sonic on the 3D ones. The closest there ever has been to the quality of the original side-scrolling titles, the 2D levels of Sonic Generations are truly the highlights of the game, with the Modern Sonic sections seeing the return of running towards the distance, grinding, boosting and homing attacking through each stage.

Featuring tones of unlockable artwork and music, challenges and red rings to collect in each stage, as well as famous boss fights, Sonic Generations is a great example of how to celebrate the long-running success of an established character in style, and makes up for all the low points of the blue blur's career.
- Az

4. Sonic the Hedgehog

For the series debut, Sonic the Hedgehog still holds up decades later as a solid retro gem to play through. The game is a challenge in itself; stripped bare of Sonic's newer abilities and reworked gameplay mechanics - as the hedgehog can simply jump, run and roll; rather than be engulfed by a myriad of power-ups and his trademark on-demand speed boost.

The aim, on paper, is simple - travel across a 2D plane from left to right, collect gold rings, free animals from their robotic enclosures and save the land from the maniacal Doctor Robotnik. Tricky platforming moments, iconic boss battles and toe-tapping tunes cement the game as a must-play for the newcomer or series veteran; a solid game in its own right and a look at where it all began.
- Jorge

3. Sonic CD

After the release of Sonic 1, Yuji Naka moved his team to the United States after getting fed up with SEGA's practices. What resulted was a small fraction of the team staying back in Japan and developing their own version of Sonic 2 to correspond with Yuji Naka's vision of the sequel.

Sonic CD was always meant to just be another version of Sonic 2, but the team started to play around with the idea of time travel, which led to every single level having four distinct layouts and interpretations, giving Sonic CD some much appreciated replay value.

The levels aren't the only things with alternate interpretations, either; the soundtrack was split in two, with the US team modifying and changing the Japanese team's sound files to accommodate their American audience. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but both soundtracks manage to be great in their own right.

It might not be the Sonic 2 SEGA of Japan wanted, but it's a creative spin-off/main game that combines time travel, colourful level designs, truly gorgeous music, and tons of replay value for a fun Sonic adventure.
- Renan

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Starting in a revamped Green Hill Zone, a partner character that follows Sonic around, a seventh chaos emerald that can turn Sonic into Super Sonic, a spin dash, level designs that pump out superfast loop action; all this came from Sonic 2.

Given just how prominent all these features are in Sonic's history, it's hard to believe they weren't always there. As a sequel, Sonic 2 does a great job at fixing up the problems of the first game, while also adding its own flairs. Worth noting is that Sonic 2 came out at a time where Nintendo's sequels were experimenting with their formulas. Instead of trying to throw Sonic in a new format, Sonic Team opted to make a straight sequel that turned the speed up to 11.

What ties Sonic 2 altogether, though, is its new focus on reflex. It's nice that it introduced so many new ideas and practices the series would follow (for better or worse), but it also introduced more reflex-based gameplay. Sonic 1 was a pretty straightforward platformer, albeit a bit on the quick side, but Sonic 2 downright demands full attention and anticipation. Spring boards litter cliffs and require immediate button presses to keep Sonic moving, and the spin dash can be used to destroy enemies in Sonic's path and keep him going without losing momentum.

It's more intuitive, it's more exciting, it's more fun: It's Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
- Renan

1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Playing it, it's almost hard to believe that Sonic could have ever sunk as low as it did in recent years. It's a perfect compilation of everything fans would have wanted to see in a Sonic game at the time and, desperately, now. It features three playable characters that all control differently and have their own gimmicks, with level design that compliments each one. It's long enough to warrant the first save system in the series. It has Michael Jackson collaborating on the music for at least the first half. It's a wild, crazy, exciting ride that never slows down from start to finish.

S3&K marks the first time the series has a real semblance of a story and utilises background details and second long cut-scenes to tell it so it never distracts from the goal of fast-paced gameplay. It's everything the original Sonic trilogy was building up and what modern Sonic games should be looking at for inspiration.
- Renan