Sonic has been a frustrating mascot for many fans over the past few years, as Sonic Team seems to have forgotten what made Sonic so fresh and exciting back in the Genesis days. Ever since the catastrophe that was the 2006 entry of Sonic the Hedgehog, most people have lost faith in the franchise, at least as a 3D evolution of the original 2D platformer. The general consensus has been that no matter how many Sonic games the company has attempted to shoehorn out every single year, the quality is fading. Many Sonic enthusiasts have given up on the spiny-headed rodent altogether.

Well, fear not, Sonic Team has come to a conclusion. Sonic Color's Producer recently had this to say in an interview with Spong:

"There are so many fans, each with their own unique first experience of the Sonic franchise, so I do understand that there are different Sonic fans in the world. It's very hard — near-impossible, actually — to please everybody, but I believe that there are some constants in the franchise that we should always try to maintain."

I believe this  has been the problem Sonic Team has had for the past several years. Once Mario and the other video game giants began hogging all the spotlight, Sonic Team struggled to keep Sonic relevant, and it unfortunately led to some pretty crappy games. Iizuka believes that "the team can think of ways to evolve Sonic, while keeping the fundamentals of attitude and speed".

Personally, I love the Sonic Adventure games, and while I can't wait for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 later this year, I do agree that Sonic Team can continue to evolve the franchise if they go about it the right way.  In simpler terms, less werewolves, more running. Now that they have made the claim that they know the basics of a good Sonic game, we will have to wait for the release of the next two entries of the franchise later this year to see what the team has learned.

Sonic Colors and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 are both slated to be released later this year. Do you plan on giving Sonic Team another chance, or are you done with the franchise once and for all?

Source: Spong

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