June 23 might not mean much to you, but even though no one's buying, it's a celebration: our old buddy Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20 years old. Sure, he's been the subject of one of our infamous fail lists, but you've gotta respect his longevity—20 years in the gaming industry is nothing to sneeze at and while other icons have gone ghost (R.I.P. Bomberman), Sonic's fan base has remained loyal. And redemption lurks around the corner as well; Sonic Generations, which we played (and thoroughly enjoyed) at E3, drops this year, and the demo even starts today on PSN and XBLA. So in honor of everything, we'll raise our glasses in a toast to our old friend—even if he can't legally drink with us. L'chaim, homie! Oh, and we'll run down his 10 best games as well. What, you thought we stopped doing lists?
June 23 might not mean much to you, but even though no one's buying, it's a celebration: our old buddy Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20 years old. Sure, he's been the subject of one of our infamous fail lists, but you've gotta respect his longevity—20 years in the gaming industry is nothing to sneeze at and while other icons have gone ghost (R.I.P. Bomberman), Sonic's fan base has remained loyal. And redemption lurks around the corner as well; Sonic Generations, which we played (and thoroughly enjoyed) at E3, drops this year, and the demo even starts today on PSN and XBLA. So in honor of everything, we'll raise our glasses in a toast to our old friend—even if he can't legally drink with us. L'chaim, homie! Oh, and we'll run down his 10 best games as well. What, you thought we stopped doing lists?
10. Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (1994)
Console: Sega Game Gear
Complex says: Triple Trouble pitted Sonic against Knuckles and the Eggman, with players choosing whether they wanted to play as Sonic or Tails—anyone who went with Tails was sure to be the kid who wanted to be Robin when you played "Batman" after school. This is hands down one of the best games for the Game Gear. N.B.: For those of you not old enough to remember the Game Gear, it was like a Nintendo DSi...only it was a big black brick that needed six double-A batteries to work and didn’t have any of the cool gameplay. Oh, and it wasn’t touchscreen. Sure, you could touch the screen, it just wouldn't do anything. Stupid 20th century.
9. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (1994)
Console: Sega Genesis
Complex says: The threequel of the series is just as good as the first and second, has a lot of fans, and reflected well on Team Sonic for being able to push a trilogy out so fast (word to Peter Jackson). Fans got more of what they loved, along with some interesting level changes. Still, we could've used a little more difference to give this a higher spot. Sorry!
8. Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
Console: Sega Genesis
Complex says: What else can you say? The one that started it all. When Sega was looking for a hit to compete with Mario, Sonic debuted and crushed the competition. A shot across the bow of all chivalrous Italian plumbers.
7. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Console: Sega Genesis
Complex says: If you’re going to follow up on one of the greatest games of all time, this is how you do it. Sonic 2 added racing and giving a second player the option of playing as Tails. And you know many an hour was spent fighting over who had to be Tails.
6. Sonic Advance 3 (2004)
Console: Game Boy Advance
Complex says: What we like so much about this title is the character variation. Typically, those extra characters in the Sonic universe serve no purpose other than to creep us out (especially you, weird green duck guy). But this time around even Sonic’s main stalker squeeze Amy serves a purpose. And no, it’s not just for quickies. Because, see, Sonic's fast. Oh, we get it; you thought we meant something else. AND THAT IS JUST SICK.
5. Sonic Adventure (1999)
4. Sonic & Knuckles (1997)
Console: Sega Genesis
Complex says: There’s a lot you can say about this title. The first few Sonic games were like the Rocky movies: The first three were amazing, and the fourth really isn't up to par, but you just can't stop yourself from devouring it (ayo!). In both cases, just when you think the hero might have lost it, the powers that be add a big bad villain (Knuckles, meet Ivan Drago), and after having fought each other for so long, hero and anti-hero put their differences aside and realize the true bad guy is Communism! Or, y'know, Eggman. Either way.
3. Sonic Rush (2005)
Console: Nintendo DS
Complex says: This is how you make a new-age Sonic game. Rush took full advantage of the DS’ capabilities and pushed the handheld to the max. Crazy levels (we’re especially fans of the drops from one screen to the next), 3D graphics, boss fights that weren’t just about jumping on the bad guy’s head three times, and an incredible soundtrack and storyline. Need we say more?
2. Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
Console: Dreamcast
Complex says: Sonic Adventure 2 may not have been as groundbreaking as Sonic Adventure, but it was fun as hell. With the addition of bad-ass Shadow the Hedgehog, more downhill boarding (the game starts off by Sonic ripping the door off the police helicopter he was trapped in and using it to board down San Diego's hills), grinding on rails, chaos emerald time control, a sexy bat lady, some stupid wild levels, and much more, we have no problem ranking this above the original. 3D done right, as far as we're concerned.
1. Sonic CD (1993)
Console: Sega CD
Complex says: Sonic CD was one of the first titles for the Sega CD, and while Sega was mocked for their use of CD games, haters were silenced by the win that was this game. It was everything you wanted from the franchise, and was the first of the series to feature 3D gameplay—and with no bugs! Even better, the joke was on all the other console makers when they followed suit and started using discs for their games, using the Internet for online (yes, Sega thought of doing that first, even though no one used it because you had to listen to crackly phone noises every time you used the Internet).