The 10 Best Sonic Games

ign.com:

Few video game characters are as iconic as Sonic the Hedgehog. The speedy little blue blur has been around for over three decades, touching every corner of pop culture along the way, from games, to comics, to TV, to blockbuster movies. But we’re here specifically to celebrate the mainline Sonic game series and pick the best of them.

Before we start, let’s quickly touch upon our criteria. We tried to rank these games based on a combination of historical significance, innovation, and how well these games stand the test of time. Some games, like Sonic Adventure 1 and the original Sonic the Hedgehog, for instance, are obviously super important to the Sonic series and set the foundation for both 2D and 3D Sonic games to follow, but we felt like they both didn’t quite hold up as well as their sequels when judged by a modern standard, which was why they just missed this list.

The 10 games on this list are the ones we feel are the best examples of both classic and modern Sonic style. So with that said, here are our picks for the 10 best Sonic Games, as chosen by a handful of IGN’s biggest Sonic fans.

Sonic Unleashed gets a bad rap, and conversation surrounding it often focuses on its weaker elements, specifically the werehog bits. A lot of the criticism is warranted, but it also shouldn’t entirely take away from the fact that when Sonic Unleashed is good, it’s some of the best 3D Sonic there’s ever been. It also remains one of the best-looking Sonic games despite being 14 years old, plus the soundtrack is fantastic, and above all else, Sonic Unleashed feels fast.

It totally nails that sensation of being the fastest thing alive as you tear through levels leaving a trail of absolute destruction full of crushed boxes, tables,