There's no getting around this and I have put this on hold for far too long, but I guess now is as better time as any to talk about this. I've been a long time fan of the blue blur, but as with all things, I have opinions and given just how vocal some have been over the years, it's time I lay my cards down and put my thoughts out there.
I've been around for some time (I'm 38 as of this writing) and have been a long time fan. My first Sonic game was the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Master System (the console version of the Game Gear with overall improvements). I have read both books and comics, watch the shows and movies and even at one primary school we would even role play sonic during lunch time (man was that a long time ago). As time goes on there are things that I like and things that I don't.
That said, these are my opinions. They are not meant to influence your own nor am I here to argue them. It is perfectly fine to like things I don't and to hate things I like, that's not the purpose of this. It is simply to show a generalization of things I do and don't like in the franchise, my thoughts and opinions simplified. If you really dislike what I say, that is fine. Move on and follow people who share your views, it's what I do and I find it so much more enjoyable to appreciate the fan work of others who share similar likes to yourself. It will also help avoid some of the more toxic parts of the fandom too. Don't worry, every fandom has toxicity in it, not just the Sonic one. The reason it gets called out a lot is simply because of how huge the fanbase it and how many variations there has been.
I had originally gone into a more in depth type article in the original draft, but feel that it was too long and I was wanting to focus on both a general view of things along with a few points based on some of the more 'controversial' aspects. It also found myself drawing too much on the negative so scrapped most of it into a simplified form. So here we go.
Games:
As mentioned above, the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Master System was my first game and something I would play a lot (this was when the Chaos Emeralds were 6 in total and one was hidden in each stage, so young me was proud to get through the game with all 6 Emeralds). To this day, Scrap Brain Zone has one of my favourite music tracks from this gaming franchise. I would eventually play through the Mega Drive (Genesis in the US), so had plenty of experience in those games.
Eventually, I would return with the Dreamcast with Sonic Adventure 1 & 2. From there I've played Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 2006, Sonic Generations and Sonic Unleashed. I also played a number of the hand held ones (including Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles). So I've played most of the games in the franchise (yes, even that Sonic Riders Kinect game).
As far as my personal views, I don't favour one over another when it comes to the whole which is better? Classic 2D vs Modern 3D. That said, I didn't mind the Shadow game and did find some enjoyment in Sonic 06, even if the game play frustrated me. However, I haven't really enjoyed a Sonic game since Sonic Generations. Ok, so to be fair, Sonic Mania was fantastic, it's just more of the 3D ones since Generations. Perhaps it's the story, maybe even the character that have put me off. Heck, over the years Knuckles has gone to being a character you could take serious to just becoming a joke for Sega, while all the character building for Shadow has been thrown out to just become some grumpy rival. Also, if anyone say that they are taking more inspiration from Dragonball and making him more like Vegeta, then I'm sorry, but it's clear they luck the understanding of the character of Vegeta to pull it off.
Television & Film:
Simply put, I've seen them all. From the original Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog to the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie. As far as the movies go, there are only to and while I'll put the live-action one above the anime movie did have some great music and an excellent fight between Sonic and Metal Sonic.
The various animated T.V. series are where the Hedgehog has had the stronger influence. To simplify the my thoughts, I'll rate the shows from my favourtie to least fav one.
1. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - SatAM as the fandom refers it to stand out from:
2. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Strange one, but love Scratch and Grounder.
3. Sonic Underground - Good idea, poor execution. Unintentional hilarious to watch, just skip the songs.
4. Sonic Boom - First season just wasn't great, Second season improved. Honestly, just remake the show as the Knuckles & Eggman show and you have all the best parts rolled into one.
5. Sonic X - There is a reason why child insert character are seen as a bad idea in shows and this one is all that, all the time. The have a show with most of the game characters in it and the only way I can watch it is in YouTube Poop format. At least Sonic Boom improved in its second season, this one did not.
I know I could go into a heck of a lot more detail on why I feel about each show, but I might save that for later down the road.
Books & Comics:
I actually own a number of books including the Sonic the Hedgehog in series (Robotnik's Laboratory, the Fourth Dimension, Silicon Warriors and Castle Robotnik) which was the UK version of the Sonic series. They've been packed in boxes for a while, but I still have them. I remember reading one visual novel type book that was of the UK version (they also had a Streets of Rage one too) in the library of high school, along with getting the odd Sonic book here and there. The biggest one is no doubt the Archie Comics series.
I found out from a friend at school that Sonic had come out as a comic and so I started with my first one which was issue 6. As a school going kid I couldn't get every issue, but did manage to read some that I missed from others who also collected it at the time. Once I had a regular income I continued collecting them, but due to some issue with distribution in Australia, a number of issues never made it here and it was difficult trying to get them via back order. This problem also showed up every time a Sonic spinoff series was released. Oh naive me, thinking that was the only problem I would have with this comic series.
Finally there is the current IDW comic and despite my best efforts to get into it, I just couldn't. It had too many problems that irritated me and I doubt I'll ever go back to it again. But some such things that I found annoying the comic trying to create anniversary type scenario levels in your average story, with amazing build up only to have a disappointing payoff and I just couldn't stand the character of Tangle. That said, I will admit that character introduction and mystery that is Whisper was amazing, so credit where credit is due.
So where to I begin with this mess with all this comic stuff. If anything, the Archie and IDW comics is one of the main points of conflict in the fandom, even more so then the gaming aspect. Beyond the Sally vs Amy wars (which have been going on since the early 90's, though now days I think there a less death threats being thrown about), I feel the more contentious parts involve two of the bigger names in the Sonic comic sphere, that of Ken Penders and Ian Flynn. Both have done good and bad things with the Archie comic series, but I prefer Penders run over Flynns. Personal opinion, but I'll stick to it.
I guess most remember Penders as the man who got into a legal dispute with Archie which ultimate lead to the reboot (also, did not like the reboot and have issues with it, like why call it a reboot if you are just going to give the main cast their memories from the previous timeline). I'd argue that Archie should have worked out long ago how to write up a legal contract that would have prevented this and that the only reason for the reboot was due to them knowing other people who had worked on the comic would come after them financially and they wanted to stop the use of all characters to prevent any more punishment. Easy to see why they dumped it the first chance they got.
While I can understand the love of ones creation and the need to protect it, Penders didn't do himself any favours with Sega, so for many who want to see some justice against him, the fact that Sega won't let him use any of their characters, names and locations at this point is I guess some karma for them.
That's not to say Flynn is seen any better. When fans learned that IDW (a comic company whom I've enjoyed a number of issues from their TMNT, Ghostbusters and MLP comics) had purchased a license to produce comics for the Sonic franchise, they jumped quickly on to start a petition to bring back the Freedom Fighters. However, when they learned that Ian Flynn and his team from Archie would be taking the reins, a number of them pulled out of the Freedom Fighters push. They were not happy, either with Flynn's run on Archie or just against the guy in general. Many felt it was best to wait in the hopes they would return in more capable hands.
As it stands, I feel both would rather have been working on stories featuring their own characters rather then the official Sonic franchise ones. If given the chance, I'd rather Sega just give that to them and hand the main Sonic cast over to writers who would are more capable of writing stories that just focus on them. Would have solved one of those major conflicts that exist in this fandom.
Regardless of which one you side with, I personally just stay out of this stuff as I find that both have a tendency to come into conflict with or antagonize the fan base (let alone each other). Here is a little piece of advice, do not get involve with either of those two, do not get involved in any discussion with or about those two. Trust me, it is one of the most infuriating aspects in this fandom and you will avoid so much pain and suffering by doing so. If you to follow them then fine, but if you plan on getting involved in such drama, then enter at your own risk cause it is a dark void deep in a well of madness.
Overall:
The franchise has brought me so much joy and has helped me through some dark times. It has been responsible for helping me create some of my most used characters in a number of stories and is always something I can go back too. I also admit I could have gone into a more deeper explanation of things, but it was already getting too long.
Sadly, more so now then ever, I find it hard to enjoy this franchise amongst the community. While we all love various parts in the franchise, I feel that people liking particular characters or feeling one thing was better then another are getting slammed on for simply having a different opinion, which is possibly getting worse then it had been. Hell, some have begun shoving their opinions down peoples throats in order to make them like the same thing as them. It seems with the growth of social media platforms such as Twitter, it is beginning to be harder to escape from such things.
I know that sounds bad and that it just reinforces the stereotype of Sonic fans being the worst, but I've been apart of many fandoms and to be honest, there isn't that much difference, especially when you get to the shipping section of fandoms (shipping being the pairing of two characters romantically). I don't regret being a Sonic fan or being part of the Sonic fandom. I guess there a just parts of it that make me feel disappointed.
Like I said at the beginning, this is simply my personal opinions and it's alright to disagree with me on things (as long as one is civilized and not a ranting lunatic). Because the franchise is so huge in so many areas, the will be so many differing opinions and that is perfectly fine. You may disagree with others, but so long as you are respectful and not trying to force your views on them, you will have a much better experience. The world is full of fans and their creations, so no doubt you'll find things like fan art, fan fiction and fan characters that will appeal to you, so stick with them and avoid all the unnecessary controversy and you can find being apart of this fandom to by an amazing experience.
Also, if people want me to go into particular details on some of my opinions, I'm happy to do so, though I'd rather focus on the more positive aspects then the negative ones.
