Why I Like Sonic 06 | From a Gen Z Perspective 

Ironic how Sega is obsessed with not making a game similar to sonic 06 because it was a disaster when the game is about letting go of the past and living in the present.

There is one thing i always say when it comes to Sonic 06. “Sonic 07 would have been incredible”

NGL Shadow's line "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have." Is sick as fuck.

The most ironic thing about the legacy of Sonic '06 is that it failed because it was rushed, yet rather than fix the one problem that would have saved it, SEGA has been "fixing" everything else while still rushing games out the door to hit release schedules.

Silver is still one of my favorite characters. Poor guy was dealt a bad card.

Honestly, for Silver's town missions, I think having them be mundane tasks like putting apples in baskets is fantastic. This is a guy with extraordinary powers who comes from a ruined future, and now he's able to help out the kinder people from this simpler time who genuinely appreciate him. It'd give them the same kind of charm as Superman helping a little girl get her cat out of a tree.

Bad or good we can all agree that the music still slaps. Edit: Oh hey look a bunch of likes

"If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!" The words I wished to live by since 2006.

I can't believe Shadow was such a good character before, it's a sad thing to see him portrayed as this ridiculous edgelord nowadays.

An ironic thing i noticed... the message of the game, to live in the present and stop hanging on to the past... people AND Sonic devs aren't following that message.

A better line for the Amy scene would have been "Are you willing to destroy my world for yours?" It would convey what you said pretty well.

I just wish Sega would stop pretending Sonic 06 didn’t happen. Just because the game bombed doesn’t mean they gotta completely push themselves away from it. It’s an important game that just had a bad fate

If they shifted eliese from a love interest to a princess who never had a friend into having a real friendship in sonic it probably would have worked 10x better

Out of the mainline Sonic disasters (Shadow, 06, Boom, and arguably Forces) 06 is the most salvageable in terms of gameplay and projects like P-06 prove that. There's decent stuff buried underneath the crap. Maybe at its best, it's still not as good as the Adventure games, Generations or Unleashed but I've had more fun with P-06 than the last 6-7 years of mainline Sonic Team games.

This is probably one of the most (if not *the* most) comprehensive '06 breakdowns I've ever seen. You hit the mark on almost every point, and in the most digestible way - it's great seeing the community's collective thoughts on the game collate into one supreme overview. Amazing work, J. Also, thank you for that shoutout when discussing Blaze 💚

Silver: "This world was devastated before I was born." Well I can already see why Gen Z would like this game.

When I watched 06's cutscenes for the first time, I didn't even realize that Sonic and Elise's relationship was supposed to be a romantic one. The kissing scene had completely came out of nowhere for me. It wasn't until I watched the gameplay and some reviews did I realize what they were going for. Honestly, I liked their relationship (minus the kissing scene) when I viewed it as a friendship. It's viewing it as a romance that caused me to really dislike Elise.

Can we just take a moment and appreciate the analytical depth of this review. The part about the references to Shadow's training as a setup for him joining GUN in 06 made me retract into my seat and go "holy fucking shit". From all the videos I've watched about it, this is the only one that mentions this.

In an alternate timeline, This game would have been remembered as one of the best sonic games ever. Such a shame it was rushed Edit: I'm SHOCKED this is still getting replies 3 years later. Y'all are wild.

1:09:10 - Shadow is a true hero. Despite all the bullshit, past, present, and future, he's still going to do the right thing, even to protect those would turn on him. And the most impactful part is, the world will never know. Even he will never know, given the story's ending - That's what makes it so amazing...

Tbh, I can forgive Sega for the mistakes they made with this game cause they had ambition and really tried their best to give us the best sonic game ever. I just wish they took the right lessons from it and kept trying to be ambitious.

Shame mainline Sonic games don’t feature epic CGI scenes anymore

“So let me get this straight. You like Sonic 06?” “I do, and I’m tired of pretending I don’t.”

The Sonic 06 Review took me on a nostalgia trip as someone who played it as a kid, Thank you so much, if only people shared your views, the most ambitious story I've ever seen in a sonic game :)

This video is a very nice take on 06. As eager as everyone is to rip apart the game, not too many of us are willing to break down a few elements that would actually work for it.

Fun fact: Yoko Shimomora (the same musician who makes almost every single theme in KH) helped out in Crisis City's theme

38:31 XD Yyyeeeaaahhh I couldn't help it even to this day xD Great review!

1:43:13 That box randomly falling on tails is hilarious.

2 hours of J talking about Sonic 06? Oh yes, the movie for Boxing Day movie night has been decided. Let's go.

As someone who used to meme about '06, you really opened my eyes. I never thought about the developers, passion, and ideas behind it. I could never see beyond the memes, Sonic getting kissed, and the game's bugginess. I feel really bad for bashing it in the way I did. I now appreciate this game for what it is. Thank you, J.

Also, A+ job on making a lot good arguments for Sonic 06. I honestly didn't think I'd actually sit down and watch all 2 hours of this but I was really curious to see what exactly you had to say. When I played 06, I was already made aware that it was bad, but I had gotten it for christmas and while I didn't 100% it, I did finish it. I was excited as hell to play it and I made damn sure I did. I know I didn't hate the game but I know I wasn't super thrilled with it either, thankfully I think I avoided a lot of the worst bugs (though the knuckles and rouge stuff I know I encountered). If there's 1 thing I can agree with 100% (I actually agree with a lot of your points) it's that this is the last game where they really tried hard to tell a big story, minus Unleashed. I miss when knuckles and the ME was relevant, I miss sonic's friends not just being "YOU'VE GOT THIS SONIC!!". I miss when Eggman wasn't a buffoon and actually had a coherent plan and Shadow wasn't just Sonic's Vegeta. I'd like to think I didn't have blind hatred for 06 (I think the fact I actually watched all 2 hours can support that) But I know for a fact I would speak negatively about it far more then positively. Even if I've still got more negative feelings about it then positive, I'll definitely try being a bit more positive from this point on. ALSO, If you're curious about Sonic 06's development, check out Matt McMuscles "What happened" Video on the actual development for Sonic 06. Because honestly I can't help but feel bad for the Dev team working on it. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong, went wrong during 06's development. It being rushed out for Christmas doesn't even scratch the surface. At the end of the day, sometimes all it really takes to change someone's mind is to look at it from a different perspective.

I know people keep saying we need a Sonic Adventure 2 remaster, but I think that game is amazing as is and if we get a Sonic 06 remaster instead, it could stray the future Sonic games on the right path again

This video made me almost cry…I miss that “distinctive” part of sonic so much! Sonic was/is my childhood hero and it hurts me to see what the meta era did to sonic as a character. I love this franchise because of its wonderful cast, and how many interesting stories can be told with it. I don’t think sonic will ever go back to the way I want it to be, but just like my favorite character sliver I just gotta hope that the franchise will one day come back full of glory.

I can’t wait for you to talk about “Sonic and the Black Knight”. That game is super under appreciated.

It’s weird but I’ll admit, when I was a kid, I didn’t know Sonic 06 was bad until I went on RU-vid years later.

this video was genuinely a breath of fresh air to watch as someone who actually wholeheartedly loves sonic 06 despite its flaws. you really hit the nail on the head with everything you said in this video

Honestly Sonic 06 is wasted potential. This game could be so much more with a few alterations to the story and bug fixes. Honestly it could be proudly considered a spiritual successor to the adventure series with those fixes.

Shadow is easily the best character in this game. I feel like he's so important in the game and gets everything done. With Mephiles being one of my all time fav sonic villains, his connection to shadow also makes shadow even more amazing in this game to me

I feel like I should apologize to 06 after Colors Ultimate, Ultimate arguably has more insane glitches than 06 yet its getting away with it and it’s 15 years younger than 06.

I feel like Mephiles warping the Chaos Emeralds to himself in the last story might have been intentionally bizarre as in like Mephiles is collecting them one at a time to give the heroes a false sense of hope that maybe they can stop him in time be then at the last second Mephiles just completely trolls them by just instantly warping the Emeralds to himself.

Level one: Find some shoes Final level: k i l l G O D

I wish I could say that I hate Sonic 06. I wish the series had learned the right lessons from this game and had continued forward doing better with the concepts it failed with, to where I can remember 06 as nothing but a mistake that I hate. But sadly, with the context of the last 10 years of Sonic, I have to say... I like it too. Because it's the last time they tried to put the full potential of the Sonic series to use, before the series more and more began to abandon that potential. And while the series has done a lot to improve on the quality of the games, there are things that have scarcely been achieved since 06; from being fully 3D and making use of the characters with diverse gameplay, to enthusiastic use of the characters and mature concepts to build exciting and emotional narratives that build onto the Sonic world... in other words - unabashedly, proudly being a **Sonic** game. The tragedy being, that game that proudly reps so much of what Sonic stands for, was a dumpster fire. But instead of Sonic Team learning the right lesson of not rushing shit out the door and learning to have some god damn quality control, the takeaway they had was 'what Sonic stands for is a mistake', hence, the last 10 years being a floundering farce of attempting to redefine the series identity. Afraid of anything conceptually resembling something in 06 while still rushing shit out the door half-baked.

wow, somebody actually being logical when discussing this game and it’s story? unheard of!

I remember the sonic vs silver boss fight being so incredibly hard and annoying to 8 year old me that it brought me to tears and my dad had to step in and finish the fight for me. Not a very proud moment but a strong funny memory looking back at actually how bad that fight is

Eggman: Tries and fails to kill Sonic countless times across multiple titles and decades. Silver: Throws Sonic into orbit and kills him within minutes of meeting him.

I honestly got pretty emotional at the end. Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 was daring to be something bold. It had a vision and was ambitious. The previous entries were building up to this moment. The stakes were higher, the scope was grander, etc. It was trying to be the best game in the series, and it could've been. Now it's a laughing stock among the fandom and the general gaming audience. A punching bag to hold the franchise back. The impact can still be felt to this day as it effects Sonic's current direction. With how the franchise is now, I'm afraid we'll never get a Sonic game that's as grandiose as 06 ever again. Thank you J. Awesome video. Can't wait for what's next.

"Take the ambition of [Sonic '06] and make a finished game." Truer words have never been spoken. I did enjoy games like Unleashed, Colors, Generations, and Mania. However, with all that was said in this video, it is rather curious to see where the franchise would stand if Sonic '06 was given the polish that it needed. Best thing we can do is appreciate what we have now.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, for better or for worse, is... *was* distinctive." This brought a tear to my eyes, because it's just such a depressing truth.

Loved this review, I think you did a fantastic job going through the game and I saw things from a whole new perspective that I hadn’t considered before regarding 06 and that is very much appreciated. Great work all around and I can’t wait for you to go through the next few Sonic games!

As a 19 year old (turning 20 in about 3 weeks), 06 was my childhood favorite. It was also the first game I’ve ever beaten. I believe I was only 6 or 7 (Pretty sure I was in 1st grade when I did beat it). I know the game is quite rushed and “bad” and the story is kinda weird with Elise kissing Sonic, but I can’t hate it. I love it, which is why Im completely in love with P-06. It made a game that I love even better

The 15th Anniversary game is turning 15 itself next year. I implore you all, don't use this game to intimidate people about future full-3D games. Having civil conversations about it is fine, but please don't spam it to keep us grounded in 2D and bland scenarios.

Can we appreciate how beautiful this games graphics are for 2006?

This game actually has two of my favorite quotes that I still try to live by. "Nothing starts until you take action", by Sonic "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have", by Shadow.

Opinions are a funny thing. I will NEVER like Sonic 06, and it will always be Sonic's rock bottom to me, and yet I am with your final monologue 100%. It's WAY past time people let this game go, ESPECIALLY SEGA. They seriously need to stop using it as an excuse to not try, or not be ambitious. And it's hilarious how scared they are of this game, because there is only ONE singular lesson to learn from it; DON'T RUSH OUT YOUR PRODUCTS. That's it! That's all you need to NOT do!

Sonic 06: Finally! People don't vehemently hate me anymore! Sonic Forces: uh-oh

"What was, at the time, one of the best sonic cutscene moments in history." It's *still* one of the best; that cutscene is to this day one of the truest to his character we've ever gotten, ESPECIALLY that part at 10:43 (in this video); not an *ounce* of worry, just a free spirit overflowing with casual attitude.

I honestly wish that SEGA and Sonic Team would go back to the drawing board and give this game another shot. Remake it from the ground up, keep all the good bits and fix the negative ones. And for my personal preference, bring back the Sonic X voice cast for it, just cause they’ll always be my favorite voices for these characters.

The world: "Sonic '06 has a terrible story!" Me: "If the world chooses to become my enemy, then I will fight like I always have." Sure, the script needed another pass over or two, but dang, I have a hard time complaining about a script that gives us gems like that one.

Something I like about Mephiles is that he never "lies", per se. What he does is give information in a very selective way. Yes, Sonic is the Iblis Trigger, but only because his death actually triggers Iblis' release. Yes, Shadow would be sealed away for the destruction of the world, but it'd be because he'd have helped out Mephilis, a guy who was trying to destroy the world. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of deal. On an unrelated note, I find it funny that Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric basically took Shadow and Mephiles' initial meeting and copy/pasted it onto Sonic and Lyric.

I love how this series can be both incredibly ambitious and incredibly poorly executed all at the same time. I think this is why it captures the imagination of children truthfully.

Something I want to address about Amy's infamous line. I interpret this as Amy choosing Sonic over a world that demands the killing of an innocent. If you think about it, this is the third time Sonic is accused for something he didn't do. First time in SA2 and second time in Heroes. Her decision to defend Sonic from Silver is actually in service of her character, as she's never actually seen Sonic do anything wrong, and even if he did, she would be the first person to confront him. This is evident in SA1 where she stopped Sonic from completely destroying Gamma, as in her story, she learnt that Gamma isn't evil like all of Eggman's robots. And in SA2, she rescues Sonic from Prison Island as she knew that he was innocent. She is loyal to Sonic, in which Sonic reciprocates her loyalty by saying "Thanks Amy. I appreciate that." But she also had no reason not to trust Sonic here. Why would she trust a guy she just met over a hero she deeply admires and has actually seen save the world multiple times before? Even she said to Silver that "Sonic would never do that." I'll give you the point that hearing this line on its own and free from context, is completely off putting. But I think if people relook this scene with that said context in mind, this line doesn't sound as bad as the vast majority claim it to be. It's more of showing Amy's faith in that there's another way to save the world. Even in Unleashed, she assures everybody to not lose faith in Sonic. Also, I'm not sure if you know this already, but she also wasn't actively trying to marry Sonic in SA2, as she was cleary teasing with him and she was going to free him regardless. Despite my own two cents, I appreciate how you're not too harsh on her, as it's really unfair to slander her character over a singular line, and I still appreciate your suggestions into making this one scene more tolerable for players. I've been following your channel, your "Sonic is (was) Distinctive" retrospective specifically, ever since your Modern Sonic Stories video, and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's refreshing to me especially to hear the perspective of the Sonic series from a fan within my generation. I was born in '01, so I'm almost the same age as you. I've grown up with watching ClementJ64's and Somecallmejohnny's reviews, and you provide a refreshing defense of the Sonic series, particularly the Adventures games and '06. '06 has been slandered to death and to hear someone unironically have a soft spot for this game, does warm my heart a little, if I have to be honest. But to conclude, this is an amazing well thought-out review, and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of your Sonic retrospective going forward!

1:12:20 this is probably my all-time favorite Shadow scene as well!!! I love when Shadow uses his Inhibitor Rings to unleash his full power! He's just gotta make sure he does it on land though. Because as we saw in Sonic X that's how he ended falling to Earth in Sonic Adventure 2!

Next Video: Why I love Sonic Unleashed *3 hours and 20 minutes*

I’ve watched this video about 5 times now and I can easily say it’s one of my favourites on RU-vid. It’s amazing to see such an optimistic and inspiring take on this game, and to actually analyse it instead of just bashing it with the same points over and over again. Amazing.

You said it best this game is tragic. There was clearly a lot of heart put into it. I respect how it tried to tell a big detailed story and I was invested in some parts of it, especially Shadow’s part. I hope this new Sonic game in 22 feels like it can be ambitious again.

"Now if she took sonic hostage for her own selfish gain then she would be a bad character" Chris from Sonic X: what? Why are you looking at me?

Shadow in the 2000's is a character who's much cooler than he has any right to be.

honestly i feel like the 06 models were the best. the overall longer and more flowy physics just suits it all so much

I decided to play Sonic 06 recently and it wasn't as much as a dumpster fire as people make this game out of be tbh. I mean yeah the gameplay is really buggy even for its time and the story line is infamously pretty bad. But the graphics surprisingly hold up and when the gameplay isn't a bug fest it's actually kinda fun. Did not exact this game to age well of all games lmao.

I'm so happy to have found this retrospective on Sonic 06, a Gen Z one no less. I was born in 2000, and I remember being so confused and a little disturbed by the apparent grandeur of the Adventure games which came out when I was too young to play and didn't have a console for them. Sonic Heroes was my first and Sonic Rush is my favourite. I have fond memories of 06. Playing multiplayer with my sister, getting frustrated when one of us picked Silver and did the stage after sending Sonic/Shadow into the stratosphere, the Sonic spin kick on crates to go upwards, messing around with the weird apples and oranges as Silver in Old Soleanna... the stupid little sliver of space under the early laser wall in Multiplayer White Acropolis that can be used to skip 2/3rds of the stage, heh. Even just swapping the controller when playing the Final Boss fight was fun. It actually took me a few years to beat this game because of all the maturing I had to do. I played Sonic, did all of Silver, and got stuck on Sonic's White Acropolis stage (the snowboard jump at the end was i m p o s s i b l e) for several years. Call me pathetic but honestly I kept coming back time and time again to do it (this is also coming from a child which never beat Sonic Heroes... so... okayisweari'mnotbadatgames--) Could finally beat it in 2011/12ish. It's such an interesting game woven into the fabric of my life and has encouraged me to revisit things from my childhood, especially media I didn't understand, to comprehend it in a maturer and more intelligent light. Having this retrospective was fantastic, I agreed with I think every single one of your points. I laughed at all the little tiny details I'd forgotten in the years since I played the game. The godforsaken metal bubble sections. The horrific wall-climbing. The awkward telekinesis slap. The textboxes sandwiched by two 30 second loading screens. Honestly I think this game taught me how to have a heckin' load of patience. It truly pains me that the echoes of Sonic 06 still strike Sonic's games to this day. The fact that we can't have something like it again is a tragedy. I understand wanting to get away from it but... I think the Sonic franchise has a huge cast of characters that deserve to be utilised and have their time in the spotlight. Maybe it's a little ah, weird to have Silver and Blaze and other such characters in that big story too, but still. I mean... Cream hasn't been seen in a long time. Some characters feel straight up just gone or forgotten... Sonic definitely needs to move forward more. It needs to look towards the future and go ambitious instead of playing it safe. Sometimes it can be so difficult being a Sonic fan these days, it's easy to be made fun of, and I oftentimes think I'm not really into him anymore, but I see these videos and listen to songs and his voice and I just... fall in love with him again. I'm nervous for what 2021 will hold for Sonic, it seems like Sega and Sonic Team are planning on doing a lot of announcements for his 30th year. Hopefully they're good. Thanks again for the video! Sorry for my little comment ramble. I've subscribed and have already seen a few of your other videos J, and I'll stick around for more. ; )

Sega's irrational fear of Sonic 06's failure is why everyone hates Sonic now.

Okay I'm kinda late here, but thank you for this video. For a long time I've had the opinion that 06, while it is kind of a mess, has huge potential and some very good writing. It is nice to see not everyone is deadset on beating this dead horse. Yeah, this game kinda killed Sonic as we knew before, but not because the game itself was that bad, but because Sega took all the wrong messages out of it. I did not really grow up with the series beyond the first two games, but I really miss the time when Sonic games were, as you've put it, distinctive.

I've never understood why some folk feel the need to downplay the quality this game could've had if it were more properly realised, since it's pretty self-evident right down to the name it was intended to be a magnum opus of sorts for Sonic that took it to new AAA heights, this game was going to leave an impact on people either way. Sure It's misguided in some ways but it's pretty on the ball in others, which equally describes even the best the series has had to offer since. Now that this game is at the half-way point of the series' life-span, there's really no better time for Sega & Sonic Team to realise that all the aggressive back-peddling Sonic has done since was never a long-term solution to this series's problems. I'm not terribly optimistic but I guess we'll see, great job with this video.

God, Shadow's characterization in this game is honestly perfect. The scene where he takes off his rings, like he's fucking Rock Lee, will always stick with me. I even wrote lyrics about him and worked the "If the world chooses to become my enemy...." line in there cause it's so good. Also, yes yes yes YES on the OST. Not just my favorite Sonic soundtrack, but my favorite soundtrack in all of gaming.

Such wasted potential just makes me so sad. Everything could be different and 06 could be one of the best games in history. I really hopes that someday, the game will be remade, with improved visuals, better writing, and everything that it deserved since the beginning, even if it is extremely unlikely to happen

And game companies still haven't learned their lessons about trying to rush to release games for the holidays... Cyberpunk being the newest example of this.

Ambition is something I haven't seen in this series since the days of Unleashed and, to some extent, Black Knight. That was the prime time of Sonic for me, because it genuinely felt like each game had that Sonic "edge" to it that just made them so freaking "cool." But since Colors came around, I feel like the series really lost that and became something else entirely. It went from being the series about that cool Supersonic Hedgehog with Attitude to being the series about that Silly Cartoon Character with Comedy. I REALLY miss the Adventure days, as well as the latter half of Sonic's "Dark Age." They're what made Sonic...Sonic.

1:43:15 I love the unintentional comedy in that

I’ve watched most of your Sonic videos and I’ll be honest. As someone who grew up as a fan of the series, I have at times mocked and completely disregarded Shadow’s character as an edgy OC sort of design. You have definitely made me begin truly liking him as a character, something I never thought I’d say. He is genuinely quite compelling and fun. Thank you for your videos

Sega: "We want everyone to talk about this game." *Famous Last Words*

I still have more respect for 06 than anything the series has done post Generations, except mania obviously

Sonic 06 is one of the best examples of a product that suffered the death of 1000 paper cuts. There's a reason why so many reviews of the game devolve into nitpicking to explain what went wrong with the game, while not mentioning any core issues... because the game has a solid core. It's everything surrounding that core that's the problem. Many of these issues wouldn't be that big of a deal on their own, but when put together, they create far bigger problems. I always wondered why people praised P-06 despite all it did was making small, seemingly insignificant changes, until I realized... these small changes *are* the ones you make to save the game. Because all these little problems are what killed the game. To quote a movie I quite enjoy, "If the foundation is solid, everything else can be fixed." Compare this to Sonic Forces, a game that is creatively bankrupt. It's not as technically flawed as 06, but if you ask me, it is a *far* worse experience because of how lifeless it is. The problems with that game cannot be fixed, and trust me, people have tried, but the only way to fix Forces is to scrap everything and start over from the beginning. To me, this represents what happens when you're so afraid of failure that you don't even try in the first place. In short, they killed Forces with one precise stab to the heart, and then they we're proud of the fact that it was technically less wounded than paper cut man. I'm sick of Sonic 06 being used as a scapegoat for the series. It lets SEGA and Sonic Team continue to never address the issues that are causing games like Lost World and Forces to keep popping up. They don't have to address their ridiculous mandates because they can just say "The reason this game is bad is because it's haunted by the ghost of Sonic 06!" Y'know, even though those games failed because they were trying as hard as possible to *not* be 06.

As someone who is in a similar position your in, it's really nice to have a video to point to when I have to defend myself for liking this game. This may not be my favorite sonic game, but it was certainly my most nostalgic. Thank you J

My interpretation of Blaze is when she was sacrificed in 06 she was sent to another dimension and when the events of 06 were in universe time travel retconned her history was rewritten to account for her existence in said other dimension.

The ending to 06 literally makes me sob, like full on cry with emotion. I'm not ashamed to say it. Elise's theme is so fucking beautiful. I just want a sonic game to make me care like this again.

I remember loving Sonic '06 when I was younger and then I went to the internet and to my surprise everyone hated it. It was kind of a shock to me. Years go by and even today I will always try to defend 06 in a discussion because I know that hidden inside all that mass of bugs, gameplay issues, and plot holes, there was great story beats and concepts, great game design ideas. A game filled with passion. It truly sucks that the game turned out the way it did, but as you said in the video, it still was distinctive. I love Sonic Unleashed, Colors, and Generations, but Colors already made drastic changes to how the story played out in Sonic games and made drastic changes to characters and their interactions. It baffles me that Sonic 06 as infamous as it is, had the best Team Dark story of all the Sonic games, and it's the only main game where Silver and Blaze are main characters and playable. Sonic fucking dying and then coming back to fight alongside Shadow and Silver against a omnipresent timespace monster was as hype as it got for the Sonic franchise.

Honestly the funniest foreshadowing of the future in this game when the final scene is just him staring up at the full moon like a werewolf… and the following main series game was Sonic Unleashed. I genuinely feel like someone in the dev team saw that and had a big brain moment.

The absolute best review of Sonic 06 I have ever seen. SEGA and Sonic Team learned the completely WRONG lessons from this game. This series was good when it was distinctive, impactful, ambitious, but also respectably competent. The lattermost department was nailed in some later games, but the other departments were often lacking, causing the games to feel more formulaic, bland, and derivative. Colors and Generations are fine and even quite fun platformers, in my opinion at least, and I would NEVER consider them to be bad games, but they lack a real wow-factor. The fact that you played Sonic 06 as a kid and it became your favorite game back then throws the whole "it's for kids, who cares if it's special/distinctive/ambitious" idea out the window. I was like, 7 years old or something the first time I played the Sonic Adventure games on my GameCube, and they became among my favorites along with Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, etc. so I can further reinforce that. More recently, the Sonic games have begun to lose their competency again, with games like Forces controlling worse and featuring even more shallow, on-rails level designs compared to previous games like Unleashed, Colors, and Generations, which featured the same overall gameplay style, but were executed much better. Forces is not only lacking the ambitious plethora of content of older Sonic games, but what's there isn't even very competently made, since it fails to live up to its predecessors. There are some concepts of Forces that had potential, namely the "resistance" theme, the villain Infinite, and the customizable OC, but these were all undercooked. And it's a shame that we may never see a better version of these concepts in a Sonic game, because they're now crossed off SEGA's list just like the Adventure formula was after 06.

Sonic 06: I’m a buggy mess Cyberpunk 2077: hold my beer

other people: sonic 06 plays like shit it's a real embarassment this guy: i just like how it make a thud noise when shadow use the homing attack pog

This video just cemented the fact that I’ve been completely justified all these years defending Sonic 06

Thank you for defending Elise as a character. And for just having a good head on your shoulders in general.

The idea of Sonic being a AAA character on the next generation of consoles was the right choice at that time. There is much to respect (especially in light of recent games), but as you mentioned it fails in critical areas. I only hope that Sonic & Sonic Team get back to this point & bring a stellar title that has learned from these experiences. I believe Sonic has much more to show to the world.

The entire sonic community need to see this

It’s crazy to think that had this game been finished and not rushed, it probably would’ve been worthy of its title as “Sonic the Hedgehog”. Putting aside the game that *we* got, imagine a timeline where SEGA didn’t rush Sonic Team to pump out Sonic 06 (and Secret Rings) ASAP. Sad to see that this game began SEGA and Sonic Team’s trend of “if it didn’t work critically, scrap everything it did and never touch it again”. That’s how we got the suitably named “Meta Era” of Sonic once Colours scrapped anything and everything that the “Dark Ages” of Sonic tried to employ. What did this game do that got scrapped and never touched again? Let’s list them: - A large and overarching story (may not have been the best, but the ideas were certainly worth developing) - Excellent and consistent characterisation - High and dramatic stakes - Gameplay variety - Level variety (this and gameplay variety work hand in hand) - An actually competent villain (Mephiles duh!) - An obvious creative passion and ambition - A moral/ethical message Two games after Sonic 06 would employ some of these, but never more than a small handful at a time. Black Knight and Unleashed are these two games. You could maybe include Secret Rings, but since that was developed separately yet at the same time as Sonic 06, it’s a bit hard to do so.

I personally don't like Sonic 06, but I respect it. Sure it failed in so many aspects, but they were fricking trying! They were trying with many gameplay styles, they were going somewhere interesting with the plot. They were trying to do something new and interesting. And that's something Sonic desperately fricking needs these days. Where they keep shoving Classic Sonic into everything

Imagine how strongly I must feel for this game if this is my 3rd time watching this 2h long video.

This is probably the most important review of a Sonic game that could ever be made. I had my disagreements with you about Shadow the Hedgehog but thank you for this. Its patently obvious that SEGA watches viral Sonic reviews and listens to the likes of Clement, Game Grumps, and SoCallMeJohnny who just trash the game from the ground up. But with a review like this that actually acknowledges Sonic 06's flaws and doesn't sugar coat it but takes a nuanced look at them and why they failed and recognizes the good ideas and effort that went into Sonic 06-maybe SEGA can watch this video, maybe people can question what they've been told about this game, and maybe we can stop getting generic mediocre Sonic games that are afraid of taking risks and cling to past (i.e. Classic Sonic). Take some advice from Shadow's story and leave the past behind you.

This reminds me of the sequels from Star wars. "Don't be like the prequels!" they said...and look what happened. We mustn't run from what we fear, we must embrace it, and overcome. But other than that, this video was phenomenal. Seeing what positive aspects are in the game really brings out the good in Sonic 06', despite all the horrible and crushing debris of its unbearable moments, which is nice for a change, and makes you really wonder what Sonic is about.

Sometimes, I wish that SEGA decided to go back. To give it another shot. To try and make things right. But alas, Sonic Team will never learn their lesson the right way.