Not having played any games related to the Sonic franchise before, I picked up The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and played through it in one sitting after having read about it in a post here on Lemmy. Safe to say, I absolutely loved every second of it. The art style, the characters and their dynamics, the murder mystery setting and the music. God, the music is bloody amazing, I’ve been listening to the OST nonstop. Anyway, the whole experience got me interested in the franchise the game is based on. I understand that TMOSTH was released as an April fools joke, making it quite different from the other games. Nevertheless I assume that especially the characters and music are of similar quality in the other entries. The issue I now have at hand is that due to my lack of knowledge about these games I’m unsure which ones to begin with and which ones to prefer or even avoid. Lists that I found online have been rather inconclusive and partially confusing to me. For this reason I’m looking for advice through this post. What’s a good starting point based on the aspects important to me and the experience I described? I suppose it is also important to note that my only gaming platform is a PC. I appreciate you reading through this post and thanks for any advice! <3
Sonic 2 for the Genesis if my favorite game of all time. So I’d suggest starting with that one. First Sonic was good too, but the second game refined the controls and made some small quality of life improvements. Then Sonic 3 + Knuckles and Sonic Mania are also excellent.
The 3D Sonics have been pretty hit or miss though. The controls are dumbed down and not nearly as tight as the classic 2D ones
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Sonic fan for more than two decades here! It’s always great to see more people interested in the franchise!
I would say that maybe it would be good to start with Sonic Generations (or Sonic x Shadow Generations if you can afford it, which is the same but with the Shadow The Hedgehog story as an extra), so you get familiar with the gameplay of both classic and modern games, have a sense of where it’s going and decide whether to go ahead or not.
I see that your interest is more focused on the characters and their dynamics, fantastic! the best part of the franchise in my opinion!. In that sense I would say that your best option to go deeper after Sonic Generations would be the mythical Adventure saga (Adventure 1 and Adventure 2). They are the games in which much more emphasis was put on the characters and the story.
Already after this and if you are hooked is that I recommend that you play the classics. You can play Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles in Sonic Origins (although you can also emulate the Mega Drive games), and then there is Sonic Mania. Why not start with the classics? Because they are very much of their time: pure gameplay, simple and not so deep story, but very fun to play!
You talk about games, but let me recommend you to read the IDW Comics in a complementary way. They are REALLY good! If I remember correctly, one of the artists on the comics, Evan Stanley, worked on The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and the story of the game plays out very similar to how the Comics read. It’s also where you’ll find the most depth in the characters (and you’ll encounter the best story arc EVER written for the franchise, EVER).
To sum up:
Good luck and have fun!
KotActually@startrek.website 1 day ago
As another long-time Sonic fan, this is the perfect path of recommendation! Sonic/Shadow Gens is a perfect way to open the door to the world.
Using Adventure 1+2 as a journey into the narratives of Sonic is perfect!