Best Sonic games ranked: every Sonic the Hedgehog game ranked from best to worst

Every game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series ranked from the very best, to the very worst

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most mixed video game series ever to exist. Some of its games helped define a generation and are held up as all-time greats, while others are the pits of human misery and should never have seen the light of day. Where series like The Legend of Zelda have their worst games simply forgotten by history, Sonic’s biggest failures are still being laughed at to this very day.

Today we’re going to be going through the full spectrum, ranking every Sonic game from best to worst. We’re only going to be looking at platformers on home or handheld consoles though. While I would love to talk about Sonic Chronicles, doing so would open me up to including all the Mario & Sonic Olympics games, and that’s not something I’m willing to put myself through.

Still, before we dive into the depths of despair, we get to start off by talking about the best Sonic games.

Sonic Mania

Truthfully, you could call either Mania or the next game on the list the best Sonic game and be correct, but Mania just gets the edge for adding a lot of modern refinements that make it all the sweeter. HD screenspace is a huge benefit to 2D Sonic, as you have more time to react to the death traps barrelling towards you at the speed of sound.

The remastered classic levels are arguably the best incarnations of those levels (especially with the soundtrack) and the few original levels are where the designers let loose and prove just how far 2D platforming design has come since the classic days of Sonic.

New mechanics like the Drop Dash make maintaining momentum all the more challenging, pushing the skill ceiling for time trials and speedrunning higher than ever. That satisfying sense of mastery is what puts Mania over the top, even if Sega did get salty over everyone liking it more than Forces.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

While these are technically two games they were always intended to be one, and in the modern age, no one ever plays them separately anyway, so they go together. Plus, they’re so much better together, creating an epic adventure with three characters and the series’ best level design by far.

Angel Island is the perfect starting level, giving players just enough time to get to grips with things before throwing the experienced players optional routes and shortcuts. It quickly gives way to iconic zones like Ice Cap, Sandopolis, and Lava Reef that put all your platforming skills to the test.

It’s the pinnacle of the classic era, building off everything that came before to create the kind of game that solidified Sonic’s status as a gaming mascot that would transcend time and never die – for better or for worse.

Sonic Rush

Lumping both Rush games together, they continued the trend Sonic Advance started of the handheld games being far better than anything Sonic was doing on home consoles at the time. The first Rush game is a little wonky in places but is still a solid Sonic platformer with creative environments and good use of the franchise’s extensive cast.

The sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure, is better in every way and stands up on its own as one of the series’ best games. Whether it’s the ocean fairing minigames, challenging boss fights, or chaotic levels that hit all the right notes without overstaying their welcome, it should be heralded alongside Mania and Sonic 3 as the series champions.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Oh look, another of the classic 2D platformers in the top 5, who could’ve seen that coming?

While Sonic 2 lacks the innovations that make the third game the pinnacle of the series, this sequel still has all of the fundamentals that make it great. It simplifies the first game’s level design, pulling the series away from puzzle platforming and leaning into the momentum-based blasts where the 2D games truly shine.

Where the first game tried a bit of everything, Sonic 2 understood what worked and cut all of the extra guff, setting the stage for the series to expand exponentially.

Sonic Frontiers

Sega

Although the title of “best 3D Sonic game” isn’t the highest bar in the world, Frontiers clears it by miles. As fun as the traditional style of 3D levels can be, Sonic thrived in this completely open environment. When he wasn’t restricted by linear paths some proper platforming challenges opened up, getting to use Sonic’s speed in ways we’d never seen before.

It’s not perfect – that pinball minigame can absolutely go do one – but it’s one of the few experiments with the Sonic formula that has proved a success. It’s quite rare that happens, as the bottom half of this list will prove, so hopefully, it’s something the series sticks with in the future.

Sonic Generations

Although I just spent the last entry ragging on the standard 3D level design, Generations is the best example of how to pull it off right. The overabundance of challenges is a bit irritating, but when the game gets out of its own way and lets you blast through the stages, it captures exactly what most other 3D Sonic games try and fail to.

The 2D levels feel loose and free compared to the classic games, while the 3D levels avoid overcomplicating things, throwing quick-reaction challenges at you to maintain your momentum, rather than overcomplicating things with stupid puzzle-platforming sections (looking at you, Sonic Adventure).

Frontiers is an experimental break from the norm, but if you want standard 3D Sonic at its best, this is where you should look.

Sonic CD

Sonic CD is the first look we get into the weird setup at Sega, where Sonic Team split in half because of stupid disputes that don’t deserve much discussion. The point is, the North American and Japanese teams split off to each make their own Sonic 2.

The North American team’s version would eventually become the real Sonic 2, and the Japanese team’s game was originally going to be an “enhanced” version with CD cutscenes. The team didn’t really want to do that though, so they made their own game, which is what we know as Sonic CD.

All this context is important because it explains why Sonic CD feels so strange compared to the other classic titles. It’s still a solid 2D platformer at its core, but everything from Sonic’s movement to the level design feel a bit different. Even simple things like the spin dash animation are missing those crucial touches that make it look so satisfying.

Still, it gets points for the fun time travel stuff, a banging soundtrack, and the Metal Sonic boss fight being arguably the series’ best.

Sonic Advance

We’re once again lumping all the Advance games together here, because they’re not different enough on their own to talk about. While Sonic was struggling to find its feet on home consoles (we’ll get to it), the team behind Sonic Advance was cracking out solid 2D platformers like there was no tomorrow. It made the best use of multiple characters since Sonic 3, and had some very creative visual design behind it.

They don’t quite stand up to the very best in the series' history, but if you like the 2D era and never played these games, you’re missing out.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Finally we get to where it all began. Like many long-running series, the first Sonic game lays the groundwork and stands up as a great game in its own right, but lacks a lot of what made the sequels truly incredible. You may have forgotten, but Sonic 1 doesn’t even have the Spin Dash – such a vital part of Sonic’s moveset didn’t come about until the sequel.

This game is much slower than later ones. Levels like Marble and Labyrinth Zone put much more of a focus on slow puzzle platforming. You have to slowly push blocks or wait around for a lift to take you where you need to go, it’s strange. The concept for a speedy momentum-based platformer is there, and levels like Starlight Zone let it shine, but it feels like the team wasn’t entirely sure what they wanted Sonic to be just yet.

Sonic Adventure 2

The Adventure games are not as good as you remember. There, we just have to rip that band-aid off. I’ll rip into the first game later, but Adventure 2 does have a lot more redeeming qualities.

Sonic and Shadow’s levels are by far the best, but there aren’t as many of them as you probably think there are. Instead, you’ll be spending far too much time plodding around in Tails or Eggman’s mech, or aimlessly wandering around hunting for Emerald shards like Knuckles or Rouge. Each of those alternate level styles are fun every now and then, but after so long between a nice speed level it really starts to grind on you.

That said, when it is firing on all cylinders it’s one of the best 3D games in the series. It has by far the best attempt at the story the series has ever managed, introducing two wildly popular characters in Shadow and Rouge, and lacks many of the first game’s problems.

Sonic Colors

Just missing out on the top ten, Sonic Colors is quite the hit-and-miss game. It has a similar problem to Adventure 2, where the speed-based 3D levels are brilliant, but a surprisingly large number of levels aren’t even close to that. Instead, they use the wisps for a bunch of puzzles that become gradually more irritating the further into the game you get.

On top of that, even when you do get nice open levels to blast through, the wisps come in and overcomplicate matters, sucking all the fun out of the room at every opportunity. It’s still good, but it could’ve been so much better if the faff had been cut.

Knuckles’ Chaotix

The only game not to contain the word Sonic, this game is a bit of a last gasp for the classic 2D era and it’s…alright.

In this game, you control two characters that are tied together by a pair of rings. The magical rope binding you is elastic, so you can perform a lot of cool maneuvers by tensing up the rope and launching yourself forward. However, it shares the same problem as most Sonic gimmicks in that, as the game ramps up the difficulty, it becomes more of an annoyance than a fun tool.

The great 2D platforming of the series is still there, and it’s still worth a look if you’ve never played it, but it doesn’t hold up to the other classic games.

Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Unleashed would’ve been a good game if it was just the daytime levels. These 3D platforming levels are some of the series’ best, letting you throw caution to the wind and speed through all sorts of great environments. Rooftop Run in particular is an incredible level where the soundtrack and visuals pull together for a joyous sprint through an idyllic European village.

Unfortunately, that’s not what you’ll be doing for most of the game. The Werehog is an abomination in every sense of the word. It turns the game into the lamest brawler you’ll ever see, even when the framerate stabilizes for more than five seconds. It’s unrelentingly dull and it’s not worth playing all of that just to get to the few good bits.

Sonic Heroes

Joining the “starts good, gradually goes downhill” club is Sonic Heroes. With 12 playable characters, it’s a little over the top, and with each team having the same three functions, there isn’t as much variety as you’d hope. In fact, there’s even less variety than that, because every team plays all the same levels, just with slightly different objectives.

Like so many games the switching mechanic is fun at first, but it gets tiresome very fast as you have to switch for every menial task. The series’ obsession with gimmicks isn’t going to get any better the further we plummet on this list.

Sonic Forces

Sonic Forces is the most bog-standard 3D Sonic game ever made. There’s nothing especially bad to cry about, but there isn’t anything good either. It just exists.

Sonic Adventure

While many 2D platforming mascots were struggling with the transition to 3D in the late 90s, Sonic managed to make just about every major mistake in the book. The controls are such a pain, not only does Sonic blast off at the slightest touch of the stick, but when the camera suddenly changes angle for no apparent reason, you don’t retain the direction you were running.

This means that if you’re running straight ahead and the camera suddenly turns around to the right (something out of your control in many instances) you’ll just veer off to the side like an idiot. There are good platforming sections, but it feels like you’re constantly fighting against the game to make them work.

Sonic and the Secret Rings

So while the main Sonic Team was creating the next mainline games, two games popped up exclusively for the Wii, which see Sonic go into storybooks and have quests there. What’s most striking about Secret Rings and Black Knight is that they’re technically auto-runners. You don’t control how Sonic moves forward, you can just merge his left and right as he runs on his course.

An on-rails Sonic game sounds like a really dumb idea…and it is.

Moving on.

Sonic and the Black Knight

Moving on!

Sonic Lost World

Now we’re getting into the truly bad games.

Lost World goes directly against so many of the core tenants that make Sonic games work. People had been unfavorably comparing Sonic to Mario for years by this point, so directly ripping off Mario Galaxy definitely wasn’t the best move. Still, even if they were going to do it, they could’ve at least done it properly.

Rather than taking Galaxy’s gameplay and making it work for Sonic, they tried to alter Sonic to fit Mario Galaxy. Sonic is slow, unresponsive, and not even remotely fun to control. The boss battles are ok, and there are some good ideas that I’m glad later games adopted, but the good is very easily outweighed by the unrelenting dullness of everything else.

Sonic Blast

Where the other Sonic handheld games were rightly praised, this title for the Game Gear is frankly pathetic. It’s ugly – even for a Game Gear title - with Sonic having this weird pseudo-3D sprite that I think is supposed to be like the Donkey Kong games but with none of the charm. The level design is heavily limited, and the tiny screen means you simply won’t see a pit of spikes approaching until it's far too late.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Although Sonic Blast is undoubtedly terrible, it never really stood a chance – it was on the Game Gear after all. Sonic 4 however, has no such excuse. This was supposed to be Sonic’s triumphant return to 2D platforming after almost a decade away and holy moly it’s honestly impressive how badly they screwed it up.

They implemented some of the 3D games’ mechanics like the homing attack, only it barely works. If there are two valid targets on the screen at once it is basically a coin flip which one it will go for. It doesn’t make use of HD screenspace, the animations are clearly rushed, and the terrain is unbelievably ugly.

No wonder Sonic Team got in fans to make Mania, they’d already firmly proved they had no idea what they were doing.

Sonic 3D Blast

Also known as Flickies’ Island in Europe and Japan this is not a 3D game, it’s isometric. Also, playing it for more than ten minutes makes me want to vomit. Sonic is not fun to control, there is no sense of momentum, and the level design is hideous. The only reason it’s not in the bottom three is because it’s not completely broken.

Sonic Boom

Controversially, I think the redesign of the characters in this game was a good thing. Just watch them in action and you’ll realize that they are so much more expressive in their faces and their poses read far better. The standard designs look like unwieldy mascot suits, but these feel like animated characters.

Thus ends the list of things I like about Sonic Boom. The game barely works at the best of times, with an inconsistent framerate in even the most generic terrain. Dialogue clipping, animation glitches, movement exploits, you name it this game does it. Even when it does work, the platforming is so dull and easy that the only difficulty you’ll have is keeping your sanity while you play it.

Shadow the Hedgehog

They gave the edgy hedgehog a gun. That alone should justify its second-from-bottom position, but even putting that to one side (which we shouldn’t, but bear with me), as a 3D action game, it’s simply atrocious.

Shadow is so difficult to control even in wide open spaces. He blasts off at the slightest tap and the way he glides along the floor makes momentum impossible to control. You’ll smash into enemies whether you like it or not, and that movement doesn’t mesh at all with the gunplay. On top of that, the homing attack is virtually unusable. It may throw you directly toward your target or it may launch you off the edge of the stage into the abyss, there is no way to tell.

If you’ve ever heard any dialogue from this game you know the cringe that’s in store as this family-friendly game tries to pretend that “damn” is the most hardcore badass swear anyone can say. It’s not worth playing even once, let alone enough times to get the 12 different endings plus the “true” ending.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (Sonic 06)

The internet is a scary place, and as the 2000s nostalgia cycle comes in, there are some monsters out there that played this game as a kid and try to claim it’s “not that bad”. It is my opinion that such people should be cast out of civilized society.

If you play this game for even 10 minutes you will see it break. If you go even slightly off the intended path it will break, if you stick strictly to the intended path it will break, if you put the controller down and don’t do anything it will break.

Even when the game isn’t breaking, it’s a terrible 3D platformer. You get thrown all sorts of weird mechanics with no explanation, levels are repetitive and dull to look at, and simply going fast isn’t fun.

Sonic’s speed sections are an abomination as you are forced to run in a straight line and avoid obstacles, but you can’t move left or right while in mid-air. It means jumping simply isn’t an option. Shadow’s vehicle sections are hilarious at best and boring at worst as the vehicles fail to navigate the terrain. Then there’s Silver’s mechanics which allow you to break the game in whatever way you wish whenever you wish for any reason – not intentionally, of course, but it’s fun nonetheless.

Every nook and cranny of this game is full of atrocious design and I haven’t even gotten to the story. Never get to the story. Save yourself. I will never be whole again.