Recommended playing order of Sonic games ?

[Bilateralrope]

I recently picked up the Humble Sonic Bundle. What order would you recommend I play the games in ?

I'm planning to give them all a try, with the expectation that I'll find several of them bad enough that they won't be finished. Probably alternating between a Sonic game and one of the other games on my backlog.

Also, are there any other Sonic games that are legally available on PC that you'd recommend I look at ?

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

What all games are in the bundle?

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

Sonic 1
Sonic 2
Sonic CD
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic Mania

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

Sonic 1: Doesn’t have the spindash or Super Sonic. Some of the levels have also not aged well so don’t feel bad about stopping it early.

Sonic 2: Don’t worry about getting Super Sonic, but I do recommend completing this one.

Sonic CD: Has multiple endings and Peel Out move. To get the good future act 2s you have to hit a past sign post in act 1 and maintain speed for a few seconds, then destroy a machine hidden in the past version of the level. Doing this for every zone or collecting all of the time stones will get you the good ending.

Sonic 3: You can now save your game, and the insta-shield is introduced. There are 2 sets of emeralds to collect, and you do get a special final boss for getting them. Recommend finishing.

Sonic Mania: Very similar to Sonic 3. The drop dash is introduced for Sonic exclusively. Recommend finishing.

[matohin]

Originally posted by (Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr:

Sonic 1: Doesn’t have the spindash or Super Sonic. Some of the levels have also not aged well so don’t feel bad about stopping it early.

Sonic 2: Don’t worry about getting Super Sonic, but I do recommend completing this one.

Sonic CD: Has multiple endings and Peel Out move. To get the good future act 2s you have to hit a past sign post in act 1 and maintain speed for a few seconds, then destroy a machine hidden in the past version of the level. Doing this for every zone or collecting all of the time stones will get you the good ending.

Sonic 3: You can now save your game, and the insta-shield is introduced. There are 2 sets of emeralds to collect, and you do get a special final boss for getting them. Recommend finishing.

Sonic Mania: Very similar to Sonic 3. The drop dash is introduced for Sonic exclusively. Recommend finishing.

S1 - Use the Retro Engine Remake, it's FAR better.
S2 - Same.
SCD - Same, BUT:
Round 3's, not Act 2's.
Sonic 3&Knuckles*

[Bilateralrope]

Originally posted by (Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr:

What all games are in the bundle?

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I
Sonic Adventure DX
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Sonic Adventure 2 + Battle DLC
Sonic CD

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Collection
Sonic Lost World
Sonic Generations Collection
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode 2

Sonic Mania
Sonic Forces

[Klaudi]

Hard to say. But I can share my thoughts about some of them.

Sonic Mania and Generations are both fantastic games. Very polished and one of the best in the series. If you wanna have a ton of fun and great first impressions go there. Also mods!

Lost World is the experimental one. Previously a Wii U exclusive ported later to PC. I would recommend it when you have more experience with the series. It's a good game but it doesn't learn it's mechanics like parkour and infinite spindash very well. When you get the hang of the controls it's really fun.

Sonic Adventure is the first 3d game in the series and it shows it's age. It has multiple playable characters with Sonic having the most focus. Voice acting is incredibly cheesy and hilarious. It's buggy but it controls well. BetterSADX mod heavily recommended, it improves the port quality a ton. OST is still amazing to this day.

Sonic Adventure 2 is more defined in it's design by having only 3 playstyles. It's more linear in level design than the first one. Speed stages are a highlight. The remaining two have very diffrent opinions depending who you ask. I find this game one of the more challanging.

Sonic CD is a remastered version of a classic game. It controls exactly like Mania but it focuses a lot on exploration. It has 2 soundtracks. The JPN one is godly amazing.

Sonic 4 ep1 and ep2 are kinda okaaay or meh. While technically perfectly fine they are kinda lazy in level design and automated. Ep2 is probably the better one,looks pretty darn good and has online multiplayer, better physics too.

Racing Transformed is a kart racer (think Mario Kart 8) developed by Sumo Digital. Great game. Previous one is a pretty standard racer and not much more.Still good tho.
It's of course a spin-off.

If you wanna there is also a demo of Sonic Heroes available on the net.

[Fnord]

I'm just going to give my thoughts on the Sonic games, and you'll ahve to decide which games you want to play. Going from the earlier games to the later ones (of the same type) is probably a good idea, as new things are introduced along the way, which might make the older ones feel a bit bare-bones after having played the later ones. So playing Sonic 2 after Sonic 1 might not be a great idea:

Sonic 1: The starting point of the series, and a game with some really nice levels... and some not so nice levels. It feels like the devs had not yet come to grips with exactly how Sonic should play, and they've got levels that don't quite match his moveset (precission platforming is not all that fun when you've got a character as slippery as Sonic, and there's a lot of waiting around). It's not awful, but it's very inconsistent.

Sonic 2: A big step up from Sonic 1, and with far more consistent level design. There are still some levels that I think don't quite hit all the marks, but overall, Sonic 2 is fun.

Sonic CD: Out of the classic Sonic games, I find this one to be the most consistent. Trying to 100% this is going to be frustrating, but if you just want to beat it, then it's a blast. It's a bit on the easy side, but honestly, I think Sonic games are at their best when they're relatively easy, and you're allowed to build up a lot of speed. Sonic CD is more of a side-grade to Sonic 2, as the games were developed alongside each other.

Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles: This game is long (well, it's really 2 games combined into one big game), and the save feature is really handy. Level design is mostly quite good, although a little bit spotty at times. Overall though, Sonic 3 is quite good.

Sonic 4: Episode 1 is a real stinker, Episode 2 is just kind of lackluster. Level design ranges from uninspired to almost fun, and the physics in Episode 1 is just not fun. Episode 2 is playable, but skip episode 1.

Sonic Mania: Classic Sonic the way Sonic fans remember it (not the way it was). Sonic Mania tightens up the controls a bit, and has consistently good level design. It's darn fun!

Sonic Adventure DX: If you don't have any nostalgia for this one, it's unlikely to be a very enjoyable experience. Bad camera, awful animations, overly slippery controls, and some really bad level design. It does have a few genuinely enjoyable moments, but they're few and far between.

Sonic Generations: This gtame should probably be played when youve got a few Sonic games under your belt, as it's a bit of a "best of" game. It's not a slave to the games that inspired it though, and it has new levels. It also plays better than the 3D sonic games it borrows levels from. It's good fun!

Sonic All Stars Racing: Like kart racing games? Then you'll likely enjoy this one. Sonic All stars Racing is a fun game but there's one problem with it, and that's....

Sonic All Stars Racing: Transformed: I've been a fan of Mario Kart since the Super Nintendo, and I've got most games in the series. This game is actually better than Mario Kart. It's the best Kart Racing game I've ever played!

[Evill Bob]

Generations and Mania. END.

The other games are good to try out so long as you aren't expecting DA BEST GAME OF ALL TIME, though Sonic CD is pretty darn solid even 25 years later.

[JKeift]

If you're worried about missing plot elements or something, don't worry. Plot is minimal and the games are scarcely interconnected. Just play Sonic Mania and Sonic Generations. Sonic Mania has the best aspects of the old 16-bit Sonic games, while Sonic Generations has both 3D 'modern' stages as well as 2D 'classic' stages. If you like those two, then you can try the other games on the bundle and see if you like them as well. Personal opinion, however: stay away from Sonic 4, it's universally hated by fans and not considered part of the saga.

[mdesaleah]

Sonic 1, 2, CD, 3, Adventure, Adventure 2, Generations, Mania, Forces
This is the order of the story, although I’d recommend you watch Team Dark in Sonic Heroes since it’s important and isn’t on Steam. Sonic 4 Episode 1 is ok, Episode 2 is much better but isn’t necessary

[matohin]

Originally posted by mdesaleah:

Sonic 1, 2, CD, 3, Adventure, Adventure 2, Generations, Mania, Forces
This is the order of the story, although I’d recommend you watch Team Dark in Sonic Heroes since it’s important and isn’t on Steam. Sonic 4 Episode 1 is ok, Episode 2 is much better but isn’t necessary

Skip most of those.

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by Sprite Recreator:

Originally posted by mdesaleah:

Sonic 1, 2, CD, 3, Adventure, Adventure 2, Generations, Mania, Forces
This is the order of the story, although I’d recommend you watch Team Dark in Sonic Heroes since it’s important and isn’t on Steam. Sonic 4 Episode 1 is ok, Episode 2 is much better but isn’t necessary

Skip most of those.

Why? They do follow a plot order, especially Aonic 2 leads into 3, and 3 leads into both Adventures.

[matohin]

Originally posted by mdesaleah:

Originally posted by Sprite Recreator:

Skip most of those.

Why? They do follow a plot order, especially Aonic 2 leads into 3, and 3 leads into both Adventures.

Because the games themselves and their quality.
P.S:AONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MY ORIGAMI CHARACTER, DONUT STEEL

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by Sprite Recreator:

Originally posted by mdesaleah:

Why? They do follow a plot order, especially Aonic 2 leads into 3, and 3 leads into both Adventures.

Because the games themselves and their quality.
P.S:AONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MY ORIGAMI CHARACTER, DONUT STEEL

Sonic 1 is very skippable, so I see what you mean. Compared to 2, and 3 it doesn’t hold up well.

[matohin]

Originally posted by mdesaleah:

Originally posted by Sprite Recreator:

Because the games themselves and their quality.
P.S:AONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MY ORIGAMI CHARACTER, DONUT STEEL

Sonic 1 is very skippable, so I see what you mean. Compared to 2, and 3 it doesn’t hold up well.

Adventure 2 and Forces are really hated, but okay.