With over a quarter of a century worth of games, comics and television series, the Sonic
franchise is jam packed of many powerful moments; some emotionally moving, some jacked up with
adrenaline, and many focused on the trials and tribulations of our favourite blue hedgehog.
But with the good, bad and sad comes another kind of feel that many fans of the series
are familiar with – the scary.
So today, we’re taking a look at some of the more terrifying moments in the Sonic series
with our list of the top 10 scariest moments in Sonic.
10 Drowning While you may not think the underwater levels
of Sonic Genesis are inherently scary, there are some anxious vibes that you get when you’re
submerged in water in the game.
Specifically, when you’re running out of air and need to acquire more air bubbles,
a countdown begins.
And this frantic theme music starts to play.
And it’s stressful TO THE MAX.
And when Sonic does drown, well, its an expression none of us really want to face.
In later games the countdown music was removed.
9 Sonic Heroes - Mystic Mansion The Mystic Mansion level in Sonic Heroes places
you in a haunted castle that’s filled with ghosts and creepy creeps.
There’s a creepy soundtrack, spooky interior design, and plenty of ghosts kicking around.
The deeper you get into the mansion, the more ghoulish it becomes, with the cavernous areas
looking a little hellish, and a whole section that feels like it’s an existential acid
trip.
8 Sonic Heroes - Lava Rising in power plant Another number on our list originating from
Sonic Heroes, the power plant level features a terrifying section with lava rising.
The power plant level is pretty straight forward, filled with action packed fun, and then all
of sudden, you stumble across this lava section that threatens to kill you right at the end
of the level if you don’t move fast enough.
7 Sonic Generations Moving on to the 3D game Sonic Generations,
let’s talk about that truck that chases you.
While the truck threatening to crush you wasn’t a new idea for the game, what Generations
added made it that much more nerve wracking.
Razors.
Yep. Sharp, aggressive, terrifying spinning blades.
At first, its just a regular truck but soon becomes immediately more threatening as you
keep running away from it.
6 Sonic 06 – Sonic’s Death Sonic 06 is notoriously one of the worst games
in the Sonic franchise.
But, arguably, the game does feature some important moments, and some pretty decent
boss fights, as well as introducing one of the most sinister characters to face off against
the blue blur.
In one of the more jarring cut scenes in Sonic history, Mephiles (mef-fill-is), the big bad
of the game, appears almost out of nowhere and fires an energy blast at Sonic, impaling
and killing him.
It’s the only time in the series in which Sonic dies.
Luckily, he’s resurrected and time is reversed, but it’s a moment that’s gotten stuck
in many fans heads.
5 Sonic Heroes - Crocodile in Lost Jungle Returning to Sonic Heroes, and scary moments
within gameplay, the Lost Jungle level has a few surprises.
While the level features some large frogs that you briefly interact with, they’re
not the only giant sized reptile you encounter.
Theres a pretty scary sequence where a giant crocodile is chasing after you, and its definitely
not a pretty sight.
4 Sonic CD – Boss theme Sonic is known for being one of the video
game industry’s strongest scores.
But, between Japanese, European and US versions of the game, there’s been a few notable
differences.
Specifically with the US soundtrack and it’s very creepy boss theme.
Some fans felt that sometimes, the music was fitting of the boss battles, while others
preferred the high energy that came with the Japanese version of CD.
3 Sonic Adventure 2 – King Boom Boo In Sonic Adventure 2, when you’re playing
the Death chamber level as Knuckles, there’s a boss that has been seared into many players
memories with how utterly horrific it is.
King Boom Boo is a massive ghost with a set of intimidating fangs that chases you in circles.
And you have a limited amount of time to strike it, too.
This incredibly creepy boss was later adapted into an episode of Sonic X, where it and it’s
minions manage to possess Amy, and its downright uncomfortable.
2 Sonic Unleashed – Dark Gaia While Sonic Unleashed has it’s questionable
moments – specifically all the night levels as the werehog – it does manage to really
up itself during the boss battle with Dark Gaia.
While Dark Gaia is intimidating to begin with, it’s not until it’s transformation into
its true form that things get real frightening.
It’s got all the makings of a nightmare, sprouting new limbs covered in goo, opening
up new eyeballs, and generally just looking like it crawled out of the most horrid creature
feature you can imagine.
1 Debug Mode Sonic CD The debug modes throughout the early Sonic
games not only gave players hours of creative fun, but also gave them the opportunity to
find more easter eggs left behind by developers.
Some of these are pretty neat.
But there’s one in particular that doesn’t quite fit in with the vibe one gets from a
Sonic game.
There’s a Secret message screen with several deformed Sonicheads in the background, with
a message in Japanese that reads “Fun is Infinite With Sega Enterprises” and is signed
by the devil.
And of course, the US boss theme makes a return, playing underneath it.
So why does this screen exist, aside from developers having a good ol laugh over their
creepy trolling?
Well, some players have noted that the face on Sonic’s resembles Mario’s face, as
a jab at Nintendo.
Another theory is that it was meant as a message for those who tried to pirate the game.
There we have it friends!
Which of these do you find the most terrifying?
Let us know in the comments below.
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If you want more sonic videos, check out our top 10 sonic playulist on our channel too!
In the meantime, thanks for watching!
I’m Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 gaming.
I’ll catch you all in the next one.