Sonic the Hedgehog.
Love him or hate him, he remains an icon in the game industry with one of the most vocal
fan-bases on the internet and home to some of the most divisive games ever to grace gaming.
While I was a massive fan from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992, and through his true 3D debut in
1999, in America anyway, my interest waned after the 2004 game, Sonic Heroes.
However, over the past couple of years my interest in the series has renewed and I was
happy to revisit some classic titles, as well as dispatch some of my personal demons from
the early 2000’s, the so-called dark-age games, and finally complete the game that
brought me back into the series.
It’s been a fantastic journey filled with highs and lows.
My perspective on the classics has evolved.
My disdain for the post Adventure 1 games has faded, and I even discovered some new
gems.
But of course you probably aren’t here to listen to me talk nostalgic.
Regardless of your personal history, there is little doubt each Sonic instalment produces
a few head scratching moments.
So without further ado, I present 5 more, bad, Sonic Levels.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006… is not very good.
However almost none of the problems the game has, have to do with its levels.
Sure the gameplay is half finished, the character’s cannot change momentum mid-air, only their
direction, the Super Speed sections are a mess, the story is laughable, there are too
many characters, and those load times.
However the actual levels are mostly fine.
It’s the town areas that truly suck.
However I think White Acropolis deserves an honorable mention.
And not the snowboarding section, which is hilarious.
I mean White Acropolis during Silver’s campaign.
From the final checkpoint to the goal ring is a 60 second stroll, as Silver is slow,
through basically nothing.
Sure there are enemies in the area, but they don’t pose a threat to the hero.
You see Sonic has to get around laser grids and Shadow needs to take down search lights
with an Armed Buggy.
But Silver, he just jogs right past everything.
It’s a good representation of the many pitfalls Sonic Team continues to fall into with nearly
every installment of the series.
First, the level is padding.
As Sonic Team was insecure with a short runtime, stages must be played by multiple characters.
Second, enemy placement.
Enemy placement doesn’t often feel thoughtful in Sonic games, and it certainly doesn’t
here.
Finally, it’s clear the game was rushed.
There are no cool telekinesis gimmicks, no switches, doors or puzzles, nothing.
The player literally just strolls to the exit with the only things getting in their way,
are two pits.
It’s lazy, it’s ill-conceived, it’s poorly designed, and quite frankly, bad.
Coming in at number 5 is Sky Deck from Sonic Adventure.
Now I adore Sonic Adventure but there is little doubt the game is starting to show its age.
The game is littered with gameplay glitches and the character battles are meme worthy.
However it’s Sky Deck that sticks out to me the most.
The early part of the level has an over reliance on these slow moving pillar sections.
The scripted elements aren’t programmed very well causing Sonic to screech to a halt.
And Sonic changes directions when this ladder falls.
The middle part doesn’t get much better.
As the level is a wide open area, the designers had to rely on arrows baked into the scenery
just to guide the player forward.
Without them, there is little hope of reaching the end.
Even better, there are wind gusts that will either cause the player to lose progress,
or worse, die.
Good stuff.
And I hope you like getting hit by projectiles you didn’t see coming.
Yeah, the game wants the player to focus on this massive missile, and the camera points
at it.
Unfortunately, the side effect is not seeing all the other important stuff, on the screen.
The level wraps up with an anti-gravity section of sorts.
As this massive battleship dips and sways in the wind, the gravity completely shifts.
While this does make for some interesting timing based platforming, it’s also super
confusing.
The player is never quite sure if the camera is glitching out, or if the ship is moving,
making for an extremely disorienting experience.
While speedrunners can use glitches and skillful play to breeze through this level.
Mortal gamers can expect a plodding, frustrating, and confusing experience.
It’s the trifecta of badness earning Sky Deck the number five position on this list.
Moving along is Casino Park from the ever popular Sonic Heroes.
As noted at the beginning of the video, this was the game that turned me dark on the franchise
for nearly a decade.
The team based gameplay is decent enough but first time playthroughs can be a real pain.
The grinding is finicky, the boss battles are mostly poor, and the game must beaten
four times to unlock the last story.
And of course this is the epitome of Sonic Team’s desire to cram as many characters
as possible into a game, thus destroying any semblance of narrative or character growth
as the game simply has too much stuff in it.
Now I understand Sonic Heroes is a beloved game for many, and I get it, but I think we
can all agree Casino Park is dreadful.
First, I’m not sure if I should give Sega credit for making a callback to Casino Night
from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or even the pinball tables from Sonic Adventure, or if I should
be criticising them for returning to the well so often, pandering fans, rather than coming
up with new gameplay ideas.
In either case, it really doesn’t matter when the physics are implemented this poorly.
I assume the designers wanted the player to have some control over Sonic and friends,
adding some interactivity to the tables.
But it often doesn't work.
The characters will face a different direction, but not actually move in a different direction.
The flipper physics are poor as well, often sending the characters in undesired directions
for no apparent reason.
This means players will likely get stuck on tables as actually navigating to the table’s
exit is a near impossibility.
It’s not like the tables are all that interesting either.
Often it's a vast area of misplaced bumpers and random flippers, lacking the depth and
complexity of real pinball, and somehow being even less engaging than those pinball tables
found in Sonic Adventure.
The physics are bad, the tables are bad, the controls are bad, Casino Park, is bad.
Sonic Adventure 2.
If there was ever a polarizing Sonic game, this is it.
Shadow the Hedgehog’s debut was well received and the character remains immensely popular
to this very day.
Many praise the controls as the best Sonic has ever had in 3D with some of the best speed
levels ever designed for the Blue Blur.
The deep narrative is appreciated and Shadow is given the most complete backstory of any
character before or since.
Others find the treasure hunting an absolute deal-breaker, especially on the Sega Dreamcast
which lacks the little exclamation mark when near the desired treasure.
The borked radar doesn’t help either.
Combine this with an immensely flawed story between G.U.N., Dr. Robotnik, and Shadow himself,
which was basically written out of existence with Shadow the Hedgehog, the 2005 game, and
one is left with one of the most interesting internet debate topics ever devised.
But I’m getting off track.
Love or hate the game, virtually no one likes Mad Space.
First, the hint boxes intentionally give misleading tips as a way to increase the difficulty of
this treasure hunting level.
Next, the entire structure of the stage goes against the way the character moves.
This is a vertically oriented level, with little climbing, however Rouge cannot fly,
only glide, despite being a bat…
Anyway this makes traversing the level from the bottom to the top a giant pain in the
ass.
There are limited ways to move from different planets and platforms, and until one memorises
the level layout, navigation is way beyond confusing and unintuitive.
When compared to something like Pumpkin Hill, which works with the strengths of the power
characters with plenty of gliding and climbing, and it's easy to see how far off point, Mad
Space actually is.
The gravity is also extremely aggressive and escaping any of the planetoids is impossible
without hitting the exact designated element.
This also means one must glide carefully to avoid the gravity in the first place, which
is awfully tedious.
Mad Space also highlights the handicapped radar.
Because only one radar is functional at a time, the player can spend minutes wandering
about a massive level trying to get a blip, and then do it all again for the next treasure
piece.
And God forbid the player dies, because the treasure locations change after death, meaning
previously explored areas the player ruled out as treasure locations, must now be revisited.
So, there is a level that doesn’t work within the confines of the character’s moveset.
A hint system which misdirects the player.
A level size not compatible with the arcane ruleset built into the treasure hunting levels.
And the punishment for death is brutally unfair and makes the three aforementioned issues
even worse.
That my friends, is bad level design.
Nearing the home stretch we arrive at Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Some people grew up with Sonic Heroes.
I grew up with Sonic 2.
And I am keenly aware of how hard it is to peel back one’s nostalgic feelings and truly
dive into a game’s design and see it’s flaws.
However it’s hard not to see just how sloppy Metropolis Zone really is.
The level structure itself is interesting enough, and in fact, some of the platforming
is excellent requiring precision inputs and pattern recognition to be successful, good
stuff.
However it’s the enemies that absolutely ruin it.
First is the Kani Punch.
This crab-like badnik is annoying as it’s invulnerable when it extends it’s claw.
But it only extends it’s claw when the player gets close.
It’s an interesting mechanic I suppose, but not so interesting when they are placed
on the edges of platforms the player has to jump towards.
Or when they are placed in tight corridors where the player can’t actually jump over
them to avoid the attack.
And then there are the Kamakillers.
This mantis like badnik throws blades as soon as one enters the screen, and because the
attack is so large it can be almost impossible to avoid.
And of course the levels tend to guide the player right into them, or misdirect them
into them.
Like the crab, the mantis too is placed near ledges where it can be near impossible to
avoid.
And if the player does manage to properly avoid either enemy, an exploding Telstar is
sure to hit them anyway.
Spike placement can be maddening as well.
And there is the knock back, which can be problematic on the bolt sections, causing
the player to backtrack to reset the obstacle.
While I applaud Sega for coordinating a worldwide launch way back in 1992, I’m not sure if
the rushed development cycle was worth it.
Clearly the developers were running short on time and many aspects of the back half
of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 lack the polish of earlier stages.
And there is no better example of this than Metropolis Zone.
Whatever promise the stage held is completely destroyed by some of the most obnoxious enemy
behavior and enemy placement ever found in a Sonic stage, earning these acts the number
2 place on this list.
This brings us to Starlight Zone.
Starlight Zone you ask?
Well, stick with me for a moment.
Sure some of the hazards can be surprising, and enemy placement occasionally questionable,
but neither of these are really dealbreakers.
But imagine for a moment the seesaws didn’t work.
It would make navigating the zone pretty difficult as using them to launch Sonic upwards is necessary
for progression.
Well, one doesn’t have to imagine this scenario, because in 2006 Sega graced us with Sonic
the Hedgehog Genesis, for the Game Boy Advance.
In almost every way, this game is pure garbage.
The music ranges from decent to unlistenable, the game is in a constant state of slowdown,
and the momentum is programmed poorly, with Sonic have odd interactions with walls making
for an unpredictable experience.
And then there is the screen crunch.
The screen crunch is almost unbearable and most gamers will simply give up on Labyrinth
Zone Act 3.
But Starlight Zone is the real loser here.
The seesaws are not programmed correctly and getting Sonic to actually bounce high enough
into the air to move forward is an exercise in frustration.
Seconds turn into minutes as the player tries to find the sweet spot to actually get Sonic
to launch into the air.
It would almost be laughable if it wasn’t so freaking aggravating.
Now one might argue this isn’t really bad level design, but I’d say having sections
of levels that are nearly impassable without basically glitching the game into performing
a basic task is exactly that.
It isn’t like the player can perform some other action to get by like flying or climbing
to get around them.
The player has no choice but to bounce endlessly hoping for a miracle, in order to progress.
At the end of the day, it’s a bad level in a bad game, and perhaps the worst the franchise,
has ever seen.
So there you have it, 5 bad Sonic levels.
Now, this is not a definitive list, nor is it intended to be a worst of, and I’m sure
there are plenty of other levels worthy of my wrath, so be sure to leave a comment and
let me know which levels you despise.