"Average" Sonic games de-listed

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 7 October, 2010

SEGA trying to "increase the value" of brand.

SEGA has removed Sonic games with average Metacritic scores from shop shelves to combat franchise fatigue.

"Any Sonic game with an average Metacritic has been de-listed," SEGA's SVP of EMEA Jurgen Post told MCV.

"We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future."

SEGA's set to release three Sonic games in the coming months: downloadable title Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (the iPhone version's out now), Nintendo platforms exclusive Sonic Colours and Kinect racing game Sonic Free Riders.

Post continued: "We could make a lot of money on back-catalogue Sonic titles, but let's keep the number of Sonic games available under control. Otherwise you can have cannibalisation. If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy."

In August Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka told Eurogamer making both old and new fans happy with a single game is virtually impossible.

Episode 1 is intended to rekindle the classic 2D gameplay fans fondly remember from the blue hedgehog's glory years on the Mega Drive. And Sonic Colours, which plays like the daytime stages from 2008's panned Sonic Unleashed, is designed for fans of Sonic's 3D outings.

SEGA's 3D Sonic games have come in for stinging criticism from veteran Sonic fans in recent years. Sonic Unleashed disappointed many upon its 2008 release. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions managed a paltry 4/10 in Eurogamer's review. The Wii version was better, though.

The 3D woe continued last year with Wii-exclusive Sonic and the Black Knight, which suffered the same fate as Unleashed.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MattyD #1 1 year ago

    And nothing of value was lost.

  • bell_801 #2 1 year ago

    Well, I'm not a Q&A expert, but SHOULDN'T YOU RELEASE ACTUAL GOOD GAMES TO INCREASE THE BRAND QUALITY, INSTEAD OF REMOVING THE SHITTIER SHIT SO THE SHIT QUALITY ISN'T AS SHITTY? Backwards's logic, like all Sonic games designers seem to be tuned in. Go die in a fire.

    (Sonic "4" will be shit)

  • Monkey_Puncher #3 1 year ago

    That Sonic surfing game for Kinect isn't even out yet, will they withdraw that from shelves straight away?

  • layleeloo #4 1 year ago

    Good! Sonic 4 "should" restore faith in the brand as every 3D version has been utter toss, including the somehow seemed to be loved Sonic Adventure. Very much looking forward to 4

  • Zomoniac #5 1 year ago

    Only the ones with average scores? What about the ones with incredibly low scores?

  • TriggerHippie #6 1 year ago

    Whats left?

  • consignia #7 1 year ago

    Ah good, Sega are taking the revisionist approach to history.

  • mcreddie #8 1 year ago

    Why don't you delist Sonic 'Kinect Riders' even before it's released?

  • menage #9 1 year ago

    It wasn't us

  • windflaw #10 1 year ago

    But Sonic Rush is a great game! Last boss was bloody hard though...

  • SuperBas #11 1 year ago

    Sonic Riders for Kinect will not get released then?

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #12 1 year ago

    Thats all of them surely, except the megadrive ones in various collections and the new 2d ones on DS

  • Freek #13 1 year ago

    Sorry Sega, but that boat sailed a loooooonnnggg time ago.

  • Moz #14 1 year ago

    If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy."

    ?????????????????????????????????????

    But Sonic Rush is the only good sonic game this generation why's that being singled out for the chop!! Or is that just a really badly worded sentance.

  • bluem4gic #15 1 year ago

    SEGA

    10 years to realise that they make shit

  • metalangel #16 1 year ago

    I watched a "first 15 minutes" of Sonic & The Black Knight and I didn't know whether to cry or vomit first. So I had to puke through my tear ducts. Poor Sonic.

  • Moz #17 1 year ago

    Sonic and 3D = bacon and custard.

    I don't think that's really the case, whilst there hasn't been an excellent (in the eyes of 2D sonic fans) 3D sonic game there have been some good ones (Adventure, Heroes) and others have had their moments that just got completely ruined by the amount of crap you had to wade through to get to the good bits (Sonic [360/PS3] & Sonic unleashed).
    A big issue with Sonic's 3D games is that Team Sonic seem to lack technical programming skills to produce a game that doesn't have stupid long, badly placed loading screens despite sub-par graphics that a grad student could put together in an afternoon.

  • NegativeZero #18 1 year ago

    So no Sonic games on shelves at all?

  • JoeGBallad #19 1 year ago

    This sounds a bit 'ministry of truth' to me.

  • jonsaan #20 1 year ago

    Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure are the best Sonic games in years though!?

  • chasejamie #21 1 year ago

    Sonic 4 is download only though? I'd think customers would have a hard time finding that on shop floors let alone mistaking it for Shadow the Hedgehog.

  • KDR_11k #22 1 year ago

    Should've realized what you're doing to the brand back when you made Sonic Adventure 2!

  • layleeloo #23 1 year ago

    If only they would do the same with Mario games too!!

  • darkmorgado #24 1 year ago

    "Any Sonic game with an average Metacritic has been de-listed,"

    Erm... so all of them then?

  • Golgo #25 1 year ago

    By that reckoning, punters are now left with...Sonic 1 and 2, and Sonic Rush?

  • Rack #26 1 year ago

    Wait, wouldn't removing all the average Sonic games just leave us with the terrible ones? How would that improve the value of the brand?

    Edit: I just realised as well that this should replace the phrase "Shutting the door after the horse has bolted" in gaming circles.
    Edited by 1 at 07/10/10 @ 12:26

  • photoboy #27 1 year ago

    So that's all of them aside from the Megadrive releases then?

  • Kami #28 1 year ago

    "Average" Sonic games de-listed"

    ... but SEGA will never be able to retcon them out of my head... why has it taken them this long to realise their games are CRAP?! It's not like fans and critics alike haven't been continually kicking the franchise in the balls the past six or so years...

  • bivith #29 1 year ago

    My kids love Sonic Unleashed.

  • GamesConnoisseur #30 1 year ago

    Aye should have thought of that first time around!! It's was always only Sega who are responsible for the disinterest of gamers with all thing Sonic, compared to Mario.

    Ruddy glad about the new direction as evidenced with Sonic 4, loving the iPhone version at the moment. Really exactly like the original with slight variations.

  • Stuz359 #31 1 year ago

    The ones with average metacritic scores were the better ones though...

  • reverandglass #32 1 year ago

    I'm a bit confused. If Sega are going to stop selling all average Sonic games, what's left? Seriously, I can't believe anywhere is still selling old Megadrive carts of Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles. Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast isn't getting pride of place in my local Game either. I've not wanted to own a Sonic game in so long I don't know if any that are likely to be on general sale are good enough to survive this cull.

  • bloodflowers #33 1 year ago

    "In August Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka told Eurogamer making both old and new fans happy with a single game is virtually impossible."

    Except for remaking Sonic CD in 2.5D, which is so stunningly obvious they'll never work it out.

  • kitsuneyo #34 1 year ago

    They've only just re-released Sonic Adventure, to abysmal scores! Is it going to quickly disappear from XBLA?

  • FooAtari #35 1 year ago

    While the removal of shit Sonic games isn't a bad thing. It's a little worrying that they are choosing games based on Metacritic scores.

    Metacritic is valued far to much by publishers and developers. It's really starting to have a huge influence on the industry which I don't think is a good thing.

  • SlackMaster #36 1 year ago

    Sonic suffered the same fate as Megaman except more extreme. The amount of shit release with the Sonic name attached to it over the past 10 years or so has been so bad most people expect a Sonic game to be crap now. Sega milked Sonic dry and at the same time did so with shite games. I'm not sure that it'll be that easy to remove the stain of over 10 years of shit from the franchise.

    Probably the last great Sonic game IMO was Sonic CD, Sonic on NGPC and the Sonic Advance series on the GBA were ok.
    Edited by 1 at 07/10/10 @ 13:41

  • 32768Colours #37 1 year ago

    "We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future."

    Great idea Sega. Its just a shame that two of those big releases are Free Riders (which has 3/10 written all over it) and Colours which might fare better but from the videos looks to be yet another "Hold Right To Win" Sonic fail.

    If it weren't for Sonic 4 I'd swear Sega had lost the plot completely where Sonic's concerned.

  • abrakababra #38 1 year ago

    *covers ears*LA LA LA LA LA!!

  • ChocNut #39 1 year ago

    I agree with most of the sentiment here but having played sonic 4 I think a good sonic game has finally arrived back on the scene.

    I can only hope that it's not too late...