In Sonic Adventure, SEGA attempted to add a new dimension to Sonic games, but they were necessarily constrained by the rules of their own game. Sonic is, let’s face it, a one-dimensional game. The Genesis games are barely even 2D. Simplifying a bit, it’s running along an X-axis.

SA, then, adds jumping. Remember those numbered jumping pads, and the Homing Attack? They were SEGA trying to do 2D in the era of 3D.

Another thing is that, in a sense, they actually made Sonic worse by trying to go 3D (rather than just not advancing the franchise). Looking at Crash, or maybe Mario, SEGA placed the camera behind Sonic, with the inevitable result that it’s very difficult to see where Sonic is going, and that it’s pretty hard to give the player a real sense of speed without some elaborate camera swings and pans.

I want to note, too, that criticising Sonic in this way requires some cognitive dissonance on my part, because my favourite game for some time was Sonic 3; SA came out when I was 8, SA2 when I was 10, and I still love Sonic even now. Nostalgia is part of it, but I want to stress that Sonic games still showcase some great level design, and provide extremely satisfying audiovisual experiences. I can’t bring myself to be too mean about Sonic.

I think Sega’s great failure has been to lose track of the Sonic’s roots as a game experience. Conversely, Nintendo’s great success with Mario has been never forgetting the core gameplay experience he was designed to provide. 10 minutes spent playing Mario Galaxy is like channeling the early 2D games and seeing the flourishing of those ideas in a modern 3D environment. It’s all there, enhanced and intuitive and accessible.

I also wonder if Sonic’s defining aspect - speed - is simply less interesting and harder to morph into good ideas in future games.