Sonic in the Gaming Press – The Spin Cycle of a Blue Blur

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The Donnie Therapy by Shira

Sonic is a franchise that clearly has its problems and no one can deny that. A few of the games in his series have major issues but a large number of them are either great times or offer a fun time despite a few issues. Every game needs to be judged fairly and professionally….and sadly Sonic doesn’t fall under this for most outlets.

A member of the Sonic community called @SSF1991 or known by Donnie, made a great article covering this with one quote toward the end of his piece that really stood out.

This isn’t a defense of bad Sonic games like Sonic 06 or Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. This isn’t “fanboying” over how Sonic is always good and it’s perfect. This is a defense of Sonic as a whole, and a criticism of how Sonic is poorly covered in the mainstream media, and how it seems they’re not quite doing the job I would expect them to. I haven’t even gone into the very similar antics of a certain Let’s Play channel that is more so grump than not so grump. However, regardless how mainstream journalism sees Sonic nowadays, it doesn’t change how the community sees Sonic. And that’s with passion. It all boils back to, yet again, the article I wrote for Sonic’s birthday back in June. We care. Unfortunately, it seems we care about doing our jobs of covering Sonic news better than mainstream sites. And even though the gaming media will tell you otherwise, the fact that we are still here talking about Sonic in the first place is all the evidence needed that Sonic has been good in the past, and can do so if SEGA puts in the effort, whether the mainstream media wants Sonic to succeed or not.

This sums up his article beautify; the series has issues but it should be treated like any other game in the industry. But you might be asking “What is the point? Why are people talking about Sonic in the Press?” and my answer is this; watch the below video.

IGN, a series of ‘professional’ members in the gaming industry start out talking about the announced Sonic Mania & Sonic 2017 titles….but quickly drop the discussion in favor for talking about the IP in a negative light saying the following quotes.
“Sonic was never good.”
“Sonic fans only want to have s** with Big the Cat”
“If you like Sonic, you should stop or I will call the cops”
Just….I get it, Sonic has issues. I love the series but I clearly know this. But as members of the gaming press, we all should treat Sonic with the same respect we give other franchises and games like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, God of War and more. And the gaming media does do that, as a video released by Kinda Funny Games does a far better job talking about both projects and their own thoughts on the franchise compared to IGN.

And the Sonic community took IGN’s ‘comments’ with quite an reaction. From many different reaction videos to Donnie’s own article which was sparked from the IGN Video in question; the Sonic Community is feed up with the series having a toxic image. SEGA looks to be fixing Sonic’s image with upcoming announcements and releases for the Blue Blur and I am excited about the series future personally.
When I write articles, reviews and news posts on this site, I always have this thought ‘Be positive and look at the good in everything’. I do this because, I want you, the readers, to have something to simile about after maybe a hard at work or just dealing with the many issues life throws out our faces. I have no issues pointing out issues or problems with a game or anime I review but I try to be positive no matter what and that is what all critics and professional members of the gaming press should try to do.
I am happy to see the reaction IGN’s video caused, as it will hopefully spark more positive news coverage in the future. But before I close, a few highlights during this whole mess should be noted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN7wC5C_PdA

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