I'm willing to be humane about my answer to this question.

The lethal injection.

See most people would have the option of putting him down olD Yeller style.
But at least with mine it'll be more like he goes to sleep for a REALLY REALLY long time.

I don't understand people's obsession with saying "Go back to 2D!" Yeah sure the games were supposdly only good back in the 2D era, although I stand by my decision that the sonic adventure series were fucking AWESOME games.

The flaw I see with everyone's view point about 2D is that the second the Sonic games do that, we'll be right back here saying "Oh it's alright for the sake of nostalgia, but the novelty wears off quick and of course no one trusts sonic team to NOT throw in a stupid new character/gimmick and with just cause, because they CAN'T be trusted with it.

I think what they need to do is reapproach the older core of the gameplay, just running, jumping, smashing robots and beating Robotnik... (That's right, I called him ROBOTNIK!)

Not necessarily on a 2D plane, carry on with 3D running forwards, just don't make the levels flow-breaking clusterfucks, which require seering orbs and vision inducing powders to navigate through.

And QTE's? NO, FUCK OFF not needed in a game like sonic, like I said, it breaks flow.

Did the original games ever really break flow? Only if you genuinely fucked up.
So why do the new games break flow as a gameplay mechanic?

So really, just return to basics but not necessarily 2D basics.

I mean Mario moved from 3D, but they didn't change the winning formula until they were comfortable, Sonic on the other hand jumped arsefirst into 3D with ridiculous notions that people love shoddily held together characters with swords, guns and psychic powers...

Not at all...

A Sonic FPS with RTS elements and RPG stats in an open world with driving sim vehicle handling side missions and melee attacks with scimitars and country dancing QTE boss battle sections.

Aren't they already making a new 2D Sonic game?

You know...Project Needlemouse...

Honestly, I think that Sonic isn't too far off from a return to form. First, Sonic's had at least one good game in (relatively) recent memory: Sonic Rush for the DS, which was pretty fun and has a Metacritic score of 82, and was successful enough that it spawned a sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure, but I haven't played the sequel and can't vouch for it. (On a side note, Sonic occasionally seems to me to be slightly ahead of his time: Sonic Rush was a 2.5D game in exactly the same style as New Super Mario Bros., only a few years earlier, and the many small-worlds of Sonic Adventure 2 seem to me an early version of Super Mario Galaxy.)

So I feel continuing in line with Sonic Rush could work. Or maybe pull a Mega Man and release a Sonic the Hedgehog 4 on Xbox Live, PSN, and WiiWare, as an old-school platformer. Or (my personal favorite), make a Sonic Adventure 3. I LOVED the first one, and the second one was quite enjoyable too.

Finally, Sonic Team not too long ago released a trailer that I believe teased an up-and-coming sonic game that is only 2D levels, but with HD 3D graphics. Look it up. It sounds exciting.

To be honest, I loved the day levels in Unleashed. Even the mini quick time events they had where you had to hit one of the bumpers/triggers to dodge something was pretty entertaining. It helped bring a (relatively) new element to the Sonic games even though it was small.

I can't understand why Sega just can't stick to the basics. Just make him run fast, kill a few enemies, and get to the boss. No weapons, overworld, extra characters, or any of that crap is needed.

retire him- kill the poor suffering guy off

that or stop with the 3D and say hell to story. Those are things people couldnt give a shit about

Go back to the roots. 2D, speed and a next-to nonexistent story nobody cared about.

I would say, maybe introduce a new villain, fire the guy who wrote the dialogue to Sonic Heroes, and if you're going to keep with the whole 3D thing, use the Sonic Adventure games as a base.

Find a way to actually navigate with the bugger in a 3D environment when he's moving at the speed of sound. Oh, and have the game open with him and the few worthwhile characters falling into some portal to another dimension that then closes shut forever, thus escaping all the stupidity in the series.

Stop basing the gameplay on speed. In the originals he didn't move so fast, you had to work for his speed with sheer momentum and reflexes. Remember it's a game, not a long as hell quicktime event.

Also stop adding extra characters, I'm sick of that squeeky voiced rabbit, that fat cat, that alternate universe furry bait cat, that black emo hedgehog, I could keep this list going for a while... I'd better stop. Oh and no stupid crap like the werehog.

Also stop with the crappy stories. If there has to be some elements of storyline, keep it to a minimum.

3D platforming can work for Sonic. If it worked for Mario, Crash, Jak, Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, then why can't it work for Sonic?

Knuckles is the only character that i would like to see stay. Maybe tails...

from a STORY point of view, take it back to the very begining, a prequel if u will. The original story behind sonic (from what my seive memory recalls) was Dr Kintobor was performing experiments and was a good guy and had a little hedgehog on the hamster wheel doing tests, the something goes down with the Chaos Emeralds and turns the headgehog into a blue hyperspeeding chillidog munching chip on shoulder type and Kintobor into ROBOTNIK. Keep gameplay 2d with prettier graphics and make it platform fun again. To start with escape his exploding lab, then its a RACE to stop him gathering up the lil critters to turn into his robot slaves.

Oro somehthing like that. Cant remember much of the story but I was 8 at the time so ive slept since.
The only tur sonic games were 1 and 2, after that it was cheap cash in's. screw knuckles, and fuck tails tbch, sonic or bust. =P

Return to the ultralinearity of the originals, and you'll be fine. Why do you think everyone liked the Sonic Advance games so much? They hardly even have a viable story and a couple included a good many new characters, and they're still addicting as hell. Because they used a reliable and fun formula that worked.

re-re-re-release the original sonic the hedgehog game, with a tombstone that says R.I.P. sonic 1991-2010. So that he's laid to rest, never make another sonic game.

How about they go back to 2d as it is supposed to be.

It's like Worms:3D IT DOESN'T WORK!

Completely dismantling Sonic Team and handing the series over to a team like Dimps (the developers of the Sonic Advance and Rush series) who actually can make good Sonic games. Oh, and make sure no one from the current Sonic Team can ever lay hands on a new Sonic game, and bring back some of the guys from the original Sonic Team like Yuji Naka, Naoto Oshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, and there would be a hell of a better chance of a good Sonic game being produced.

If that cannot be done, then kill the little bastard. He's suffered too long to endure any more torture of the kind he's faced in the last five/six years.

As it stands, there really is nothing that can be done to "save" Sonic anymore. Any effort Sonic Team can make now can only "redeem" him, if that. They should start by going back to the side-scrolling days, just with 3D backgrounds (no 3D planes, just 3D backgrounds and effects). If they want to do 3D, they can do Sonic Adventure 2 style. But lets correct a lot of the mistakes Sonic Team has made over the last Decade.

1. dont put sonic in 3D.
2. if you must do #1, then dont give him (or any of his characters) a gun.
3. dont give him a sword.
4. dont put any of the characters in mechs that control like a walrus.
5. dont make him a wolf-hog.
6. dont bother making a story, its always been Sonic Vs. Robotnik since the dawn of time, nobody really expects any different.
7. if you must make a story, at least do something thats tried and true (SatAm, Sonic comics, Sonic X, theres plenty of material out there)
8. No. fucking. humans.
9. if you must add in humans, make them a means of telling the story, not the story revolving around them.

so, now we can make the most epic sonic game ever.

I have a few theories on how to improve the series...
I'll only highlight a few though, I don't want to start a rant...
1. Sonic Adventure 3
I've wanted this since I got SA2 for the Gamecube (never had it for the Dreamcast).
Separate it into stories like SA1. (Sonic's story, as well as Tails', Knuckles', and Metals')
Make Tails run. He does not have mecha! Shut up Japan!
Keep the story relatively simple while using pre-established elements. Metal defected previously (Heroes) and maybe established an empire of sorts of his own. He builds an army of metal versions of Tails and Knuckles. I dunno, something, I'm bad at coming up with plot.
Anyway, make it like SA2 and SA1 gameplay-wise, only more inclined towards each characters strengths (Sonic -> speed, Tails -> flight, etc.)
I dunno, I haven't put enough thought into this one.

2. Archie did it better...
Remodel the series to fit Archie's story. The Archie Sonic comics are pretty awesome and are what SAtaM was based on. The Archie comics had villains OTHER THAN ROBOTNIK that actually posed a threat to people and fit pretty well into the canon. The storytelling ability of these guys is really just top-par. They made Silver into an okay character. That is something in and of itself. Shadow's still a douchebag though... I dunno. Fanboysim may cloud my eyes, but I if Sonic Team were to read the comics and take a few notes on at least how to make the audience care if anyone other than Sonic exists. Also, Scourge the Hedgehog. Look him up. He's awesome in the way Shadow was supposed to be.

3. Back to formula.
Go back to 2D. Pretty simple.

I'm a bit tired of the protest that Sonic should just go back to 2D. No one ever made fantastic advances in gaming by just copying off old formulas, and by now Nintendo is a bit lauded for it. What they need is some effective and well-thought way of translating him into 3D that completely abandons all preconceptions.

One way I might look at it (if someone forced me to make a new sonic game at gunpoint) is like an action-oriented low-gravity Prince-style racing game. Primarily I'm thinking of the ability to abandon concepts of "up" and "down" to basically run across walls, ceilings, whatever in reaching a goal. But no more of the linear-track stuff; not that there would be multiple ways of doing something, but you'd have to actually FIGURE OUT how to approach the upcoming insane cluster of runways to reach the exit correctly.

Additionally, I wouldn't completely abandon the thought of mild, low-speed platforming stuff; heck, I'd be fine with making Sonic's "super-speed" abilities only used when you're holding some modifier key or something. Otherwise they can completely muck up a simple and enclosed adventuring sequence. I think anyone who's played a recent sonic game is a bit unnerved at how far they move when you just tap the joystick a little.

Robot Raptor Zombie Atheist Jesus can save Sonic.

Armored Prayer:
Make Bioware create more Sonic games.

If I remember correctly, Bioware made a 3D RPG Sonic game and I heard it was quite good.

Edit: Oh, and those videos above me.

This.

Mass Effect: Sonic would be funny/awesome/good chance to be an utter failiure.

I'd buy that!

Hmm what can save sonic? hmm...well I would start with these things:

> Change his name.
> Change his look.
> Change his support cast.
> Change his enemies.
> Change the gameplay.
> Change the art style.
> Change the voice acting.
> After changing these things sell the IP to another company.

I think with these small tweaks our sonic can be saved.

No-one; Sonic has been gang-raped by the over 9000 characters and by poor Sonic Team decisions so much he will never recover.

A DeLorean, a loaded gun, and the location of whoever started the character additions.

Easy: Port the Sonic Advance games to a console, and consider giving them a visual/technical facelift. Sonic's best games in the last ten years have been on the handhelds.

Make 2.5D games with the classic run at super fast speeds to the end of the level gameplay, stop with the additions of new types of gameplay and characters, and for God's sake please get rid of characters like Knuckles and Cream, I swear out of all the characters in the series those two piss me off the most.

The question is, CAN sonic be saved? It's like Sega focused more on some bull shit marketing ploys instead of actual game play.

Look! Sonic has a sword! Look! Sonic is on Blu Ray! Look! He's a fucking werewolf!

Seriously, they should try and not take the entire fan base as retards, because we really aren't. They should try an appeal to kids AND us fans, perhaps us fans even more so simply because A dumb fan like me sticks with them, no matter how shitty the game is, and no matter how old we are.

I personally think Unleashed could've been a good game, it had a lot of potential, if only it wasn't for the BS marketing ploys. I mean, now is not the time for experimenting with sonic, he was a successful franchise, and even with the crappy games coming a lot lately they still have a massive fan base and they still have cults following them practically.

Instead of experimenting with new half assed things to add on to sonic they should simply follow the formula that made sonic so excellent.

And now here is my thoughts on how Sonic could be saved from the depths of video game hell -

Firstly, No Fucking Beastiality. Amy is indeed annoying, and the sonic team basically admitted that when they decided - 'You know, lets add a romance.'

'But Amy is annoying!'

'No, not with Amy! A human girl!'

Hell, even Tails and Sonic is more plausible.

Secondly - Add Sally Acorn if you're thinking of adding ANY romance in a sonic game.

Thirdly - Don't make Robotnick be a moron. He supposedly has '300 IQ!' so he should have reasons for his domination, and he definitely shouldn't send Sonic a letter saying

And finally. leave me in charge of Sonic Team. That'll ensure that sonic is saved.

My opinion? My opinion is you do what Game Overthinker says because that guy is a fucking GENIUS.

I think that nothing can save Sonic, and nothing should. The series was a success in the beginning, but it has clearly run its course, as pretty much everything relevant that the Sonic games can be have been exhausted. Rather than try new ideas that make bad games for the Sonic franchise, I think it is time to let Sonic die off peacefully, without contaminating the memory of the Sonic games with crappy material. Gary Larson quit in the middle of his career because he was out of ideas and didn't want to ruin his image. So, his cartoons are remembered as funny. If he had continued, then he would be remembered as funny early on, but later not so much. Same for Sonic. While there have already been some crap releases, Sonic can still die off without being forced down by a market not willing to support the franchise.

A funeral is the only thing that will save him.

Honnestly? Nothing. They should just let him go before they completely destroy everything they built up.

Drop the sidecast, stop thinking about the fanbase, have Sonic as the speeding fast, somewhat cocky but uktimately kind hero that he is, Drop all humans except for Robotnic. Maybe they should re-hire sonic team and get them to play games like, I dunno, tomb-raider, mirrors edge, assasins creed and a couple of racing games while doing cocaine. What follows would would probably be some of the most fast-paced, flowing and fun level design in history. Frankly I think they could make some more good sonic games, but that's the crux of the whole argument. Stop thinking of it as making a revival of Sonic, because in games, the ageing process can either be that of a fine wine (Getting better as the years go on while still retaining the original qualities) it can also be like the ageing effect for a glass of milk (The longer you leave it to stagnate, the more mould and maggots are gonna be swarming it). We all know that the sonic games haven't aged well, but they should go at it with an approach of being almost completely unconnected to the dark-ages of the franchise, that way they won't be trying so hard to please the retard fanbase of Sonic, that way it'll have no ties to the equally retarded and especially confusing and delapidated settings, stories and characters of the other, shittier sonic games.

Well they should rip out every character except Sonic, and just make it more like the original and focus on several finish strategies and keeping it fast paced.