NOVEMBER 2009 EDIT

Well, I'm finally closing the comments on this.
I'm sorry if you just happened to find this, disagree, and would like me to know about it. But trust me, you wouldn't say anything that I haven't already heard and debunked. Really. I know how you feel, being new here and all, but I already know what you've got to say. I don't care to hear it again, and I wouldnt be putting any real effort into my reply anyway, since I've already done it with other people who said the exact same thing. This would leave both of us frustrated, me for having to read the same junk again, and you for feeling that I've just dismissed your opinion without considering it. But I have. More times than you can imagine.

Save your time, and don't waste mine. If you agree, fav, if you don't, don't. But spare me the chore of having to read through the same shallow opinion reformulated for the 1000th time.

END OF EDIT

With this piece, I tried to make a tribute to the original and one and only REAL Sonic. I'd like to take this opportunity to write an analysis of what's been going wrong with this franchise during the last 8 years. Warning: If you like the new green eyed sonic, or arent in the mood to read a fairly long rant, (there's a lot to be said), you should probably skip it and just enjoy the pic.
The last great sonic game came out 13 years ago, and the last decent one 8 years ago (though even with that one it's arguable).
And please spare me all the "but Rush/the gba games/ Secret Rings weren't that bad". Yes, they were extremely shitty too.
There are LOTS of reasons why that is, and I think it's important to discuss them. I've been told, "this isn't the right attitude to fix the series". BULLSHIT! If EVERYBODY had this attitude, you can bet your ass Sega would get a clue faster than you can say SONIC SUCKS.

If Sega wanted to make good sonic games again, here's what they'd need to fix. I'm not against different styles and spin offs (hell I loved spinball and 3D Blast),but the main series should be true to its roots and damn it, they've had so many chances since 2000 and they blew them all, even when they WERE trying to go back to the roots.




Gameplay
"Speed is what built the Sonic franchise". Or at least that's what the higher ups at Sega want you to think. The fact of the matter is, speed is what's killing the sonic franchise.
Play any of the 4 classic Sonic games, and then go play Super Mario World. You will notice that Sonic is not running noticeably faster than Mario at his top speed.
Great platforming sequences and amazing level design are what built the sonic franchise. However, unlike in Mario, the environments were designed to let you gather momentum. It was the intricate and very satisfying sense of weight, physics, and momentum that gave to this amazing platform game the uniqueness and depth that it had. The "speed" was nothing but a side effect of all that.

Nowadays, the levels are nothing but boring rollercoaster rides rather than the fun and well designed maps of the genesis versions. Wheareas the "loop de loops" used to be obstacles, they are now set pieces that are there so that you can look cool when running through them.
And in the instances where the classics did have some "high speed sections", they were short and never felt automated like they do now.
If I want that kind of thrill, I'll go to an amusement park, not sit in front of my TV!
Want some stellar Sonic levels? Marble Garden zone in Sonic 1. Labyrinth Zone. Wing Fortress in Sonic 2. I could go on, but these are enough to make my point. No speedy sections, not even one loop in any of the acts. And yet theyre some of the best levels in any Sonic game ever. (In fact, I believe that Flying Fortress is a masterpiece of Sonic level design). In the levels that do contain some extremely speedy sections (ex: the water slides in hydro city, the last part in mushroom hill right before the boss), they're used mostly as transitions to get you to the next part. They're not fun in themselves, but they build up the anticipation for what's to come.

This was a major factor in Sonic Rush. Professional reviews have no idea what they're talking about when they compare it to the Genesis Sonics. Rush was NOTHING like the classics. Running as fast as you can to the other edge of the screen during the whole level is NOT fun, and it's NOT what Sonic is about. It makes you spend the whole time wondering when it's really gonna "start", but it just never happens!
MAKE. SONIC. SLOWER. It's a platform game. NOT A RACING GAME.
This is why Rush sucked. Well actually, that's just one reason.


Story
Here's a big one.
It started out as something beautifully simple: an allegory of good (the nature animals) vs evil (the technology invading their world). The message, at least that was how I saw it when I was 10, was that if we (humans, symbolized by Robotnik) abuse our world too much, one day those actions will cause our downfall and destroy us (nature in the game is of course represented by Sonic, Tails and their animal friends).

But then it all changed. Sonic and his friends now live in modern cities alongside human beings. Sega destroyed everything that made the story work, and replaced it with incoherent uselessly developped plotlines about dumb uninspired characters no Sonic fan cares about.
In every new Sonic game you're forced to sit through cutscenes and childish uninspired dialogue (which you often can't skip). This is another reason why Rush was so bad.
A Sonic game needs no dialogue WHATSOEVER between the levels and certainly should not have any WHILE you're playing (hello Sonic Heroes).
Sonic and secret rings: You need to dodge the canon balls!!! NO SHIT!!! I thought I was supposed to let them blow my head off!!!
It's like they're trying to make everything as annoying as possible.

The cutscenes, if any, should be very short and never get in the way of the gameplay. Sonic and Knuckles has a good example of this, when Knuckles is helping Sonic to reach the sky sanctuary. If you MUST have some "real" cutscenes, do like Sonic CD (at the beginning and at the end).
But no matter what, the characters should remain mute; the player should imagine what they are saying.
And if you think games in modern days need more story than back in the genesis days, try DK Jungle Beat. Storywise Sonic shouldn't go any deeper than that.




character design
This is the most superficial reason but an important one when it comes to a character that used to have as much style as Sonic. Since the early 2000s, Sonic's proportions have slowly started to become more and more human like. This culminated in 2006's "Sonic The Hedgehog", where he is nothing more than a furry lover's wet dream.
Whereas his facial expressions used to show attitude and a little cockiness, his features now indicate that he belongs in a hospital for retards. His empty, expressionless eyes, and his hideous grin with huge protruding teeth certainly don't help, but the worst feature is probably that they put his mouth on the SIDE of his head rather than in the middle on his 3D model. In drawings or 2D, thats fine: its always on the side you're looking at. It looks natural and normal, whereas on a 3D model it's a deformity.

In his classic form, despite his attitude, he had a lot of loveable cuteness and charm. The same can't be said of his impostor, who's proportions make him look like an anorexic person with legs 3 times the length that they should be.
Just take a look: [link]
I've heard that it makes him "more believeable as a fast runner". But as discussed earlier, Sonic isn't even that much faster than Mario to begin with. His special "thing" isn't his speed, but the fact that he turns into a ball to break stuff. And which version of him is more believeable at doing that? The short, roundish one (you know, small and roundish, kinda like... oh I don't know, a hedgehog?).

One last thing: In some of his games, his skin is so shiny he looks like he's covered with varnish. There's actually an anti-shine patch for the PC remake of sonic adventure 1!
The problem of bad character design in Sonic affects every character, old and new, friend and foe. By the way, here's a nice 3D Sonic from the cancelled "Sonic X-treme". [link]
Ok, the graphics are dated, but proportion-wise, he looks perfect.
THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN SMASH BROS.



New characters
This paragraph is somewhat tied to the last one because every new character suffers from horrible character design.
There hasn't been ONE decent new characters in the series since 2000. Big was pretty useless, but Shadow is where it really started going downhill. I thought it would get better after the uninspired "dark version of the main character" (a concept that hasnt been original or cool since 1988 in Zelda 2). BUT NO. They had to go on and create more uninspired annoying characters. Granted, the old characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles), in the new-school style, are equally annoying as the new ones. However, we can at least IMAGINE and remember them the way they were when their designs were still good.
I'd rather play Superman 64 than have to see Shadow, Blaze, Silver, or that stupid robot who's name I dont even want to remember ever again. They've never been original, inspired, or even just decent.
A Sonic game should have no more than 3 playable characters, and ZERO NPCs besides the ennemies and the little animals you need to save.




Music
Last but CERTAINLY not least.
Sonic games have been filled with bad, un-sonicky music since SA1, though that one did have some amazing ones too (mainly remakes of old tunes). But it's become ridiculously bad in "Sonic and the secret rings".
I can only think of one classic Sonic music that was bad, and that was the death egg's Launch Base in Sonic 3. Out of the 4 classic games, I think its pretty good that only one level had shit music.
Rush's music also sounded like an assortment of annoying sounds played randomly one after the other. Forcing me to turn off the game's sound just so I don't have to suffer as much while playing should NOT earn good points in a review.


Fun, hummable music had always been a part of Sonic, but now it's gone. If they want to make Sonic good again, they have to bring it back.
And no lyrics.

Whew! That was longer than I thought... but I think it covers everything. If you have anything to add be sure to comment and let me know!

BTW.. if you're a fanboy of the new sonic, and you want to disagree and argue, fine. But find something better than "those are just your opinions" or "saying those things doesn't make them true" (you saying theyre wrong doesnt make them wrong either). I'll hide those posts no matter how much they compliment the actual drawing.
So far those pathetic non-arguments are the only kind of "rebuttles" I've gotten. Oh, and the lame and interchangeable "you just need to accept change", which takes 1.5 second to come up with and can be applied to anything equally. (not to mention that change can be bad, as it was for sonic). The multitudes of "fans" with this attitude are the ones who are REALLY preventing this series from getting back on its feet, by eating up the bullshit that sega is feeding them.
Bottom line, if your post is hidden, it was stupid and not worth my time.