The problem with Sonic is he’s a one-trick pony. The point of Sonic games is to run fast. Complete the level as quickly as possible by running as fast as possible without stopping and without hitting anything. Collecting rings in Sonic is pointless because he loses all of them as soon as he gets hit.
This is not true. The point of Sonic is not to run fast. That’s one of the major aspects of the game, as well as the biggest marketing point, but it’s not “the point.” Just like any other platformer, it’s about using skill to get to the right side of the map. Now, like I said, speed is a major aspect of gameplay, because the momentum based design is meant to lend itself to that. But, try speeding through Marble Zone fast. Well, you can’t. That environment is actually more reminiscent of Mario maps than Green Hill Zone. That stage is about platforming skill, which will buy you speed if you know what you’re doing. It’s people who think Sonic is just about speed that get turned off by the game after playing the first two levels and getting a gameover because they were just trying to go fast instead of building skill and using the environment to their advantage.
Mario translates much better to 3D than Sonic does. Sonic’s penchant for running fast doesn’t translate well to an environment that isn’t on rails; while to say open-world Mario games are fun is an understatement to say the least.
I agree with this (almost) entirely. I’ve always thought Sonic was better off not joining the 3D bandwagon, but, that said, Sonic Adventure is probably the funnest broken game I’ve ever played. I don’t really like any of the other 3D titles, despite my nostalgia for Sonic Heroes. The “Boost” gameplay of the past several years is really where the 3D entries started to show their lack of anything to offer.
I played Mario 64 as a kid once, and it was probably the most boring and confusing time I had ever encountered in a videogame. I just didn’t get it, but maybe I should revisit it some time.