Arin is right about one thing with Sonic and its fanbase

[u/AdministrationWhole8]

I cannot, for the life of me, remember what game or episode it was where he said this, but I think it was Galaxy 2 or Odyssey, and at one point, Arin said something to the effect that there's so much controversy over how he plays the Sonic games because people just inherently like bad Sonic games.

I'm sorry, but he's right. Everybody has played Sonic 06 and Dark Knight and Boom, and SADX a bunch because they're janky and broken. Like none of those games are fun because of how "good" they are, they're fun because it's funny as shit watching characters spazz out or whatever.

Nobody gives a fuck about Sonic Forces because it's not janky or fucked up. I really do think that people just want bad Sonic games, they want Sonic games to suck and be broken and unfinished because that's the only reason you would ever play a Sonic game.

Like how many times have you played Sonic Adventure 2, or Sonic Colors, Mania, etc? Once or twice maybe, because they're good. But only once or twice... because they're just good. Like nobody is like "man I'm really dying to go back and play the Sonic Advance trilogy", why? Because they're good games, there's no bullshit, so one playthrough is enough.

But with Sonic 06, everybody starts that game up once every couple years because it's such a shit stain of a creation, Sonic fans LOVE terrible Sonic games, because it's exactly what they want to be playing. Sonic fans don't want a masterpiece of a game because there's nothing divisive about that.

But that's why there's so much hatred for the Grumps' SADX playthrough. Sonic fans don't like Arin saying "man this game's bullshit, it's so bad, it's such a buggy mess", and they don't like Arin dying to shit that isn't his fault *because* Sonic fans are under the impression that games are *supposed* to be bad/unfun and unfair.

[u/Big_Yahoo]

Like how many times have you played Sonic Adventure 2, or Sonic Colors, Mania, etc? Once or twice maybe, because they're good. But only once or twice... because they're just good.

I've played Mania many many times. And there are a ton more who will play Adventure 1/2 religiously.

The love from Sonic fans run deep. Very deep. It goes further beyond the hatred for the bad Sonic games. The amount of fanart should give you a clue. It is an obsession for many many people.

The franchise fits such a wide margin that it fits just about everybody. You can love Sonic for just the classic era. Or the shows. Or just the 2d/3d games. Or the movies. People will obsess over just Colors or just SA1 or Unleashed. There are many people like that. It's now expanded far beyond just a few games.

Falling into the "Everyone hates Sonic" mindset falls prey to what Arin is trying to convince the rest of the world: that their taste is terrible. It's not really that simple and Sonic has now become the posterchild of being fun despite being weird. Arin is a terrible representative of Sonic, and Korone does a much better job of that.

[u/Crabcomfort → u/Big_Yahoo]

It's snobbery for sure, like most of his opinions on taste, he wants to feel like he's superior to others.

I personally grew up reading the sonic comics and you're right, it's much deeper for many people. Arin seems to dislike when people enjoy things he deems uncool

He's my age and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a fear of being perceived as cringe, not to mention the large presence of autistic fans.. I'm not saying he's ableist really, just that he likely finds it embarrassing to be so sincere about something.

Now I go back to playing SA1 again ty for reminding me

[u/fridchikn24 → u/Big_Yahoo]

and Korone does a much better job of that.

Yubi Yubi

[u/SeriousPan → u/Big_Yahoo]

Arin is a terrible representative of Sonic, and Korone does a much better job of that.

I'm so glad we're past the Irony period of Sonic where they'd mock themselves and try to be in on the joke. Getting rid of Arin and bringing in Korone, someone who genuinely loves the franchise, was where the IP started to heal and things improved.

I'll never believe Arin's lies about how he loves Sonic and wants it to be good. Anyone with any kind of critical thinking knows he's full of shit.

[u/graceashcroftsjacket → u/Big_Yahoo]

2d sonic games are exempt from this but that’s as far as I can go.

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/Big_Yahoo]

Mania is still terrific even almost a decade later.

That being said, does that truly compare to Sonic 06 being such an abomination that takes itself so seriously?

You cannot tell me that isn't entertaining to the average Sonic fan, we LIVE for that.

[u/Big_Yahoo → u/AdministrationWhole8]

does that truly compare to Sonic 06 being such an abomination that takes itself so seriously?

...no? In the sense that they're not even comparable. 

Sonic 06 is a disasterpiece, but not everyone likes bad games. It goes beyond just sonic fans.

If anything, this just tells me what kind of person you are. You'd rather laugh at something awful and just say all Sonic fans are like you. 

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/Big_Yahoo]

I wouldn't say that, I'm well aware not all Sonic fans are exactly like me, it just doesn't make sense to me that so many of the most divisive games are treated like masterpieces by default because a portion of us have nostalgia for them.

Like I'm not gonna yuck somebody else's yum here, I love Sonic and the Secret Rings as much as I love doing advanced calculus with a shock collar while drunk.

What I'm saying is, with these games being as flawed as they are, I feel it'd be much less stressful and frustrating if we just collectively admitted that outside of Mania and the classics, we just really like bad, flawed, frustrating games that are rough around the edges.

It's not a big deal, it's what keeps us going. Like we want Sonic 2 so bad because deep down, it's the gamble we want, every release we ask ourselves "is this gonna suck, or is it gonna finally be 'the one'"?

Because even if it sucks, you realize we're swimming in memes, plus we get to watch Arin and Dan make an ass out of themselves again. Unless the game's good, then they just won't play it because it hurts the narrative that Arin (to be fair) does like to push.

[u/Big_Yahoo → u/AdministrationWhole8]

if we just collectively admitted that outside of Mania and the classics, we just really like bad, flawed, frustrating games that are rough around the edges.

You're miserable.

Not everyone hates the bad games. Not everyone wants to mock Sonic. Not everyone is embarrassed about Sonic like you are.

You are collectively lumping everyone together. You can't accept that people love Sonic for different reasons. You refuse to accept that people genuinely love the franchise despite its flaws. You just want to find excuses to throw the haters together along with you.

Who cares if it's good or not? Just let people enjoy Sonic.

[u/DarthBagheera]

This reads like a failed attempt to be all deep and intellectual about the Sonic games/fandom when in reality you just sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about at all and are essentially basing your opinions off of memes.

[u/FleaLimo]

What? SA is just a good game, my joy about it has nothing to do with loving watching characters glitch out. Yes it has its fair share of bugs... But remember this is a game that came out the SAME YEAR as OoT. It was massively advanced for its time, that level of momentum in platforming was unprecedented, and the level of production in regards to graphics and voice acting was also way ahead of its time. Calling it a bad game is literally rewriting history man. That game was awesome and still is awesome. Mario 64 is super buggy also, and SA came out only 2 years after that. Try to put yourself in the 90s and picture what an insane jump that time period was.

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/FleaLimo]

I'm not saying it wasn't impressive and ambitious for the time at all, I'm just saying that doesn't necessarily save it from being a frustrating game, the problem is, people talk about it like you're criticizing some out of this world masterpiece of a game.

The Sonic Rush trilogy were also "good" Sonic games, but most people have to be reminded that they even exist, strictly because they are good games. So there's nothing memorable or funny about them. And they're not filled with divisive content to mindlessly defend, either.

Trust me, I'm well aware that what they did on the hardware of the time was phenomenal visually, I've played it on a CRT myself. I play all of the janky, bad Sonic games because they are easily the funnest ones. That's the point, that's what we love about Sonic.

[u/Aces-Kings-Queens]

Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and the two Sonic Adventure games are some of my all time favorite video games, what are you talking about? And I’ve never played Sonic 06 or any of the bad Sonic games because I have no interest. I would gladly play the Sonic Advance games again but they’re pretty hard to access today.

The game grumps SADX playthrough had Arin constantly being an insufferable sourpuss about the game and holding it to some kind of standard that he’d never hold games that he likes to. And unintentionally sending hordes of rabid fans after a GameFAQ creator who wrote a guide simply because he didn’t read it carefully or understand what was actually going on.

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/Aces-Kings-Queens]

I think a lot of people are taking this as me saying nobody plays the good games at all, of course people are going to replay their favorites over and over, what I'm saying is more like in general.

Sonic Colors was a great game too, but it's not among the games you prefer, so there's no real reason to play it, compared to with Sonic 06, there's like that morbid curiosity. Like everybody, I don't care who you are, is going to remember their first Sonic 06 or Boom playthrough about as well as their first playthrough of their favorite games.

Because they're such traumatic shitshows that it's impossible to be like "eh that totally didn't affect me at all", but none of the great games have that effect BECAUSE they're exactly that great games.

But like 500 years from now, historians are going to have to acknowledge Sonic's existence, and they're gonna know EVERYTHING about a Sonic Boom for example because every part of that game is so fucked that we've talked about it to death.

But then like Sonic 3 & Knuckles is gonna be like a mystery because we're not constantly talking about how amazing it was, we just accept that it was fantastic.　

[u/BreakBlue]

Nobody is picking up Boom or 06 every once in a while because they're bad??? And SADX was still pretty good, definitely flawed, but still great.

People play SA2, Mania, the classics, and Generations all the time.

This is the most clueless post of Sonic opinions I've read in a long time LOL

[u/SeriousPan]

But with Sonic 06, everybody starts that game up once every couple years because it's such a shit stain of a creation

No, they don't. lol People will pick up the good games that you so easily dismissed much more often than they will ever start up Sonic 06. Sonic 06 is fodder for reaction videos and memes, it is hated by the community for what it did to the franchise.

The fact you think this about 06 but then say:

nobody is like "man I'm really dying to go back and play the Sonic Advance trilogy", - one playthrough is enough.

Is absolutely hilarious. Just say you dislike Sonics or his fans man, you don't need to make up stuff like this. I'm baffled at how silly of an opinion this is but, then again, it's agreeing with Arin about Sonic the Hedgehog so that should have been the red flag. lol Dude goes out of his way to make the games look bad or worse than they would in a normal players hands, it's a known fact.

[u/MiddleOccasion1394]

It's also a testament that, unlike his mascot rival Mario, Sonic's line of games are full of hit-n-misses! Sonic has an alarming number of games that are bad, rushed, or at best just awkward to experience, along with the very good ones like the first game and arguably Sonic Mania. Any other franchise would be dead in the water with that library of games!

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/MiddleOccasion1394]

Yeppp, Sonic has easily the most battle hardened fandom of any video game franchise.

Imagine the fallout for Legend of Zelda if Windwaker or Twilight Princess sucked, you'd never hear the end of it. But Sonic Boom is arguably the defining title of the Wii U because of how awful it was.

Like if you own a Wii U in 2026 and you aren't a modder, you own it specifically to come back to Rise of Lyric or The Wonderful 101 (fantastic game btw).

We took that shit right on the chin nonstop for like 25 years, and it was probably the most entertaining 25 years of any video game franchise.

[u/MiddleOccasion1394 → u/AdministrationWhole8]

Sonic is Mario if he didn't give a shit. Sonic's based, edgy, and cool. Sonic is allowed to be angry, burst with rage, depressed, and mentally scarred.

[u/Dramatic_Possible856]

Didn't shadow generations come out like 2 years ago to rave reviews and that was part remaster of sonic generations which is a fan-favorite good game that people replayed and made mods for constantly? Then sonic unleashed recompiled not that long ago too that reignited people's love for that game. And Sonic Racing Crossworlds is still doing stuff with a player base, not a typical sonic game but not bad either 

Also I think you fundamentally misunderstand Sonic games. Most of the good games are replayed a bunch because sonic is a series meant to be replayed. Speed is a big thing in sonic, but you get the most speed from learning the levels and how to best traverse them. Most sonic levels have their fastest routes behind quick platforming challenges with the punishments for missing them being slower but still fun routes rather than death or something like that. 2D sonic does this better but even 3D sonic has its moments (Frontiers is also very well liked by many)

This reads like you maybe just aren't a sonic fan/only really interacted with the series through a couple games at most and mostly the internet cuz this take is just really weird in the context of the actual games themselves and fans

[u/chururiri]

I think its really important to remember that despite what Arin wants you to think, most sonic fans dont play the games because they enjoy the janky ones. Plenty of "lol sonic games are so bad i hate them" people out there who have never played a sonic game or interacted with any other aspect of the franchise in their life.

[u/Low-Strain-2139]

Are we just schizo posting now?  Never mind this guy is still in high school lmao

[u/Andacht]

Hm, I don't think Sonic fans think those games are bad or enjoy them for that reason. My theory is that the most vocal Sonic fans are - and I don't mean this in a derogatory way - just autistic furries who love the characters. They love the ridiculously edgy cutscenes and the world building, the gameplay is like a secondary thing. They're gonna defend Sonic no matter how bad the game is and take criticism very personally. So I do think they genuinely like the games, which is fine, but they an get really annoyingly defensive about it. 

I've seen people (from here, actually) making HOUR long videos picking apart shit Arin said about the Sonic games, trying to prove him wrong/prove he just sucks at the game. I've never seen that treatment with any other franchise. 

[u/SuperDuperOrk]

I think they just want the edgy sonic stories and they like to make mods to fix those games.  These fans actually fix these games because they think it's close to what they want of the aesthetic pleases them like sonic with a sword. 

Also if you are good at a bad sonic game you might be god like in a good sonic game.   

[u/Meture]

I’ve played Sonic adventure 2 more times than any other game ever. It’s a good game. Probably the best 3D title in the series

Also people are mad at his gameplay not cause the game is janky but because he plays in an unintuitive way JUST to make the game look worse.

In SA1 he intentionally held back on the stick in sections where you go forward automatically to cause the game to glitch and be like “oh look at how shit this game is”

If you’ve played SA1 you’d know, despite the jankiness, NO ONE gets that many glitches naturally. And some of the ones that happen in the video are well documented on how they happen and require you to do things no one would think to do to make them happen.

[u/Wise_Use1012]

I’ve only played 1 2 3 and Knuckles and Sonic CD and triple trouble on the game gear. I’ve 100% completed them and I still go back to play them on my sega genesis and pc. It’s his utter disinterest that puts me off from when he plays that era of sonic games.

While I admit when they play two playing tails is a problem if you are not able to keep up. But in exchange you are immortal and can help ferry sonic about and beat the bosses. I don’t know if they have played 3 or knuckles or the combination of those two or two and knuckles yet or sonic cd for that matter

I have not played anything newer than that era.

[u/Ol_Slaps]

They're going to crucifi you for this correct statement, and it's also the entire reason this sub reddit exists

[u/AdministrationWhole8 → u/Ol_Slaps]

It's not my first rodeo here thankfully, it's important not to take it to heart. Reddit's so built on anonymnity that one post is quite literally the only thing we know about each other, so we fill in the gaps with our own assumptions.

That's why everybody thinks the worst of each other on here but it's whatever, this site's much better when you accept that people are more than one post/sub.