Ranking Sonic the Hedgehog's Nintendo Gamecube Games

2002 was an important year for Sonic the Hedgehog. With Sega having abandoned the Dreamcast and deciding to become a third party company instead, Sonic could now appear in games from former competitors. As such, the dream of having Sonic star in games for Nintendo's systems would come true. Between 2002 and 2006, Sonic would star in no less than seven games for the Nintendo Gamecube. While some of these titles proved to be solid in spite of some flaws, others were mediocre or just plain terrible, encouraging the belief that Sonic does not generally work in 3D. Which Sonic Gamecube titles were decent, and which should have been better thought out before being released? Let me rank all seven games from the worst to the best...

7. Sonic Heroes: To me, this game marked the beginning of Sonic's fall from grace. There are so many problems here: a heavy reliance on team-based game play, cheap deaths, nearly impossible special stages, levels that are far too long and repetitive, and the list goes on. Not every part of the game is bad: there are some nice CGI cut scenes, decent voice acting from some of the characters (before the 4Kids crew took over), and the return of most of the Chaotix after being absent for years. As a whole, however, Sonic Heroes is perhaps the worst 3D Sonic game yet released, and one that I rarely touch on account that it leaves such a sour taste in my mouth. Luckily, the team-based game play was gone from later titles.

6. Sonic Riders: If you are looking for a great Sonic racing game, this is not the one. The number of courses are limited, the trick system is tough to master, and the AI tends to cheat every chance that it gets. As such, you should prepare to try every course multiple times. Even Sonic R, for all its many faults, never had such cheap difficulty. The voice acting and story also ruin the game, though the CGI cut scenes are dazzling. This was Sonic's last Gamecube game, and it was not the swan song that it should have been. I am still waiting for a solid Sonic racing game for a console, but until and unless it materializes, I shall stick with Sonic Drift 2 for the Game Gear.

5. Sonic Gems Collection: You know that a compilation is bad when less than half of the games included are worth playing. Some of the games, such as Tails Adventure and Sonic Triple Trouble, are wonderful, but others, including Sonic R and Tails Sky Patrol, are mediocre or worse. You will need to play most of the included games to unlock every picture and song in the museum, and thus, you will need to play the bad games along with the good ones. The Game Gear titles are already available as unlockable games in Sonic Adventure DX, and some more deserving games, such as Knuckles Chaotix, did not even make the cut here. I applaud Sega's effort to bring some of Sonic's lesser-known games together, but the quirks featured in a lot of them makes me wish that they should have stayed lost.

4. Shadow the Hedgehog: This game is actually not as bad as some people think, but it still has its quirks. On the one hand, the game has a darker feel than most Sonic-related titles, the choice of becoming a hero or a villain is a good concept, and in some areas, it feels like classic Sonic, though you are controlling Shadow this time around. However, some of the mechanics such as vehicles and the lack of a targeting system for weapons should have been better thought out, and there is a final story that makes the whole good or evil concept seem like a wasted concept as Shadow learns the truth about who he really is. There are also over 300 possible ways to beat the game, but people may not have the time or patience to complete such a task. A valiant effort, but it could have been better.

3. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle: Sonic's Gamecube debut has its issues, but they were not as bad as they were in later games. The terrible rating system first appeared here, the hero and dark side stories are rendered pointless by the final story, and some of the game modes are not as polished as they could have been. However, there were plenty of fun stages, new characters with loads of potential, and a lot of variety throughout the game. Overall, not a bad start for Sonic's Nintendo career, though as you can see from the entries above, the worst was yet to come.

2. Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut: The other Dreamcast game with Sonic to receive a Gamecube port was pretty solid, if slightly inferior to the original. There is a ton of variety, though the fishing mode leaves a lot to be desired. The storyline is fascinating, the action is nonstop, and the Game Gear games that can be unlocked are an added treat. Granted, some glitches and the infamous lip syncing problems were not fixed despite the game being four years old, but as a whole, this was one of Sonic's better 3D games. One wishes that every Sonic 3D game were masterpieces.

1. Sonic Mega Collection: Simply put, this compilation is better is just about every way than Sonic Gems Collection. Most of its games are worth playing, especially since they came from what I consider to be Sonic's golden age, when he and Mario were still competing on rival systems. The extras are a bit sparse, but they are still enjoyable, and unlocking the hidden games can be a bit of a pain. However, this is a solid collection of some truly wonderful games, and a great example of what Sega should have been doing with Sonic in the years since the games were originally released. Will we see another Sonic game on a console that receives far more praise than criticism? We will have to wait and see.

Sonic's career on the Nintendo Gamecube has produced rather mixed results. Some of the games are worth at least trying out, while others should be approached with a lot of caution or else avoided altogether. It is a shame that not every Sonic game released for the Gamecube was solid, as the series still has a lot of potential. With the sad state of Sonic these days, he needs a lot of better games in order for his series to be greatly respected once again. In the meantime, Gamecube and Wii owners may want to give these games a try to see how good, or bad, they are, and witness the fall of a video game icon. Time will tell if Sonic can turn all, or most, of his games on a single system into masterpieces once again.