Not sure if this will interest anyone, but...

[Not Chaos X3]

... I've compiled a list of the Top-10 Sonic Games. I thought I'd show you guys, because yours was one of the forums I went rustling through trying to tot up collections of Top-10 lists to use in the survey.

Think of this as being sort-of like a Reader's Poll, except I've done it behind everyone's back.

Here's a link to my blog, which has all the boring details, but also some sexy graphs: sonnoir.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-ten-best-sonicgames-statistical.html

Let me know what you think, and thanks for contributing (whether you like it or not).

Oh, and one last thing... X3 still loves you guys.

[Arch]

This survey is geeky, pointless and I love it. Exactly like something I'd have done if I'd have thought of it first. Your post could definitely pass as a university project (albeit a fairly minor, first year one). Great attention to details.

As ever, though, I'm going to nitpick for nitpicking's sake:

* Starting off, you say that Sonic has hit a significant slump in form. That sounds like someone that writing this four years ago. We're now at a time where we have Colours, Generations, All-Star Racing and, by your criteria (which I'll come to later), the entire Mario & Sonic series. Great stuff. Admittedly though, we do also have Sonic 4, Generations 3DS and Sonic Free Riders, so perhaps it's more "patchy" form.

* There's the whole problem of focusing on top-ten frequency over number 1 games when determining "the greatest game of all" (quote plucked from nowhere). Surely when you're looking for a definitive answer for the top game, you look at the top of people's list and, as I expected before, S3&K is the undisputed king. By miles. Contrastingly, Sonic Adventure is a rather popular game (usually for nostalgic reasons) but is in less than half of the top-spots than the Mega Drive game. So, it seems a bit flawed. Good on you for including both, though. It's a nice insight.

* What is a "Sonic" title? I'd have let Mario & Sonic slide any other time, but then you include SSBB, which clearly isn't a Sonic game. If you saw that in somebody's top ten list, you really should have ignored it. After all, Mario Kart Arcade isn't my favourite Pac-Man game (poor example but whatever).

* My personal view on Sonic 1 not being anyone's favourite is because it's too basic; Sonic 2, CD and 3&K all go on to do movement, levels, characters and everything else better. The only people who could legimitately still call it their favourite is someone that hasn't played any others (or just has that and Sonic Eraser).

* It's "Mega Drive", not "Megadrive", as far as I know. Sorry.

* In the rating section, you include Sonic & Knuckles as a separate game to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, stating that it hasn't received the votes the critics say it deserves. I know people may have listed them separately, but it doesn't seem right to split the games and include all 3, as it were, individually. It's like (not really) listing all the games in Sonic Mega Collection separately, and then as one game. On the same path, I seem to remember that Mega Drive scores on such ranking sites aren't very reliable as they only have a few reviews. Fair play on more recent ones, though.

* Sonic 4 is two games, really. They're completely different. How many people actually listed them together?

* I guess people just forget about handheld games when they're compiling lists. If I did one now, really painstakingly, it almost certainly would include Mean Bean Machine in the top ten, because it's the most fun I can have with friends around the TV. Astonishing multiplayer. Not the Game Gear one, though.

* People probably disregarded the Sonic Rivals series because it's rubbish, not its inaccessibility (although I haven't played them, deriding that argument...)

* Sonic Generations '3DS', not 'DS'. Sorry, habit again.

* You mentioned it at the end, but yeah, it's hard for Colours and Generations as they've not long come out, relatively. Do this in another five years and they might be in the top 5, probably mine at least.

You've done a great job though and managed to get this drivelling post out of me before 10am. Yeah, maybe do this again in 5 to 10 years and you're onto a winner (with no prize attached). Well done.

you don't have to answer all of my complaints...

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Wait, what... X3? As in the X3? squeeeeeeee!

[Nam]

Who on Earth got asked for some of these opinions? I mean Sonic '06 in a top ten?

Furthermore, just what exactly is this data? I mean Sonic 2 somehow places in the top tens of these people more than Sonic 3 & Knuckles, yet somehow Sonic 3 & Knuckles appeared more in the number one spot. Why is this? Less people must've thought it worth mentioning, but of those who did say it, a lot considered it there number one? Also, number ten in the list is Sonic 3 alone? Were people not told they could combine S3&K? The charts really don't reveal a lot, and it's quite hard to call this any sort of definitive result, as it relies on people having played the games, which might be why the portable games are somewhat overlooked. While it's a good start, there's really not enough done to remove bias.

[Supermorff]

Nam, nobody got asked for their opinions. The results are compiled from lists that people produced themselves, including from this forum. The lists aren't going to be consistent because people just did whatever they wanted.

I think it's a really interesting project, though. The problem of taking lists over time could have been solved by excluding any titles released after the first list was written. And, yeah, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles should really have been included along with Sonic 3 & Knuckles, considering that there's no such game as Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

I'd be curious to see a follow-up too, with different analysis of the lists. You could do a points system, for example, giving all first place games 10 points, second place 9 points, down to 1 point for tenth place.

Or you could do a sort of run-off vote. Taking the top 10 first-place games, them redistributing the second-place games... actually, this is too complicated to describe here. Long story short: publish your data.

[Not Chaos X3]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I really appreciate the feedback and critique. As it has been said, I did this purely out of boredom, so it's not aiming towards any sort of academic publishing malarky. I just thought I'd try my hand at a customer analysis survey because spare time. Just to clarify a few things though:

First of all, I know, I know, the rating system is rubbish, and as Supermorff said, the best plan of attack would be a follow-up survey which introduces a points scale. The unfortunate thing is, that if I had purely taken only the Number-Ones, as you can see, the results would have been very strange indeed, because the natural bias would have been towards a very select few games, whilst those games which are considered "niche" amongst the data, (Sonic 2006, Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles Chaotix) would have appeared based purely on the strength of the minority of voters. This is why I've given two sets of data, so that a contrast can be drawn. If you put a gun to my head and told me to give you a conclusion, on which is the best game according to the statistics, I'm afraid I'd have to take the bullet.

Arch and Nam, I get what you're saying about the inclusions of certain games. Weighing in at joint-26th on the list with 17 mentions was "Other", which included everything from fan games to Blue Sphere (seriously, 3 people, I mean...?) to just plain ol' blank spaces. Because I was literally scouring the internet looking for leftover scraps of top-10s dating back 5 or more years, I could only make do with what I found. If someone had given Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles all on the same list (Looking at you, Sega Addict), I wasn't really in a position to ask them why. Furthermore, combining Sonic & Knuckles votes with Sonic 3 votes would not eliminate the problem, as I would essentially be reducing the total number of applications and debasing the percentage values.

Give me a room full of nerds and a standardized checklist for them to fill in, and I'll happily repair the problem; but for the meantime, I'm afraid we'll need to keep a stiff upper lip. (Maybe I'll try doing this survey at next years Summer of Sonic... Hmm...)

Last point, and related to the above, Arch, I would not include Smash Bros as a Sonic title. Mario and Sonic, hmm, maybe. But the fact was, as I said, I was not in control of the results. I felt that very little would be achieved by including Smash Bros under "other" since it actually contributed very little to the ratings. Were these games to have featured more frequently, then it might have been worth analyzing. One of the inherent problems with surveys such as these, is that people try and get "smart". Look at how edgy I am, putting Knuckles Chaotix as my favourite game, and including Christmas NiGHTS in my list because it has a Sonic cameo, is what I imagine the smug boobs to be saying.

And yes Mango, I am the one-and-only X3, back from the dead with a dangerous new agenda. How ya doin'!?

[Arch]

Ha, X3? Totally missed that one, welcome back! Uh again. Didn't you re-register a few months ago?

[Not Chaos X3]

Uhh, kind of. I came back, said sorry for my past shames, then promptly forgot my password and didn't post again. Don't worry, I'm still keeping tabs on you lot

Nope. No idea what you're talking about.

[Beeth]

Regarding which games you would potentially include, I was inspired by this (and personally bored enough) to compile a list of every officially published Sonic title in existence, if you would. This list goes up to the end of 2011, and doesn't include ports, collections, lock-on titles (Excepting Blue Sphere, which was released as a standalone within a PC collection in 1997) and games in which Sonic is playable but isn't directly built around (i.e. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sega Superstars Tennis).

And yes, there are various titles here I never knew existed before now, and in some cases I'm suprised exist. The entire Sonic Cafe line, for starters. But anyway.


1991

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)
Sonic Eraser
Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car
SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter


1992

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)


1993

Sonic Spinball (16-bit)
Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (16-bit)
Sonic CD
Sonic Chaos
SegaSonic the Hedgehog


1994

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic & Knuckles
Blue Sphere
Sonic Spinball (8-bit)
Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (8-bit)
Sonic Drift
Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble
Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Tails and the Music Maker


1995

Knuckles Chaotix
Sonic Drift 2
Tails Skypatrol
Tails Adventures
Sonic Labyrinth


1996

Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island
Sonic Blast
Sonic the Fighters
Sonic's Schoolhouse


1997

Sonic R


1998

Sonic Adventure


1999

Sonic Pocket Adventure


2000

Sonic Shuffle


2001

Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Advance
Sonic the Hedgehog (Cafe)
Sonic Tennis


2002

Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Golf
Sonic Fishing
Sonic Billiards
Good Friend Chao!
Sonic Bowling (Cafe)
Dr Eggman's Number Guess Panic!
Sonic's Mine Sweeper


2003

Sonic Heroes
Sonic Pinball Party
Sonic Battle
Sonic Racing Shift Up
Sonic Putter
Sonic Darts
Sonic Racing Kart
Sonic Reversi
Tails Flying Get


2004

Sonic Advance 3
Sonic Hopping
Sonic Hearts
Sonic Panel Puzzle
Sonic Gammon


2005

Shadow the Hedgehog
Sonic Rush
Sonic's Millionaires
Sonic Jump
Amy's American Page One
Sonic Kart 3D X


2006

Sonic Riders
Sonic Rivals
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Shadow Shoot
Sonic Golf 3D
Sonic's 7 Narabe
Speed DX


2007

Sonic and the Secret Rings
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic Rivals 2
Sonic the Hedgehog Golf
Sonic Speed DX
Sonic Reversi Hyper
Sonic's Napoleon
Sonic's Time Limit Train
Sonic's Casino Poker
Sonic X (Leapster)


2008

Sonic Unleashed (console)
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
Sonic Jump 2
Sonic at the Olympic Games (mobile)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj)


2009

Sonic and the Black Knight
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS)
Sonic Unleashed (mobile)
Sonic Bowling (2009)


2010

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic Colours (Wii)
Sonic Colours (DS)
Sonic Free Riders
Sonic Freehand


2011

Sonic Generations (console)
Sonic Generations (3DS)
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (console)

[Nam]

It's impressive that you picked up on some really obscure games for really obscure systems (Sonic Reversi? Amy's American Page 1? Sonic's 7 Narabe? ), but yet that is not a complete list. For starters you missed Sonic 4. As in both Episode I and Episode II.

[Arch]

Aug 30, 2012 9:16:11 GMT Nam said:

It's impressive that you picked up on some really obscure games for really obscure systems (Sonic Reversi? Amy's American Page 1? Sonic's 7 Narabe? ), but yet that is not a complete list. For starters you missed Sonic 4. As in both Episode I and Episode II.

This list goes up to the end of 2011

But yeah, Ep I should be there.

sonic.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_games would have done much of the work, too.

[Beeth]

Dammit, I knew I'd overlook something... :-|

I'm on it now.

I'll tell you what it was actually, I was referring to the list of download-only Sonic games on Sonic Retro Info for many of the obscure titles, and got sidetracked. I figured the one further down (XBLA/PSN etc) were just ports of already released titles and plum forgot about 4. That's it, really.

Any other suggestions then let me know. I'll probably have already noted and omitted them on some grounds, all the while trying not to contradict my criteria too much. It's more a case of suggesting a potential standardised list for folk to refer to in compiling their polls, in such a way that it would avoid the myriad of contradictions & vague suggestions X3 no doubt encountered in his searches.

[madhair60]

^ nice dubs, bro

[Beeth]

Don't make fun, it took me all hour.

[Balls]

Whoever [censored]ing voted that [censored] are [censored]s. Jesus.

THE ACTUAL LIST AS DICTATED BY SOMEONE WHO'S NOT A [censored]

1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
2. Sonic Generations
3. Sonic CD
4. SMS Sonic 2
5. Sonic 1
6. Sonic 1 SMS
7. Sonic Colours

There aren't any other good Sonic games to finish the list.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

RAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH! WHY IS SONIC 1 ON THERE BUT NOT MD SONIC 2 WHICH HAS SPINDASH AND TAILS IN IT??!!! *rage*

[Beeth]

Sept 15, 2012 19:34:37 GMT Balls said:

Whoever [censored]ing voted that [censored] are [censored]s. Jesus.

THE ACTUAL LIST AS DICTATED BY SOMEONE WHO'S NOT A [censored]

1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
2. Sonic Generations
3. Sonic CD
4. SMS Sonic 2
5. Sonic 1
6. Sonic 1 SMS
7. Sonic Colours

There aren't any other good Sonic games to finish the list.

Implying that there are good Sonic games. Snort! Chuckle!

[madhair60]

Sept 15, 2012 19:34:37 GMT Balls said:

Whoever [censored]ing voted that [censored] are [censored]s. Jesus.

THE ACTUAL LIST AS DICTATED BY SOMEONE WHO'S NOT A [censored]

1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
2. Sonic Generations
3. Sonic CD
4. SMS Sonic 2
5. Sonic 1
6. Sonic 1 SMS
7. Sonic Colours

There aren't any other good Sonic games to finish the list.

Take off Sonic 1 and you're talking.

[Balls]

Sonic 1's good.

[madhair60]

It's not as good as any of those other games you listed though.

[Balls]

But it is good and anything not listed isn't.

[censored] anyone who tries to mention MD Sonic 2 or any of that Triple Trouble bull[censored].

[Juliett. Bravo. Alfa.]

Spinball then.

[Balls]

[censored] Spinball. I am the only one in the world who's completed it.

Ever.

[Juliett. Bravo. Alfa.]

Bull. No [censored]er ever beat that one.

Also are you talking about Colours Wii or Colours DS?

[L. T. Dangerous]

I'm glad that people seem to agree with me that Sonic 2 is overrated. I had a friend who said it was better than S3&K. He didn't just get told, he got Stone Told Steve Austin and sprayed with beer from a zamboni.