The blue blur that just won’t go away no matter how many times you flush.  How many times must Sonic jump the shark before someone just trips him into the lake to get swallowed whole?

When a great game like Ratchet and Clank on the PS3 falls under the radar, what hope does a has-been like Sonic have?  What began with a little toe-tap evolved into an ever so annoying attitude that Sega insists to be cool.  The speed of the game was the selling point back in the Genesis days.  Blast processing took Sonic into the "extreme."  Speed alone won’t cut it anymore.

They seemed to pull it off alright on Sonic Adventure.  It was a good game reminiscent of Sonic but it didn’t feel the same.  I wouldn’t put the blame squarely on Sega’s shoulders for this though.  Even Mario and Samus lost a little of their identity when they entered our third dimension.

Developers spent many hours translating 2D game mechanics into a 3D world.  Sometimes it made some sense but more often then not it was an exercise in frustration for everyone involved.

After a long streak of miserable, mediocre titles, Sega somehow still has the funds to keep crapping out these little blue pellets of disappointment.  With what appears to be a greater concentration on the mechanics that made Sonic such a hit in the 16-Bit era, they are doing it again with Sonic Unleashed.

What Sega fails to accept is that some games just don’t hold up too well.  I could play Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 & 3 today and still have a lot of fun.  I can’t say the same for the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Sega, please keep Sonic on the portables or as Arcade titles.  Or just let him die with whatever honor he has left.  Don’t force him to keep reliving his painful failures with excruciating repetition.