Sonic the Hedgehog is obviously one of the most iconic video game mascots of all time. His superspeed and rolling abilities have made him extremely fun to play as, and his cocky attitude has always made him entertaining. That being said, I really do miss when there were several playable characters in the mainline Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Sure, you’d only play as Sonic originally, and it was a blast. However, once the franchise made the jump to 3D in the early 2000s, there were quite a few other playable characters in Sonic’s games. In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, there were six playable characters. In Sonic Heroes, there were 12 playable characters, and 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog had 9. 

Sure, Shadow the Hedgehog was also released during that era and only had him as the only playable character, but the partner characters were still included in each level, representing the playable characters fans have come to love and expect in the 3D Sonic games. I’m also fully aware that there are plenty of playable characters in the racing games like Sonic Racing CrossWorlds and when Sonic and his friends compete against Mario at the Olympics, but I’m talking about the mainline platforming games.

These games having so many playable characters allowed for multiple interconnected stories. It was like having an entire cinematic universe in one game without there being too much. Plus, a slew of different playable characters also meant a variety of play styles, which kept the gameplay feeling fresh and unique. Zooming through levels as Sonic or Shadow feels completely different from searching for Emeralds as Knuckles or fishing as Big the Cat.

This all changed after 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog was received poorly. Sega used it as an excuse to go in a different direction with the franchise and stick to having Sonic as the only playable character again. Since then, games like Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Frontiers have ignored the potential that comes with having the other fan-favorite characters be playable. The closest that have come to it is when Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic have both been playable, or Sonic Superstars having four playable characters but with a gameplay formula closer to classic games rather than a 3D mainline game.

Hopefully a future Sonic game returns to that Sonic Adventure / Sonic Heroes format. Fans are clamoring to play as the likes of Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Big, Silver, Blaze, and others. When that happens, it will be a day worth celebrating.

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