You never knew if you were going to successfully get to where you were going, and that was part of the adventure. The thrill of starting the time travel star boost and trying to maintain your speed to make sure you properly get transported to the past or future was always exciting. But the real star of the show in Sonic CD is its use of time travel, where you can go to the past, present, or future of the zone you’re in. It introduced us to Amy Rose and the version of Metal Sonic that we all know and loathe today. Sonic CDĪs good as we just said Sonic 2 was, Sonic CD feels like a more polished and confident version of that. Sonic 2 is still one of the best sequels with its lengthy list of improvements and additions that still holds up to this day for both newcomers and veterans. Sonic 2 also introduced the Super Sonic transformation into the franchise by having players collect all seven chaos emeralds in a new and welcomed improvement to bonus stages. New zones like Sky Chase gave us our first look at the Tornado (Tails' Biplane), and the Death Egg zone pitted us against an early version of an enemy that eventually became Metal Sonic.

There were more zones, most featuring multiple paths, new enemies, new mechanics, and abilities while keeping true to the essential factor of a Sonic game: you gotta go fast. It introduced Tails, added two-player coop, and improved upon the formula established by the first game in just about every way. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is still one of the best pure experiences of the Sonic franchise. A worthy successor to the amazing Sonic Advance games for the Gameboy Advance, Sonic Rush achieved a spectacular sense of speed for a handheld Sonic game thanks to the “Tension Gauge,” a mechanic that would later be adapted to future Sonic games as a boosting mechanic, and when you add on top of that the awesome boss battles and the great use of the dual screens throughout levels, it more than secures its number 9 spot.

Sonic Rush somehow managed to feel like a full blown console Sonic game, paired down for the dual screens of the Nintendo DS. It’s the most uneven of the mainline Sonic games, but we still feel it deserves a spot on this list. It totally nails that sensation of being the fastest thing alive as you tear through levels leaving a trail of absolute destruction full of crushed boxes, tables, enemies, and more.

It also remains one of the best-looking Sonic games despite being 14 years old, plus the soundtrack is fantastic, and above all else, Sonic Unleashed feels fast. A lot of the criticism is warranted, but it also shouldn’t entirely take away from the fact that when Sonic Unleashed is good, it’s some of the best 3D Sonic there’s ever been. Sonic Unleashed gets a bad rap, and conversation surrounding it often focuses on its weaker elements, specifically the werehog bits.

Fan made 3d sonic game