1991, Game of the Year

[psychicscubadiver]

Jumpin said:

This thread series gives us a great opportunity to talk about a large variety of games that we love from across the decades. Instead, certain people have decided to bitch about other people’s experiences and tastes—namely for Sega and Sonic games.

Nobody would question it if somebody declared they liked Sonic. But calling a game that's solidly mediocre 'probably the best 3D platformer' deserves scrutiny. 

Vinther1991 said:

psychicscubadiver said:

If you have that breadth of experience, I genuinely don't understand your opinion. On what possible merits could you rank Sonic Generations as the best?

Quite simple: Replayability. Sonic Generations offers an abundance of branching paths and approaches to its levels, that demands multiple playthroughs to find the optimal stragegy. Unlike many other 3D platformers it does not have a lot of filler content. I can't think of a 3D platformer that has as consistently brilliant level design as Sonic Generations does. Really, the only zone that is not great to amazing is the last one (Planet Wisp), and even that one is still good.
I like games that make me feel like an absolute force when I master the mechanics and memorize the levels. Mirror's Edge and some 3D Mario games do that really well too, but Sonic Generations does it best.

To each their own. I wouldn't know about how good it is on a replay because I had no desire to ever play Generations again once I'd beaten it.