I staunchly believe that it’s bad games, not good ones, that should get remakes and remasters. Still, I’m now fearing the consequences of sharing my beliefs as I see the unofficial remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog from 2006 reaching PC. Is it all over for us?
In case history has been kind to your soul and memory, Sonic the Hedgehog, more commonly known as Sonic ‘06, is arguably the worst in a long line of bad Sonic games. It was, in fact, the OG bad Sonic game, a product so special because, upon its release, nobody expected so many bugs to be inhabiting a single disc.
Things have seemingly changed, as this PC port promises to fix many of the game’s original issues. I haven’t played it yet, but I already love the audacity with which the developers carry themselves.
Yes, the statement above is true, but in the exact opposite sense that you’d expect, when you’re talking about a game. The trailer presents Sonic ’06 not as something loathed as soon as it came out, but as a game that people actually liked and have wanted to see on PC. On top of adding a bunch of cool options, quality-of-life improvements, and 4K res, my attention goes to the trailer’s choice of words: “optional patches”, not “bug fixes necessary to make this playable”, or something similar. In this brand new world, Sonic 06 is the rare villain that turned hero just because it lived long enough for most to forget about its sins.
And whilst there are a bunch of AI-slop vibe-coded Sonic remasters out there, this version, officially named Marathon Recompiled, was seemingly the result of old-school coding by a bunch of inexplicably dedicated fans. Regardless, I can’t yet commit to the notion that you could resurrect Sonic 06 in any way you could deem ethical.
I’ve never been much of a Sonic player, and only started getting into Sonic 06 through popular streams and Let’s Play channels from way back when. I love watching videos of bad games because the glitches annoy the player but usually only make the experience funnier for the person watching. Still, boy, though a lot of fun in all the ways that developers surely didn’t intend, Sonic 06 is rough even when you’re not physically trying to get something out of it. I apologize for the JonTron posting, but this is an important clip:
I might never play this unless I find the perfect party with friends to use it as a vessel for a most lethal drinking game, but all jokes aside, I’m glad people are getting the chance to see what this could have been. Happy 20th birthday, you absolute nightmare of a game.
