I still really enjoy this game despite its reputation these days and its later impact on the series. After several previous gimmicky attempts SEGA finally brought a real 3D Sonic to the Wii that was as close to PS3/360 counterparts as it could go and that was amazing for me in 2011, I played the hell out of it as a child. It's probably the best looking game on the console, I love the space theme park setting so much. It's really depressing to think this is still the most recent Sonic with entirely original zones and concepts. If the main levels hadn't been cut into sections in development to pad the length, I think it would be more highly regarded today

Criminally underrated racer! If you're going in expecting another Mario Kart imitator you will have a bad time, it's totally different mechanically and has its own awesome futuristic style, and even a neat little story and rival characters. These are probably my favorite designs for the Sonic cast. Riders has a very high skill ceiling and is incredibly fast paced once you learn it, the issue is that it doesn't explain how to do anything so a lot of people will be turned away by that and how brutal its AI and tracks seem at first. But man I just adore this game, its vibe is so charming and comforting. The "DX" mod for the GameCube version is actually peak gaming. It's such a shame that Zero Gravity stripped away almost all of the complexity and then the series died shortly after.