Five of the best weird but fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog Spin-off games
- Eric Halliday
- Oct 8
- 5 min read
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds has been out for a while not and has been a constant in my gaming routines. Though, it could be better, there's something endearing about the Sonic gang that makes it continuously entertaining. Something about the aesthetics of these characters that makes them such lovable dorks that even when a game they're in has flaws you push past it. And it's part of the too dorky to fail mentality that has allowed Sega to put out some absolute batshit insane gems for their lovable mascot over the years.
In fact, in the very near future, we're also getting Sonic Rumble, a free-to-play Fall Guys like game, that features up to 32 players running through Sonic themed obstacle courses despite the fact that the genre has somewhat dried up.
With these spin-offs in mind, let's take a look at some other spin-offs that were also bizarre yet wonderful spin-offs. Grab a chili dog and let's get into it.
01) The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
I feel like I don't have to tell you this started off as an April Fool's Joke as it absolutely screams it. But here's the thing, April Fool's jokes are usually a quick, lame, thing and this? This went HARD.
What could have been a joke game entry like Palworld's infamous "More than Just Pal's" fake game page that turns the game into a dating sim, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog not only teases a game in which Sonic is murdered on a costume party on a train, but actually delivers it.
This is a full-on, point-and-click mystery game that has you going from train car to train car interviewing a wide array of Sonic characters from common place character like Tails and Amy, to lesser used characters like Blaze the Cat and the gang from Khaotics.
It's a game that, while joking in it's delivery at first, delivers a surprisingly well thought out game with compelling dialogue, solid motivations paths, and...honestly...a really neat mystery.
02) Sonic Shuffle
Hey, I forget, what's then name of that game where up to four players take characters from a colorful and famous platforming game series featuring a major game studio's mascot and puts them on a giant board game where, between turns, every play must compete against each other in a mini game? That's right it's Sonic Shuffle.
I have a lot of fond memories with this one as my friends would come over to my apartment and we'd chill and play this game. And while on the surface this game is very much a Mario Party knockoff, it has some cool elements that make it it's own unique thing.
Imagine if you were playing Mario Party and the character you picked actually mattered. That's what happens here. If you look at the screenshot above you'll see a couple spots of interest. Particularly two circles with a Piko Piko Hammer, and one over a gap with a fox tail. Depending on what character you pick, you get a different way of potentially speeding across the board. (Oh, and you can also unlock Big the Cat)
While Sonic has the ability to occassionally go twice as far, highlighting his speed, Tails can fly over gaps, Knuckles can climb walls, and Amy can hit things with her hammer, each creating very specific shortcuts for each character allowing the tables to be turned in a variety of different ways.
03) Sonic Battle
Remember when I said that Sega didn't have to go so hard on the first entry? That seems to be the thing with a lot of Sonic spin-offs. It's the kind of thing you'd think a company would just be able to phone in, but the people making Sonic games can't seem to just do a genre without leaning hard into something. Just like Sonic Shuffle did the thing with character specific routes and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog did...well...everything, when tasked to make a fighting game for the Game Boy Advance they did A LOT.
First off, the art is fantastic, let's just get that out of the way. It is. It's amazing. But also, we need to talk about the fact that they, somehow, created a fighting game on the Game Boy Advance that not only moving on the X and Y axis, but the Z as well, running around a three dimensional environment and even being able to jump up on things. That's nuts.
But you see that robot in the screenshot? Sonic sure does. That's Emerl, a battle robot designed by an ancient civilization. What's cool about Emerl is, as you go through the story mode, you encounter the famous characters of the Sonic series and fight them. And, in something that Street Fighter 6 would later pretend they invented, as you encounter specific characters you learn to master their abilities which you can then equip into limited spots. You want a Piko Piko Hammer wielding powerhouse that can glide through the air like Knuckles? Sure. Spin dash like Sonic into an enemy and then use one of Rogue's stun attacks? Why not. But over time you turn this cute robot into an absolute powerhouse of your own making.
04) Sonic Spinball
Another game I played the hell out of back in the day, Sonic Spinball takes those casino stages in the platformers and wonders what would happen if Eggman went full Marvel's Arcade, and created a massive series of machines that would force Sonic to live in a pinball machine.
This game was massive too. Each "Pinball Machine" Sonic found himself in was a thing with multiple paths, rooms, puzzles, enemies, all of which was thwarted with pinball based mechanics. And each stage's "table" was so large that if recreated in real like you'd need an expansion on your game room.
It's also something that only makes sense for people who lived through the Genesis era, but it was also one of the most Sega Genesis sounding games ever. It leaned in very heavily to the Sega Genesis's exclusive FM synthesis sound chip to create a wild amount of metallic bizarre sounds that made it feel like it's own thing.
05) Sonic & All-Stars Racing
"But Eric!" you say, "Sonic just came out with Sonic Racing: Crossworlds so he already has a racing game you can talk about, also you're really handsome!" To which I say thank you and I get it.
But here's the thing that made the "All-Stars" series (of which there were two) while Crossworlds seems to most be Sonic characters with a season pass filled of Nintendo owned characters jumping ship and some other cool surprises like Persona 5 and Mega Man mixing in, "All-Stars" was for the big time Sega fanboys.
You didn't just have Sonic characters and stages. Characters from Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Skies of Arcadia, and more were in there. Not obscure enough? Okay, let's go, Clu-Clu Land, Alex Kidd, Samba de Amigo, and even the Bananza Brothers. They even made two zombie characters just to rep House of the Dead.
Okay, did it have weird additional characters later when it got on the computer and mobile? Sure, we don't NEED to talk about the fact it also added Wreck-It Ralph, Danica Patrick, the Team Fortress Gang, characters from the Total War series, a football manager from...Football Manager, and the fucking guy from the Yogscast, it was a dark time indeed. But still this game rocked.
Honorable Mention: Tail's Skypatrol
Listen, I get that he's named after a German war plane (which is wild) but I think it's important to remember that one of Tails' main adversaries from his spin-off series is a goofy ass character named Falke-wulf (which yes, is almost pronounced Fuck Wolf) and that alone gives this an honorable mention.
Also, as a person who often sees furries at video game and comic conventions, is there a reason none of you have taken this on as a fursona? Like, come on.