Ever since Sonic Unleashed was confirmed earlier this month we've been digging up all kinds of Sonic tidbits for you to chew on, from his rise and fall to the best moments the series has produced over the years. Today, in our last Sonic piece for April, we're diving into the cringe-worthy missteps Sonic has taken since his inception. The Rise/Fall article spelled out, in detail, how the franchise has slid since 1991, but this piece zooms out and hand-picks the worst of the worst. Even though they cause physical pain to witness, you can't bring yourself to look away.

Rather than beat around the bush and lead up to the main offender, we're just gonna lay it out there. Probably won't surprise anyone to see we chose 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog as the lowest point, and this video sums up exactly why:

Who thought having Sonic interact with, cuddle and kiss a human female was a good idea? Parts of that video are so bad we're embarrassed to even be in its presence, let alone playing it or, god forbid, programming it. How could no one stop this madness before it went to retail? The fact it exists means multiple people had to see, approve and usher it to the next level of development. For shame.

You know that feeling you get while watching Episode II, when Anakin and Padme are "frolicking" in the field and it's so stiff, wooden and artificial that you feel ashamed to even be watching? Yeah, same thing here, only now it's a huge-headed hedgehog playing with a fairly hot human princess. Never mind his spikes, his huge Disney hands or the fact that he's a hedgehog, she likes him for him. True love has never been so disgusting.

Meanwhile, the game's a piece of junk, even without the conceptually challenged story.