Sonic Heroes

Video Games and facial hair have long had a close bond, be it the soul patch on the Prince of Persia, Gordon Freeman’s goatee, or the five o'clock shadow on every single character made with the Unreal 3 Engine. But while most games have people (mostly men) with some bit of hair growing beneath the nose but above the mouth, there are too few with just a mustache adding character to their faces.

At first, he was a blue hedgehog sprite with feet that blurred because he ran so fast. But that was 18 years ago (yeah, where's the time gone?) and he's been redrawn over and over again to fit new technology. In fact, unbelievably, Sonic the Hedgehog has appeared on our screens in some 50 guises. Don't believe us? Take a look in here!

You know that heartwarming sensation you get while remembering games of yesteryear? The one that makes you ponder, "Why aren't games this good nowadays?" It's a lie. It's a childhood veil that, once lifted, exposes how shitty some of your favorite games were all along. They didn't just sour with age - they were never that fun, you just put up with them because there was no better alternative.

Metroid, for example, is fairly crap by

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 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

Admit it - you’ve thought about choking quite a few videogame characters to death. Whether it’s an annoying sidekick or a particularly tough boss, there’s no denying that the urge to bust somebody in the mush hasn’t seized you. There are a lot of deserving punks we could put into this article - but the most aggravating offenses come from the cutest characters. Those fluffy types just there to make a game more

This is really weird, so brace yourself. Many years ago, while toiling away in the Toys "R" Us salt mines, I was in charge of the electronics department. This included the glut of cheapo PC software the company carries, from seven-year-old games that will never sell to brand new, hardware-crunching titles that no one shopping in that store could ever install. The amount of unsold software was so choking that some

Oh, Sonic. What's happened to you? It's no small secret that Sega's once-dominant mascot has slipped over the years, with awful games making things worse by the month. But worldwide love is still strong, and each time there's a new platformer announced we shuffle in line like a bunch of nice devoted fanboys and pray, deep down, that this will be the Sonic game that doesn't suck.