Has Mario Kart lost its style?

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And eight other games missing their early magic

Sonic the Hedgehog
We've said this before, but Sonic's never been the same since his enemies were changed from robots based on creatures in nature into just plain old robots. But it goes deeper than that. The game just hasn't had its original art style since Sonic 2 from 1992. Ever since his sprite got 'mean', he's not been the same.

But what else is wrong? Well, Sonic should work alone. The stages should be big, slightly dark and mysterious in tone and never set in a human world. There should be air bubbles in water and big, stylised trees and flowers, with stone temples and pinball bumpers too.

And what about the magic of collecting gold rings? We can remember the feeling of awe as we first saw these collectables silently rotating in the air, leaving sparkles as Sonic collected them. Where's that feeling of magic now? Sonic games seem to have rings because... well, Sonic collects rings. Chuck 'em in and add the sound effect. That'll do.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.