Spin-off kings

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic's not really been as prolific as Mario, at least not outside of his main series of games. He's usually just reappeared in a new platform game again and again. But his occasional ventures into other territories haven't (for the most part) been disastrous. There was Sonic Drift on Game Gear, which blatantly copied Mario Kart, but didn't quite have the graphical capability to challenge it. Then there was Sonic Spinball - a pinball game for Mega Drive which let you control the ball (Sonic) while it was pinging around. GBA's Sonic Pinball Party, however, was a straight pinball game. But it worked well.

Sega Saturn had Sonic R, which was actually a very fun game (remember the balloon hunt and the joy of hitting a speed boost with 50 rings?) and Sonic Riders was alright once you got the hang of it. Er... anyone else noticing a theme here?

Above: Once you think about it, Sonic's had more spin-offs than it first appears. No pun intended

It wasn't all racing, though. There was Sonic the Fighters in the arcades which also found its way onto the Sonic Gems collection a couple of years ago. Then there was the incredibly crap Sonic Shuffle on Dreamcast - a sort of Mario Party clone without any fun in it whatsoever. The ill-fated 32X Mega Drive add-on was home to Chaotix, which was an outing for Knuckles and friends. That featured a strange character linking gameplay element which makes it different enough from Sonic's regular 2D games to be included here. Well, that and the fact Sonic wasn't in it.

Also taking the limelight away from the hog, Tails' Skypatrol on Game Gear was decent enough. But we still haven't forgiven Sonic Team for giving us Shadow the Hedgehog. Bad. Bringing the quality back up, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is almost an identical clone of Puyo Pop, but still utterly engaging. Finally, there's Sonic Battle on GBA, which was a beat-em-up of sorts. L ooking ahead, BioWare is making a Sonic RPG, which is a tasty prospect considering they made Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

When you consider all the above games, Sonic's got an impressive collection of side-projects. But not as impressive as the next guy's...

Above: Once you think about it, Sonic's had more spin-offs than it first appears. No pun intended

It wasn't all racing, though. There was Sonic the Fighters in the arcades which also found its way onto the Sonic Gems collection a couple of years ago. Then there was the incredibly crap Sonic Shuffle on Dreamcast - a sort of Mario Party clone without any fun in it whatsoever. The ill-fated 32X Mega Drive add-on was home to Chaotix, which was an outing for Knuckles and friends. That featured a strange character linking gameplay element which makes it different enough from Sonic's regular 2D games to be included here. Well, that and the fact Sonic wasn't in it.

Also taking the limelight away from the hog, Tails' Skypatrol on Game Gear was decent enough. But we still haven't forgiven Sonic Team for giving us Shadow the Hedgehog. Bad. Bringing the quality back up, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is almost an identical clone of Puyo Pop, but still utterly engaging. Finally,there's Sonic Battle on GBA, which was a beat-em-up of sorts. L ooking ahead, BioWare is making a Sonic RPG, which is a tasty prospect considering they made Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

When you consider all the abovegames, Sonic's got an impressive collection of side-projects. But not as impressive as the next guy's...