Current Events > never finished a 2D sonic game, which one should I play?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I hate on them a lot here but I've never actually played one through start to finish. I've played pieces of 2 and 3 though. Decided I should actually complete one so I can have a better idea what I'm talking about but I don't know which ones are usually considered better/worse

Oh and don't suggest mania, I'm saving that for after I finish one of the older ones in case I like it enough to want to compare the two.
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Sonic 1, it has the best soundtrack
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2

I should have made this a poll <_<

I guess I'll just count up votes manually later unless anyone gives particularly good reasoning for any of them
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Sonic 1 and Sonic CD suffer from poor level design. Not bad games, but you'll find yourself angry at how little they thought about what they were creating.

If you want to enjoy yourself, go with Sonic 2 or 3. And if it's Sonic 3, look up a guide when you get to that carnival zone or whatever. Trust me.
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If you wanted to see the sort of most...evolved and largest collection of content in a single playthrough, you'd want to go with Sonic's playthrough in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

A lot of people do consider that the best as well but with Sonic games, so much of the appeal comes from the different vibes each zone has, and its music, that personal preferences can easily be stronger, so it's really hard to say which you'd like the most.

Still, the games did have technological/design improvements with the newer ones, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles is basically two games, but it's actually one seamless, cohesive playthrough and has a surprisingly climatic finale for a platformer. So it might be said that it'd cast the widest net for you to present things you like. Whereas if you played Sonic 1, there's 6 zones. While each has 3 acts, still, it's a lot smaller than Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
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Bump

Leaning toward sonic 3 & knuckles atm
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S3&K is the best of all the 2D Sonics. Sonic 2 is debatable but S3&K wins for it being my first ever Sonic game. (Played Sonic 3 Collection on PC as a kid.)
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Sonic 1 and CD are odd games I wouldn't recommend beginners to play.
A lot of people recommend Sonic 2, but Sonic 2 has a few areas of questionable design.

I'd recommend Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

If you want platforming, go Sonic 1.
If you want speed, go Sonic 2.
If you want exploration, go Sonic CD.
If you want a good mixture of all three elements, go Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

In addition, if you want to play Sonic 1/2/CD, play the mobile ports. Mobile Sonic controls are actually really nice once you get used to them, and the mobile ports have much more content than the original games, with saving and all 3 characters (bar CD which only has Sonic and Tails).
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