Every Sonic The Hedgehog game ever and in what order to play them

Sonic Frontiers’ launch has brought with it the rise of plenty of fans, both old and new, that keep wondering how many games does the Hedgehog have and in what order should they play them all.

Well we have some good news and some bad news for all of them. Good news: the order isn’t really important to enjoy the series. There’s no interconnected narrative since story was always almost hidden or secondary in favor of the gameplay. From the controls, sense of speed and gameplay feel to the music and style of each title. The bad news: there’s a ton of entries in this series, so you’re going to need a lot of time to play them all,

Coming up next we’ll try and help you organize and classify each and every one of the games so you can have an easier time deciding what to play first. So don’t be scared, just jump in as you best prefer. It’s worth it to enjoy one of gaming’s biggest franchises, after all.

Every single Sonic The Hedgehog 2D game, by release date

We begin with the games that made Sonic a big deal, the sidescrollers. These are all of the 2D Sonic titles by release date:

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Every single Sonic The Hedgehog 3D game, by release date

We continue with some of the most polarizing, yet loved titles in the franchise. While receptions were mixed, the 3D games have always pushed for new experiences with the character and are beloved by fans, even if they’re not the most technically accomplished. Sonic Frontiers is the latest title of this kind:

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Every single Sonic The Hedgehog racing game, by release date

Much less known (but still plentiful) are all of the spin-offs and side games that feature Sonic and friends making use of their speed to race each other. Sometimes on foot using his extreme speed, sometimes inexplicably driving actual cars.

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Main Sonic The Hedgehog “classic” games

If you just want to enjoy the main titles in the series, then it gets a little muddy. Depending on what side of the fandom you land, there is a “canon” storyline that can be applied to every single game. Others see different timelines, sometimes guided by the many animated series’ that have been produced throughout the years.

If you want to keep it simple, we recommend going for the classic series, comprised mostly by the earliest 2D titles in the franchise:

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Main Sonic The Hedgehog modern games

Then again, if you prefer the 3D games, you can try the following order:

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Every spin-off and arcade game, by release date

Playing any of these games is going to be an impossible challenge, given the fact that most of these were released as actual physical arcade cabinets that have since disappeared. Nevertheless, here’s a list of every official spin-off game:

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Every Sonic the Hedgehog collection, by release date

And to close off this list of lists, here’s every single collection of Sonic games that has been released. While these don’t include every game in the series, it’s still a great way to play a lot of the games.

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