There are certain things in life that nobody questions. Tell someone you like pizza, and you’ll likely get little more than an approving nod. You’ll find that other things invite questions from everyone – so for full disclosure, I do like Marilyn Manson unironically, I know that pro wrestling matches are predetermined, and I still like Sonic The Hedgehog.

“But haven’t Sonic games been really terrible for the last 15 years? And aren’t the fans, you know, kind of crazy?”

Well, it’s fair to say that Sonic has had his share off duff outings in modern times, and my fellow fans are certainly an… interesting bunch. There are crazy apologists who think that Sonic The Hedgehog (that 2006 one for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) was salvageable, and that Sonic Boom on the Wii U is fine. I’m not one of them. However, to ignore every modern Sonic game is to miss out on some fun stuff – Sonic Colours is a very good Wii U platformer, Sonic Generations is an excellent nostalgia trip and Sumo Digital’s spin-offs (Sega Superstars Tennis, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed) have all been very enjoyable.

Besides, the thing with Sonic is that there’s always the promise of something brilliant bubbling under all the problems. I played through Sonic Lost World following its recent PC release and while it wasn’t a great game (I gave it 6/10), there were moments of exhilaration where the movement was constant, the cartoonish look was perfect and everything just seemed to fit into place.

But really, I still love Sonic because Sonic is a part of my childhood. I’ve beaten Green Hill Zone Act 1 in less than 40 seconds blindfolded. That ring sound still catches my attention in an almost Pavlovian way. I still remember details of comics from 20 years ago. And truthfully, Mario just always felt a little bit too slow. So I’ll always be watching, waiting and hoping for the next classic Sonic game – no matter how many times I get disappointed.