Sonic the Hedgehog has been that the variant gameplay styles found in recent 3D games have strayed from the formula of the original series. Specifically, the series' jump to 3D has been noted as a declining point. In late 2010, Sega delisted several below-average "Sonic" games, such as the notoriously disliked 2006 game "Sonic the Hedgehog", to increase the value of the "Sonic" brand after positive reviews for the games "" and "Sonic Colors". Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game franchise produced by Sega centering on a series of high-speed platform games. Sonic, the protagonist, is an anthropomorphic blue
Sonic the Hedgehog forms, or both. The methods used to acquire the Emeralds and the end-results after collecting them differ between games in the series. Most early games require the player to find the emeralds in Special Stages, while some modern games implement the emeralds as a plot element. In certain games, such as "Sonic R" and the 8-bit versions of "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", the player is required to find the Chaos Emeralds within the zones themselves. The Master Emerald was introduced in "Sonic & Knuckles" as a plot element. It resides in a shrine on Angel Island