16. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
The Sonic Boom sub-franchise brought us a pretty good animated series, but the Wii U-exclusive Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric remains one of the worst games in the series’ long history. While it may not be as memed to hell and back as the next game on this list, Rise of Lyric deviates so drastically from the speed-driven platforming of the Sonic franchise that it loses a lot of the series’ identity. Instead, it’s pretty much a beat-em-up that occasionally lets Sonic and friends run fast. Its 2D segments feel more evocative of classic Sonic games, but even these are built around momentum-killing puzzles between bursts of adrenaline. Even when Sonic games are at their worst, they’re rarely this generic and devoid of why people like these games. At the very least, it has some of the Boom series’ decent comedic writing, but that’s about all it can claim.
