So last year we decided to look at the sites top articles of 2015, and this year is no different!
Throughout the year our site monitors and keeps tracks of various statistics and we’re able to run various reports based on that data. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what were the top 15 news/articles of 2015 on TSS according to total views, I have discounted individual images or hub pages like the Home page.
The date period is 31/12/15 – 31/12/16.
Lets go!
Number 15
Sonic Mania Announced:- DOP: 23rd July 2016
- Total Views: 7,008
I’m honestly surprised that this is so low on the list, however it’s probably because it came during the night of a thousand announcements and when you have to compete with Dancing Sonic and #Totino’s it was always going to be a tough battle for clicks.
Number 14
- Sonic Boom Season 2 Announced
- DOP: 10th Oct 2015
- Total Views: 7,140
Well here is our first big surprise! Sonic Boom Season 2 was an article written in October 2015, yet between December 31st 2015 and today it had more hits than Sonic Mania did! What say you now BooMoaners?
Fun fact, this was number 15 on last years list.
Number 13
- First Look at Sonic: Mega Drive #1 Reveals Sequel
- DOP: 9th June 2016
- Total Views: 7,472
First bit of Archie news makes the list, and a well deserved one, Sonic: Mega Drive is one of the best Sonic comics in years, surprising fans of the series and bringing back fans who had left the comic book, beautifully drawn and brilliantly funny.
Number 12
- Sega Confirms New Sonic Project is Coming in 2017
- DOP: 25th June 2016
- Total Views: 7,523
You know in Toy Story, when they’re around the baby monitor and Rex yells ‘It’s a what!? What is it!?’ that best summarises the reaction to this news. Coming from Japan with dodgy fan translations all over the internet, nobody really knew what had happened until several hours later.
But our first clue at a big new Sonic game, of course we got excited.
Number 11
- Yes Even More Sonic 25th Anniversary Details Posted
- DOP: 4th May 2016
- Total Views: 8,310
There was a time when 25th Anniversary news was popping up on a near daily level, many places reported that Sega had big plans for large scale events and parties, oddly, despite some of this news coming direct from Sega themselves, some of these events never materialised.
Number 10
- Sonic the Hedgehog Confirmed for Lego Dimensions
- DOP: 9th June 2016
- Total Views: 8,340
We were one of the first places to break this rumour, and not only did it turn out to be true, but it ended up being one of the best Sonic games in years. Sonic in Lego Dimensions ended up being a fantastic game and has already had fans chanting for an official Sonic Lego kit to be made. One for 2017’s Christmas List I think.
Number 9
- Sonic Utopia’s Secret Sage Reveal
- DOP: 23rd October 2016
- Total Views: 9,975
The end of 2016 saw a bunch of surprise fan projects, but the one which makes our list is Sonic Utopia, a fun little ‘what if’ kind of fan game, not perfect, but a great effort and kept a large number of you entertained for several hours.
Not tried it yet? Go give it a bash.
Number 8
- Unreleased Sonic Game SegaSonic Bros Found!
- DOP: 4th February 2016
- Total Views: 11,696
One of the biggest surprises of 2016 was the discovery of an unknown arcade game SegaSonic Bros. a puzzle based game in which you line up coloured blocks. Starring Sonic, Ketchup and Mustard the Hedgehog, hey if we get official names, I’ll gladly stop calling them that.
Number 7
- Project Sonic 2017 Announced
- DOP: 23rd July 2016
- Total Views: 11,964
It’s really not surprising this one got as high as it did, I’d be quite surprised if it didn’t make it on next years list? Why? Well for one thing people usually search for ‘Sonic *insert year here*’ when trying to find news on stuff, so the fact this has Sonic 2017 in it means it’s going to be high on the list.
So anyway, the odd announcement from the end of the big party in America was Sonic Project 2017, which has a lot of fans going ‘erm… I’m not sure how to feel’. Well we’ll soon know how to feel as there is expected to be an information blowout of the game following Mania’s release next year.
Number 6
- 2016 to have Several New Sonic Games
- DOP: 11th January 2016
- Total Views: 12,596
One of the first articles of the year, and what an article it was, another one of those weird interviews which promised a lot of stuff but didn’t quite deliver what was said, news of several new Sonic games which ended up being announcements if you don’t count Lego Dimensions.
Number 5
- Sonic Runners Shutting Down Next Month
- DOP: 27th May 2016
- Total Views: 12,844
Sonic Runners should go down as a case study for mobile game developers as an incredible example of how a game died barely a year after it’s global release.
Sonic Runners soft launch was met with near universal acclaim, however following it’s worldwide launch players suddenly found their ability to progress restricted, banned for getting legitimate high scores, micro-transactions forced on them as well as more seriously sending hundreds of contact requests to advert providers and filling up device memory when players of the game discovered that the game was not deleting old data.
Sonic Runners, Not OK.
Number 4:
- Sega: Project Sonic 2017 Will Introduce a new Character and Gameplay Component
- DOP: 28th October 2016
- Total Views: 14,430
Is anyone really surprised this article is up here? News of a new character and the keyword ‘Sonic 2017’ will get people coming. Expect a lot articles from all over the Sonic community next year as sources claim things and news gradually leaks out.
Number 3
- Lots of Unseen Concept Art of Sonic And Company
- DOP: 25th June 2016
- Total Views: 15,511
Sega’s fan event in Japan earlier this year saw not only the announcement of Sonic Project 2017, but also the reveal of a ton of concept art for Sonic and friends. Some of the designs different greatly to the final version, such as Shadow being blind in one eye and Cream being a completely different species.
Number 2
- Sega & GlamGlow to Launch A Sonic Themed Face Mask
- DOP: 29th April 2016
- Total Views: 16,867
This news beat out Sonic Mania, it beat Sonic 2017 and Lego Dimensions news, think about that for just a moment.
It’s really… not that much of a surprise. The fact that GlamGlow is mentioned in the article is the reason why this article did as well as it did, see a lot of fans of beauty products search for limited products so it’s really no surprise that this article did as well as it this year, add onto that Sonic Merch Collectors, not that hard to see why it scored as high as it did.
The only really sad part about this is that Sega didn’t really announce this, it was discovered accidentally by fans and instantly put into the hands of ‘Instagram celebs’ who barely talked about it, if only they had made the product obtainable to the general public.
Number 1:
- Sega Reveals New 25th Anniversary Details
- DOP: 11th January 2016
- Total Views: 31,512
11 days into the year, that’s all it took for the first major 25th Anniversary news to break, the fact that this is our most viewed article of 2016 is proof enough that the thirst was real.
Hinting at new style guides, huge branded events and a major celebration, it was the first hint that Sega would be taking the 25th anniversary seriously and had big plans for it.
Honourable Mention: BIG NEWS
April 1st 2016 saw the return of Big News! Big the Cat took over the TSS main page as well as the Twitter and Facebook accounts, posting informative articles such as the best games which feature fish and a review of Bigs Big Fishing Adventure 3 Well… Big News’ central hub was actually number 16 on the list. But because it got taken down shortly after April 1st, it hasn’t had the pleasure of a whole years worth of exposure, odds are if it had remained accessible it would have been in the top 15.
The lesson here, never underestimate Big the Cat.
See you in 2017.
