is anyone a bit sad about how downhill Sonic the Hedgehog has been? I've been there since the first game and am begining to feel like they aren't trying. do you think they should just end it before it gets worse?

yes, no, or maybe

Certainly not. The Sonic franchise is slowly returning to glory, or have you not played Sonic Generations yet? They're heading the right direction now and just have to do so with original ideas, since Generations is a prime example of playing it safe.
So, personally, I'd say the series has never really been terrible. The worst games in the franchise are (Excluding the Tails spin-offs. These are mostly from others opinions) Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic R (my favorite racing game -_-"), Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). And none of them are really bad games. 3D Blast is different and awkward to control, but still good, Labyrinth's only complaint is "Sonic is supposed to be fast and he's not", which any smart person would know wasn't the point anyway, and thus it's not a valid complaint, Sonic R is awesome, but the controls are stiff unless your moving at top speed, Shadow the Hedgehog wasn't the greatest thing ever, but I wouldn't call it bad in any sense, and Sonic 06 would have been really good if the programmers spent more time de-bugging and the writers revised the script, but 06 is still entertaining to some.
The real thing that should quit are the fans that won't stop bitching about every last little detail that's not exactly like the classic games ("Green eyes?! RUINED FOREVER!"). Fans that bitch about how they feel the series has been going downhill since Sonic 3 & Knuckles are the exact reason why I'd rather be around most Yaoi fangirls than Sonic fans as a whole, and I'm not really being too cruel with that opinion, either. Sonic the Hedgehog is my childhood hero, and I've always respected the Blue Blur's games, even when they're at their worst. It's my favorite franchise, and to this day, it's the only game series that always makes me smile as I start the game. Why would you dare even ponder shutting down something that makes a person who has no other reasons to ever smile otherwise do so? I know that's not really directed at me, but it feels like a shot right at my youth, so I apologize with how obviously cruel I've been in this, as I'm usually not so mean...

Oh, and because I forgot to do so in my last post...
"Every world has it's end. I know that's kinda sad, but... That's why we have to life to the fullest in the time we have. At least, that's what I figure." -Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic and the Black Knight (2009)

My discontent with the sonic series equates to the discontent with the newer generations of pokemon: that being, it is frivolous, misinformed, and conservative. People dislike it because it's new, and different, and they're breaking ground they've never had a chance to before. It really isn't bad, though I used to think it was.

I mean, the only real complaint I had was Sonic's change in personality in some games (Riders, for one), but even then it doesn't change much. The last sonic game I played was Sonic Adventure 2, because of this bias that I'm only getting over recently.

sonic has been washed up for ages sega even tried to kill sonic but theres such a love/hate with the series of games that it balanced out and hes going the same way as mario but i agreed witht the decline of what sonic was for me and what he is for my kids

>>5
When, exactly, did they try to kill him off?
And what direction, exactly, is Mario also going in?

>>6 he might be talking about sonic the hedgehog (2006)

cuz Mephilies went all shoop da woop and shot a laser through sonic's torso "supposedly" killing him

>>3 also, I tip my hat to you for using a quote from sonic to prove me wrong. very creative!

Not only Sonic, but also other grants like Megaman.

It's almost as if the gaming companies are trying to rid themselves of the icons that made them great in the first place.

>>9
*greats not grants,

Damn you phone autocorrect!

>>9 Dare I re-iterate my speech? >.>
I'm a Mega Man fan too, but his situation is pretty different from Sonic's. Sonic is still openly acknowledged by his company, where Mega Man is just being trolled left and right by Capcom. And no matter how much I want a new Mega Man game that's just as fantastic as the games I've found myself replaying again and again, I know there's going to be another fun and memorable Sonic title this November and that we just have to wait for E3 to find out about it, such has been the system for the 3 Modern Sonic games (Unleashed, Colours, Generations). Mega Man is low on health with only 1 life left and no E-Tanks. Sonic's still using his Continues like a true gamer and never touching them >.>

megaman is sadly replace by a average fat man that in no way live up to the megaman name and good old sonic is getting sadly old. SEGA is even more focus on other projects than some old game that no one buy anymore.