There's a running gag in the gaming world that we'd all like to forget some of the more terrible Sonic the Hedgehog titles, but Sega is aiming to turn the joke into reality.  The company has plans to discontinue various Sonic titles that have received less than stellar reviews, thereby removing them from store shelves and preventing them from dragging down the brand.  Kotaku has the news.

Jurgen Post, Sega senior VP of Euroep, Middle East and Africa, tells MCV that the publisher-developer has "de-listed" any Sonic the Hedgehog game "with an average Metacritic" score. Potentially, that means coolly received Sonic games like Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Riders.

"We could make a lot of money on back-catalog Sonic titles," Post says, "but let's keep the number of Sonic games available under control. Otherwise you can have cannibalisation. If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy."

So Sega is wiping away every Sonic game since 1999?  But seriously, while the hedgehog isn't near the critical darling that he was fifteen years or so ago, he's been making a few worthwhile appearances here and there.  Sonic Rush was pretty good as far as these things go, while the daytime portions of Sonic Unleashed were worthwhile.  Meanwhile, the Sonic storybook series for Nintendo Wii and a handful of other titles aren't exactly on anyone's in-demand list.  Farewell, subpar Sonic games.  Maybe Sega is finally getting the franchise back on track.  After all, admitting that one has a problem is the first step towards recovery.