Sega admits Sonic is falling

[Yoder]

They're not saying it's failing. They just recognize hat many of their recent games haven't been that great. Unleashed should fix this. I'm not commenting any more on Black Knight until we can actually get some definitive information (interview, press release, video clips, etc...) on it.

EDIT: Having just downloaded Sonic 1 (Master System Version) and played through Sonic Jam's (Saturn) compilation, I agree that Sonic was only fast during the relatively scripted parts (Sonic 3's zones in particular come to mind).