>>723037294
Unleashed was after 06 though. 06 is what killed the idea of Sonic being a top tier franchise, and media latched onto that because it's an easy talking point. The series quality has varied wildly since then.
Sonic benefited from having an incredibly strong start out of the gate with 1,2, and 3&K. Then it further benefited in reputation but NOT profit by games like CD, R plus Adventure 1 and 2 being on rarer platforms and looking impressive, which helped the series maintain its pedigree even as it became less of a priority for Sega. Adventure 2 being polished for the Battle version when released on the Gamecube was another huge boon.
But 06 was when that pedigree went away because it was released to a broad audience and all the neglect that had built up was exposed to everyone. Sonic's reputation at the time was still high enough that 06 sold well and was an Xbox Platinum hit, but that was basically cashing in on all the good will the series had built up and it couldn't get that back.
