Let's talk about Sonic

[shrekfan246]

Looking back, I do remember spending a pretty long time in Rouge's last level in the Dark Story and getting pretty frustrated. :/

And I guess I can see why one would believe the Tails/Robotnik levels would be out of place in a Sonic game.

I still think it's a good game, overall, because I'd really only call the treasure hunting expressly bad, but going through the story to unlock the stages for free-play is a massive pain because of the way they pace the different stages (and the fact that Shadow only has four stages, and Sonic only has something like four or five).

And then trying to get all 180 emblems and full A-ranks if you want to unlock Green Hill means you'll be spending a loooooooot of time doing those treasure hunting missions... that's for crazy completionists, though.

I've heard about this Green Hill level in SA2, but I never really went out of my way to fully complete the game in order to get it. All I usually did was either spend time in the Chao garden or constantly replay certain levels just for the hell of it.

Yeah, I spent an inordinate amount of time playing in the Chao Garden and through Sonic/Shadow levels. Even ten-year old me thought something was off about the Knuckles/Rouge levels. XD

I believe I ended up A-ranking all five of the missions on every Sonic/Shadow level before I stopped playing the game, though. I could finish all of the missions for the other stages, but not with the best ranking, so I never got to play through Green Hill either.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Modern Sonic vs. Classic Sonic, and the pros and cons thereof.
Honestly, I prefer the more "DreamCast Sonic" style. 3D platforming with exploration and a good sense of pacing. It could use more physics, like the classic games, though. I can't say the more recent titles have been making much use of these things.

Which Sonic games have gotten a far worse reputation than they deserve.
I actually really enjoyed Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog. Yes, the latter has a convoluted story (not because of the good and evil mechanics), it's a bit clunky, and the developers somehow got the idea that you have to change the entire universe just because the protagonist is different. I still had fun, though.

Which characters in the Sonic series actually deserve to exist, and you would like to see more of in future Sonic games.
We've still never heard Marine speak, yet. In fact, I'd love to see some sort of game in the series that focuses on that world without Sonic himself in it at all. A game with Blaze and Marine. That'd be pretty cool. I think some people seem to like the idea of a Silver sandbox game, as well. Also, there was a cancelled character from Sonic X-Treme named Tiara the Manx, who we never really got to know anything about. And Honey the Cat is being official implemented into a rerelease of Sonic Championship (AKA, "Sonic the Fighters"). Can we see more of this character, as well?

The Sonic fanbase, and how their opinions differ from, say, yours.
Sonic '06 was the best mainstream Sonic game of its console generation. Don't get me wrong! It deserves to be on the Hall of Shame, and used in videogame design classes as the definitive bad game to show what to avoid. But the thing is, I actually find Unleashed, Colors, Generations, and 4 to be far worse. There's just a lot less to talk about in those titles.

When I found out what Sonic '06 truly was, I thought they hit rock-bottom. Then Unleashed came along, setting the standard for future games, and sent the series burrowing underground. It was at this point that I actually started to notice things that were actually good about Sonic '06. Or at least, compared to what we've been getting more recently.

At least the developers actually tried.
At least you can actually control Sonic without wrestling to make him turn around.
At least you have wide open levels, rather than metaphorical train tracks.
At least you can play as multiple characters.
At least they gave it an elite visual style.
At least there was a story that you couldn't predict the ending of before you started playing.
At least there wasn't a convoluted gimmick.
At least there were still monitors that gave you power-ups.
At least there was some light tactics to defeating enemies.
At least there was some proper platforming.
At least you could differentiate between the levels beyond what their theme was.
At least there was a sense of pace.
At least there were some interesting set pieces.
At least everything wasn't abundantly cheerful and happy-go-lucky.
At least the humans didn't look like childscribblets.
At least there were no quick-time events.
At least Sonic's gameplay wasn't centrally-focused on going really, really fast, and actually had you doing other things.
At least you had to control your character virtually all the way through, rather than constantly watching the game play itself.

Speed is not the most important dynamic of a Sonic game. Platforming, exploration, and pacing are all more important. You are capable of going fast, but there needs to be other things for you to do, as well. Speed should come with skill; as a reward. It shouldn't be something you can pull off for long periods of time with no effort.

 

[EHKOS]

2-Sonic 06 is the worst piece of shit ever and I'm loving game grumps playthrough of it

As am I, although I saw it on the shelf of a local second-hand game store and....I actually kinda like it. Of course it's terrible but I could control it better than the grumps can, and I ran into far less glitches.

 

[TehCookie]

A: Sanic is the best sonic, he's the fastest.
B: Not many people heard of Sanic the Gaem, and it's a completely underrated title. Sonic and Knuckles with Sonic 3 is still my favorite, but that comes close. If you've never heard of it here's some of the gameplay:
C: I haven't played that many so the only characters I know are Sonic, Knuckles, Tails nad Shadow, but Shadow is 2edgy4me. Espeically When his theme music is Likin Park in the game.
D: They scare me.

 

[Byte2222]

A: Modern Sonic (see below)

B: For anyone, I'll wager it's "the game they entered the series with" as long as it's post 16-bit. From my observations where a fan joined the series really affects their views on Sonic's past, present and future. My join-point was Sonic Heroes but I also want to give the SD (Wii, PS2) version of Unleashed a mention, as well as Chronicles for giving us some half-decent writing and Sonic and the Black Knight (wait, don't punch me!) for successfully integrating Shadow, Knuckles and Blaze into gameplay (I'm not saying the gameplay was good, just that extra characters were inserted successfully).

C: I've been a fan of Blaze since Rush (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and would love to see more of her. I really think that the Sonic cast is not inherently bad, they've just not received the right sort of attention/good writing since some point in the Adventure games. A good example of this is Generations: most characters get all of 2 lines and end up a hideously exaggerated and shallow caricatures of themselves as a result. Again, due to coming in at Heroes, I kinda like E-123 Omega but also the insanity of how he and Shadow are supposedly best friends.

D: Due to my previously stated belief of how fans have their opinion coloured by their series entry-point, I see a split and divided Sonic fandom. Some really like where Colours and Generations are taking us, some just want a Sonic Adventure 3 (fun fact: Sonic '06 was originally going to be called Sonic Adventure 3) and some refuse to acknowledge any 3D title as not shit. With this in mind, I can probably find someone in the fandom who vehemently disagrees with every opinion I have about the Sonic series, especially the things I've put in this post.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

A. Either is fine, but I prefer both of them in 2D with good platforming. 3D isn't Sonic's strength, only really working when you're pretty much on rails (like in Unleashed day stages, Colors and Generations).

B. Pretty much all the Sonic games with a bad reputation, deserve that reputation. Especially the pre-Colors 3D Sonics (and yes, that includes both Adventure games). Having only played all of them for the first time this console generation, I can safely say they all have some major problems, mostly involving controls and level design. Shadow The Hedgehog and Sonic '06 have the worst of it tho, the first for not feeling like a Sonic game, the latter for being the unfinished mess of a game it is.

C. Tails (sidekick), Knuckles (rival), Eggman (villain), Metal Sonic (evil doppelganger) and maybe Amy as damsel in distress. All you need really.

D. Don't care about the fanbase. Let them do and say whatever they want.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

A: Modern Sonic vs. Classic Sonic, and the pros and cons thereof.
B: Which Sonic games have gotten a far worse reputation than they deserve.
C: Which characters in the Sonic series actually deserve to exist, and you would like to see more of in future Sonic games.
D: The Sonic fanbase, and how their opinions differ from, say, yours.

A: Im just gonna come out and say i played sonic 1 and 2 on the dreamcast and then sonic heros/sonic advance on the gamcube and GBA respectively. Ive seen sonic 06 being played.

Classic sonic (Which in gonna lump together 1,2 and advance in) is fucking awesome. The platforming is tight and well planned with secret areas and crazy level designs possible without me getting totally lost. Good games. Good gameplay. Good theming. And best of all. Best of fucking all. Sonic. Stays. Silent. My BIGGEST hatred of the sonic fandom is sonics voice, personality and actions that i dont control. If sonic speaks in a sonic game its dismal as a rule, maybe with an exception or two. Every line feels corny and full to the brim with "badditude" but "Stay in school kids!" style 80's "dont do drug kids" overtones. Its as cringe worthy and uncomfortable as watching "Brad" skateboard awkwardly around and say how shit drugs are as well as describe stuff as "Radical" and "Hip hop" in a forced way with absolutely ZERO sincerity. I just feel weird and awkward. Similarly Sonic tries SO HARD. SO. DAMN. HARD. To be cool that i find him utterly repulsive and dis-likable. Im sorry Sonic fandom. I just hate sonic with every fibre of my being. I hate him. Utterly. He never says or does a single thing i find to be relatable or normal or a desperate grab for "coolness". Dont get me wrong in terms of gameplay the 3D ones had a lot to offer. I liked the different level designs in sonic heros. I just hated the feel and attitude of the game and almost every character.

B: None to be honest. Generations looks awesome, i actually cant wait to play it.

C: Sonic, Tails, Eggman and knuckles. Maybe Amy. Although her personality and writing are god awful as well, maybe with a re write. Its like sonic was written by a sexually repressed generally disliked 14 year old as a power fantasy. Too cool for school with a crazy girl desiring him always that hes too cool to want back.

D: The fandom scare me. I mean heres a test. Type "Insert fandom here" fan character into google. All will be lame for all fandoms. Sonic however takes the cake for terrible character design. I welcome a challenge to find one thats worse. Also the inflate thing.... wtf was up with that. Yeah you remember that thread. Damn right you do.

 

[TrevHead]

Old medagrive gamer here so I have a large affinity with the originals, the DC era just plain sucked they seem like alpha builds to the one great 3D sonic, Sonic Generations.

Old vs new. I like 16bit sonic and 3D sonic as much as each other as they are both unique games. Although 2.5D Sonic in Generations is OK it does need work doing to it. 1) slow down the running speed a little bit 2) tighten up the momentum mechanics so I don't shoot off backwards while rolling in a corkscrew, some jumps are too hit and miss like the first high route jump in the first stage, where you have to jump on 2 crabs and a fly to make the ledge, also some loops require me to stop and dash to get up enough speed to traverse them.

3D Sonic in Sonic Generations is a work of genious and is on par with modern Mario. Sega really need to stop messing around with Sonic 4 and make more Generations games, releasing it on the WiiU would help too.

B) Some of the spin off games were alright


C) I think keeping the Mega Drive characters and getting rid of the rest is for the best.

D) The fanbase is a mess, but thats to be expected given how hit and miss the games are and many ppl liking the bad to mediocre games because they played them as a kid and have a nostalgic attachment to them.

I suppose most fans have seen this vid, but it might interest those who havent