Sonic Lost World Review - Beauty Is Only Quill Deep

[K_Dub]

Welp my heart is broken! Guess I'll just go back to playing Sonic Generations!

 

[Covarr]

Sonic Lost World is not the triumphant return to wonder, grace, and awesome innovative play that some had hoped.

I wasn't hoping for a triumphant return to anything. Honestly, I would've been happy with a retread of the Modern Sonic portions of Sonic Generations. Throw in some new levels, call it a day. After they'd finally gotten a style of gameplay nearly perfect, I just can't see why they'd throw it away and try to do something different.

P.S. Thanks

 

[The White Hunter]

I thought after Generations got such good reviews and everyone basically loved it we would have got more of that style

Oh well.

Colours too did really well all round, I don't know what possessed them to change it :/

 

[Madman123456]

A Sonic game? Really?
Well, what could we expect here? It's a Sonic game; if you know sonic at all, you know what you're getting and if you buy sonic games anyways it's your own fault.

 

[JonB]

Man, that's disappointing.

I thought Lost World actually looked good. It had cool ideas that felt like they'd really work in a Sonic game.

The Escapist Review is kinda melodramatic about it. It is by no means a "Great Game", but it is at the very least "Good". Jim Sterling's review is honestly the best review for the game that I have read so far. It isn't a game you would buy a Wii U for, however it is a game that you should buy if you enjoyed Sonic and already own a Wii U game. Good fun, but not a console seller.

To be honest, it is a 3.5/5 or a 6.75/7.50 out of 10 in terms of review numbers. Or in basic words: Above Average, below greatness.

I'd absolutely direct someone to Jim's review over at Destructoid for a contrasting opinion. He appears to have had a different experience from me, and praises the slow segments of the game. An excellent other take on the game.

I rated it a 2.5 because I consider it just below average for games right now. In a year with so many otherwise outstanding platformers - rayman legends, puppeteer - this is, frankly, just not a good enough game. Your assessment here - that it's "a game you should buy if you enjoyed sonic and already own a Wii U" - is absolutely spot on. That's what I said with my Recommendation in the review.

I thought after Generations got such good reviews and everyone basically loved it we would have got more of that style

Oh well.

Colours too did really well all round, I don't know what possessed them to change it :/

I can't really agree enough. They crafted a beautiful set of visuals, sound, and animation. This game is like taking flawless crystal decanter and filling it with mud from the cowfields.

 

[The_Darkness]

Spoiler: Spoilered to keep this post from being huge...

Oh. And get someone who can actually write a decent storyline. Like, the people who wrote Sonic Adventure 2, get them back.

Sonic adventure 2 was abysmally written... I'm sorry I do not mean to shit on anyone's nostalgia but come ON.

The adventure games trying to be increasingly 'edgy' is what led up to Shadow the Hedgehog and 06'.
These cartoony stories are fine. They're inoffensive, don't take over the game play, and aren't continuously trying to complete with actual rpgs for cheesy cliche 'drama'.

This is coming from someone who really loved Adventure 2. I'm serious, I A ranked nearly ALL of it. I raised a chao to maximum powar. It was the last game before the dark years I truly enjoyed. But the writing and the tone was just so darn lame. Like what 90's teens thought 'deep and edgy' was.

Honestly the story coulda worked if it wasn't a freakin' Sonic the Hedgehog game. He was the most out of place thing in that 'story', if not for the gameplay that made him relevant. And Shadow being another random bug eyed mutant hedgehog, which brings me to another annoying point about those games:

Humans in a Sonic game. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh. Could they maybe explain why 3 feet tall multi-coloured anthropomorphic animals running around doing things is NORMAL in this world. Or if not. Just... don't go there. Seriously. Suspension of disbelief is shattered when you start doing that and expect us to just swallow it.

I will defend the gameplay, and enjoy-ability of SA2 to my dying breath but just don't imply that a Sonic game has ever been 'well written'. It hasn't happened. And I'd rather they move forward and try something new-er than go back to that.

Hmm. Okay.
Since I'm expecting this to come down to a difference of opinion, and since I'm not expecting to change your opinion, I'm going to throw up the "Agree to disagree?" offer straight away.

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to defend my point of view. All the spirit of friendly debate, eh?

For the record - I haven't played "Shadow the Hedgehog" or "Sonic 2006". I've only played SA2 - I haven't even played SA1, since it wasn't available on Gamecube. I did play "Sonic Heroes", and that's what I'd consider a 'bad' Sonic storyline (although it did have some strong points - the final twist would have been good, if the intro-cinematic hadn't spoiled it...)
So I'm not taking "Shadow the Hedgehog" or "Sonic 2006" into consideration here. Even if they were bad games, that doesn't mean SA2 is bad by association...

On a thematic level, SA2 had a good contrast between Sonic and Shadow. Sonic's a laid-back, carefree character with a need for adventure and a strong sense of right and wrong, where Shadow has a strict sense of self-control and a need for vengeance. That actually spanned the entire cast - I could draw similar parallels and contrasts between Robotnik and Tails or Rouge and Knuckles. Heck, the two campaign modes contrasted - in one you're fighting to save the world, in the other you're fighting to conquer it!

That split storyline worked well too. You saw events from different perspectives, which allowed you to put together a bigger picture (OH, that's why the island is exploding...). That only worked because the events had been well plotted in order to let them fit together. SA2 is also the only Sonic game where I've fully understood why I'm in a location performing a level - if I'm battling ghosts in a pyramid, or searching for emeralds within a vault, or doing loop-the-loops in space, I know how that fits into the larger storyline. If you ask me what the teams were doing in a haunted house in Sonic Heroes, on the other hand, I have NO IDEA.

And in the finale, the themes of contrast met to become themes of co-operation. SA2's endgame was, in my opinion, quite frankly brilliant.

So.. yeah. That's what I liked about SA2.

Sidenote:
Your point about humans in a Sonic game - haven't they always been there? As I recall, the very first boss of the very first level of the very first Sonic game was a human. Dr Robotnik with a flying wrecking ball. Unless we assume that Dr Robotnik sprung into existence from nowhere, and single-handedly invented technology, humans must have been in the background somewhere. The Adventure games just had them visible, and that doesn't bother me.

 

[Charli]

Spoiler: Spoilered to keep this post from being huge...

Oh. And get someone who can actually write a decent storyline. Like, the people who wrote Sonic Adventure 2, get them back.

Sonic adventure 2 was abysmally written... I'm sorry I do not mean to shit on anyone's nostalgia but come ON.

The adventure games trying to be increasingly 'edgy' is what led up to Shadow the Hedgehog and 06'.
These cartoony stories are fine. They're inoffensive, don't take over the game play, and aren't continuously trying to complete with actual rpgs for cheesy cliche 'drama'.

This is coming from someone who really loved Adventure 2. I'm serious, I A ranked nearly ALL of it. I raised a chao to maximum powar. It was the last game before the dark years I truly enjoyed. But the writing and the tone was just so darn lame. Like what 90's teens thought 'deep and edgy' was.

Honestly the story coulda worked if it wasn't a freakin' Sonic the Hedgehog game. He was the most out of place thing in that 'story', if not for the gameplay that made him relevant. And Shadow being another random bug eyed mutant hedgehog, which brings me to another annoying point about those games:

Humans in a Sonic game. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh. Could they maybe explain why 3 feet tall multi-coloured anthropomorphic animals running around doing things is NORMAL in this world. Or if not. Just... don't go there. Seriously. Suspension of disbelief is shattered when you start doing that and expect us to just swallow it.

I will defend the gameplay, and enjoy-ability of SA2 to my dying breath but just don't imply that a Sonic game has ever been 'well written'. It hasn't happened. And I'd rather they move forward and try something new-er than go back to that.

Spoiler: Aaaand again

Hmm. Okay.
Since I'm expecting this to come down to a difference of opinion, and since I'm not expecting to change your opinion, I'm going to throw up the "Agree to disagree?" offer straight away.

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to defend my point of view. All the spirit of friendly debate, eh?

For the record - I haven't played "Shadow the Hedgehog" or "Sonic 2006". I've only played SA2 - I haven't even played SA1, since it wasn't available on Gamecube. I did play "Sonic Heroes", and that's what I'd consider a 'bad' Sonic storyline (although it did have some strong points - the final twist would have been good, if the intro-cinematic hadn't spoiled it...)
So I'm not taking "Shadow the Hedgehog" or "Sonic 2006" into consideration here. Even if they were bad games, that doesn't mean SA2 is bad by association...

On a thematic level, SA2 had a good contrast between Sonic and Shadow. Sonic's a laid-back, carefree character with a need for adventure and a strong sense of right and wrong, where Shadow has a strict sense of self-control and a need for vengeance. That actually spanned the entire cast - I could draw similar parallels and contrasts between Robotnik and Tails or Rouge and Knuckles. Heck, the two campaign modes contrasted - in one you're fighting to save the world, in the other you're fighting to conquer it!

That split storyline worked well too. You saw events from different perspectives, which allowed you to put together a bigger picture (OH, that's why the island is exploding...). That only worked because the events had been well plotted in order to let them fit together. SA2 is also the only Sonic game where I've fully understood why I'm in a location performing a level - if I'm battling ghosts in a pyramid, or searching for emeralds within a vault, or doing loop-the-loops in space, I know how that fits into the larger storyline. If you ask me what the teams were doing in a haunted house in Sonic Heroes, on the other hand, I have NO IDEA.

And in the finale, the themes of contrast met to become themes of co-operation. SA2's endgame was, in my opinion, quite frankly brilliant.

So.. yeah. That's what I liked about SA2.

Sidenote:
Your point about humans in a Sonic game - haven't they always been there? As I recall, the very first boss of the very first level of the very first Sonic game was a human. Dr Robotnik with a flying wrecking ball. Unless we assume that Dr Robotnik sprung into existence from nowhere, and single-handedly invented technology, humans must have been in the background somewhere. The Adventure games just had them visible, and that doesn't bother me.

See what you're outlining here is aesthetic . Which I am TOTALLY with you. The aesthetic, both visually and gameplay-wise and even themeatically for SA2 was excellent. It's the writing, acting and characterization that I felt fell so hard in that game. And no humans have not always been in a Sonic game, it's only been Eggman who was already a 'caricature' of humanity anyway. And it was ONLY him, he looked just as weird and mutant as the anthropomorphic animals. The other humans though? Once it was made apparent they exist and looking pretty 'real'(Starting from SA1)... there were alot of questions left unanswered. If you cannot set the stage for your world/universe effectively. Then you've already left behind a chunk of your audience. Tripping at the start-line, so to speak.

If you read, I pretty much implied that SA2 is on my list of favorite games of all time. Sonic 3 and Knuckles and this game are my 2 favorite sonic games. I am not bashing it's existence. There is so much good in it.

But the implication that returning to this style of writing compared to the cartoony writing this run of games is tackling? As though it was somehow superior? I draw a line there. That's a bit much. Since sonic is in fact...a cartoon, you need a world and a tone that the audience can swallow and suspend disbelief on. This current run? Might have gone a bit too far in the OTHER direction with it. But the SA 'canon' went too far with the 'we want you to take our little blue rodent seriously so here's some serious things with serious seriousness stitched on'.

Find a good balance? Improve upon it? Absolutely. I'm on board.

I'm not even going to go into Shadow and 06'. Suffice to say I did not play a Sonic game for 3 years after them (My Brother is much younger than me and we actually bond well over Sonic games so this is where I finally stopped and said 'nope, no more sonic for a while'. Not even for Nostalgia sakes. They look what existed in SA2 and painted it with poo. Keep your cherished memories intact and keep away from these abortions of games.

 

[The White Hunter]

Man, that's disappointing.

I thought Lost World actually looked good. It had cool ideas that felt like they'd really work in a Sonic game.

The Escapist Review is kinda melodramatic about it. It is by no means a "Great Game", but it is at the very least "Good". Jim Sterling's review is honestly the best review for the game that I have read so far. It isn't a game you would buy a Wii U for, however it is a game that you should buy if you enjoyed Sonic and already own a Wii U game. Good fun, but not a console seller.

To be honest, it is a 3.5/5 or a 6.75/7.50 out of 10 in terms of review numbers. Or in basic words: Above Average, below greatness.

I'd absolutely direct someone to Jim's review over at Destructoid for a contrasting opinion. He appears to have had a different experience from me, and praises the slow segments of the game. An excellent other take on the game.

I rated it a 2.5 because I consider it just below average for games right now. In a year with so many otherwise outstanding platformers - rayman legends, puppeteer - this is, frankly, just not a good enough game. Your assessment here - that it's "a game you should buy if you enjoyed sonic and already own a Wii U" - is absolutely spot on. That's what I said with my Recommendation in the review.

I thought after Generations got such good reviews and everyone basically loved it we would have got more of that style

Oh well.

Colours too did really well all round, I don't know what possessed them to change it :/

I can't really agree enough. They crafted a beautiful set of visuals, sound, and animation. This game is like taking flawless crystal decanter and filling it with mud from the cowfields.

I feared from the outset that they'd mess this up by trying to do too many things with it rather than remaining focused on something simple, like a smooth, flowing experience. From the outset the control scheme sounded difficult but I remained optimistic. It's sad to see them make these mistakes again after such stellar work in recent years.

It's especially painful with Super Mario 3D World just aorund the corner and looking absolutely sensational. It really makes me wonder what would happen if Sonic were handed off the Tokyo EAD for just one game.

I read Jim's review actually, seemed more forgiving, but what I'm taking away from every review is that the experience is rather schizophrenic, with some great moments, but also terrible ones dragging it down. Gamespot's 'tude criticism made me laught though, Sonic should have 'tude, it's just about the only mascot franchise that ever managed to do it well.

 

[The White Hunter]

See [user]SkarKrow[/user]! I told you Sonic has fallen from grace! But you didn't listen to me!

In all seriousness, I was actually getting optimistic about the game, I have never been a fan of Sonic games and it doesn't look like this will be the game to change my tune.

If you want my attention quote me you bastard!

Colours and generations were genuinely outstanding examples of their genre, they had an energy and flow unlike any other game in the franchise since the 2D days and paired that with outstanding visuals and aesthetics and a great set of proper BGM soundtracks to great effect.

I am disappointed to see Sonic Team return to these missteps once again, though I'm yet to play this myself, and will form a fuller opinion once I have done so. On the bright side, the new 3D Mario is shaping up to be amazeballs.

 

[Hero of Lime]

That's a shame, I was considering buying it, I might still get it eventually at a lower price. Everything they showed off looked so good, what happened?

Though I don't think I'm hurting for Wii U games, I actually have more of them than I did Wii games after a year it was released.

 

[The_Darkness]

Okay, let's actually snip this quote pyramid rather than constantly shoving it under the carpet...

See what you're outlining here is aesthetic . Which I am TOTALLY with you. The aesthetic, both visually and gameplay-wise and even themeatically for SA2 was excellent. It's the writing, acting and characterization that I felt fell so hard in that game.

Fair enough. I haven't played it recently enough to judge the voice acting or the actual script. I don't remember it being particularly cringeworthy, but I was in my mid-teens at the time... (As opposed to my current early twenties.) So I'll note that it was the overall plot that I look back on with nostalgia, and leave it with that.

And no humans have not always been in a Sonic game, it's only been Eggman who was already a 'caricature' of humanity anyway. And it was ONLY him, he looked just as weird and mutant as the anthropomorphic animals. The other humans though? Once it was made apparent they exist and looking pretty 'real'(Starting from SA1)... there were alot of questions left unanswered. If you cannot set the stage for your world/universe effectively. Then you've already left behind a chunk of your audience. Tripping at the start-line, so to speak.

See, this is interesting. SA2 was probably the first Sonic game that I played seriously, so in my experience humans have always been there. I have since gone back and played Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles, and I certainly didn't miss having humans around then, but if I'd done things the other way around, I might be sitting where you are now and arguing against it... Just a thought.

If you read, I pretty much implied that SA2 is on my list of favorite games of all time. Sonic 3 and Knuckles and this game are my 2 favorite sonic games. I am not bashing it's existence. There is so much good in it.

But the implication that returning to this style of writing compared to the cartoony writing this run of games is tackling? As though it was somehow superior? I draw a line there. That's a bit much. Since sonic is in fact...a cartoon, you need a world and a tone that the audience can swallow and suspend disbelief on. This current run? Might have gone a bit too far in the OTHER direction with it. But the SA 'canon' went too far with the 'we want you to take our little blue rodent seriously so here's some serious things with serious seriousness stitched on'.

Find a good balance? Improve upon it? Absolutely. I'm on board.

Likewise. SA2 might be well within my comfort zone, and Lost World outside it (TOO MUCH SUGAR-CANDY!) but I'm all for a good balance between the two. Generations was decent, it just felt a little bit story-lite. So maybe I'll modify my earlier statement that sparked off this debate:

SEGA - get some decent scriptwriters. Just make sure they know which series they're writing for.

I'm not even going to go into Shadow and 06'. Suffice to say I did not play a Sonic game for 3 years after them (My Brother is much younger than me and we actually bond well over Sonic games so this is where I finally stopped and said 'nope, no more sonic for a while'. Not even for Nostalgia sakes. They look what existed in SA2 and painted it with poo. Keep your cherished memories intact and keep away from these abortions of games.

Point taken. I'll follow that advice. Crisis City was possibly my favourite level from Generations BUT I've heard enough about the game that it came from to give the original a wide berth...

And all in all, thanks for a fun debate on a Friday evening.

 

[Charli]

Spoiler

Okay, let's actually snip this quote pyramid rather than constantly shoving it under the carpet...

See what you're outlining here is aesthetic . Which I am TOTALLY with you. The aesthetic, both visually and gameplay-wise and even themeatically for SA2 was excellent. It's the writing, acting and characterization that I felt fell so hard in that game.

Fair enough. I haven't played it recently enough to judge the voice acting or the actual script. I don't remember it being particularly cringeworthy, but I was in my mid-teens at the time... (As opposed to my current early twenties.) So I'll note that it was the overall plot that I look back on with nostalgia, and leave it with that.

And no humans have not always been in a Sonic game, it's only been Eggman who was already a 'caricature' of humanity anyway. And it was ONLY him, he looked just as weird and mutant as the anthropomorphic animals. The other humans though? Once it was made apparent they exist and looking pretty 'real'(Starting from SA1)... there were alot of questions left unanswered. If you cannot set the stage for your world/universe effectively. Then you've already left behind a chunk of your audience. Tripping at the start-line, so to speak.

See, this is interesting. SA2 was probably the first Sonic game that I played seriously, so in my experience humans have always been there. I have since gone back and played Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles, and I certainly didn't miss having humans around then, but if I'd done things the other way around, I might be sitting where you are now and arguing against it... Just a thought.

If you read, I pretty much implied that SA2 is on my list of favorite games of all time. Sonic 3 and Knuckles and this game are my 2 favorite sonic games. I am not bashing it's existence. There is so much good in it.

But the implication that returning to this style of writing compared to the cartoony writing this run of games is tackling? As though it was somehow superior? I draw a line there. That's a bit much. Since sonic is in fact...a cartoon, you need a world and a tone that the audience can swallow and suspend disbelief on. This current run? Might have gone a bit too far in the OTHER direction with it. But the SA 'canon' went too far with the 'we want you to take our little blue rodent seriously so here's some serious things with serious seriousness stitched on'.

Find a good balance? Improve upon it? Absolutely. I'm on board.

Likewise. SA2 might be well within my comfort zone, and Lost World outside it (TOO MUCH SUGAR-CANDY!) but I'm all for a good balance between the two. Generations was decent, it just felt a little bit story-lite. So maybe I'll modify my earlier statement that sparked off this debate:

SEGA - get some decent scriptwriters. Just make sure they know which series they're writing for.

I'm not even going to go into Shadow and 06'. Suffice to say I did not play a Sonic game for 3 years after them (My Brother is much younger than me and we actually bond well over Sonic games so this is where I finally stopped and said 'nope, no more sonic for a while'. Not even for Nostalgia sakes. They look what existed in SA2 and painted it with poo. Keep your cherished memories intact and keep away from these abortions of games.

Point taken. I'll follow that advice. Crisis City was possibly my favourite level from Generations BUT I've heard enough about the game that it came from to give the original a wide berth...

And all in all, thanks for a fun debate on a Friday evening.

Anytime, most gracious fellow on and off Sonic fan. I too have used up my time for internet bickering for the week and were most satisfied in having wasted it with you. /salute

Til next time!

 

[Rad Party God]

Blimey... well, I'll stick to Colors and Generations for "great" modern Sonic games (and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, my new favorite racing game) and for great platformers, I'll stick to both Rayman Origins and Legends. Ironically, both Raymans share more gameplay mechanics that a Sonic game would have than almost any Sonic game.

Please Sega, if you can't keep up with Colors/Generations quality you already had, then please, just please... let Sonic die.

 

[The White Hunter]

Man, that's disappointing.

I thought Lost World actually looked good. It had cool ideas that felt like they'd really work in a Sonic game.

The Escapist Review is kinda melodramatic about it. It is by no means a "Great Game", but it is at the very least "Good". Jim Sterling's review is honestly the best review for the game that I have read so far. It isn't a game you would buy a Wii U for, however it is a game that you should buy if you enjoyed Sonic and already own a Wii U game. Good fun, but not a console seller.

To be honest, it is a 3.5/5 or a 6.75/7.50 out of 10 in terms of review numbers. Or in basic words: Above Average, below greatness.

I'd absolutely direct someone to Jim's review over at Destructoid for a contrasting opinion. He appears to have had a different experience from me, and praises the slow segments of the game. An excellent other take on the game.

I rated it a 2.5 because I consider it just below average for games right now. In a year with so many otherwise outstanding platformers - rayman legends, puppeteer - this is, frankly, just not a good enough game. Your assessment here - that it's "a game you should buy if you enjoyed sonic and already own a Wii U" - is absolutely spot on. That's what I said with my Recommendation in the review.

I thought after Generations got such good reviews and everyone basically loved it we would have got more of that style

Oh well.

Colours too did really well all round, I don't know what possessed them to change it :/

I can't really agree enough. They crafted a beautiful set of visuals, sound, and animation. This game is like taking flawless crystal decanter and filling it with mud from the cowfields.

Having just played the first two worlds I feel the need to inform you that I now think you may have been over generous. The game is full of horrible cheap deaths, I've had 6 game overs and not a single death has felt like it's my fault, each and every one felt like a random string of piss poor collision detection and slippery awful controls damning me to my fate.

 

[medv4380]

Not surprising given the negative review The Escapist gave to Sonic Generations. Heck, the highest praise a sonic fan could give is that a Sonic game is as good as the 90's versions.

I can't really trust a review that gives a statement like this

Each level is full of interesting, unique models, and there's enough variation between 2D and 3D platforming that you don't get bored on account of repetitious gameplay types.

And

There's just not much new here. While the developers made a big deal of wallrunning and "defying gravity," they don't feel like wondrous, new things.

It's an irrational review with little to no substance because it's cluttered with contradictions in it's argument. Because it's cluttered with these emotional irrational arguments I'd say the author holds a grudge against Sonic, and is incapable of giving an actual "review". This is probably the case with most former, drunk on Sonic, fans who feel betrayed by the past. Like asking a divorcé what they think of the success of their ex.

 

[Xman490]

And just like that, the fate of me wanting a Wii U lies solely in the hands of a 3D Super Mario game - a kind of game that rarely lets me down, but still.

The newest Legend of Zelda on Wii U is too far ahead to care about, even if it's 1080p and all. All the other big innovative Wii U games suffer from the awkward controls and difficulty spikes of this game: Wonderful 101, ZombiU, and Pikmin 3. Furthermore, I don't care much about Lego City Undercover and NSMBU.

If Mario isn't groundbreaking, there's always the PS4 bandwagon to leap onto, which would bring me to definitely get a Vita instead of a 3DS this holiday season.

 

[an annoyed writer]

For some reason I really want to see JonTron review this now. His sonic Team saga is brilliant, and seeing this as another part of that rollercoaster of that narrative would be awesome.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

I've learned not to trust reviewers on Sonic games, they pretty much have no idea what they're talking about most of the time.