The Sonic Thread

[IrisAndDawn]

i like all the sonic games there really cool i like sonic advneture 2 to raise chao on there its really fun

[An00bis]

Small bit of news.

SEGA will be releasing an online addition of Sonic the Fighters on PSN/Live.

[indigohex]

I have Sonic Classic Collection for Nintendo DS. I am currently playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on it and am up to Casino Night Zone. I once got up to Death Egg Zone on the Mega Drive version about 15 years ago. But I wonder why they didn't put Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine in this collection as it was very good and underrated in my opinion.

[Zero Nexus]

I'm one of those guys who doesn't think ALL the recent games were terrible. I've played most of the games, but I prefer the 3D games mainly because the first one I played was Heroes. I liked Sonic 06 and Shadow the Hedgehog, yet I DIDN'T like Generations or Unleashed.

Haven't played Colours yet, is it any good?

[Will-powered Spriter]

I'm one of those guys who doesn't think ALL the recent games were terrible. I've played most of the games, but I prefer the 3D games mainly because the first one I played was Heroes. I liked Sonic 06 and Shadow the Hedgehog, yet I DIDN'T like Generations or Unleashed.

Haven't played Colours yet, is it any good?

I'd say yes, but you're taste in Sonic games seems to be pretty much the opposite to mine and possibly every sane person. Sonic 06 is awful and Generations is awesome.

It's the same play style as Unleashed and Generations, but a little slower paced. Boosting is much more restricted, and there's more focus on platforming and 2D then maintaining speed and 3D. The Wisp gimmick is mostly done well, the graphics are mind-blowing, despite running on the wii's rather poor hardware, the sound track is brilliant and it's just good in general. The final boss is one of my favourites ever.

[ForgottenPearl]

Haven't played Colours yet, is it any good?

Most people like it, but I only thought it was okay. If you didn't like Unleashed or Generations, I doubt you'll like this one. Again, Sonic runs super fast in the 3D sections, only to slow down a lot in many of the 2D sections--they just have trouble blending platforming and speed. Also, I was able to beat the game in four hours, which feels kinda short. If you want to go for S-ranks and such, it'll last much longer, though. Oh, and the story isn't interesting. At all.

But Will-powered Spriter is right: the last boss is one of the most intense around. The music, the perfect use of slow-motion effects... Whew!

[sceptile33]

Haven't played Colours yet, is it any good?

People like comparing Colors to Unleashed day/Generations modern, but I don't really see that many similarities between them. Colors has many more 2D platforming sections, and the boost is nowhere near as broken as the other two. It's one of my favorite Sonic games.

[ParaChomp]

Off topic but browsing around the recommended videos in Brentafloss' works, I stumbled upon this remix of Reach for the Stars (despite the video description, no discussion of what it's hinting at).

[Will-powered Spriter]

People like comparing Colors to Unleashed day/Generations modern, but I don't really see that many similarities between them. Colors has many more 2D platforming sections, and the boost is nowhere near as broken as the other two. It's one of my favorite Sonic games.

It's fairly obviously running on the same physics engine, albeit tweaked slightly. The level design is different, but you've still got boost, slide, stomp, quick step and drift.

On the subject, why did they remove the ability to crawl from colours and generations? It was hilarious, and even occasionally useful.

[Zero Nexus]

Well the main thing I didn't like about Generations was that it wasn't LINEAR enough. Sonic games are all about speeding through levels at top speed, not running for a bit, stopping to do some jumping puzzle, then running again and so on. You should just be able to run and carry on running. Too many levels in generations (mainly the 2D levels - another reason I prefer the 3D games) had little gimmicks to them. They aren't a problem if there's only a few them in each level, but to spend more time thinking about where you're going rather than just running for it in a Sonic game just doesn't feel right.

As for Unleashed, I actually really liked the daytime stages, but there was a couple of other things that ruined the game for me;

*The Werehog stages. This shouldn't need backing up.
*The confusing-as-hell overworld. Even Sonic 06 has a better overworld than this.
*The lack of any of Sonic's other friends apart from Tails appearing in the game. Seriously, people complain about all the other Sonic characters but I actually can't stand it when they AREN'T in the game. If a new Sonic game comes out and there's none of the other characters, it will immediately put me off buying it. I also can't stand playing as JUST Sonic. This why I prefer Heroes, Shadow and 06 - it gives a spotlight to the other characters.

[AuraChannelerChris]

At this point, Sega doesn't seem to care about the rest of the Sonic characters. We're never getting a game where you can play as Knuckles or Amy having significant roles.

To prove my point further, just listen to Jet's new voice... They weren't even trying to make him sound good!

[TheBattleFrontierAsh1]

At this point, Sega doesn't seem to care about the rest of the Sonic characters. We're never getting a game where you can play as Knuckles or Amy having significant roles.

To prove my point further, just listen to Jet's new voice... They weren't even trying to make him sound good!

Blame Sonic 06! That's all I can say.

[super_sonic914]

I don't understand why people don't like 06'. To me it was alright (I got all the achievements). And it was actually fun getting them.

But for some odd reason I would prefer if SEGA not make a sonic game or spin-off of him for a while, let the poor guy rest a little. And then when he is almost forgotten BAM! Release a truly awesome sonic game.

I doubt that will ever happen though.

[Zero Nexus]

I don't understand why people don't like 06'. To me it was alright (I got all the achievements). And it was actually fun getting them.

But for some odd reason I would prefer if SEGA not make a sonic game or spin-off of him for a while, let the poor guy rest a little. And then when he is almost forgotten BAM! Release a truly awesome sonic game.

I doubt that will ever happen though.

I DO understand why people don't like 06, but it doesn't mean I agree with them.

[Bolt the Cat]

Well the main thing I didn't like about Generations was that it wasn't LINEAR enough. Sonic games are all about speeding through levels at top speed, not running for a bit, stopping to do some jumping puzzle, then running again and so on. You should just be able to run and carry on running. Too many levels in generations (mainly the 2D levels - another reason I prefer the 3D games) had little gimmicks to them. They aren't a problem if there's only a few them in each level, but to spend more time thinking about where you're going rather than just running for it in a Sonic game just doesn't feel right.

Are you serious? Having a Sonic game be too linear makes it too easy, there needs to be obstacles in the way to challenge you, and multiple paths that require skill to get to and stay on.

*The confusing-as-hell overworld. Even Sonic 06 has a better overworld than this.

That's an outright lie. Unleashed's hub worlds weren't confusing at all, they were short, easy to navigate, and if you got lost, there's a map of the hubworld that shows up as the hub is loading.

*The lack of any of Sonic's other friends apart from Tails appearing in the game. Seriously, people complain about all the other Sonic characters but I actually can't stand it when they AREN'T in the game. If a new Sonic game comes out and there's none of the other characters, it will immediately put me off buying it. I also can't stand playing as JUST Sonic. This why I prefer Heroes, Shadow and 06 - it gives a spotlight to the other characters.

This is proving to be a major problem, indeed. Unfortunately, SEGA seems to have confused "we hate the other characters' gameplay and we want their gameplay fixed" with "we hate the other characters and we don't want them playable at all". That is why all of these Sonic game only have Sonic playable (a trend we call on SEGA Forums "Sola Sonica"). Hopefully this time they'll get it.

But for some odd reason I would prefer if SEGA not make a sonic game or spin-off of him for a while, let the poor guy rest a little. And then when he is almost forgotten BAM! Release a truly awesome sonic game.

I doubt that will ever happen though.

That's a lot more likely than you think. Right now, SEGA's having some financial troubles, they can't afford to screw up any longer. So the smart thing for them to do (which is what I think they're doing ATM) is to slow down and spend some more time on their next Sonic game to really make sure it's a high quality game before they release it, so we're probably not going to see the next main game for another year or two at least.

[Zero Nexus]

Are you serious? Having a Sonic game be too linear makes it too easy, there needs to be obstacles in the way to challenge you, and multiple paths that require skill to get to and stay on.

I'm not one of those guys who thinks games have to be challenging to be fun. Stuff like that suits most platforming games, but not Sonic's IMO, because it's all about running fast and if you gotta stop to do some stupid puzzle it ruins the flow of the gameplay.

That's an outright lie. Unleashed's hub worlds weren't confusing at all, they were short, easy to navigate, and if you got lost, there's a map of the hubworld that shows up as the hub is loading.

At least Soleana was ONE city. Unleashed had loads of different cities and each one had some kind of puzzle to get to the levels. Again with the puzzles, it doesn't suit Sonic games at all. You should just complete a level and be able to go straight into the next one. Even though I prefer the 3D Sonic games, I will admit the 2D games have the better regard of just jumping from one level to the next. Even though Generations had a hub, it was at least a step in the right direction because they were much shorter and it was obvious where to go, so it was better than nothing.

[Jb]

Minor puzzle solving in Sonic games are fine. Like the Key parts at Pyramid Cave(SA2) or the mirror and wall parts on Lost World(SA).

[Phlogiston]

I'm not one of those guys who thinks games have to be challenging to be fun. Stuff like that suits most platforming games, but not Sonic's IMO, because it's all about running fast and if you gotta stop to do some stupid puzzle it ruins the flow of the gameplay.

I think there's a difference between a puzzle and an obstacle, or even a platforming segment.

Incidentally, I started playing Sonic 3 again, solo Tails... I'd forgotten how annoying the Marble Garden Act 2 boss is as solo Tails.

[Will-powered Spriter]

Hey, look what I found! Emerald Coast, Sonic Generations PC style! An actual custom level for once.
Ok, it's pretty awful in many respects, but it's not a straight port of a level or a sonic recolour so it's still better then 90% of mods for the game.


This is kinda cool too, although it's not noticably different most of the time.

[Jb]

As awful as the modern version of that was, that's how the stages should be in future Sonic games. Open space to get that sense of adventure, not feeling like you're running in a tunnel.