Sega Nerds

Excellent read. You hit the nail on the head, really.

I think Sega should just look at Adventure, work up from there. (we don’t need a overworld, for starters)

Eh….I think this article kind of missed the point of why Sonic games today aren’t as good as they are in the past. You are correct in saying they are dilluded, but simply removing characters won’t make the games better. Blaze the Cat definetly didn’t make Rush any worse for me (in fact, out of all the new characters, she is probably the only one I still like).

Although to be fair, I’ve only ever found one article that actually hit the nail on the head on this subject.

Oh, right, this is a multi part article. Nevermind. Hope you nail the real reason Sonic’s been terrible in a future article. Calling out how dilluded the games have become is a great start, but the extra characters get an unfair rap imo.

Great article.
From this point of view, I understand now why the Sonic and the secrets rings seems better to me than the latest Sonic Adventures.
Only one character to play, all the other heroes are just in the background.

And please sega, if you do a new Sonic 2D game I’d like that Sonic and other characters shut thier mouth. This is for me a very annoying point since Sonic Adventure.
Bring back Mobius ;-)

There were too many characters to begin with, in 1994, there were already too many characters. Eggman, Amy Rose, Knuckles, Tails, Ray, Metal Sonic, Mighty. In 1994, there were already 7 or 8 characters already available at that time, not coutning the ones that were added in Sonic Fighters…were was the outrage over new characters back then?

About Rouge, that may be, but an 89 ou of 100 in Metacritic suggests that reviewers in 2001 had absolutely no problem with many characters being featured, or the diverse gameplay mechanics.

Also, let’s try to be a bit realistic, let’s say a Sonic game does come out featuring Sonic as the only playable character. In a typical 3D straightfoward manner just like in Sonic Adventure, let’s say it’s got 10 levels, since platform games are short by nature.
Let’s say it takes somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes to complete each stage, and let’s say that there is nothing else, no other characters, no hub where you can freely explore the world and revisit other levels, no mini-games, no gimmicks whatsoever…now imagine dropping 60 bucks for game that only features a blue hedgehog running through 10 levels and after that you get nothing, no unlockable extras, not even music and cg videos, nothing.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Now read that again and now picture Sonic Heroes, but Sonic was the only playable character and then ask if it’s worth it.

I also use Sonic Heroes as an example, since all characters go through the exact same stages, in the exact same order(a fatal mistake that even the wretched Sonic Next avoids), so after playing with Sonic, where is your motivation to play with other characters, since they end up doing exactly the same thing?
That’s also a problem with the older Sonic games, there isn’t much motivation playing as Knuckles or Tails in Sonic 2 and 3, since they go through the exact same stages and in the same order.

That’s why Sonic Adventure is adored because all of the 6 playable characters have different gameplay styles.
Sonic is traditional Jump&Run;
Tails’s portion is a racing game;
E-102 Gamma is a shooter(ironically, people seem to have a problem with Shadow weilding weapons, yet in 1999 and 2001, Gamma had a gun and Tails blasted everything with his Mecha which had guns and missiles strapped on, go figure);
Amy was a more calm platform game, with some simple puzzle-solving(that was in 1999, 7 years later, people now suddenly don’t want to do simple puzzles with Silver);
Knuckles was a Tomb Raider-esque exploration game;
Big was a fishing game, and in a way, it sorta helped this genre become somewhat mainstream, but since that portion was so easy to pick up and play, not many people were at the time, upset about it.

Does Sonic need fixing? Yes it does, I’ll give you that, but do you really want to go back or try something new?
Both these choices will have their consequences one way or another…

Re. Rouge/Knuckles - It has been a while since I played Sonic Adventure 2 - But as far as I can remember the levels the were the same.
-I certainly remember doing that Mario Galaxy-esque level in space with Knuckles.

@Yusaku:
You make some valid points - but you are incorrect about Sonic Heroes.
Each of the different teams has a slightly different level.
Actually a couple of the teams have very different levels with very different paths - and then the others as you play with them allow you to open up different routes, depending on the characters.

-I think I should also point out to everyone that Sonic Adventure 1 is among my favourite of all the Sonic games.
However, since that game, Sega has been trying to keep adding the extra characters and it hasn’t worked.

SA1 - at least allowed players to play as Sonic more than the others (he had more levels and side quests than the rest). He also had the main storyline for the game.
Also players could choose to play as Sonic all the way until the end. And then go and try the others, or they could try to mix gameplay styles by going to the title screen and selecting a new characters.
-Also while I think Big the Cat is a retard, I did actually enjoy his levels (very relaxing) - But I think I would have punched my tv if I were forced to play as him. The fact that I could choose to play as Big or Amy and break up the fast play of Sonic/Tails was what made it good.

In SA2 and Sonic 06 players are forced to change characters in order to complete the game. If you could play through Sonic 06 with just Sonic, and then do Shadow and then Silver (in what ever order you wished) then the game would have been instantly better.

And despite my hatred for others characters expressed in the article, Im not totally against it. It’s just that (as I say) Sega has not managed to make it work properly since Sonic Adventure.
This is why I suggest going back, looking at earlier (greater) games and restarting from that point, until they can get it right. Not just continuously throwing new playable characters into the mix.

@Kogen - Re: Multiple characters/paths.
-Where you mention how you are happy playing the same levels with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 3, because they all add new styles to the play and open up new routes.
-I agree completely. That is where added characters work.

But (as I say in the article) the core gameplay is the same for each character - which is good. The differences are quite slight in the long run.
I mean compare PLaying as Knuckles in Sonic 3 to playing as say Silver in Sonic 06 - Knuckles is almost the same as Sonic (in 3) whereas playing with Silver is like a whole new game really.

As I say above (in this comment) The good thing, in Sonic and Knuckles, is that players can pick which character they want to complete the game with and do so. Then go back, try out the other characters and try to find new paths on the big, multi-routed levels.
-So yeah, in short I agree with you Kogen (just wanted to explain to everyone why).

-But again, I would rather see Sega go back and get a game with Sonic right, before keeping/adding extra characters.

I think everyone has some great comments here, and I can certainly agree, with most of them. But I think we/Sega need to be a bit brutal here and look at what made us all love Sonic in the first place.

@Angelo - Ok fair enough. As I say it has been a while since I have played SA2.
I didn’t enjoy the game much, so didn’t play it much - unlike SA1 which I have completed several times.

Though on the whole I think the point that Rouge and Knuckles are too similar stands - Even though Sonic and Tails are essentially the same, Tails has different moves and you can play a little differently (this is assuming he is not riding randomly in his plane/mech)
But Rouge and Knuckles seem to have exactly the same abilities - please do correct me if I am wrong.

This is indeed a fantastic article, you’re completely right about all the points made in here. Also, alot of the original Sonic Team buggered off after Sonic Adventure (coincidental eh?) So if we do make a classic styled Sonic game, we’d obviously have to draft them into the mix. Furthermore, Sonic’s original chubby, black eyed image should be used again instead of someone who looks like they’re on crack.

Overall, this article is god, someone needs to point SEGA in the direction of this article

Yusaku, you still missed the point. If the stages have about 3 different routes, then playing as Tails and Knuckles later will make for new stages(with new secret areas too). Just don’t follow the same path and it’s all new content(every time I play Sonic 3 and Knuckles I find new stuff).

Sonic 2 with Tails doesn’t count since Tails was the same as Sonic, except a few pixels shorter. Knuckles had a bunch of new content added, though.

Also I agree with everything George and G said now.

Also. Sega adding in all these new characters and levels (at the expense of Sonic’s levels) reminds me of a quote from the Simpsons:

“Why make 31 flavors when you can’t even get vanilla right?”

Crosses fingers for Sonic Unleashed**

To elaborate, more nonlinear level design. If you remember Sonic 3, no trip through the levels was ever the same because they were so gigantic. It kept the games fresh no matter how many times you played through them.

and physics should be obvious. The loop-de-loops! We need more moments like that. New Sonics should have you like running on walls, or up giant spires… except if you aren’t fast enough you’ll fall. THAT is what old Sonics were about. Basically I want to recreate the intro of Sonic CD.

Silver’s voice sounds like jonathan taylor-thomas, circa 1996

I have to admit, Ryan’s art for this article was pretty funny, good job on the art guys/Ryan! = D

One thing if you do another 2D Sonic, the Subspace Emissary of Smash Bros Brawl is not recommended as a base for another title.

Blasting through nonlinear stages =/= exploring.

“Sonic would have been golden if they used the American story w/ freedom fighters and shit instead of Japan’s, where’s he’s chilling w/ humans and awful characters”

Japan had no proper story what so ever until Sonic Adventure was released. It was ambiguous to the point you could say Sonic and Knuckles are long lost brothers and find some miniature reference to that.

Personally I thought the US story was pretty bad, Sonic with his little animal friends was more charming then anything from Japan since, or America.

“1. no filler characters/no more ‘new’ characters with a 2d personality

2. expand on the levels Don’t make a shoddy get to point A to B thing

3. use a decent plot or try to make a generic save such and such plot seem exciting and fun so much we don’t give a damn.

4. Camera,engine and bugs MUST BE FIXED BEFORE RELESE!!!

5. If and if they make a Shadow game (poor shadow why the hell did it have to suck it is an insult to my intellengience and his character personality F—ing star wars emo rip off!!!) FOCUS ON CHAOS CONTROL!!!

6.Last one if SEGA still feels it has to dish out new characters bring back the old one instead and give them a good personality that people will understand and like!
Well that me rant over and out!”

COMPLETELY AGREED BUT YOU MISSED:

7: Higher some real writers because the script is utter shite these days… Whole thing sounds like an 8 year old put it togeater ‘WE’RE SONIC HEROES YEAH!!!’

8: Sort that shitty music out, seriously it’s hiddious… Just removed the lyrics for the love of god!