First Time Sonic

[oggyraiding]

New Sonic looks shite. Like someone modded in grind rails and balloons to Shadow Of The Colossus or Breath Of The Wild.

[Kelvin]

New Sonic looks shite.

Yeah. And it still looks like the best 3D Sonic they've ever made.

[PlanktonSideburns]

Looks great what you talking about

[Catalogue Trousers]

Why is Sonic the Hedgehog so shite?

[Kelvin]

Looks great what you talking about

I honestly think it does look quiet good, at least compared to the dross that's gone before. Far from perfect, lots of jank and pop-up and the combat looks crap. But then that's nothing new to 3D Sonic, so I'm stumped as to why the Sonic fans seem so disappointed at the game when it's already looking so much better than the usual broken trash Sega put out. Just having the freedom to choose which challenge you take on immediately makes it look more fun that the linear structure of most modern 3D Sonic. 

[madhair60]

I think the bits where you're just running through forests, up cliffs and over lakes and stuff look gorgeous and generally just loads of nice, chill fun :)

[Replies From View]

Hopefully one day there will be a crossover between Sonic and those text command Sierra games like King's Quest III.

[Kelvin]

I think the bits where you're just running through forests, up cliffs and over lakes and stuff look gorgeous and generally just loads of nice, chill fun :)

Same. Sections of it have a Mario Galaxy vibe, stuff with the gravity defying wall running and the giant boss you run up. I think it's a big leap forward for the series, it's a shame SEGA haven't decided to delay it into next year so it has more time to be polished.

[oggyraiding]

Am I in the minority for wanting Sonic to remain linear? I like the tightly designed spectacular speedy elements, they're like an interactive roller coaster. Don't see how they can retain Sonic's signature speed with a more open, muted world.

Having said all that I've never really been a big Sonic fan so take my potentially shit take with a pinch of salt. Also the Sonic I played most recently was Unleashed which should be seen as a warning that innovation is possibly bad.

[madhair60]

Am I in the minority for wanting Sonic to remain linear? I like the tightly designed spectacular speedy elements, they're like an interactive roller coaster. Don't see how they can retain Sonic's signature speed with a more open, muted world.

Having said all that I've never really been a big Sonic fan so take my potentially shit take with a pinch of salt. Also the Sonic I played most recently was Unleashed which should be seen as a warning that innovation is possibly bad.

No, I would prefer linear Sonic, but that would be something of a concession. I understand that linear sonic is still present in this game in the form of traditional stages you access from the open world.

[popcorn]

As someone whose never played the 3D Sonics*, what is it about Adventure that makes it so well regarded among fans, compared to later games (including its sequel) that are generally considered inferior? Putting aside the ways it may have dated now, what was it that people liked about Adventure that SEGA got wrong in almost every subsequent 3D game?

1. Different expectations. 3D Sonic hadn't been done yet, and Adventure was Sega's biggest ever game - it was a big statement. It was Sonic's big return after his conspicuous absence in the Saturn era. Sonic Team were one of the best-regardest devs in the world at the time, and the technical achievements and bold new art direction were dazzling.

2. Adventure is wildly, dementedly crazy. It's overflowing with imagination and ambition. Sonic Team threw the fucking kitchen sink at that game - and they made it in about 12 months, which is insane. In retrospect only half the ideas worked and many elements are either redundant or completely broken, but as madhair said above, it has soul! Even at its most dysfunctional, it never feels cynical, lazy or crass.

3. Although we've spent the last 25 years debating what Sonic ought to be and lamenting how 3D Sonic has never really worked, etc, I think Sonic Team deserves credit for not just making the obvious 3D Sonic game everyone else was imagining, with the chequered hills and special stages and that sort of thing. It's almost like it didn't even occur to them to do that, like they were just completely fucking oblivious.

4. They did get a lot of things right, imo - Sonic levels are still fun to blast through, the sensation of speed is still a thrill. To me it feels like a product of the team that made Nights rather than the Mega Drive Sonics - arcadey, time attacky, eccentric and very Japanese.

I think the cold light of day it only adds up to a 3/5 today but I do think it's a fascinating artefact deserving of its cult status.

I like Sonic Adventure 2 too, but that's another kettle of fish. I think what SA1 in particular has over the later Sonic games is its spirit of exploration and, well, adventure - it's a spirited game. Everything since has just seemed desperate and empty to me.

[Beagle 2]

New Sonic looks shite. Like someone modded in grind rails and balloons to Shadow Of The Colossus or Breath Of The Wild.

I find the environment weirdly bleak, like Sonic the Hedgehog has had a breakdown and gone on holiday to Orkney to make peace with himself.