Sonic Generations Announced [PS3 / XBOX 360 / PC / 3DS] - No Wii Version Official

3DS Preview from Retro

Some more Comic Con updates:

They pulled the Emerald Coast and Radical Highway and Metal Sonic demo of the 3DS version for some reason, but Thursday night I was able to play Radical Highway modern and it was AWFUL. Nothing but a terrible boost fest. Same with Green Hill Zone and Mushroom Hill Zone. Metal Sonic's boss fight was just as bad because it was a horrible race at Casino Night Zone and there was just NOTHING to it. The Big Arm boss battle was also non-sensical because you can get more than half of your hits in right at the start of the fight.

The only redeeming quality of the 3DS version is the Classic levels (which are the same as the originals) and the music. I hope it's not only delayed, but canceled and ultimately forgotten. OR SEGA ****ing shapes up and ditches the boost fest Modern gameplay. It's not an obstacle course like the console version, it's literally just boost to win.
Click to expand...

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=24971&view=findpost&p=628031
 
ShadiWulf said:
3DS Preview from Retro

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=24971&view=findpost&p=628031
Click to expand...
Given that the 3DS version no longer has a release date, I'm guessing they're going to put it in the oven for a little longer. Saves me a little money at least...

Oh Dimps...

qq more said:
I hope that gives Dimps some time to improve the game.
Click to expand...
KuGsj.gif


Do note that I'm just saying this in jest, but I do not hold Dimps in high esteem.

Here's some Marble Zone for you to listen to! And some Green Hill Zone!
 
Oh, who am I kidding? Dimps delayed Sonic 4 and it still turned out like shit. :lol

What a shame, I was actually looking forward to the 3DS Generations. Oh well, HD version looks fun.
 
How did DIMPS get this bad this quickly? I still have a lot of fun with the original Advance even though it's very by the numbers, the Rush games while by no means perfect were an original idea with some neat additions and outside of Sonic they still to this day do good work (didn't they do most of the grunt work for the Street Fighter IV games?).

So when it comes to getting them to work on bigger Sonic titles, how are they screwing up so badly? Sonic 4, now this... I really SEGA starts looking to another 3rd party studio to get to work on their side-projects since this is just starting to get embarrassing at this point. Maybe Artoon so they can get Naoto Ōshima to tangentially work on Sonic again?
 
Astrosanity said:
How did DIMPS get this bad this quickly? I still have a lot of fun with the original Advance even though it's very by the numbers, the Rush games while by no means perfect were an original idea with some neat additions and outside of Sonic they still to this day do good work (didn't they do most of the grunt work for the Street Fighter IV games?).

So when it comes to getting them to work on bigger Sonic titles, how are they screwing up so badly? Sonic 4, now this... I really SEGA starts looking to another 3rd party studio to get to work on their side-projects since this is just starting to get embarrassing at this point. Maybe Artoon so they can get Naoto Ōshima to tangentially work on Sonic again?
Click to expand...
Don't worry. Iizuka-san won't keep Dimps around. He has an eye for quality.
 
Upsidedown Fuji said:
So we're back to 'shitty' dimps? Running out of things to pick at. That's a good sign.
Click to expand...
I'm a little sore regarding their stuff after Tales of the Tempest (and some of the Sonic games). They took a really good thing like a variant of Rebirth's battle engine and turned it into something quite boring. To me, at least.

I haven't been fully satisfied with Dimps's quality. I don't think they're utterly terrible, but compared to some of their work, I've played better.
 
Astrosanity said:
How did DIMPS get this bad this quickly? I still have a lot of fun with the original Advance even though it's very by the numbers, the Rush games while by no means perfect were an original idea with some neat additions and outside of Sonic they still to this day do good work (didn't they do most of the grunt work for the Street Fighter IV games?).

So when it comes to getting them to work on bigger Sonic titles, how are they screwing up so badly? Sonic 4, now this... I really SEGA starts looking to another 3rd party studio to get to work on their side-projects since this is just starting to get embarrassing at this point. Maybe Artoon so they can get Naoto Ōshima to tangentially work on Sonic again?
Click to expand...
Hell even Sonic Colors was a decent enough game even if the presentation wasnt all there. They just seem so oddly erratic lately.

I'm also for Artoon tackling the side games. I've always found a charm in their work that makes their games enjoyable to play for me even when they're super weak (like the first Pinobee and Yoshi's Topsy Tovy)
 
See, just saying that it was a "terrible boost fest" doesn't really tell me anything because it sounds like something people might say about the Rush games if they weren't into that style. It's as empty a criticism as "hold right to win".

qq more said:
Oh, who am I kidding? Dimps delayed Sonic 4 and it still turned out like shit. :lol
Click to expand...

Regardless of what you think of the end product, the game definitely benefited from the delay.

Astrosanity said:
I really SEGA starts looking to another 3rd party studio to get to work on their side-projects since this is just starting to get embarrassing at this point.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after such a long string of critically and commercially maligned games I'm sure they'll get the boot soon.

dimps.jpg


Oh wait.

Astrosanity said:
Maybe Artoon so they can get Naoto Ōshima to tangentially work on Sonic again?
Click to expand...

Why? He just drew the guy. It's Hirokazu Yasuhara you want back on the series if anyone.
 
Box of Bunnies said:
Why? He just drew the guy. It's Hirokazu Yasuhara you want back on the series if anyone.
Click to expand...
Yes why would we not want the guy who designed Sonic CD which is often proclaimed as the best 2D entry back on the franchise.

EDIT- Also including Sonic 4 on your list almost seems disingenuous considering the game holds scores in the low 70s on every other platform it appeared on but the Wii on Metacritic. It is without question their weakest critical reception to date.
 
qq more said:
Your point? Sonic 4 still turned out shit, even if it was better than the beta.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess the basic point is that a game that doesn't appeal to you isn't suddenly going to start doing so after a delay unless it's heavily reworked at a base level during that time amd that dismissing the idea that a delay would help when Sonic 4 saw objectively improvement thanks to the delay is silly given that you were probably never going to like 3DS version of Generations anyway.

Lijik said:
Yes why would we not want the guy who designed Sonic CD which is often proclaimed as the best 2D entry back on the franchise.
Click to expand...

I forgot he directed that actually, but even if I hadn't I'd still say what I did. SCD is overrated and I'd rather Yasuhara over Oshima every day of the week.

Lijik said:
EDIT- Also including Sonic 4 on your list almost seems disingenuous considering the game holds scores in the low 70s on every other platform it appeared on but the Wii on Metacritic. It is without question their weakest critical reception to date.
Click to expand...

Well yes, it's their weakest, but there's been a general downward trend in reception. The average Metacritic across the three console versions of Sonic 4 is 75 and while that's less than the score I used, it doesn't disprove the overall point and places it just a few points short of Advance 3, Rush Adventure and Colours DS.

The image isn't supposed to be a "damn, Dimps is awesome" thing, it's a response to the idea that their games do terribly and Sega should therefore have kicked them off the franchise by now.
 
bizarrely proving my point by posting a picture of metacritic averages (because why construct an argument about why a game isn't shit when you can just rely on an automated average for relatively obscure game boy games?) which are going steadily down besides an intentionally misleading inclusion of the wii version of Sonic 4 aside, this is what gets me;

Box of Bunnies said:
Why? He just drew the guy. It's Hirokazu Yasuhara you want back on the series if anyone.
Click to expand...
Seriously?

EDIT: And yes, most companies would consider steadily going down to an average of 7's for what should be easy to develop games and getting to the point where your past couple games (if the 3DS version is indeed postponed) are getting so poorly received at e3 and events that they have to be delayed for half a year 'embarrassing'. I know this is SEGA we're talking about, but still.
 
Astrosanity said:
bizarrely proving my point by posting a picture of metacritic averages (because why construct an argument about why a game isn't shit when you can just rely on an automated average for relatively obscure game boy games?) which are going steadily down besides an intentionally misleading inclusion of the wii version of Sonic 4 aside, this is what gets me;
Click to expand...

I'm not making a statement on my personal feelings of the games. Personally, I've only played about half of them. I'm making the point that Dimps' output is still generally well received and therefore I understand why Sega continue to use them to develop the handheld games.

Astrosanity said:
EDIT: And yes, most companies would consider steadily going down to an average of 7's for what should be easy to develop games and getting to the point where your past couple games (if the 3DS version is indeed postponed) are getting so poorly received at e3 and events that they have to be delayed for half a year 'embarrassing'.
Click to expand...

They're still hovering around 8. I mean, maybe I'm placing too much faith in people using the 10 point scale (because I know the first half is often ignored), but that seems fairly good to me.

Is the 3DS version being that poorly received? I know it was looking rough to start with but thought it was doing okay more recently. Unless we're talking about that quote at the top of the page, which I already spoke about.

Astrosanity said:
Seriously?
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry. Saying it like that downplays his importance in a way I didn't mean to. What I meant was that purely from a game design perspective getting Yasuhara back on board would be much more significant.
 
Well I'd like to think it's a combination of all three of the original guys. I love Sonic CD but the impression I've gotten is that in terms of programming it was an absolute mess in comparison to what Naka could regularly pull off on weaker hardware, and Yasuhara's level design prowess is also noticeably absent from SCD more 'playground'-like zones.

Simialrly Naka was still pretty closely involved with Sonic far after the series' highpoint and following downward spiral, and the whole 'realistic' slant the series took happened after Oshima left during Sonic Adventure's development.
 
Please keep in mind that the Sonic Retro forums are so damn cynical at times, they make NeoGAF look like the #1 Modern Sonic Fan club.
 
RobbieNick said:
Please keep in mind that the Sonic Retro forums are so damn cynical at times, they make NeoGAF look like the #1 Modern Sonic Fan club.
Click to expand...
Yep. My toes curl whenever I venture onto their forums from the funk of their misguided loyalty to the original 16bit versions. Obsessive much?
 
Well, the site is called Sonic Retro. That would be like going to originaltrilogy.com and asking "why do all these dudes hate the prequels so much?"
 
I agree for the most part, but it's not like the 3DS version was getting glowing previews anywhere else. Plus after they were the main place criticising Sonic 4 and turned out to be completely right, they deserve some credit (plus I'm kind of relying on their brainpower to mod in the proper classic physics so taking pot shots would be hypocritical).
 
Me and Robbie have started making the OT, we have made good progress. Just posting this cause don't want anyone else to start making one, and where we talked about doing it was a few pages ago, so yeah some people might of missed that. Can't wait to get it up, but he said we had to wait till Wednesday.
 
ShadiWulf said:
Me and Robbie have started making the OT, we have made good progress. Just posting this cause don't want anyone else to start making one, and where we talked about doing it was a few pages ago, so yeah some people might of missed that. Can't wait to get it up, but he said we had to wait till Wednesday.
Click to expand...
I just want to say: take a look at previous OPs for big releases - Halo: Reach, MGS4 - and look how they convey the game from the header all the way through. The 'theme' of the OT is key because it sells the game to those undecided.

Also, make sure you can update it very regularly pre- and post-release. Check out the Reach OT for how this should be done IMO.
 
I would've bought a CE...It's the 20th anniversary of a series I like, so it's kind of disappointing that I'm not really getting something extra to help celebrate the event with alongside the game. Though I wish people in the business would be more... "blunt" and "straightforward", I guess, when it comes to answering these questions, instead of waffling their way through their answers. What I want to know is why it wasn't possible; I don't really care about the statue myself, but I'd like the other extras.

TSSZ said:
NYCC: Generations CE EU Exclusivity “One of Those Business Things,” Says Webber

“There’s a lot of stuff that goes into making (a) collector’s edition, actually for any game,” Webber said. “They’re not actually that easy to make to get into stores, and to get in any great quantity, unless you’re very, very assuredly knowing you’re going to be seeing mass, mass amounts of orders.”

I asked if the region exclusivity was based on demand–in effect a business decision–but Webber noted “it’s one of those business things that I just, I don’t get to go into.”

“It could partially be a demand thing, it’s not really just that though. It was a number of different things that kind of came together. So, I can’t really say it’s demand, or just demand. We did explore it quite heavily over here. We did want to bring it over.” [....] “So we understood that there would be a massive demand for it, and don’t ever think that we didn’t try."
Click to expand...
Source: TSSZ

TSSZ also has an audio interview with Ruby here, but I haven't listened to it yet.

edit; partial transcription, mostly me paraphrasing because I never take notes word-for-word because that would be silly!:

Q: 3DS version delayed to next year?
A: Won't comment on rumours and speculation

Q: Homing attack for Classic Sonic?
A: In the 3DS version, yes. Needed to reach different paths for some points in levels.

Q: PC version--will there be other features?
A: It's very close to PS360 versions. (I'm guessing probably not, then...)

Q: What about the preorder bonus for PC, because the console versions get Casino Night Zone stuff?
A: We'll see, but that's something to keep an eye out for the near future.

With regards to the PAL CE:
-Importing the CE from [PAL Regions] is a good idea.
-The documentary DVD from the PAL CE--dunno if it's Region 0 or Region 2. (I personally think it's going to be Region 2)

Q: Level Selection--who had the most influence over the level selection? Sonic Team or the fans?
A: It was about equal, but not 50/50 (because obviously fans will choose more Genesis levels than the other ones). But even then, fan input and internal input were about equal when it came to level selection.

Q: 20 years of history, but we have 6 levels from the adventure era onwards, but 3 covering the first 7-8 years of history. We have Sky Sanctuary that kinda covers Sonic 3, but why was Sonic 3 passed over for this?
A: Sonic 3 isn't passed over. It gets attention in Sonic Heroes (Hydrocity). Even though you don't see a level from it, there are a lot of references to it. But in Japan, Sonic 3 and S+K were initially planned as one package, but ended up being broken up, so that's another reason.

Edit: Straight transcription of that answer:
"Um. Actually Sonic 3 isn't actually wrapped over, er, crossed-over. Sonic 3 gets a fair bit of attention in Sonic Heroes; the level that we've pulled from there, whenever you play through it and take the lower path, you'll notice a little reference to Hydrocity Zone with the shimming poles. What I can tell you, though, even though you don't see a level from it, it wasn't that we just glossed over it. There are a lot of references to it, in addition to which... Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles--I mentioned this on the SEGA Forums a little while back--but as some fans may probably know, but Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were initially the same game. So Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles on the Japanese [side] were always going to be part of the same game and then they were eventually later broken up, so..."
Click to expand...

Q: Mission mode! How does it tie into gameplay? There seems like there are going to be five missions per character for each level (totalling 10 missions per level). What kind of missions are these?
A: Some of the missions include ghost time trials where you face off against a preset ghost where you race to the end of the stage. Some of them are interesting where badniks are giant and you have to get past them. There's a lot of variety in there, and that's a lot of bonus content for players.

Q: What about Chaos Emeralds? I've seen them around.
A: There are Chaos Emeralds in this game. That's all I can say.
 
Dark Schala said:
Q: Homing attack for Classic Sonic?
A: In the 3DS version, yes. Needed to reach different paths for some points in levels.
Click to expand...
Yeah... I was considering the 3DS version, but this is really not helping.
 
Sonic 3 release dates:
USA
February 2, 1994
Europe
February, 1994
Japan
May 27, 1994

S&K release dates:
USA
October 18, 1994
Europe
November, 1994
Japan
October 18, 1994

They were most definitely not released together, unless he's talking about the whole "S&K is just leftovers from Sonic 3" incident.
 
Dark Schala said:
Q: 3DS version delayed to next year?
A: Won't comment on rumours and speculation
Click to expand...

That's almost certainly a yes, then.

Sega1991 said:
They were most definitely not released together, unless he's talking about the whole "S&K is just leftovers from Sonic 3" incident.
Click to expand...

It's worded a little oddly, but I'd say that's the case.
 
Sega1991 said:
They were most definitely not released together, unless he's talking about the whole "S&K is just leftovers from Sonic 3" incident.
Click to expand...
He kind of waffled his way through that answer.

Here's a straight transcription (with some minor syntax corrections):

"Um. Actually Sonic 3 isn't actually wrapped over, er, crossed-over. Sonic 3 gets a fair bit of attention in Sonic Heroes; the level that we've pulled from there, whenever you play through it and take the lower path, you'll notice a little reference to Hydrocity Zone with the shimming poles. What I can tell you, though, even though you don't see a level from it, it wasn't that we just glossed over it. There are a lot of references to it, in addition to which... Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles--I mentioned this on the SEGA Forums a little while back--but as some fans may probably know, but Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were initially the same game. So Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles on the Japanese [side] were always going to be part of the same game and then they were eventually later broken up, so..."
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, that's definitely the "started development as one game but were split into two before release" thing.

Answer looks less like waffling and more like scrambling to justify the lack of proper representation for Sonic 3 in Generations, though.
 
Astrosanity said:
I agree for the most part, but it's not like the 3DS version was getting glowing previews anywhere else. Plus after they were the main place criticising Sonic 4 and turned out to be completely right, they deserve some credit (plus I'm kind of relying on their brainpower to mod in the proper classic physics so taking pot shots would be hypocritical).
Click to expand...

The fact is that last SG3DS preview were not so bad, actually.
Maybe they're exaggerating, because I saw last weeks positive feedback from hands on from various sites (also Nintendo World Report, and some of these said that all the problems of the early build, especially the framerate, have been resolved in the newest one... ).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Unleashed Recompiled : Sonic Unleashed Unofficial PC port released and Xbox 360 Recompiler
2 3 4
161
13K
cartman414 replied
Sonic Mania Plus 240p Wii version
13
2K
Soodanim replied
Sonic x Shadow: Generations - coming to Switch 2
2
255
Mownoc replied
Digital Foundry: Sonic x Shadow Generations - An Excellent Game... With Issues - PC/PS5/Xbox/Switch Tech Review
3
2K
adamsapple replied
PowerWash Simulator 2 announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
News 
31
1K
amigastar replied
Top Bottom