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Sonic Generations |OT| What Sonic can learn from Sonic

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Never played Unleashed after playing this getting the itch too...any good?
Half of it is good.

I'm playing the Wii version now (eh, I might make an LTTP thread when I actually finish it; not sure yet, depending on how busy I get this semester). I'm not feeling bad about the lack of a hub since there's nothing to make me semi-nauseous in the Wii version, but the boost bars feel off. The HD and SD versions do feel like different games. And it's kind of weird playing both versions of Unleashed in an LTTP fashion within months of each other. @_@

Er... if you really really really really really really really want to play Unleashed, you should probably invest in the HD version. The distribution of Werehog to Sonic levels in the Wii version are quite imbalanced in favour of the Werehog (and those stages aren't necessarily terribad from a gameplay perspective (the bosses can be poor), but they're oh-so-long and they wear out their welcome after 10 minutes -- do note that the lengthiness also occurs in the HD version).

The Sonic stages aren't bad. I had played Colours prior, so I was used to an entirely 2D side-scrolling plane. This seems to focus a lot from a z-axis perspective and it bugged me a little, but you can see that it is like a prototype to Colours' and Generations' 2D level format. You must also find sun and moon medals to unlock new levels which might not be appealing to you. You have to explore the hub worlds in the HD version and do sidequests in order to get more medals.

Music is fantastic. There's one theme you'll get sick and tired of, but the music is great. I really do love the aesthetics and lighting in this game as well. A lot of it is gorgeous at times.

Anth0ny said:
Kinda. Got busy, and Dark Souls got addictive.

I'll continue when I get school under control...
There's nothing wrong with quitting and not seeing it through to the end, though.
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Never played Unleashed after playing this getting the itch too...any good?

Play the HD version, it's supposedly pretty decent. I played the PS2 version (which is the same as the Wii version, only with worse graphics), and while the daytime levels were good, the werehog levels were awful. The combat is crap, they drag on forever and ever and ever, and there's far too many of them compared to the daytime levels. Also the game gets Nintendo Hard once you reach Robotnikland.

Hell yes new avatar. At least I hope nobody else got this.

But speaking of bad Sonic art, anyone see these before? http://www.gamebooks.org/sonic.htm

Even Sonic wants to kill Amy

http://www.gamebooks.org/gallery/sonic5.jpg
 

RobbieNick

Junior Member
These images need their own topic. It's getting out of hand in here.



Thanks God for Tracy Yardley. Someone who actually gets everyone's proportions correct so they don't look like freaks.

tumblr_lxwkl7jSjt1rnsvazo1_400.png


Baby Knuckles thinks he's a Sega stud. Also, why is his mother black all of the sudden? Only half of her body is a silhouette.

Actually, I just noticed he's oddly spelling out "Sega Saturn"
 
I've never been into the comics.

My god.

Is this what was going on in the comic series?

Archie's published at least a Sonic book a month, sometimes more with all the spinoffs, since June of 1993, fast approaching 20 years. There is a LOT of crap in that pile to choose from.

The comic on the whole is much more solid now, better in line with the games and generally not as deformed.
 

TheOGB

Banned
Never played Unleashed after playing this getting the itch too...any good?

You might be better off not playing it at this point. There are so many improvements from Unleashed to Colors to Generations that it might be awkward going back and feeling heavier and more out of control, pressing a different button for homing attacks, etc.

That and the other half of the game isn't as good.

And I don't like the HUD, but that's irrelevant.
 
Archie's published at least a Sonic book a month, sometimes more with all the spinoffs, since June of 1993, fast approaching 20 years. There is a LOT of crap in that pile to choose from.

And, more specifically, up until about three or so years ago, was largely staffed by people who had long since run creatively bankrupt and seemed content to let the comic stagnate.

It's always a pretty long conversation whenever people want to discuss what happened to the comic, but basically, they got some fresh blood in the system that has been having way more fun with the stories being written, and the overall quality of the whole book has gone up pretty significantly (not just writing, but art, etc.).

I hesitate to say it's the kind of thing anybody "should" read, because I don't know if I trust myself to be an unbiased judge of something like that, but as somebody who started reading this comic since about issue #6, stopped reading somewhere after issue #100, going back and reading some of the newer stuff by the new writer has been somewhat enjoyable, despite the sometimes simplistic plotlines.

The higher-ups at Archie must like him, too, because since getting his start with Sonic, he's also writing for a few of their other books now, including their recently launched (and apparently really good!) Mega Man series.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
I hesitate to say it's the kind of thing anybody "should" read, because I don't know if I trust myself to be an unbiased judge of something like that, but as somebody who started reading this comic since about issue #6, stopped reading somewhere after issue #100, going back and reading some of the newer stuff by the new writer has been somewhat enjoyable, despite the sometimes simplistic plotlines.

The higher-ups at Archie must like him, too, because since getting his start with Sonic, he's also writing for a few of their other books now, including their recently launched (and apparently really good!) Mega Man series.
I completely agree. I stopped reading quite a bit after you had stopped because the storylines were just getting nonsensical (well, this was one of the reasons anyway). Now that I've gone back and read quite a few, I'm kind of enjoying what I'm reading.

And I really really really like what they're doing with the Mega Man comics. They're quite enjoyable to read. I think they complement the manga series pretty well (ex: Megamix, Gigamix, etc).

and then there's eggman land
Eggmanland sucks. :/

...oh boy oh boy I can't wait for the Wii version of that.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
beat the game today!

I really enjoyed it. :)
As I keep saying, I think it's a pleasant love letter to fans, either recent or from the past.

I do wonder if Mama Robotnik is going to continue with the game at all. I'd look at it more like a normal platformer, because the Classic Sonic bits do perform that sort of action if you're looking for that.

...I will have to forewarn about Classic Planet Wisp, though. If a lot of the players don't like that one, I doubt Mama Robotnik would.
 
I've been going back to this game quite often this week, because I've been busy and it's so easy to play a level or two in short bursts. I've been tackling the Challenges to get those S-ratings and I'm actually enjoying those quite a bit more than I expected to.

The higher-ups at Archie must like him, too, because since getting his start with Sonic, he's also writing for a few of their other books now, including their recently launched (and apparently really good!) Mega Man series.

Archie's Mega Man is SO GOOD. The artwork is spot on, and you can tell that it's being written by an honest-to-goodness Mega-Fan. I'm hoping they can expand the same way they have with the Sonic book - maybe delve into X territory or even Trigger.
 
I don't have a problem with basing the appearances of most of the levels on the last two generations or remixing them. It wasn't how the environments looked that made those games off-putting.

I wouldn't bother playing Sonic Unleashed because of the werehog, but I love the new version of Rooftop Run. Obviously I wouldn't try Sonic 06 but liked Crisis City, it's not like that level had the ridiculous glitches/story from that game and it actually contains some exciting uses of the physics engine. The Sonic Heroes level doesn't contain the enemy HP bars or have character-switching that ruined the pace. You know the stuff that made those games bad? It's a shame some people just see those levels briefly and assume they'll be bad because they have a similar appearance to the newer games.

But of cause some people wouldn't be happy unless it was sprites and it was just based on the old zones/old mechanics, despite how aesthetically impressive the newer zones can be and that they have their own strengths.
 

qq more

Member
I enjoyed Dragon Road's Wii version. Its Night counterpart is very fucking awful though, same to Cool Edge's Night stage too.

Dozens of tiny (slippy in Cool Edge) platforms over a giant pit and monsters everywhere. Fuck.that.game.
 

Emitan

Member
I just started playing this tonight. I love it! Even the modern sections which I thought I would hate! The last 3D Sonic game I've liked is SA2:B for reference (didn't like Colors).

I've beaten the first 6 acts and have been doing every single mission even though I can fight the boss already. I already have a Chaos Emerald and 2 Boss Keys.
 

Tizoc

Member
Ah BTW when's the Social Sonic thread gonna be up?
I wouldn't mind contributing info in regards to the Archie comics if possible.
 
But of cause some people wouldn't be happy unless it was sprites and it was just based on the old zones/old mechanics, despite how aesthetically impressive the newer zones can be and that they have their own strengths.
I think you're confusing people complaining about the lack of variety with level themes (everything is either a green, tropical ruin area, a Robotnik factory or city level) with aesthetics. I don't even really like any modern games before Colors and I still thought passing on zones like Ice Cap, Red Mountain, Hang Castle or Dragon Road were stopping the game from having more diversity.

The game still looks fantastic and the design team did a great job with level design (besides Planet Wisp and I honestly think reading responses here I prefer it in Generations more than most; it just goes on for too long), regardless of how limited the tropes they chose were.
 
I think you're confusing people complaining about the lack of variety with level themes (everything is either a green, tropical ruin area, a Robotnik factory or city level) with aesthetics. I don't even really like any modern games before Colors and I still thought passing on zones like Ice Cap, Red Mountain, Hang Castle or Dragon Road were stopping the game from having more diversity.

The game still looks fantastic and the design team did a great job with level design (besides Planet Wisp and I honestly think reading responses here I prefer it in Generations more than most; it just goes on for too long), regardless of how limited the tropes they chose were.

To be fair Crisis City, Rooftop Run and City Escape are radically different. One involves running down an enormous clock tower in the middle of a colourful carnival with fireworks, one involves a whole city burning and falling apart, and one involves Sonic having a board, and being chased by the special forces' robots with a truck and saws. There's a good balance between levels being influenced by the real world (San Francisco, Western Europe) yet containing plenty of fantasy elements, Looking back at the Megedrive classics as well, Casino Night was inspired by Las Vegas but took it into a crazy direction, Aquatic Ruins was influenced by Aztec ruins in Mexico, Sandopolis was influenced by Egypt but they as well were not based too much in the real world.

Sonic 2 is easily my favourite one and most of those levels of that could be narrowed down to "Mechanical level" (Wing Fortress, Death Egg, Oil Ocean, Chemical Plant) or "Natural Level" (Emerald Hill, Aquatic Ruins, Mystic Cave) They'll both very varied games.
 

Juicy Bob

Member
The fact is, both the critical and player responses to the main zones in this game have been overwhelmingly positive. Most people seem to agree that both the Classic and Modern acts are great. What I can't understand is why SEGA don't see that they're on to a winner and want to give us more as DLC. I'd love to see Mystic Caves, Hydrocity and Lost World given the Generations treatment and a Sonic 06 level like Tropical Jungle made actually playable.
 
The fact is, both the critical and player responses to the main zones in this game have been overwhelmingly positive. Most people seem to agree that both the Classic and Modern acts are great. What I can't understand is why SEGA don't see that they're on to a winner and want to give us more as DLC. I'd love to see Mystic Caves, Hydrocity and Lost World given the Generations treatment and a Sonic 06 level like Tropical Jungle made actually playable.

The truth is there probably is DLC coming, but it was preplanned, in some internal scheduling structure that had to be approved by higher-ranking Sega execs and can't be changed. They decided X date was optimal, and even if the reaction was good, X date is the first day they're going to actually start talking about it.

I mean, it's really obvious in the hub that they left room for at least one new doorway (1 new mission for Classic and Modern) for each stage, there's an elevator on the right side of Planet Wisp's entrance that leads up to absolutely nothing. And of course all that white space between Egg Dragoon and Time Eater. My guess is one major new zone, with 12 missions, and 2 new missions (1C/1M) for each of the existing zones.
 
The truth is there probably is DLC coming, but it was preplanned, in some internal scheduling structure that had to be approved by higher-ranking Sega execs and can't be changed. They decided X date was optimal, and even if the reaction was good, X date is the first day they're going to actually start talking about it.

I mean, it's really obvious in the hub that they left room for at least one new doorway (1 new mission for Classic and Modern) for each stage, there's an elevator on the right side of Planet Wisp's entrance that leads up to absolutely nothing. And of course all that white space between Egg Dragoon and Time Eater. My guess is one major new zone, with 12 missions, and 2 new missions (1C/1M) for each of the existing zones.

Actually, replaying the PC version... that elevator does lead up to something, it's just none of us paid attention to it until after the fact - that's where you find the boss key for Planet Wisp.
 
If there's only one new Zone planned as DLC then while I'd personally hope for more it'd likely be Ice Cap; highly requested, a convenient way to reuse the snowboarding gameplay from CE and they can say it's a part of both the classic and Dreamcast eras.
 

J@hranimo

Banned
^I like that idea. The amount of zones they could put it is limitless but it's really based on how much Sega/Sonic Team want to do.

I really want some DLC levels!
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
If there's only one new Zone planned as DLC than while I'd personally hope for more it'd likely be Ice Cap; highly requested, a convenient way to reuse the snowboarding gameplay from CE and they can say it's a part of both the classic and Dreamcast eras.
Though I would be sorely disappointed if theoretical Generations Ice Cap level's music comes from the PC version of Sonic 3. I mean, it kinda fits, but I remember always wanting to get past that damn barrel as a kid to get to Ice Cap for the music alone.
 

J@hranimo

Banned
Though I would be sorely disappointed if theoretical Generations Ice Cap level's music comes from the PC version of Sonic 3. I mean, it kinda fits, but I remember always wanting to get past that damn barrel as a kid to get to Ice Cap for the music alone.

I remember stumbling upon this one lonely disc of S&K Collection several years ago in an office supply store. I played the hell out of it...but the replaced songs in Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base always puzzled me how the songs were different from the Genesis version. That's when I looked it up and discovered that Michael Jackson music rights controversy. Very interesting. I bet that's some sort of a reason why those songs weren't included in Generations.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
I remember stumbling upon this one lonely disc of S&K Collection several years ago in an office supply store. I played the hell out of it...but the replaced songs in Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base always puzzled me how the songs were different from the Genesis version. That's when I looked it up and discovered that Michael Jackson music rights controversy. Very interesting. I bet that's some sort of a reason why those songs weren't included in Generations.
I wonder if that's truly the case.

Given that they seemed to have spent a lot of time getting permission from many different people to use various BGMs/songs or to remix things in Generations, if they needed to get permission from the right people regarding those themes, would they have done it... er, if it didn't cost a lot, of course.

Now that is creative. Love it.
 
So its 26 sgd for me.

Should i buy it?

Did you play Unleashed or Colours? If not, have you seen video footage of either/understand how they play? Did this experiences cause you to projectile vomit green eyes and boost buttons?

If you answered yes to either of the first two questions and no to the third, then yes.
 

RobbieNick

Junior Member

As do I.

Also, Extra Credits wants everyone who covers video games NOT to attend or cover E3 if the ESA keeps supporting SOPA. As someone who writes on two different game related sites, I'm not sure how I feel on this. If SOPA is still around during this time, then...yea. It's probably for the best.
 

Billy Lee

Member
I've not managed to play much of this game yet but I am enjoying it so far. I've been a big Sonic fan since the very first one on the Megadrive. However the game structure feels a bit disjointed. I feel like I don't know how I should be playing it as you can select the stages and challenges in any order you want. Do you guys complete each challenge before moving onto the next stage or just do enough to unlock the next set of levels?

As with almost any game that lets you choose the order of stages, there's no feeling of progression like in the old Sonic games. You don't feel like you're working your way closer to the final goal but are just doing the stages for no real reason story-wise.

I don't want to sound like I'm knocking the game. Like I say, I love Sonic and I can see this is a really good game. But I find it hard to find a reason to play it other than kill a few minutes before going to bed. I guess I just don't know how to play it.
 
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