• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sonic Generations |OT| What Sonic can learn from Sonic

Jo Shishido's Cheeks said:
I feel that some of the personality is missing from the Classic segment.
Little touches like adding Sonic's 'push' animation and having animals break free from defeated enemies would've gone a long way in this regard.
I'm still hugely impressed overall. Little nitpicks here and there but none of them matter in the face of Sega finally getting what 2D Sonic is all about!
I agree, having sonic push when walking into a wall is a very sonic thing, ah well. I miss animals in bots too.
 

Tobe

Member
Dark Schala said:
Excellent. Thanks for the clarification.

Good job, SEGA. Doing all the right things here.

lets just hope the guys that did the port are doing the right things too.
 
RobbieNick said:
?? Who the heck ever plays sonic for high scores? The point is to get the best time in a speed run. Oh wait. You were just joking weren't you? I fell for it.

Getting a good time is one aspect of getting a good score. Time attack I find boring, but mastering a level by getting as many rings as possible, not getting touched, hitting on all score oppurtunities in one perfect run, that is so much better.

The point of a speed run is to do as little of the level as possible, I dont like that. Doing a perfect score run involves mastering all aspects of the level.
 

Satchel

Banned
I prefer playing as Modern Sonic (I'm 31) is there something wrong with me?

I really REALLY liked the daytime levels of Unleashed though, I would have loved a game that was only levels like Apotos.
 

JMizzlin

Member
Had HEAPS of fun with Modern Sonic in this new demo. Was so flashy, and the best part was I could actually see what was coming up ahead of me. Classic Sonic I kept running into shit and slowly down my momentum. Modern was awesome though, almost awesome enough to make me want to buy the game.
 
Yeah, I still think the automated 'just let go of the controller and look at all this random shit happen' parts are pointless and as that video shows are easily broken when you try to interact with them, but they're still less frequent than they used to be. Not trying to justify them, just saying it's still something Generations is (somewhat) improving on earlier 3D games.

They'd of been better off making that part more like the truck chase in City Escape to be honest; make it a case of having to avoid him by changing rail to rail instead of him just... kind of being there for no particular reason.
 

Anth0ny

Member
2w2la35.jpg


Things are too big in this game. Maybe that's why the physics feel weird.

And thank God for Japanese voices. Now the cutscenes will be tolerable.
 

ezodagrom

Member
About the PC version of Generations and Devil's Details appearing as the developer on Steam.

I was curious about who ported Virtua Tennis 4 for the PC, so I searched for the VT4 PC credits on youtube, and...surprise, Devil's Details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSBLZjnLPlg
It's at 5:45 on the video.

About the Virtua Tennis 4 PC port, other than the save corruption issue (I bet that issue wouldn't exist if they didn't use Games for Windows LIVE), from what I've heard the port was rather decent, it didn't have many graphics options, only resolution, anti-aliasing and vsync, but looks like it ran rather well in a wide range of PCs (someone even commented in a PC hardware forum that the game used his GTX580 less than Firefox, haha).
 

Teknoman

Member
ezodagrom said:
About the PC version of Generations and Devil's Details appearing as the developer on Steam.

I was curious about who ported Virtua Tennis 4 for the PC, so I searched for the VT4 PC credits on youtube, and...surprise, Devil's Details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSBLZjnLPlg
It's at 5:45 on the video.

About the Virtua Tennis 4 PC port, other than the save corruption issue (I bet that issue wouldn't exist if they didn't use Games for Windows LIVE), from what I've heard the port was rather decent, it didn't have many graphics options, only resolution, anti-aliasing and vsync, but looks like it ran rather well in a wide range of PCs (someone even commented in a PC hardware forum that the game used his GTX580 less than Firefox, haha).

Honestly thats all I need for Generations.
 

Bruiserk

Member
Played the demo today, got a good feeling from it.

+ Good enough framerate (except for the part where you can smash through the bridge playing as modern Sonic. Takes a huge dip there).
+ Very pretty game. So colorful.
+ Music is good as always in a Sonic game.
- Omochao >_o

I played on the PS3 version.
 
Anth0ny said:
Things are too big in this game. Maybe that's why the physics feel weird.

They are too big, but that doesn't really have much to do with it. He just doesn't keep momentum the way he should. Rolling downhill should increase momentum, not diminish it.
 

ezodagrom

Member
Teknoman said:
Honestly thats all I need for Generations.
I've been checking a few videos of Virtua Tennis 4 PC, if what this uploader says in the description is true, Virtua Tennis 4 even runs on an awful Intel GMA, which is way below the minimum requirements for VT4 (Geforce 7800GT or Radeon X1800).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWi9hluv6aE

The video shows the configuration tool there, it has one more graphics setting I forgot in my previous post. There's the resolution, anti-aliasing, vsync, and a shader model option.
In the Shader Model option there's an option for Shader Model 3.0 (DX9c) or Shader Model 2.0 (DX9). Those are the only 2 I've seen and probably they're the only options in the Shader Model setting.
Well, we can think of them like this: SM3.0 = high quality, SM2.0 = low quality.

Anyway, if Generations is like Virtua Tennis 4 (which had an HD4870 or GTX260 for recommended requirements), it's possible that the requirements might be exaggerated.
 
ezodagrom said:
it's possible that the requirements might be exaggerated.

Hopefully... I'd love to play it on my Macbook. I don't really care about high end graphics, I'm just interested in the mods.


Dice said:
LOL Sonic fans can never be pleased. You'd never see this shit with Mario games.

That's because it's never an issue with Mario. If you haven't noticed, Sonic hasn't had a great track record with physics (Edit: and/or games) lately.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Anth0ny said:
Things are too big in this game. Maybe that's why the physics feel weird.
LOL Sonic fans can never be pleased. You'd never see this shit with Mario games.
 
Teknoman said:
Well there was that one point in the NSMB Wii OT where people were complaining about horrible controls/Mario not moving like he used to.

I didn't have any issues with it, but that's true, he did control a bit differently. It's a valid complaint.
 
TheCongressman1 said:
I didn't have any issues with it, but that's true, he did control a bit differently. It's a valid complaint.

I hated NSMBW's physics because they were bad, not because they were different. In a precision platformer like NSMBW, the character needs to have a snappy jump and high traction.
 

TheOGB

Banned
Oh man, is it OT time already? Sweet OP. Very festive.


Man oh man... so do we have a direct confirmation of this game not sucking yet? It sounds like we do, or at least should.
 
The Xtortionist said:
I hated NSMBW's physics because they were bad, not because they were different. In a precision platformer like NSMBW, the character needs to have a snappy jump and high traction.

Like I said, I didn't have a problem with it. But again, others did and that's why I don't go "lol, Mario fanz alwais complane", when someone brings up a good point. Same for Sonic, if the physics aren't right then why shouldn't we complain?
 

ShadiWulf

Member
TheOGB said:
Oh man, is it OT time already? Sweet OP. Very festive.


Man oh man... so do we have a direct confirmation of this game not sucking yet? It sounds like we do, or at least should.
check out the sky sanctuary and seaside hill videos in the OP, that should be a good enough confirmation =)
 
TheCongressman1 said:
Like I said, I didn't have a problem with it. But again, others did and that's why I don't go "lol, Mario fanz alwais complane", when someone brings up a good point. Same for Sonic, if the physics aren't right then why shouldn't we complain?

The difference to me is this. Classic Sonic's physics in Generations aren't 100% faithful to the original games, but they work properly and don't bring the experience down. In the context of the game's level design, they're quite alright.

In NSBMW's case, the physics actually make the game less fun to play by being counter-intuitive to the challenges presented to the player. Snappy physics similar to SMB3 or SMW would have been more appropriate. You might not agree, but hopefully you see where I'm coming from on that.

my thoughts.
 

Teknoman

Member
I dunno...since Mario seems to play differently in all of his major titles, I really had no problem adjusting to NSMB Wii, and played just fine/had fun with it. I can understand the classic Sonic issue being different since you're actually playing stages that are close remakes of the original stages (as far as the stages from Sonic 1-3/Knuckles).

What I really cant wait to see are more modern Sonic classic stages, classic Sonic modern stages, and an actual fun to play version of Crisis City.
 

Anth0ny

Member
The Xtortionist said:
The difference to me is this. Classic Sonic's physics in Generations aren't 100% faithful to the original games, but they work properly and don't bring the experience down. In the context of the game's level design, they're quite alright.

In NSBMW's case, the physics actually make the game less fun to play by being counter-intuitive to the challenges presented to the player. Snappy physics similar to SMB3 or SMW would have been more appropriate. You might not agree, but hopefully you see where I'm coming from on that.

my thoughts.

I have the exact same thoughts towards Generations. Snappy physics similar to Sonic 2 or 3 would have been more appropriate. These slightly shittier physics bring the experience down for me.

But this game is still going to be awesome =)
 
Teknoman said:
I can understand the classic Sonic issue being different since you're actually playing stages that are close remakes of the original stages (as far as the stages from Sonic 1-3/Knuckles).

Not even close.

I have the exact same thoughts towards Generations. Snappy physics similar to Sonic 2 or 3 would have been more appropriate. These slightly shittier physics bring the experience down for me.

I think they're fine for what Green Hill requires of the player. It remains to be seen if platforming challenges later in the game are too much, given the games physics.
 
ColonelColon said:

Honestly, I think that's actually pretty clever, when you consider some of the other ways scripting has broken in Sonic games.

Teknoman said:
Well there was that one point in the NSMB Wii OT where people were complaining about horrible controls/Mario not moving like he used to.

Yeah, the controls in NSMB Wii are awful. Mario has way, way, way too much momentum. (a friend prompted me to make this video a few months ago after we had a debate on the subject)

Plus, Super Mario Sunshine was a far from perfect game. Probably still not "terrible", so to speak, but way below par for that franchise. Bland environments, bland music, ruined Yoshi, etc.
 
Think the main difference here is that Sonic is far more of a 'physics' platformer than Mario, or at least it is to me. Especially with Sonic 1 it almost comes down to micromanaging your speed; when you want to roll to speed up or run to have more control, deciding how to approach badniks and using the game's physics to accomplish the puzzle-like terrain (Spring Yard's enormous half-pipe for instance, which Sonic 4 bizarrely reuses and hence completely botches the solution to it up).

With Mario the core mechanics you have to get 'right' to make it seem like a proper Mario side-scroller to me seem to come down more to how the enemies layouts are handled and how the jump works, with the run button being important more because it gives you more variety in how you handle a jump rather than how it functions as a 'run' button initself (bring that up simply because I remember Mario having a weird 'run' being a complaint in NSMBWii which I didn't share).

Sort of why the bounce after jumping off an enemy in Generations not changing based on how high you jumped onto them before-hand doesn't annoy me (unlike the borked spindash and rolling); unless you had a level that was built around that small side-effect like that one huge jump in Hydrocity, you'd never really notice. It really just wasn't a part of the whole 'strategic-speed' thing I felt all the older Sonic games (including CD since the ability to time travel revolved entirely around that) had going for them, so I don't feel ST was wrong in removing it.

No idea if the above makes sense outside of my own head, but it's how I've always seen the two styles, and it may be why even if Nintendo and SEGA were both all for a proper crossover platformer even with somebody like EAD Tokyo behind it it'd be a behemoth to work out the logistics behind.
 
Astrosanity said:
Think the main difference here is that Sonic is far more of a 'physics' platformer than Mario, or at least it is to me. Especially with Sonic 1 it almost comes down to micromanaging your speed; when you want to roll to speed up or run to have more control, deciding how to approach badniks and using the game's physics to accomplish the puzzle-like terrain (Spring Yard's enormous half-pipe for instance, which Sonic 4 bizarrely reuses and hence completely botches the solution to it up).

I think it comes down to level design and mechanics. I totally agree about Sonic 4 - that half pipe shouldn't have existed with those roll mechanics. At least in Generations GHZ, the physics and level design don't seem at odds with each other. Different as the physics may be, I accept them for that reason. Hopefully there isn't a spot later in the game that's comparable to S4's Casino Street half pipe or card platforming section.

(bring that up simply because I remember Mario having a weird 'run' being a complaint in NSMBWii which I didn't share).

In NSMBW, Mario was very weighty...he accelerated more slowly than usual and had low traction when coming to a stop. Felt like every fucking level was on ice. His jump was also fucked, suffering from "Brawl-syndrome"/being far too floaty. I had to frequently compensate for NSMB's controls, which is a huge red flag for "bad controls" in my book.
 

TheOGB

Banned
ShadiWulf said:
check out the sky sanctuary and seaside hill videos in the OP, that should be a good enough confirmation =)
holy damn son

so hyped

Hell, if Skylanders can do twice as good as I expected, that can only mean great things for Sonic.
Yes, I was one of those guys. But hey, at least the crow's decent. Not very great, but decent. ...Yeah.
 
D

Deleted member 21120

Unconfirmed Member
jump_button said:
This is looking more and more like a step back from Sonic Colours, and Sonic team really need to lean to zoom out
What's funny is that if you go back to Sonics 1-3, it's pretty zoomed in! But it really does feel much more cramped in Generations and Sonic "4". I wonder why.

My pros and cons of the demo:

+ Classic Sonic's fastest run animation looks really cool
+ Modern Sonic stages are fun for the most part (I've only ever played Sonics 1-3&K and "4" so this is the first time I've ever played these types of stages)
+ Music is great
+ Game really looks gorgeous up close

- Physics unfortunately still feel off, and this really ruins it for me; jumping especially is off; it feels like it snaps you off the ground and then gravity is super strong and pulls you back down, it really just feels weird, very unlike classic Sonic platforming
- Camera bob has been added when you land after jumping, this probably adds to the sense of being "pulled" back down
- This may just be me, but I have a hard time concentrating on the visuals a lot of the time in classic mode, it often looks very waxy; it's hard to pick out my character or what's around me, maybe it's the AA or something
- I noticed invisible "nudges" that affect you at certain locations; I was trying to go up a ramp and then to the left, and there was a nudge that didn't come from any object but it pushed me to the right
- Getting hit and losing your rings takes forever to recover from; this is also something that feels very different from the Genesis games and instantly takes me out of the experience as it reminds me that I'm playing a "different" Sonic game

After playing Sonic 4 and then this, I have to finally admit that they simply must not trying to replicate the classic feel. Anyone can pick up Sonic 2 and then play this and instantly tell that it feels very different. I hope that going for a new feel works out for them and makes the game feel more natural for today's players. The Genesis games were quite a long time ago, so I guess it's a bit silly to think that they'd try to replicate the feel of them. For me personally, though, it doesn't feel right.
 
Top Bottom