Waylon Drums
Member
Both versions of this game hit a wall for me somewhere just past the middle. I just stopped having any fun at all.
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Sonic Lost World Wii U & 3DS - Super Sonic Galaxy
- Thread starter RK128
- Start date
Hero of Legend
Member
It's pretty interesting just how much was cut in the PC port. Not just the obvious Yoshi and Zelda levels, but the entire multiplayer mode was cut IIRC, and of course anything to do with the co-op stuff with the 3DS version, and I don't think they brought over the Miiverse item sharing aspect did they?
Sonic Lost World? More like Sonic Lost CONTENT MIRITE? /jk
Sonic Lost World? More like Sonic Lost CONTENT MIRITE? /jk
Ludger Kresnik
Member
Played the HD version on PC, didn't enjoy it much at all. It started out pretty well, but got worse and worse as it went on.
It's almost godly compared to the 3DS version tho, which is my least favourite game in the whole franchise. Never again.
It's almost godly compared to the 3DS version tho, which is my least favourite game in the whole franchise. Never again.
RomanceDawn
Member
Ok the original post convinced me, I'm really going to sit down and try to play through this game.
GabeTheGrouch76
Member
Like a handful of Sonic games, it has a good concept but lousy execution across the board.
Parkour is way too stiff and restrictive to really get much mileage out of it. Add to that there's no momentum whatsoever to actually establish any sense of gameplay flow you could get when utilizing parkour over the levels. Parkour also should had been mapped to a button, because it is way too easy to enter the parkour running state. Also heavily under-utilized in the game overall, as half of the 3D levels are either tube levels or underground tunnel levels.
Too many unnecessary changes to Sonic's controls and movement. Sonic moves too slow at basic running speed (so you're pretty much required to use the run button if you actually want to move fast), the retooled homing attack is now more overpowered than before. There are also new moves that you're required to use in certain situations (like the charged homing attack and the kick homing attack) that the game does a terrible job of explaining.
Level design also has either have way too much emphasis on "genre roulette" stages and/or stages that are entirely reliant on one single gimmick (snowball stage in particular takes the cake in both instances) or are lacking in a variety of level gimmicks while also being largely generic in structure. There's also some ridiculous shoehorned usage of the Wisps (which unlike their implementation in Colors, control far worse and had no contextual reason to even show up in the game), and the difficulty also becomes ridiculously unbalanced during the later levels. This makes most of the stages alternate from being misplaced or uninspired, with the potential to also be surprisingly hard for the wrong reasons. There is also way too much automation as well, with extensive use of dash panels and springs everywhere.
Boss fights are also very easy too. They go down in very few hits and don't provide much of a challenge for at least half of the game.
Soundtrack is good but it's also a step back from past entries. Ohtani largely composed the soundtrack by himself and it really shows. It overall comes off as kinda weak compared to the group efforts in Unleashed, Colors, and Generations.
Artstyle is okay, but I hope it's a one-off thing. Generations (namely through its non-city levels) I felt nailed the general aesthetic for Sonic far better than most games, and I'd really prefer for that to come back. Maybe a compromise between the two artstyles would be good.
The game is a modern textbook example of Sonic Team throwing out everything they learned over the past few years for the sake of being experimental / different; and it really, really, shows. I do think moving away from the boost gameplay was actually a positive action but Sonic Team mishandled it badly.
And from what I've seen and read about the 3DS version, it's utter tripe. Level design for that game really goes down the toilet after the first few levels, turning the gameplay into something akin to doing your taxes (perform X task with object Z Y times to proceed). And that's to say nothing of the gyroscope controls for the special stages. Really wish Sega/Sonic Team would finally strip Dimps the keys to the handheld games (stepchild variants of Sonic Team's titles, original titles, or otherwise) and give them to a more competent developer, if not having Sonic Team do it in house by themselves.
Parkour is way too stiff and restrictive to really get much mileage out of it. Add to that there's no momentum whatsoever to actually establish any sense of gameplay flow you could get when utilizing parkour over the levels. Parkour also should had been mapped to a button, because it is way too easy to enter the parkour running state. Also heavily under-utilized in the game overall, as half of the 3D levels are either tube levels or underground tunnel levels.
Too many unnecessary changes to Sonic's controls and movement. Sonic moves too slow at basic running speed (so you're pretty much required to use the run button if you actually want to move fast), the retooled homing attack is now more overpowered than before. There are also new moves that you're required to use in certain situations (like the charged homing attack and the kick homing attack) that the game does a terrible job of explaining.
Level design also has either have way too much emphasis on "genre roulette" stages and/or stages that are entirely reliant on one single gimmick (snowball stage in particular takes the cake in both instances) or are lacking in a variety of level gimmicks while also being largely generic in structure. There's also some ridiculous shoehorned usage of the Wisps (which unlike their implementation in Colors, control far worse and had no contextual reason to even show up in the game), and the difficulty also becomes ridiculously unbalanced during the later levels. This makes most of the stages alternate from being misplaced or uninspired, with the potential to also be surprisingly hard for the wrong reasons. There is also way too much automation as well, with extensive use of dash panels and springs everywhere.
Boss fights are also very easy too. They go down in very few hits and don't provide much of a challenge for at least half of the game.
Soundtrack is good but it's also a step back from past entries. Ohtani largely composed the soundtrack by himself and it really shows. It overall comes off as kinda weak compared to the group efforts in Unleashed, Colors, and Generations.
Artstyle is okay, but I hope it's a one-off thing. Generations (namely through its non-city levels) I felt nailed the general aesthetic for Sonic far better than most games, and I'd really prefer for that to come back. Maybe a compromise between the two artstyles would be good.
The game is a modern textbook example of Sonic Team throwing out everything they learned over the past few years for the sake of being experimental / different; and it really, really, shows. I do think moving away from the boost gameplay was actually a positive action but Sonic Team mishandled it badly.
And from what I've seen and read about the 3DS version, it's utter tripe. Level design for that game really goes down the toilet after the first few levels, turning the gameplay into something akin to doing your taxes (perform X task with object Z Y times to proceed). And that's to say nothing of the gyroscope controls for the special stages. Really wish Sega/Sonic Team would finally strip Dimps the keys to the handheld games (stepchild variants of Sonic Team's titles, original titles, or otherwise) and give them to a more competent developer, if not having Sonic Team do it in house by themselves.
This i got rid of it after getting to the desert area. I like the wii u ver.
The Zelda level is a really nice, out-of-nowhere bonus. Some would call Sonic wearing Link's clothes blasphemy but I loved that stage. I do actually like the Wii U version of Lost World. As a whole, it's inoffensive and has some fun ideas in it. I just wish it spent more time evolving its existing ideas and less time introducing new ones. Honeycomb Highway is a really cool level, but it's really the only one like it in the entire game, for example. And I never really got the parkour to work. 3DS version controls much better, for those very few levels that are actually designed well (the first couple, the final boss, Sky Road act 3 minus the motion controlled rockets)
You can also feel the budget running out towards the end, as Sky Road is made out of recycled assets from the rest of the game, and Lava Mountain feels like there's a lot missing. You play the first stage that is just three bosses one after the other, with the cutscenes before implying some kind of level before that point, the second stage which is just a recycled stage from earlier in the game, one level, and then a reskin of the Sonic Colours final boss only nowhere near as cool.
The 3DS version of Lost World is the only Sonic game I've ever regretted buying.
You can also feel the budget running out towards the end, as Sky Road is made out of recycled assets from the rest of the game, and Lava Mountain feels like there's a lot missing. You play the first stage that is just three bosses one after the other, with the cutscenes before implying some kind of level before that point, the second stage which is just a recycled stage from earlier in the game, one level, and then a reskin of the Sonic Colours final boss only nowhere near as cool.
The 3DS version of Lost World is the only Sonic game I've ever regretted buying.
The Wii U/PC version is okay for the first half. Not great, but it's enjoyable enough. But with the latter half it feels like they at some point ran out of the budget and had to make due by making stages using assets from the first half of the game. Aside from that, most of the levels from that point on are more frustrating than fun.
Parkour controls are also kind of a mess. It doesn't feel like you have enough control over wall running especially. It also feels like the level designers knew this and made sure that most of the time you don't really need to use the parkour moves.
The 3DS version meanwhile is just terrible and one of the worst Sonic games. Aside from a couple of levels it's just incredibly tedious and frustrating. And while most other bad Sonic games are at least so broken that you can laugh at it, there's none of that in Lost World 3DS.
And fuck the gyroscope bits.
Parkour controls are also kind of a mess. It doesn't feel like you have enough control over wall running especially. It also feels like the level designers knew this and made sure that most of the time you don't really need to use the parkour moves.
The 3DS version meanwhile is just terrible and one of the worst Sonic games. Aside from a couple of levels it's just incredibly tedious and frustrating. And while most other bad Sonic games are at least so broken that you can laugh at it, there's none of that in Lost World 3DS.
And fuck the gyroscope bits.
Neoleo2143
Member
Bland game, the platforming is so dull and uninteresting, the bosses are boring, even the music doesn't reach for the standards set by the series. The difficulty spike at the end is obnoxious too. Only the art style and 60fps dedication hold out for this game. Some levels are good though like Honeycomb Highway and Windy Hill Zone was just solid all around.
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
I really wanted to like this game because it's not a terrible concept, but the controls and gameplay just feels so clunky. Nothing flows together like it should.
I feel the worst for Nintendo out of this. Out of the three Sonic titles they got in their deal the Olympics one is arguably the best, and that's pretty messed up.
I feel the worst for Nintendo out of this. Out of the three Sonic titles they got in their deal the Olympics one is arguably the best, and that's pretty messed up.
Loved your right up dude! Thanks for doing these.
I've been a fan of Sonic since the Genesis days and reading about them in all of your threads has made we want to go through and replay the games again. I dropped out for a while after Sonic Heroes and jumped back in after Generations so it has been cool to see what I missed.
Keep it up!
I've been a fan of Sonic since the Genesis days and reading about them in all of your threads has made we want to go through and replay the games again. I dropped out for a while after Sonic Heroes and jumped back in after Generations so it has been cool to see what I missed.
Keep it up!
Thank you
!Happy you've been enjoying my Sonic Retrospective so far
. One more Boom and a blast from the past is up next, so hope you look forward to it .balladofwindfishes
Member
So I've had this game in my Steam Library for awhile, and decided to play it today because I was bored.
Uhh... this game is pretty bad.
The controls are downright awful. Sonic handles terribly. Homing attack never goes where you want it to go. I feel like the homing attack regressed to Dreamcast levels. Some stuff homes in from too far a distance, and some stuff that should have homing tied to it, don't, like animal capsules and power up boxes, so they're frustrating to hit. Sonic sticks to things when you don't want him to stick to things, and then never does when you actually need him to. He runs too slow, but even at max speed, he turns too slow, so even though Sonic isn't moving particularly fast, it's still hard to get him to go where you want. You have to accelerate Sonic as if he was a car by holding a button and that is kind of stupid. The game really needs Generation's side step, there's lots of long straight-aways where you have to "change lanes" but have to sort of swerve around a bit to line up correctly. They decide to stick enemies in annoying places that aren't even fun to attack, so I just found myself damage boosting through everything and that seems to work alright. Which is weird, because the enemies seem to be placed to imply the game has a boost functionality, but it doesn't. Hit a wall moving just a little too fast, nope, now you're dead. Sonic doesn't jump high enough at all, and loses a weird amount of speed when jumping, leading you to sometimes feel like you're jerking around with speed. The drill power is near uncontrollable. Powers in general just feel kind of pointless. You also have to flail around trying to break power boxes because homing attack doesn't register them, and just touching them isn't enough. There's too many places where the game just abruptly stops your forward movement to wait for an enemy to pass or something.
The graphics and music are nice though. The cutscenes have been pretty great so far as well.
I'm surprised this game got the medicore reviews it did. From my hour, I'd honestly put this game in Sonic 06 levels of bad, although it lacks the glitches and awful story that game had, and it has nicer graphics and music. But the controls are awful and the game handles terribly.
Uhh... this game is pretty bad.
The controls are downright awful. Sonic handles terribly. Homing attack never goes where you want it to go. I feel like the homing attack regressed to Dreamcast levels. Some stuff homes in from too far a distance, and some stuff that should have homing tied to it, don't, like animal capsules and power up boxes, so they're frustrating to hit. Sonic sticks to things when you don't want him to stick to things, and then never does when you actually need him to. He runs too slow, but even at max speed, he turns too slow, so even though Sonic isn't moving particularly fast, it's still hard to get him to go where you want. You have to accelerate Sonic as if he was a car by holding a button and that is kind of stupid. The game really needs Generation's side step, there's lots of long straight-aways where you have to "change lanes" but have to sort of swerve around a bit to line up correctly. They decide to stick enemies in annoying places that aren't even fun to attack, so I just found myself damage boosting through everything and that seems to work alright. Which is weird, because the enemies seem to be placed to imply the game has a boost functionality, but it doesn't. Hit a wall moving just a little too fast, nope, now you're dead. Sonic doesn't jump high enough at all, and loses a weird amount of speed when jumping, leading you to sometimes feel like you're jerking around with speed. The drill power is near uncontrollable. Powers in general just feel kind of pointless. You also have to flail around trying to break power boxes because homing attack doesn't register them, and just touching them isn't enough. There's too many places where the game just abruptly stops your forward movement to wait for an enemy to pass or something.
The graphics and music are nice though. The cutscenes have been pretty great so far as well.
I'm surprised this game got the medicore reviews it did. From my hour, I'd honestly put this game in Sonic 06 levels of bad, although it lacks the glitches and awful story that game had, and it has nicer graphics and music. But the controls are awful and the game handles terribly.
Sorry you didn't enjoy the Wii U game at all
. I mean, the controls either click with you, or you really loath them. I wouldn't put the game on 06 Levels, as from the demo I played of the Wii U version, everything 'works'. In 06, things blantly do NOT work and it is distracting.
The presentation, story and music are the strongest elements to Lost World I feel, as they capture that Genesis 'style'.
TheCongressman1
Member
Despite all of the problems with this game, I actually ended up enjoying it much more than I did generations. Once I got the movement down, it was much more satisfying to be able to maneuver through levels than in Gens.
There was so much potential for this new playstyle, but it ended up coming really short. The interesting 3D levels are overshadowed by the slow clunky 2D levels. And the parkour mechanics don't get utilized to their fullest.
Allowing Sonic run full speed by pressing a button is something I have said they should do for a long time. It makes precision much more attainable. However, would I call the movement perfect? No, but I think this was a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately I assume they will just go back to the boost style, or do something just as dramatic and just hope that it works out, like they always do.
There was so much potential for this new playstyle, but it ended up coming really short. The interesting 3D levels are overshadowed by the slow clunky 2D levels. And the parkour mechanics don't get utilized to their fullest.
Allowing Sonic run full speed by pressing a button is something I have said they should do for a long time. It makes precision much more attainable. However, would I call the movement perfect? No, but I think this was a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately I assume they will just go back to the boost style, or do something just as dramatic and just hope that it works out, like they always do.
balladofwindfishes
Member
But they didn't really work that great for me. One time in particular, I had to double jump onto a rock to get a red ring, and rather than double jump to the cliff right in front of me, Sonic flips around and flies away from the direction I was holding to a spring I didn't even see on the screen. I fly away from the red ring to some new planet and that's the last I cared about red rings. I haven't had the homing attack be that awful since the Dreamcast days. It felt like a lot of the same control issues 06 had, where sometimes you just feel like you're only suggesting where Sonic is going, not actually controlling him.
There was also one part where you're running away from a boss and there's a minor jump step thing, and I literally could not figure out how to do it without getting hit because Sonic instantly loses all speed when sticking to a wall, and with his tiny jumps, it felt nearly impossible to not accidentally stick to the wall when doing this mundane jump puzzle.
Yea, the music, stage themes and graphics are great and feel a lot like an HD Genesis Sonic.
This was the Steam version, not the Wii U version.
There was also one part where you're running away from a boss and there's a minor jump step thing, and I literally could not figure out how to do it without getting hit because Sonic instantly loses all speed when sticking to a wall, and with his tiny jumps, it felt nearly impossible to not accidentally stick to the wall when doing this mundane jump puzzle.
Yea, the music, stage themes and graphics are great and feel a lot like an HD Genesis Sonic.
This was the Steam version, not the Wii U version.
It can get that bad? Wow......I never had that happen in the 3DS version I played
. I still stand by Lost World Controlling better than Sonic 06, but its a shame that Lost World Wii U comes close to controlling as badly as in Sonic 06.
balladofwindfishes
Member
I never had these issues with the couple hours I put into the 3DS version, either.
I think the Homing Attack works better in the 3DS version, as it is closer to the past titles than Lost World (which is all over the place).
I really liked the first few zones of Lost World, but everything from the snowball on seemed rushed and wasn't really fun to me. I stopped at the jungle zone because I was really just done.
Tbh Sonic Adventure Galaxy is a game I figured would be hard to fumble, but Sonic Team found a way. Also I really liked all the DLC stuff
Dr. Buni
Member
Yep. I am a huge Sonic fan and I consider Lost World 3DS to be in my TOP5 worst games I have played in my life. It is so damn frustrating and stupid. By the time I was in the snow zone, I realized I was yet to play one level that I enjoyed. Horrible in every way other than the soundtrack. The Wii U/PC version might not be among the best Sonic games, but it is at least enjoyable to a certain extent.
Honestly, the whole Lost World package was disappointing. When announced, I was hoping for something similar to Sonic Xtreme (I will never get over the fact that game wasn't released, ugh) and not a poor man's Mario Galaxy on crack. Go back to either the modern (Colors/Gen) or classic gameplay, PLEASE.
Edit: Also, wisps were great in Colors, but they had no place in Lost World.