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Sonic the Hedgehog Community Thread: Green Hills and Laughing Iizukas

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E

EuroMIX

Member
Rikkun said:
Did anyone manage to complete the game? I might be missing some endings because I got stuck, should try again :\
Click to expand...

Yes, twice, but I haven't finished the Hard Mode or gotten all 300-odd routes.

The game is ridiculously gritty and has many poorly applied ideas, but I still find it a blast to play and way more engaging gameplay-wise than Heroes. One of the main problems is that some missions suffer from difficulty spikes where it's hard to know what to do or where to go, but if you DO then they aren't as difficult. Central City and Lost Impact's Hero missions are amongst the worst offenders, though I can do both now fairly easily.

I think that your enjoyment tends to depend on how much you care about Shadow's story or how much the gritty style bothers you. I just ignore the latter and enjoy playing it.

Also, unlike Heroes before it and many other Sonic games, it actually has somewhat competent grinding controls, at least they work fine for me. Better than in Heroes where switching rails would always be a risk of death.

It's nowhere near as broken as 06 is though (from what I've seen).

EDIT: Oh, and on the Gamecube, at least, but I'd imagine that something similar exists on the other consoles, you can change missions by using the directional pad. Makes things much quicker.


I have a question: Am I the only one who doesn't want either the "blast through levels really, really fast" that Sonic seems to have become, or the "too slow alternate gameplay styles everyone hates", but rather more of a balance between the two i.e. speed-based gameplay, but maybe with OPTIONAL alternative characters (Tails, Knuckles, etc) to give you different ways to play. Essentially Sonic 3 & Knuckles in 3D?

I'm probably alone in this, but I prefer Sonic to be more a speed-based platformer, not a racing game.
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Oh hey, remember that songlist I posted from Jun Senoue's facebook/twitter? Here's what they have to say about that.
Hi all,

We worked on three new songs as you know and below is short descriptions from Johnny.

Rise Again:
We've all known people who hit what I call "lows" in their life. This song is about crawling out of the dark and into the light...because just when you feel you are in the worst place in your life, there is always an opportunity to "Rise Again"

Sonic Youth:
This song is about the dedicated Crush40 fans who believe in our music every year. We live for the music, we live for the thrill of the game....we are the "Sonic Youth".

One Of Those Days:
Sometimes you wake up and start the day walking into walls....everything you do is wrong! You trip on your own feet...you drop your cell phone in the toilet...no matter what you do, it keeps happening....!!! There's only one way to fix it all and thats for the day to just end.....so when it happens to you, "write it off for one of those aw aw awful days....One of those days....."

All three songs came out really great and can't wait to perform them!
Hope you'll like them :)

-Jun! / Crush 40
Click to expand...
So either they're working on a new album or set of songs to perform live, or they're adding these songs to something else (wishful thinking on my part, I know).

Shadow Hog said:
Part 11 is up.
Click to expand...
"YES! VECTOR!"

lol @ them making the same mistake repeatedly in the Modern Sonic level. Not surprised they didn't S-rank that one.

At least they seem to be enjoying it and the game doesn't seem hellish for them! (They're gonna get pissed during Planet Wisp, aren't they?)

Green Scar said:
Was expecting a stronger reaction to the grind down the church tower though. I showed that bit to my friend recently and his jaw hit the floor.
Click to expand...
My boyfriend felt it was disorienting, lol. But it's probably because his sense of depth is essentially nonexistent so he doesn't get much out of it. Liked the draw distance, though.

But I love it! It looks so awesome. One of my favourite levels in the game partly because of the presentation in general.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
So while I was sleeping this morning, I had this lucid dream that Sky Sanctuary was in SA2, complete with a giant Death Egg and everything. The stage was more like the third part of Windy Valley, but still! It was pretty cool, although it was incredibly short and linear (you could feasibly beat it in less than a minute if you were good with spin-dashing across the large pits separating parts of the level, although whoever was playing it in my head sure wasn't).

And when I say "in SA2", I mean incorporated into the plot and everything. There was no Space Colony ARK, the game centered around Eggman launching another Death Egg and holding the world ransom with that instead. Apparently this stage took place before Eggman blew up half the moon - almost like it replaced Metal Harbor or something.

I have weird dreams.
 
H

Hot Coldman

Banned
Well, at least you know what's up Schala :p

"Left, left again, then right, then left, then right twice." is the funniest part of the episode, for sure.
 
O

OMG Aero

Member
Green Scar said:
Great episode. I love when they say they actually love it. :D

Was expecting a stronger reaction to the grind down the church tower though. I showed that bit to my friend recently and his jaw hit the floor.
Click to expand...
They probably didn't have a strong reaction to the clock tower grind since that scene is almost exactly the same as in Unleashed but with balloons.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Shadow Hog said:
So while I was sleeping this morning, I had this lucid dream that Sky Sanctuary was in SA2, complete with a giant Death Egg and everything. The stage was more like the third part of Windy Valley, but still! It was pretty cool, although it was incredibly short and linear (you could feasibly beat it in less than a minute if you were good with spin-dashing across the large pits separating parts of the level, although whoever was playing it in my head sure wasn't).

And when I say "in SA2", I mean incorporated into the plot and everything. There was no Space Colony ARK, the game centered around Eggman launching another Death Egg and holding the world ransom with that instead. Apparently this stage took place before Eggman blew up half the moon - almost like it replaced Metal Harbor or something.

I have weird dreams.
Click to expand...

This reminds me that I had a dream last week that involved me playing a different and superior version of Sonic Triple Trouble released on the 3DS VC, it was odd considering I don't even plan to download TT when it's available, the real game cannot match up to the version in my head which had cutting edge graphics.
 
Q

qq more

Member
EuroMIX said:
Yes, twice, but I haven't finished the Hard Mode or gotten all 300-odd routes.

The game is ridiculously gritty and has many poorly applied ideas, but I still find it a blast to play and way more engaging gameplay-wise than Heroes. One of the main problems is that some missions suffer from difficulty spikes where it's hard to know what to do or where to go, but if you DO then they aren't as difficult. Central City and Lost Impact's Hero missions are amongst the worst offenders, though I can do both now fairly easily.

I think that your enjoyment tends to depend on how much you care about Shadow's story or how much the gritty style bothers you. I just ignore the latter and enjoy playing it.

Also, unlike Heroes before it and many other Sonic games, it actually has somewhat competent grinding controls, at least they work fine for me. Better than in Heroes where switching rails would always be a risk of death.

It's nowhere near as broken as 06 is though (from what I've seen).
Click to expand...

I kind of disagree.

I tried to ignore the grittyness and I still could not enjoy the game at all. The controls were slippery, the missions were tedious and the levels dragged on much much longer than Sonic Heroes' levels did (not to mention I felt they were even more poorly designed). I think Sonic Heroes was a much better designed game than Shadow The Hedgehog.

EuroMIX said:
I have a question: Am I the only one who doesn't want either the "blast through levels really, really fast" that Sonic seems to have become, or the "too slow alternate gameplay styles everyone hates", but rather more of a balance between the two i.e. speed-based gameplay, but maybe with OPTIONAL alternative characters (Tails, Knuckles, etc) to give you different ways to play. Essentially Sonic 3 & Knuckles in 3D?

I'm probably alone in this, but I prefer Sonic to be more a speed-based platformer, not a racing game.
Click to expand...

You aren't alone. Even though I like Unleashed Day's, Color's and Generations' 3D gameplay, I'd still love to play something like what you've described.

EDIT: There is a fan game out there that's in 3D and tries to emulate the classic games, unfortunately the engine it used does not support slopes/loop de loops (this is an OLD fangame based on a Doom engine mind you). It's called Sonic Robo Blast 2, and it was actually a pretty fun game. Although I'm not quite sure how it aged these years. :/
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Shadow Hog said:
I have weird dreams.
Click to expand...
I had a dream about Hakuoki and Lumines last night. It was weird because those two games don't mix, period. One's a puzzle game, and the other's an otome visual novel.

I generally don't remember my dreams, and I haven't dreamt about videogames since I was a kid, so it's obvious that I've been playing both games a little too much in the past few days. Hakuoki, especially. :3

(Mind you, the last VN I'd played was Katawa Shoujo, and while I liked the two routes I played in KS, Hakuoki feels more engrossing (but uh, it's likely cuz it's an otome game as opposed to a regular 'date the girl you want' VN).)

EuroMIX said:
I have a question: Am I the only one who doesn't want either the "blast through levels really, really fast" that Sonic seems to have become, or the "too slow alternate gameplay styles everyone hates", but rather more of a balance between the two i.e. speed-based gameplay, but maybe with OPTIONAL alternative characters (Tails, Knuckles, etc) to give you different ways to play. Essentially Sonic 3 & Knuckles in 3D?

I'm probably alone in this, but I prefer Sonic to be more a speed-based platformer, not a racing game.
Click to expand...
No, a lot of us do seem to want something like that.

While I like what they're doing now (with Unleashed Day, Colours, and Generations), I'd like something along the lines of what you described.
 
P

Professor Beef

Banned
Nocturnowl said:
This reminds me that I had a dream last week that involved me playing a different and superior version of Sonic Triple Trouble released on the 3DS VC, it was odd considering I don't even plan to download TT when it's available, the real game cannot match up to the version in my head which had cutting edge graphics.
Click to expand...

And I thought I had weird dreams.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
JonCha said:
The stages in Generations worked out pretty well for them.
Click to expand...

They did, but this is Sega, the company that was unable to do a decent GBA port their own game, managed to lose the source code for one of their most beloved 32-bit classics and spent a decade running their flagship franchise into the ground.
 
K

Kokonoe

Banned
Sega1991 said:
It has been a long time since I last seriously played Sonic 2006, but streaming Shadow a few weeks ago so me and my friends could laugh at it, I'd say Shadow might actually be worse in many regards

Shadow controls SO HEAVILY. It feels like he weighs like 400lbs. for as long as it takes him to accelerate, how wide his turning arc is, etc. And you spend all this time accelerating, and accelerating, and accelerating and the moment you let off the stick he stops on a dime. It's ridiculous.

And then the mission objectives themselves. Ho-lee shit. So many of them are the worst, most tedious "KILL EVERY EVIL ENEMY IN THIS STAGE!" bullshit, where you have to spend 45 minutes in a single level looking for the one asshole they stashed in a secret area because Sonic Team really does actually hate you.

Everything feels SO tedious.

I suppose I'll get to re-experience Sonic 2006 soon enough though, with that thing me and ShockingAlberto have coming up.
Click to expand...

It's ridiculously slow, and it doesn't make sense why, when it is essentially Sonic Heroes engine/gameplay.
Getting hit in this game reminds me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeRcFTNHX5E&t=1m12s
 
E

EuroMIX

Member
qq more said:
I kind of disagree.

I tried to ignore the grittyness and I still could not enjoy the game at all. The controls were slippery, the missions were tedious and the levels dragged on much much longer than Sonic Heroes' levels did (not to mention I felt they were even more poorly designed). I think Sonic Heroes was a much better designed game than Shadow The Hedgehog.
Click to expand...

That's why I said "tends". Also, I'm actually starting to wonder if what console you play it on matters. I've heard that the PS2 versions fair worse and often have poorer controls than, for example, the Gamecube which I play them on.

The reason why I prefer Shadow if because I like the fact that there is more level variety, rather than the same 14 levels 3 times and then again with a little variety (Chaotix was one of the best things about Heroes), even if some levels can be poorly structured. If you can get your head around the gameplay style then Shadow is actually pretty fun. YMMV, of course and that's always going to be a problem. I always felt that Shadow improved on Heroes, even if it didn't do it enough.

You aren't alone. Even though I like Unleashed Day's, Color's and Generations' 3D gameplay, I'd still love to play something like what you've described.
Click to expand...

I always imagined going back to what Adventure started with different characters having their own way to get through levels. Tails dash rings are a good, if cheaply and poorly applied, example. If we could get an engine where, say, Sonic's speed gives him an overall advantage, Tails flight allows him to get around obstacles the former could not while sacrificing speed, and Knuckles again could climb and break things the former two couldn't. Design levels that are less linear and more about making environments to play around in; give the player a reason to explore and not just hold up and hit dash.

What's weird is a lot of my ideas seem to end up in other games. A few years ago I was thinking about how cool it would be to have mini-games catered around each character. So Sonic could have special cannons or something that allow him to access various parachute-style ring games like the Special Stages in Sonic Advance, and maybe hide secret underground areas for Knuckles to access where you have to move him through a tight platforming maze. Then Skyward Sword happened...

Fleetway's Sonic The Comic would often show Sonic being able to run up walls and I often wished that that were possible somehow in the games, if only in Adventure areas. Essentially more parkour, maybe.
 
L

Lijik

Member
I dont think Shadow had /that/ much variety compared to heroes. All of the levels are structured pretty similarly and visually the game tends to draw on the same 4-5 tropes.

Yes you have to replay the same set of stages in Heroes 4 times, but I feel those stages had more going for them in both visual style and gameplay than the average Shadow stage.

(also, played on gamecube. Controls bad, man)
 
E

EuroMIX

Member
Lijik said:
I dont think Shadow had /that/ much variety compared to heroes. All of the levels are structured pretty similarly and visually the game tends to draw on the same 4-5 tropes.

Yes you have to replay the same set of stages in Heroes 4 times, but I feel those stages had more going for them in both visual style and gameplay than the average Shadow stage.

(also, played on gamecube. Controls bad, man)
Click to expand...

As I said, I really think that this is a massive YMMV. Shadow does has more, different levels (around 20-odd) than Heroes (14) and the missions, while sometimes similar, do add to the variety. Shadow was way less linear than Heroes. I mean the latter had two teams that were almost identical and one that was just an "easy mode" of the previous two! Team Dark and Team Chaotix were my favourites and Shadow's gameplay is essentially the lovechild of both of them.

The funny thing is, I'm not even saying that either game is all that good, not even Shadow which is merely mediocre. I'm only stating the facts that I've seen from playing both. If you prefer Heroes then that's fine. :p

Anyway, just like how I feel that Sonic 4 should have been more of Sonic's equivalent to New Super Mario Bros Wii (at least in essence), I feel that Generations would have been better if Sega designed it as one big, DLC-supported game to begin with. I mean expecting Sega to remake every level they've ever done and release it in one game is unreasonable, but imagine if Generations had been designed more like modern rhythm games i.e. centred around DLC and building your own collection. I felt that the core game could have done with some more stages, but imagine if that were only the "starter pack" and from then on, every month or so, Sega set aside a team to rebuild practically every level they could and release each for a reasonable price, essentially drip-feeding new content and allowing players and fans to build their own updated Sonic level collection. That way Sega doesn't have to worry about disappointing certain fans by leaving out levels because they can add them in later and make a profit. What's more, they could have programmed in a way for you to make your own "level setlists" where you could eventually play through 3D recreations of the original Sonic 1, 2, or mix and match to your hearts content. Sega could have strung Generations out for a year or two (or longer) while working on whatever they want to do next.

Also, I think that remaking the Sonic 06 stage/s and Silver battle was essentially Sega's way of showing that they WERE competent developers when they tried.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
S

Shadow Hog

Member
Alright, I have to ask.

iErmY373BWZuL.gif

This image right here.

Where the heck did it come from? I see it around all the damn time, but never figured out its source.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Professor Beef said:
The last time I remember someone posting a NSFW Sonic youtube link, they were perma-banned. Be careful with what you post.

REMEMBER THE TOS, PEOPLE.
Click to expand...

Just mods being salty they weren't fast enough to post the links themselves :D

Shadow Hog said:
Alright, I have to ask.

iErmY373BWZuL.gif

This image right here.

Where the heck did it come from? I see it around all the damn time, but never figured out its source.
Click to expand...

I think that was a fan-made gif from DeviantArts. Can't remember.
 
P

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Professor Beef said:
The last time I remember someone posting a NSFW Sonic youtube link, they were perma-banned. Be careful with what you post.

REMEMBER THE TOS, PEOPLE.
Click to expand...

It's not really as bad as you think it is. An unfinished scene from the cancelled Kuta fan-film, which is one of the most unintentionally hilarious fan things I've ever seen, or better, heard.(stop it after 20 seconds though...)
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
I believe I got that for Christmas one year, alongside Tails Adventures. The latter held up better over time, but I actually got plenty of enjoyment out of Labyrinth. If nothing else, it's a decent minigolf game where you can very slowly realign yourself when making shots, and where you aim for three keys and a door instead of a single hole.

Of course, I was also sort of in a "if Sonic's face is on it it must be good" kind of phase, so... yeah. (Although I at least realized Sonic 2 GG was downright BS in difficulty.)
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Shadow Hog said:
I believe I got that for Christmas one year, alongside Tails Adventures. The latter held up better over time, but I actually got plenty of enjoyment out of Labyrinth. If nothing else, it's a decent minigolf game where you can very slowly realign yourself when making shots, and where you aim for three keys and a door instead of a single hole.

Of course, I was also sort of in a "if Sonic's face is on it it must be good" kind of phase, so... yeah. (Although I at least realized Sonic 2 GG was downright BS in difficulty.)
Click to expand...

Sonic golf is an interesting way to put it, though it's still pretty disastrous no matter how you spin it yet when going through the Sonic Adventure DX GG collection I must have played it a fair bit more than some of the other titles you could unlock.
Oh and of course "Slow Down Shoes", brilliant, maybe a new generation will be able to experience it via the 3DS VC.
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
TheOGB said:
Sonic Battle is the fucking best

3DS remake plz
Click to expand...
I want a sprite-based Sonic Battle 2 on 3DS, even if it's on the eShop. The sprites in the original Sonic Battle were fantastic.

Shadow Hog said:
Of course, I was also sort of in a "if Sonic's face is on it it must be good" kind of phase, so... yeah. (Although I at least realized Sonic 2 GG was downright BS in difficulty.)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have a SEGA Pico. When I was a kid, Tails and the Music Maker was my favourite Pico game since it had Sonic in it, even though I couldn't face the fact that I wasn't really enjoying the 'game' part of it. I guess I liked it because it was Sonic.

Sonic 2 Game Gear is one of my least favourite GG games.
 
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