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How Sega Can Save Sonic
You may recall the conversation we had at the end of last year, riffing off of a Retrogaming article on how Sega ruined Sonic. 1up has returned with a response, positing how the company can save their mascot from the death of ignominy. Their advice is simple: Go Fast, ditch Shadow, make fewer games. "Remember Blast Processing? It was a sham, sure, but the idea behind it was a perfect summation of what Sonic was about: A game so fast that the Genesis had to be specially programmed to keep up with it. Slowing down to drink in the ambiance or whatever is pretty much the exact opposite of Blast Processing. Being forced to, say, go fishing in a Sonic game is like buying a Ferrari so you can take naps in the backseat."
Here's an idea...
No more God damn Furry scenes.
Making the games "not shit".
Or at least fixing the SAME dodgy camera system that's afflicted every game since Sonic Adv 1.
More Sonic, less everyone else and better camera controls are what I would suggest ...
Not Tails and Nuckles crap-tastic adventure
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
I submit that there are some activities which would be that much better because they were performed in the backseat of a Ferrari...
/sig
Just to clarify, the move toward Dr. Eggman vs. Robotnik and Earth vs. Mobius was a move toward how the Sonic story was told in its original Japanese. The elements we Americans are used to were localization and translation issues. That being said, I think we Americans liked the way Sonic was localized. Trying to cram a version better suited to Japanese culture down our throats is silly, especially since the early Sonic games supposedly sold better in the U.S. than they did in Japan.
IMHO, the Sonic Team should have used the SatAM show as its source material rather than coming up with the screwy Sonic X series. The result would have been far more appealing to the majority of American fans.
Last but not least, Sega should really consider reworking the Sonic XTreme concept. There's a lot of demand for that game out there. Enough to suggest that the direction it was going is actually where fans want to go. Yes, it was basically a straight-up translation of 2D Sonic into 3D Sonic. But what's wrong with that?
In case anyone is wondering why the article calls "Blast Processing" a sham, it's because more processing power is not necessary for Sonic's "speed". Speed is an illusion. As long as the frame rate is high enough to prevent choppiness (consoles are limited to the TV's 60 FPS anyway), you can move the playfield and characters as much or as little as you want per frame. This gives the illusion of speed. In cases where the actual speed exceeds the sampling rate of the television, motion blur tricks can be used to fool the eye further. For example, Sonic's legs weren't really a blur. The sprite was already blurred, then played back at a far lower framerate.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Nintendo did it. Konomi did it. Just make a really great platformer. Make it for the DS. Make it for 360 Live. The wii, whatever. Just make it fun.
Shadow is a better antagonist for Sonic than Eggman or Knuckles ever were. He's the only one that can challenge Sonic on equal footing. The only other possibility was Metal Sonic, but they already did that game and took a different (lamer) path with him.
The final straw for me was when they introduced the god-awful fake pop music, complete with vocals and lyrics about Sonic. Something about it just really makes me cringe.
They need to spend more time developing each 3D game. The first Sonic Adventure game for Dreamcast was decent, but everything since has been just 'meh'. Because there are always tight deadlines for each game, Sega ends up producing a mediocre game with bugs, sloppy controls, unimaginative level design, and God-awful voice acting. They shouldn't have ever given them voices.
But, because Sega continues to pump out one game after another, and because they try to meet deadlines, we end up with crap like this.
A name as big as Sonic can afford to suffer one or two release setbacks for the sake of having more time to test and refine a game into something higher-quality, even on-par with the likes of Mario.
Or they could just hand Sonic over to Miyamoto...
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Unfortunately in this day and age, 2D games don't really come out for major consoles anymore. People seem to expect every game that is released to have beautiful 3D graphics and huge environments to play in. This isn't a problem if you're starting a new franchise, but if you're taking a game that has always been 2D on older consoles, then its a hit or miss in my opinion. Super Mario and Metroid have done this successfully, but Sonic has completely failed at this. Like its said in the article, Sonic is too slow in 3D and that makes it almost painful to play for me. If Sega released a new 2D Sonic game, I'd buy it without hesitating.
Since the let down of the 3D Sonic games, I'm quite anxious to play Secret of the Rings (Wildfire was a better name, but that's usually how it goes). Last I heard, it's due out on the 20th of this month (though Circuit City's pre-order things say March). Supposedly, the game will have you playing as just Sonic, not 13 other characters, and is all about going forward and jumping. The previews I've seen have the level being a bit too linear, but the speed was fairly high. The camera is fixed behind Sonic, a nice change; the camera has always been a major issue in the 3D games.
The plot looks to suck (Knuckles as some arabian guy?), but good Sonic games were never about plot. Too many of the recent 3D Sonics have burned me as an avid Sonic fan (though Sonic Riders was a step in the right direction), so I plan to rent before I buy.
Thinking about it, it's almost like what Sonic X-treme was supposed to be, minus the circular world.
Hopefully the formula works, and if so we see more Sonic games like it in the future.
2D.
Just make a bigger prettier Sonic 1/2/3. Call it... Sonic 4!
From everything I've read about Sonic's coming debut on the Wii, it's finally a 3D Sonic that captures the essence of the 2D classics. He's essentially on rails, goes unbelievably fast non-stop, and collects as many rings as he can. Sounds good to me.
Sonic isn't about the gamers any more. Go look at Deviantart or any major furry site and you'll see the type of people who buy Sonic games. They don't care about the game play, they just want more "story" (aka new characters to poorly draw having sex).
The best Sonic game in ages has been Rush and that still didn't play very well, if not for the music it wouldn't have been half as good as it was.
I like muppets.
Pull the plug already. Let him die in peace and hopefully he'll be remembered in his Genesis glory days instead of in his 3D form that never did quite work out. Not every franchise can or should last forever.
Sega has no influence on Sonic.
3D is the heart of the problem. In full 3D, there is just too much freedom of movement to manage the speed required for a Sonic game. I can't understand why Sega doesn't release a "3D on a 2D track" Sonic game, along the lines of Nights.
Ferrari makes a sedan now and again. I guess the myth of the geek as a renaissance man is dead.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles was the pinnacle of what Sonic could be, IMO. It had the best music (thanks possibly to Michael Jackson...look it up on Wikipedia!) the best levels, and a great variety in gameplay. Frankly, They just need to make a psuedo-3D sonic game with some RPG-ish elements. The paths between various locations in the world would be a bunch of branching pathways made in the old 2D style way of level making. Just make Sonic 4 for god's sake, and undo the last 10 years of furry shit.
Maybe I'm just not a big Sonic fan as I've always been a Nintendo guy, but doesn't this show that Sonic just can't really be kept "cool" forever? The fact that Sonic can only be in one type of game, and has to go back to it's roots of fast action sidescroller shows that it's a limited mascot, whereas Mario can (and is) put to any number and genre of games from sports, to racing, to puzzle to 3d platformer and still maintain the integrity of the mascot as well as have a fun game (Not even mentioning the spin-off games from different characters). When Sonic came out, it was to show the Genesis as a hip, cool, and fast game system. Haven't there been enough fast games already to make the character moot? If Sonic can't change with the company, then what's the point of keeping him around besides nostalgia?
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
and not sonic spinball
Anything to the rumors of Sonic in Super Smash Bros: Brawl? I think I remember seeing something about it on a Wikipedia page for the game.
Something like that could be a shot in the arm the character may need. I'm thinking the same kind of boost that the Fire Emblem games got in the U.S. after the last Smash Bros iteration.
I think they should go back to the cell shaded look and focus more on the games. I think that modern consoles can still sell sidescrolling games - and the fewer gameplay gimmics the better
Then there is the story aspect - and having seen a few of the x360 cutscenes - anyone who hasn't watched a fair bit of anime are probably gona block them out; anyone who has, still questions the nessicity of the smooching between sonic and a realisticly rendered woman.
So basically: KISS, Dont bother trying to make a complicated story to justify the game, and remember what made your old games good.
...get SegaSoft Rocket Jockey out again!
It's for the DS, and it's very good with a great addition as well: 2d levels with 3d boss matches that are actually kind of challenging.
Also, there are only two playable characters.
The best Sonic game since Sonic the Hedgehog 2, IMNSHO.
Dude. This is totally gonna reinvent Sonic Team. Get this, now: Big the Cat's Big Adventures
Let him go into wii's super smash bro's brawl! That might help royalties, but probably not save him entirely.
The beginning of the problem was in the transition from 2D to 3D. Some franchises weathered this well, Sonic did not.
Certainly, Sonic Adventure was a good game, but very quickly it and its successors revealed that SEGA had forgotten what made the 2D games so great.
All the previous Sonic games were great because 90% of the time you were running like crazy, screaming across the screen and trying to keep up with everything that was being thrown at you. Often, you wouldn't and a shower of rings would signal your collision with any number of bad things.
However, it only took all of 2 seconds to collect as many rings as possible and be about your business. Then you could resume your crazy dash across the level. The 3D games were far more punishing in this regard. Colliding with something could completely mess up you up for the rest of the level. Ever present were pits that completely wiped you out, something that was rather rare in the 2D games. It was much more frustrating to attempt to be a blue blaze.
Another thing that was lost were the multiple paths and hidden treasures. Quite simply, every 3D level seemed rather linear, with only minor branching that generally joined up with the main path again rather quickly. There was a lot of replay value and fun to be had just exploring the massive levels in the 2D games, while this simply wasn't the case in the 3D ones.
Aside from bosses, the enemies in the 3D games almost seemed like afterthoughts. They were very rarely as colorful and varied as the 2D game's animal based foes.
Overall, the essence of Sonic was lost. What the platformer equivalent of a clickfest turned into another ill-fated attempt at taking a franchise based in 2D and making it 3D.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Here is X-Play's feature on how to save the series:2 68M
http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=12
From a reviewer's perspective, the 3D Sonic titles are brought down primarily by technical problems and secondly by a lack of focus on what makes the Sonic series unique. Once you resolve that, I believe the series can be further enhanced by track-relative controls (as opposed to camera-relative) and the introduction of quick time events for complex maneuvers.
...very annoying. I was reading through the article(s) and at some point stumbled across a link to the official site of the sonic advanced series.
This redirected me http://www.nintendogamecube.com/old_browser.vm.
I am a Debian user, and with that an Iceweasel-user.
So whats all this crap about hedgehogs, when my weasel don't run them...
Shame on Nintendo!!!
They can also contribute by not threatening to shut YTMND down because of all the Sonic-based submissions. YTMND is one of the main reasons Sonic is still alive right now. Link
Maybe sega should just drop Sonic all together? Most Project Plans have a 'Do Nothing' option when the Business Case doesn't fit the solutions available.
They have 2 other famous (and slower) Icons to fall back onto if they wanted to release a game; Namely Alex Kidd and Wonderboy. Both have HEAPS of potential for the creation of a 3d world adventure game similar in style to perhaps the new Zelda game on the Wii or something more innovative.
----- Concentrate on promoting more than demoting.
The key to saving Sonic: make a game that doesn't suck. The end.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
I hadn't seen Sonic Rivals. I looked at some screenshots, and it does seem to be doing what I had in mind, at least in terms of 2D gameplay in a 3D world. I'm not sure about the race aspect, though--I think that I'd rather have a solo game more like the traditional Sonic titles. I'd like to try it, but I don't have a PSP, and I don't know anybody who does. But it least it sounds like Sega is thinking in a promising direction regarding the franchise.
The problem with the recent Sonic offerings is that Sega is no longer Sega any more. Sega died in 2003/2004. After discontinuing the Dreamcast, they were brought out by Sammy. Sammy changed their focus from making interesting new games, and switched Sega entirely into focusing on turning a profit above all else, along with a reduced focus on 'home software'. Sega are forced to produce Sonic games as cheaply as possible, because despite them being awful, they still sell. Unfortunately the change of focus has meant that a lot of Sega's great franchises like Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, Toe Jam & Earl, Ecco and Panzer Dragoon appear to have been shelved indefinitely because they generally haven't performed incredibly in the marketplace.
Then again, it's arguable that Sonic had already started on his downward spiral before Sammy acquired them - Sonic Adventure 2 was awful.
Although I generally agree with you that Sonic didn't do the transition to 3D very well, there were some parts of the 3D games I really enjoyed. In Sonic Adventure I very much disliked the adventure part, but some of the levels were fun. Especially when the speed was like in the original Sonic games. There was one part of a level, I don't remember the name right now, but there was this track in the sky of which you almost couldn't fall off and the camera made crazy moves around it to make it more exciting. That was really great.
Sonic Adventure 2 was even better in that respect - less adventure and more speed - but, as some of you have pointed out, you were punished far more severely for small mistakes that in the original Sonic games and when you need to be careful, speed is automatically reduced.
I also liked Tail's theme in Sonic Adventure, although I usually prefer the music of Sonic 2 (which is my favorite Sonic game, by the way). Speaking of which - the band "Dreams Come True" that was responsible for the Sonic 2 music also recorded a song with the theme of the final cut sequence (Sonic and Tails on the plane). Does anyone know how to get that song?
So I would like either a 3D game with a lot of speed which is more like the original Sonic games or, even better, a 2D game with 3D graphics. I even wouldn't mind playing a good re-release of the original games with new graphics and updated music (not totally new music).
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
Sonic in 2D is coming to Live Arcade so all is not lost.