The Sonic Franchise Fix

Well, it seems like the biggest problem Sega is having with making a decent, normal 3D Sonic game is... they're not trying to do it. The last "normal" Sonic game was SA2. Then we had Heroes, which (despite capturing the classic vibe PERFECTLY) was very different from a Sonic game with the teamplay. Then we had Shadow, which improved on Heroes' faults but didn't even try to be a Sonic game; it was Shadow. Secret Rings also didn't try being an old-school Sonic game, instead experimenting with the Wiimote.

Sadly, the one time they even TRIED to do a game like SA and SA2, it ended in disaster; Sonic 2006. By all means, it could and should have been AWESOME, a perfect Sonic Adventure 3, with the same expansiveness and thrill. It would have been, too, if they'd had the time to FINISH it. This means that not only has Sega not tried to do a "revival" Sonic game, but they know how; they just don't have the management skill.

Fixing the franchise would be easy. The handheld games are already amazing; the problem is that the Sonic image is running around with it's head cut off because there's no flagship game around to say "THIS is what Sonic is all about". None of the games are normal Sonic games, except Sonic 2k6 which never was finished.

My idea: revisit Sonic 2k6. Take the thing that hurt Sonic the most and change it into his greatest asset; finish programming the game, implement what they intended to implement, and release Sonic 2008 on the Wii (using the GameCube and Classic controllers, obviously). With it finished, it'll be a good game. A REALLY good game. Sega can release an epic game, fix Sonic's image, and prove that it knows how to make a good game at the same time. Oh, and make some money.
That's all.

However, I have a feeling the franchise could slowly grow itself back over time. Sonic was in Brawl, introduced to a whole bunch of new Nintendo-oriented fans. What these fans know is that Sonic has a load of great music, and that he has some great games for the Genesis that are on Virtual Console and the Mega Collections. They never saw Sonic 2k6, and Shadow/Heroes came out too long ago and did too badly to be remembered, meaning they might instead gravitate towards SA and SA1. MAYBE Secret Rings, but even that's a decent game. Maybe they get Rush, which is a great sidescroller that makes it seem that SEGA still knows the recipe. Then, in November, Unleahsed comes out; and if it's as good as it looks, the Sonic series has a flagship product; and a good one. As long as SEGA doesn't drop the ball, it could be just fine.

tl;dr: Sonic 2k6 will never happen again, and the fix for the image problem is easy and will even grow itself back without that fix.

 

Sonic 2006 left a rather large gap, both in gameplay and story. Sonic Unleashed, if done well enough, could serve as Sonic 2006's substitute. Unleashed seems to refine the ideas of 2006 with less realistic and more stylised "real world" settings, along with more stylised humans. None of that creepy uncanny valley stuff. From the gameplay footage, the 3D sections look to be the "mach speed" stages done right. The new control scheme allows Sonic to side step, drift, and boost through obsticles that get in the way. That should make the experience much more stomachable than 2006's speed sections. Anything I can say about the story of Unleashed may be premature, but I'm sure the game won't resort to reseting its own timeline. I'm also sure it won't resort to a hedgehog on human giraffe relationship either.

So there, that's your Sonic 2008. It would be nice to get a NORMAL Sonic game that takes place on MOBIUS where ONLY SONIC, and maybe Tails and Knuckles, BUT NO ONE ELSE, has to fight ROBOTNIK, who I refuse to call Eggman, and his army of NOT GENERIC ANIMAL ROBOTS, as well as Metal Sonic, NOT SHADOW, from collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds that allow Sonic to turn Super BEFORE THE FINAL BOSS.[/classic fanboy]

But I can settle for "Sonic 2008" on grounds that it's any good.

 

^
Unleashed, refining S06's ideas? What?! Sonic 06 took a step into the right direction with less focus on speed but rather large levels with at least 2 or 3 alternate routes and a few hidden places, whereas of what we've seen of Unleashed thus far, it'll be the complete opposite! With Rush-like, linear levels with few freedom but instead constant pressure making you go at ridiculous speeds.

 

Apart from the Mobius part (because adding further confusion over the planet will only hurt the series, honestly) and some apathy about the Robotnik part (potayto:potahto::Eggman:Robotnik), I agree with this statement.

 

We really haven't seen enough, but I still stand by what I said. I can't say yet that Unleashed refines all of Sonic 2006's ideas, but there are some basic principles it does refine. The settings are based on real world locations, but they're not realistic to the point of feeling out of place. It looks like you have more control in the speed sections than you do in S06's mach speed stages. And there are adventure fields, but there might be less of an emphasis on them if the interviews are correct.

I was joking.

 

Considering that split paths are one of Sonic Unleashed's marketing tick boxes, I expect to see more of them when I'm actaully playing the game. Considering how much time they've had, this game will be as the team imagined, for better or worse

 

As much as I loathed Sonic 2006, I agree that it could have been a great game, had it been finished. That game really needed another year or so. Everything about it looked pretty, but it turned out abysmal in the end. Still, I think it's too late for Sonic Team to re-release it properly. It was widely disliked, and even if people happen to see the re-tinkered version on shelves, their impressions will still date back to the original version released in 2006. I know they did the same exact thing for Sonic Adventure when they formed the international version, but that's probably a different story, since the time gap between the original and international release dates is a lot shorter than it would now be for Sonic 2006, and Japan was the only country that initially suffered before getting the fixed version themselves. And it was still a successful title.

I have to admit, Sonic Team does have some pretty good ideas as to what could make a good Sonic game. It's just that they never really end up doing so. Sure, not all of them are actually bad; I liked Sonic Heroes for example, but even that wasn't the Sonic game I've been waiting for, and I'm sure others feel the same way. Personally, I think it would be easy to fix the franchise really... but this is Sonic Team we're talking about. So it's pretty dubious.

 

Well, I've been thinking about this some more, nd I think that whoever is to develop the primary Sonic game first needs to remake one of the classics using the hedgehog engine. The designers would have to play whatever one they remake to death, and teach them several things:

1. They would likely understand how springs, loops, and other set pieces were implemented originally, for example, if someone were to put new style springs into Sonic 3, there would be a few spots on Angle Island that would be inescapable, the player would be locked bouncing between two springs because of the way the spring sends them in the same direction regardless of their previous momentum. Also, we might see quarter pipes again.

2. It would show them that levels don't need to have (And should NOT have) speed boosters every few feet. Holy crap I'm tired of speed booster pads.

3. They would see first hand how much better looking the surreal environments are in 3D.

4. This is stretching it, but they might also learn how death pits should be used in moderation, and how much being able to jump off a ledge and be confident that there's ground there to catch you is.

Also, moar nostalgia fuel plz.

And Metal Man is right about pandering ruining the games. The best insight into game design I ever read was from one of the creators of Gunstar Heroes, "We just made the game we wanted to play." Pure Genius.

 

I see way too much love for '06 here. Let's take brief look. according to IGN:
SA: 8.6
SA2: 9.4
Heroes: 6.9
Shadow: 4.7
'06:4.2
Can you say decent in Darkness? Plunge? IGN has panned every game heroes and on, and they are far from alone. 7 Years of crap. Sega doesn't need to retool or refine the formula, they need to start from square one. Sonic is a joke in the industry. I'm a huge fan of Sonic, I think S3&K is among the best games ever made, but I haven't even bothered to play everything after Heroes. Seriously, never rented or purchase Shadow or '06. I played '06 at a client's house and it was even worse than I feared. Apallingly bad.

 

Needs more Werehog. Lots more. Like, lets completely kill Sonic.

 

I have a few nicknames for Sonic 06: Sonic the Hedgehog: Adventures in Modern Optical Drive Technology, Sonic X the Game (replace Elise with Chris, DONE. I wish I was only joking), Sonic Fan Fiction the Game. Also, I love Knuckles's line, "How did it come to this?"

I don't think Sonic 06 was a very good idea in design or execution.

Eventually, Sega will either get it right or go bankrupt trying and get bought out by someone who can.

 

Don't you think by now they have already taken a stab at it? I don't think SEGA as a whole OR SEGA's management wants to whore themselves out anymore.

Also, Do you think it would be an at least halfway decent idea for SEGA to make a complete bugfix for Sonic 2k6? Would it boost reviews? Unit sales?

 

I can't wait for Sonic Pachinko

 

Well, there's Sonic Pinball Party—is that close enough? =P

 

No.

 

Everything about 06 was wrong. No amount of tuning it would have made it a better game. It was just an awful game and smoothing everything out would have just made it a subpar game. There weren't any good design decisions on any level. Characters, Levels, Mechanics, Visuals, Story. Shit sucked and shit sucked hard.

 

Then we wouldn't be playing Sonic 06 would we?