Wait, people actually memorize the Blue Sphere stages? The only one I even half-remember is the one that came up earlier - the squares of blue spheres that you jump between with the yellow spheres. Outside of that, and the fact that a stage is generally harder the more garish the floor colors are, I don't really retain much knowledge of the layouts between playthroughs. So the idea that Blue Spheres is easier than the others because you can memorize them doesn't really hold water for me. In fact, for me it's the opposite - I find Blue Spheres easier because the player is the only thing dictating the pace of play, so you don't have to memorize them. In Sonic 1 and 2 the levels come at you, and in CD there's a strict time limit. Meanwhile in S3K you can park Sonic between two bumpers (or just keep turning to the left/right) and strategize. Sonic might speed up in that time, but I don't feel it ever crosses the threshold where it's "too fast" for me to handle, so stalling/exploring is a viable strategy. (Not to mention that a lot of the stages are so long that you'll be at max speed before the end anyway.) This makes the stages significantly less anxiety inducing than the other ones - until you mess up and find yourself frantically jumping through a sea of red spheres trying to get out. And speaking of exploring: because it's up to you to explore the stage, the endgame for each special stage becomes "I need to find the last blue spheres" instead of "I just need to survive until I get to the end". That element of exploration - secret-hunting, almost - makes it a different kind of challenge compared to the other special stages. And after thinking about it, I think it's the fact that (most) Blue Sphere stages are about exploration that makes me not see them as a "pace-breaker" like some others apparently do. My favorite part of classic Sonic is secret-hunting, after all.
So I'm not supposed give reasoning for my opinions now? I find the increasingly faster pace and the need for perfectly timed twitch reactions in the midst of that anxiety inducing, yes. Not sure how that's so difficult to understand. The Sonic 1 maze doesn't have that. The halfpipe doesn't give you less time to react as the stage goes on. I've never argued that the other special stages are without their own flaws. And I don't think Blue Spheres is BAD. But I don't like it nearly as much as the other ones because I find it less fun and more difficult to get through. In relation to Blast Brothers post, having to search for that last blue sphere I missed or haven't found yet is exactly what I hate about those stages. I hate being lost in a Blue Spheres stage while Sonic keeps getting faster. This causes stress and anxiety.
I actually don't care anymore. I said everything I wanted to about it and why I feel the 3nK special stages are easier than the others, you disagree and we already went through why so many people didn't agree with your opinion, and you still feel the need to defend yourself when ultimately it doesn't matter and if you were so confident in your opinion you wouldn't have even sent this response after my last post. I'm done here.
Sonic Mania and 3D Blast Saturn have the best special stages. CD and 3K are right behind. 1's are fine. 2's suck. ..
Dude, I think you're taking this too seriously. Also, lol at "so many people" disagreeing with me. Yes, I posted an opinion that's fairly unpopular and then literally one person responded to my hot take before you. Why do you feel the need to point out that you hold the majority opinion every time you have a discussion about something, and keep bringing that up as if it somehow supports your argument?
Regarding special and bonus stages, an unpopular opinion I'll expand upon: The idea that they're pace breakers sounds wild to me. Not only do you kind of have to go out of your way to access them, they are all very entropic: they WILL end, all of them, be it due to a time limit, Sonic orbiting towards END tiles (red spheres count as END tiles), checkpoints etc, and Sonic is forced into an uncomfortable stage of constant motion. Having them simply be More Sonic Gameplay would probably make the game as a whole drag more, not less. If anything, they sort of help evening out the tension across a playthrough. I think they're a pretty smart idea overall. (But I'd love completely idiotic special stages. Like a Jeopardy-style special stage. A whole Warioware-ass game locked behind special stages, throwing different and unexpected minigames at you every time. A Parappa-styled rap battle rhythm game pitching you against Eggman as the Chaos Emerald chooses its rightful owner. We need Sonic to be sillier)
Here's one. I think Sonic Team made the right call taking time off from Sonic during the Saturn Era. With the power of hindsight I think it's fair to say the 32 bit Era consoles wouldn't have been able to run a speedy 3d platformer with any level of good performance. Them using the early 3D Era to experiment with new playstyles and game designs was the smartest thing to do. Maybe a 2.5D game would have worked but it was better to wait for 3D gaming to mature a bit before doing it for Sonic.
Yeah I will say that background is peak transportive OG Sonic Team bliss. The bird part especially is to this day like the most pleasing color contrast I've ever seen in anything.
Hunting down special and bonus stages in S3&K is fun and feels like a treat. But in Sonic Superstars, for me at least, they overdid it: You can't ignore them, because they're so prominently placed. There are portals everywhere. You need them for unlocking robot parts, which still can be a pretty grind-heavy endeavour. The stages themselves are fine, but they've become so integral to the flow of the levels to the point that they don't seem 'special' anymore. At least in this game.
Screw that one Sonic 1 level bonus level that when you're not prepared or not expecting it, you just get thrown down to the bottom right to where the exit is. So troll-y. I think it's the fourth one.
Did you intend to make this follow the tune of the S1 special stage? Because that's how it came out in my head.
I had the original Sonic 3 special stages memorised even before S&K released In '94. I eventually memorised the S&K ones...but then, after I gave my console and games away in the '90s and took about a ten year hiatus from playing Sonic and then, tried playing S3&K again years later, I had to completely relearn most of the S&K ones but I could still remember the S3 ones. It was quite odd. If I ever take another long hiatus from playing Sonic, I'd probably forget a lot of the S&K and Mania Blue Sphere stages honestly, but I don't think I could ever dislodge the original Sonic 3 ones from my subconscious for some reason. I am just now beginning to learn all the Mania Blue Sphere stages tbh.
This feels like revisionist history. They do still respect each other, he just doesn't enjoy sonic as a persona and vice versa. This has always been the case really, the issue you and many others are having is shadow isn't in many game these days and you are conflating your issues with the idw version of his character with the one in the games which isn't different than the one you like If I may contribute an unpopular opinion of my own. So much of Archie is incompatable with the series proper every time i see that every "liking every sonic thing " is valid type post I laugh. Some of this stuff isn't made equal and trying to pretend 90% of that has a chance of coming back is laughable.
Not true. You definitely get the sense by the end of SA2, particularly given their dialogue during Final Hazard, that they have a mutual respect for each other. It is true that he finds Sonic annoying in the post-SA2, pre-06 era, but he had amnesia at the time, so it doesn't count. In 06, he and Sonic clearly are on good terms again, and in Colors DS we see a nice balance where he's competitive with Sonic in a Vegeta-esque way and would never outright admit to being his friend, but is also outwardly having fun with him and helping him with his quest. There's even a moment where he talks to Omega alone and implies Sonic is better than him. It isn't until Gens or so that Shadow loses that depth and just starts finding Sonic annoying again. Ideally, I'd prefer their relationship to be similar to Superman and Batman, rather than Goku and Vegeta.
I do think people are conflating the issues of IDW onto the games. Shadow hasn't really shown up anywhere in the games, with the comics being his only major appearances as of late, so that's all anyone really has to go on. His last major game appearance outside of spin offs was over six years ago and I'm pretty sure everyone agreed that for as little you saw of him in it, he was in Forces. Understandable since the comics are allegedly supposed to be canon to the games, but it's kind of obvious the comic writers are more or less doing their own thing even with Sega's input and involvement.
The Sonic 4 soundtrack is good overall. Both episodes. The soundfont is bad, but not bad enough to ruin the compositions. In fact, I think that the instrumentation enhances the gritty, industrial feel of tracks like Mad Gear Act 1 and Death Egg Mk.II (which are probably my favourite tracks from the games). All three Splash Hill tracks are genuinely brilliant compositions, Lost Labyrinth's tracks really make you feel like an explorer unearthing a lost civilization, Oil Desert's tracks sound fittingly "nasty" and so on. The only really "bad" track in the games is the second boss theme/E.G.G. Station's theme. Honorable mentions are Casino Street Act 1 and the Episode 1 final boss theme, but only because they're just direct ripoffs of past tracks.
I genuinely prefer the way Amy plays in Sonic Origins compared to Sonic Superstars: I don’t like that Superstars Amy needs to double jump in order to use her Hammer Rush. To me, it feels messy/awkward needing to make such a noticeable change in the trajectory of your jump to attack enemies on the ground. I don’t like how Superstars Amy is such an “easy mode” character (even more so than Tails and Mighty). Superstars Amy’s Hammer Jump is overpowered to me, since it gets the Lightning Shield’s double jump in addition to Sonic 3’s Insta-Shield reach AND semi-invincibility (for a lengthy period of time, for both jumps!). Amy’s personality emphasizes that she often has to try harder to keep up with her friends, which is the opposite personality you would expect from a character who is comically easier to play as than everyone else in-terms of level traversal AND boss fights. In contrast, Origins Amy’s Hammer Jump only gets the Insta-Shield’s reach (for a lengthy period of time), which is just enough to make fighting bosses easier without making her Hammer Jump too overpowered (from a boss design standpoint, this makes sense since Eggman usually floats just high enough that other characters cannot touch him - Amy can close that little gap with her Hammer Jump quickly and efficiently, unlike Tails’ slow flight start-up). Origins Amy’s noticeable usefulness during boss fights is a unique playstyle difference that doesn’t make her too overpowered as a playable character for me. It also makes sense for her personality since Amy is now known for being physically strong (a character trait emphasized in Sonic Adventure and Sonic X, which is not canon but has personality characterizations that I find accurate to their game counterparts). I prefer the unique properties of Origins Amy’s Hammer Rush. In contrast to Sonic’s Drop Dash, Origins Amy’s Hammer Rush has instant turning (even in the air - sans Sonic 3&K, which I believe is missing it because of a programming oversight) and is NOT slowed down by uphill slopes nor by water. I would have loved if Sonic Superstars’ Amy Act took advantage of her Origins Hammer Rush by making her go uphill underwater (something that she alone can do well compared to the other playable characters). This makes me think of how her personality differs from Sonic - Sonic follows the wind and is affected by the flow of his environment (especially water, which slows him down), while Amy perseveres and keeps on trucking at a consistent speed despite her difficulties keeping up with her friends (a conscious decision she has to make - Amy’s Ultra Ego to Sonic’s Ultra Instict). In a meta sense, the fact that so many people mistakenly see Origins Amy’s Hammer Rush as a reskinned/worse Sonic’s Drop Dash actually works well for her characterization: many people mistakenly see Amy as nothing more than a Sonic fangirl (or just “Sonic as a girl, but lame”), when she is actually more nuanced than that.
