Everyone's take on recent Sonic games

I love SA 1&2; Heroes had some interesting ideas, but I feel they weren't implemented right; Shadow was, in my mind, a mistake through and through; 06 was a goddamn mess, I feel that it had very few redeeming features; Unleashed was alright. I wasn't fond of the werehog stages, but the Sonic stages were quite good; I feel that the portable games were alright, but nothing to write home about. I haven't played Dark Brotherhood, so I'll reserve my thoughts until they're well founded.

As an aside, I'm rather interested to see what they do with the Hedgehog Engine in the future. I feel that it has some great potential.

 

Adventure - Game = good. Big = not. = Game complete = no.
Adventure 2 - Good, but the level where you play as Rouge and collect Chaos Emeralds within a time limit is HAAAAAAARD.
Heroes - NO.
Shadow - BURN WITH FIRE MUAHAHAHAHA
'06 - Haven't played, never playing.
Unleashed (360/PS3) - Probably better than the Wii/PS2 Version.
Unleashed (Wii/PS2) - Meh.
Advance 1 - :D
Advance 2 - Never played, sounds good.
Advance 3 - :DD
Rush - Liked the sequal, don't know about this one.
Rush Adventure - Only one I've completely beat. Okay.
Chronicles - NOOO.

 

Adventure - Successfully adapted the Sonic spirit and feel into 3D; remains the premiere example of Sonic in 3D done right.
Adventure 2 - Promptly did away with all of the spirit and charm of its predecessor, leaving dull levels and self-indulgent story in its place. Unenjoyable.
Heroes - Had its heart in the right place with fantastic visual and audio design; most directly hearkens to the classics. Boss fights are all terrible schlock, and the special stage is broken, but otherwise the best effort since Adventure. Don't play the PS2 version.
Shadow - They grabbed the nearest fan-fiction they could find after Shadow topped the polls. The end result is the end-all-be-all curiosity of the series. Don't play the PS2 version.
'06 - Fantastic levels and music; if only it hadn't been rushed out, I honestly believe this would stand neck and neck with Adventure. Still quite fun once you learn to "play around" the shoddy programming. Infinite jump glitch is amazing.
Unleashed (360/PS3) - Fantastic. Very different, very fun. The levels are chock full of obscure secrets, and mastering them is a blast. Great visuals, and the Werehog is tolerable but overused. Eggmanland looks (and plays) like a Sonic CD level come to life. Terrible finale, and Chip can go eat a dick.
Unleashed (Wii/PS2) - Don't do it. Pick up the HD versions.
Advance 1 - Excellent level design; gameplay hearkens back to Sonic 1. All around top notch.
Advance 2 - Just like Sonic 1 to Sonic 2, Adv 2 focuses more on the speed aspect. Still fun and well designed.
Advance 3 - Just like Sonic 3, Adv 3 marries the best of the two and creates a strong 3rd offering. Chaotix-esque mechanics, but much less obtrusive. Great level design.
Rush - Fantastic. Hideki Naganuma's soundtrack blends perfectly with the hyperactive, trick-focused gameplay. Unique, fresh (but familiar) take on Sonic with great level of success.
Rush Adventure - Not as good as the original; suffers from slightly watered down level design, a wanna-be soundtrack, and tedious adventure elements.

 

So how does this explain the fact that I like them both? I only played them on an emulator (a pretty crappy one, too, TBH). [/rhetorical question]

 

Adventure - It was ok, a pretty good start for 3d
Adventure 2 - Loved it, personally fixed all the problems I has with SA1
Heroes - It was pretty fun, but the lack of reward to competing in comparison to its predesesors SA1 and SA2 made it feel empty
Shadow - Very briefly played, kept freezing, enough said
'06 - Played the demo, then decided to skip entirely
Unleashed (360/PS3) - The werehog didnt kill it, the sheer amount of clairvoyance nessasary to beat a daytime level did, more fun once you knew a level by heart, but untill then?
Unleashed (Wii/PS2) - never played
Advance 1 - The most accurate display of the classic formular in a modern way, I loved it, go DIMPS
Advance 2 - Missed
Advance 3 - The 2 player feature, for me, never seemed to make much sence in gameplay
Rush - Introduction of Boost + clairvoyance nessasary = frustration
Rush Adventure - See above only with an australian accent, both are fine, but just were never really my cup of tea

 

Sonic Adventure - I played this back in '99 or whenever it came out, and then my Dreamcast broke some time in '01. The intervening 9 years caused me to forget about everything that happened in this game... until I bought DX a couple of moonths ago. I can therefore credulously attest that it's not just rose-tinted specs that make this game seem good. It is actually better than its successors, even considering that it now looks like ass. Occasional camera upsets are the only quibble amidst a game packed with cool 3D platforming, 6x replayability, excellent Sonic-y story, and etcetera. A+

Sonic Adventure 2 - Same story as SA1 except for the part where it has no DX version. Haven't played it in 9 years so I've forgotten everything that happens; as such, no opinion

Sonic Heroes - Bought this on PC recently also. It's no Sonic Adventure, but it's certainly a passable yarn. Collision detection is bizarre, though; I can't count the number of time's I've run at a wall at high speed and been deflected SIDEWAYS into a bottomless pit. :\

Shadow the Hedgehog - Second-best 3D Sonic game after Adventure 1. Once you stop telling yourself to hate them, the guns are fun. Choose-a-route was a great idea that lends endless (well, 326 or whatever it is) replayability. Some of the level designs are great: I <3 Air Fleet.

Sonic Advance 1,2,3 - Why everyone claims these (or at least Advance 1) are Genesis-esque I do not know. In 1 and 2, the levels are bland hold-right-a-thons with absolutely nothing to distinguish one piece of scenery from the next. 2 just stretches them out. 3 is marginally improved, if only because you occasionally have to travel UP rather than RIGHT.

Sonic Rush / Adventure - Same as the Advances, but more linear because you're expected to boost through everything. I will give Rush Adventure the prize for best recent bosses, though.

Sonic Riders / ZG - ZG has the best level themes in any Sonic game. Ever. Nightside Rush and Aquatic Capital particularly manage to fuse Sonic Adventure's realism-stages with Sonic CD's psychadelic wackiness stages. A shame that they had to be implemented within a fairly mediocre racing game, but credit where credit's due.

Sonic and the Secret Rings - If you can choke down your legitimate RAGE long enough to learn how to control this rail-based oddity, congratulations. I did play it and finish it and enjoyed it to an extent, but the control mechanism is an absolute bitch, especially if you're trying to do any of the extra missions.

Sonic and the Black Knight - SatSR with the controls... not fixed, but at least improved. Sonic using a sword was a bit stupid though, considering he IS part-blue-part-chainsaw.

Sonic Unleashed (360i) - I'm less inclined to sing Unleashed's praises than I was before I got SADX. Despite the excessive emphasis on speeeeeeeeeeed, the use of Monster Of The Week #15 as last boss, and the pointless Werehog (why not Knuckles??), I can still enjoy the Day sections.

Sonic Chronicles - A story-driven Sonic RPG I have wanted since I first picked up a Sonic game (well, OK, I was about 3 at the time, so maybe give it a few more years until I knew what an RPG was). So I loved this. But I can't escape the feeling it should have been MORE. This was an RPG lite, and Sonic's key demographic might be ADHD 12-year-olds now, but that doesn't mean I am. So this should have been a damn sight longer, with more than 3 sidequests, and why we had to go to the Twilight Cage I don't know. I didn't DISLIKE the Twilight Cage as such, but they just threw away the opportunity to flesh out the lore of Sonic's world by just plonking him down in LOL PARALLEL DIMENSION for half the story. Gay.

 

I actually like the new games; Probably more then the Genesis/Saturn/Master System ones even.

I don't see why people complain about them. Our fanbase is too unruly and whines about everything that isn't exactly like the first three Genesis games.

Their designs have changed? NO WAI!
Sonic's shoes have changed? Sonic doesn't run a certain way? Sonic talks? Sonic's been ruined FORAVAR!!@18!~!!!

The new games are pretty fun from what I've experienced. I've yet to play Heroes or 2006 though I'm buying Heroes.

 

Alrighty

Adventure - Good, I like it but some glitches pissed me off.
Adventure 2 - Enjoyable
Heroes - Really liked it, nothing bad to say, the team thing was fun and I had nothing to complain
Shadow - Don't like it that much
'06 - I liked, only shiet is the loading and few glitches, otherwise, a pretty enjoyable game.
Unleashed (360/PS3) - Loved it.
Unleashed (Wii/PS2)
Advance 1 - Good
Advance 2 - the best, it's my favourite!
Advance 3 - Great
Rush - Very nice, loved it
Rush Adventure - nothing bad to say for it.

 

SA - Very nice, quite a successful jump into 3D.
SA2 - If it just weren't for the fucking game forcing me to play other characters... Knux' levels threw me into FFFFFUUUUUUU-rage.
SH - Liked it, mostly because it felt like most 32-bit era 3D platformer games I grew up on. The only disappointment is the sluggishness, but during my first playthrough I thought it's only the fault of my crappy hardware. Also, special stages and clear zone/act division making a comeback.
SADV - Close to the 16-bit ones, but... felt like it was all just a repetition. I got bored halfway through.

The rest I never cared to play.

 

This is not gamefaqs. You're not cool for saying that.

 

I've enjoyed most recent Sonic games, to be honest. Maybe with the exception of Sonic Advance 3 - I really don't get what everyone sees in it. It's hard to really give an in-depth description of how I feel about all of the recent titles, though. Since I don't really consider Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 recent anymore (and I haven't played them in a pretty long time =P) I think I'm going to leave them out for now, at least until I play them to get a better idea of exactly what I like and dislike about them. HUEG WALL OF TEXT INCOMING ADSAFASASDS

Sonic Heroes:
Suprisingly, withstood the test of time quite well. I was really excited when I first saw the trailers because I remember wanting to play as all three characters at once since S3K. The "classic" theme, to this day, seems to be well-adapted to the modern Sonic universe. I think what I love the most about this game is that it's simple and allows you to just do a quick runthrough at anytime without really having to save and come back. Most games by this time - even the first two Adventure titles - weren't really designed with that style of playing in mind (or at least they didn't seem to be), but it seems fairly obvious that they wanted you to be able to clear this game any time you want, which is one thing I love about older games.

I don't really care for the fact that there's four teams, but I guess it kind of allows you to play the game (slightly) differently each time. I usually just stick to Team Sonic, though. The "team vs team" battles were also kind of silly I guess, but it was 2004 and the first new game of the generation so I'll forgive them. I remember a lot of complaints about glitches, but I never really started noticing them until recently. The game was kind of slippery, I'll give it that, but again it was 2004 and until then the last 3D Sonic game was designed for a system that was now obsolete.

Shadow the Hedgehog:
The premise for this game was really stupid in my opinion. I really wish whoever was in charge of prior games acknowledged the fact that we already know everything about Shadow instead of deciding to add more unnecessary backstory. The gameplay itself isn't all that bad and I can tell they were trying to give it some variety at some points, but it's kind of boring. My favorite parts are when you actually have to use the weapons, and the timed/chase missions. Also the vehicles are terrible.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006:
Again, I don't think this is as bad as everyone claims, but it suffers from a similar problem to Shadow. It's just the same boring gameplay with only minimal effort to innovate or revolutionize at all - what makes it all the worse is that this is two generations after the Dreamcast. A lot of people claim that if it wasn't so glitchy and it was "finished" the game would be a lot better, but honestly even if they did iron out all the bugs, the game plays itself. It's more of a cinematic than anything. What I did enjoy is what they added to make the game different - Silver's gameplay, the mach speed sections, and the like. It tried too hard to play like the Adventure games but lacked a lot of the things that made them great. The fact that the graphics were sub-par and the physics are iffy just adds to the problem.

I really wonder what things would be like if they just cancelled the game, considering the set of circumstances the team behind it was dealing with at the time. Yuji Naka was gone and half the team went to work on another project (SatSR). If they canceled it, maybe the whole team could focus their efforts on SatSR and make one good game instead of two low-quality games. I guess they already spent enough time and money on it or something and it was too late to just toss it. Well, if that whole rumor is true that is. :v:

Sonic Unleashed:
Easily the most underrated recent Sonic game. Where to start? Well for one, this seems to be the first game that lives up to its giant production values (you know, big shiny opening CGI cutscene, hype-heavy trailers, the whole bit). This game is as fun to play as it was to follow, really. The first footage we saw was so primitive, I don't even think the graphics engine was complete - but as more was revealed, footage became more and more impressive. I didn't even spoil myself to Empire City, the opening cutscene or the final stages until I got the game. The game itself to this day, probably the most beautiful looking one I've ever seen, Sonic or otherwise. When I first saw that Mazuri trailer, I wasn't even really that excited - it basically just looked like Sonic Rush HD with nothing new or special or anything, but it wasn't long before it proved me wrong and I was stoked.

We finally got our brand new Sonic game with no sight of the same boring gameplay as the previous games. It's funny to think that this was originally going to be Sonic Adventure 3, when it's the first post-Sonic Adventure game that doesn't feel like SA3. Everything was redefined and reimagined for the better. No more unnecessarily deep, dark storyline (at least not as overdone as the last two main games), no more slew of characters nobody wants to play as or anything. The day stages are exhilarating and the racing elements give it a more original feel instead of being like every other basic platformer. Boosting and drifting feels good (man) and adds a lot to the gameplay experience. Without it, something just feels missing - it's obvious that the stages were designed with it in mind.

The night stages remind me of the classic N64/PSX-age platformers, which is I guess why I'm drawn to them unlike most people. I mean, some of it just screams Donkey Kong/Banjo-Kazooie/Crash Bandicoot. In my opinion the beat-'em-up areas are pretty fun too, because we've never really seen that kind of gameplay in the Sonic series - every previous attempt at combat was just mashing the B button or homing attack something. Needless to say, I enjoyed both versions, but I would have liked to see Mazuri (the full stage) and/or Empire City in the Dimps version. I think both games were handled well and I'm really glad they decided to make two different ones. One good Sonic game is great, but two good Sonic games is even better. :D

Sonic Riders (1 and 2):
The original Sonic Riders had a steeper learning curve than most Sonic games, but if you can get past the frustrating points, it's actually pretty fun. Zero Gravity is a lot easier and in some ways I find it more fun, but it lacks some of the things that made the original great, like the more open-ended trick system. The gravity control was a really cool idea, though. It's just too bad they couldn't give it live online gameplay. The sound, graphics and everything else are average I guess, nothing terrible but nothing spectacular. I guess the music is pretty generic, but fitting enough for a spin-off game.

Sonic Advance (1-3):
Sonic Advance is probably my favorite out of all the handheld games. It really does feel like a Sonic 4 (hurr hurr). The graphics and music are pretty nice, too. Sonic Pocket Adventure also closely resembles the classic games, but I haven't played it as much for some reason, probably because it's so obscure I never really think to. Upon playing Sonic Advance 2 a little more, I've realized the whole game isn't "just hold right", only the first two stages. Music Plant is probably my favorite. It's still pretty low on my list, though. Sonic Advance 3 is probably my least favorite Sonic game. It feels like they made the characters really fast but didn't design any of the stages with that in mind, making it annoying to play.

The whole "team" system just adds to the clutter. I still don't really understand why everyone loves it so much... They remade Green Hill Zone, hooray, now if only that hadn't already been done in every official game and the level design wasn't ridiculously claustrophobic. Besides, there had to be like 5 "Sunset Hill" hacks of Sonic 1 by the time this was released. <.< I remember really enjoying Sonic Battle, and I wouldn't mind replaying it but it's just so long.

Sonic Rush (and SRA):
I enjoyed both, and I wouldn't mind replaying them if the game allowed you to start a new file. I really liked the special stages in both games, and both seem to be a step up from Advance 2 and 3. There are still some massive bottomless pits and the like, but something about it feels different. I think the boost really changes the way you play the game, and when the levels are designed with it in mind it actually works pretty well. Another thing that separates these from the Advance series is the 3D gimmicks and battle rooms, which add some variety to the game. It obvious that these weren't trying to be like the Genesis games, so if you look at them that way you'll never be able to enjoy them.

tl;dr:
Advance - Favorite recent handheld game; loving the classic-style gameplay
SPA - Again, great classic-style gameplay
Advance 2 - Not that bad, but not very memorable
Advance 3 - Least favorite, too cluttered
Heroes - Surprisingly addictive but too many characters
Shadow - Kind of stupid idea but some of the missions are really fun
S2006 - Not that bad but it autoplays a lot
Unleashed (both versions) - UNDERRATED D:
Riders 1 - Kind of frustrating sometimes but still fun. The Mario Party rotating control stick stuff was stupid, though <.<
Riders 2 - Pretty good but I wish you could do tricks like the original
SatSR - Never played
SatBK - Never played
Sonic & Mario - I didn't mention this one above, but it's pretty fun too, despite being "waggle-heavy" as some would claim
Rush 1 and 2 - Good
Advanture 1 and 2 - Read the first paragraph D:<