What did you like about Shadow and Sonic 06?

If you took a couple of the level designs in 06 and put them in Adventure/2 you'd potentially have some really fucking good levels (see Kingdom Valley, Radical Train). That's about it.

 

Shadow:

Cool music. Some of the levels were cool. I liked most of the scenes. Gameplay was...okay.

Sonic '06:

I loved the story. Sonic and Shadow's gameplay was actually cool but I detest Silver's. Music was excellent. Forced myself to get 100% on the game, so yeah...

 

Huh, I never replied to this thread.

I enjoyed both games, myself. They both had some cool concepts and some good music. I liked that you could mount the walker vehicles in Shadow, but it's too bad there wasn't much of a use for most of them. I think my favorite stages were Central City and Air Fleet (dark mission), mainly because those were the ones that really kept you moving and it was more than just "reach the end of the stage". The areas where you actually needed to use the guns and turrets were actually the most fun for me for that exact same reason - Iron Jungle, Sky Troops, and some of the ARK stages were all heavily vehicle- and weapon-based, which made them more fun for me, just because it's different and more than just the same old linear stage.

Sonic 2006 had some great concepts as well. Again, White Acropolis with Shadow seems to be one of the most memorable stages for me because they used his vehicle to make it a less linear stage. The buggy rocked, by the way - it's what the vehicles in Shadow should've controlled like. I just wish there were more open areas like White Acropolis that were more suited for it and utilized the gun more. Sonic's mach speed sections were equally as fun and added some challenge to the game - what makes them as infuriating as they are intense is that if you're shooting for an S-Rank, they can really be the determining factor. I'm also glad they decided to be a little more innovative with Silver's gameplay. It's almost kind of sad to think that we haven't really seen him in a regular platformer where he can use those abilities again, because I'd love to see it expanded upon.

EDIT: I almost forgot, this was also when the CGI cutscenes began to look a lot better than in previous games. Thank God they finally got it right with Unleashed and gave us CGI-quality in-game graphics. It's kind of nice to see how it's not only become sort of a staple in the series, but they expanded upon it by making the game's graphics closer to the cutscenes. Sonic 2006 also got it half right by using the in-game models in some CGI cutscenes instead of having completely inconsistent graphics like in the previous games.

 

Can't say much about Shadow, never played it.

But here are my thoughts on Sonic 2k6.

Pros:

The game had possibly the best, most varied Soundtrack ever produced in a Sonic game. The Graphics were OK, but were bested by Unleashed's.

Kindom Valley - An awesome concept for a stage, and really cool art direction. The physics defying waterfalls in the mach-speed section was intriguing. Really great Music, it fitted the environment excellently.

Crisis City - Awesome Music, Nice level design.

Shadow's Story - It was better than the Story of Shadow's own game. It would have been perfect if Shadow was created from Mephiles' blood, it would have made so much more sense.

Mephiles - The greatest villain of all time in a Sonic game. He was definately more intimidating than Eggbotnik. If he had better dialogue, it would have been perfect. He had, hands down the most chilling character themes in a Sonic game.


Cons:

Loading. As mentioned before somewhere, everything needed to load. It would have a 10 second load screen before an NPC said 1 line, there wasn't even any sound, it was text! Goddamn....

Glitches, I have flown through walls so many times for no adequately explained reason

Physics. They weren't horrible, but they felt unfinished and too........weird

Dialogue. The script was fucking terrible, apart from the odd good line from Mephiles or Shadow.


Things I don't care about:


Elise kissing Sonic - who gives a shit, that is all

Voice acting. It was bad, but it was only bad because the script was so fucking terrible. Nothing more


Verdict

The game had potential, I think everyone can see that. If they ironed out the bugs, removed plotholes make the physics work etc. this game would have been worth the hype.

 

I didn't mind Shadow The Hedgehog, I just expected a whole lot more after playing the awesomeness that Heroes was. The physics I felt were a bit off, Shadow slipped around a bit too much, and overall, it felt a bit more floaty than Heroes. that said, the story, once you find the correct intended path (Called The Beginning, check it out; it gives us a Shadow Story path which explains his confusion at being an android, lets us go to Prison Island and see some relevent CGI cutscenes, gives us Shadow's memory in the past with Maria on board ARK, gives Shadow the chance to end up on the Black Comet where he logically ends up in the Super Shadow ending, and shows a bit of rivalry with Sonic too), is great, and who the hell could have placed aliens into that storyline eh? At the time it was a bit hit and miss, but going back and playing it now gave the game and the series a bit more extensive back story.

I didn't like how Maria was no longer this mysterious helpless girl though, more of a talkative tag along pain, which wasn't right for someone who has the Sonic equivelant of late-stage AIDS, and I felt they should have explained how the Biolizard fitted into Shadow's story, as y'know, many of us were a bit confused as to how the Biolizard was programmed as an ultimate life to destroy earth, and whether Gerald was talking about Shadow or the Biolizard in his death video; "Shadow. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world!".

 

The only thing I liked about Sonic '06 was that they TRIED to bring adventure to Sonic, but they executed this so poorly it killed the entire effort to make Sonic a REAL 3-D adventure game. ;_; (Sonic Adventure was the last true attempt...)

What I 'liked' about Shadow was that they were making the characters cuss, and by 'like' I mean roll on the floor laughing at how stupid the script writer had to be to believe anyone would think chibi-style talking animals could be taken seriously because they had swearing lines.

 

Here's what I liked: "AWESOME EXPLODY POWERS!!!!"

 

Personally, Shadow the Hedgehog is one of my favorite games. I have to admit, you are right about him slipping around a lot though. It's kind of had to control him sometimes. I liked the way they let you choose your own path through the game based on the choices you make. That was a nice element. Not to mention the graphics in the CGI cutscenes were top-notch! Considering how well they did on that, they could've tried a little harder on the in-game graphics though. Oh well. Overall, I liked it. It was an awesome game and finally explained Shadow's backstory.

As to Sonic 06, I've never played it, but I have seen the cutscenes. That game's graphics were almost as good as Shadow's CGI ones. The storyline was a bit confusing though, and I didn't care much for Elise. On the other hand, this game introduced us to Silver, so that balances it out. All in all, I don't know. It doesn't seem as bad as people say it is.

 

'06 is pretty fun once you get past the bad physics and glitches, if frustrating at times.

Plus White Acropolis + Smooth Criminal = Win:

 

Earlier today, I happened to recall one of the few things that I did outright enjoy about Shadow:

The piano-centric event music. For some reason, I still really dig it.

Oh, and I find that the theme for Prison Island only really makes sense as some kind of weird homage for Ben Folds. :v:

 

Shadow: If I'm not mistaken it's the only game since S3&K to have 2-player coop. Really, if you actively ignore the guns and/or shoot button, It's plays like an extremely dark-toned Sonic game.

 

Liked about Shadow the Hedgehog:
- Espio is playable, to a very small degree.
- The theme songs are great, safe for All of Me; I still listen to them regularly, especially Waking Up.

Liked about Sonic the Hedgehog:
- It tried to be SA3. Sure, it failed at making it enjoyable, but it was still closer to an SA3 than anything else.
- The side story between Blaze and Silver was kinda nice, it made me feel like what little development it had was more enjoyable than the main story.


EDIT:

SA1 had the same limited co-op; player 2 could control Tails.

 

Blaze and Silver's interaction was cute but in a mostly one sided development, it seemed they compromised most of Blaze's own insecurities and complexities in her persona to work as a foil for Silver. Truthfully I think most of the non-Rush titles just shoehorn Blaze in as another bland stoic character (the defining moment of her character in Black Knight is a mild blush at Sonic).

The co-op is a nice touch but it works even less in a 3D setup, since most of the time it's too hard for the second character to get focus on the screen (a mild camera movement or zoom in/out when they are close by may have solved this a little).

 

I personally enjoyed Shadow. It suffered from no crippling failures of level design, or engine design. Even the overused grind rails became more enjoyable when you could shoot things from atop it. It was a solid, playable game that could even be pretty fun at times. I actually like it more than Heroes.

Sonic '06 had potential, and a few times, that potential shines through. Playing as Silver is a unique experience, and it can be rewarding at times; at least in his part of the game, there aren't as many "AUUUGH HORRIBLE GAME" moments as there are satisfying moments of lag-inducing explosions.

 

No more so than Sonic Adventure really. You know you could control Tails while playing as Sonic in that right? I mean yeah, I don't think he was there in all the levels... but the same is true for partners (not to mention partners that are worth a shit) in Shadow.

 

I think they show up in every level in trial mode. And playing as Maria in ShTH is nothing short of a selling point.

 

I haven't played Shadow in a while, so I can't give any opinion on it.

As for Sonic 06, I liked the upgrades and gems. They should include that system into their next Adventure-styled game.

Not to mention that had it been completed, it could've been great.
The graphics, music, and level layouts were pretty much all good, but the obvious physics and loading problems and other crap just made it feel like a ton of wasted potential.

 

I did really enjoy Shadow's alternate paths; if they would incorporate it into another game, but not make it a moral system, I feel like it would be a very fun experience with a lot of replay value. I also really enjoyed the music and honestly I didn't find it completely horrible; it got the job done, more or less.

Sonic '06 I loved the music and the return to SA-style formula. I just wish they would have executed it in a way that let me enjoy it. I really enjoyed kingdom valley, and Silver's gameplay (but not when his interrupted Sonic's).