Do you like "Modern" Sonic gameplay?

There should be an extra option between 2 and 3. It seems whenever someone makes one of these polls that they assume that if the person dislikes it they hate it's guts. I'd go more for "It was fun while it lasted, but I don't want to see it again."

 

I definitely think this is the way to go, but it needs some work.

I want the SA2 way where you build up speed to reach maximum velocity. I want this to reach Sonic Boost speed, but without the invincibility.

The monitors should return. Invincibility should become a monitor like it always was, and all the power-ups from the classics should return as well. Shields, Speed Shoes, and other important monitors should return.

Now I know what your thinking, with the speed you can go, how will you even SEE the monitors? Well with that being said, I think there should be SA2-styled areas that require more platforming along with SPEEDY linear areas where Sonic can achieve Sonic Boost speed.

Notice I said achieve. The Boost Button would not EXIST. Thats what I hate the most about the boost, is its instant gratification. You shouldn't be able to go that fast with the push of a BUTTON. You need to go "straight" enough that Sonic would gradually hit that speed if it was kept for an extended period of time. The turning would become less and less prominent the faster you go, but you wouldn't need to slow down to make turns at that speed, as that's what Drifting would allow. There would be areas that would require slower movement, and they would warn Sonic that they are coming up, so he could slow down.

Rolling needs to be re-implemented into Modern's gameplay. I want a button dedicated to rolling. Replace the slide if necessary. Rolling and the effects that go with it are part of Sonic's gameplay. This means the Spin Dash as well. I want a modern casino level with pinball machines!

These are just a few things that if corrected would make the game FAR more satisfying.

 

I've got to get ready for work, so I don't really have time to write up an proper post, but I do enjoy the modern gameplay. Thing is, I don't think it's very sustainable on it's own. It plays like a racer with platforming elements occasionally wound into it. Colours and Unleashed Wii did this especially badly, where the 3D areas were nothing more than straight roads between very blocky and primitive platforming segments in 2D. I'd like to see them adapt the gameplay so that there's reason to stop, explore and go in different directions at different speeds.

 

You have to decide what 'Modern' is in context. Today, 'Modern' is Unleashed/Colours/Generations. I'm not a fan of the boosting and hold up to win formula myself but in the end I still enjoy myself when playing them.

That said, if 'Modern' accounts for Sonic Adventure then yes -- I do like it. SA1 and SA2 I felt transferred the greatness of the classic games into 3D, Heroes as well to an extent.

EDIT: oh I see the sub-title WELL THAT HELPS

In which case I don't like it much kthx

 

I always thought the speedier stages in Sonic Adventure used 3D just a little bit better than the daytime levels in Unleashed. In the latter there really wasn't much of anything there. Most 3D sections were really simple and pretty flat. Windy Valley wasn't hardcore platforming (and that third section in it is probably the weakest bit in all of Sonic Adventure, though fun to skip over as Tails) but at least it went places.

It's surprising that they can't do 3D segments or platforming really well with Sonic because most of the night stages in Unleashed, while not the most brilliant examples of slow platforming ever, were quite decent and much more fun to play than many of the day stages. (It's astounding by how much Jungle Joyride's night stage outclasses the day stage in terms of just about every criteria applicable to evaluating a game's quality.)

I've not touched Colors yet but am apprehensive about it. Watching Starlight Carnival does not fill me with confidence about the kind of enjoyment I'll get out of it. However, I do like that there's a lot of underground content to explore in the first couple levels; seems a real shame the yellow wisps are not unlocked by default to my knowledge. However, given that the last few levels in Unleashed soured me on the idea a good deal I'm hesitant to look more deeply into it, especially as I'd be getting a Wii pretty much just for it and maybe a few other games.

The current guys seem to be pretty good at making 2D segments though. I loved most of the shorter daytime stages (the kind that are usually 2D-exclusive and generally involve, say, 3 laps around a small track or something similar). I'd love to see a game full of stuff like those.

 

From what I've seen, they're taking open movement and platforming elements from the SA games and putting it in the incredibly polished gameplay Unleashed/Colors had to offer, plus the removal of QTEs and the addition of more alternate paths. I can't say I wouldn't want them to continue improving this, because I already thought Unleashed played great; and this is just proving to be a great direction for the games to take from now on.

So my opinion is inbetween 1 and 2. I love it and it's a great direction for the series, but I still feel it could be with some improvements. If Gens' City Escape is anything to go by, then it's already fixing the few problems I had with the gameplay.

 

The interactive rollercoaster gameplay from the recent Sonics is something that's bound to automatically wow the player due to the constant stuff that gets thrown at him at high speeds, but even the developers know how restrictive and linear that gameplay is, hence why they switch the game to 2D every now and then. After all, it's derived from Sonic 2's Special Stage, the following Sonic 2 commercials and the Sonic Ride, showing how it's something pretty cool in short bursts.

With that said, I do like the new 3D segments they're making, now with multiple paths as seen in Sonic Generations' Green Hill (specifically, the bridge you can break through), but they still feel limited to a series of QTEs rather than testing the actual platforming skills from the player. Something like a high speed Dragon's Lair or, if you prefer, Road Avenger.

I just think there's too many of those segments. I'd be fine if they just replaced the scripted events, but having much more 3D than 2D segments could ruin the game for the gamer who actually wants to play a platformer. That's why I wouldn't want a Sonic game with only these high-speed corridor levels, but I'll be fine with them as long as they don't take more than 25% of the game.



What I'd love to see is a full 2D Classic Sonic game, with seven short 3D modern-style levels as the Special Stages. I think that would be the perfect balance, and so did SEGA back in the old days.

 

I like the moves introduced in the modern gameplay, the drift and quick-step (and boost to a lesser degree) but I want them to re-tool it to a more Adventure-style design philosophy and gameplay style.

 

I prefer the Sonic Adventure style gameplay, but it seems with '06, they forgot how to do it. With that said, the modern style gameplay is still fun, and I would absolutely take it over another '06.

 

I did a whole post on the SEGA forums a few months back about how Colors separates the speed from the platforming and strips the player of all control every time Sonic is running fast or doing something cool, creating an extremely bland gameplay experience (you always end up using one move at a time instead of using them all together, and the levels never even evolve to that point later on, thanks to the modified restricted control scheme). The thing is, the Adventure games do this too, but not to the same extent and with a more consistent flow. Windy Valley and Lost World are notorious for this kind of stuff, and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want more of this. Most of the "exploration" in SA1 involves exploiting the levels and physics in a way that wasn't intended by the designers. A lot of people seem to be making some correlation between speed and "automation". It shouldn't be that way.

Unleashed, however, felt like the first 3D Sonic game where I actually felt in control during all of the wild speed sequences. It's due largely in part to the level design, but also Sonic's new moveset and how much input the levels require in comparison to the more simplified 2-button Adventure-style gameplay. Mixing the speed and the platforming together smoothly with objects that take advantage of all of Sonic's new moves created what I think is quite possibly one of, if not the most immersive Sonic gameplay experience to date.

It feels good knowing that every time Sonic does something fast and cool, I made him do it and not the game. It feels good that it's more than just a fast clone of Mario or a generic platformer with speed elements in it. I don't want to slow down and stop in a Sonic game. Unleashed proved that you can still have lots of exploration (Empire City and Eggmanland rails, shortcuts in every other stage) while going fast, which is what I would personally prefer. What's interesting is that Sonic R used a very similar design philosophy, right down to the racing elements. It had way more exploration than the Adventure games, too.

I'm fine with the modern gameplay as long as they keep adding and experimenting with stuff to it to make it more interesting. Generations seems to be headed in the right direction as far as that half of the game goes. The gameplay style still has a lot of time to be fleshed out, hopefully SEGA will be confident enough to mix things up a little next time.

 

On the other hand, Unleashed did have slower platforming like in Labyrinth and Marble -- only you weren't playing as Sonic per se.

I dunno, I didn't even mind the combat outside of Eggmanland because of how simple it was -- most enemies could be beaten by going up to them at a run and pressing Y, at least while at full health and with the required moves unlocked. I was just frustrated that very rarely did fighting enemies not cause the battle music to play. I mean, it's not a bad song but it got obnoxious after a while.

 

Its the same game. Just faster and without rolling.

 

Generations seems to have tightened things up significantly over Unleashed, at least in Green Hill Zone. In Unleashed, you'd sometimes have to get just a little bit lucky to pull something off, but that doesn't happen in GHZ.

Still, I love the modern gameplay. ALMOST as much as I love the classics, but nothing can quite touch Sonic 3, haha. To further expound on this, here's something I almost finished writing almost two years ago, but never posted to the boards. It was written right after Sonic 4 was announced.

 

It's pretty fun, but could use some work like removal of the boost button, return of the spin dash, more emphasis on exploration, etc. Basically, a lot of what other people said. Although I enjoy modern Sonic's gameplay, I would definitely prefer gameplay that was like the classic games but in 3D. Unfortunately, we may never see a game like that from Sega.

 

I used to like it, got hyped as hell when Unleashed was about to come out. But after having had some time to play it first hand, I've come to realize that I don't really care for it. I view it as an HD amalgamation of various minigames and gimmicks that require little to no input from the player.

I'll try to break it down as best I can:



Boost pads - These only serve to propel the player in whatever direction. INSTA SPEED.

Homing Attack - I've come to hate the homing attack, even in 3D. I know it was originally introduced because it was too difficult to jump on enemies in 3D, but its only real purpose now is chains. "Repeatedly press the same button to get over this bottomless pit." Just another segment of each level that requires barely any player input.

Light Dash - This should be self explanatory. Press a button, automatically go along a path.

Grinding/Auto Running Segments - This is literally auto play. The game is constantly propelling you forward, and you can move left and right with the quick step. These segments actually remind me of one of the toys they gave out to promote Sonic Hereoes a few years back from McDonald's or Burger King. Sonic was in a car, constantly moving forward. All the player had to do was move left and right to avoid them. So to me, these segments are merely a glorified version of a fucking happy meal toy.

Boost - Self explanatory. Instant speed.


All these combine to create a pretty dull experience for me. Of course there's the occasional need to jump over an obstacle, slide under one, or perform a bit of platforming, but the first two are too few and far between, and the platforming for the most part seems to be reserved for the 2D sections. The problem with this though, is that whenever I'm playing 2D Sonic, I want to play a classic Sonic game, not a game that lacks rolling, has physics that make platforming feel awkward, etc.

Of course, I've not been able to give Colors a chance yet, so maybe I'm just not seeing how this kind of gameplay can be properly implemented.

And I fully agree with this. This type of gameplay wouldn't be bad as a sort of bonus stage, but I don't want it being the core or the game.

 

I would like to see Act 1 being 3D then Act 2 being 2D. I am not too much of a fan of mixing them in one zone simply because it makes the 3D bland and just a interval between the better 2D level design.

 

I don't see how Sonic Advance 2 is any more 'modern' than Advance. The level layouts are slightly more linear?