I don't think normies care if Sonic's eyes are green or if his limbs are stretched or if the place he's running in isn't specifically Chemical Plant Zone. That's all for a certain kind of fan. The first Sonic movie did amazing despite barely having any official Sonic iconography at all.
I think Classic Sonic existing is actually still good for the series. Not just because popular discourse still respects products bearing the old face better than the new one (like it or not, the outcry over Forces was very insular to the fandom), but because Classic Sonic represents an idiom of simplicity for the series. If a person can tell the difference between Modern and Classic Sonic at all, they tend to associate Classic Sonic with familiarity, an easy-to-approach atmosphere, and no government conspiracies involving murdered children. If Frontiers really is heralding Sonic going back down the "complex stories" route, then a separate part of the series specifically for all the comfortable low-stakes stuff isn't a bad idea. Some of the best IDW Sonic issues have been the classic series issues! They just need to keep each Sonic in his lane.
They're never going to kill it off. Even if they never make another game again, that era is here to stay. They sell a shit ton of merchandise based on thr classic brand alone. I know because I'm dumb enough to buy that crap for my kid.
And then said normies all went to see and loved the Sonic 2 movie where Robotnik threatens to enslave humanity with a superweapon he built with his mind. The same audience that all erupted the moment they saw Shadow. I really don't think light stakes is what they care about when it comes to Sonic. This is just more stuff that only specific kinds of Sonic fans care about. The Genesis games in no way have low stakes so I have no idea where this comes from.
Are you seriously doing this again? Offering an overly-verbose explanation of a decidedly not-that-serious story to claim that Sonic is fucked up 4 reelz? And inventing an audience monolith on top of that? I guarantee that people who stopped playing after Sonic 3 do not care about Shadow, my dude. Please do not bring this style of argument back from the unpopular opinions thread, it was not fun the first time.
Well I'm talking about the general audience, not a specific kind of former fan. Classic Sonic marketing makes sense for that demo but that can't be where a majority of money is coming from (could be wrong). Believe me I really don't want to argue with you about anything.
IF Sonic Team were to make a new 2D game I think the best move would be to use the modern cast. Why? 2 reasons: 1) It gives Sonic Team room to not completely adhere to the design principles of the genesis games. After all, if they don’t really understand what makes those games great then I’d rather they do something new instead of failing to capture the magic. 2) This creates room for a classic sonic sub-series with games made by Headcanon. IF Headcanon and/or evening star ever made another sonic game I’d rather it be a follow up to Mania without a sonic team classic sonic game separating the two Headcanon titles
I just don't think a cameo of a character the series has barely utilized in the last fifteen years (and hasn't properly utilized in 22) is going to make that much more of a difference to "the general audience" than the entire aesthetic and tonal sensibilities of a given product. The Mario movie got its aesthetics so correct to the games that it had defenders saying it was a good thing that the script sucked. If we're talking about "the majority of money", we're talking about surface-level shit. Much as I want it (read: I do not really care that much), I do not see the original Shadow backstory existing on the screens of Sonic Movie 3. It's too deep in the weeds! The draw of a lot of modern Sonic is the stuff that is buried deep in the weeds of continuity and worldbuilding, but if you're going to argue that that's what "the general audience" wants, I don't think we're looking at the same series.
This actually would make a lot of sense out of the situation but I imagine a Mania 2 would at least be announced by now if Sega was just freeing ol' Black Eyes up for more capable hands, which they absolutely should do. Or hell just free Sonic up in general and start paying more fangame devs (outside of Roblox). Though I feel the real reason Sega's doing this is just to avoid the backlash Forces got for abusing Classic aesthetics. Like they're preemptively avoiding that easy criticism since I imagine even Sonic Team themselves are feeling dubious about their abilities to create a good 2D Sonic anymore.
keep in mind that nothing has been announced. We don’t know that Sega is doing anything yet. That said, IF a 2D modern game is in development I suspect you are correct that post-forces, Sega realized that goodwill towards the classic aesthetic can decrease if improperly utilized. Well, evening star is working on their indie 3-D title and Headcannon has spent the last few years on origins/plus while also helping publish other indie titles. Given this it doesn’t make sense for a Mania 2 to be announced now as there hasn’t been time for development to even start. It would be great for more fan game devs to be brought in but it wouldn’t really be a mania follow up without the involvement of either Stealth or Taxman. I responded to one of the initial messages about the sonic 5 rumor and at this point I want to remind everyone that hearing half-baked rumors does not make us Sega insiders. Anything could happen, but most of us have no credible info on what will. Let’s have fun discussing Origins Plus and the rumors, but let’s also remember there is a lot we don’t know
That was more of a fun cameo than anything else, plus Sega can't because Bean Machine is just a Sonic re-skin of Puyo Puyo. Though Sonic was DLC in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2.
Look up the sales figures for Sonic 1 and 2, then every game since, and think to yourself again about how maybe the audience that didn't buy again after Sonic 2 might not be as small as you're making it out to be. The Classic-specific merch sells well for a reason.
Yyyeah I was just kinda going along with this being a future thing despite not actually hearing anything about it lel. I can totally see them doing it anyway just to not have to throw a 3D Sonic budget at every new game. That would be odd reasoning for Sega considering Mean Bean Machine has already been in plenty of Sonic collection packs before. More people bought SMB1 than they did Mario Odyssey. That doesn't mean Nintendo needs a split version of Mario's character with red overalls who goes boing instead of wahoo. I don't like it and don't think it's necessary despite it having a lucrative demographic, hence "wishful thinking". Sega created this mess themselves by creating inconsistent games for inconsistent audiences for so long.
While they did a good job porting the first game to the Game Gear, I consider Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Master System to be the better version, and I don't know if they did anything to polish Sonic Chaos. I don't see why not all Game Gear games having a Master System version is a problem.
Given the same general code base and factors of running the two, I don't see why it can't be Master System and Game Gear versions.
Chaos' differences are largely cosmetic (eg. soundtrack changes), since it was made for Game Gear first, it is relatively less polished on MS, though I still remember having more fun with the Master System version simply due to the less cramped resolution. MS Sonic 2's only downsides were really the more limited palette and intro, and the lack of Good Ending music. There's only really Master System versions of half the Game Gear titles (besides the laughable TecToy port of Blast) but again, it feels like a 'Why not?' situation. May as well have the option for SOME of them, especially since one of them REALLY benefits from it.
Yeah, after playing Sonic 2 on the GG a few weeks ago I must say that the first boss is ridiculous. Clearing it without save states or rewinding is a true feat. The Master System version is trivial by comparison. While I generally support having a singular version to serve as the "definitive" edition of the titles, it's hard to support that in the face of Sonic 2's truly horrendous screen crunch on that boss. I doubt we'll see the MS versions added, but I'm on board for it if they do. Another solution would be tweaking that boss in Sonic 2, but I'm doubtful that would happen.
MS/GG Sonic games in general have a weird Death Egg Roboty approach to their bosses. Sonic 1 MS' Jungle Zone boss with the magic slow-sliding ball of instant death is an almost equal pain in the ass to Under Ground's IMO. It does make each of them weirdly satisfying to defeat but I just wonder where the design attitude even came from considering how weirdly consistent it is. I notice the Genesis games all use the same instadeath gimmick but only for the final boss so I wonder if there was just some confusion with the B team thinking every boss was supposed to work that way. Having an option that tweaks the roms to be a bit easier would be a good idea but since they're already here and unchanged I think Sega just doesn't care if kids struggle with them lol. Have a feeling we're gonna get an influx of newer fans even more baffled by the difficulty of the 8-bit bosses now that the Genesis classics have official easy modes.
I don't disagree at all, buuuut (not to detract from the point) if the 2D Mario (or 3D Land/World series) had Mario in red overalls to signify it's a Mario game under different rules than the standard 3D Mario, I wouldn't mind that and would think it's a cute idea haha. Still wouldn't see that as a separation of brand as much as a neat little meta-distinction, which is about how I'd like to see classic and modern Sonic.
They're definitely gonna keep using Classic, not because he signifies a different era or for nostalgia bait or anything else, but because he is cute and therefore very marketable. Sure the Sonic of today is marketable, but he goes in the cool category, not cute. Keeping around the little guy fills that gap in the brand and therefore opens up the franchise (and more importantly to SEGA, the merchandise) to a wider demographic. That probably sounds like a super cynical take but I honestly don't mind it at all. I like having classic around, that's just what I think the company's reasoning is.
