Classic vs. Modern Design

Well snap, I just remembered that model existed. Makes sense that they used it for a base, they look incredibly similar, but he still looks sort of odd with spike assortment.

The noodly beady-eyed Xtreme model I'm talking about is the one they used for the boxart of the game and the prerendered animation files.

 

You make me sad, Chimpo. Not that this is an internet popularity contest or anything, but that loser downloaded that video off my Youtube channel and uploaded it to his. He didn't even upload the whole thing.

 

That's not even the final model used, that was for the Mars/32X era.

This is the model that as used later on.

 

This is the model I was talking about when I said that. This model, although not exactly as cute as usually depicted, is definitely a charming model, and actually holds a strong resemblance to the S3K sprite, with the fatter belly, cheeky smile and beadier eyes.

 

That model looks like the S&K title card but it doesn't look cute to me. I prefer the Unleashed one, which is already quite good. Just make him fatter and cuter.

 

I have never really "disliked" Sonic's design, except in Sonic 06 where they gave him a badass appearence which didn't look good at all.

Saying that, I much preferred his classic design, and Unleashed's model was by far the best design since the MegaDrive/Genesis days. Sonic should always have his classic innocent and cool look (whatever happened to the whole "cool" thing Sonic had going on?) because, after all, he is a children's videogame mascot and in my opinion characters shouldn't grow up along with their fans. (Unless it's relevent to the story of course) I also miss his black eyes, they made him look downright ugly with his bright green eyes in the the official 06 art.

Here is a comparison side by side of my favourite classic art and '06 Sonic's. Appart from his basic head shape and colours he looks like a different character, who may have even passed as an evil clone of Sonic in the MegaDrive days.



The differences I can see are:

• Arm and leg thickness
• Leg length
• Body size
• Shoes (appart from the iconic red with a white stripe they have changed immensely)
• Huge hands
• Less tall, less wide and more pointed eyes
• Much wider (double) blue part between the eyes
• Skin around mouth (muzzle?) curves up alot less at either side of eyes
• Why can we see his teeth? (this may shound picky, but the classic art never shows teeth, even when his mouth is open)
• Green eyes
• Ears are much more pointed

 

You forgot the biggest change of all, his shoes have soles.

I consider the classic and modern universes separate, considering the fact that they are so different from each other. The classic world of Sonic is a much more surrealist, simplistic, care-free world. The modern world shows a realistic world. The only links between the two are the references in the new style to the old games. (aka Green Hill Zone. And Green Hill Zone. And Green Hill Zone.)

 

Sonic Heroes entirely.
Pyramid Cave and Pumpkin Hill.
A fair amount of the stages in Shadow.
All the handheld titles.

I think that the Sonic universe is merely flexible and they change this and that to suit the games. SA2 to Heroes to Shadow showed strange change in cities. From being very realistic (relatively) to futuristic to a fair degree of realism again.

 

I do like his newer look, especially from Unleashed, but his classic look is my favorite. I dunno, he just doesn't look as good as he did in the 90's on the Genesis. The original is almost always better.

 

Well, I think the whole "cool" look is still there with modern Sonic; it's just been a different type of cool for each generation.

Sonic has always been designed with that current coolness factor in mind. Even in the beginning, Sonic was built to be a character that would be cool to the kids of the '90s era. In the late '90s, kids were more into extreme sports like skateboarding and BMX, and I think that's why Sonic took on a more "radical" and "extreme" look when Adventure was released. It also explains the grinding mechanic being introduced into Sonic Adventure 2. In the 00's, kids were into anime series like Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, and Yu-Gi-Oh: shows with dark, dramatic storylines that still had the kind of action that kept kids hooked. I think this explains why we got games like Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic '06/Next, because those games had the kind of mix between drama, edginess, and action that kids found entertaining. When Sega heard how fans couldn't stand this dark and edgy Sonic, we ended up with the more lighthearted Sonic Unleashed and our current Sonic design.

Now, when I see classic Sonic, I see the iconic kindhearted good guy with a can-do attitude. He's also got a bit of a "cartoony" spark to him, and you can tell from the gloves, the constant smirk, the conjoined-yet-lively eyes, and the big red shoes; that spark feels like something only the Genesis-era concept art portrays well. Even the Sonic OVA seemed to show the classic Sonic at his best, showing off some of his exaggerated expressions and a little bit of his cocky and fun-loving personality (best seen during the Metal Robotnik confrontation). To me, classic Sonic has been the only Sonic that comes off as the kind of character that will fight for others and not let anything stand in his way. The current Unleashed style gets close with this, but there just doesn't seem to be enough of that cartoony side. However, I do feel like Night of the Werehog seemed to portray that fun-loving adventurer side of Sonic very well (minus the Werehog, of course, though I admit the Werehog's role in the short film fit well into the plot). In fact, I also like Sonic's design from Sonic Rivals (2), as it really reminds me of Sonic's sprites from Sonic 3.

Nonetheless, the '90s design truly has that timeless look and feel for Sonic. I hope with Project Needlemouse, Sega keeps this Sonic in mind.

 

Nostalgia is pretty timeless. That's all I can make of it.

 

Classic Sonic is simple, innocent and can be appealing to any age group. He's pretty much universal in his classic form. The new design attempts to continue the trend of being cool in a modern sense. He looks totally cool to your 7-11 year old age groups but your parents aren't going to find him appealing.

Take a look at Mario and Mickey. Aside from Mickey being introduced into the world of color and some slight updatese, both Mario and Mickey still hold very similar designs since they were first introduce, and nobody complains about that because they're still the same characters. Modern Sonic on the other hand got a makeover and a personality change. He went from a short fat hedgehog who's actions did his speaking. Now he's taller, slimmer and won't shut the fuck up about friendship.

 

I personally prefer the modern Sonic design over the chubby, black-eyed one. It just got greater appeal in general to me, personally. Can't really put my finger on it, just looks better.

 

I did?

You're right though, the soles bug me!

This may be true, but Sonic was designed as early 90's style cool and therefore thats how I feel his character should stay. As was mentioned before, Mario's character wasn't altered much at all over time, so why change Sonic when keeping characters consistant works?

I also don't really like the word "cute" but it fits the classic Sonic design so well. Until Unleashed this cuteness had been lost which was a shame as it was one of the things that made Sonic such a likeable character.

 

Ever think about how Sonic's been in his current design for almost 12 more years than his classic one?

 

Classic Genesis Sonic: 1991-1997 (6-7 years)
Altered Post-Dreamcast Sonic: 1998-2009 (11-12 years)

No.

 

My god what have I done, I didn't mean for this discussion to get it's own thread.

Graxer hit the nail on the head for me, so did Chimpo and Blue Emerald. The classic design is timeless and pretty special to me, the new look just looks like a completely new character trying to copy Sonic.

Ok, this makes me a little sad.