Sonic AYII

That's cool; I don't expect you to rigidly follow any particular style, anyway, and especially not when there's already enough variation between different images from the same artist/set (read: the screensaver in this case, but it probably happens all the time). It was just a suggestion based on personal opinion!

And that's what it comes down to. This is your imagining of what Sonic 4 might have been, so don't worry about giving yourself a bit of creative license. Trying to create a logical extension to Sega's own work is a nice idea, but worrying about it too much will be prohibitive to your time and sanity. :v:

 

If you look at Chaotix/Crackers you'll see with Mighty/Sonic that they were actually going back to the Sonic 1/2 look.

 

All the stuff by Akira Watanabe, e.g. this, that, probably that, etc etc etc bears no direct relation with a Sonic sprite you'd see in game. Other than they're both pictures of Sonic.

He was a cover artist. He did the cover (and manual) art... usually after the game art was finished. This is why I have a thing against Sonic 2 HD's choice of colours - they're making game art, based off cover art, based off game art. Cut out the middle man. People aim for the cover art because in most cases, it looks nice, but the colour scheme is chosen in such a way that Sonic stands out against white backgrounds - it's not always appropriate for a video game scenario. That's why there's a dash of purple, and Sonic is generally lighter on screen than on boxes.

My impression is that there was an internal guide on how to draw Sonic used by the game artists, and is probably a bit more reliable. The line drawings here are some of it. Some of it (I imagine) was concept art - it was the basis for which the in-game sprites were drawn, but obviously they can only be a very rough guide as the sprites aren't that big, and they were likely changed upon entering the game. As lovely as it is, there's a very strong chance that Akira Watanabe's work will have been completely ignored. I can't think of any game from the 80s or early 90s which takes design cues from its covers - don't know why Sonic would.

With Sonic 4 you're almost forced to go it alone so the art will be unique. But the basic shape of Sonic's head in your sprite stretches back too far - should be more like these I think

 

Honestly I don't like that sprite or pallete as much as the one in the first post. I mean it's *technically* well done but I just don't think it looks as nice.

 

The blue needs more contrast, other than that I like everything else.

 

The colours on the first sprite you did I think were the best though, try and see what they look like on this new one (which does look fantastic).

 

The problem with the hand is that it looks a little too thick, and it uses lines, where on the rest of the sprite there aren't any lines.
I say just tweak it a tiny bit and move on. If you're making a whole game you'll have a zillion other sprites to do, so you shouldn't spend too long on just one of them (even if it is a major one)

 

Yeah, I'd agree, the sprite already looks awesome for what it is. Iterate, don't stagnate!

 

I just want to take a second here to diverge from the topic at hand concerning Sonic's sprite art to bring up again (if only to make three brief suggestions) the issue of shields and abilities:

• 1. I also am one who would like to see [a good version of] Homing Attack implemented. As others have said, as the ability of the Gold Shield (as seen in Sonic 3D). Just make the monitor containing it at a place in the act that is hard to get to, and make only one Gold Shield Monitor per act, and perhaps not even in every act. Make the double-jump ability (when Sonic is not near enough to a target) a weak version of the Flame Shield's dash function that only goes about 30% as far as the latter (and that does not move as quickly.)*

• 2. Blue Shield. Like the one in Sonic The Hedgehog or the one in Sonic The Hedgehog 2, but tweaked/revamped. I would motion that it could be layered to point of having up to two extra Blue Shields underneath the first shield by collecting more from other monitors, and that theses two layers could go under other other shields as well, so that in the event you lose your cooler shield you still have a decent one to revert back to. Also, it would slightly extend both the range and the duration of Insta-Shield, making a sweeping blue blur of a slash animation – I don't know how plausible that would look or how feasible that would be to implement though – thus allowing for less precision needed and more convenience (if only minor.) It could be used to slice past spiked or armored defenses of badniks, if used right. And as a quick side-note on Insta-Shield, it'd be a cool bonus if it could be used again after each successful bounce off an enemy or monitor.*

• 3. The Super Peel-Out doesn't harm enemies, but Sonic moves so fast while executing it that he "runs right by all badniks without getting harmed" (as long as he doesn't lose top speed, naturally.) I don't know if this would be considered cheap or not though. It's merely a suggestion. Also, while Spin Dash could be revved up quickly ala S2 & S3 controls (as I can only assume would be likewise the case in S4 anyway), Super Peel-Out has to be charged by holding down the jump/action button and waiting 2 or 3 secs. ala Sonic CD.

*It'd possibly be for the best if either of these two examples, if one or both of them is/are considered/accepted, did not repel enemy projectiles. I think that would be more balanced, though I'm not the one making the game here.

Just my 6¢. I hope these ideas were of some use to you, or at least source for inspiration for even better, more refined, more sensible ideas. =) Also, sorry for the minor tangent that this post was.

 

That sound so fucking awesome. I'm surprised nobody has done something like this before really, As for the extension of the insta-shield through the blue shield power up, it might be a slight bit overpowered on it's own, but the fact you can just as easily lose the shield, it would balance well. As for the stacking shields, however that would be overkill.

 

1. I never liked the automatic homing attack, so if I were to make it it would be strictly controlled with the d-pad and not influenced by what is in the vicinity.
3. To not make the Super Peel out dodging enemies too "cheaty", it could be made to dodge only the ones Sonic would kill if he was rolling, and be stopped by the ones that would damage him.

 

I was going to compare the old drawing to the new, but I see you replaced it.

Anyways, it looks pretty nice. Also, I like the WIP titlescreen drawing. Despite how little of the game art you've shown, I can already tell the art direction for this game is going to be great.

 

I definitely like your new version more.

 

I don't like how is Sonic fitting in the picture with that drop shadow/outline. Is that effect just for the concept ?