Sega: Future Sonic games to be inspired by classic Sonic series

Sounds good! Just as important is the 'look' of Sonic. He's still too gangly (and talkative), which is not cool for me. Although I realize SEGA (may) phase this out if this is the case.

If they nail a super fucking cool surreal future-retro 90's design ethos (not some bullshit real life / uncharted / generic direction), then I'm in

The new games need to be bold & confident.

 

Did we really need an entire thread about a single quote from PR that isn't any different than what we've heard in the past and has usually amounted to disappointment?

 

We all have heard the same shit before. I think ever since the 06 fiasco it hasn't been one year where we didn't heard this same "back to the classic formula" bullshit. If I'm not mistaken I believe that the marketing of Unleashed even featured the phrase "BACK TO THE ROOTS". Then we had Colors which was a game that was 80% 2D, then Sonic 4 Ep 1, which was pretty much a remastered version of a few stages in Sonic 1 with bad gameplay, then Generations which ran in nostalgia. Sonic 4 Ep 2 which was also a classic-esque game but with worse level design and gameplay. Lost World even went the extra mile and brought back the spindash to 3D (but then made the mistake of it working almost the same to the boost with no momentum) and brought a tad bit of that old classic Sonic environment design.

The only thing they need to get from the classics, isn't the looks, the moveset, the camera or whatever. It's the FUCKING MOMENTUM. I mean ffs, how hard it is to understand that? Remove the splines and whatever hand-holding mechanic they have, remove all that crapload of invisible walls, give the player some good shit to look at while blazing through the stage some good music to listen to (these last two at least Sonic Team know what they are doing) and fucking momentum based gameplay. Sonic is not about "going fast" or "looking cool" it's about knowing your stage and navigating through it using the momentum and friction to your advantage. It's about mastering the controls and the level. It's even about breaking the game. It's about having fun.

Honestly? Give me a Lost World kind of gameplay (for Sonic that is) and art style with Generation-esque stages (large, well-made, with a ton of alt. paths) and some creative stage tropes like Colors and even Lost World and I'm sold. I don't need another "classic game", and I don't even want another a fully 2D/2.5D game, I believe that Generations proved that Sonic can work in 3D with a good level design and a solid gameplay.

The rule still stands: "Show. Don't tell". They can say they're bringing Sonic back from the classics all they want and I'll still be skeptical 'til I see it.

 

If I had a dollar for every time this has been done...

 

Oh god, please, a retro-stylized sequel to the original games, like Mega Man 9 & 10.

Hey, after reading that announcement, a man can dream! :v:

 

Here's an idea- Let DIMPS make the game! And make it all pixelated low resolution. 4:3 aspect ratio and 8-bit tunes.
What could possibly go wrong.

 

I'm hoping Taxman/Stealth have something up their sleeves. They're the only ones that have been close to Sega that hold any promise as far as 2D classic style Sonic goes. But if they do something that's not a Sonic 3 remake, please please please a new sprite sheet set for Sonic. Otherwise they're going to use Sonic 1 sprites and I never liked that style. Of course I would prefer something along the lines of Rayman Origins or Wario Land Shake it, but I know that'll never happen.

 

"PR statement that doesn't mean anything", check
"We've heard this before", check
Sonic 4 complaints, check
Taxman & Stealth fanboying, check

God, these threads are getting predictable, aren't they

---

I hate to be a parrot, but I'll believe it when I see it, though I am intrigued nonetheless given recent apologies and comments from higher-ups. Who knows, maybe it'll be Sonic 5 or something.

 

Why would you assume that? If said theoretical game was supposed to be a continuation of the classic style, I can only assume they would use the S3&K sprites. I get that they often throw around the Sonic 1 sprites for nostalgia value, but the S3&K ones were the most polished, in addition to being from what many people believe to be the greatest 2D Sonic game of all time.

 

Oh, this PR spiel again?

Even with the new CEO, restructure, and emphasis on repairing Sega as a brand; I really can't be bothered to take any PR statement of bringing Sonic "back to his roots" with anything less than a truckload of salt. Especially given this is the exact PR they spoonfed to the Genesis Sonic audience with their trainwreck of a so-called sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles; almost line-by-line.

Maybe I would have some more enthusiasm if the previous attempt didn't result in painting fans of the Genesis games as "baww green-eyes" unpleasables who are stuck in the past and want nothing but 16-bit pixel-perfect rehashes from the good ol' days; and painting the Genesis games themselves as overrated games that are holding the series back from "evolving", thanks to the metric brickload of nostalgia pandering and rehashing that's been going on as of late with the current titles. Even though the reality is that the developers have gone out of their way in their refusal to replicate anything good about the Genesis gameplay.

Unless the next Sonic game shows they actually give a damn about the Genesis games beyond a shitload of visual nostalgia winks and nods, I'm just to take this statement in a apathetic "same shit, different year" mindset.

I won't lie though; they would immediately have my attention if such a project was confirmed to not have Dimps or Iizuka/Sonic Team working on it from the get-go.

 

You just contradicted yourself in the same post. :v:

The momentum physics were great, yes, but they weren't the main thing that differentiates the classic Sonic games from the modern ones. That's always been the level design, moveset, and sometimes the look and enemies. But what the momentum let you do was mainly letting you go fast and looking cool. It was sometimes used as an obstacle, but the main obstacles have always been platforming, badniks and level gimmicks.

Also multiple paths with the highest path being the most rewarding and challenging for risk/reward.

 

Shhh, remember what happened last time that happened (oh Sonic Boom, the horror)

 

Calling a classic-styled game Sonic 5 though would acknowledge Sonic 4 as the thing that came before it.

If they did make such a game they should start use a subtitle following the original name, I.e. take a page from Nintendo and call it "Sonic The Hedgehog Returns" or something. Sonic 4 has more-or-less discredited whatever integrity remained on the concept of numbered Genesis Sonic sequels.

 

RIP Boost
2005-2011

 

Not acknowledging Sonic 4's existance is just stupid. As far as story goes, it happened.

 

I just realized this but... The reason Sonic's gameplay movements are like crap is because he's always in the adrenaline "super" mode with the green eyes. (Because when he is Super Sonic he also has green eyes, no?). He probably figured out how to induce this mode with crack or he just had so much exposure with the Super form. This would be the reason you cant play as super sonic during regular gameplay and only in very 'kill or be killed' moments like the final bosses.

His anorexic legs are also a sign of his chaos poisoning. He also loses his temper frequently. In the past he was cool but now he just acts cool. Etc.

 

I'm speaking more in terms of marketing, rather than canon standing.

If they called a new classic Sonic another direct numbered sequel like they did with Sonic 4, that would only serve to start another charade of high expectations again (to say nothing of Sonic 4's tounge-in-cheek "sequel as you imagined it" marketing only serving to further ratchet up expectations for that specific title). A directly-numbered sequel would also imply they would be making a sequel under a similar approach/mindset used by the original team (which as we all know is mostly gone by this point). Which doesn't exactly bode too well if you're not exactly interested in doing that, let alone doing it at all (again, like with Sonic 4).

In contrast, titles like New Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong Country Returns, implies the game is going with a new approach, while at the same time not ignoring the "sequel" factor that its use of the original series' name in its title abides by.

That and if S4's broken base general reception is to go by, I'd argue it would probably be best to just not call much attention to that title at all (okay, this might the bias in me speaking, but whatever).

Um...no, not at all? Classic artwork clearly shows classic Sonic with black eyes, and so does Sonic 3 & Knuckles' ending.



Sonic 3's Super Sonic having green eyes IIRC was either a glitch or dropped design decision (at least before the Adventure retooling).

 

Does no-one understand PR marketing speak? Being "inspired" by something is one of those non-binding terms used by salesmen to convince you 2 unrelated things are somehow related. Like how industrially produced chemical fly spray can be "inspired" by nature.

 

You guys get far too serious over a small comment I made half in jest.

 

And so in short, this quote is an elaborate way of saying absolutely nothing.