When they said they were gonna release more info soon, I really wasn't expecting a mobile game, but okay...
Four years. Four years and we're going through not merely two classic stages, but two that WERE IN GENERATIONS. I'm throwing my FULL weight behind the "this is a haphazardly-thrown together game made after a failed prototype wasted three years of development time" theory.
Ruh roh those Sky Sanctuary looking level maps have new assets and the other two stages take after Park Avenue and Green Hill. Looks like we've got another stage for Forces. In the event you wanted to retread more stages again. Like I'm glad is Sky Sanctuary is actually getting a lot of rep now but come on. I mean Chaos Angel anyone?
I'm sure if they just straight-up copy/pasted the Fist Bump instrumental into this I would've thought it was a bit lazy, but I think I'd take that over whatever is going on there. EDIT: It gets nicer once the guitar hits, at least.
Don't forget that Chemical Plant was referenced in earlier previews too. This is seriously depressing. I haven't had 'high' expectations for this game ever since the first Green Hill preview, but re-using SS, CP, 'and' GH? That goes beyond going back to fan favorites out of some misguided sense of nostalgia and reeks of straight up desperately needing to re-use assets or serious fiscal development problems. Hopefully we're wrong here somehow because if true, I don't think I can justify buying it, and I 'really' wanted it to at least turn out fairly decent. I mean, wow. Still going to wait til we're closer to launch before I decide, we know so little, but if most Generations stages return, rather than say either at least bringing new stages back, or just plain giving us new stages period, I won't buy this. And this is coming from someone who really did like Colors/Generations. (Save a few dull stages in Colors)
I really hope something comes out of this for the modding scene btw, because Lost World PC was nearly a killing blow to not only generations mods but I never saw any significant mods for LW in of itself. Forces may be a meh looking game but god damn does it have modding potential.
Referring to mobile game https://twitter.com/SonicJPNews/status/907829309615886337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboard.sonicstadium.org%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsystem%26controller%3Dembed%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSonicJPNews%2Fstatus%2F907829309615886337 Since there's only one stage that hasn't been shown for Forces in this, I guess we aren't getting Sky Sanctuary in that game after all. All the more reason to show off what other fucking stages you HAVE
Agreed, I would probably be quite happy if it was left low key/not an in-universe thing (a Classic and Modern branch of the franchise, not acknowledged in game) but this forced universe cross over rubs me the wrong way. They need to show something more from the main game soon. We are less than two months away and we have seen next to nothing, and what we have seen hasn't been great. Admittedly the new mobile game looks like an enjoyable time waster, looks more appealing than Runners Adventure anyway. Graphics aren't half bad, the multiplayer was unexpected and it sounds like they have expanded beyond the generic endless runner tropes. I'll probably give it a go. Yes! Act 3's music is still one of my favourites in the franchise. If they insist on reusing old levels I'd like them to start going for more obscure ones.
What baffles me is that supposedly Nakamura had to cut things from the upcoming TGS trailer because SEGA thought they showed too much. Just what in god's name are they super secretive about when they basically showed off half of Mania liberally?
Probably Sky Sanctuary, apocalyptic Speed Highway, apocalyptic City Escape, apocalyptic Seaside Hill and so on... so people don't accuse the game of being a Generations sequel. As HEDGESMFG point out, it really seems like the revisiting of zones has less to do with SEGA's need for nostalgia pandering and more to do with a lack of time and/or financial resources to create new assets.
Well the difference though is that a sequel would have new levels :v: Unless this is Sonic Generations Generations, where Sonic goes through various generations of Generations stages.
To be perfectly honest I would've preferred a Sonic Generations 2 to this. Something like Scrap Brain, Mystic Cave, IceCap, Twinkle Park, Chaos Angel (sorry, never played SA2 or Heroes) Kingdom Valley, Dragon Road, Aquarium Park, Studiopolis?
We've seen 2 levels. Park avenue/City heights/ sunset hill and Dust Hill/Green hill/ Hidden base. Sly Sanctuary was said to not be in forces and chemical plant was referenced. :v: i don't want to see returning stages: The Game ala mania. But if they HAD to come back they'd need to overhauled massively like dust hill/ green hill. New landmarks, new music, new hazards, and a shifting aesthetic
All the more reason why I refuse to believe this is supposed to be a game that has been in development for the past four years. It doesn't look or feel like its been in production for that long, not in the slightest. This game feels more like a backburner project that has spent most of its life on the shelf while Sonic Team fumbled around with a lot of prototype pitches, and is being used a last resort just so Sega/Sonic Team can just get something out the door. That or Sonic Team was literally sitting on their hands over the past few years until last year and only very recently started to fudge this project together. That's the other thing that bothers me about the supposed development cycle of this game. The popular narrative from people is that Mania's earlier release / delay from spring into August is responsible for the lack of material (up until recently, supposedly) concerning Forces. But how exactly does that work when Forces is supposed to have been in development for longer than Mania has? Stealth mentioned in a Mania playthrough he streamed that the game was "officially" in development for only a year. Forces didn't even have a tentative title --let alone a final title-- and only had a CG trailer to show when it was announced at the 25th birthday event. Meanwhile Mania's announcement had not only a title and gameplay footage in its trailer, it also had playable demo kiosks with two levels. This was despite Mania literally having started production earlier that year. It feels less like Sega holding their cards for Forces until Mania drops and more like Sonic Team with Forces actually doesn't have much material to showcase.
Keep in mind "Sonic Team" is actually "whoever is working on a game that has the Sonic Team logo on it". They could just as well have been working on Yakuza games in the interim, or anything else. "Sitting on their hands" seems unlikely. I am happy to believe, though, that this game was on a FFXIII-style backburner, officially in development but with a skeleton crew, until just the last year or so.
Nintendo direct had 7 seconds of 2D section. About five of them were something that didn't look like Park Avenue or Green Hill. They were playing as a bird with different hair than the render we've seen. Confirms two things: 1. You can change your character's hairstyle 2. This game has more than two levels (this is not a good thing to need confirmation of)
