Okay this is kind of a shitpost but also I was listening to the SA1 soundtrack for kicks and got to the Ice Cap songs and damn, ya know what Sonic needs to do more? Grab a board and start flying down some slopes. Seriously, it fits so perfectly. It's a fast-paced gimmick/setpiece, boards are a natural fit for slope physics (as shown by all the Tony Hawk/SSX games that somehow could have excellent slope physics when Sonic was actively avoiding them), the dated-enough-to-be-charming 2000's vibe of XTREME RADICAL sports is fitting for Sonic, and let's be real, a linear downhill jam is what the boost levels usually almost always are anyway. But yeah, it's actually really surprising that Sonic has skated/boarded like...five times ever in this whole series (Only counting mainline, so Riders isn't relevant)? There's: -S3&K Ice Cap (which barely counts, that was just a cutscene really) -SA1 Ice Cap (which is really fun, but there's an annoying speed cap when you get airborne that really messes with the flow) -SA2 City Escape (one of the most iconic setpieces in...any platformer ever), and Metal Harbor I guess but that one is like ten seconds long -06 White Acropolis and Crisis City (which might honestly be the reason these sections disappeared because they controlled like ass but it was 06: everything controlled terribly ) -Generations City Escape (both classic and modern, throwbacks to SA2) I think there's a Lost World level where you do it too, but I haven't played that game and I am not playing a bad game to find out so whatever. I find it actually kinda nuts that this stuff just stopped happening in the boost games (besides Gens, which was a throwback) because a speedy downhill setpiece with trick ramps is a perfect fit for that gameplay style. This is my plea to Sonic Team to let my man Sonic be the 2000's XTREME RADICAL character he is deep down down inside and shred some slopes at least once per game. Doesn't even have to be on an ice stage, he can ride a metal bar out of an exploding Eggman base for all I care I guess this topic could also serve as a "what setpieces do you think are a good fit for Sonic games" discussion, if you want.
I support this notion. Any kind of snowboarding, skateboarding, etc in Sonic games is always cool as fuck. It just perfectly fits his character, and everytime it shows up it's always extremely memorable. (BTW you missed one in the OP. Sonic Frontiers has a level focused on skateboarding.)
I guess Sonic riding on rails is the closest we'll get to more prominent snow-sandboarding. We need more surfing on slopes damn it
Slope Physics? What's that? You know what this series needs more of? 3 parallel grind rails suspended over a bottomless pit. What thrill!!
Not into the idea personally. As a one-time gimmick in Sonic 3, sure. I never played more than ten minutes of Adventure. Was it in that, too? Ugh. It seems less imaginative for me personally. But, that is a fine line. I abhor the fantasy genre and I abhor real-world set pieces. It's never been easy to find a balance I enjoy.
I'd much rather have Sonic do more Extreme Sports-like activities like parkour and such in games, not just limit him to the same boarding we've seen in 6 games now (I'm sure we're getting sick of playing the same games). Sonic is a dynamic character, let him do more things than just grind or board to make things more interesting. I miss when every level had a set of unique gimmicks in a level; whether they were good or not, at least you didn't know what to expect next.
Playing Sonic Riders a while ago, I remember thinking how great a game that merged the Riders aesthetic with an SSX-like downhill score attack structure could be.
Sonic on a board feels kind of redundant to me. In the original 2D games, and certain 3D fangames, the way he interacts with slopes, quarter-pipes, and half-pipes already effectively includes elements of 'boarding into the core fundamentals of the character's movement physics. Even Adventure 2's original take on rail grinding in the games is in this spirit. Sonic's all about shredding the gnar on-foot! But I agree, he needs to shred again. I'm not opposed to him doing it on a board as well, so long as it's incorporated back into the game's foundation first.
if I was incharge of things, I'd make a Sonic skating game... but without the board, he doesn't need it. Running around as sonic doing tricks, using the enviroment to your advantage just seems cool. Make it score based and add back those SA2 point bonuses you get from interacting from the level. Sonic shouldn't be about getting from A to B as fast as you can but about getting there while looking cool.
I was talking about this with a friend of mine, saying that if I were in charge of a new 3D Sonic (somehow) that I'd definitely focus more on the parkour side of things. Add more cool tricks you can do, give bonuses for them, stress their existence more. I didn't know you could do that stuff in SA2 for the longest time and that is a shame.
I think the fact that S ranks are handed out just for going fast in the modern games is part of the problem, it incentivises you to miss as much of the level as possible where as in metal harbour from SA2 you either have to get all the rings or nail every grind rail and make sure to do the tricks, instead of boosting over everything you get to interact with the environment. In every game after SA2 none of the rails are actually part of anything, they just float over a void in every level and are part of specific sections. In SA2 you were grinding on railings and ledges or even branches, which is way more dynamic than 3 rails over a void that your forced to go down. The balancing mechanic also helped a ton, really made you get a sense of speed along with those wooshy sounds. Bringing it back on topic, I think what really makes the city escape segment iconic is that Sonic is streetboarding on a metal panel he ripped off the side of a GUN helicopter. He's not only vandalised a military vehicle, he's scratching up the paint using it to escape. To add salt to the wound he also ditches it entirely after the opening section. Wouldn't add the same effect if he just happened to have a random skateboard on him. Think I'm just gonna play some SA2 now lol, almost forgot how ridiculous and fun it is.
While I do like this aspect of SA2, as it ensures that fast times are not the only thing players are incentivized to do, I sort of agree with some of the criticisms that it unnecessarily creates a “proper” way to play the stages which can feel bit at odds with the freedom presented by classic Sonic gameplay. Metal Harbor is probably the only example of this I agree with as it’s so strict. The rest of the levels I’m fine with, as they offer enough opportunities for the A rank without following the same exact path.
yeah I agree that there are betterlevels that have many ways of getting A ranks. I used metal harbour as an example as it's neigh impossible to get a good rank with just raw speed.
I absolutely agree! it fits PERFECTLY with Sonic gameplay and should be implemented more often! Also, unpopular opinion: Lost World was WORLDS better than Frontiers
