What would you change in Sonic Games...

I'd have kept Shadow dead, that right there would help SO much.

 

I think they should go back to 2D*... And that's basically it.



*Portables don't count.

 

I do have some interesting gimmicks in my head that'd give a fresh spin on the series - like a 2D game with a lack of central gravity (think Xtreme, more or less), or a Sonicvania of sorts. However, before we go branching out into random crap like that, we should probably get the basics back under control, first.

First, slow Sonic down. Sounds like sacrilege, right? Well, not quite - the Genesis Sonics definitely moved fast, but nowhere near as excessively so, on average, as he is today. Sonic was never about going so fast that you have no idea where the hell you're going, it was about flow. That is, the people who knew what they were doing could go fast since they knew the exact flow of a level, while others could explore at their own pace (provided they only took 10 minutes). That's not to say there shouldn't be a bit of speed interspersed here and there for kicks (like the large spiraling ramp in Lava Reef, or the freakin' tall wall in Palmtree Panic), but it shouldn't be the ONLY focus of the series like it has been lately.

If we're talking 3D, then here's an idea: replace gigantic bottomless pits with walls. Invisible or not, I don't really care, but this "large set of paths suspended in mid-air" is getting outrageous, and frankly wasn't what Sonic was about in the first place. It's possible to have good layouts that promote speeding through (or exploring, if you want) WITHOUT having to make them linear as heck, and also WITHOUT artificially promoting the player's staying inside that linear path as such.

Also, if we're talking 3D - work on the physics, for the love of God. It's almost impossible to run up walls like you could in the old days, unless it's explicitly stated that this one you absolutely HAVE to (loops, for example). If the wacky controls become an issue, then modify the camera so that it generally stays parallel with Sonic's feet when he's running on the ground.

As for the camera, make it move faster (the 2K6 demo's camera was ABYSMALLY slow when it comes to turning manually), zoom it out a little so we can see more, and let the freakin' thing go through walls if they're seriously in the way (you can make them transparent, so you can still see Sonic). Also, make it so we can move it at all times, and don't make it force you forward all the time. Biggest pet peeves of the camera right there.

While we're at it, make the camera follow Sonic on a loop, instead of pulling out. Pulling out means that the angle you're viewing the action - and therefore, the angle "up" on the analog stick corresponds to - becomes all wrong. Being behind Sonic means that things stay consistent - and means you can even try something shockingly unique, like putting traps ON the loops that you have to evade while traversing said loop. Plus, the physics of these things are pretty much nonexistent nowadays - instead of you needing enough speed to get past them, Sonic's just running along a preset path, and if you break it only to continue it again, you'll notice Sonic's speed jarringly wind up at maximum again from whatever you'd slowed down to. It makes no sense, and looks absolutely dreadful.

2D's considerably better, but Rush probably wasn't the direction we should be heading in. It was good, don't get me wrong, but brining us back to my first point, it focused almost entirely on speed, which it really shouldn't. Another point I'd not made up there is that, in the older games, Sonic's speed wasn't just the shallow thrills that we're offered these days, but an actual tool you could use to get all sorts of neat places. Think of GHZ2, where you could, if you were fast enough (speed shoes), get on top of that loop (ignoring the OTHER path with the spring). Or GHZ3, where there was a loop with a monitor on top of it, but you seemingly had to leap from above to get at it - until you noticed the spring by a hill nearby, which provided the speed and angle necessary to just jump on top of it. That kind of thing's been missing for a while, because the level designers are more focused on making Sonic go as fast as humanly possible in a shallow, linear manner. Where's the inventive uses of Sonic's speed in that kind of situation? It almost makes his speed needlessly generic.

Oh, and space. Don't make the freakin' game end in space. We've got Death Egg, Death Egg again, the Death Egg II, the Space Colony ARK, Cosmic Angel, Egg Utopia, the Death Egg yet again, that Black Arms thing, and Dead Line. Funnily enough, all but the first three of those have been the past five years alone. Enough is enough, already! How about we go back to Eggman just having a factory the size of a city, like Scrap Brain? That hasn't been done that often, or if it has, it doesn't feel quite as cliche by this point.

Super Sonic should be playable in the stages again. In 3D I can understand the physics system and level design wouldn't work too well with this, but there's absolutely no excuse in the 2D realm.

Also, this isn't a necessary change but one I'd like to see, if only once: maybe a game where everyone else talks and all, but Sonic himself is utterly silent? It's not like he needs to say anything to exude his personality. Admit it, one game like that would be interesting.

Concerning zones, you should seriously stop centering the zones around the Chaos Emeralds. Fine, so there are seven Chaos Emeralds, but there's no reason that should mean there are only seven zones, each one corresponding to an emerald. Make the number of stages larger than that, so that the game lasts considerably longer. I mean, if Sonic's going slower, it's not like the stages have to be all that large anymore, anyway. Sure, it means that the speedy player will blast through the game in a short time as usual, but it'd add a lot to the players who like to look around some more.

Plus, if balancing the "Chaos Emeralds Collected : Levels Beaten" ratio is troubling, try making the special stages harder - and not on some insane curve like the Advance series, where the first few are easy enough, but the final one is almost always nearly impossible, with the difficulty curve going up pretty much vertically around about that point. Make the stages easily accessible, at that. 50 rings at the end of a stage isn't that much to ask, is it? And for that matter, why are the giant rings GOALS now? Bring back the sign posts, please, and leave the giant rings to be what they always had been - special stage entrances. Is that too much to ask?

Also, I don't mind new characters every so often (particularly if they're largely plot-related), but they seriously don't have to be playable every time they show up. They rarely add anything new to the formula. Stick to Sonic, he's what the franchise started with and centers on, not the endless extras.

Plotwise, make Eggman the final boss again, please. I understand he's still the central badguy, but his being upstaged every game is getting to the point of absolute predictability. In fact, maybe you should hold back on Super Sonic fights at the end of the game, too, since they're just as predictable - maybe have a Super Sonic fight, immediately followed by you getting Super knocked out of you and you having to finish the fight as normal Sonic. And drop the "Last Story" crap, please. It's not fun anymore.

I could go on, but I think these are the outstanding issues.

 

Although I won't count out including cartoon-related characters, basing an entire game on the cartoon series sounds like way too much a step backwards for the whole series, really.

I mean seriously, who the hell allowed Sonic to have only one set of spikes? Any idiot could load up Sonic 2 and see that he has three.

 

Shadow Hog you win the prize completely. I agree with you 100%, I feel the exact same about the speed issue. In rush for example, you rarely have to jump up off the linear path to get rings, you can hold Right waaay too much!

 

• Remove the third dimension
• Speed it back up
• Remove Random Death Pits(tm)

 

Poetic license or no, it still looks absolutely hideous.

Believe you me, that's not an issue. If anything, the exact opposite is necessary.

 

Seriously slow it the fuck down. You can still represent speed...while having him move slowely. Mario 64 is a great example of a good 3D game. That game was fun as hell. Was it fast? No. It was slow as hell. Did it seem like Mario was running fast? Yes. Did it have shit tons of levels? Yes. Did it have shit tons of chacters? No. LEARN FROM MARIO 64. KEEP IT SIMPLE. I mean shit, with all the zones from the classics, you could compile a 3d megagame.

 

All you have to do is recreate all the graphics from the Megadrive games in 3d, but keep Sonic on a 2D plane. Like the Megaman remakes on the PSP. Pure awesome.

 

I never liked 2.5D games like that - it feels all too much like it's 1995 and they're cashing in on the 3D craze while not actually bothering to make a 3D game.

 

IMO, Sonic CD was the perfect Sonic game. It had the speed if you wanted to go fast, but the incredibly massive levels if you wanted to explore and do things right. Sonic should have a path that's easy to follow for those who want to take it fast, but massive levels for those who want to explore. This can be implemented 3d or 2d, but I've always preferred 2d. The reintroduction of Adventure Fields will be a godsend... at least there will be A FEW spots that have some exploring involved >.>

 

Sonic in 3D is still all good. Just boot your Dreamcast with a SA1 disc inserted.

When Sega stopped producing consoles, it all changed though. Sonic Heroes was stupid imho, with a lame scenario and strange-looking graphics (hence the need for a No-Gloss patch later on...). Shadow did have some originality but I'd rather have seen it in a more SA-esque game (such as the level with the Ark falling down to Earth or the Canyon environment).

I'm still kinda surprised when I hear long-time Sonic fans talking about Sonic Heroes and saying that it was graphically magic (aka they brought back the colored tiles in the first level) and the scenario was deep (and, dans la foulée, were happy to see Metal Sonic back - with this appearance? what the heck).

 

I didn't mean speed it up as in "make sonic run faster", I mean remove the segements in which you must pull a series of switches or fight a bunch of enemies that aren't bosses. In the older Sonic games, there was constant action and pits of death were quite rare (other than late in Sonic 2) -- no big spinny guys with hammers.

 

I agree with most people here, its quite ironic that the new Sonic game is supposed to be "going back to his roots" (a statement that is used nearly every new game) yet its introducing at least 3 new characters inot the fold...

I agree to bring back Super Sonic in normal play, hes far overdue a return. One thing that really pisses me off as well is that Sega is listening to all the little kiddy shadow fanboys instead of the long-time fans and producing crappy spinoffs to cash in on the GTA market...

And for the love of god STOP IT WITH THE FUCKING NEW CHARACTERS, please, what is the point? kids nowadays having short attention spans what? IMO everything up to Sonic the Fighters and Chaotix are the classic linup, theres already many decent (and extremly underused) characters there to include in your games, we don't need another angsty, dark, mysterious fucking sonic clone!

that's probibly it for me

 

People who are saying that it should stay 2D, what do you mean?

Do you mean Genesis 2D or New Super Mario Bros 2D?