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Sonic Boost

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Cap, Dec 6, 2008.

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  1. Cap

    Cap

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    Sonic's ability to Boost is available now in most sonic games. Sonic Rush, Sonic Rivals, SATSR and Unleashed all allow sonic to boost and gain speed.

    But the game I'm interested in is Unleashed. The ability to boost is spammed throughout every level, and the fact its so tempting to bash constantly makes a lot of the extra paths incredibly hard to spot or react to. Its also taken its tole on the games length, severely shortening each day level.

    Really, if boost were to be removed the day levels would be longer, and reactions times would work better, without people needing to memorize levels to ace them. Consider as well Eggman Land. A lot of that level requires Sonic to actually stop and do some proper platforming. A lot of which I really enjoyed.

    It could also work better for water running levels. In Holoska, you just hold boost and breeze through. Without, it would instead require you to actually hit boosts and keep momentum.

    Still, boost is brilliant fun, and has provided some amazing moments throughout the game of pure and utter speed. Really, its a double edged sword, but would you rather see it go or stay?
     
  2. Sik

    Sik

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    I'd rather see it not being overused. Simple.

    And boost only works in 3D and big areas where you have a lot of space to move and you can see it. In 2D games the camera doesn't let you see much, and in small areas it's useless. You get the idea.
     
  3. Tweaker

    Tweaker

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    I think boosting is appropriate when it's not encouraged for use, persay, but rather offered as a reward for individual skill. In Sonic Rush, you filled up your boost meter by destroying tons of enemies and performing tricks in rapid succession. If you did it enough, then you'd max out your boost gauge, allowing you to boost around as long as you were able to keep performing tricks and destroying enemies; this would encourage the player to improve their skills to the point where boosting becomes a common reward for good gameplay.

    What Unleashed appears to lack in comparison to other games where the boost is available that boosting is encouraged far too liberally. If the player wishes, they can boost through a level, collect tons of rings, and take a lot of the difficulty that would be incurred through playing the level at a normal pace. You can just boost whenever, really—rings are far too abundant for you to ever run out. It's kind of dull that way.

    However, Unleashed combats this stigma by boosting up the requirements needed to get good ranks in a level. You're not going to get an S rank by just normally running through a level, so you'd better learn how to use that boost as best as you can, or you're not going to experience any of the game's achievements! It's not as fulfilling, admittedly, but boosting through levels at insane speeds somehow manages to preserve the fun factor.

    If you ask what I think should be done, it involcves two core principles:

    - Make boosting a reward, not a prerogative
    - Give the player other means of success other than through constant boosting

    The ability to boost through the level should not be given liberally. You could not just use the Team Blast in Sonic Heroes all the time, and you couldn't just Chaos Control through levels in Shadow at your whim. You had to work for it. The initial Sonic Rush method of obtaining boost power through smart trick execution and defeating enemies is a good one, and I think it could be preserved somehow; perhaps edited to add a bit more challenge.

    When the player can not boost, they're generally gimped to no end. If Sonic had some other moves in his artillery—a useful Spin Dash, a jump dash, or level design that takes good advantage of slopes, just to name a few—then the game could be just as easy to sift through without the speed boosting. Hell, it could even add more challenge to the game! Variety is important, though.

    So yeah... I don't think the boost is the worst gameplay mechanic in the world, but it could definitely use some refinement.

    And Sonic needs to be able to roll again. :)
     
  4. PC2

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    But that's what makes it so fun. In Sonic Unleashed, you actually want to go fast, just because it feels so good. The boost is part of what makes the game so exhilerating. I think it didn't do as well in the Sonic Rush games because your rank was based on score and it was 2D platformer-style only, and in SatSR you could barely see where you're going at all. Sonic Unleashed finally used Sonic's speed creatively by giving the game racing elements such as a more proper boost and drifting, and it works because day ranks are actually based on speed. They could easily just make more platforming sections, such as the clock tower in Spagonia or the "spinny things" in Chun-Nan to reduce the "boost abuse". The fact that you do also have to pay attention to your surroundings to slow down and take certain shortcuts for a better rank also helps a bit.

    As for the roll, I think the Wii version kind of covered that, though I see no real reason why they had to make Sonic crawl in the Gaia Gates instead of just giving him a simple roll like he had in SA2. Really, it just looks odd to see him crawling around like that. :)
     
  5. Lobotomy

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    He shouldn't have boost, he should be able to go that fast anyway. I want SA1 Spindash back.
     
  6. I completly agree with this. Sonic should have to earn his boost.

    The only issue is certain levels like Holaska and Adabat NEED boosting to complete them due to having to run on water for major periods of time. The way to fix this would be to keep large amounts of rings on the water, but only have so much on the other levels.

    Rings are just too damn abundent in this game, which is why it is so easy.

    This game was ment to be fast, so making people have to jump alot and slow down wasn't in their best interests.

    Also, I agree..what was up with that? Sonic shouldn't crawl, or even slide. He should ROLL. It would have been able to kill enemies just like the Sonic Boost, and Sonic would have either ran right from the spin or jumped and kept on running.

    WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE SPINDASH SEGA?! WHY SONIC BOOST?

    I understand it was done to keep the speed up, but what if you had to slow down, in order to do some platforming, and wanted to pick the pace back up? Oh thats right, you have BOOST PADS.

    Seriously, they should have removed the boost pads altogether, and just let Sonic do the Spindash to get back up to speed. They should only use them where they are ABSOLUTLY necessary, like through super short curves through a city. That I understand. But they put them everywhere.

    It's crap like this that makes me RAGE.
     
  7. Hayate

    Hayate

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    I don't know about everyone else but so far I've not even thought about using boost most of the time in SU Wii. In fact, I can only remember actually using it in time-limited missions (I.e. time attack or get X rings in Y seconds) and the first miniboss which you have to boost to hit.

    So if you don't like the boost you could just ignore it...
     
  8. Sonic Warrior TJ

    Sonic Warrior TJ

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    Maybe someday they'll give us the ability to mash the jump button while crouching. Holding down the button for Spin Dashing doesn't feel as....engaging, but I will admit, SA1 had the best Spin Dash of all the 3D games.
     
  9. Diablohead

    Diablohead

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    It could be totally abused to speed run levels and jump out of the maps though, at least with SA2 you have to stand still to use it.
     
  10. Sonic Warrior TJ

    Sonic Warrior TJ

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    Actually if you press and hold the button while running (since just tapping it makes you somersault), you can pretty much make it work like in does in SA1. There's just a slight delay after you first hold down the button, maybe as long as a second.
     
  11. Guess Who

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    It's actually better not to spam the boost in Unleashed. I didn't get S-ranks in Chun-nan and Empire City until I learned to let up on the boost so that I didn't fly off the stage and die.

    And the spindash as an alternative? Are you guys serious? The spindash is fine and dandy in the 2D games, but it was nothing short of completely useless in SA1 and 2 other than for charging a light dash/attack, and SA2 even took away having to charge the light dash.
     
  12. muteKi

    muteKi

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    I completely disagree. The spindash was utterly broken in SA1, and you could use it to fly surprisingly large distances; little wonder that a lot of speedrun videos use a combination of the spin dash and unlikely routes otherwise not possible to access.
     
  13. Hayate

    Hayate

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    I actually found the spindash quite useful in SA2. Such as right at the start of Green Forest in the tunnel with the badnik. I always run into there, begin a spindash to hit the badnik and then release, letting the dash panel take me back out of spindash. Seems to be the fastest way to do it. I loved how SA2's spindash would act as a brake if you pressed and held B while already moving.
     
  14. The Pulse

    The Pulse

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    Sliding is like Rolling, only the animation is less cool, and is in itself the result of an after-effect from the somersault of SA2.

    As for the spindash.

    Crouch + Jump in Unleashed does nothing.

    WHAT
     
  15. artyfarty

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    Well, in my opinion, Sonicteam's desicion to reduce platforming in daytime stages and giving player an ability to boost through all stage is quite nice. That's a return to an old 2D concept of holding "forward" and jumping :) We can experience an astonishing speed, something that wasn't available in Sonic 3D-games before, while still keeping game hard and fun.

    That's a new concept and it's quite nice.

    But right, the boost is way too easy to earn, so it needs some polishing in future titles. I think that an ability to boost trough all stage should exist, but for that player must play well, for example by causing some destuction and doing tricks on the way. On the other side, in Unleashed we can start boosting seconds after the beginning of the level: after the first trail of rings, while trick or enemy power source won't allow this, and I kinda hated starting slow in Sonic Rushes.

    Maybe they should reduce an amount of rings on level (Seriously, over 9000 1000 rings in Spagonia is a way too much) and attracting radius (Sonic sometimes attracts rings from another "lanes", and this is absolutely unforgivable, because player won't need to to those side-dashes so thoughtfully and drift well to collect a maximum amount).

    But damn, I still love it, dashing trough Spagonia at insane speed.

    And I really-really hate those "spinning things" in Chun-nan, because Sonic's controls are designed solely for running forward. That is also a problem in eggmanland, where I several times missed springs after an hourglasses. I think that classical 3D platforming is absolutely odd in Unleashed-daytime. 2D — as much as you wish, but 3D platforming with this speedy demon is a pain.

    Ninja edit:
    Sliding in Unleashed keeps your speed high.
     
  16. SlushBox

    SlushBox

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    Honestly, the big reason why I like Sonic games (well, not all of them, but enough) is because of the ability to go stupid fast. Due to this, I spam the boost in Unleashed (PS2, due to my lack of next-gen-ness) and even Sonic Rush to no end, but I agree that it's too easy. In Unleashed, rings are totally everywhere. The levels are saturated in them. I wouldn't protest to being forced to think about my use of boosting, but hell, when I get it, all the thinking I'm gonna do is gonna tell me to use it regardless.

    (Woo I remembered my login info!)
     
  17. Lobotomy

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    I think they could've effectively replace the slide with at least the rolling spin, Sonic is as short when rolling as he is when sliding, he slows down at a similar rate, et al.
     
  18. Shadow Hog

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    I actually think the boost is the cancer that is killing Sonic.

    Well, okay, that's a bit of an overstatement - it isn't the cause, merely a symptom. Basically all the folks at Sonic Team (or the Sega execs in charge of them, who knows anymore) seem to understand anymore is "Sonic = fast", and that's all they do. The end result is shallow, nearly uncontrollable gameplay that boils down to trial and error and little else. Boost here or else you'll die! But don't boost here, or else you'll die! There's no room for error! Not to mention, the platforming aspect that made Sonic games click in the first place is basically no more. No momentum. Remember momentum? How it prevented you from getting around that first loop in Green Hill Zone, until you build up enough speed to make it through? Notice how all you have to do now is hold a button? What the hell?

    But hey, look at all the pretty colors! And the levels are so long! So long, in fact, that it's physically impossible for a game of nothing but this to be made, hence the constant alternate gameplay gimmicks like the Werehog. After all, Sonic is supposed to go at full speed the entire time, so a game with only those levels would only last a few hours, at best. And, since Sonic's going fast all the time, there's really no need for alternate paths or anything like that. There goes your replay value, then! Seriously, I find retreading the same area over and over again to be damn tedious. The originals managed to break up the monotony with interesting platforming, alternate paths, secret rooms and stashes of goodies galore. Contrast to Unleashed, where basically once you've gone through the level the first time, you've seen all there is to see - you'll just do it a second time for a better grade, as if a different letter on the score screen is going to warrant the extreme déjà vu.

    What's even more sickening is how the press laps this BS up. I swear, all the negative press Unleashed got was heaped upon the Werehog. I mean, GameSpot wasn't particularly kind on it, but almost everyone else praised them and wondered why the entire game wasn't made up of them (see the last paragraph for the answer to that). They want speed. You could give them a game with a flat plane and absolutely no gimmicks, enemies or anything save for a few obvious and unavoidable speed pads, and they'd probably eat it up, calling it a true return to form for the hedgehog. I swear the only one who well and truly called foul was Yahtzee. Granted, Mr. Croshaw and I don't agree on a lot of subjects, but he pretty much hit the nail on the head here. This isn't fun. This is tedious and shallow as hell. Heck, he even gave the Werehog gameplay a backhanded compliment (IIRC he said it was the one good thing about the game - but only because it was reminiscent of God of War, "a good game").

    Why is it that nobody else can see that this franchise is headed to hell in a handbasket, not just because of poor production values and questionable gimmicks (although they're certainly the bulk of the problem), but because the core gameplay in question simply isn't anything resembling what it once was? I really don't recall the part of the Genesis games where you held right ad nauseam, only jumping over the few bottomless pits in your way because failing to do so meant instant death. That, and where you had a "win button" where all you had to do was hold that and you'd go blazing towards the finish, obliterating anything and everything in your way, removing any challenge from the game... albeit at the cost of falling into those pits you were jumping over, more often than not, unless you had played the linear stage so many times that you knew where everything was and were just going through the motions.

    Yahtzee's right about another thing here. Sonic needs "help". Maybe not the Old Yeller-style kind of "help" he's proposing, but a complete change from this horrid "hold-right-to-win" crap to something with actual substance. Although, seeing as the chances of this ever happening are now slim to none, the Old Yeller approach may have some merit.
     
  19. Chimpo

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    Spamming B when you hit a spring or R when you grind isn't skill.
     
  20. DimensionWarped

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    Whats the point of even bothering to boost if I can't use it to jump ludicrously high from relatively minor slopes? Damn Sonic Unleashed for having the absolute most boring player physics yet.

    Also what Chimpo said regarding Sonic Rush. There was no skill needed to maintain your boost in that game, just some routine sitting on your thumbs on a grind rail.
     
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