Sonic Lost World (Wii U, 3DS, PC) Megathread

So basically Sonic Team failed to learn from Sonic Team Jr. that button hunts aren't fun.

 

Heads up for all you American folk that are still on the fence in deciding whether or not to pick this up: The Wii U demo kiosks that are found in gaming and electronic stores have been updated to include a demo of Lost World, and I had the privilege to find one and give the game a shot.

In my honest opinion, it looks fucking great. 60 fps and everything! My only gripe is the controls. I was having a really hard time trying to learn the Parkour moves near the end of the demo before the final spring jump, and I almost caused the game to glitch out by having Sonic accidentally run off-screen thanks to Parkour. It's not the best game in the Sonic franchise, but it's certainly damn better than Sonic '06.

I'm probably gonna pick it up once I get a Wii U, but for the time being, I'm sticking with the 3DS version.

 

What? When did that happen? I was literally at Gamestop today (paying off the rest of my preorder for both versions oddly enough) and I was looking to see if they had the demo but they didn't. This was around 12ish mind you, maybe they updated later in the day.

I may go back, I'm getting impatient.

 

I'm assuming it's happening recently, but as far as I know, not every single Wii U kiosk has it just yet.

It also had a demo of Mario & Sonic at the Sochi Olympics, but who gives a shit about that?

 

I'll be heading to my local Target tomorrow. I'll check there and see if the demo is up.

 

Or, you could just go into Tails' Lab and pick the top-right option which is a sound test that is there from the get-go?

It allows you to play the songs "Once" or "Loop" which is quite nice. The weird thing is, they seem to have a weird number pattern to them which might be related to the Wii U version, seeing as it uses them differently.

Also includes the Wisp jingles.

 

I'm guessing new tracks are unlocked via red star rings? I haven't noticed any other use for the things yet... :v:

 

The only use I have found for red rings in the 3DS version so far is that collecting all of them from a specific area unlocks the "Extra Zone" for that area:
Collecting all red rings in Tropical Coast unlocks "Tropical Coast Zone Extra" which appears on a new map space. I've not unlocked any more music since completing the game so unless I've missed something, then all the music is unlocked upon completion.

Of course, like I said, the music is numbered strangely. There is Windy Hill Zone 1 - 2, Desert Ruins Zone 1 - 3, Tropical Coast 1 -3 and Extra, Frozen Factory Zone 1 and Frozen Factory Zone 3 (No Zone 2), etc. The thing is, the music that is playable is all the music that is used in game. If the 3DS version doesn't use it from the WiiU version, it seems to omit it from the game and sound test.

 

It's the first Dimps game that has conectivity to the Sonic Team counterpart... maybe they're more closely related than we know?

 

WALL OF TEXT ALERT!

So has anyone else played the game? What's your opinion?

I'll give you mine;

The game is frustrating. Truly anger-inducing. I have never thrown a game controller before, but I came pretty close to what I would call a 'Scrubs Moment' where I envisaged smashing my Gamepad on the side of my wooden bed, only to come to my senses and realise I was still sitting on the Game Over screen.

I mean, really? How many games must Sonic Team make before they actually nail a decent game formula on the fucking head? How hard is it to create a 3D version of the 2D games? The Sonic stages in the Adventure series were pretty damn close, why throw that totally out the window?
This game is difficult, but not an acceptable way. It's difficult because half the time you as the player have no goddamn clue about what is about to happen, or frequently what the hell is going on as you're being killed. Remember that Egoraptor video where he energetically described everything that was right with Mega Man X and how it taught the player everything they needed to know with the brilliantly designed control scheme and levels? Remember how Sonic games used to be about running, jumping, using the spin dash and obvious obstacles in the environment to accomplish reaching the goal in the same manner? Well prepare to be fucked here.

I can probably give 15 to 20 ways this game fucks the player in the arse, and I've only played this 7 hours and gotten to the 5th world, but I'd like to explain and pick out my best examples;

1) The homing attack is semi-broken. There are times when it flashes at me to hit an enemy, and pressing it instead flips Sonic in mid-air, landing me either in a death pit, or a stupid place where often he will press against a wall, and guess what? He'll run up it because I'm not a reflex god and I didn't realise he was going to do that!

2) The wall-running system is a mess, and Sonic clips on to anything and everything he can get his gloved little mitts on, often with negative consequences.

3) The game nearly completely relies on trial and error after the first Zone. There's a section where you're running down a huge jungle vine, and because Sonic controls like a shopping trolley in this 'mach speed' section, it'll take many lives before you know the route perfectly.

4) Sonic controls oddly. Overjumped a pit? Well, you can't just press back to make him curve inward, he instantly changes to the other direction, so you often die because you overshot and then undershot the platform all in the same jump. Oh, and sometimes when he jumps, the jump distance fixes, so you can't control him at all until he's landed. Oh, and when he turns whilst running he slows down hugely, which feels really weird and is something you probably won't get used to. Basic stuff in a 3D game, right? Yeah. />

5) Most of the Wisps are a crock of shit. There's some bomb-Wisp which I got in an item box which I have no use for (at least where I am in the game) and have no idea how to use it. There's a Musical-Note Wisp which took me at least 20+ tries to get the hang of it thanks to the poorly explained "explanation" box. Oh...

6) Explanations/hints are terrible. Sometimes I have totally missed them (did I miss them or were they just not there?) and I spent ages trying to kill a crabmeat in the tropical Zone because I didn't realise you could kick them by pressing a different button other than the homing attack and eventually found out after a tonne of button mashing.

7) The camera STILL doesn't go backwards or zoom out if you've missed an item and have to backtrack slightly. What are we in, the 90's? The negative of this is that you can't backtrack and get hit by something you can't see very well/at all.

8) Enemies are poorly placed in most levels. You'll end up smashing in to them frequently because the game slams you in their direction. Usually, when you hit a boost pad you'd think it's safe to go running for at least a short distance, but no, trial and error once again take over. />

9) There is still a lives system. Why is this needed in this game? Previously on Sonic Retro I have defended the lives system, which punishes you for being a shit player, but in this game just punishes you; you'll be right at the end of a level facing the boss only to lose your life, get a Game Over and then have to start the entire 5 minute stage again. It's not fun, it's annoying and then bloody boring.

10) Level design is really poor in places. Worth noting are the snowballing stage (Frozen Factory Act 2) in which you are knocked off the edge continuously and Silent Forest Act 2, the stage where you either fall to your death because there's some weird Mushroom Hill Vine Loops that lead down to the bottomless pit, stupid Musical-Wisps, and a fucking Robo-Owl that instantly zaps you when it spots you, leaving no room for error.

Other than that, when the game flows, it flows really well. I'm so confused /> . I want to love the game, I really do, but right now I'm pretty indifferent about it. The first levels of every Zone are fantastic, and some of the 2D stages are truly awesome. The music is great, the voicing spot on, the story the best since Sonic Heroes, the graphics are incredible (really, they are, kudos to Sonic Team for that), and most of the time the controls work well and the whole notion of 'press to run' is actually really well executed. There's so many little touches in this game that veterans would get it's unreal, and they've actually brought back bonus stages too.

So, make of that what you will.

 

Got the game. While I have to agree with a lot of the issues raised above, especially the convoluted and occasionally broken control system, for some reason I actually find myself less frustrated with this than some previous Sonic games. The variety of the game is just a huge bonus since I never find myself repeating the same old crap and losing my hair. There are a lot of concepts here that were likely a lot more fun on paper, but there's still lots in the game that keeps me drawn to it.

I'm also loving the story so far (though I wish there was a more proper introduction, I suppose that's something I can commend Archie for making). Less cringe inducing dialogue than the team's previous games, decent new baddies that have a lot more personality than the previous generic 'Eggman swatting' monsters of before and one of the very few attempts at a 'flawed Sonic' story in the entire franchise that doesn't make me want to punch him in the mouth. Games Sonic can now stand as the best incarnation of the character. Tails also seems a fuller character this time, after several years of blandness. Amy's voice still sounds very off though.

 

>Lives in California
>California is in 'Murica
>SEGA hates 'Murica by delaying lost world

In other words how am I supposed to know small details like that when I can't even play the game?

But thanks for the loop information, I'll spread that around.

 

I agree with everything you just said. Have a read of my even greater wall of text (C&P from a post on Stadium):

 

You know, I was wondering: did the game gave you a 1-up when you got 100 rings in the old demos (the ones at E3 or similar events)? Because I don't remember anyone mentioning it and the stages are so filled with rings I can't believe Sega decided since the beginning to make rings useless.

Also, Frozen Factory 3, the Casino Night like stage, was in one of these demos and I remember you went in the pinball minigame only if you didn't collect enough chips before a checkpoint (iirc) but in the final game you go there every time. Actually, after playing the stage 2 times in a row I can't see any point in collecting chips, it doesn't seem to affect the stage at all.


Has anybody here played one of these demos? Can he/she confirm this?

 

I cannot BELIEVE I went out and bought a Wii U just to play Sonic Lost World yesterday. I hope EBgames give me a refund for my Wii U console as it appears to meet their return policy on their website. I'm glad I got the game half price because it's one pathetic game!!!

 

You already have a Wii U, so if you don't like the game that much I'm sure there's a few other platformers of higher calibur on the horizon, like the new Donkey Kong or Mario games. No sense in just sending a console back after you hated one game.

 

From playing the Lost World demo at Summer of Sonic about 2-3 months before release: Collecting 100 rings did not give the player an extra life. Also in Frozen Factory 3 the first pinball table was always accessable even if you don't bother collecting the chips. (However there is a second, larger, pinball table hidden elsewhere in the level)

The chips just seem to exist for the sake of points really. Although the vast number of rings in the levels help with maintaining Super Sonic I guess.

 

Yeah, Super Mario 3D World looks absolutely incredible. Seriously, look at this:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnInWnRCTKk[/video]

I've heard some of my friends online basically say SM3DW looks to be what they were expecting from Lost World (hell, the cat suit's got some of the wall-climbing that the parkour moves in LW have), so maybe it'll interest you?