There’s the leaked script, and unused stuff in the game files that gives us an idea of what he’d planned.
I went to check said script... But I didn't find anything that much different from the released version... Anyway, I went to TCRF's Sonic06 page. Found some neat things there xD It's interesting that many prototype animations seemed to derive from the Adventure games.
2005...are you referring to the tech demo version of the game that had the real-time day night cycle and demonstrated it in Kingdom Valley? That version of the game looked so sick back then. Even earlier before that, there was that footage of Sonic fighting like a bazillion egg robots in a field, which he fights by turning into Super Sonic and blowing them up IIRC.
Yeah, I believe that was when the game was still under Ogawa's direction. I think he left for Secret Rings around November 2005, and then Naka left in March 2006. That reveal footage where Sonic turns into Super Sonic still gives me chills too, and it'd be pretty sick if that was actually playable.
You mean these? Yeah, they made the game look rad as hell, not gonna lie. 12 year old me was so hyped for this back then. I'm still mad that the final game wasn't anywhere nearly as cool-looking as that trailer with Super Sonic. Dammit SEGA, why did you have to let things turn out that way?
The footage of Sonic fighting "a bazillion robots in a field and going Super" was an automatic tech-demo. While it was indeed rendered in real-time, themed around and used assets from the game would later become Sonic '06, it wasn't Sonic '06. It doesn't matter that it was supposedly running in real-time either. As for the gameplay though, it looks largely similar to the final game. Clearly a WIP, but it that particular level made it into the final game more or less in-tact. It was, to my understanding, a playable tech demo of the game in early development. The day-night cycle was only ever a part of this demo and wasn't supposed to be implemented into the final game. And that's not to say that it was meant to not be included either. During development, particularly when there is new hardware to work with, developers will throw a lot of things at the wall to see what sticks and what new options might be present themselves. They got the day-night cycle working, but didn't want to include. Why? No idea. Too time-consuming, not as effective as it appears in the curated tech demo, unfitting for the game they wanted to make ('06 uses a lot fo pre-rendered scenes)m something else... take your pick. A day-night cycle works better for an open-ended game than it does and level-based platformer. It would be cool to see Kingdom Valley at various times of day, but it messes up plot progression and level themes if you've got a day-night cycle fighting for attention. Funnily enough, this actually becomes a problem during Pokémon Sword and Sheild of all things, where the day-night cycle is in real-time in the Wild Area and story-based literally everywhere else. '06's biggest problems were rushes to hit deadlines and staff on a revolving door. It was clearly an enormous project for SEGA and it was mishandled. Aesthetically I don't like the realistic approach the game took and the story is really crap in both concept and execution, but I find the general direction that '06 took with regards to gameplay, level design and everything that goes along with that to be pretty ideal.
I think in some cases Next Gen was bound to kill off the Adventure setup however, because even if it did get the polish it needed, it was summoning an over saturation of a lot of elements that were bound to get on players' nerves, eg. the excessive player roulette where you can't even finish ONE STINKING LEVEL through standard Sonic gameplay anymore, trying to completely redesign the franchise into something it wasn't for the sake of making an 'epic', etc.
You mean the "Amigo" sections of each stage? Well... Yeah, that sure didn't help much, fact. And I've also come to realize that Sonic stories don't need to be "epic" to be great stories. IMO, SA1 kinda did it decently. Despite the big cast, with some stories being less relevant. SA2 started pushing the line. A Hero & Dark stories, with characters rotating between stages.
It's the problem that when SEGA finds a concept that is popular, they don't just capitalise on it, they repeat and oversaturate it to death, often while diluting the actual development and quality control that made it work in the first place. They're still doing it now, just with other things like Wisps and Classic Sonic.
Wisps is all Iizuka's fault. He loves them so much he wants them in ALL Sonic games. And that delight of his is hurting the games more than helping them be appealing
I'm just gonna say that I actually like the Wisps and think they should stay. If they bring back multiple characters, maybe certain Wisps should be exclusive to specific characters and serve to accentuate their abilities. For instance, Sonic gets white and cyan Wisps, Tails gets green and orange Wisps, and Knuckles gets yellow and purple Wisps. That'd be a cool evolution of the concept and would keep the gameplay fresh without hindering the pace.
I'd rather have every wisp available for each character, with each of them being affected differently. For example, Knuckles' yellow wisp would be much faster and stronger than the others, Sonic's cyan lasts longer and ricochets more, Tails' green is quicker, etc. [Edit] Or, have them grant unique/altered power-ups dependent on the character (Tails' cyan becomes a projectile laser, Knuckles' yellow could be able to drill through the air and ground, etc.)
I personally dislike the Wisps. They’re quite childish to look at, and serve only to give Sonic powers that he could probably have the ability to use by some other medium; either using skills /power-ups he used to have in other games or by using the environment. IIRC Wisps are also only generally useful at very specific points in levels anyway, so they might as well be placed objects rather than weird alien power-ups. I feel they just further muddy and add pointless stuff to the games which are already reliant on gimmicks or trashy design nowadays as it is, when they should focus - if anything - in bringing other playable characters back that people actually care about.
I don't think Wisps have ever suited Sonic's style. They look dumb and classic shield power ups are better. I don't want to see them come back, but that's extremely wishful thinking.
I think they're cute, but given that Colors explicitly ended with them all returning home, every reappearance begs the question of "Why are you guys still here?" And some of their powers could work very well in Sonic level design (Drill, Hover, non-gyro controlled Eagle) while others...don't (Cube).
I dislike the wisps primarily because of how they're implemented. If they didn't have that big animation and stop you, I'd be more onboard with them. If they were more like how the shield powerups were done in Generations (press a button and it activates instantly), then I think they'd be better. Sonic's always been about keeping your flow going, and what makes the games fun (for me, anyway) is being able to play the stage without breaking that flow. Wisps, as they are right now, go against that.
I admit I'm not big on how they completely halt the flow of the gameplay when utilised. That said I don't think Wisps are bad in concept, it's just the same deal as the playable characters, we could use a break from them every once in a while. Every time the franchise seems to click something the developers insist on spamming it and rarely do they bother developing and fine tuning it. The Wisps are still pace breakers after four games, much like the playable characters' mechanics were as uneven as ever within the same course. Whenever the developers see a potential deal maker, they get lazy with it.
