Sonic Origins Collection - General Thread

I want to be excited for a classic collection but Sega's track record gives me no reason to get my hopes up.

There's no way this collection will be anything more than a compilation of the existing retro engine remakes and a bare bones S3&K ROM. That's enough for some and that's totally okay.

For me, fans have added more replayability to the original titles than Sega ever has or will. Browsing existing ROM hacks and seeing the number of new playable characters, levels, abilities, challenges, bugfixes, and enhancements puts Sega to shame.

I'd personally only be interested in purchasing these games, again, if they go all out on the bells and whistles.

 

At the very least, we know that Sonic 3 is going to be in widescreen. It could be like that Sonic 2 hack with the customized widescreen emulator that came out right before the PC decomp, but that would still be at least more effort than just using a base rom and whatever emulator they have laying around.

 

A widescreen collection of Classic Sonic games on consoles is far above what SEGA have usually done with these collections. The only problem is that it feels almost ten years too late. I'll still enjoy having them and will play them, but man did they take their time.

 

Late or not this will be fantastic on the Switch. The perfect way to play classic Sonic on the go. I mean this would have been great on the 360/PS3 but eh, better now when the tech doesn't suck as much anymore.

 

It also means we're finally gonna get our "I'm sorry Sega" Sonic 3 playtrough by cybershell and it makes waiting years for these damn mobile ports acceptable in all honesty.

 

Come to think about it, if it's not Taxman's ports, the alternative is it could be M2. They said they wanted to keep working on classic SEGA stuff despite their AGES line closing.

We know M2 are now experienced with emulation tricks and some low key ROM hacking as shown with their enhanced rereleases in the past, so maybe widescreen emulation might be their next step up. If it is them then I suppose we can at least expect some of their previous enhancements.

 

Oof, I really hope it is not M2. The Sonic 1 and 2 ports aren't bad, but they left quite a bit to be desired when compared to the Taxman ports. I'm getting at least one copy of this collection regardless, but I'd rather it be something I truly want as opposed to buying it to support Sonic 3 finally seeing the light of day again.

 

If Christian and Simon are not involved for some odd reason, then M2 will be SEGA’s alternative choice given their success with the AGES ports and the Genesis Mini.. my only concern would be how they will handle widescreen emulation.. it will really depend on how much work they put in and what features they add to make the experience as good as the Taxman remasters

Is SEGA just going to let those remasters collect dust and remain mobile exclusive??

 

Even if it is handled by M2, I'd find it insanely hard to believe that they would be starting from scratch. Neither of their ports were widescreen.

 

If Zippo’s leak is to be believed (which I don’t), then I wouldn’t mind M2 being involved with Origins at all.. if it will be a mix of ports and remasters, then 1, 2, 3K, and CD will be remasters (obviously handled by Taxman and Stealth) while M2 would handle the ports (3D Blast, Spinball, Mean Bean Machine, Master System Sonic 1 and 2, and Pocket Adventure come to mind.. I’m sure there are other games that are deserving to be included if we are talking Genesis era)

Yes that is my choice of games if more were to be added and I would definitely buy that.

 

As long as they'd do a good job, I think I would prefer it this way honestly. If they use the remakes, I have serious doubts that any of the things I don't like about those versions would be changed, so enhanced versions of the originals with widescreen and extra characters/content added in would be good in my book.

 

If M2 did it and ported over their previous stuff AND widescreen, I'd consider it a decent collection, but two things would be needed that they have failed to mend in any of their previous rereleases:

1. Fix the spindash bugs in Sonic 1 already.

2. Add flying for Tails in Sonic 2. (I still find it sad only the Taxman port bothered to do this out of ANY official version of the game.)

 

I know we’re getting one taxman port minimum no matter what

Unless M2 has a SegaCD emulator they’ve been keeping secret or Sega is genuinely willing to go out if their way to screw up and try to port decades-old PC code

 

Not sure how unpopular this is, but I legit hate Tails' flight in the Classic games. It's so slow and tedious. I'd much rather see it reworked to be a bit faster and the controls change so that you hold jump to ascend and let go to descent (like SA1 but not as laughably OP). Plus when added retroactively to games that didn't originally have flight, it feels incredibly OP as the levels too often just left you fly over virtually everything.

But that's an aside really. Tails is nothing but a Sonic skin in S2, with a hit box that's a few pixels shorter. Even if I personally really dislike playing as Tails in 3K/Mania and the mobile remasters and would like to see his gameplay tweaked ever so slightly, I won't complain as long as his flights adds an extra move to a game. There's really no reason not to have it there as an option. Tails flight isn't so OP that it's totally broken, and it's not like you have to play as him. Including his ability to fly doesn't fundamentally change the game or take anything away from it. It bugs me too that no other re-releases include it. If SEGA themselves were willing to add Knuckles back in 1994 with his climbing and OP gliding, then this is no different.

 

They really didn't have any better option at this moment.

There were legit leaks. Then bullshit ones on top of that for that click baiting internet ad revenue.
With people impatient on Sega's radio silence regarding the 30th anniversary, and expectations rising (specially on the Gamecube's Adventure crowd), might as well cut some expectations off before it grows even more out of control.

 

Yeah, this.

They may not have been ready to show-off actual new footage from the collection/reveal more details, but I think they did the right thing announcing it in light of the (online retailer) leak. At least we now know for sure the collection is happening and can have fun speculating about it until they reveal more info later this year.

Probably very unpopular, lol. To each their own.

Personally I love Tails gameplay in 3K and the Tails-only routes created to take advantage of this. Yes, Tails does feel a bit slower compared to the other characters when flying but he controls well. That's not to say they can't make improvements. They could make Tails move faster as long as they don't sacrifice the tight control/make him feel slippery. Also, implementing the "flight cancel" move for the new collection (which IIRC was first introduced in Mania) would be a smart addition.

Sonic 2's level design wasn't made with Tails' flight in mind (Sonic can reach and navigate all routes without Tails assistance) but I do like flying with Tails in S2, which makes some of the tight platforming sections (which can be a bit tricky with Sonic due to the slight slipperiness of his control) easier and Tails can explore the higher routes more easily (which are also easy to miss with Sonic due to how the levels are designed in S2 and the way he controls).


Speaking of Tails, as he can turn Super Tails by collecting the chaos emeralds in Mania, I wonder if the new release of 3K will allow Tails to go super my collecting just the chaos emeralds instead of having to collect the super emeralds as well.

 

I've always loved Tails' flight, even if makes him an "easy mode" character that trivializes much of the level design. The Sonic game I most played as a small child was Sonic 2, and only got to try Sonic 3 briefly while we had the Sega Channel. Finally being able to control Tails in the air after playing so much of 2 was cathartic.

After I realized that it's mechanically just Mario's swimming, which in turn derives from the flapping of Balloon Fight, and in turn Joust (one of my favorite games as a child), I've gained maybe a more academic appreciation for it, as well. Would be nice to see it flow into the rolling and running momentum, though. Same with Knuckles' gliding.

That said, I still haven't played the mobile remakes of 1 or 2, so if these are what's in the collection, then I'll finally be able to play Sonic 2 & Joust.

 

While I get it not being everyone's cup of tea, I always felt the speed downplay when flying was to balance Tails, as shown in Adventure 1 where going just as fast when airborne makes him absurdly broken.

I think it also gives balance in stuff like races where Tails can find short cuts or get up ledges quicker but the speed cap prevents him from captialising TOO much. Sonic's abilities like Drop Dash still favour speed and momentum grabbing. (One thing I noticed is that AGES Sonic 2 disabled Drop Dash for Sonic in VS Mode, almost like they were aware enough that without BOTH of them having their trademark abilities like in Mania, it would just be too unfair).

 

I think the clumsiness of Tails' flight is just because it's a game from 1994. It's almost thirty years old at this point. Just has some dated and clunky mechanics.

I still enjoy playing as Tails, but I think @Blue Blood is correct in what he says.