I always saw Advance as Sonic 4 for that exact reason. Its funny how our minds work, like that universal thing of imagining a guy running alongside your car as you look out the window.
Wait, that's universal? I always thought I was weird for doing that. :P Anyway, I wonder whether it would be appropriate to get rid of some cumbersome BS in the original games, or if they'd make that kind of effort. Sonic 2's special stages are indeed special, especially frustrating with AI Tails. Using the same rules as the main game would not only be more consistent, but far less frustrating. Perhaps it's consistent with the alphas where Tails would kindly lose your rings, but they changed that for a reason. May as well do the same to the other game mode. And the Carnival Night barrel is just terrible design. There is literally nothing to indicate to the player that you can move it by pressing up and down on the D-pad. Once you know it, it's easy, but you have to basically go learn it somewhere or figure it out by accident. I, for one, called the SEGA hotline. I was pretty irritated to find out it was so simple, even if obfuscated as all hell.
The way I see it is that a game/collection like this should have two settings; classic and anniversary. Classic mode would be the original games remade but matching the original games as much as possible. Taking S1 as an example, Classic mode would probably mean the original spike behaviour, no spindash and the traditional lives system. But as this is likely a remake instead of an emulation, possibly based on 2013 mobile remaster, then some fundamental engine and design related differences mean that it wouldn't be exactly the same as the original in Classic mode, such as smooth rotation in the Special Stages or slightly tweaked boss arenas to suit widescreen. Anniversary would then introduce more bells and whistles to freshen up the experience. Drop dash, spin dash, peel-out, no lives system, 7th Special Stage implemented for Super Sonic, possibly the elemental shields added to some levels... (And for other games, it would also include the Hidden Palace secret level in S2 or the removal of "the Barrel of Doom" from S3K). Just a bunch of enhancements and additions to the original games. Knuckles and Tails would definitely be available in anniversary mode, but might not be in Classic Mode. I think the dreadful Sonic 1 GBA actually did this, and so did CD 2011 (with all of its QOL improvements hidden behind the S2 spindash modes). It's a bit of a pipe dream I know, but I really think that definitive versions of old games in long-running franchises benefit greatly from these sorts of things. You get the game in both what is essentially it's original glory, and enhanced editions that still keep the original spirit intact whilst bringing in elements from newer games in the series and some general modernising touches.
I agree entirely with @Blue Blood I'm getting really excited for the potential of this collection. I wonder what they could add to Sonic 3. It would be a bit lame if it didn't get anything cool like Sonic 1 and 2.
Sonic Jam had three versions of each game: Original, Normal and Easy. For the sake of completeness, it would be nice to see Normal and Easy modes return. Normal had some minor adjustments (spring added to the underwater moving platform section in Chemical Plant, rings added to Final Zone and S2 Death Egg, Carnival Night barrel removed, etc.) while Easy mode made things significantly easier. Easy mode only had one Act per Zone, but apparently level layouts were completed for all Acts, if you use the level select cheat. So Sonic Origins could offer "Easy (Full)" and "Easy (Short)" as separate options. It's not really something designed for us, but it's perfect for very young kids just getting into video games.
I currently don't think we are going to have all these fine little tweaks that you guys are wishing for. I hope I'm wrong though.
As I've said before, the Mod scene in the past 6 months (2+ years really if you want to go back to S3AIR), has absolutely exploded in terms of what we can do with these games. So if nothing else, these features will at least eventually be added to the PC port which will run on even a potato and be much easier to patch. Despite being 30 years old, Sonic 1 now is an entire new experience with stuff like the "Sonic Forever" setup. https://twitter.com/s1forever?lang=en I just want a solid widescreen port of all the games with a good baseline that lets us do the rest as we need too and gets the games back into the mainstream. I have very, very fond memories of playing Sonic Jam as a collection back in the day (which at the time was almost as good as a compilation could ever get, save some sound emulation issues), and I want a new generation of gamers to get that same experience. Sonic Mega Collection (and Plus) were sadly steps backwards outside of some additional bonus roms, and the Taxman ports were far too hard for the average gamer to play properly (and even now are not very accessible even after being decompiled).
A lot of the 2013 releases' extras (like the Sonic 3 shields) were hidden behind cheat codes. I'd like for them to just be unlockables in Sonic Origins.
So much this. It bugs me when I see people listing Super Sonic, the insta shield and elemental shields as new features in the 2013 version when they're not accessible under normal circumstances.
It's great that they're right there for the decomps. They need to be a standard feature because they add a lot to Sonic 1 and 2 (I'll always love the insta-shield).
If Sonic Mania is anything to go by, the dev team certainly paid attention by having those extra features in that game (& Knuckles mode, Sonic’s ability, etc.) be available as options for all save files rather than just a no save mode. If Christian is involved, then I’m sure that any exclusives will be available from the get go for all of the games in Origins.
In all honesty, as a kid before I ever got to play Sonic 3, that's what I imagined it would be like when locked onto S&K. Up until I actually got a damn Sonic 3 cartridge, my imagination had about a year and a half to go completely wild over what the game must've been like, because I just didn't see it in the media much lol. Never saw the TV ads or any other screenshots, nor were there any kiosks at any stores. Anyway, even though no such pairing option was available in S&K, which I did have, I figured it would have HAD to have been a thing when Sonic 3 was attached, because though I knew little about Sonic 3, I knew Knuckles was in that as well...so...in my 6 or 7 year old logic "Why not??". Sonic 3 was a really for real enigma (and maybe a slight obsession..) to me until February 1996 when my dad managed to finally track down a copy for me. Before then I'd only seen a total of three screenshots of anything from the Sonic 3 half of the game — the title screen, a shot of Sonic losing rings (in I now recognize as debug mode) in MGZ, and the Sonic 3 level select...how exciting*. *I will say I was intrigued by the level shot after seeing FBZ (my favorite S&K level at the time) and "Mushroom...Valley", y'know before growing up and learning what the deal was lol.
I've heard that's a universal thing, and can vaguely remember doing the same. However, what I did more often when riding in the back of my dad's old car as a child was looking at the cars behind me on the road and imagining they had big metal teeth and were chasing me so they could eat me. I wonder if anyone else ever did that. But, back to this Origins Collection, I'm hoping we get more information soon. Bleh.
Okay but IS Christian involved or not? Taking that as a sure thing is only going to lead to disappointment if he isn't.
Hence why I started that sentence off with the big IF.. I’m sure we will find out once Colors Ultimate blows over. However, with the interviews/quotes and small tidbits of what we know (native widescreen, 60 FPS, not emulation, and considering 3 of the 4 games have already been given this treatment) then I wouldn’t bet against Taxman being involved. But again that’s just my input, and for all we know it could possibly even be M2. Let’s just wait until after Colors Ultimate releases and then we can give all the spotlight to Origins.
There is strong suspicion due to the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog CD. At the same time, there is that PC port that was also used in Sonic Gems Collection, so...
Wasn't that emulated in Gems? IIRC all the games in Mega Collection and Gems Collection were emulated
No it was a port of the PC version in Gems Collection. Even if the version of 1, 2, and CD in origins are the Taxman versions, so far there's no reason to believe Taxman is involved with this particular release. It would be crazy of them not to, but so far Sega only makes crazy decisions. They would have mentioned "in collaboration with Christian Whitehead" in the reveal trailer to build hype.