[Dark Sonic]

Ok. Half these topics basically are just "I do/do not like X because of Y." So let's make a collective topic for what it is that we want. What exactly do you want Sonic to be? And this isn't even just talking about preexisting stuff; you could have hated everything beyond the design and come up with something different. Whatever. But yes. What do you all want.

What would I like Sonic to be? I think Generations summed it up to a T. It not only brought cohesion to the series but it was fun as all hell. Now granted, I would have traded every side mission for 3 new levels in a heart beat, but it was a great foundation for the future. Then they did a bunch of other shit instead and we have Sports tape and Zazz. My ideal is that they split the series into two, and make a Modern Sonic series that continues the boost formula with a touch of Lost world added to it, and a classic Sonic series that had the same level of detail as Generations visual wise. You throw in an Allstars game and you have a three year cycle for each game. It'd of created a balance and it'd have given them time. But that's how I feel.

How about you guys?

[Qtheman]

I'm sort of torn - I definitely ditto the Generations sentiment (though I'd say Colours is a good example as well, just with less filler levels and better controls), I quite like the Boost gameplay.

Having said that - Even though it didn't work as well as it could've, I very much like what Lost World was going for. With some touching up here and there (a few things that come to mind for me would be turning being a bit more 'natural', Sonic's top speed being a bit faster, and the wall-run/jump being more intuitive) and better level design, I think a Lost World-style game would be excellent. I'll agree that it feels a bit confused as to what it's trying to do, but I think the core mechanics could make for a great game (though I suppose whether or not it's truly a "Sonic" game is up for debate).

[Morph]

Getting right to the point, even though I haven't played it: A faster version of Lost World with less bland level design. And less "OH BOY I CAN STICK TO ALL THE SURFACES" (cylinder levels and that whole stupid gimmick which ruined momentum). Maybe a little dash of Sonic Adventure while we're at it, with say, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy as playable characters. In other words, Mirror's Sonic.

And screw you guys who can't find your way around; hub worlds are nice and I want them back, even if it's simple like Unleashed. I dunno about you guys, but sometimes I like to just tear it up and do crazy tricks all over the hubs in Sonic Adventure.

[Strife]

To me, Sonic always felt like he was at home in games that embraced something of a mix between the platform and racing genres, and for that reason I feel like the boost-based gameplay of Unleashed and Generations (Or Advance 2 and Rush for 2D) is ideal for him.

That being said, what I want personally is the style utilized by Adventure 1 and before, where you can pick from a selection of characters with different abilities and play through the whole game as them, and your character of choice affects which routes you can take and which strategies you can use against bosses. Sadly, Sega prefers to take one of two extremes - either you can only play as Sonic or you have to play as every single character, sometimes multiple characters at once.

[LordOfSquad]

At this point I just really want a game that would actually trick me into thinking I'm playing Sonic 4 if it were made circa '95/'96, building directly off of Sonic 3 the same way 3 built off of 2 and 2 built off of 1.

"BUT LISTEN HERE YOU DUMB IDIOT" you may be saying to yourself. "THAT'S ASKING TOO MUCH OF SEGA! THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING." That's certainly true, but maybe there's something they could have done post-Generations instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater for the third time. They should have put out at least one more Sonic game for whatever systems featuring a more refined version of the daytime/modern gameplay. Tighter, responsive controls, level design based on a good mix of speed and platforming/exploration (ala Sky Sanctuary or Seaside Hill), and creative, surreal level tropes (more Sonic CD, less GRASS, CITY, GRASS IN SKY, CITY, CITY, GRASS WITH WATER, CITY, CITY, GRASS WITH FACTORY). That would have been the perfect follow up in my eyes. The Unleashed style of gameplay never really got to live up to it's full potential and it's too bad. Unleashed was half "this is kind of fun" and half werehog, Colours was sidelined into a technically inferior console, and Generations was a glorified greatest hits package. And now we've moved on to totally different things already.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.”

[The Game Collector]

Dark Sonic, on 07 February 2014 - 11:24 PM, said:

Ok. Half these topics basically are just "I do/do not like X because of Y." So let's make a collective topic for what it is that we want. What exactly do you want Sonic to be? And this isn't even just talking about preexisting stuff; you could have hated everything beyond the design and come up with something different. Whatever. But yes. What do you all want.

What would I like Sonic to be? I think Generations summed it up to a T. It not only brought cohesion to the series but it was fun as all hell. Now granted, I would have traded every side mission for 3 new levels in a heart beat, but it was a great foundation for the future. Then they did a bunch of other shit instead and we have Sports tape and Zazz. My ideal is that they split the series into two, and make a Modern Sonic series that continues the boost formula with a touch of Lost world added to it, and a classic Sonic series that had the same level of detail as Generations visual wise. You throw in an Allstars game and you have a three year cycle for each game. It'd of created a balance and it'd have given them time. But that's how I feel.

How about you guys?

Count me in as a fan of your classic Sonic series. The games like Sonic 4 and Sonic Generations classic Sonic stages as well as any of the sidescrolling handheld games are usually the ones I get excited about and keep an eye out for. I'm really into sidescrolling anything after being deprived of it for so long. From the N64 through the Gamecube sidescrolling was a rare find for a new game, and the Wii plus the handhelds really brought them back in a major way. I am glad Sonic has joined the likes of Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Mega Man and even Dragon Ball in keeping the sidescrolling platformer alive. If I remember right, Mega Man was the first one to bring it back in a major way on consoles with Mega Man 9.

One thing I like about the classic series is that the addition of many characters besides Sonic never takes away or detracts from them as they do in the 3D ones. In 3D, different character types allow for the game to become too different each time one is switched out. In games where the switch is forced this puts you in gameplay types you don't like as much when you just wanted to play as regular Sonic or whichever character you liked. Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic '06, and Sonic Unleashed were notorious for this.

When you switch to the 2D format, the gameplay types can only change so much. The core engine stays pretty much the same. All these weird friends of Sonic's just end up giving you cool variations of moves instead of bad voice acting or switching up of gameplay style too much. In this way, 2D games allow more characters in the game to be a major plus rather than a minus. It adds replay value, more color, and alternate paths/outcomes. This is why the X character in Sonic 1 hacks here are so cool. It takes an already solid game and makes it more interesting. Sonic Advance 3 is a good example of taking 5 characters' different abilities and applying them to 20 different combos that give you different experiences when mixing and matching. More of that would be cool as long as the level design is solid.

[upg]

1. A classic series that looks like Sonic 4 but plays like the classics (incl. Classic Sonic, etc. models), building on that play style. For the old school fans.
2. A modern series that builds on that play style (colours, lost world, etc.) For the new school fans.

I seriously thought they were going to do this after Generations, by continuing the modern titles with the awesome formula they had JUST perfected (IMHO) and having Classic Sonic go back to his world to fix Sonic 4. Splitting the universes officially with Generations. I was wrong.

3. Spin-off universes that experiment with all types of worlds and play styles (story book series, riders, sonic boom, etc.) Basically the lab rat of the three. For the new audiences and for everyone really.

[SomeSortOfRobot]

I want Sonic to be a 600-episode space opera

[Roller]

I've thought about this a lot.

You know what Super Mario 3D World is to the 2D Super Mario games? I'd like at least one hypothetical game to be like that to Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Just tack on a third dimension and have traditionally 2D setpieces at 45 degree angles of each-other. To evolve it, make the levels play a bit faster, make Sonic a little faster by himself, keep the spindash, but make it a bit like the boost, and allow "drifting" ala Sonic in Unleashed/Generations. Keeping in with the "S3nK>??? as SMB>SM3DW" thing, Mario's levels end with him completing a task that gives him a bonus depending on his ability, which tends to be jump related (jumping up the flagpole). A suggestion would be to return to the classic-style end-signpost, but give characters a bonus for crossing the end-level line as fast as possible, making the signpost fly around ala Sonic 3nK's post-miniboss antics, which could give the player a bonus item which they could bring into the next act.

This post has been edited by Roller: 04 April 2014 - 05:59 AM

[Machenstein]

In terms of aesthetics, I wish Sega would bring cute back to Sonic, but they always go in the opposite direction with each new redesign. I would say just bring back the classic designs, but I wouldn't mind new designs that are just as cute. The problem is Sega is still desperately trying to make Sonic "cool" when cool always has an expiration date. Cool is fleeting, but cute is timeless. It's unfortunate that so many corporations in charge of today's entertainment still don't get the memo. It's not really a Sonic issue as much as it is a 21st century one.

In terms of gameplay, I could so get behind a release cycle of 2D games with classic Sonic and physics, 3D games with modern Sonic and boosting, and an All-Stars Racing title or some other spin-off. I'd also like to see level designs with a good mix of speed and platforming, some exploration here and there, and less bottomless pits. It'd also like to see less automation in favor of more player input required to get through the levels. The player should never be allowed to just put the controller down as Sonic automatically bounces from spring to spring to speed booster to spring. That's just hand holding. Again, not a Sonic exclusive issue, just a 21st century one.

[BlazeHedgehog]

I want Sonic to be a racing game.

The platformer Sonic of the Sega Genesis era was nice, but the controls were never as good as Mario, and efforts to turn Sonic in to Mario have not been to my taste. All the parts in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations where you have to slow down are some of my least favorite, and Sonic Lost World is extremely lame on nearly every level.

The high-speed, "boost to win" Sonic is a better, stronger identity for the character. It's unlike anything else on the market right now. The mascot platformer genre is all but dead; but a character-racing game is something literally nobody else is doing. "Boost to win" is not a negative, because nobody complains about Forza being a "gas pedal to win" game. It's about learning to drive, learning to take corners, learning the most efficient driving line, learning how to shave off 0.2 seconds from your fastest time.

I want more high speed, high-tension stuff like Sonic's daytime levels from Sonic Unleashed.

That's as simple as it gets, for me.

This post has been edited by BlazeHedgehog: 08 February 2014 - 10:02 AM

[Jason]

Look at how this level in Tony Hawk utilizes momentum for speed and exploration with a clear destination. Replace the required constant slope for a skateboard with Sonic's natural speed, and this is about what I want in a 3D Sonic game in terms of gameplay.

I think a plot somewhere between the thickness of Unleashed, Adventure and Colors is about all that's necessary for Sonic. An overarching objective with reasons for going place to place strung together with competent dialog and delivery. Anything more seems too fluffy and is often poorly-structured as a result.

[Tiller]

I'd like the games to be less shit.

2D wise I'd like to see the classic mechanics back with smart level design and flair to make use of them. It's that simple yet seemingly impossible.

Honestly Sonic Boom's game adaption has many elements I'd like 3D Sonic to have bar some of the character design choices. Larger room to move around, multiple characters who are similar but with their quirks for replay value, and a blend of speed and platforming that flows nicely via its level design and mechanics. Have Sonic do more things a speedster would do while not forgetting his trademark move set. A good player doesn't have to stop moving and can abuse level design to go faster or reach different places. A slight focus on combat would be ok if done in a manner where you can weave through it rather than forcing the player to stop and go.

[Hybrid Project Alpha]

I just want to have a good time, so far so good there

[Jayextee]

In very simple language; Sonic 1 again but different levels and gimmicks plus more adherence to a time/score attack structure.

I'm not even going to argue my point because that'll get fucking tedious.