Classic vs. Modern Design

Well I never found the "wirey" look for Sonic in Nextgen was all too bad, because I like how it was designed for a more streamlined and somewhat athletic Sonic, yet still keeping the almost-rubbery cartoony goodness through his vivid (in-game) animations. It was basically in my thoughts "if you're gonna make tall green-eyed Sonic, then make it look good". However, that centered mouth they added to him in the cutscenes ruined the model completely and (along with the terribly clashing Sims humans) gave it an almost "costume"-like appearance in certain situations. I'm sure the design would've looked fine with Unleashed humans and a side-mouth.

Still, SA2's model was horrendous. Rounded ears, an overly dark blue, those SOAP shoes, those giant eyebrows, and those jagged animations were probably modern Sonic at it's worst (maybe besides the Heroes model).

 

I liked the SA2 model, though the cutscenes didn't do it any favors since they tended to zoom in on the very jagged parts of the model that you probably wouldn't notice when you were controlling him. Similar things could be said of the SADX model where the wide mouth carried over from the original made him resemble a rat.

 

BUT Gems only had final boss stages for genesis games and no savestating for them either. Not sure of SMC+

 

The biggest problem I've had with any Sonic model is the lack of a sidemouth, which they kinda pulled off a couple times in SA2, and more often in the Riders games, before Unleashed. I always wondered what the deal with that was, why they never made it so it appeared on whatever side's facing/closer to the camera. I wouldn't have a clue, so I'm asking, how difficult would that have been to do from a technical standpoint?

 

Not very much. Since the characters basically all have symmetrical heads, the heads could be flipped without anyone noticing.

 

Also, it had been done in Sonic The Fighters already.


Thank god they didn't center his mouth in Unleashed, it looked way too awful.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I highly prefer the Unleashed model over Nextgen's, it's just that people put it down the most whenever it's not nearly as bad as other versions of modern Sonic (notably the super-disproportionate Riders models, or the super-shine-low-poly Heroes model). I'm just saying it's one of the better models of new Sonic, flaws aside.

Unleashed's model is perfect, however. Really cartoony, edgy, and a mixture of both the classic and modern designs, which gives it that timeless appeal. Like you said, it's essentially just classic Sonic with green eyes and new shoes, and along with it's Pixar-esque animation style, it gives him a fresh and appealing design.

 

Now that you mention it - and after seeing the comparison shots - with the way the NextGen Sonic looks like he's running on there... is it just me, or does it look more like Sonic is trying to move like how Shadow moves (except in a more running motion)? If you notice the pose he's doing, it's a bit like a less exaggerated 'sliding' movement that Shadow does - compared to Unleashes movement, that is.

 

Meh, sorry guys. The modern design just doesn't do it for me. Something about it just doesn't look like Sonic to me, but more power to you if you like it. I just feel he lost that "Hedgehog" part of his character for awhile now. He seems more like a running man in a Sonic costume now.

I will agree though that Unleashed had a very nice Sonic model, something about it worked.

 

I understand what you're getting at, OSM, but that bit about Sonic not looking like a hedgehog can partially be blamed by the gameplay not keeping the rolling mechanic as well. Still, although I semi-defended Sonic's Nextgen design, it is rather ugly in some cases, but looks at least a small bit decent compared to earlier models (Heroes, Nextgen). Still, Unleashed Sonic is amazing.

And for people to not get me wrong, my favorite type of Sonic is classic Sonic, with Unleashed / SA1 Sonic right behind it. There hasn't been any other style of Sonic that has shown as much timeless charm as the original, but SU Sonic is almost at that level.

Geez, I sound like a broken record.

 

We're all broken records about many things, it's normal.

 

I couldn't agree more.




*"SU" meaning "Sonic Unleashed", not "Sonic Underground". =P

 

Hmmm.





I can see a slight difference there.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with Unleashed's design. Sure, it's not the same as the original, classic design, but there's nothing that looks unnatural or stupid to me, and it certainly fits the rest of the game.

 

Aside from the animation, I always thought the model in Blitz got it right.

 

I don't know, that model seemed a little bug-eyed and super short, and the spikes looked rather deformed in shape for some odd reason. Not to mention the odd shade of blue and red chosen for Sonic and his shoes.

I think that classic Sonic would look correct in 3D if Sonic was to have a model that looks just like the vinyl figures First4Figures made. That is, unless if you're going for a more beady-eyed Sonic that looks a little noodly (like from Sonic 3), then you might wanna go with a model that looks like the prerendered one they used for Xtreme, or the prerendered one for Sonic 3D Blast.

 

Same here.


Any price over $20 would be highway robbery.