I'm not suggesting to change the core design elements (though all the dimps games need to rethink enemy placement at least a bit), I'm saying improve QoL so people can play them without the major hardware limitations that the GBA/DS imposed. Full 16:9 screen aspect ratios, adjusting the rush games to better support this, tweaking the sprites for GBA slightly, adding some bonus options like unlockable super forms (not really a big deal in the rush games, would be cool in the GBA games)... I mean, Sonic Advanced Revamped alone as a fan project already shows how much one could improve the QoL of these games with just a simple aspect ratio/resolution fix even if basically nothing else changes: Unfortunately, there's no way to know if fan projects like these will ever be finished, and SEGA should still at least consider an official product at some point. I don't love these games per-se, but I bet I'd enjoy them a lot more with modernized QoL improvements.
I feel like that'd be an easy cashgrab for them. Not that I'd love this or anything, but I could easily see them selling Advance 1-3 as a $30-40 package, and you can pay $5-10 a piece for Battle and Pinball Party as DLC, lol. Or the games can just be forgotten, lmao
I feel like a rerelease of the Advance games is going to happen eventually (they were extremely popular, each selling over a million copies, the first is one of the GBA's best-selling games, sixth-gen nostalgia's arguably at its peak right now, and they're some of the few Sonic games that manage to appeal to both the classic and modern factions of the fanbase), it's just a matter of when and how. I could see them putting the Advance games on NSO and making a big deal out of it, but one of the big holdups NSO (and the 3DS/Wii U Virtual Console) has faced is that third parties like Sega (correctly) figure they can make more money putting their back catalog out themselves than licensing it to Nintendo for their services. And both Colors Ultimate and Origins were commercially successful as far as we can tell, so I think Sega is more likely to do an Advance collection themselves than they are to license the games for another company's subscription service. anyway, Shadow has tight buns
Actually, Sega (correctly) figured they can do both. Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2 are available on NSO, but also sold bundled in Sonic Origins. Which makes sense, because with NSO you need an active subscription (not to mention a subscription to the most expensive tier) to be able to play them.
Perhaps they'll do like what they did for the Genesis NSO, where they release only the, say, OG Sonic Advance 2 or 3 ROM on NSO, but have a full compilation of every title released seperately.
Been a minute, but to coincide with Comic-Con the Dark Rider is being driven around in this Year of Shadow/Speed Cafe hybrid truck thingy in Gaslamp Quarter, a neighbourhood in San Diego.
My guess is they'll put the Advance games on Nintendo Switch Online, they are fond of releasing entire trilogies at once.
God do I dearly hope so, it's shameful how neglectful SEGA has been to Sonic's DS and Game Boy Advance outings. Contrast that to how many times SEGA has re-released the Game Gear games, and even on the 8-bit side they've still been disappointing by ignoring the Master System versions. SEGA's overall treatment of Sonic's handheld library is pretty poor.
