How fast should Sonic go?

I dunno. Sonic Adventure had the smoothest Sonic as far as open exploring goes, and I didn't think he was that bad at the relative jogging pace he traveled at. If anything, it allowed players plenty of time to react to stuff.

The top speed of Sonic/Shadow in Adventure 2 was okay, but it was damn hard to strafe while running, something that I actually think got a bit better in Heroes.

 

I just wretched reading that :P

I agree with the people who think SA2 got it down for a 3D Sonic. Had the levels been less linear, it would have complimented the speed level excellently. As has been stated before, Sonic isn't about balls to the walls speed; personally for me, the most fun parts of the games were the platforming sections. That one puzzle room in Crazy Gadget always gave me trouble as a kid, but playing it now, it's one of my favorite segments.

Same goes for the 2D games, when speed was required to complete platforming. When you had to run up a wall to get to another platform, when you had to jump with enough momentum to bounce off a row of badniks, things like that.

So my answer is not fast to the point that it sacrifices the integrity of the platforming. There's not better feeling than when you get in a groove blazing through a level and nail your jumps just perfect, which is something I feel the Advanced series, Rush and Unleashed lacked.

 

I liked the speed in SA2, but the acceleration was awful. You could go full tilt in no time.

 

In the cutscenes / other media, he should be fucking fast. Like, Speed of sound fast.

In the games...not so much. Slow enough for people to play properly, but have moments when it comes out to shine. Dragon Road Dayime springs to mind, at the end, wtih just a straight run to the finish. Everything is blurring, and the dot on the horizon becomes bigger and bigger.

Or of course, just have speed as a reward, you know, as it should be.

 

I think that speed to be ranked into difficulty.
Easy Mode - Average pace to allow younger players to react in time to the hazards
Hard mode - Faster, makes it a lot more challenging to complete due to the increase in speed
Super hard Mode (AKA "Megaman mode") - Ridiculou speeds for people who want to test their reactions to the limit.

This way people can play at a level they feel is comfortable.

Also, I think that a real Physics engine can be put to use even in a 3D game. Whilst the momentum shit is really hard to deal with with a 3rd Dimension, it is still possible to just make things like acceleration match up to the surroundings.

I.e. If you're on a flat plane it takes "x" seconds reach max speed. If you're on an incline it take "x + y" time to reack max speed (assuming y is directly proportional to the size of the incline)
If you're going down hill, it takes "x - y" seconds to reach max speed.

To put it in lehmans terms, the steeper the incline, the slower the acceleration, the steeper the decline the faster the acceleration.
In both cases the max speed can be reach, but the time taken to do so is the variable. So far in 3D Sonic titles, you reach maximum speed in the same time no matter how steep the incline.

This along side the idea of going past the Maximum speed by sacrificing a vital ablilty, would ake 3D Sonic games much more strategic and challenging. Not to mention more satisfying.

 

It depends on how much visibility the camera allows, mostly. Forward-facing 3D cams make high speed more playable.