Sonic 1 and 2 getting the Sonic CD treatment by Taxman and Stealth

What a shame, got my hopes up too. I'd immediately buy Taxman 3DS ports of Sonic 1, 2 and CD.

Hell, I'd get a New 3DS for the occasion.

 

Bolded: That's what I was really talking about. Your right, the company's far more than just one IP, but they make so little of their other works (that arguably have a much higher reception than Sonic, if only because everyone's so goddamn sick of that one IP) that it's hard to wonder if they even remember any of their other franchises. I'm probably wrong but the newest thing they've come up with, that I can think of, is Tembo. I only really know of that because of Game Freak's involvement. Outside of that I cant think of anything theyve been doing that isnt publishing a game someone else did; in house they barely do anything anymore that isnt Sonic :x

Everything else, fair points. If M2's involvement was that early, it mighta been a case of "yeeeaaahhh well we already have the 3DS version being made by these guys..." Overall they have been pretty shitty with communicating with the west though.

Haruki Satomi? He's Hajime's grandson, yeah? Here's hoping.

I wonder if he begged his grandfather to let the iOS ports happen?

 

I'm fine with the port of Sonic 1 that we already have. It's just peachy, and the newer mobile ports don't add anything other than slightly better sound due to how it's mixed. Similarly I don't expect seeing any "Sega CD Classics" in these M2 re-releases any more than I would Knuckles Chaotix or Virtua Racing DX.

Sonic 2's expanded 2-player mode would have been nice to see in that release though, same as the fully 3D special stage tube.

 

Like I keep saying, the M2 versions are the best ones we've got apart from the mobile ones. If the mobile versions didn't exist then we'd be landing the M2 ones as the best after years of shamefully bad rereleases. But the mobile ones are leaps and bounds ahead. They add so much more than just slightly better sound. You aren't seriously saying that that's all that's is to them, are you?
- widescreen
- additional characters (complete with flight in S2)
- bug fixes
- physics options speed cap fixes
- new routes
- better 3D
- Hidden fucking Palace

Now some of those things get a little technical and may not be noticeable to everyone who doesn't know the games like the back of their hand, but additional characters, new routes and even HPZ in S2 are huge. They just add so much to the game's.

 

I blanked and couldn't think of the correct term.


The speed caps.

 

Yeah. Didn't mean to suggest it was an option between like S1 and S4 or anything. Either way, they're a pretty technical thing that I really doubt the majority of people would explicitly notice, especially since the mobile games all default to turning off the caps anyway. Along with every other feature though, it's really great to see it all in an official release. It's the same as the way that while Sonic 3 Complete is bloody brilliant, it would be exponentially 'better' if it was an official release.

 

He also said he got it running on the old 3DS with "pretty good performance": https://mobile.twitter.com/CFWhitehead/status/634950015178248192

It's too bad that this (along with S3&K remaster) will probably never see the light of day though. I would play the shit out of these so hard if they made it to 3DS, or consoles for that matter (not trying to start a touch-controls vs buttons debate).

 

Whaat.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obIt266Hz4g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfyY4rO2DNA

 

Useful in Sonic CD, where the design focused on higher speed overall and larger boss arenas. Few concessions needed to be made to the levels to get them to work. For later games the widescreen arenas actively screw up a number of boss quick-kill strategies, and I dislike those changes.

Flight in Sonic 2 (and Sonic CD)) is genuinely nice, but it's rarely useful in Sonic 1 due to the level design tending to be more closed-off. Marble Zone had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate Tails' and Knuckles' abilites, and given how short Chemical Plant is even as Sonic I was surprised that Knuckles had his climbing routes complicated.

And several bug introductions, several of which are inherent in the engine. It's much tougher to aim on the pinball flippers in Collision Chaos due to the revised collision (Sonic doesn't stop when pushing against the walls on the sides of the flippers any more, so it's hard to control his momentum). And don't get me started on the speed shoes. (Although the buggy way Speed Shoes work in stages like Aquatic Ruin in vanilla Sonic 2 is worth changing -- but by then I'm Super Sonic anyway so I rarely notice the bug to begin with.)

A nice enough feature, I suppose.

Because otherwise the inclusion of Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 1 would have been worthless. I think the additional paths in Marble break up a lot of the aesthetics of the stage, though. I wasn't impressed.

Something I noted as wanting to have seen as a change in the Sonic 2 port. Keeping the Special Stages "in emulator" is probably the most frustrating thing in Sonic 2 to me, given I'd still need a second 3DS to play multiplayer on it.

The level's OK, but loves to pull "gotcha!" moments, especially near the start requiring very fast timing and single chances to take some of the upper routes. It's not anathema to classic Sonic design, but feels a little cheaper than most other comparable setpieces I can think of in the series, where there's still usually time to react or plan. I wasn't a fan of the boss, and also dislike having the stage as an alternate route for Mystic Cave rather than a full level on its own.

 

I've got to agree, those are probably my only big gripes with the remakes. Those and a few weird-looking Tails sprites in CD.

 

I gotta say, I had literally no problems with the remakes. Is there any chance of the CD remake ever being updated to have feature parity with the later ones? It seems a shame for it to miss out on Knuckles and whatnot.

 

Gonna be honest, I don't think this is a entirely fair criticism to argue against Taxman's Retro Engine. A new engine intended to replace an old engine ended up adding new bugs? One could argue this is the exact same situation for many other engines out there that carry out a similar function. Maybe I'd be more inclined to agree on this point if Blue Blood was equating the mobile remasters with terms of flawless and the like; but while he says the mobile remasters are the best versions of the game, I don't think he was trying to imply they were perfect per se.

 

There's certainly room for improvement, but when isn't there? The mobile versions are virtually the same games through and through, but updated to the higher standard that SEGA should have done years ago.

 

I love both the Taxman/Stealth remasters and the M2 ports for different reasons. I love the Taxman/Stealth remasters for widescreen, 60 fps, higher resolutions, save function, better audio and that I can play them on my Android smartphone (on the go) as well as my Amazon Fire TV (at home).
I love the M2 ports for being able to play the original roms (albeit with tweaks) in 3D with 60 fps and adding some other features like save states, option to switch between Mega Drive 1 and 2 sound and the extra credits (only Sonic 2, Sonic 1 doesn't have that).

 

Despite everything, I still prefer plain emulation. Well, with hacks, anyway. A basic MD hack can, for example, give a character smoother rotation as they go through a loop, something that the remasters, despite trying to be definitive versions, didn't even bother with. M2's "port" wasn't exactly trying, so I guess it can be forgiven, but frankly, why settle for less? Sure, I lose 3D, boo hoo, but it's just plain buggy Sonic 1/2, so who cares? I have a Mega Drive for that. The problems with the remasters aren't just what hasn't been done, but also what has been done: the new music... bleh. I especially hate Marble Zone's music (really, a clap-along, of all things?). At least Sonic CD gave you options on the music. Speaking of options, why does CD give you two spindashes, but 1 and 2 just leave you with one? And then, you can have the insta-shield, but not the peelout. And, again, where's the option for the old music? I really appreciate my phone's storage being wasted on unused junk that's just there for the lulz, but stuff people might have actually wanted? lol no.

Meanwhile, in hack land, we can have practically anything we want, so long as a Mega Drive could do it, and it can be on any platform with an emulator. It's only a matter of time before someone ports the Sonic engine to modern hardware, and things get DOOM. We've already seen the crazy stuff Stealth did with his port.

 

rotating pixel art is ugly as fuck why would you want that :S

 

My thoughts exactly.


Honestly I'm actually pretty surprised to hear voices in favour of emulation. Good or bad emulation, a remake or port can do everything an emulation can do and more. Stereoscopic 3D in S1/2 is great, but that same effect could be achieved with a remake that includes various other improvements that would be impossible or too difficult on an emulated rom.

Clownancy, what do you mean by a clap-along in Marble Zone's music? I've always appreciated the higher quality instruments in the mobile version. They all sound slightly better than the originals to me.