Sonic 3 and Knuckles, a new lease of life

Then again, non-burned AIz looked much way better than the rest of the green zones in Sonic games really =P

By the way, random question... what is gonna happen with the plane chase in AIz2?

 

I don't like how CNZ looks TBH. It's just a little too much yellow/brown for me I think.

 

The yellow in the background could be toned down a bit, maybe a slightly more orange shade would help.

 

it doesn't really look like a 'new zone' at all, but it looks ok.

 

No, it doesn't. It's fine the way it is.

 

I actually liked both CNZ palettes. The darker palette did remind me of the prototype screenshot, but it also reminded me of when Knuckles turns off the lights. I like the yellow palette too, it does seem to give the level some new life.

As for AIZ, since the cutscene in Act 1 doesn't make sense for all the bombs to be dropped like that and then have something NOT happen to the forest. Maybe if there was just a little bit of fire for the rest of Act 1, and then have it go from just a small fire, as you go throughout the level. Even if you can't make it grow like that, at least make it feel like the forest is burning.

 

Just make the red not so bright, and it will be perfect.

 

Exactly what I was thinking, the red is far too bold looking, toning the brighter red shades down would really help it.

 

Not to mention there's very little reason the Earth would've miraculously turned into Mars. I mean, seriously, the entire Earth turning red? Especially when the Death Egg did jack all in the games except fly up, fall down, fly up again, fall down again, fly up again and finally explode.

And then the ending will somehow have blue skies again. It just... doesn't work. Even if you change the ending, it's still pretty lame. "Sonic went up and destroyed the Death Egg, but too late to stop the merciless slaughter of every man, woman and child on the face of the planet, to the extent that the world turned red with the sheer amount of blood spilt. But hey, at least Angel Island is floating again! And they all lived happily ever after."

 

I think the point is that while sonic is in the deathegg, fighting his way to Robotnik, Robotnik was preparing to ignite the planet's atmosphere. When sonic finally beats robotnik, sonic manages to vent the gasses he was using out of the atmosphere and save the world, literally.

At least, that's how I see it happening. Just my speculation.

 

Hahahahahahah, starting with the barrel is genius. <3

 

I like the new layout you've done to CNZ1, and the modification you did to the mini boss make it more challenging.

 

I don't think placing the barrel at the start was such a great idea. It doesn't give the player time to figure out how the barrels work and can easily frustrate someone who had never worked out that puzzle. Admittedly I'm saying this with new players in mind (most of Sonic Retro probably know how those barrels work), but I think you should wait until later in the level to use that puzzle. Other than that, awesome work and keep at it!

 

They've had 15 years to figure it out.

 

True, but some of them may not have actually played S3K. I have a younger cousin, for example, who is a huge fan of Sonic games but has never played that one game because it isn't featured in "Sega Mega Drive Collection". Like I said, I'm saying this with new players in mind, it's fine for the people of Retro.

 

That barrel at the start... I mean, it's not like everyone didn't figure out how to work with it already, but it doesn't seem too... fitting to start a level. Maybe I'm just a weirdass.

But anyways. I like what you did with the rest - the layouts look fun, and I love the palette! Nice edit of the miniboss, too