Exactly. I'm going through Mario 3D World now, and just first world alone was enough to blow out Lost World in its entirety. They mess with concepts on a per-level basis, but it still feels rather uniform. Things make sense and work within the context of the game world. Lost World's structure felt like a disjointed fan project.
There was a method to Nintendo's madness. The reason it feels uniform is because the game established its core mechanics at the very beginning, and never subverted them. Every gimmick for the entire rest of the game built on what was already there instead of trying to replace it. The farthest the game ever goes from its base gameplay is the + - Captain Toad levels, which still maintain the game's main emphasis (collecting green stars), and are repeated with consistency rather than done once and thrown out . Sonic: Lost World gets this right in some levels, but then fucks it up by playing pinball, by wrapping Sonic with a large unwieldy snowball, by playing sidescrolling shmup, effectively making it into a different game in nearly every other stage. What SEGA should've done if they wanted to experiment beyond the the core gameplay changes of the new movement/parkour system is to take the two or three gimmicks that deviated the LEAST from the main game and expanded on them, and not introduced more gimmicks. Wisps are in the spirit of the game, and should've gotten more attention. If that means entirely removing the autorun stages, so be it. What it comes down to is not that the game was rushed, but that it was made up of rushed parts for the sake of cramming in as much variety as possible. Even ignoring the pacing and structural problems brought about by the sheer amount of stuff in this game, even the good ideas went under-explored and under-polished.
Not really fighting Sonic Blast's corner well, here. Mind you, I wouldn't mind hearing a 16-bit rendition of the above.
It's possible. Fantasy Zone 2 got a fantastic 16 bit remake and the soundtrack was amazing so I suppose someone could do the same thing with Sonic Blast. Anyways, 3DS's Silent Forest Zone 1 is ridiculously frustrating. Who thought controlling Grey Quake with motion controls was a good idea?
Red Volcano Zone has one of the best Sonic songs on the Game Gear. Anyway, is the 3DS version really that bad? I'm still considering picking it up.
The 3DS version on paper should be better. If every act were like the first few we'd be going places, just like Lost World Wii U. Like the Wisps are much more fun and a hell of a lot better at first, but they're heavily required, use horrible motion controls, and wear out their welcome soon enough as stages drag on and on. It's not so much the act length, but doing the same thing over and over again to pad the length. The 2D acts are atrocious with zero variety or sense of progression. Eventually you'll just be pushing shit around all act and wondering what happened to the Sonic game you were playing.
I was of this mindset, too. Just don't. It is that bad. If you get a chance to play it, either through a friend or via a rental or whatever, don't just play Windy Hill because it will make you believe the game is somewhat passable.
Especially right now at $40. It's not worth that price, nor do I think it's worth anything in the $30s. Let me stress this: GW got the 3DS version before I got the Wii U version in the mail, and has yet to put up the review for us. Talk to him about and he's just like, "Nope." That should speak volumes from the man that put out five star (quality) video reviews for Sonic Jump and Sonic Dash. And that one rip-off fangame.
I traded in my 3DS version. I didn't even want to keep it for my Sonic game collection. I got up to the forest zones and just put it back in its case, and traded it in for A Link Between Worlds 3DS. So much less rage.
I'm tempted to trade it in while it still has value - the only reason I haven't is because after years of trading in games to buy illicit substances, I really, really can't bring myself to start selling my collection off again, in any sort of quantity. :v: Game is still shit, though.
Uh, like 11 minutes past being out, as of this post. It's out on the 27th, and my copy should be here today.
Really, despite the game being absolutely shit (bearing in mind I've only played the 3DS version, I could be wrong as far as the Wii U one goes), I'm really quite pumped to get hold of this soundtrack. Similar kind of situation to Sonic 06, really. :v:
Wii U version will get better mileage, since most of its problems aren't as egregious as the 3DS version.
I'm currently hard at work on the soundtrack ripping. In the meantime, you can check out the track list I updated here: http://vgmdb.net/album/41504 Whoever had the bright idea of making the booklet to SLW's soundtrack exactly like Colors' soundtrack booklet needs to eat a dick.
That soundtrack is going to be glorious. I actually really love Tropical Coast Zone 1's music as well as every theme in Silent Forest. Have they ever had Jamaican styled music in a Sonic game before this one?
