I dunno, someone on here said (I forgot who) that the Mobile Remasters added tacky gimmicks but made the base games worse. I can kind of see where he is coming from. The mobile versions are wide-screen and 60 FPS which is great. The Sonic 2 Special Stages are better. But the hitboxes are incorrect. That is pretty serious. It is bad in all games but I think it is particularly horrendous in Sonic 2 and 3. Then there are the whack special stages in Sonic 1. Pretty serious for Sonic 1 because the Special Stages help you get lives and continues. I'm not hating on the Mobile Remasters. I do like them, but they clearly have serious issues which many people (myself included) have overlooked. Origins mixed reception wasn't just because of Origins' poor presentation but people recognising that the Retro Engine versions were not as flawless as they had been led to believe. I think especially after going from Mania back to Mobile Retro Engine.
Regarding RSR being too "modern" for Origins, they could have used Sonic Tokens or Medals. They're basically the classic counterparts to RSR. Though I get the impression that they didn't go for RSR/Medals/Tokens because those are usually treated as finite collectibles, unlike Origins' coins. Fans have documented many of the remasters' issues over the years, which makes the fact they weren't corrected in Origins all the more baffling.
All of which would be less of an issue if the emulated versions weren't suddenly delisted everywhere (though that's less of an issue in CD). Personally, Sonic 3 is the only game where the hitbox issues bother me, and that may be partially because AIR spoiled me by keeping them accurate while providing the near same experience, but alas. I also like a lot of features of Stealth's version, so we're back to the whole "there is no definitive version" issue.
Like how these spikes in Sonic 2 hurt when they're not supposed to, or one weird case in SCD's infamous timer bug being solved in another version of Tax/Stealth SCD but somehow reintroduced in Origins. Again, almost as if Sonic Team were either too unfamiliar and scared to work more with another company's engine or didn't care as much for these little things like Tax/Stealth would. Not touching up the games in this smaller (though still expensive) release too significantly is one thing, but that they did go out of their way to remove several things from the games at the exact same time is really frustrating. Apparently making sure Classic Sonic is consistently mute with the modern games (despite him still talking on the Sega Mini 2's version of SCD...) was more important than making sure the game with 2 versions of Time Attack doesn't have a debilitating time bug in it, not counting how Classic, Anniversary and Mirror Mode all have their own separate records for SCD's in-game Time Attack as well. It's kinda surprising Frontiers got the positive reception it did, because inexplicable choices in Origins like thinking a bit of blur was acceptable for a sprite game in 2022 really don't paint ST in a great light.
So I uninstalled this today because I had done everything and have zero feeling for revisiting but it put some thoughts into my head. I've had sega ages sonic 1 and 2 on my switch since they came out in 2018 and 2019, every other week in the evening i'll just boot one of them up and play a level or two, maybe level select or just play until I lose my first life from something careless and then turn it off, in the case for sonic 1 sometimes I pick the megaplay option and blitz it in 20 minutes or less since it cuts out the slower two zones. For sonic origins I get no itch to randomly boot up a game, no reason to go find the time attack menu in the settings area for some reason, there's no handy level select that I know of? and no handy menu to toggle sonic 3 shields in sonic 1 or something. I believe you can still do that but it's an improper method of accessing the menu? idk exactly. This is why origins fails in my eyes, half the features the retro engine brings are hidden away (or buggy) and it just pushes me away.
The only way to play with S3 shields in S1 in Origins is via level select; press Up, Down, left, Right then X (if using a PS controller) on the title screen to access level-select. The option to change to S3 shields is clearly stated. You can also change to 7 emeralds instead of 6 (you get awarded Super Sonic if you collect them all), can remove the spin-dash, restore the original speed & air cap etc.
good to know! it takes you to the blue menu with all the options like the mobile version right? I think it would have been great to have shield and emerald options as part of the main system interface but hey, at least it's still there.
Yeah, I was super disappointed until I found out the level select was still in. 7 emeralds + S3 shields was the only way I would play Sonic 1 and 2 on the mobile ports after discovering the cheat menu. Sonic Origins should have just added a selection to go straight to those menus from the game select once beating each title normally or in story mode. S1F, S2A, and S3AIR are still fave versions, but when I’m already on my PS4 and am in the mood to play, Origins does the trick. My only gaming PC is an Aorus laptop from 2014 or 15 (can’t remember), which is huge and outdated at this point so I have it stuck under my bed. The only way I have to play the decomps regularly is my MacBook which I prefer to just use for work only.
I feel like Origins fails both ways in its approach to customisability. It's a valid position to say that the extra mobile gimmicks should be locked behind a level select code to keep the originals as authentic as possible. But then the originals aren't authentic. They are running on the Retro Engine and without the correct hit boxes. Actually, I'm surprised how little outrage there is that the classic Genesis versions have been delisted. They are some of the most influential and well designed games of all time. And now they have been delisted! Completely insane. I'm not hating on the Mobile versions here, but to trash gaming history in this way is scandalous to me. It is now impossible to buy the original Sonic 2 on PC. Crazy! But then on the other hand, Origins fails at being customisable. I think going customisable is the clear path they should have taken because that's the greatest strength of the Mobile versions. So really it's the worst of two worlds. A confused middle path that fails to please anyone fully. It's still a good package overall and in my opinion the best Sonic game since Team Sonic Racing. But it could have been so much better. Original roms for Classic Mode, full customisation in the menus, etc. The Museum itself is very good but just ruined by poor presentation and especially the silent ambience. Baffling when you think of how Gems Collections improved upon Mega Collection's already good audio when browsing.
It was and continues to be heavily criticized that they delisted the Steam ETC versions of Sonic 1, 2 and CD with only the Android, IOS, and Amazon (mostly free free/ad-supported) versions remaining.
I don’t think it’s a big deal. They know that the people who care will get access to them somehow. For a parent trying to get Sonic 1/2/3 for their kids, I’d much rather them not get confused by the ROMs on Steam. But yeah, more should be done for the collection. They have a good base and because it’s digital only, they can build on it without negatively affecting an existing physical version (which is a pet peeve of mine considering the possibility of update servers shutting down). A game like Origins has a long tail in terms of sales so an update to attract holdouts and a physical edition to encourage double-dipping would almost definitely be worth it in terms of ROI. I’ve been holding off on a Switch version (which would be my preference - PS copy was mainly for trophies lol) in the hopes of a physical copy.
There were complaints but they've largely died down and it was a bit muted for the gravity of the situation. At least in my opinion. I feel the same way about the classic GTA games being pulled from Steam.
Sadly it looks like for 2023 the classics are going back into a lull again after a big revival over the past 2 years between the decomps, the mods that followed, and Origins getting an official but ultimately mixed reception release. Updates on Gamebannana have slowed to a crawl for the past 2 months, even. I doubt we'll see anything of substance unless another Mania like project drops soon, but that no longer appears to be a big priority for SEGA. We've also gone long enough without news that I'm starting to question the likelihood of a major update, let alone any DLC. Even Mania Plus came out within 11 months of the base game's release. I'll give this a big longer, but with nothing big on the horizon for awhile, it's probably time for me to step away from the Sonic scene again and focus on other content/fandoms. 2023 looks to go back to being a slow year for Sonic after 2022 really picked up steam.
It's clear who made the decision making didn't understand the product at all. Look no further than the available classic mode. Retro engime locked on 4:3. Doesn't please the purists, doesn't please those who appreciate QOL changes. It's a mode made for no one... Sorry, there's a group that the mode is cattered after all. Mediocre executives who nickel and dime an extra bezel.
They were never going to include the originals whilst the MJ Sonic 3 issues are still a thing. They could remove the music, but then that defeats the point. Having said that, while having the option on these remasters is appreciated and not offered elsewhere, it is a weird in-between of the Anniversary/Classic rules (no Drop Dash/Coins/alternate playable characters w/out cheats, w/ Tails completely MIA in SCD), yet also doesn't strictly use original control options that are already toggleable in the game (no Spin Dash in S1/old Spin Dash in SCD). They should've at least made those the default in Classic and toggleable if desired, because it's not only weirdly inconsistent with what's classic and not, but trivialises giving the mode its own Time Attack in MD&R when that could've been just for completing S1/SCD levels in the original way (though there's other problems with that mode...) I have no doubt there's some Sega mandates or something keeping the games from having particular nice things, like how Stealth said they could only do certain things in the remasters if they were cheat codes. But it's bafflingly inconsistent in a few ways (previous remaster additions being removed, other releases having certain features not in Origins like Sega Mini 2's SCD still having the voices or Sega Ages having the Drop Dash in 4:3). To that note, weird Origins fun fact: apparently the Boss Attack Zone from S2's remaster is still in Origins alongside Egg Gauntlet Zone, meaning Origins has three versions of Boss Rush for Sonic 2 but only used one of them.
I booted up this game after months of not touching it and it still crashed before getting past the loading screen Good game
After a while of having this I've got to say that this compilation is absolute trash. The collision boxes are off enough to kill you in so many more random spots than it did before. I've been trying to play two player competition with my kid, and we almost always have to reset the game every single time. For some reason, objects are removed upon death of a character. So, say you are playing chemical plant and you die. The whole damn raising platform gets deleted. This bars Sonic from completing the level completely. Also found out that if you choose knuckles in Sonic 2 in competition, it also lowers Sonics height for some stupid reason. I've resorted to playing emulated versions again because of this. This is so very obvious a cash grab. The effort (Besides Sonic 3k, which was just neutered by sega) put into this was so obviously nothing. It was at best handed to some internts durring the summer. They had a lot of stuff to work with too.
The thing about Origins is that, aside from S3K, it's an incredibly lazy affair. SEGA were sitting on these exact versions of S1, S2 and SCD for years. All they had to do we put them into their shitty Origins shell and call it a day. The existing Retro Engine versions of those games are fantastic, but even they would have benefitted from some TLC. Fixing up the problematic hit boxes and other new bugs, implementing the drop dash properly, using a consistent save and menu system for all of the games etc etc. Then there's the fact that "Classic Mode" is anything but. Would emulated roms of the originals have been so hard? It would have been great to have included both the remakes and original roms in a single package. Classic mode in Origins is pointless. And don't get me started on the pathetic job that Jun Senoue did with the S3 beta music. I know that the man cares about the franchise, but he fucked up. Origins is my preferred way to play the Classics officially. The games aren't bad at all. They're superior to the originals in many ways. A lot of the issues that we talk about on here are going to go way over the heads of most players, whether they're hardcore fans like us, total newbies or anywhere in between. So that said however, better unofficial ways of playing all of the included games existed long before Origins. And that's sad. At the time of their release, the Retro Engine versions of S1, S2 and SCD were all the best versions of said games, let down only by their platform. The collection isn't "total trash", cause the versions of the games included are well above level of quality. SEGA just treated it like total trash, however. The more I think about it, the more I'm surprised they actually bothered to get Headcannon involved for S3K when they could have just slapped in an emulation or ignored it outright.
I'm more surprised that if they contracted Headcannon at all why they didn't just have the team work WITH Sega to make the collection as I promise Stealth would have demanded a lot more care and patience building origins. At least I'm happy Headcannon got more work, even if it isn't representative of their final version.
