It's much easier to do on modern Xboxes, since you can run Spotify while playing any game. I've been playing Unleashed with a custom OST for a little while and it's a fun time.
Only in the West. The original Japanese release was simply titled Chaotix, and as such there was no lead.
I think there's a big difference between Chaotix: Featuring Knuckles the Echidna and Knuckles' Chaotix. The second one implies that it's his Chaotix while the first one just says that it features him.
Maybe not too hot of a take, but I think the story in Frontiers leaned too much into references. I get that people wanted it because they were sick of the Pontaff era, but a lot of it felt kinda forced. I honestly laughed when they straight up showed a screenshot from Sonic 3.
I completely agree (I've never even played the game or have any interest in it), I just want Knuckles to have other characters he can talk to that aren't the rest of the main 4 + Rouge. Chaotix was just the easy choice since they share a game.
I'll take the Chaotix being adjacent to Knuckles than Bean and Bark being Fang's lackeys. At least there's a precedent of them teaming up for an adventure where Espio had his debut, even if it was an obscure game. From the little we knew about Bark and Bean I just never saw them as the kind of guys teaming up with someone like Fang, so wasn't a fan of that team in Archie and now in the new Classic Sonic era.
The Chaotix are basically entirely different characters from what they were in the 90's, and so is Knuckles. I get that people grew up with and probably prefer Knuckles being the leader of his own group of friends to parallel Sonic & Shadow having their own groups, but that doesn't really fit with their current interpretations. Knuckles has been part of Sonic's supporting cast since Sonic 3, and Sonic Heroes basically cemented that in the public's eye. Similarly, the Chaotix have also been established as their own group since the same game. It's been that way for almost 20 years now, changing it now would inevitably lead to some backlash. Sonic fans are already throwing a fit at the changes made in IDW and Prime, no need to add any more fuel to that fire. Besides, the comics throw a bone there every now and then. They just had a recent arc where Knuckles teamed up with the Chaotix.
I don't really think of "knuckles and the chaotix" as a proper team that has a "leader" and I wouldn't even think it's Knuckles if there was one. That said, apparently we're going with a "leadership" arc for Knuckles- in Forces he started and lead an army and in Frontiers his memory tokens and sideplot are themed around that as well. While Knuckles hasn't bothered to interact with the characters in years it's not like Knuckles should be allergic to spending any time at all with them should a proper situation arise.
I always saw Knuckles as a guy who was introverted and only stepped up to become a leader when it was absolutely necessary
I don't think it needs to go that far. I'm not as against Echidnas making a "comeback" as some others are, but it seems a little lazy to pass the job onto more Echidnas just because they're Echidnas and Echidnas did the bad.
Yeah, it's a weird direction for his character. I think they're overcorrecting after all the complaints about Knuckles being stupid over the years.
I still feel that Sonic games should better teach/encourage figuring out how to do things like slope jumping and stuff, perhaps by having situations in the level that you can only deal with by figuring out certain tricks like that. Because those are the things that make Sonic fun. Only difference between now and when I first brought this up (wasn't received well then, doubt it will be now) is that we now actually have a Sonic game that ACTUALLY DOES THAT. FREAKING FINALLY! These are just a few minor examples. This stuff is all over the game, in many cases getting you more significant benefits. (Like being, THE way you get certain important collectables.) Another thing this game does that would be kind of nice is yet another thing I said, and one that I stumbled across very recently as I decided to start hunting for the rest of the collectables. They have this ultra precise but optional challenge built into the level. The reward for it is a few meaningless coins, but the reward is not really why you go after things like this. Since the video, I've figured out how to do the slope jump into flight at the beginning consistently (which you do need to do, as homing attacking the buzz bombers does not give you enough height. 0-0) but I have yet to make the extended Tails flight at the end of the video despite coming significantly closer since. I don't think Sonic games need to call for this level of precision (if you've attempted this, you likely know what I am talking about) But if Sonic games are not going to get harder, or in some cases present any difficulty at all unless your speedrunning or something, then I don't think having stuff like this is a bad idea at all. One more thing uh.... Sonic Dream Team is not that great in it's current state. But if they just made the gameplay a little bit faster paced and raised the general difficulty/skill ceiling... This would probably be the best (official) 3D Sonic game. Maybe even one of the best, if not the best, (official) Sonic game period. There are things that would make it even better, but if you just changed those two things, it would already be at that level, in my opinion.
I don't think the last third of Mania is paced very well. From Oil Ocean onward it's just tough zone after tough zone and if you're playing as Sonic you have to do THREE final zones in a row (Metallic Mandess, Titanic Monarch, Egg reverie). I find myself stopping at Oil Ocean in most replays. Compared to S3nK where I always finish the entire journey because it has tough end levels but makes sure there's enough easier parts (Mushroom Hill after Launch Base, Knuckles boss fight in Hidden Palace, Sky Santurary) that the pacing feels a lot better as there's moments of release between the tense parts. Sonic 2 has this problem as well with the game getting way tougher from Metropolis on and it might explain why I don't go through it as often. I'd even say Superstars has better pacing as the Frozen Base zone before the final boss is one of the easier levels in the game (really only the bosses in that game are a real pace ruiner and that's if you don't know how to use the emerald powers properly). I still love Mania and consider it to be one of my favorite Sonic games of all time but that's always bothered me about it.
Speaking of Mania, I don't remember if I've ever said this, but I really don't like how boring the level themes get during the end. Not to say I don't like the levels, Lava Reef is my is one of my favourite zones in the whole game, it's just that I don't like that you have to go through 4 industrial themed levels. In the original trilogy, the industrial levels either only showed up for a few zones (like Starlight and Scrap Brain) or were broken up by other level themes (Sky Chase, Sky Sanctuary). I think Mania would be better if, for example, instead of going straight from Lava Reef to Metallic Madness, you had to go through Sky Sanctuary and then jump onto Little Planet.
