Surely that can't be unpopular. I have to imagine the most opinion-splitting stage theme in S3K is Carnival Night, no?
Eh I prefer the final song, in fact it's my favorite song from Sonic 3 and Knuckles. The prototype version fits the menu better but I like how catchy the original Sonic 3K theme is, sounds just like a pop song from the era.
Dunno if this has been said, but I have no desire to see the Freedom Fighters again, especially in the game canon. They're really a dead weight on Sonic, they all have brown fur, in a universe full of other characters that are red, green, purple, it's drab in comparison. They also don't have much in the way of abilities, Bunnie has her robot parts... I guess. Rotor's a mechanic, but Tails already has that trait filled out on top of being able to fly, so no sense to bring him back either. And Antoine's just a straight up useless coward. And Sally is just annoying, quite literally the opposite of Sonic's character, wanting him to be safe and logical all the time, and causing complicated romance drama in a series about fast animals. None of it fits into modern day Sonic, not even classic Sonic. And it was all a misinterpretation of what would become of the Sonic series that got dragged across the road for long enough for people to grow up with it and see it as a good thing.
Also an unpopular opinion, I prefer the Freedom Fighters over most of the game cast and would love to have them back. We just can't win, can we? More constructively, I think the never-ending debate about what is or isn't "true" Sonic comes to the detriment of the series, or at least the fandom. Yeah, I grew up reading the comics, but just about everyone here prefers the specific version of Sonic that existed when they got into it, and Sonic has been so VERY many things.
The biggest issue is they would all have to have such a large overhaul that very little would remain of them that was recognizable as their original incarnations people want them for. I've toyed around with a few ideas but aside from being set up in a games-adjacent universe like they were in the 252-onwards Archie issues, it's pretty out there.
I think the idea of bringing them back is just a logistical nightmare as far as the games are concerned. The games already have too many characters that barely get the attention they desire and adding the freedom fighters would feel so bloated, and I dont trust the games to handle them respectfully like the later half of archie would. I just don't see how you would incorporate them in a satisfying way without a reboot or appearance in like a spin off or something
My unpopular opinion is that they wouldn't. Keep the Freedom Fighters as a rebel group against Eggman's tirany, but instead of trying to save the whole planet Mobius, they are trying to save Mt. Mobius (from Spinball) which is where they live. Then Sonic met them during Spinball, they save Mobius, and that's it. They don't need to be a recurring cast. Just like Mighty and Rey.
Don't know if it's unpopular opinion or not, but I prefer emulated Gamecube versions (with graphic enhancements and best resolutions) of all the games that have a Gamecube version over their respective PC versions. Not only every ISO is neatly located in the same folder, you also don't need to install anything or wait for Steam to verify the installs before letting you run them. Also GC SADX water effect looks nice and is only present in the Gamecube version (to my knowledge)
All of SA2 are the same to me. I don't mind playing either version. SA1 on the other hand - Dreamcast Superior Version. Unpopular opinion: Sonic Heroes is and always was a great game, the character switching gameplay was neat.
Yeah, I also really enjoyed Sonic Heroes. Nothing like speeding and platforming through levels while destroying all robots in sight, supported by banter among the characters. I know people were complaining back in the day that "Sonic and his shitty friends" wouldn't shut up, but I think it added to the atmosphere. But an option to remove the guide boxes that served as tutorial messages would have been nice, because not all of them could be avoided.
Bringing the Freedom Fighters into the games would be very easy. They don’t need to be in every game. Shadow, Rouge, Chaotix don’t appear in every game. The only major change they would need is to their background and Robotnik’s plans. Except for Antoine (which could be tweaked) they’d be perfect characters to add to the series. Sally and Rotor do share similarities to Tails with tech and building but so what? He would have someone to interact with and share his work. Bunnie and Knuckles would share physical capabilities. Sonic being more head on and fast paced than the others is already true now. Knuckles too with wanting to fight and break stuff. It’s not a detriment to them being part of a team.
Before Sage, I wanted Nicole brought into the games since we didn't have an AI character and it would've been cool to pair with Tails. I would've liked that a lot more than the stupid Wii U gamepad he carried around.
I don't see much gameplay potential in Sally's design especially compared to say Rouge. The potential of Bunnie's bionic arm is neat, but Tangle's apparently canon now with her spiderman tail which seems like it could easily serve the same purpose. As for story potential? AFAIK Bunnie is mainly kind of a cool aunt-figure which works in SATAM/early Archie but doesn't seem necessary in the canon story where the characters are mostly independent. And I can just smell the horrible Sonamyally love-triangle drama from a mile away. No thanks. I think one love interest is enough lol. Hard agree that Rotor and Antoine would just be plain superficial. Rotor both kinda acts like Tails and also kinda looks like Big so he'd feel especially wrong.
I love Generations as a game and the modern Sonic levels are really fun but I play it way less than Unleashed day time levels because the level themes are so samey Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Angel Island are all fine and I love all of those (despite their constant reuse in later games). But then we get to Adventure Era... Speed Highway - City Level City Escape - City Level Seaside Hill - Green Hill part 2 (even though I prefer it) Crisis City - Apcolyptic City Level Rooftop Run - City Level Planet Wisp - Another grassy level I know a lot of people are fine with these levels but I'd love if they had more variety. I'd love Egg Fleet to have been the Heroes representation. I'd love for Kingdom Valley to have been the 06 level. I'd have loved to have had a single space level because that environment is so important to Sonic. Don't get me wrong Generations is still a fantastic time and using mods that change the stage appearances make this less of an issue but...its why I don't go through it as often as I would otherwise.
I'm ambivalent about the Freedom Fighters. I think it could be nice to see them again, but I'd prefer it if their slate was wiped clean and we got a new incarnation that fits more into the current direction of the franchise. Obviously you'd have to change their backstory and such but I think it could be done in a natural and neat way.