don't click here

Unpopular Sonic Opinions

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Londinium, Jun 17, 2022.

  1. Londinium

    Londinium

    People actually read these? Member
    While on the topic of CD's music, I'll slightly rephrase what I've said in the past:

    I always believed the US songs fit the environments better, especially the boss theme. The Japanese boss sounds extremely goofy, whereas the American one is seen as the 'scarier' version. I believe a scarier sounding track fits a boss better than one that sounds silly, furthermore, I feel the American bad future tracks usually better capture the sense of 'it's over, you failed, you cannot fix the future, only thing now is to beat Robotntik' dread when you don't make a good future in a zone (EX:Quartz Quadrant).
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2022
  2. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

    Member
    14,631
    1,610
    93
    Working on my art!
    It's been years since I've listened to the US soundtrack so I decided to give some of these songs a listen, you're right there is a very interesting vibe to the US bad future tracks. They sound desolate and depressing and kinda unsettling, which honestly nails what it's trying to represent.

    I still prefer the JP soundtrack just because I love that kind of music, but there's something here too that I kinda forgot about. Maybe I'll give the US tracks ago one of these days.
     
  3. Xiao Hayes

    Xiao Hayes

    Classic Eggman art Member
    The bad thing about the US soundtrack is its sound blends most futures and even some presents as if it was "bad present/uncertain future/doomed future", which clearly goes against most of the game's aesthetics barring obviously the bad futures, but it does a job in creating an atmosphere behind instead of stealing the spotlight, which can be a better option.

    Btw, I think the most unpopular opinion about these soundtracks is saying I love both precisely because they had different effects on the gameplay experience (same with Ecco games, which also involve Spencer Nielsen). Nielsen has a unique talent in telling you you're alone against the brink of apocalypse and it's up to you and no one else to stop the armageddon from taking place by going to the past because in fact the armageddon has already happened.
     
  4. Palas

    Palas

    Don't lose your temper so quickly. Member
    1,049
    705
    93
    I'm a huge fan of certain good futures in the US soundtrack too. They're a little subdued, but they add to the contemplative experience of what the good future is. Everything works, everything is pretty and functional and pristine, but you'll never see it working for anyone. No living thing is visibly benefitting from it without being separate from the machinery, and since nature has been "fused" with technology, it gets contaminated by the latter's sense of artificiality. So it doesn't feel any more alive -- it's still very mechanical, which is a slightly unsettling feeling if you spend way too much time in it (meaning, if you replay the game once too many). The US soundtrack sometimes brings out this feeling more easily.
     
  5. Antheraea

    Antheraea

    Bug Hunter Member
    DING DING DING

    Collision Chaos is still the worst offender for this IMO. A bright pink pinball level sounds so sad in the present US version for some reason. There's just something so forboding and it has always confused me ever since I played the original PC release as a kid.
     
  6. Endgame

    Endgame

    Formerly The Growler Member
    Here's an unpopular opinion for the books:

    IMHO, Sonic CD is my least favourite of the classic mainstream games. The levels are an incoherent mess, the time travelling gimmick is annoying, and the backgrounds are too 'noisy' and interferes with the foreground.
     
  7. E-122-Psi

    E-122-Psi

    Member
    2,470
    612
    93
    I still like CD but I agree it's probably the most gimmicky of the four main Sonics. I think when it lost its elusiveness from rereleases, it became obvious it was an okay game but not the top notch MD Sonic game ever many myths made it to be. I suspect if Knuckles Chaotix ever finally gets rereleased it will similarly lose a lot of mystique.
     
  8. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

    Overthinking Sonic timelines. Member
    Is that really unpopular?
    I remember people calling CD a hidden gem, best of the classics, back then when it was not so easily available. After people actually start to play it, I've seen a lot of folks calling the game annoying.
     
  9. Endgame

    Endgame

    Formerly The Growler Member
    Looking back at the 'Bashing Sonic CD' thread, even in there it seems to have more positive things said about the game than negative.
     
  10. DefinitiveDubs

    DefinitiveDubs

    The Voice Maestro Member
    926
    775
    93
    Cyber City
    Mega Man Zero: The Definitive Dub
    It's always been my belief that most Sonic fans who claim to be fans of Sonic CD only like the idea of Sonic CD. They do not like Sonic CD, the video game released in 1993. They like everything about Sonic CD except for Sonic CD.

    They like the visuals, they like the animation, they like the soundtrack(s), they like the story, they like the atmosphere, they like Metal Sonic, and they like the time travel setup on paper. Ask them what they think about the actual gameplay though, and they often struggle to come up with any real praise for it that doesn't have a "but" attached to it.
     
  11. Zephyr

    Zephyr

    Member
    3,501
    459
    63
    US
    Speaking personally, Origins' Anniversary mode removing the time over removed the only "but" I can think to attach.
     
  12. Londinium

    Londinium

    People actually read these? Member
    This, but replace Sonic CD with the Sonic series in general :V
     
  13. Think I can agree with that Londinium.

    I actually do like the time travel mechanic. In my opinion, it is the only concrete incentive to maintain momentum before Advance 2's boost mode in the 2D games....

    ...when they don't just chicken out and place two springs facing one another or something.

    You do have to plan out a mental route to do it, too. Can not just rush blindly forward when you have a past sign or you will be punished, but must travel forward, tiptoeing as it were taking note of the area before traveling back when you determined you can time travel and doing it...

    ...before you memorize when to time travel at least. And I just love how CD (2013 remake) feels to control so that in itself is pretty fun to me for some reason.

    However, getting to the point where that game's level design becomes fun should not take as much memorization as it does.
     
  14. Josh

    Josh

    Oldbie
    2,123
    1,087
    93
    USA
    Which is probably why I was having such a great time with it in Origins, where I discovered I could time travel by just drop dashing back and forth on flat ground. I'll just copy what I said in the Origins thread:
    ---
    I just finished Sonic CD again. I always liked it, but I definitely "get" it WAY better than I used to, and while I still don't think it's the best game in the series, I understand where those of you who DO are coming from. I did a playthrough where I'd go to the past, find the robot generator, then jump to the Good Future and restart the level. I think the game was designed with the idea that you'd spend a lot of time in each level, with all the unique aesthetics and music tracks meant to help incentivize that. I also noticed for the first time that in Wacky Workbench's good futures, the electrical wires never light up!

    But similar to NiGHTS, I don't think the game does a great job conveying its design goals to the player, and so most people pick it up and play it like it's any other 2D Sonic game. And to be fair, I think the game is designed to be perfectly playable THAT way, too. The fact that you can get the good ending with the Time Stones is evidence enough of that. It's just definitely skewed toward exploration and completionism in a way that no other 2D Sonic game is, and that's where it's at its most rewarding.

    I think it also would've helped a lot had the team been able to make time travel instantaneous like they wanted, and if the mechanics of time travel (hitting a sign post, keeping your speed up) weren't a bit convoluted and frustrating sometimes. It SUCKS to finally find a PAST signpost after wandering around for a long time, and messing up your time jump. But having the Drop Dash in Origins actually really helps with that, as you can just dash back and forth and get it as long as you have relatively flat ground.

    I was also going to the menu after each level and swapping the soundtracks, so I'd get one set of tracks on the first act, and the other in the second. Wish there was a way you could just *do* that, I always thought the soundtrack option could do with some more customization.
    ---
     
  15. I don't have origins. I don't really intend to get origins as I don't see the point considering I have all the games in some form or another, and the missions don't really look like enough for me. But I gotta say...

    That really rubs me the wrong way. lol

    I don't want to be the guy in that "stop having fun" meme, but being able to time travel like that just doesn't feel right at all to me. Finding a place for it (an area that is not cheap) and then having to maintain that momentum through your own input and jumps? That's a part of the gameplay in my opinion. Just being able to drop dash back and forth? I...

    Stuff like what I just said is what this thread is for anyway, I guess. I just feel really conflicted when I see people saying that this "fixes" CD. lol
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2022
  16. Xiao Hayes

    Xiao Hayes

    Classic Eggman art Member
    I find that adding newer skills to older games and specially using them is some sort of sacrilege because the games weren't designed with that in mind and corrupts the experience. Not talking about adding new characters despite being a similar case because you choose if you want to play with them before starting the game, so I suppose that could be applied to skillsets if the foreign commands could be toggled in a menu and didn't interfere with what was already there. In any case, using drop dash that way in CD is cheating, and also is using the spin dash in S1.
     
  17. Josh

    Josh

    Oldbie
    2,123
    1,087
    93
    USA
    ok cool but i have more fun playing it this way so...
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
    • Like Like x 2
    • List
  18. serpx

    serpx

    Member
    612
    23
    18
    I FINALLY got to play Sonic the Fighters for the first time a few months ago. It took me awhile because I essentially stopped playing video games for years (2015 was last time owning a console).

    It was, by far, one of the worst Sonic games I've ever played in my entire life. I had no desire to finish it.
     
  19. DefinitiveDubs

    DefinitiveDubs

    The Voice Maestro Member
    926
    775
    93
    Cyber City
    Mega Man Zero: The Definitive Dub
    Well of course it's a bad Sonic game. That's because it's not a Sonic game.

    I will say, however, that it's an atrocious fighting game, even for the time. It's nothing but a relic from an era of companies jumping on the fighting genre boom of the mid-90s and rushing out uninspired fighting games featuring popular characters from popular franchises. See also: Ehrgeiz, and Masters of Teräs Käsi.
     
  20. Josh

    Josh

    Oldbie
    2,123
    1,087
    93
    USA
    The gameplay of Fighters is just goofy, button-mashy fun. It was never trying to have the technical backbone of a Virtua Fighter, it just wanted to be easy pick-up-and-play arcade-y action for kids. I think viewing it in the context of an arcade helps its case.

    I find it charming as heck, myself. Always adored the character models, the aesthetics are peak 90s Sonic, and the animations and moves are a lot of fun. What it lacks in depth, it makes up for in charm.

    wait is this how some 2000s kids feel about heroes and why they actually like it???

    (Also doesn't hurt that I was dying to play it for nine very, very long years. Still weird that it never got a Saturn port.)
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2022