Unpopular Sonic Opinions

I've been feeling a bit of narrative fatigue since Metal Virus ended, and I think this is part of it. We've kind of had a long string of interrelated story beats, but not really a major arc with a decisive beginning -> middle -> end structure, and it's all kinda floated around a cloud of characters without feeling like it's about any of them in particular. I'd rather they do shorter, punchier, more focused stories with a small cast for each one.

Sometimes an opinion is unpopular because it's just a really stupid opinion. I'm not preventing them from having it just by noticing.

 

She actually is supposed to be a robot. Canonically she's just a robot that is made of wood.

Feel free to dislike the design, though. I don't have any super strong feelings on it myself, but can certainly see how some folks think it's creepy.

 

As I said, the series doesn't have to be so heavily serialized, they just choose to do it that way (whether they WANT to or don't know how NOT to), even if it's not necessarily the best with their limitations set by SEGA. And Sonic plays pretty fast and loose with canon himself. I don't see many problems with my assessment on that end. As for my comment about Scrapnik, I'm pointing to that as an example of what the main comic could look like without heavy serialization. No worrying about its canonical chronological place in the timeline, just a story about the characters from Sonic the Hedgehog doing something of no consequence to a previous story.

I didn't mention Starline or Surge specifically because I don't think they apply because they ARE the new adventure/conflict, and they also never overstayed their welcome (well, except for Surge just re-doing her issue #50 tantrum arc right after she did it the first time, but w/e) and I didn't bother mentioning Rough & Tumble or Mimic because "oh right those exist" and they pretty much ARE the same roles that the ones I did mention should be.

And the funny thing is I almost didn't wanna bother putting any of that second post out but I ended up just clarifiying it (obviously insubstantially) and bundling it with the Fortnite comment so I wasn't ignoring someone who wanted a reply.

 

How is disliking something and hoping they get phased out stupid? I had the same hope for Boom and got my way.

 

This is not what the original post said.

 

You took it too literally, just a hyperbolic way to say stricken from canon never to be seen again.

 

"Hyperbolic" doesn't mean "wrong". It is inherently a misunderstanding of the traits that define these characters, concepts and creators to make these spurious comparisons at all.

Thinking characters should never be introduced outside the games is already shitting on creative freedom, but drawing comparisons to Penders like any part of the fandom at large would treat the current cast as similar to his work just signals that you have no idea what made Penders or his work what they were. It's just going "I dislike this therefore its the same as everything else in the comics people dislike". You don't even have to like anything about IDW to understand it's a dumb thing to say.

 

_____________
There is nothing wrong with the actual motion controls in Sonic and the Secret Rings.

There is everything wrong with mapping almost every major ability to a single button when there were so many other buttons on the Wii Mote.

 

You're making a mountain out of a molehill here. I and I assume the other poster don't like them and want them to go away. He put it in a colorful over the top way. Obviously IDW and these OCs are of a completely different origin but you're getting way too into the weeds with it. Let me distill the sentiment I thought he had and what I latched onto to avoid any further confusion: I do not like IDW's OCs and lore, I would very much like them to go the way of Penders' work.

 

Shaddy I agree with your fundamental points but you're being kind of a jerk to be honest.

 

Yeah there are a lot of good character 'moments' but they're usually paired next to other moments. Imo the best arcs are usually ones that focus around the build up and pay-off to these bits. Shadow has a cool moment at the end of Egg City where Silver convinces him to keep fighting, but it'd hit even harder if the rest of the arc was at least partially devoted to building up to it. Instead there are like 10 other characters with their own big moments fighting for attention. It's exhausting.

I get where the temptation comes from. We're talking about the series that refused to use most of the toys in the toybox, even when it made sense, for completely arbitrary reasons until recently. It's tempting to overcorrect and fill every issue with the characters we love don't get to see in the low budget, single player 3D romps. In the archie era it was refreshing compared to the Sonic and Tails Podcast. But as a fan I'm really tired of reactionary fanservice and just want a good story.

 

This is not preventing anyone from having opinions.

How is that supposed to "avoid any further confusion" when it's literally just the same thing? This is still missing the fact that "the way of Penders work" is being memory-holed by copyright fuckery that does not and cannot exist within the modern idiom of the series. If all you're saying is "I don't like IDW's stuff and don't want it here", why do you keep invoking Penders?

I admit I'm being rather rude, but I think that the rhetoric we're dealing with here is kind of inherently insulting, and I don't feel it's entitled to any respect. I honestly don't think it's that hard to have an intelligent, good-faith discussion about things you dislike, even if that thing is "the entirety of IDW". The framing being used here does not lead to such a discussion.

 

Yeah, ELS’ amended statement is just distinction without a difference. Whether you’re explicit about it or not, the way that Penders’ work on Sonic went is that it is now roundly mocked and reviled. And again, that’s as much a reflection of Penders’ character as it is the quality of his writing.

Not liking the IDW stuff is fine and I can’t stress enough that I don’t want to make anyone feel that I’m suggesting otherwise, but actively hoping for others to hate it, for it to be pariahed and shunned is weirdly obsessive and frankly just being a buzzkill.

I do think this ties back into my own complaints of the way the setting is presented in IDW, particularly compared to Flynn-era Archie. Ultimately, it lacks permanence and I think that can rob stuff like Eggperial City of impact, because where is it, really? Like yeah, it’s built upon damaging practices and Eggman can’t be left to his own devices, but it seems to just be out in a desert somewhere, and that makes the threat feel nebulous.

On a character level, I think it’s certainly fair to say that moments like the one between Shadow and Silver need more build up to them. I think it works fine, but I’m an invested Sonic fan, taking IDW in alongside other content. If anybody’s just reading the book stand-alone, then yeah why the hell should they care when Shadow’s not really appeared all that much and his initial appearances have been pretty sour?

Part of this is due to the need for the game cast to largely be flat characters, which means we’ll never again get something like Shadow’s arc in Archie, but hopefully the easing off by SEGA will allow him to show up more often from now on, so future moments with him will have more weight. Hell, I’d be interested in seeing somebody do a mini with Team Dark that brings Shadow into contact with Surge.

 

I hadn't considered the community aspect or it being ridiculed. I thought clarifying that I'd simply like it removed from canon and "championing the cause" in a lighthearted way was clear enough. Again, I feel we're getting a bit too hung up on the Penders comparison when my meaning which I did try to clarify was simply that I want it discarded. I'm not too invested in how people feel about this that part of my desire is to change sentiment on it. If it makes you happy that's great, I'm happy for you. My unpopular opinion is I'd be happier with it all gone and I stated as much. I hope this is enough clarification.

That's my mistake, I went along with the original point not thinking of all that implies. I'm not too invested in legacies or opinions after the fact I was thinking of it in a purely practical sense of I'd like this gone like that other stuff went away years ago. I'm not trying to insult anyone and I'm sorry if you felt insulted.

 

I think the other pieces of media are infinitely more interesting than the games just because of how different they can be from the source material.

 

I'm just going to assume this is an unpopular opinion and say I despise that design Metal Sonic has in Sonic Heroes. Shit's goofy.

It doesn't get better when he turns into a dragon.

 

I’ve been catching up on this and thinking it’s ridiculous how worked up people are getting over your comment about IDW in an unpopular opinion thread… then you posted this. If this is bait, you almost got me.