The SOJ art looks better because in the US art Sonic looks freaking ugly. Nothing to do with the mohawk even.
No, don't mince my words. I'm saying it would've been successful whether or not they chose to do the American redesigns. And maybe that's hindsight, but it would've been nice to know. I for one would've liked a version of the covers without him being really ugly. Hope that helps!
You guys seriously overreact to the mohawk quills. His S1/CD sprites also have a mohawk and nobody cares. It's probably where SOA artists got the impression to begin with.
The S1/CD sprites do not. The round head shape does portrude a bit in certain sprites (mostly due to shading), but it's still not a mohawk. Sonic CD's sprites particularly show his head shape was fully figured out by then. Sonic 2 sprites do have the mohawk, however. Not a big coincidence, considering it was made in assistance with STI. Even then, it's multiple rows of mohawks. Still not what the covers were up to. Sonic 3's marketing has no excuse. It was even designed with 3D models for use on the title screen and possibly as the reference for it's spritework. Anyways I'm gonna step out like I said I was gonna. Just don't mince my words.
Uh agree to disagree, the S1 Sonic sprite has a more 'orb-looking' head in my eyes which make the quills look flat. My point was that the differences that supposedly make one perfect and the other 'grody' maybe aren't that significant to absolutely everyone. The SOJ art clearly wasn't some ace-in-the-hole as domestic sales proved anyway.
You're bringing up arguments discussed about one to two pages ago. I already gave my rebuttals to all of this in previous posts. I'm just saying I'm not gonna talk in circles with you.
You and Azookara both referred to the Sonic 3 art specifically in your previous posts. Not sure why you're changing the subject of this specific tangent to a completely different piece of art. You said Sonic 3 had better art in the US, and Azookara said Sonic looks grody on the US Sonic 3 art. And yes, on the American Sonic 3 cover, Sonic looks really ugly. Nothing to do with the mohawk, as we can see in the Sonic 1 Greg Wray art you just posted, it looks mostly fine because the artwork isn't ugly. But the Sonic 3 cover looks horrid.
It's just an image I made forever ago to make a point and was relevant again. Not sure why only the S3 cover now matters now when all of SOA's Sonic art was roped into this conversation to begin with. Suddenly splitting hairs about S1's US boxart just proves my point that the changes weren't as negative as is being implied.
And even then the Japanese side of the series barely acknowledges that name. Only in Sonic adventure 1 and 2 and by Eggman's relatives, not by himself.
The real long lasting effect of American depiction of Sonic is how it complicated "the discourse". People have discussed how this conflicting ideas of Sonic has made discussions divisive and fans have a harder time finding common ground with each other. You all may already understand this, but a lot of Sonic fans are really weird about other people's tastes and opinions. This site has had its fair share of people who have nothing but contempt for western depictions of Sonic for selling them a false idea of Sonic and making it popular and nothing short of historical revisionism and removing American Sonic from the public consciousness would satisfy them. (We also had a good share of weirdly anti-Japanese media sentiments. I still remember those "ugh Eggman is such a stupid name, Robotnik is way better" arguments outside of Sonic fandom spaces.) And it's easy to understand where that sentiment is coming from, it's not hard to imagine how easier things would've been if there was a universal idea of Sonic is/was from the beginning. But this sentiment has lead to really regressive ideas and opinions on how fandoms should function or how artists should practice their art. So I get why we would defend western depictions of Sonic, there are things to appreciate from it, and ignoring that side of the series other than being an exclusionary behavior, is just ignoring history that has shaped everyone's understanding of this series. We don't live in a world where American Sonic does not exist, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. It has made things a bit more complicated, but a varied understanding of this series and its fans' perspectives will lead to more interesting creative works.
Whenever I hear the term “perfect balance of speed, platforming, and exploration,” I almost immediately start to mentally check out, starting to think the person I am talking to or listening to does not actually know what they’re talking about. And that’s something it’s hard for them to recover from. Because what? “Ah, that’s a little too much speed. Let’s add some platforming! Or I think we’ve platformed enough now, let’s explore a bit.” It’s a meaningless expression. Because what determines what is the right “balance?” If I am a level designer, trying to make a level, what on earth does this tell me that I can actually use and apply? But even besides the meaninglessness of it, the expression is just dumb. Sonic is a platformer. That’s what the game is. That’s the challenge you need to overcome. That’s what you can improve your skill at to progress through the game more efficiently. That is what you’re doing when you’re actually playing the game. So what? What we need is the perfect balance of playing the game and not playing the game? Speed without platforming is automation, which get’s boring as you replay a level, which is debatably the whole point of Sonic. Platforming without speed is start and stop and probably tedious. Exploration without platforming is shallow because, again, platforming is WHAT THE GAME IS, and Sonic games don’t generally have another way to make exploring levels actually engaging past “I wonder if something is back there.” Like hypercasuals/non fans who don’t know how to slope jump not recognizing the opportunities traveling with a lot of speed presents you with might view speed sections as just that. To them it may fee like the level design is alternating between platforming and speed. And that is a very boring way to play. But if you’re an actual Sonic fan who has been playing these games and trying to discuss them, there is no reason you should be saying nonsense like this.
I've long accepted American Sonic exists and enjoy things from it. I was only ever arguing against the notion that it had to be this way. Because it certainly didn't have to! And sure, that's a part of "the discourse". But I feel like another part of it is taking one's distaste for it and desire to move on from it as a form of elitism or intolerance, when it's not. There's a lot to American Sonic media I'd personally want to adapt into the JP material, and am down for those more creative takes on it like you've mentioned. I just don't want it to overtake what the games established because.. well it's the core of the series. Idk. I'll drop it for real this time. I like this quite a bit, but the colors are blown out and that Eggman could use some tweaks. I might do a version of this later.. we'll see.
Nah this looks way too bright and the characters are obviously superimposed. Touches like Knuckles being visible are completely unnecessary and just make the art less intriguing. Like the whole point of the original was that he was this new, mysterious villain character shrouded in shadow. It ain't broken.
It was just posted as a quick image found on Google. You're missing the point with those criticisms that are way besides the point of simply explemplifying what the S3 US boxart could look like with the JPN character designs. Use your imagination.
Aside from the fact that the artist randomly messed around with the colours and slapped Knuckles in quite hastily, I prefer it (as a proof-of-concept). I just like the designs that much more. But there you go, it's a matter of preference, not one thing being inherently better than the other. We can argue why designs were changed and whether or not it was the right choice to do so, but that's different.
I think the fact that so much information about the sonic series has to be gleaned from developer interviews and concept art causes there to be a huge gulf in information between normal fans and the hyper invested, leading to a lot of in-group elitism. That's why people argue so much about "true vision" and "jp purity", because being knowledgeable about these things is how the dedicated fans distinguish themselves. You never see this type of arguing about mario, because the developers never say anything. Being a 'dedicated' mario fan just means you remember when daisy had a tan or who Wart it. It's mostly just trivia facts. I don't even think this is a bad thing- I am invested in knowing the sonic lore and development details, I care about what the creator intentions were, I just think this type of bickering is inevitable in a series where there is so much information about the development process and what got left on the cutting room floor. I try to look on the bright side and think that the fact these arguments are happening just means people are passionate about the series.
