Actually, given that the artist was a japanese one, I'm inclined to believe it was an SoJ decision. Feel free to prove me wrong though. That said, I'm pretty sure they were just jumping on the cultural bandwagon of the time. Trying to keep up with what was edgy or cool, which is apparently what they were going for with Sonic in the first place. I remember hearing/reading the words "attitude" and "cool" (along with other similar words) being used in the context of Sonic back in the genesis days.
Why the change? That's a good question. Honestly I think that they just wanted to have one, single design for Sonic, since for many years the look for Sonic varied greatly from Japan to the US to even Europe, however they never really seemed to decide what the fuck art style they felt like following (Sonic 1 - Japan, Sonic 2 - America, Sonic 3 - original, Sonic and Knuckles - Japan and America). The Sonic Adventure design does copy a lot of aspects of the original ass face Sonic design Notice how the face area looks almost identical, with the exception of green eyes of course. The proportions are terrible. The ears are really bendy rather than rigid like in the Japanese artwork. Also the eye ridges. But the design also takes some aspects of the Japanese design, mainly in regards to the spikes being connected to the head and not just a Mohawk. Also the shoe buckles Another thing is that they probably wanted to keep Sonic looking cool. That's the problem with characters that are supposed to be cool. Cool only works for the time that that cool is in (Hello Bart Simpson). Ass faced Sonic's Mohawk didn't work anymore, and Sonic wasn't extreme enough. But this game is Sonic in 3D, so how are we going to make Sonic look extreme for his first 3D appearance? Why making him look as lanky as possible as to put him in really extreme or cool looking poses. These are the only reasons I can see as to why they would change Sonic's design. I don't agree with them but at least they've fixed it up over the past couple of years
Dark Sonics on the right track; before Sonic Adventure, he was having an identity crisis. We'd have the Sonic the Fighters design being around with a similar R design, then we'd have a design like Sonic Underground.. at the same time. I think they just wanted to confirm his identity once and for all, tried to appeal to Japan & US at the same time, and we got what many would call a monstrosity of a character design. I'll agree Sonics made a good recovery though, Colors being the best example yet. What I find funny though is the SA1 Sonic on the box art and in the game look pretty different.. Well to me at least.
The Unleashed model is fine. Just get rid of the crease when he's frowning, make him even more fat (the channel artwork looked great but a bit more wouldn't hurt) and sharpen the quills. The rest is perfect.
Ah, I guess you're right, my bad for attacking you like that. I'm not sure what the point of the initial SA1/2 design change was, honestly. I guess at the the time making a taller more realistic (If you can call it that, really) looking Sonic made him fit in better with the game's more realistic looking areas. At the same time they probably did have intentions of making Sonic look "cooler" and "more hip" and the like, but the new design was probably more justified overall by the new look of the games in general than purely by "okay for the next game Sonic will have long-ass legs and green eyes".
Even though Sonic 4 totally fucks up my vision of classic Sonic being younger Sonic, I'll always feel the Sonic's changes besides eye color were just him getting older and in better shape. Lots of 2D video games characters that went 3D eventually got slimmer. Observe. Mario: Rayman: Rocket Knight: When Mario was first designed, he became the way he is due to the limitations of gaming technology. Granted, he still has weight problems, but he's definitely thinner than he used to be. For making sprites on older consoles, it was a lot easier to animate characters if they were chubby. Can you imagine how much more difficult it would have been to make Sonic look thin in the Genesis games? Not impossible by any means, but it certainly made things a lot easier for the game makers to make him chubby. Unlike those drawing examples for cereal and cartoon characters, the artists didn't have the technology hold them back if they wanted their designs thin, chubby, or fat. Hell, if Rayman 1 for the SNES actually released, he would have been a real fat fuck. Instead, he's chubby in Rayman 1 but thin in Rayman 2 and 3. This post took way too fucking long to make because I was so picky with some of the images. >_>
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but the Adventure redesign wasn't without precedent. Yuji Uekawa had done illustrations for the Japanese version of Sonic 3D Blast/Flickies Island and it sort of links the classic and Adventure designs. Found at http://sonicresearch.org/art/art.php?pageT...r=./Sonic/Other The box art and Flickie designs are on the wiki http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_3d
In case I haven't mentioned it before, I really don't care how Sonic looks these days (sans 06 and - somewhat - Heroes/Shadow). When I was a kid I was confused as to why he looked different on the cover of SA1, but I quickly got over it. I even thought, "Cool, green eyes! Just like I have!" Haters gonna hate. Also... Holy shit.
Not really, they changed his entire eye ridge, iris shape, back spine length, arm length, and changed his mouth. It's very different, the beta model is much more like classic Sonic than the final.
Personally, I think Sonic Adventure 1 is the best 3D Sonic so far. He's not super-thin or super-tall. After that it's like they put him through a taffy machine for a couple seconds before each game. At least now he's scrunching back down into his adventure-proportions.
I hate the "grew up" argument often to explain the difference between classic and modern. Is it really that hard to give him a growth spurt (like the OVA) to make him look older? Because longer quills, realistic proportions, and GREEN EYES clearly make a fictional anthropomorphic hedgehog look 15/16. Then there is the shoes. I despise how SoJ decided to give Sonic's shoes realistic soles in their effort to make Sonic more "human." It takes away some of the cartoon feel that makes the classic design so appealing. What really gets me going is the stupid grin on the modern design's face. I didn't even take much notice until the result screen of Sonic Unleashed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Classic design never gave off the same kind of cheesy grin, right? I found it better that the classic design simply gave a cocky smile or a frown to show off his "bad attitude." So yeah, I'm a classic fan for life. I actually attribute the difference in design to drugs. That's right, drugs. After all, isn't Sonic all about speed? :specialed: + - Yeah, I know that wasn't funny
Didn't the shoes always have realistic soles? I don't remember what they look like in the classics since it's rare that you see the soles of them. Although now that you mention it Tails doesn't have soles on his shoes in Sonic 2. I don't remember seeing Knuckles or Sonic's shoe soles though. Also, what the hell is wrong with green eyes? It's just eye color. It's not like black eyes are any nicer.
Also, even though Sonic practically changes proportion every scene in Sonic X, some of the art I've seen comes pretty close to an ideal mix of modern and classic. http://sonicresearch.org/art/art.php?pageT...=./Sonic/SonicX The facial expressions are good - he's got his grin going on, but they remind me more of the grins from Sonic 1 and 2's title screens. They aren't really cocky, but he's still got a good 'tude going on that says "I'm cool and I fight for what's right", as opposed to "I'm a dick, can I get a paycheck now?" grins from more recent Sonic. However, OVA Sonic or Adventure Sonic is still pretty much golden to me.
The second pic on that page is my favourite, and I definitely agree that it's a great blend of classic and modern. This is EXACTLY the kind of look I'm going for with my new 3D model. It has the design cues that make it identifiable as modern Sonic, with more reasonable proportions closer to classic Sonic.
I'm sorry Modern Sonic fans, but if SEGA can change <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vBCSLbKJ7nI/SPd9Wu4MbuI/AAAAAAAAAl0/N9gjuQ-kCTU/s320/Sega+Memories_+NEW+Classic+Sonic+Plush+toys!+Whoo!.png" target="_blank">this</a> into this... blegh. Classic is just so much better for me. He's got a charm that that ugly counterpart don't have, y'know? (:
Wow, that modern Sonic is perhaps the most hideous I've ever seen him look. The proportions have no sense of character to me, and his body and legs are waaaaay too long there. But at the same time, that classic Sonic is also lacking a bit of character compared to newer drawings for me. I guess I prefer some of the modern 2D Sonic artwork to the classic stuff, but I'll take the classic 2D Sonic over modern 3D Sonic any day. There are elements I like of every Sonic era though.
Excuse me as I don't give a fuck about what Sonic looks like. I see differences and I don't give a fuck about them. What's important is that he's the same fucking hedgehog as he's always been. Except Sonic 06's Sonic. God, that's just disgusting.
