Generations has 18 playable and fun levels, that aren't that glitchy and work nicely. SA2 has 30 levels, only 10 of which I'd truly call Sonic levels (the Sonic & Shadow ones), 10 plundering mech shoot-em-ups, 10 boring hunting levels (of which some especially can just fuck off and die - Security Hall immediately springs to mind), and is glitchy to the point where you have to specifically stop and edge forward in places so you don't fly off into space (looking at you, parts of Crazy Gadget!). I honestly fail to see how anyone can seriously see SA2 as a better game when about the only potential factor in its name is nostalgia goggles - sure, Generations plays heavily on that but it's a decently solid game underneath - SA2 simply isn't. The one thing I hope comes out of this XBLA release is Sega netting some cash from those blinded by afore-said nostalgia goggles, to put towards the next major Sonic title - which will be based off the Generations engine, I'll note. =P However I'm not going to insult SA2 or SCD with a comparison of the two - it's simply not a fair one at all, objectively.
Eh, games like Super Mario 64 and Super Metroid are incredibly glitchy, especially if you know what you're doing. However, it doesn't bring down the general opinion of those games, so I find holding glitchiness against SA2 to be a bit odd (Unless you want to argue that those games are bad, which of course is another debate entirely but isn't an argument without merit). Honestly, I never found myself at the mercy of SA2's coding. That being said, Generations is easily the better game.
Generations really is the stronger game between the two. The gameplay is refined to a shine, and the level design is some of the best the series has had since it went into 3D (namely Seaside Hill, a shining example of the kind of multiple-path'd, skill-based level design we should be getting on a regular basis). SA2 was good for its time, but when you compare specific elements between the two games, there really is no contest. I don't hate SA2, it's one of the pillars of my childhood, and as I said previously, the more realistic grinding mechanics are still the best the series has had, and it was really nice for the level motifs to be original as opposed to nostalgia-based like Generations, but the level design is intensely linear, the cutscenes are a mess and the story really dropped the ball towards the end. I can't really understand the hatred for the hunting levels besides for Death Chamber, though. I loved them as a kid, and I love showing off how fast I can track them down for my friends who own the game but aren't as good. Did it have a place in a Sonic game? Not necessarily, but it isn't as detrimental as people seem to be making it sound. But, in the end, the game still is really just a relic. I would get it just to play it in 720p, but on it's own merits, it really is just good as a measuring stick to see how far the series has come since then. Besides, I can always just play SA2:B for much cheaper than downloading this one.
Personally, I'm hoping for SA1 radar for Knuckles/Rouge Stages, and looser E102 Gamma-style movement (as well as standard ring loss) for the Tails/Eggman Stages. I know the latter wont happen, but it would be great if done. SA2 was great at the time, but I know that if I were to rebuy and play it now-a-days, I wouldn't enjoy it as much as my 10-year old self did, because of the glaring problems that even the Sonic/Shadow Stages (which are almost unanimously the best) had. I can't see myself downloading this unless a lot of love is poured into it. If it's a "lolcashinquickport", like SA1 was, than I'm not buying it, period.
Setting the fact that the game hasn't even been confirmed aside, those who think that whoever does the porting job (because let's face it, it won't be Sonic Team) will do anything more than getting the game to work on the PS3/360/PC and perhaps add graphical niceties such as widescreen and higher resolutions are setting themselves up for disappointement, there won't be any improvements such as the SA1 emerald radar and the like.
If it makes it to PC I'll be very happy because we can just take over from there. but I do hope they add some basic support like widescreen to this upcoming port for the console side they don't get to see the love we PC fans do. The "hasn't even been confirmed" part was thrown out the window thanks to Major Neilson and his blurt out of the SA2 avatar items. now its just the waiting game until SEGA goes "oh fuck it lets just tell them already".
I'd certainly be interested in seeing what the folks here can cook up in regards to hacking, though I have absolutely no skill in that area myself. I'd love to see how broken some of Sonic's levels could be as Super Sonic, for one. :v:
Again, don't expect the game to have anything that wasn't there on the original SA2 or SA2:B, that includes regular Super Sonic (SS in SA2 has a completely different playstyle and controls than SS in SA1, and even then it took a lot to get SS to work with regular SA1 levels)
I meant in the event it got a PC port on Steam and therefore was open to being hacked by the Sonic community.
So did he. The Final Hazard battle has no ground, it's just empty space. Super Sonic doesn't work the same way as Sonic -- he can't even jump. This wouldn't translate to normal stages. SA1 was different. Super was clearly able to do the same actions as normal -- and it still requires major reworking/modding to operate in normal stages.
The most fun I'd get out of a Supersonic mod for SA2 if it does get ported would be the fact that I can fly out of the stage look see what the developers did for their level design...Unless some one bothers to create a copy of Sonic, change the model to Supersonic, add the ability to change anytime and add Invincibility along with some custom animations, then I doubt I'll ever see this Supersonic mod for Sa2(model swaps don't count). On the subject of a SA2 port, since I've never played it, this would be a good reason for me to purchase some microsoft points because the game still looks decent imo and many have said its pretty good. Hell, its still one of the greater Early 3D sonic games we've gotten before Heroes, Shadow and 06 happened. Then again, It would be nice to get that PC port instead of the XBLA version.
Even though that's the game that got me into 3D Sonic games in the first place (minus the Sonic Adventure demo), nostalgia has nothing to do with it. I just happen to find Generations to be incredibly overrated, plain and simple. Sonic Adventure 2 just had a lot more to offer, from more stages, multiple characters (unlike most people, I don't consider that to be a bad thing; and I had no problem with the shooter and treasure hunting stages), an epic storyline, and the fact that it was just brimming with replay value, due to the Emblem system and all the unlockables that it contained. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that Sonic Generations is a terrible game or anything, I'm just saying that I do not think it's all it was hyped up to be.
iSo the emblem system. Unlocks Green Hill Zone. It could be a possibility that the whole GHZ was what held Sega re-re-re-releasing or whatever for a while due to Dreams Come True for example. Nevertheless, it's a shame that newer releases no longer use the emblem system. Even S&SASR could have utilised them. Sega had an effective Achievements system way back in the 90's with Sonic Adventure, and dropped it. There's nothing stopping from them having emblems back and co-linking with trophies or XBL/Steam achievements. Guess it could have died with Sonic Heroes though; seeing as collecting them all then, did fuck all apart from go "Here's hard mode." Or heck, even Sonic '06 had the medals which were like emblems, but again, did fuck all.
Not into the Xbox myself, I would love for this to become a Steam product for the same price as Sonic Adventure. (Which is £5.99/9.20$?) If this does happen I hope they add little things like achievements and online multiplayer, I had a lot of fun when I was little versing my friends at this game.
If SEGA actually releases SA2 on XBLA, I wonder if they'll charge 5.00$ for the Battle portion. Which isn't much. I guess they could make you pay for the extra characters if you're pathetic enough. At least the chao system would be better. Even then, no online would suck. Oh, and I agree with bringing back the emblem system. Even though it lives on in the Red Rings. Since so many things are related to emblems, why not simply make the trophies ''x number of emblems'' with the number going up and up until you reach the gold, which is 180. Do it like in SH, where you get something (trophies for SA2) every twenty emblems, which gives nine trophies. Then add 3 others for miscellaneous stuff, such as uploading a time / score on the leaderboards, or winning a match in every playstyle online. There could be online, right? I think they did it with Sonic 2 in the vintage collection.
You're an odd one, eh? Nothing against that, you can like whatever you damn well please. When I 100%'d the game years ago, I specifically did the shooting levels first so that I wouldn't have to do them later. They were fun once in a while, but I hated having to do them. Shooting levels were pulled off better in SA1. Treasure hunting wasn't as bad, but again, I hated having to do them. If I just want to play through the game, start to finish, I don't want to play as everyone. I want to play as one character. To this day, I don't understand why it was decided that a playthrough of the game be broken up like that. It puts the focus more on the story of the game, since that's the only thing that would remain constant through a single playthrough of Hero Side of Dark Side. I guess that's the only thing I'd like to see from an XBLA release. A reworking of the game that'd allow you to play through a single character's stages for the story mode, letting cutscenes (and text walls) tell the story when important things happen in other character's stages.
I'd be up for a mode which has a Sonic 4 style "Press [button] to go to the next stage" thing, which would allow you to play through the levels in order with one character, or maybe a Colours style Challenge mode [If I remembered the name right].
No news on this yet? I hope this isn't going to be as quiet as the Sonic Heroes PSN release; SEGA should be pushing their digital content as hard as possible. Hell, even Sonic 4: Episode II seemed like a pretty quiet release and that's a totally new game.
I was hoping for an e3 announcement, but an anniversary announcement makes much more sense. It would actually be the anniversary of both the first Sonic and Sonic Adventure 2!
