Anyone else tired of Sega playing the nostalgia card?

Sonic CD and Sonic 3 + Knuckles were both disappointing?
I know it's your opinion but...

 

Lemme see, a pleasant enough remake which tried to innovate but failed in the layouts department and an overlong more-of-the-same sequel that everybody and their dog insists is the best despite it being visually inconsistent and laden with bugs. Yeah, I'd say they were disappointing after my world being shaken up by the original Sonic and then those awesome-at-the-time special stages in Sonic 2.

 

PSO2 focused on Nostalgia.


PSO2 is the greatest Sonic Team game ever made, and it isn't even out yet: I've just played the alpha 2 and BETA BUT OH GOD ITS AMAZING.

GAME OF THE YEAR 2012.

 

LIKE


I'm really enjoying the PSO2 game so far. It's like PSO and PSP:I had a bastard child, and PSP:I left PSO to mother the offspring. :O ... or something.

PSO2!!

 

I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one on this planet who finds Sonic Colors (Wii) to be overrated. I also think the same thing about Generations (even moreso than the former). Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that I think these two games are terrible, but at the same time, I just don't consider them to be as good as many people say. In my opinion, they definitely aren't the series' holy grail, nor are they the "best games" since Sonic Adventure 2.

 

I'm tired of Sega trying to half-ass nostalgia.

 

So the S4E2 leak and barrage of footage just reminded me how awful (so-called) modern sonic with the old O-shaped running animation looks. There's absolutely no reason to it except to attempt to drum up nostalgia and it just objectively looks plain awkward compared to his normal gait.

 

I'm just glad it's not pasted on this time like in EP:1. That was truly terrible, to the point where I cringed every time I saw it, even in the trailers.

 

Only way I wouldn't be tired of the whole nostalgia card is if Sega made a brand new 16 bit-esque Sonic game, kind of like in the vein of MM9/10. It's what they should have done for Sonic 4, except it'd have just looked like they were copying Capcom.

That probably wouldn't work though, unless the team that did the classic Sonic stages in Generations was doing it, and even then there would probably be a few things we'd bitch about :v: .


This current "let's toss in throwbacks" thing seems uninspired, and then it's executed pretty badly in Sonic 4's case.

 

You know what I think would interesting for Sega to do? It'd certainly be a novel concept.

Work with Harmonix and make a Sonic-themed Rock Band, with songs from throughout the history of the games (from 1991 to today). Have Sonic running into the screen ala Sonic CD and Sonic 2 special stages, and when the player hits the notes Sonic spins and smashes the note. If the player misses a note, then Sonic gets the appearance of getting hit as he would in S2.

Yeah, it'd never happen, but it'd definitely be something interesting to see if it did.

 

This would make a great downloadable game.

 

Yeah, and it'd be an interesting tossup on the standard plastar formula. Hell, they could even do it as more of a party-style game like Rock Band Blitz (and as with the main RB platform, allow the use of the songs in both directions so you could have Sonic dealing with songs like Visions or Panic Attack).

 

Well, that's a relief! That means that my disgust whenever I click into the Generations topic is well deserved because I share no blame except for borrowing a copy from my friend (this weekend, actually, and it confirmed all of my thoughts on it) to play through the main game. I didn't even bother with S4: E1 because footage was enough for me.

Now, it's not so much the nostalgia card, though, guys. Remember that people say that it's the thought that counts regardless of the fact that with good thought should also come great execution. Sonic 4 is a good idea, but with it could come a lot of bad ones and this totals into bad execution of a good idea. Now since Sega's developers are incompetent it should only be concluded that the execution should be.... well, mediocre. Sonic 4 and Generations were nice thoughts, but with improper execution became the mediocre products they are today. They could be good, maybe even great, but they won't work hard enough on their execution.

Don't blame it on nostalgia, although they should work on new retro material (refer to Ross's earlier post, page 2), but blame it on their execution. If you're not happy with the way things are going, I refer you to Jason's bandwidth breaking signature. The only way to get them to listen is to handle your money wisely and pummel them through your criticisms.

 

The only times I've considered Sega really abusing the nostalgia factor is with Sonic 4 and Generations. But... isn't that what a bunch of fans wanted, a trip back to the "good ol' days" of Sonic? I'm not saying that the classics were the only good games, but considering how poorly the modern era games are received and the general consensus outside the fan base that Sonic is a dead series, it makes plenty of sense to re-release older Sonic games such as Adventure and CD. But for every nostalgic game there is a brand new Sonic game out (Colors, Free Riders, Olympics). These games may be lacking the same sort of quality of past games (besides Sonic Colors, kind of) but they're still new games with Sonic in it. The problem isn't the constant return to classic Sonic games as much as it is the lack of quality in the modern ones coming out. The only reason Sega would stop returning to the classics for inspiration is if the public opinion of Modern Sonic changed. And that will only happen with better entries into the series.

The only port or collection I want is similar to The Gems Collection. Sega needs to port some of the more obscure Sonic titles instead of the next Adventure game. It won't happen probably, but I can still dream.

 

I think that a bit of nostalgia isn't bad, but SEGA sometimes goes to far. I think that a game that is a "blast to the past" like Sonic 4 and especially like Sonic Generations is very acceptable.

Now, rereleasing a game only work in some cases. Rereleasing Sonic Adventure and Sonic Advenure 2 was a good idea the first time, due to both games being very awesome and the failure of the system they were released on (the Dreamcast). But releasing Sonic Adventure a third time instead of actually dishing out something new wasn't good.

Releasing the Genesis classics (including Sonic CD) every 7 years or so isn't a bad thing if you ask me, especially the complications. The rerelease of Sonic CD was also good, especially because I can pull my phone out and play it. But if you do rerelease something by itself, you should add to it like they did with Sonic CD.

 

The simple fact that buying and downloading SA:DX on a contemporary console being far easier and cheaper than buying a Gamecube/Dreamcast, their corresponding components and remotes, along with SA/:DX if arguably justification for re-releasing. The only real question should be quality in this case; if it plays identically to the original, hell, that works. All of these fun "1080p HD UPGRADES!!!!!" shouldn't be expected anymore, regardless as to how possible they are.

 

I'd like to point out that the alternative to 'playing the nostalgia card' is to integrate with current gaming trends. What with all the CoD and Gears of Bore and whatnot, I'd rather the nostalgia card because my mind isn't ready for Shadow the Hedgehog 2.