I've been thinking, what would a classic sonic game be like if they just went ahead and finally made everyone playable? My ideal classic sonic game would have like 20 characters that you can mix-and-match advanced 3 style. So, if you got to add any sonic character, how would they play? Here are the rules: Can be any existing character. Must adhere to the classic sonic "Only One Button" design philosophy. Any ability they have must be performed with the jump button. But, you can give them more complex behaviors by adding direction+jump actions, press-and-hold actions, pressing the button in while certain states. Any sort of different stats they might have, like Knuckles' reduced jump height. If you want, you can add a partner ability mapped to up+jump in midair for when they are following behind the player, like how Tails can carry you. Also optional, any sort of unique super attributes like Trip in superstars. Here's mine: Shadow: I mean I feel like everyone would have the same idea for Shadow, but I'll wright it anyway. Jump in midair + any direction causes him to teleport a set distance in that direction. Somewhat inspired by the teleporter from Spelunky, but a little more forgiving so it wouldn't telefrag you if you're too close to a wall. The teleport would maintain his horizontal velocity, but reset his acceleration from gravity. You can only teleport twice before touching the ground again, to keep it from getting too busted. Silver: Anyone play the old flash game Psycho Waluigi? I imagine Silver being like that. Pressing Jump in midair causes him to uncurl and stalls his momentum as he uses his phychic energy. A cyan reticle also extends from his body that you can control for as long as Jump is still held. If jump is released while the reticle is above an enemy, Silver will start levitating that enemy above him. Enemies will absorb hits for him, destroying them in the process, but he can also use their abilities by pressing Up + Jump while grounded. Like making buzz bombers fire or making slicers launch their blades. Jump in midair while holding an enemy launches them outwards as a projectile, destroying any other enemy they hit as well. Rouge: I liked how Ray in mania plus was just the cape from Mario World, so I've been thinking about basing other characters off other games. For Rouge, i feel like mechanically and thematically, the best source of inspiration would be Castlevania. So for her i just stole Richter's move set from symphony of the night, lol. I imagine her as a more technical character that would be harder to utilize than the others. Is this too complex for one character? Probably. Jump in Midair: Back flip. She uncurls and leaps backwards, instantly stopping her momentum. Double tapping down + Jump: Slide Kick. She slides along the ground a set distance with her leg extended, damaging enemies in front of her. Can be canceled into a Vault Kick with another jump press, launching her into the air and giving a sudden burst of speed. The momentum from both moves is kept when you transition into a run. Down + Jump in midair: Dive Kick. Sends her downwards and an angle and bounces her off of any object she hits. If you time it right you can chain multiple dive kicks into a boss together. Down, Up, Down + Jump: Uppercut, which launches her into the air slashing enemies above her with her wing. With precise timing, multiple can be chained together to gain additional height.
they should make Eggman playable and give him the ability to body slam and piledrive enemies like Wario
Honestly, I'd want to see how they'd handle the Chaotix were they ever reintroduced to Classic Sonic. Espio's whole shtick was kind of stolen by Trip, so he'd need a new moveset. Vector's fine the way he is, but Charmy would need a complete overhaul to make him less overpowered in regular Classic Sonic levels.
I feel like it's vector that got copied by trip if anyone, she stole his whole wheel shaped spin dash and everything. Vector needs to keep his 8-way dash from chaotix. I mean, his name is vector, it wouldnt really make sense otherwise. I've been thinking it'd be cool if they turned his dash into something like the wave dash where he could carry his momentum by dashing into the ground. And I mean, vector looks like hed get really sweaty at melee. If espio got a new move set, i kinda like the idea of him being able to climb up background layers gex-style. I like characters being able to interact with level elements in a new way, like amy being able to hammer springs or the cyan emerald letting you go up waterfalls. Yeah it's situational but i enjoy how it recontextualizes level design. Either way, he NEEDS to keep his top spin dash. Charmy is tough, because in chaotix he only worked at all because he was tethered to another character, and he was the smallest character in a game where you selected characters via giant claw machine (chaotix had... interesting design choices). Hed definitely need to be made a little bigger, at least tails sized. No way could he have his infinite dash, but maybe he could have something like the pegasus boots from LttP; if he runs at top speed for long enough, he enters a new 'super dash' state, where he automatically dashes in any direction but gets knocked back if he rams into a wall. Another idea for charmy i had was him being able to do something unique with decorative flowers in levels, since he was stated to be into flowers in the chaotix manual (and you know, hes a bee). like if he stands near a flower it turns into a platform like the green emerald power in superstars.
I think an Encore Mode style character switching would work with Bomb and Heavy. Just those two, without a 5 character roster/HP reserve. Maintain a Chaotix-style tether. Give Heavy a Mania Mighty style stomp, give Bomb a little 8 directonal explosion jump. Maintain their "booby prize" status from Chaotix by making their moves cost a certain amount of rings. 5 rings, maybe? Super Bomb could have screen clearing detonation move a la Revenge of Shinobi, and Super Heavy could have a screen clearing shockwave stomp. Both special Super moves could be triggered with an Up + Jump and would cost 25 rings. This reduces spammage and accidental usage. When losing one of your partners, use the Encore method of monitor usage to regain them, but style it as a Repair monitor with a wrench symbol. When clearing the level as just Bomb, use a Bomb end of level sign. When using Heavy, use a Heavy sign. When finishing the level with both, use a Bomb and Heavy sign. When finishing with both with 50 rings, trigger a Special Stage ring. When defeating enemies, free the Flicky as usual, but release obtainable collectable Gears from the badnik. Use Gears as a secondary currency, wh8ch incentivises enemy destruction rather than avoidance and perhaps use them for aesthetic and performance upgrades in little shop sections scattered throughout the levels. Or create a hub world level that unfolds with progress a la Generations, and have the shops there. Maybe Jimmy the Motobug could shopkeep.
What do you mean by "and everything"? That's the only thing she got from Vector, and it was so that she could match the radius of Amy's hammer swing. Trip functions as an amalgamation character in Superstars, with all of her all of her abilities effectively matching Tails', Knuckles' and Amy's maneuverability. Her ability to climb on any surface bests Knuckles' wall-climbing, and even usurps Espio's ceiling walking because effectively in a rolling state that can damage enemies. One of the strengths of Classic Sonic game design is the simplicity of it. Taking S2 Sonic as a base (because S1 lacks the spindash), different characters layer 1 or 2 simple moves on top, potentially with minor extra properties that apply to the character as a whole. Examples of that would include Tails being slightly shorter than everyone else, Knuckles having a lower jump height in 3K/Mania and Mighty having limited resistance to spikes and projections when curled up in Mania. There's no fanagling with context sensitivity or complex button combinations in Classic Sonic. Everything is useful at just about any time, and it's immediately obvious what any move will do. Moves mostly boil down to double jump variants. When you start getting more elaborate with movesets, I feel like you're introducing several gameplay mechanics that stray from the simple elegance of Classic Sonic. And that's fine, but it gets to the point that holding on to the Classic formula then becomes a hindrance and you'd be better off letting the gameplay expand and develop in new ways. You certainly shouldn't stick to a 1-button control scheme when things get more complex.
Did anyone play as Rouge in Sonic Battle? It's been years since I've touched it but as I recall, she had this aerial move where you could do a drop-kick on your opponents from her glide/float state, and landing the hit would bounce you back up into the air. Something like that would be really fun in a classic styled game, especially if chaining successful hits bounced you up higher and higher subsequently, giving you more air time. Basically, easy mode for badnik bounce chaining. I don't think Charmy needs as much reconfiguration as people think. Just give him a meter and dial it in to have him stop short of being able to fly past anywhere Tails could go. Not rocket science.
He already has a standalone 4th Gen Game Spoiler Who is it we're fighting for? Inside this crazy firestorm When no one's left to save the world In the distance I see the light of hope SHIIIIIIIIIINING
I suppose, yeah. I felt like trip's wall climb was more so inspired by the fact she's covered in spikes than deliberately trying to copy espio. And vector's wheel form has his red spikes, so no it's be kind of odd if he couldn't climb up walls too if he was in a modern game. It's be a little weird if they didn't have vector in mind when making her. But i can see where you're coming from. They definitely made trip the "Anything you can do, I can do better" character in superstars, which i don't even think is a bad idea. Though it only works there because she's more of a new game+ playthrough, in a game with a ton of characters accessible from the start she'd need to be toned down so she doesn't outshine literally everyone. I think there is room for a couple characters being more complex than base sonic, i mean as soon as you give a character pretty much any mobility move they become overpowered, so more complex controls feel like the only real way to balance them. Knuckles breaks traditional level design so much they have to make levels just for him. I remember people saying for ages that sonic is held back by it's one button design, like how they insisted on keeping super transformations and shield abilities to the jump button, so it's not like sticking to the one button philosophy beyond the point it's useful is new for the sonic series. But you're right that making a character that fits well with he existing cast while only using one button does require keeping it simple. I just like the one button thing as a design challenge, it's fun to think about how different can you make a character while sticking to it. In a real game it would probably be closer to what youre saying.
That would be such a fun style for rogue, but i just love any sort of dive kick in games. Chaining together dive kicks as richter is like my favorite part of smash ultimate.
Big. He has his Bounce from Heroes, functionally like the Bubble Shield's bounce from 3K/Mania. Maybe he has a lower jump height, because he's a big guy. But also, he gains more speed than anyone else when running or rolling down slopes, because he's a big guy. Using this speed he can break certain walls and objects that other characters (besides Power folks like Knuckles) cannot. I also kinda want his little umbrella glide. Maybe Bounce would be when you press the button while pressing 'down', and umbrella glide when you do left, right, up, or nothing? But that might be too finicky, so maybe just the Bounce.
I think that'd be great to be used in a Sonic Adventure remake; I wouldn't mind it replacing the "fishing gameplay".
Im curious how Big would fit through a lot of level set pieces, things like the s-tubes in green hill considering hes twice the size of most character. It would be funny if levels were designed with alternate paths for him because he wouldnt fit through the normal way. Or maybe he would just bust his way through walls like a wrecking ball.
I feel Big's best (hypothetical) classic feature would be his sort of reverse tour de force - you have to find the optimal path for this big lug that doesn't involve him being crushed between boxes or getting sicc'd by inconveniently-sized stage hazards. You would also have to be considerate of ramps and the almost impossible task of finding the space to run at top speed to promptly fling yourself when springs aren't there to propel you. To compensate, give him Zephyr's suggestion for extra speed and wall-breaking abilities, but also have him lose less rings and possibly do more damage to bosses.
Yeah, I think his size should matter mechanically. Like, if Sonic is "two balls tall" when standing, then Big should be "three balls tall" when standing, and "two balls tall" when rolling. The player would be forced to approach the levels in a very different way.
Big can't spin dash and instead has to hook his fishing line into a ground/wall and sling himself to roll, swing and generally barrel all over the place, at least if you cast your line right. Like Ristar but with a giant purple boulder of death. Though you can only cast the line in one direction and it'll snap if you take more than a second to time your sling. IDK.
