What, you were actually expecting this? The whole scoring system assumes you only see one at a time, unfortunately. They're certainly not going to redo things to that degree.
I really don't like the new derpy HUD changes (the ring seems to have been changed as well!), but never the less, I await the inevitable PC release. Also, nobody's pointed this out, but it would appear as if those texture shadows are higher resolution than the GC version, although I suppose it's sort of a given. I still hate the fact that they're using LOD (level of detail) models for the "default" 2P characters, but all the fancy costume/extra characters use high quality models...
Now that sega has put down the Xbox page..I wonder when are they officially announcing this. I bet it for Friday, or maybe tomorrow beacuse of the leak.
I find the ring on the HUD to look better then the old one at least. But you're right they still use those shitty low poly models for 2 player, I didn't notice that. With luck that's changed between now and october. I was really hoping they would have made the upgrades invisible for the most part too... they did not. Knuckles still gets to be weighed down by bling. One thing I am curious about though, do we know for sure if Battle is DLC upgrade, or is it simply just in the package. I suppose that would make the DLC a mystery, but hey it could be some of those scrapped DC kart courses or more character themes. Also, am I the only one who finds it funny that they bothered to change the character icons for an upgrade where the models are virtually the same, where as for SADX (even at the time), they said fuck it and left the character icons looking drastically different from what they looked like in game? And speaking of character models, I really hope they fix Sonic's end of level pose to look more like it did in SA2 and not what it looked like in SA2B.
I'd say SADX's re-release in general is one of the laziest they've done so far. There are a few nice things here and there, but they're not something that the typical person would really notice. Other than that, it's so bad in the first place, I'm not surprised that they didn't do anything relatively significant (other than breaking some Chao breeds). As I've said before, the only thing that release has going for it is DX9, XInput, and ADX music. (Edit: and ADX music has an advantage because the music ACTUALLY LOOPS, unlike the original PC release...)
I would love to have ADX music in the old pc version for sure -- my main reason for not being too concerned though is that the audio from the OST is significantly extended in a few cases and because I always find that (thanks to the super shoes and invincibility and stage transitions and most levels only taking no more than 3-4 minutes to complete) the looping is redundant anyway. Adventure fields and chao stuff are notable exceptions for me then.
Sonic's normal shoes for DLC. :v: In all seriousness, it'd be nice to see the 2P characters playable in the chao garden and in the normal levels. Question: if this comes to steam, will people be able to hack the graphics and replace the models with newer and better ones? I'm kinda hoping someone will do this for Jet Set Radio, too.
I'd say it's a given that the DLC is just some form of Battle-exclusive content, ala the most recent SADX release. But the fact that Chao Karate is presented in one of those screenshots has me wondering if it will appear out-of-the-box. Although it could be used to advertise Battle DLC as well. Bah, I'm just thinking out loud. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe those "scrapped" kart courses and character themes were actual DLC for the Dreamcast. Actually, I seem to recall that for both SADX and SA2B, the GameCube versions had these extra racetracks on-disc and could be accessed with Action Replay codes. Also, character posing differences? What's this about?
From a default perspective though, they essentially have two copies of the song in one file, which kinda bloats the size, and is redundant in itself. That's probably why they also brought the bitrate down to 128kbps, thinking about it. My 320kbps WMA for say, Casinopolis 1, is around 9MB, and the original (regular 128kbps WMA) is 3.5MB. The ADX has the higher quality, but has a filesize right inbetween at 5.5MB. From what I can tell, the ADX also only has a portion of the beginning of the song at the end of the file, as opposed to an entire copy of the song and THEN a copy of the beginning at the end. I'm kind of a nut for efficiency, so it really throws me off that the WMA audio does that. But I'm kinda going off on a tangent here, so I'll leave it at that. (and I should probably be using the OST version of the music too; that's a good idea.)
For whatever reason, Sonic's eyebrows in SA2B don't seem to be able to convey as much emotion as they did in SA2. As a result he's often wide eyed when it makes no sense. In addition to some cutscenes, the most glaring offender is the results screen. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (around 1:30) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ycymywGv7c Sonic Adventure 2 (around 3:08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqYfRVgAipk IMO The SA2 version looks better. I mean both poses are pretty bad, but the SA2 one at least conveys Sonic trying to look cool, where as I'm not quite sure what's up with the SA2B one. I'm actually curious as what they're going to do with Big. Will he exist as an extra in 1 player, a character in 2 player, or both? And if he's a character in 2 player will he replace the Dark Chao walker? Also, what of the Chao machine in the Chao gardens? Since you give their name at the kindergarten and there is no GBA or VMU, will all the machine's purpose be to say fuck off to your chao? Or will they replace that with a room in the kindergarten?
From what you're showing, the pose is literally exactly the same. The problem is the camera angle. :v: (Unless I'm just not seeing something blatantly obvious here, which is entirely possible...)
Huh, I guess it is the camera angle. I thought it was the way Sonic was titling his head and was perhaps had a slightly different facial expression. Ok then fine just change the camera angle (And while they're at it, make the end of act result screen more like Unleashed/Generations, where the character is on the left doing their end of act pose while the score tallies up on the side.
Pfft, but does the Dreamcast version have Omochao near the end of like three stages and he says weird things when you drag him into the goal ring? I think not.
Another possible reason: Cranking up the color intensity and losing the more subtle shadows. Makes the DC version come off looking a bit pale and less distinguishable from object to object, but far less of a visual assault. I had Battle myself, but seeing them side-by-side like this, the Battle version feels like an eyesore just due to the color intensity.
I'm actually gonna go with what Dark Sonic said, his forehead thing isn't as expressive in Battle. In SA2's level clear pose he looks like he's thoroughly demolished the level while in SA2B he just looks winded.
Yeah, I'd chalk that up to said cosmetic differences, including possible differences between texture quality too. I could swear the textures in Battle are more fuzzy/blurry, and as a result just look pasted on; such as Shadow's chest fur. Seeing the Dreamcast version, it's far easier to tell that's what it is in the first place. Something else that crossed my mind: Omochao's controller tutorials. In SA1, Tikal referred to these just as the Jump and Action buttons. In SA2, Omochao referred to the standard A/B/X/Y buttons, which happened to work fine for the GameCube -- although seeing the subtitles read "Analog Stick" and hearing him say "Analog Thumbpad" was a minor lolwut moment. The Dreamcast buttons, namely the L/R Triggers, will cross over just fine to the 360 controller, but I'm wondering about the PS3 controller. I suppose they'd either keep the lines in and just change the visual cues where needed (subtitles, like the GameCube) or mute the lines altogether -- I just wonder how awkward muted lines would be in-game. Again, I'm just thinking out loud.
They coulda dug up the old VA. I'm not exactly initiated, but is there anything stopping them from doing that?
