Sonic Unleashed: The Post-PC Port Discussion Thread

Most games with animal-based enemies used new enemy designs inspired by older ones rather than lifting the same enemy and tweaking it.

e.g. Sonic 2

 

It's not the same thing as what Colors and especially Generations does, no. Why are you guys getting so defensive about this specifically? Blue Spikeball can think there's too many motobugs if he wants.

 

I didn't mind that the Dark Gaia minions couldn't be all one shot like Eggman's robots since I assumed they were just stronger.

(It would've been nice seeing Tails tried to fight them and failing to powerscale them more)

But I do agree that within the gameplay I was never wowed with the Werehog and his abilities even when upgrading him.

He didn't feel like a force of nature like say a Dante or Bayonetta.

 

Yeah that's always something that really really bothered me about the Werehog, the game seems to be trying to sell players on the idea that the Werehog is focused on power but the day stages constantly showcase Sonic effortlessly destroying everything in his path while the werehog needs to hit a door or a weakened stone wall 4 times to break it and struggles to take out enemies that Sonic normally just one taps. The game has a lot of intended day/night contrasts but I don't think this one was intended

 

didn't colors do it because Generations was in development at the same time and it was just easier to use the same assets?

 

I thought it was cool of Colors to use classic badniks back when it was coming out. I didn't understand why we had to create new robots for common mooks every single time, the redesigns were interesting-looking (Metal Sonic eyes on everyone!), and it felt like Sonic as a series finally acknowledging its past in a meaningful way. It had always felt like to me back then that the series never really cared much for the classic games or how iconographical its elements were, and Colors was doing an understanding nod like "yeah we also think these things are cool", while still putting forth new ideas. The motobugs chasing you like a bike gang was so cool! And having the Egg Pawns be in costumes also made me endear to them a lot too and accept them as "the" mook/zaku/small-fry enemy of Sonic as a whole. I think it's important to bring prior elements sometimes back like this, I think it shows confidence in prior work, I think it helps establish an identity for the franchise (which had always felt like it kept reinventing itself like it was constantly embarrassed or wanting approval from people who didn't like it), as long as it's also always putting forth new ideas and not letting things go stale - which they did by re-using those elements so much in the next games, but not when these things were still new. At the time those games really felt like a breath of fresh air and Sonic as a franchise actually being earnestly proud of all of itself.

 

SA1 makes old robots feel new in a way Colors doesn't at all bother with beyond just making the eyes blue. Colors also culls the characters, the story and all kinds of other desperate "look at how nostalgic and classic this is!" maneuvers that don't indicate pride in the franchise. It's like the opposite of what SA1 did.

 

Nostalgia pandering, but also having no love for their own property? Do we really need to do that level of mental gymnastics to avoid saying it was a developer taking a step back and seeing that they needed a game with actual focus? I don't care what kind of pedestal of specialness you're placing SA1 on here, it's not that different an approach at all, but it feels extremely silly to say that, of all things, the story and enemies were the things that made the developers say "yes! this is what needs to go back to Sonic 1!" when the gameplay, environment and overall tone and structure clearly did none of that. You're grasping at straws here.

 

The developers took a step back and realized they needed to refocus the series on more nostalgic elements, especially after Unleashed and Black Knight's reception. Colors has very 2D gameplay and an especially Casino Night-esque setting that refuses to even mention Knuckles in its desperation to remind you of Sonic 2. Why are we taking so much umbrage with the phrase 'nostalgia-pandering' to begin with, especially since SA1 apparently did the same thing? You're right in that it's not a bad thing, but if you don't like the changes Colors made, the nostalgia-pandering is gonna come off as just that.

 

Not sure how to respond to that if I'm being honest, not making much sense to me.

Anyways back on topic, Idon't think I brought this up last week but Eggmanland actually is a really great level. Aside from the QTEs, odd camera angles in some sections, and the werehog not having a drop shadow, it somehow was really challenging without feeling cheap, and the werehog parts actually felt fun to play when I wasn't praying to make what were effectively blind jumps.

Used to hate the concept of it until I finally played it. Funny how that works out.

 

I couldn't understand anything in this sentence.

 

I was here.

 

If there is a way, it is a boss battle I would absolutely want redone. Minimum work I could theorize would be one section of Gaia Colossus charging at Dark Gaia and remove the quick time punches, cutting to Dark Gaia grabbing Colossus. The three Sonic running sections in succession, removing the other Colossus charges. Keep the flight into battle as Super Sonic and the shield destruction. Then maybe replace the whole quick time section with that single ending mashing bit with Super Sonic shot out of the chest light on Colossus like Final Horizon to counter Dark Gaia's laser. Cut to the scene of Sonic sniping Dark Gaia and victory. It won't be the best fight that way, but it seems doable with a bit more digging into modding the systems and would be significantly better paced.

 

Wii final boss wasn't perfect (the punchout bit was kinda annoying) but was a little more intuitive and VASTLY easier to parse visually.

 

IGN released today a Top 10 Best Sonic Games video and, funnily enough, they put Unleashed in it.

 

Stolen from the comments:
10. Sonic Frontiers
9. Sonic Unleashed
8. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
7. Sonic CD
6. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
5. Sonic Colors
4. Sonic Advance
3. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
2. Sonic Mania
1. Sonic X Shadow Generations

This is indeed a list to generate views and comments.

 

"Unleashed has very momentum gameplay and an especially Aquatic Ruin temple aesthetic that also refuses to mention Knuckles in its desperation to remind you of Sonic 2". See how easy it is to twist your brain into knots to write a thing like this? Come on, it's ridiculous. Are the Unleashed spinners "SA1 nostalgia"? Were they "pandering to AoSth fans" by including Chili Dogs, or is it just possibly that the games are made by human beings and they found something they thought would be fun in an old cartoon?

 

Yeah I'd say the chili dogs were definitely a reference pandering to AOSTH fans. Which was fine! I still don't understand the hostility towards plain observations like 'Colors evokes Sonic 2'. It was smart of them to do so and is a big part of the game's focus in my eyes. Funny you laugh off AOSTH references talking about the game that felt the need to bring back comic relief butler robots for Eggman. It was commonly celebrated at the time how Orbot and Cubot felt like Scratch and Grounder.

 

That is certainly a list of video games that somebody typed up and posted on the internet. Though, if you swapped out Sonic Advance for Sonic Adventure 1, I could easily see this as a list of "the most popular Sonic games" (though not necessarily in this order).