| spemanig said: My answer to this kind of sucks. It's annoying, because I know that the 2D Sonic games are almost always better. They just are. Some of the more modern ones suck because the introduce the 3D's cancerous boost and homing attacks, but I think the 2D games perfected themselves with the Sonic Advance series. That being said, I know that 3D Sonic has the makings to be so much better than the 2D ones. There has never been a good 3D Sonic game. There have been slight slashes of potential, but even the best one (Sonic Lost World) had deep flaws. The Sonic Adventure series is literally unplayable to me. I don't understand how anyone can enjoy those crap games. 3D Sonic can be better than 2D Sonic, but the need to fix some things. And they need to take a page out of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy to do it. 1. STOP changing Sonic's core mechanics! In Sonic you run, jump, and gain momentum. That's it. Stop it with the homing, and the boosting. 2. STOP fucking up the camera! It's 2014. How is Sonic Lost world the only 3D Sonic with a competent camera!? 3. STOP putting 2D levels or sections in the game! This shouldn't even have to be a point. This is a 3D game! Leave the 2D levels for 2D Sonic games. 4. STOP making the games so short! It's a level based game. We get it. We love it. How does Mario Galaxy have over 100 levels and Lost World can barely reach anything close to that many 3D levels? 5. STOP trying to make Sonic and action adventure game! Sonic is a speedy platformer. The game is about running and jumping, not stopping and fighting. Not exploration and puzzle solving. Enemies are made to be obstacles, not sparring partners. I can forgive Sonic Boom, because it's a spin off, but stop making the main games center around that shit. And before I get a shit storm, I'm not saying that a Sonic game can't have elements of exploration, but the game shouldn't center around it. 6. STOP dividing gameplay sections with specific characters! There should NEVER be a "Knuckles level" or a "Tail level." You get 100+ stages, where you unlock characters along the way that play pretty much the same with unique quirks for variety, and every character can complete every stage. 7. STOP adding 100+ playable characters! Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. That's all we'll ever need. Basically, make Sonic Adventures 2 3D with 100+ stages. |
I agree with you on 2 and 7, but the rest I have a bone to pick with.
1. Do you mean Sonic the character or Sonic the franchise? Because yeah, Sonic the character should stay the same. However, I really like the homing attacks in Sonic Adventure 2. How the hell else are you supposed to hit with Sonic's attacks in 3D? It's easy in 2D, but in 3D the homing attacks are necessary because jumping on enemies at that speed with accuracy is just too hard. Besides, the homing attacks can increase the speed and momentum of the level if the level is designed correctly. My issue comes in when they decide Sonic needs to turn into a werewolf, and the werewolf, rather than adding a mechanic or two, instead makes for a completely different gaming experience. Mario gets a cat suit, he becomes even more unstoppable and plows through levels faster. Sonic becomes a werewolf and the game is no longer about speed at all. That's what you want to avoid doing in experimenting with game mechanics.
2. Yeah, this is a completely valid point. No more of this bullshit.
3. So Mario 3D World can practically be a 2D game half the time, but Sonic can't experiment with different perspectives? I get where you're coming from here, but using 2D sections in innovative ways should still be possible. Writing them off completely as unnecessary seems hasty and underestimates the potential they may have. Don't speak in absolutes like that.
4. I dunno, what games are you talking about? Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were both fine, and Sonic Heroes was okay, as was Shadow the Hedgehog. There have been a few that were too short, but honestly, for the games that were too short, length was the least of their problems. Still, you're right, games should have a decent length. But Mario Galaxy did NOT have 100+ levels. Mario Galaxy 1 had 42, and Mario Galaxy 2 had 49, for a total of 91. Mario 64 and Sunshine each had significantly less, but they were much more fleshed out. I'd say about 2 dozen levels is plenty for a Sonic game.
5. I almost agree with you here, but this goes back to point 1 and blends into point 6. Sonic the character should not be an action adventure character, and since power isn't his deal, sparring with enemies shouldn't be a big part of it either, as you say. Knuckles, on the other hand, has developed his character into more of a fighter. I think having him plow through enemies is a good idea. However, even he shouldn't be about stopping and fighting. It should still be an action game, but also about momentum. So for Knuckles, gameplay should be at a slower pace, but still unstoppable. In a Sonic game, it's not necessarily even about the sense of speed so much as it is about the not stopping. What's the worst part about the 2D Sonic games? when you run into a wall and the momentum grinds to a hault, and the games are filled with sections that do just that, and you have to find your way back to the main path before you can build momentum again. I always hated that. Sonic games should provide a variety of obstacles while giving you the tools to overcome them in a way that maintains the feeling of flow. Nothing stops you up, because you're unstoppable.
6. Which brings me to this. I'm not saying there should be a completely different level exclusive to Knuckles where the entire point of the level is to not go fast but to instead explore carefully and meticulously. That clashes with the rest of the game too much, as much as I liked those levels. Certainly the bullshit with the Big the Cat levels should never happen again. However, in order to include variety in the levels without changing how Sonic plays, having different areas play to different character's strengths is a good idea. This is something Sonic Heroes did right, and what I'm excited about Sonic Boom for. You need to run and jump and platform at max speed? Use Sonic. Maybe a few weak one-hit enemies here and there to bounce off of but that's it. But if there's a horde of enemies coming your way that a simple homing attack won't take down? Switch to Knuckles, and let the raw power carry you through wave after wave like The Juggernaught would, slower than Sonic but still not losing any momentum due to your sheer strength. And why stop there? Tails gives some unique gameplay opportunities, through his technological abilities. This would be trickier to pull off, but rather than give Sonic a sword or gun or what have you, give Tails all the technology. He can also have the aerial sections due to his flying ability. Then you have Amy, who is supposed to be the agility character in Sonic Boom. Sonic is about rushing forward and leaping over obstacles to give a blinding sense of speed, but that can't get you through everything. Sometimes you need flexibility, agility, acrobatics, things of that nature, to navigate trickier obstacles. This could be Amy's niche, and give her a purpose beyond just making googly eyes at Sonic. I recognize you did more or less hint at this, and didn't say that there can't be multiple characters, but the idea that EVERY character MUST be able to complete EVERY stage will just lead to very generic levels. It's better to have levels that need multiple characters to play their part for the roles they specialize in, as Sonic Boom is doing.
7. Yeah, spot on. You have all you need character wise and gameplay wise with those four.
So basically, Sonic Adventure 2, 20-40 well designed levels that give every character a purpose, without anything gimmicky.
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