spyro, crash and co.

[Cloudman]

spemanig said:

The only thing wrong with his controls in Lost World was the run button. Everything else was the tightest they had ever been and frankly the only time the controls and physics were ever even remotely acceptable in a 3D Sonic game. 3D sonic has this terrible habit of always feeling like you're on ice, and the jump controls are so bad that it needs a dedicated "homing" attack to make up for it. Lost World had the homing, but it definitely didn't need it.

You're absolutely right; Sonic is supposed to gradually gain speed, but absolutely none of the 3D Sonics have done that well. Not without absolutely destroying sturdy controls. Lost World got it so right because the only flaw it it's controls was the lack of momentum. In Sonic, speed is only a reward for good playforming and not the core mechanic, levels are a rolercoaster designed to give you more opportunities to naturally momentum, and enemies are just the obstacles meant to try and stop your momentum. The 3D Sonic game that game close to understanding and implementing that is Lost World. And, like I said, that game isn't nearly close enough, but none of the other games are on the same stratosphere.

The most of the 2D Sonics understand this, but Sonic 3 and the Sonic Advanced games, most gloriously Sonic Advanced 2, are absolute shining examples. When there's a 3D Sonic with no homing attack, you'll know they have it right. Any system that takes away control from your movement doesn't belong in a Sonic game, and the homing cheat is the most offensive intance of this. Any system that gives you full speed for free doesn't belong in a Sonic game, and the boost/entire game design of Colors and Generations are the most offensive examples. And Sonic game where you have to stop your forward momentum to get past an enemy, or where an enemy is not creating an obstacle for the player to solve though platforming, is failing at that part of being as Sonic game.

Funny you mention the homing attack in Lost Worlds. I haven`t gotten used to that mechanic in the game and it feels awkward so far to me. I hope I can get adjusted to that.

I actually thought the homing attack was a good addition and I really liked it. It made attacking enemies really fun and it was a quick action. I think it helped keep the fast pace going in the running stages. I think homing attacks was the best they could do to remedy attacking enemies in a 3D space. I think they could have it where you can just jump and land on them on your own, but for some reason they make Sonic get out of ball form after you jump, and it would seem a little slow to get through. Though with the homing attack, it at least keeps that momentum going, which now Speed is mostly what Sonic is associated with.

The 2D sonic games did well in keeping the fast pace going because you only have to to worry about left and right, and with 3D, it`s a little harder, and I think the homing attack is one way to remedy this, though you bring up a good point. Why can`t they convert that constant movement to 3D? Being able to switch into a ball while running helped get through enemies, and not slowing down when hitting enemies helped keep you going. I` m sure there`s a way to have that same movement from 2D Sonic games to 3D. Whether we`ll see that, who knows... Anyways, I like the homing attacks but you do make good points I never considered before. Thanks for that~