Sonic The Hedgehog

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been trying to go back and S rank the rest of the acts that I got an A or B rank in (I never got lower than a B rank in anything, even though I feel like I deserved worse with how I performed in some stages). I just managed to get up to the Blue Comet achievement, which means that I've S ranked exactly 12 acts, leaving 6 more for me to improve my scores and run-times in. Currently I've S ranked 8 acts as classic Sonic and 4 as modern Sonic, which isn't surprising since I find modern Sonic a lot harder to get used to controlling, whereas I'm used to classic Sonic. It sure helps that Sonic Team went out of their way to get the physics for classic Sonic in this game to closer resemble those of the Genesis games, which I had only recently just come out of playing before starting this game.

I think that the hardest act for me to S rank will probably be Planet Wisp. Its the only act that I haven't yet S ranked as classic Sonic and its easily the hardest of the modern Sonic acts, not to say that its all that hard to actually complete, but it is difficult to get down a good time in it since the level is so vast and its also easy to fall into various pit deaths (and if you die even once you can kiss that S rank goodbye), though to be fair when that happens its mostly due to the player's faults rather than the game giving you a bad angle or tricky jump or something of that sort.

Oh, speaking of S ranks, while I was attempting to S rank Rooftop Run as classic Sonic, I ran into a glitch in which I was in that underground cellar with the giant rolling barrels, and at one point I got smashed by one of those moving black balls with spikes on them and it squeezed me right into a wall, and then all of a sudden all of the walls disappeared and Sonic was stuck in a plain background of the sky. I tried jumping and moving around but all I could do was run in the same spot. It was an odd glitch and it was one of the only 2 glitches that I've experienced in the game so far. I was just wondering if anyone experienced anything similar on that level. It kind of pissed me off since I was doing a perfect run up to that point, and I could never get back the same rhythm that I had going on that run after that, though I did finally S rank the mission on a successive attempt on that act.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This speedrun of Classic Planet Wisp is pretty close to what I do on my runs. It's probably not the best route anymore, but it's the best I can find that avoids glitches or random occurrences in order to get ahead. My runs aren't quite as fast as that because I'm simply not much of a perfectionist; I always tend to miss a jump or something along the way.

As for Modern Sonic, a normal run is pretty close to this for me. I recommend NOT using the Homing Attack on enemies as much in the 2D sections in this level because in certain parts Sonic's bounce is faster and easier to control to maintain speed. I usually only use it to hit springs or levers faster. Pay special attention to the shortcut at 3:36 in the video, that's pretty much necessary to get a good time and S-Rank.

Once you S-Rank those two stages, the rest are cake.

[Kiddington]

Hmm... so, yeah.

Not completely related to the discussion at hand, so pardon the slight thread derailment, but I seen this and just HAD to post it (and it is Sonic related... sorta).

Has anyone seen this on TV yet? Really, I can't believe this actually exists. Even if it is cheesy, though, I can't help but give props to their using of Sonic 3's invincibility and 1UP themes. Somebody working for this company must be a fan.

[Rynnec]

I linked to that commercial a few posts back n_n; (But your link's video has better quality than mine). I still haven't seen it on TV yet, but it's nice to see Sonic appearing on TV commercials again. Using the Unleashed-style humans at the end was a nice touch.

[Kiddington]

I linked to that commercial a few posts back n_n; (But your link's video has better quality than mine). I still haven't seen it on TV yet, but it's nice to see Sonic appearing on TV commercials again. Using the Unleashed-style humans at the end was a nice touch.

Haha, so you did. Not even sure how I missed that; losing my touch, apparently. 

Judging by your link, it looks like it has apparently aired on TV at least once (on Fox News, of all things). Interesting stuff.

[Commode]

Why is Sonic shopping for auto insurance?

"People do crazy things when they're in ads Lisa, like eat at Arby's."

[gunswordfist]

"I'm so hungry that I can eat a whole Arby's sandwich. A whole Arby's sandwich!"

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I've been thinking of what my favorite level in Generations is, or rather my favorite 2 levels, 1 for each Sonic. For Modern Sonic, I'm going to have to go with Speed Highway. That stage gives you the best sense of actual speed out of all of the stages, and it has enough alternate paths and obstacles to keep my interest in replaying it many times over.

For classic Sonic I'm actually going to have to go with Rooftop Run. Something about that stage fits the themes of classic Sonic really well, IMO, and it also perfectly combines just about all of the fun and challenging obstacles that you would associate with a classic Sonic game into one stage, as well as some of the newer obstacles only experienced in this game. And of course it has tons of alternate paths and secrets which is always good for replay value.

BTW, I ended up trying the Sonic Unleashed demo (I've played bits of the game before at a friend's house, but I don't remember much of it that well). As far as the actual Sonic stages go, I actually kind of liked it. Its not as well-tuned as Generations is, but it does have just as good of a sense of speed and I didn't have a problem with the controls to be honest. I'm sure the Werehog stages suck, but if I can find the game cheap I may consider getting it just to play Sonic's stages. Also the QTEs don't bother me as much as I expected, at least in the demo stage, because they are optional in that you don't have to complete them in order to progress, but if you do it boosts your score and I think in some instances lets you get onto a better alternate route to decreased your run-time through the stage, which makes sense for speed-runs, even if its not as ideal as just getting to the alternate path yourself. At any rate since my interest in Sonic has bee renewed I may give this game a try and still keep my expectations reasonably low since I'm sure the Werehog stages will be a drag to get through.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Good level picks. I like both those levels a lot. There's a few fun shortcuts in Rooftop Run the require careful spindashing and jumping.

As for Unleashed... The demo is really good, but the game is not. Werehog aside (and it gets AWFUL make no mistake) the level design is extremely trial and error. If you don't hit a jump/dash pad/quick time event or avoid an obstacle fast enough you will die. This is different than in Generations where you might just get hit and lose rings or fall to a lower path, Unleashed has one way it wants you to play it and if you don't then you will not get anywhere.

There are good things about the game, I think Rooftop Run, Cool Edge, Windmill Isle, Dragon Road and Empire City are pretty cool levels even if they have a bit too much twitch for my tastes at some parts. But the medal collecting, Werehog (which is actually way more than half the game), QTEs (these eventually get extremely long and outright kill you if you miss them), pointless minigames between levels, and forced exploration in hub worlds for progression really drag the game down.

It's no Sonic '06 or Shadow The Hedgehog, but itis a flawed game. I'd spend no more than twenty bucks or so on it... Which is what I did. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I wasn't planning on spending that much on it, but if I find it for about $10 or less (which isn't too hard if I buy it used off of Amazon or something) then I might pick it up even if it ends up sucking. Still, I'll be weary of it not being a very good game, as I don't expect it to be anywhere near as good as Generations. Thanks for sharing your opinion on it, though. I'll keep that in mind. At any rate I'll be getting Colors before Unleashed, which I'll get for my little sister once she manages to get to the end of NSMBW....which may incidentally take quite a while for her to do.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, if it means anything, my friend who is a very casual Sonic fan (his nieces are nuts for Sonic, though) couldn't get past the second level of Unleashed and he loved Colors and Generations because it was just too harsh on him. I mean, I liked it niggles aside, and even liked the final level for some reason, but I think it's probably the most polarizing game in the franchise.

And good luck with NSMBWii, the game can get a bit tricky later on, even for veterans!

[Rynnec]

I quite honestly found Black Knight to be a far more enjoyable experience than Unleashed (Not to say that BK doesn't have its own flaws). Spark is right, the Daytime level's difficulty is far more luck based than skill based. And while the Werehog has some good spots, they're mitigated by the slow combat, boring battle music, and overly long stages with annoying obstacles (Empire City I'm looking at you).

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm really enjoying that Sonic CD port. I really appreciate all the different ways to play through it, the different soundtracks, playable characters, and unlockables. About the only thing I would have added would have been Knuckles and the ability to pick a specific song per level, but those are nitpicking. The game's great value for $5.

Palmtree Panic, Tidal Tempest, and Quartz Quadrant are up there with the best Sonic zones, though Collision Chaos and Stardust Speedway aren't too far away from them.

Wacky Workbench and Metallic Madness are still a pain, however. The former for the floors and cheaply hidden machine in the past Act 1, and the latter for being Metropolis Zone's angry sister.

[talonmalon333]

Is it possible Episode 2 will get released on the Wii?

[Daxdiv]

They just released Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Sonic CD on Steam and in honor of that a bunch of Sonic games are on sale. Sonic Generations is like 14.99, and if I didn't own it already I still have a coupon from the Steam Sale for 50% off Sonic Generations and the deals stacks.  I guess since Sonic 4 Episode 2 is coming to the PC, I guess they're releasing it for consistency.