Sonic The Hedgehog

[talonmalon333]

Sonic never did one cocky thing in the old games.

Thank you, SNES, for posting that.

Sonic represents Sega. Sega is cocky. They do what Nintendon't.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sega sure was the opposite of Nintendo in everything but quality. Probably why the 16 bit wars were so good.

But their arcade games were in a league of their own. IMO, most of them still are.

Sonic is just one (albeit important) part of the whole Sega thing.

[Foggle]

Just read the list of games in the Dreamcast collection...

Wow, that thing is a fucking joke. 4 games? Two of them are already available on XBLA and PSN? One of them is a fishing game? Space Channel Five Part 2, but not Part 1? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

[talonmalon333]

Just read the list of games in the Dreamcast collection...

Wow, that thing is a fucking joke. 4 games? Two of them are already available on XBLA and PSN? One of them is a fishing game? Space Channel Five Part 2, but not Part 1? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

[Avaitor]

They're safe and cheap?

I'd say hope that it does well so they can make a second one with SC51, Shenmue, and other stuff, but that's just being too hopeful.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Should have done a Virtua Cop collection for the Wii, and an Arcade Collection on top of it. I want the arcade Outrun 2 tracks and Planet Harrier, not to mention Die Hard Arcade.

Oh yeah, Space Channel 5 part 1 has Michael Jackson in it, that's why it isn't there... and both that and the fishing game are coming to XBLA and PSN. This release is pointless.

[gunswordfist]

I was just thinking about how Sonic Team ruined the series by trying so hard to be ahead of their time, earlier today. They should have taken a much slower step into going into 3D. Trying to do 3D on fucking Genesis was like the beginning of the end. I guess releasing a 2D game and then releasing a 3D game when they were actually ready and having the 2D game to fall back on would have been the best approach/ Sonic Team really needed a lesson on pacing, har har

And I do love how speed is used for a mechanic for platforming. In fact, my favorite one. No other game's platforming stands out as much as Sonic's to me. I think all Sega has to do is add a few simle things like I mentioned a while back and the game would be perfect.

[gunswordfist]

Should have done a Virtua Cop collection for the Wii, and an Arcade Collection on top of it. I want the arcade Outrun 2 tracks and Planet Harrier, not to mention Die Hard Arcade.

Oh yeah, Space Channel 5 part 1 has Michael Jackson in it, that's why it isn't there... and both that and the fishing game are coming to XBLA and PSN. This release is pointless.

I love Die Hard Arcade. Used to play it at my laundromat.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So, uh, wow. New Sonic teaser is out:



After Colors, I can't help but be excited.

Time treat ourselves to an extra loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg version of Innagaddadavida Terminal Velocity

[Spark Of Spirit]

I decided to use this news as an excuse to finally play Sonic Adventure 2 over again, and decided to not judge it as a platformer (because it's not one), but as an action game instead. I started a brand new file and started from scratch, so let me post my impressions of my run here and maybe we'll all have some fun with it.

Intro - Story:

Goddamn I can't take the acting and voices from the old games anymore. They've dated really badly, are horribly off sync, and just kill any sort of emotion the story tries to bring forth. The story itself is pretty standard, but it's nothing harmless and is out of the way of the gameplay, as it should be.

Intro - Impression:

Sonic Adventure 2 does one thing better than any other 3D Sonic game that isn't Colors, and that's how you basically play the introduction of the game. The game starts, City Escape begins with a very short intro clip, and you basically play what would usually be an opening cinematic in full. It's a small thing, but it's nice when you can jump straight into a game like that without wading through tons of story.

Controls:

They have aged awfully. I can't believe it took them until Unleashed to finally attempt to make Sonic less slippery and easier to control. The homing attack is a piece of shit, too. Sometimes you'll miss things you're heading towards, and sometimes Sonic will pointlessly uncurl mid attack and you'll get hit. Thankfully in newer games you get bounce off of using it, so it doesn't feel like as much of a chore as it does here. Grinding is also weird, it's a lot sloppier here than in later appearances, but since its the first usage I'm willing to cut it slack. Knuckles actually controls fine, surprisingly, punches are a bit too delayed for my taste, but he is tight to control and probably better than he is an Adventure 1. The mechs are worse than in Adventure 1, however. Aiming is finicky (STOP SAYING 'OKAY' TAILS), movement is far more sluggish, turning is a chore, aiming doesn't hit as many targets, and the jump sucks. I'm not sure why they gimped the controls so much in that area.

Levels:

I have only played through the first 5 levels so far, but let me give you a rundown so far.


Stage 1 - City Escape

Still the best stage in the game, by far. It's thrilling surfing down a steep city hill and all, but the variety of locations is just great in just one level. There's a bit of racing, platforming, and robot bashing, a few small detours all over the place, and a lack of bottomless pits outside of a platforming section or two. You also can't beat running down a building, swinging from bars, grinding down rails (first time ever in a Sonic game!), and outrunning death on 32 wheels at the end of the level. The music is great, too, possibly the only vocal theme in a Sonic game that both fits and is fun to listen to. All in all, strong opener, though sadly no level manages to top it.


Stage 2 - Wild Canyon

Eh, this is decent. It's a bit more sandboxy than before in Adventure 1, but other than the radar being an awful, awful piece of shit the level is inoffensive. Song's catchy, too.


Stage 3 - Prison Lane

I died on the first platform because I tried turning around on it.   This is basically a shooting gallery level with no real obstacles. A fine enough diversion, but it doesn't really add anything to the game.


Stage 4 - Metal Harbor

This is a pretty boring level, honestly. It's just a bunch of random bridges suspended over the ocean and you light speed dash over most of the level. There's nothing really to mention here other than the ending bit with the rocket is cool for all the 10 seconds it lasts.


Stage 5 - Green Forest

This level would be a perfect speed based level if it was done in a newer Sonic engine. Seriously. It's fast paced, crazy shit is going on all over the place, there's a bit of fun platforming thrown in, and it's high speed action. The intense rock music fits here quite well, and the slight path deviations are fun (though obviously there could be more), but there isn't anything wrong with the level design itself at all. A great one.


I stopped here because the next level was Pumpkin Hill and my inner child begged me not to do it yet. But so far, it's a fine game. The complaints back then are just as valid now, the controls and mechanics should have been fixed much sooner than Unleashed/Colors, but taking into account how old it is, the level design and what they were trying to achieve is what I want to focus on.

I think when they were focused, like in City Escape and Green forest, they nailed it out of the park. The levels were still fast and fun, but just challenging enough to not be aggravating (like Heroes and most other 3D Sonic games past this one), and despite the linear race track design that a lot of people don't seem to like... when it works- it works. And I do have to give them credit for trying to fix some fan complaints like the Adventure fields and making the game seem less padded, but its still too bad that they didn't fix what they should have after this game.

So far, anyway. I still have more to play. I have to set aside 5 hours for Pumpkin Hill and Mad Space, too.  

[Kiddington]

Daymnnnnnnnnnn, classic Sonic looks friggin sweet. What the hell ever possessed them to drop this design in the first place?

...you're re-playing Adventure 2? Man, why? I, uh... I hated that game. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

I felt like it, mostly. Adventure 1 is better, and Sonic Colors is leagues ahead, but I figured why not?

I could have tried Heroes again, or bought 06 instead, but I figured I'd try something with at least some positive qualities despite not being my cup of tea.

[Avaitor]

Two things

1- I really want a piece of that new Sonic. Old Sonic's design looks great here. I guess I need to pick up Colors now to make up for the fact that I can't play this.
2- I'm sure that since Colors, all the other 3D Sonic games would seem a little dated in comparison. I haven't played Adventure 2 in ages so I can't really discuss it much with you.

I can say good luck at Pumpkin Hill, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I honestly didn't find the controls for Sonic in either of the Adventure games to be a problem at all. If they were so horrendous I wonder why I didn't have very much difficulty getting through Sonic's stages since it should have been much harder with controls as broken as you made it out to be. The camera was a bitch, though, I'm surprised you didn't complain about that. Also the homing attack basically zoomed in on the nearest enemy, so I didn't really have a problem with that mechanic either. Now as far as horrendous controls go, the mech stages were godawful in that department. Overall I don't think either of the Adventure games are bad like everyone says now. Neither of them have aged extremely well and they are both clearly flawed, but I find most of the complaints for those games to be fairly exaggerated. I certainly didn't "hate" either of them. I reserve my hate for just about every 3D Sonic game that came after it, though, starting with Shadow the Hedgehog.

[Foggle]

I never had any problems with the controls in either Sonic Adventure game in the past, but I replayed the first Adventure last year and found myself having a lot of trouble. Not terrible at all, but they're far too loose, IMO. The 3D sections of Colors aren't exactly fluid, either...

Pumpkin Hill and Mad Space are good just because of the awesome songs. And, really, would you rather play Adventure 2's Knuckles levels or Adventure's Big The Cat levels?