Sonic The Hedgehog

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ken Balough (Brand manager behind Sonic 4) hinted at some kind of episode 2 reveal after Sonic CD comes out. Here's hoping that they implement EVERYTHING they learned with Generations to truly make it shine. Also, I'd love it for the 3DS.

Sonic CD is out tomorrow for $5 on XBLA, by the way.

[Spark Of Spirit]

They really put a lot of effort behind this port of Sonic CD. No loading times, both soundtracks, no slowdown, widescreen option, and Tails sprite is fully new (it's not his Sonic 3 sprite, they added new animations to his Sonic 2 one) and his ability to fly really adds on to the exploration.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the good ending since I'm pretty lousy at the special stages and exploring Wacky Workbench is really annoying, so I'll have to try that out with Tails.

I'm still hoping Knuckles is unlockable.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Desert Dazzle Zone



A zone in planning for the Sonic CD remake. Maybe for episode 2?

[Kiddington]

Is that... the unused concept art from Sonic 2's infamous "Dust Hill Zone" I see there?

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Actually it's an entirely new level they were considering for the remake but scrapped at the last moment.

Here's hoping it sees the light of day sooner or later.

[Commode]

Sonic CD is now available on the PSN.  Except if you want to play it on your PSP(like me).  Yeah, you can play the game on your Android or iPhone, but not your PSP.

[talonmalon333]

Sonic CD has been retrofitted in the overall Sonic story.

Sonic ---> Sonic 2 ---> Sonic 3 & Knuckles ---> Sonic CD ---> Sonic 4 ---> And so on...

The Sonic timeline. SERIOUS BUSINESS.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Actually, it's still: Sonic 1 > Sonic CD > Sonic 2 > Sonic 3&K > Sonic 4

On the official Sonic 4 site, Sonic takes off on this adventure right after rescuing the Master Emerald. Also, the whole "Sonic 4 being a sequel to Sonic CD" thing is in the story, not the timeline. Sonic 4 episode 2 will probably have Metal Sonic return and have time travel again.

They probably could have been clearer on it. 

[talonmalon333]

Actually, it's still: Sonic 1 > Sonic CD > Sonic 2 > Sonic 3&K > Sonic 4

On the official Sonic 4 site, Sonic takes off on this adventure right after rescuing the Master Emerald. Also, the whole "Sonic 4 being a sequel to Sonic CD" thing is in the story, not the timeline. Sonic 4 episode 2 will probably have Metal Sonic return and have time travel again.

They probably could have been clearer on it. 

But I'm also hearing that Sonic 4 picks up from Sonic CD's ending. Or at least episode 2.

http://www.sonicretro.org/2011/08/sega-staffer-speaks-sonic-cd-details-revised-as-sonic-4-prequel/

[gunswordfist]

Last night I played Sonic 3 with my baby brother. Good times

[Kiddington]

Welp, I finally had a chance to delve into Sonic Colors today (made it as far as Starlight Carnival, in case you're wondering), and it's pretty good. A nice, fast-paced platformer with a few slower, strategy-based levels thrown in for good measure; reminds me a lot of the classic titles, in that sense. The wisp-transformations are also a nice touch, and I loved the Rocket-form in particular. For whatever reason, I also loved Tropical Resort's giant robot boss (I almost dare call it one of my favorite Sonic boss battles ever), even if it was incredibly easy.

So yeah, I'd say this one's a winner. Only complaint thus far is that the little cutscenes/movies are pretty lame - as they always are in Sonic games - but that's minor, and comes with the territory I guess. Everything else, though, I'm liking so far. Granted, I haven't progressed a whole lot yet, but I'd probably go as far as to say that this is my favorite Sonic title since Adventure. It's pretty fun.

Next, hopefully, comes Sonic Generations. I'm debating whether or not to buy it with my Christmas money, but I'm still not sure yet. We'll see; I'd probably like to at least finish up Colors first, though.

[Foggle]

The weirdest thing about Colors is that it was written by the same people as MadWorld. They're clearly capable of being very funny, but it's pretty obvious that family-friendly humor is not their strong suit.

Some of Robotnik's lines during the levels themselves are actually quite hilarious, though. It's unfortunate that they're basically impossible to hear 90% of the time and there's no subtitle option.

[Spark Of Spirit]

A few points:

-I thought most of the humor in Colors was fine outside of some forced jokes. Honestly, they probably could have used some more story related cutscenes instead of the random jokes.

-So, Sonic 4 episode 2 was announced. So far it looks to be on every system except the Wii and 3DS. They promised new animations, new physics, Metal Sonic and Tails. Here's hoping for more than 4 zones this time. The last game was too short.

-Also, I traded in a lot of crap old games and got myself Sonic Generations 3DS (it was even on sale). Classic Sonic actually seems to control better than the HD version, though the levels aren't quite as good as that one. The Modern Sonic levels are pretty much Sonic Rush with less cheap deaths. Radical Highway Classic and Emerald Coast Modern pretty much bite the big one, but every other level is pretty fun. Fair warning though, unlike the HD version Classic Sonic unlocks the Homing Attack after the Genesis era and you can't turn it off. The skill is just sort of there and it doesn't really hurt the game, but I don't like that you can't turn it off. Also, they should have included Egg Rocket Zone (from Sonic Advance) and something like Sky Babylon (From Sonic Rush Adventure) to give it a full zone roster. Otherwise, it's a pretty good Sonic game. I like it more than Sonic Colors DS and Sonic 4 episode 1, either way.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I decided to check out some speed runs of various levels in Generations on youtube to find out some strategies and paths I can use to better improve my own timings, since I've been replaying levels and practicing the hell out of them to get as good a I possibly can with them. But all I can say is holy crap....Seeing just what insane ways players find to cut down their times short is truly amazing. They take things into their own hands and come up with their own paths. Like, for example, in one video I saw of Seaside hill, the player actually skips most of the obstacles by navigating his way across the open water in the stage using the boost feature, which is insane given how huge the stage is and how much control you have to have in order to pull off something like that without going astray for falling into the water for good. And then there's Planet Wisp, which for me is by far the longest level in the game. On my 2nd run through it on classic mode I took 9 minutes to beat it, but I just saw a video of a guy getting it done in less than 3 minutes by using the spike power-up to speed his way through paths in ways which I never even would have thought of on my own. I was about equally impressed with the speed-run I saw for the modern version, which was also a pretty lengthy stage for me.

Overall this just proves how much room for improvement there is if I want to perfect my runs and take as little time as possible. It kind of inspires me to keep playing and get as good as I possibly can at the game. After all, that's sort of the essence of what Sonic is all about, anyways, when you really think about it, in that you're supposed to take advantage of his speed.

[Rynnec]

That sounds pretty cool. I haven't looked up any speed-run video's myself, though I probably should. It'd certainly help against those dopplelganger races in Planet Wisp and Rooftop Run.
I hope Generations' DLC will include new level's. Anyone have any idea when it's coming out?

Oh, and guess who appeared in a Progressive commercial.