Sonic the Hedgehog - Gotta Go Fast

Soft Snow · Post by **Soft Snow** (?) » Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:18 pm

I'm picking up where I last left off of trying to play through every Sonic game ever made in order. I Just finished Sonic Advance 2.

It was an overall fun game just a bit tedious and frustrating at times.
:fluttershrug:

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:46 pm

I despise Sky Canyon Act 1. Basically, as Sonic, you NEED to hit this first ramp correctly. If you miss it, you get dunked into a lower part of the level that leads to a spot where you get launched out to a spot where the wind is supposed to take you up or something.

In practice, you get sent flying and miss...whatever it is you need to get, and fall into a pit instead.

Soft Snow · Post by **Soft Snow** (?) » Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:30 pm

Yeah, Advance 2 is pretty bottomless pit heavy for a Sonic game.

There was this one death trap loopy-loop were it spins you around really fast and launches you into this this wall with a bottomless pit below. If you didn't jump as soon as it launches you, you would fall to an unavoidable death. That was sure a jerk move from the game designers.

DarkMatter · Post by **DarkMatter** (?) » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:10 pm

Bottomless pits was why I stopped playing Sonic Rush. I heard nothing but praise for that game but when I played it I hated it. I always just seemed to go super fast and run straight off a cliff and plummet to my death.

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:32 pm

sonic advance 2 marks the series having a character i can sort of care about

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Mon Dec 25, 2017 9:44 am

I remember liking Advance 2 and Rush, but being a lot less happy with Advance 3 and Rush Adventure - and of course, Sonic 4 Ep 1 has the same bad level design without the boosting that made it bearable in the first place.

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Mon Dec 25, 2017 1:40 pm

Sonic 4 Ep 1 was extremely dire, yeah

And honestly, until Sky Canyon, I had fun with Advance 2. The way you get to the special stages was entirely fucking garbage, but hey, it was still fun until that point

Weird Autumn · Post by **Weird Autumn** (?) » Mon Dec 25, 2017 6:05 pm

I like Rush a lot in spite of the bottomless pits, which weren't that big a deal for me. Blaze is great and it's a Naganuma-tier soundtrack.

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:07 pm

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:29 am

Cute

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:14 am

i just beat the game. honestly liked it quite a bit

the size and complexity of each stage feels right to me. in many past sonic games including Mania, i'd feel like the sheer amount of memorization involved with each stage was enough to warrant having some kind of minimap to remind you of what's coming and which routes you don't want to miss. in forces, it seems like when you miss any of the red rings it's usually because you didn't take a clearly laid-out alternate path and/or because you actually saw the ring but didn't manage to grab it for whatever reason

my biggest gripe with it is probably the 2D segments that involve really slippery platforming despite almost always being paired with damaging hazards

after that would be the fact that the lightning wispon operates on a system of limited energy (the things that restore this energy don't respawn) and doesn't work like i expect it to most of the time. one problem i have with it is that the "ring dash" functions by holding the X button instead of tapping it like basically every other action in the game, as well as the ring dash in past games

otherwise i only encountered a few instances of the usual sonic jank, like the first boss requiring you to do something that's very counter-intuitive and then having death pits that don't appear distinct from alternate routes. i also recall a few modern sonic stages where i would come to a turn or something and the camera wouldn't shift its focus like it normally does, so i'd have to slow down and take the turn manually or sonic would just run straight off the track like he's racing Rainbow Road or some shit

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:53 pm

Mania definitely could be too maze-like, but I never felt absolutely hopelessly lost like I did while trying to get the good ending in CD without a map - any missed Chaos Emeralds in Mania, I'll just pick up later from one of the easier giant rings. But it did keep me constantly excited for what the next act might bring to the table, while Forces didn't - and the straightforwardness of the level design was a large part of that for me. In level design terms, my biggest surprise with Forces was the autoscroller segment near the end, and that wasn't a good surprise.

DarkMatter · Post by **DarkMatter** (?) » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:08 am

I forget the name of the specific stage, but the stage near the end of Forces (where the sun is exploding/expanding/whaetver) where you play as the Avatar has got to be one of the worst designed stages I've ever seen in a game. I didn't enjoy the level design in general but that stage in particular was really awful.

Here it is:

Not to mention it introduced a wall jump mechanic out of nowhere and it only worked about half the time.

I wanted to like Forces and making your own character was fun but I overall did not enjoy the game at all. Null Space (the stage where Fist Bump plays in full) was the only stage I actually liked and it was over in two minutes.

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:08 am

Imperial Tower

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:21 am

That one was bad, but then it gets followed up by the Classic stage with the auto-scroller section, and that one annoyed me more because it has absolutely no reason to be there - the series has established rules on auto-scroll sections, and that bit doesn't fit them.

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:31 am

Frankly, I was fine with both levels

Imperial Tower, it looks like a mess but that's as a consequence of trying to fit in use for basically all the Wispon powers. The wall jumps worked fine for me, but maybe i hit it right the the first time. i dunno about that one.

Iron Factory's autoscroller was dumb and stands out like a sore thumb, but none of it seemed too egregious. It didn't last long and it wasn't terribly difficult. It was just there. It didn't really belong at all, sure, and it probably would have ultimately been better off without it, but it felt like it was just....there.

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:03 am

the wall jumps worked as i expected them to the first time and were never even slightly finnicky for me

but yeah the autoscroller at the end was definitely the biggest "lmao really" moment as far as level design goes

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:17 pm

Mania soundtrack is out. I'll check this when I'm not on mobile, but it's missing Friends by Hyper Potions, as well as all tracks from Sonic 1 & 2 stages.

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:21 pm

Yeah, it's really just missing Green Hill, Chemical Plant, and Oil Ocean. It's got everything else, though, including the unused Pinch Mode music for Egg Reverie.

It doesn't have Friends, but that's probobly because Hyper Potions is already selling Friends on iTunes, not to mention Time Trials and Checkpoint from the trailers.

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:45 am

So, Sega somehow managed to release... not Sonic Mania Plus, but a patch preparing for it - early to some PS4s in the UK.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/sonic- ... hes.36814/

All stages that were missing level transitions now have them, the final phase of one of the boss fights has been completely replaced, the Encore DLC option is present in the menu but currently non-functional, you can now choose drop dash/peel out/insta-shield on saved games rather than just No Save, and you can disable time limits.

There's videos in the link above of some of the zone transitions and revamped boss fight.

DarkMatter · Post by **DarkMatter** (?) » Fri Apr 20, 2018 4:12 am

I watched the "leaked" stuff (I guess it's not really a leak, is it?) and yeah, those are some cool changes. I like the level transitions. It helps build more of a "world" like Sonic 3 & Knuckles had.

I also have the Switch version of Plus pre-ordered. I own the game digitally on PS4 but this Plus version gives me an excuse to double dip and have it on Switch for the portability.

DarkMatter · Post by **DarkMatter** (?) » Wed Apr 25, 2018 11:36 am

New trailer for Sonic Mania Plus. Features Mighty and Ray gameplay (they have their own special abilities, it looks like Mighty can do a ground pound dash and Ray has a Super Mario World cape-like glide) and says there will be remixed stages and multiplayer. If you already own Sonic Mania you can get the Plus update for just $5.

RudeCyrus · Post by **RudeCyrus** (?) » Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:28 pm

Sonic... good?!

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:46 pm

Sonic is good

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Tue May 08, 2018 8:06 pm

I know I'm way late on this, but I played Forces a few months ago. It was... okay, I guess? I didn't enjoy it much. The avatar creator is the most fun thing in the game. It's kind of neat to get to be Sonic's friend, I guess, because the team-up and avatar stages were the only ones I enjoyed much.

I did have trouble with the walljumping in Imperial Tower, specifically with the section where you have to do it quickly to escape the exploding sun, because I am bad at video games. It turns out you can cheese it by equipping a Burst wispon and skipping over the whole section, so it wasn't a significant obstacle. That autoscroller was some dumb bullshit, though. It was like, I cruised through the first 25 levels on "hard," hit a slight difficulty bump, and then the game is over in about 3 to 5 hours (I did a lot of missions so YMMV).

I didn't hate it, but I'm not going to bother 100%ing it or replaying it, either. The emotion it inspired in me was "I'm glad somebody gave me a gift for Christmas and it's better than not having a new game to play at all." Also I did have some fun, but it's just not a very good game. It is a lot better than Sonic 2006 or Rise of Lyric, though! That's my review of Sonic Forces, thanks for reading

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Wed May 30, 2018 5:28 am

Walmart accidentally confirms existence of Team Sonic Racing for Switch

Since the page will no doubt be deleted soon, have some screens from ResetEra:

Click for Fullsize

Click for Fullsize

If this is Sumo Digital doing another Sonic kart racer, I’m down.

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Sat Jun 16, 2018 10:00 am

Also, not particularly surprising, but I am kind of bummed that Team Sonic Racing so far appears to be Sonic only. I like these games as celebrations as Sega as a whole - though I suppose the increased focus could be good too.

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Sat Jun 16, 2018 3:56 pm

Yeah, same. I don’t mind most of Sonic’s friends, but Sega has a great legacy that they mostly neglect, outside of bad licensed repro consoles and random compilations.

Jill · Post by **Jill** (?) » Sat Jun 16, 2018 5:38 pm

Madeline wrote: ↑
Sat Jun 16, 2018 3:56 pm
but Sega has a great legacy that they mostly neglect

here's Ristar, a well-paced platformer with a few simple mechanics that could probably be iterated on in--
~NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN~

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:35 pm

And Sumo didn't make Ristar playable, but did include a cameo in All Star Racing's DLC, then as the flag holder in All Stars Racing Transformed. You see him in every race, and Sega could have done something with that.

...of course, they could have also done something like "put Super Monkey Ball Deluxe up for download on consoles", or any number of things to promote the other non-Sonic characters. It's all well and good having tracks based on Skies of Arcadia or Burning Rangers, but there is very little (legal) way for someone to play these games now, and no new entries in their franchises. But nope, here's yet another Mega Drive compilation.

The Ghost of Ember · Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:56 pm

What you got to understand is that SEGA blew up after the Dreamcast. They had no money and only could really manage their IPs and maybe pump out a few games largely based on existing engines. They also did some publishing but that was mostly grab and dumps of fully realized products. Similar to what Chucklefish does today in the PC market. All their primary cash flow came from their existing Arcade holdings in japan.

Sammy more or less took over after they merged because SEGA was just an arcade acquisition to them, and was a hollow shell of a company easy to pick up after their 5.5 generation console failed. after that any video game production or publishing deals were entirely side work. I'm surprised they've let them keep any in house development honestly. For the most part its been either publishing on the cheap for complete or near complete products, or exploiting smaller studios who are eager to promise a lot for a lump sum for development.

Weird Autumn · Post by **Weird Autumn** (?) » Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:35 am

i just want jet set radio future hd

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:38 am

Weird Autumn wrote: ↑
Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:35 am
i just want jet set radio future hd

Same, but add Skies of Arcadia hd

(?) · Post by **Venusy** (?) » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:15 pm

So, Mania Plus is out.

Encore Mode is interesting - aside from it remixing stage layouts, the biggest change is that instead of having lives, you have the five playable characters, with any duo possible. You can switch between your two active characters at any given time, but switching to one of your reserve ones requires either a death, or hitting one of the randomizer/switch item boxes.

The big issue here is that this system leads to cascading failures. I lost all my rings in the Lava Reef Act 1 boss fight, lost all my characters, and ended up having to use a continue and restart the level - but now only having Mighty at the start when I went into it with the full five.
I was worried the same thing was going to happen with Heavy Rider and Jimmy, but managed to scrape a victory there.
(Also, I glitched out the Flying Battery Act 2 boss, as I accidentally got crushed, it spawned the next character under the platform, showed a glitched out view for a second, then respawned me at a checkpoint).

All the giant rings have also been moved, but even when I do find them, I still haven't got a single Chaos Emerald yet.

(?) · Post by **Fizzbuzz** (?) » Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:24 pm

In case you missed it:

It's really not an encouraging sign when 1. Sonic already looks like a male human wearing a fursuit head and 2. the movie's makers punted on how to translate features like Sonic's eye(s) to a more realistic look.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:57 pm

Madeline · Post by **Madeline** (?) » Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:26 pm

Do any of these people at Paramount include the brain trust that greenlit Monster Trucks, by any chance

This looks about as ill conceived as that was

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:50 pm

The Ghost of Ember · Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:56 pm

considering sonics early design was basically mickey mouse but with spikes and a new color scheme, i got to wonder if disney ever toyed with 'mickey but real'

Applepie2017 · Post by **Applepie2017** (?) » Sat Jan 19, 2019 6:03 am