Sonic The Hedgehog Games

[Dom Cruise]

@Dom Cruise Sonic CD is a game I do want to sincerely like, but the stage design is less catered towards something like Sonic and more like that of a typical 90's mascot platformer of the era. It's a maze of obstacles of which the way it's implemented doesn't usually lend itself to a whole lot of opportunities for Sonic to go fast and take advantage of the momentum-based platforming and you're usually stopped dead in your tracks.
That also majorly hinders the whole time travel mechanic in how unless you're certain you can maintain a steady amount of speed the stage design will often be the main cause of you losing speed mid-attempt and lose it entirely.

It also creates a conflict in how the devs want people to play these stages. On one hand you can opt to try and search every awkward nook and cranny in the past for the robot generator and destroy it for a good future and the optional Metal Sonic projector to have animals roam the area for visual effect, but since the stage layout and routing can differ per time period and coupled with the wonky time travel, it's more hassle than it's really worth it and in fact I believe one of Wacky Workbench's generators is only accessed by letting yourself get launched by a crusher actually disguised as a tunnel sequence, with no visual indication something's off about it.

And on the other hand you can just opt to ignore all of the searching entirely and just go straight for the goal with 50 rings for the special stages since all the time stones also give good futures and the better ending. This game has it's fans and all the more power to those who do genuinely like it, but I just find it an unfocused mess and mostly remember it as 'That game that introduced Amy and Metal Sonic to the series'.


I don't have too much to say about the weird mid-90's Saturn era of Sonic, since R is so short and the character roster so unbalanced I find it best enjoyed as a once and done-curiosity deal and I'm bad at vs. fighting games so I hardly put much effort into Fighters.

As for Adventure, this post is a bit late, so I assume you've cleared other characters' stories besides Sonic's and Gamma's? You do indeed unlock the last story from completing all 6 characters' stories, but iirc if you don't want to sit through the super long credits sequence after every plot is done just reset when it comes up and it should still count. And yeah, the camera sometimes being very uncooperative can be a thing but if you can handle that you're mostly good.

A little tip I can offer is for Big's rather infamous fishing stages, let the lure sink a bit and only start making it wiggle to the left and right once near Froggy to make it go for the lure, then flick down once he bites to start the reel-in sequence, and since Froggy is always very close to your starting position you can finish them in a minute if just going for him. (Also the Mission A stage requirements' weight is RNG as sometimes the fishes that meet that quota won't even appear until you catch other fish to make it spawn in, and it can take some time, assuming you don't go nuts from the random 'reeling attempt resets out of nowhere' jank that can happen sometimes.)
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Sonic CD looks really nice, I don't know if the Sega CD could output more pixels or whatever (maybe? I think?) but it looks really cool and overall it's cool playing something that's not quite a mainline entry and not quite a spin off either, I'm not sure if there's another game that quite occupies its place among how series usually work.

But the level design definitely feels a little unpolished and frustrating at times.

As for Adventure, I'm taking a break as I'm finding playing all the characters tedious, but I do plan on going back and finishing it, I do hate the way platformers back in the day would artificially extend the length like that though, the Crash games were similar, I like Mario's approach where there's bonus levels and secrets to find, but you always rescue Princess Peach and leave satisfied there if you want.

Though to be fair, the Genesis games aren't as harsh, but you're definitely meant to wonder what happened to Chaos in Adventure.

Overall I do wish I had played Adventure when it was new and would have had the most impact, but it's still a neat slice of late 90s gaming history.

 

[Friendly Primarina]

I fired up RPCS3 and am playing Sonic '06 for the first time. Is it me, or does the light dash work far more consistently in this game that any other 3D Sonic (including Generations)? Why is this the one game where they got it working?

 

[Becomemysoulreaver12]

I fired up RPCS3 and am playing Sonic '06 for the first time. Is it me, or does the light dash work far more consistently in this game that any other 3D Sonic (including Generations)? Why is this the one game where they got it working?

You should play it on xenia it runs better, also the 360 version has more mods I think

 

[Friendly Primarina]

You should play it on xenia it runs better, also the 360 version has more mods I think

I'm a linuxfag so Xenia isn't an option for me. I absolutely would if I could, though.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Here's a technical question for you all.

When I bought the Mega collection I was a tad worried as generally I don't think 16 bit games look great on my 2000s era flatscreen CRT, but I thought they looked great, however I assumed they run at a higher resolution and were made to look good on a TV of that era.

I briefly played a Genesis and SNES game I had on my Wii's VC and did think they looked pretty pixelated, does the Wii's emulation suck or is that what games on an actual Genesis would look like?

I've been considering rebuying a Genesis but I'm not sure, I wish there was a some way to play all Genesis games with them looking like the Mega collection does.

 

[Book Thief]

Here's a technical question for you all.

When I bought the Mega collection I was a tad worried as generally I don't think 16 bit games look great on my 2000s era flatscreen CRT, but I thought they looked great, however I assumed they run at a higher resolution and were made to look good on a TV of that era.

I briefly played a Genesis and SNES game I had on my Wii's VC and did think they looked pretty pixelated, does the Wii's emulation suck or is that what games on an actual Genesis would look like?

I've been considering rebuying a Genesis but I'm not sure, I wish there was a some way to play all Genesis games with them looking like the Mega collection does.

I think this video by Displaced Gamers explains in much more detail than I ever could:

TL;DR, the graphic designers of these games anticipated you having a shitty TV output, and designed their sprite art to take advantage of it. Having a pixel-perfect signal will actually reduce the visual quality of the image, not enhance it.

 

[starborn427614]

Frontiers continue to sell really well.

In addition to this, the director of the game Kishimoto has been responding to fans on Twitter and answering questions relating to both Frontiers and the future of the franchise. Definitely worth a read if you're interested.

https://twitter.com/moq_46/with_replies

 

[AlmightyMagichan]

Sonic CD has had an interesting little history. I remember in the early days of the internet it was something of a lost legend, this hidden 4th classic Sonic game that would be whispered about from time to time. There weren't really any screenshots of it which I guess kind of gave it this mystical quality. People would talk about how cool it sounded with the enhanced graphics/sounds, the time travel element and getting to race Metal Sonic. They didn't put it in the Sonic Mega Collection but the cutscenes were there, and that just made us want it even more. Then we finally got it in the Gems Collection.

This is pretty much what it's like when you play it.
-This is so cool! I can't wait to do the time travel and see all the different versions of the levels!
-Where the hell is the robot generator? Oh there it is. Now where the hell are the past signs?
-Crap I didn't keep my speed long enough, now I need to find another past sign.
-The generator is finally destroyed. Now I need to collect more rings.
-There, I have 50 rings! Now I can get the hell out of this level.

Turns out it was more of a mixed bag then we all initially thought.

 

[Book Thief]

I had Sonic CD as a very young boy, since I got the PC port of the game. Naturally the game holds a lot of nostalgia value for me, so I personally don't really see much issue with the game beyond a few nitpicks here or there. Though, one decision that I'll never forget that baffled me, even as a child, was the fact that the controls for the PC version were Arrow Keys + Enter to jump. This is especially odd, since it came in a pack with Sonic 3&K, which used Arrow Keys + Space, which felt a lot more natural to control back then.

So from my perspective it's like the narrative completely flipped on the game, from the earlier days of the internet, such as the AVGN review of the Sega CD where he calls it "debatably the best Sonic game ever made," to this awfully-designed mish-mash of a game that nobody seems to like. Me? I think the game's great, and I think both regional soundtracks make up one of the best soundtracks ever made for a game to this day.

 

[Sulas]

The game is very interesting and exciting! I like the technology with chaos emeralds, that if you have all 7 chaos emeralds, then you can become Super Sonic or Super Knuckles. Dear SEGA, promote this game and add the ability to transform into Super Tails! (as in part 3)

 

[Becomemysoulreaver12]

I personally really like Sonic CD, as a sequel to Sonic 1 it is better in most qays imo, but Sonic 2 and 3 and knuckles blow it out of the water, tho the jp soundtrack is easily one of my favorites in the entire series, my favorite next to Unleashed

 

[Sundae]

I had Sonic CD as a very young boy, since I got the PC port of the game. Naturally the game holds a lot of nostalgia value for me, so I personally don't really see much issue with the game beyond a few nitpicks here or there. Though, one decision that I'll never forget that baffled me, even as a child, was the fact that the controls for the PC version were Arrow Keys + Enter to jump. This is especially odd, since it came in a pack with Sonic 3&K, which used Arrow Keys + Space, which felt a lot more natural to control back then.

View attachment 4284477

So from my perspective it's like the narrative completely flipped on the game, from the earlier days of the internet, such as the AVGN review of the Sega CD where he calls it "debatably the best Sonic game ever made," to this awfully-designed mish-mash of a game that nobody seems to like. Me? I think the game's great, and I think both regional soundtracks make up one of the best soundtracks ever made for a game to this day.

I had that same 3-pack as a kid. It's why, even for all it's faults, Sonic R still has some sentimental value to me.

 

[Two Dollars]

For anyone who has a modern Xbox, Unleashed is on sale for $5 in the US. It originally pushed the 360 and PS3 to their limits and had frame rate issues as a result, averaging less than 30 FPS, but it runs at a steady 60 on Series S/X.

I remember liking both the day and night levels way back but never finished the game, so I’m looking forward to trying it again.

 

[Becomemysoulreaver12]

For anyone who has a modern Xbox, Unleashed is on sale for $5 in the US. It originally pushed the 360 and PS3 to their limits and had frame rate issues as a result, averaging less than 30 FPS, but it runs at a steady 60 on Series S/X.

I remember liking both the day and night levels way back but never finished the game, so I’m looking forward to trying it again.

I find the werehog to be mostly boring tbh, but man those day time stages are so goddamn good

 

[Pixy]

In addition to this, the director of the game Kishimoto has been responding to fans on Twitter and answering questions relating to both Frontiers and the future of the franchise. Definitely worth a read if you're interested.

https://twitter.com/moq_46/with_replies

The wording of his responses and others seems to confirm that the game was unfinished when shipped out. Not that it's new for Sonic, but it's unfortunate. Wonder if there'll be a rerelease down the line for physical copies with all the content on the disk/cartridge after they've finished that content roadmap, though that's probably a pipe dream.

For anyone who has a modern Xbox, Unleashed is on sale for $5 in the US. It originally pushed the 360 and PS3 to their limits and had frame rate issues as a result, averaging less than 30 FPS, but it runs at a steady 60 on Series S/X.

I remember liking both the day and night levels way back but never finished the game, so I’m looking forward to trying it again.

There was a beta build of Unleashed that was leaked late last-year for 360, framerate was uncapped IIRC

 

[Two Dollars]

There was a beta build of Unleashed that was leaked late last-year for 360, framerate was uncapped IIRC

I think the final PS3 version was also uncapped, but it still performed worse than the 360 version’s capped 30.

 

[starborn427614]

The wording of his responses and others seems to confirm that the game was unfinished when shipped out. Not that it's new for Sonic, but it's unfortunate. Wonder if there'll be a rerelease down the line for physical copies with all the content on the disk/cartridge after they've finished that content roadmap, though that's probably a pipe dream.

I'm not sure how it works over at SEGA and Sonic Team, but it seems like their R&D deparment doesn't function like Nintendo's*. This means that they have to do everything within the development cycle of a game, like how most of Forces' dev time was creating the Hedgehog Engine 2 for the lighting or simply getting things working right conceptually for Frontiers. It's a big hindrance when it comes to making games the way they want to it seems. Hopefully the DLC can indeed address a few issues most have with the base game.

*I could be completely wrong here. If so, please correct me.

 

[AbduluCthuluZulu]

I could be completely wrong here. If so, please correct me.

Nah you're right, that's exactly why Forces was so lacking despite having been officially in development for 4 years.

 

[BetterFuckChuck]

Sonic CD has had an interesting little history. I remember in the early days of the internet it was something of a lost legend, this hidden 4th classic Sonic game that would be whispered about from time to time. There weren't really any screenshots of it which I guess kind of gave it this mystical quality. People would talk about how cool it sounded with the enhanced graphics/sounds, the time travel element and getting to race Metal Sonic. They didn't put it in the Sonic Mega Collection but the cutscenes were there, and that just made us want it even more. Then we finally got it in the Gems Collection.

This is pretty much what it's like when you play it.
-This is so cool! I can't wait to do the time travel and see all the different versions of the levels!
-Where the hell is the robot generator? Oh there it is. Now where the hell are the past signs?
-Crap I didn't keep my speed long enough, now I need to find another past sign.
-The generator is finally destroyed. Now I need to collect more rings.
-There, I have 50 rings! Now I can get the hell out of this level.

Turns out it was more of a mixed bag then we all initially thought.

if i remember right you can literally ignore the robo generators and just get the 50 rings, which to me seems like an oversight because the reward for the time stones should be not having to do the generator stuff in the future levels it shouldnt overright your mistakes imo

For anyone who has a modern Xbox, Unleashed is on sale for $5 in the US. It originally pushed the 360 and PS3 to their limits and had frame rate issues as a result, averaging less than 30 FPS, but it runs at a steady 60 on Series S/X.

I remember liking both the day and night levels way back but never finished the game, so I’m looking forward to trying it again.

unironically ive been playing unleashed recently and the actual fighting of the werehog is fun. like im not going to say it's as good as old gow or dmc because it's an easy kids game but it's a fun power fantasy to beat people up. if the whole werehog half was just arenas between sonic stages i'd like it a lot more. however the stages are still bad because the platforming is fucking horrible, his jumps and momentum feel like shit and he has no drop shadow and camera control is awkward af

I'm not sure how it works over at SEGA and Sonic Team, but it seems like their R&D deparment doesn't function like Nintendo's*. This means that they have to do everything within the development cycle of a game, like how most of Forces' dev time was creating the Hedgehog Engine 2 for the lighting or simply getting things working right conceptually for Frontiers. It's a big hindrance when it comes to making games the way they want to it seems. Hopefully the DLC can indeed address a few issues most have with the base game.

*I could be completely wrong here. If so, please correct me.

i would love for sonic origins to get some patches and a physical release

 

[Pixy]

I'm not sure how it works over at SEGA and Sonic Team, but it seems like their R&D deparment doesn't function like Nintendo's*. This means that they have to do everything within the development cycle of a game, like how most of Forces' dev time was creating the Hedgehog Engine 2 for the lighting or simply getting things working right conceptually for Frontiers. It's a big hindrance when it comes to making games the way they want to it seems. Hopefully the DLC can indeed address a few issues most have with the base game.

*I could be completely wrong here. If so, please correct me.

Not just SEGA, Bandai too - at least with their smaller franchises. Ace Combat 7 was in development hell for a bit until the producer of Project Aces was brought into a meeting and told that execs wanted the game to be shipped out in a definite timeframe, or that was it for the franchise.

Their original plan of having the game be playable in VR was massively scaled down to just PSVR, as that took a good chunk of development, and major story aspects were butchered but left in gamefiles, somewhat like Forces. There's an entire book on it, written by a dataminer.

Speaking of VR, there was a VR proof of concept pitched to SEGA around 2015~16 or so, nothing came out of it.

Sonic VR Proof of Concept Found - The Sonic Stadium

FacebookTweetEmail The Sonic Stadium has discovered a proof of concept for a Sonic the Hedgehog virtual reality project. The concept was developed for SEGA by Big Sky VR a Los Angeles based studio who worked on Coachella Explorer the first-ever mobile 3D simulation of the Coachella Music...

www.sonicstadium.org

https://archive.md/qrFOC

There's also the remnants of a planned VR mode in Forces - if the Project Aces experience is anything to go by, it wouldn't be too outlandish to theorise that part of Forces' dev time could have also been spent trying to figure out how to translate Sonic into VR. At least enough time to the point where a demo was made.

Sonic Forces used to have a VR mode - The Sonic Stadium

FacebookTweetEmail About a year ago, we brought you news that Sega was experimenting with Sonic in Virtual Reality and were looking to create a VR themed roller coaster. Well it seems that experiments with Sonic and VR were not just limited to theme park attractions. Based on files found in the...

www.sonicstadium.org

Sonic Forces used to have a VR mode - The Sonic Stadium

archived 19 Jan 2023 02:34:14 UTC

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