• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sonic the Hedgehog is 18 years old today. Lets look back, then forward. (no, 56k, no)

A

Azure Dream

Member
drizzle said:
The original had the actual Green Hill Song (here's a link to it,the video quality is shitacular, but the gameplay is much better).
Click to expand...

Something that's bugged me for a while: why hasn't Sega just bought out the DCT Sonic music rights by now? I know they have the rights to use exact recordings of them, but there's a reason why they haven't remixed it as much as you'd expect them to. I know they did for Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3, but there's been other times when rights have seemingly been a problem. All of the songs from the first two Sonics in Brawl had to be direct recordings, some music was cut from Superstars Tennis, it's rumored to be one of the reasons why the Sonic Chronicles soundtrack was shit (11th hour replacement when Sega decided it wasn't cost-effective to license the music rights for the game), and so on.

Sure, it works out great for DCT, but why Sega hasn't cut a proper deal and continues to dance on pins and needles over it for such an important franchise, I don't understand. Does DCT really have it locked up that tight?
 
S

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
Happy birthday Sonic! We will still love you as a character, even though most of the stuff you star in nowadays stinks.

Sonic Unleashed does have a lighter plot and fewer useless characters, true, and for that it has to be commended. I feel for the team that worked on that game because they genuinely wanted to fix all the negative connotations associated with Sonic in this day and age. Unfortunately I think Sonic's games' problems now lie much deeper than some dumb plot points.

Maybe if Sonic Team themselves had a go at making a purely 2D Sonic game of the same structure of their Genesis games they would realize what it is about them that makes them so cherished and Sonic, even after years of horrible games, still a beloved gaming icon. After all you don't get to be the number one most requested character in Smash Bros. if you didn't have such an appealing character, so maybe it's time to understand what it is about him and his old games that were so fun to play.
 
R

RocketDarkness

Member
Sega1991 said:
The only real downside to Sonic Rush Adventure is that it has a little bit of the Sonic Unleashed thing where you need to collect XYZ before you can get to the next level. In the case of SRA, you need to get "materials" so Tails can build better boats. Depending on the ranks you get on levels, you will get different amounts of materials, and each level has a different material type.

But, at least for me, whenever Tails would need materials for something, it usually meant replaying a level once in order to get them.

The Original Sonic Rush is good, too, but it's a little janky (relies too much on memorization - Sonic Rush Adventure, thankfully, doesn't).
Click to expand...
Happy 18th birthday, Sonic! Run on. =)

Sonic 2 was one of my first gaming memories. Later on I bought the original, and of course, I had Sonic 3 and Knuckles. I loved them all dearly, and played through them religiously, as they were some of the only games I had as a kid. It's a shame his recent 3D outings have had various flaws, major and minor. I have to say, though, I really love the Rush series. I hope we get a third.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
It's really sad to think that after all these years, the only genuinely fantastic Sonic games have been 1, 2, CD, 3 and Knuckles :( The 8-Bit stuff, Sonic R and the handheld titles haven't been too shabby, but they're not quite up there for me.

But for all it's worth, those 16-bit games are some of my most cherished, 2 being one of my top five games of all time, and I play them regularly to this day. Here's to one of gaming's greatest icons :D
 
G

GamerSoul

Member
I remember when i first beat Sonic 1 over my cousin's house one afternoon after school. I was on my last life so that made it all the more memorable. I then ran outside and told the world of my accomplishment. Good times, good times.
 
F

FoxSpirit

Junior Member
Happy birthday, Sonic.

And yeah, Rush 2 was good, though collecting the final emeralds was a bit hit and miss. Still loved it.

Treachery: I like Rush's shipping of Sonic and Blaze. Ami never grew up :p
 
I

iidesuyo

Member
The best Sonic in my opinion is Sonic CD. The US soundtrack is so good.

Sonic 1 & 2 share a close 2nd place.

Sonic Adventure is great, too. A friend and me rented a Hong Kong Dreamcast + SA + Sega Rally 2 in summer 1999, AND HOLY SHIT THE GRAPHICS!!! THOSE GRAPHICS!! :D It was just mindblowing, and the game was fun. We tried to play through Zelda OoT again after SA, but it was impossible. Dreamcast had killed our desire to ever touch 32/64 Bit again.
 
S

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Alright, Megamix is still cool, but wtf @ Misty Maze Act 4. Where are my fuckin' air bubbles?

EDIT: Hm, it seems this is where development on extra stages ended. For now, anyway. Ah well.
 
T

Tyrone Slothrop

Banned
i went back and played the genesis sonics on VC lately... they were great games but they don't quite hold up as well as, say, mario. i don't mean to turn this into sonic vs. mario, i bring it up because i think the whole concept of having a platform character going lightspeed was really cool in 1991 but there wasn't many places for it to go.

still the old games are works of art. but not quite as sacrosanct as the annals of message board nerdom leave you to believe.
 
SonicMegaDrive

SonicMegaDrive

Member
Tyrone Slothrop said:
i went back and played the genesis sonics on VC lately... they were great games but they don't quite hold up as well as, say, mario. i don't mean to turn this into sonic vs. mario, i bring it up because i think the whole concept of having a platform character going lightspeed was really cool in 1991 but there wasn't many places for it to go.

still the old games are works of art. but not quite as sacrosanct as the annals of message board nerdom leave you to believe.
Click to expand...


That's cool.

Naturally, my opinion is nullified by my username and my posting history. But I feel the older Sonic games impress me again every time I come back to them. I think they've held up as well as any game ever made, to be honest.
 
R

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
MiamiWesker said:
Sigh... Sonic Unleashed is really good.
Click to expand...

It's good, but flawed. I admit I had to force myself to get to the good parts, but the good parts were well worth it.
 
D

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
Tyrone Slothrop said:
i went back and played the genesis sonics on VC lately... they were great games but they don't quite hold up as well as, say, mario. i don't mean to turn this into sonic vs. mario, i bring it up because i think the whole concept of having a platform character going lightspeed was really cool in 1991 but there wasn't many places for it to go.

still the old games are works of art. but not quite as sacrosanct as the annals of message board nerdom leave you to believe.
Click to expand...

they hold up just fine to me. [shrug] I love playing the old Sonic games.
 
T

TheSonicRetard

Banned
The day stages in Sonic Unleashed are so much fun:

Windmill Isle Act 1-2

Skyscraper scamper Act 1

Arid Sands act 1

Jungle Joyride Act 1

If I'm looking to kill and afternoon, I'll run through every day stage in Sonic Unleashed back to back to back. I'll turn on my 360 and my wii at the same time, and go through every day act in both games, per zone.

With all the DLC and the wii version along side, there's over 80 day acts for me to play. Takes me around 4 or 5 hours.
 
B

Brashnir

Member
TheSonicRetard said:
The day stages in Sonic Unleashed are so much fun:

Windmill Isle Act 1-2

Skyscraper scamper Act 1

Arid Sands act 1

Jungle Joyride Act 1

If I'm looking to kill and afternoon, I'll run through every day stage in Sonic Unleashed back to back to back. I'll turn on my 360 and my wii at the same time, and go through every day act in both games, per zone.

With all the DLC and the wii version along side, there's over 80 day acts for me to play. Takes me around 4 or 5 hours.
Click to expand...
some of them are fun, but they only comprise about 8% of the total time you play that game, and the other 92% is a total pile of garbage.
 
T

TheSonicRetard

Banned
Brashnir said:
some of them are fun, but they only comprise about 8% of the total time you play that game, and the other 92% is a total pile of garbage.
Click to expand...

Except that there are more day stages then night stages in Sonic Unleashed...
 
C

Catalix

And on the sixth day the LORD David Bowie created man and woman in His image. And he saw that it was good. On the seventh day the LORD created videogames so that He might take the bloody day off for once.
Tyrone Slothrop said:
i went back and played the genesis sonics on VC lately... they were great games but they don't quite hold up as well as, say, mario. i don't mean to turn this into sonic vs. mario, i bring it up because i think the whole concept of having a platform character going lightspeed was really cool in 1991 but there wasn't many places for it to go.

still the old games are works of art. but not quite as sacrosanct as the annals of message board nerdom leave you to believe.
Click to expand...
I respect your opinion and everything, but I don't get this sentiment at all. 16-bit Sonic holds up incredibly well.

I still marvel at the music, art direction, and level design, but above all, the intuitively rewarding physics system. That winning combination keeps me coming back till this very day.
 
M

MiamiWesker

Member
Brashnir said:
some of them are fun, but they only comprise about 8% of the total time you play that game, and the other 92% is a total pile of garbage.
Click to expand...

That is not true at all, its more 50-50, but you will want to master the day stages so the grand majority of my time with that game is on day stages.
 
G

Gagaman

Member
TheSonicRetard said:
Except that there are more day stages then night stages in Sonic Unleashed...
Click to expand...
That sounds fine until you realize the Werehog stages always take at the very least twice as long as any of the day stages, if not much longer on your first run. The game really is best when you've beaten it and can just play what stages you want, though. If I buy the Wii version at some point I'll probably download a complete save file to avoid the Werehog levels, as I heard they're even more obnoxious in the Wii version.

Though saying that, the trail and error of some of the later day stages meant they seemed to take almost as long as werehog stages from dying so much. :lol
 
T

The Blue Jihad

Member
Cygnus X-1 said:
sonicmario.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but even this design looks like a retarded, lanky mess.
 
M

MiamiWesker

Member
Gagaman said:
That sounds fine until you realize the Werehog stages always take at the very least twice as long as any of the day stages, if not much longer on your first run. The game really is best when you've beaten it and can just play what stages you want, though. If I buy the Wii version at some point I'll probably download a complete save file to avoid the Werehog levels, as I heard they're even more obnoxious in the Wii version.

Though saying that, the trail and error of some of the later day stages meant they seemed to take almost as long as werehog stages from dying so much. :lol
Click to expand...

Yeah they can take longer but its not like the day stages fly by, they are more difficult, when its all over I think I spent more time on day stages than night stages. This is the PS3/360 version of course, the wii version is terrible, now that is like 70% werehog and 30% sonic.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
One thing I really disliked about Brawl was the choice of grittier/dirtier colors. :/

Realistic detailing is one thing like with Mario's overalls, but he's supposed to have a bright red shirt and hat, not well, that.

Same with Sonic, he's supposed to have rich blue fur, and his shoes are more ruby here than crimson. :/

I'm sure it was done to make them look dirty from fighting, but it doesn't really work that well, considering they don't really have dirt on them, it's just a bad coloring choice.
 
C

Caoz

Member
Uh man, can't believe it. 18 years !

I remember that day I went by bus to get me that sweet Genesis Altered Beast bundle I was going to buy with my savings, they didn't had any left, but they had this Sonic one for the same price. Guess I had a lucky break. :D
 
S

SuperAngelo64

Banned
APZonerunner said:
I think the retro one is lovable but I think the trend that happened with him getting taller, the geren eyes, the longer, more distinct spikes etc were all very good things -Sonic 06 just took it to an extreme though where he was so lanky it looked weird and disproportionate.

Again, I think the ideal style is somewhere between the two, as showcased by Nintendo...

sonic_2.jpg


This is still significantly taller, has the stylised spikes, the green eyes and so on but looks a million times better than any of the recent designs of Sonic.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything in this post.
 
G

GoDLiKe

Member
I only played the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed and it's very good, best Sonic in years (besides Secret Rings). Yeah, there are some flaws, like the number of werehog levels, which some people say it's not a problem on PS360 versions.

Maybe another Sonic, using the hedgehog engine and some Unleashed elements - really liked the transition between 2D and 3D parts, very good idea - will do much better. But we really don't want werehog SEGA.
 
6

666

Banned
Motherfucker needs to designed solely based on the original sonic model. The rest can eat a pond of cocks.
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
After writing over 2 pages for this thread, I have decided not to post them as it wouldn't get read, and would make too many people pissed off. I will however say the following.

1. Happy Birthday Sonic
2. I truly believe that Sonic Team is taking the character into a new and good direction. I believe that Sonic Unleashed 360 is proof of this, and I believe it would be an incredible shame if they chose NOT to continue in this new direction.
3. Sonic Rush 3 needs to become a reality for the Hog's 18th B-Day, and now they have less than a year, so get to it dimps!
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
HUELEN10 said:
3. Sonic Rush 3 needs to become a reality for the Hog's 18th B-Day, and now they have less than a year, so get to it dimps!
Click to expand...
How about Sonic Rush for consoles?

Like, the Wii version of Unleashed except with constant boost (like Rush/Unleashed HD) and more emphasis on 2D than 3D.

Oh, and playable Tails/Knuckles/Blaze.
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
Aaron Strife said:
How about Sonic Rush for consoles?

Like, the Wii version of Unleashed except with constant boost (like Rush/Unleashed HD) and more emphasis on 2D than 3D.

Oh, and playable Tails/Knuckles/Blaze.
Click to expand...
I say no. What I want is a DS (Or even better, a DSi) Sonic Rush with 2-screen boss battles once more (if on DSi, a higher framerate fro dual-screen bosses could become a reality due to the beefier specs), another awesome OST, Sonic & Blaze Playable once more, and a good end to the story both games set up. I know story doesn't matter for Sonic, or at least shouldn't, but it would be nice to see this one end, and end well.

That is my take anyways.
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
HUELEN10 said:
I say no. What I want is a DS (Or even better, a DSi) Sonic Rush with 2-screen boss battles once more (if on DSi, a higher framerate fro dual-screen bosses could become a reality due to the beefier specs), another awesome OST, Sonic & Blaze Playable once more, and a good end to the story both games set up. I know story doesn't matter for Sonic, or at least shouldn't, but it would be nice to see this one end, and end well.

That is my take anyways.
Click to expand...
I'd rather have a console entry for the principle of it.

The handheld games don't represent the series.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, while no dev's been confirmed, it seriously looks like Dimps is behind it, and it's a cel-shaded 2D sidescroller. Wonder if this is in anyway "practise" for Dimps to get an idea of how to do a Sonic Rush-like game for the Wii?

3552454383_fee9e198fe_o.png

3553265624_187f775865_o.png


Sonic would look so good in that style!
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
I really do need to play the Sonic Rush titles and Adventure Rush. I've heard good things. Veeeerrry good things.
 
B

BlazeHedgehog

Member
Hero of Legend said:
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, while no dev's been confirmed, it seriously looks like Dimps is behind it, and it's a cel-shaded 2D sidescroller. Wonder if this is in anyway "practise" for Dimps to get an idea of how to do a Sonic Rush-like game for the Wii!
Click to expand...

I'd say Sonic Unleashed on the Wii/PS2 was practice enough.

And the levels they designed for it were empty and kind of janky looking.

Dragon Road - Wii/PS2
Dragon Road - Xbox 360/PS3


Arid Sands - Wii/PS2
Arid Sands - Xbox 360/PS3
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
HUELEN10 said:
What is that supposed to mean? Some of the blue blur's BEST adventures have been on portables IMO.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying they're bad or anything, however when people think of new Sonic games they probably think of Unleashed/06 instead of the Rush games.
 
B

BlazeHedgehog

Member
I guess now's as good as time to post about this as any, but I've been watching a lot of insane Japanese Sonic Unleashed speedruns this last week or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7f5MJzPa-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmIdBFmJwv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhE0GMNrfys

The stuff people pull off to get faster times are nuts. The most impressive one being this (non-japanese) run for Eggmanland. Eggmanland is a massive, ridiculously-long torture gauntlet. Your first time through the level can easily take over an hour and cost you 20+ lives. I've personally S-ranked every level but Eggmanland - the fastest I've been able to do it is 38 minutes.

Utilizing glitches and other such trickery, this guy does it in seven minutes. At one point he moves so fast that the game can't load textures for the next area fast enough, and he ends up having to play part of the level blindly.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
man I used to love the old Sonic games so much. For my money Sonic 3 and Knuckles is still the best 2D platform game ever made. (With Yoshi's Island a close second. Yeah you heard me.)

Sonic's had the occasional good game since then, but Sonic's games haven't been near as awesome as Mario's games since the jump to 3D.

And that makes me sad, because I would really like to see a truly great Sonic game again.
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
Sega1991 said:
I guess now's as good as time to post about this as any, but I've been watching a lot of insane Japanese Sonic Unleashed speedruns this last week or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7f5MJzPa-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmIdBFmJwv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhE0GMNrfys

The stuff people pull off to get faster times are nuts. The most impressive one being this (non-japanese) run for Eggmanland. Eggmanland is a massive, ridiculously-long torture gauntlet. Your first time through the level can easily take over an hour and cost you 20+ lives. I've personally S-ranked every level but Eggmanland - the fastest I've been able to do it is 38 minutes.

Utilizing glitches and other such trickery, this guy does it in seven minutes. At one point he moves so fast that the game can't load textures for the next area fast enough, and he ends up having to play part of the level blindly.
Click to expand...
Oh My God. I wish I had seen that sooner. I spent 4 days about a month ago playing Eggmanland over and over for the hot dog stand missions. Some of the shortcuts he used would have been so helpful! Especially in the pipe rooms!

I eventually did get all of the achievements after all that torture. But man, I would have saved so much time with those shortcuts.
 
Bog

Bog

Junior Ace
Man, how was it already 8 years ago that I picked up Sonic Adventure 2 for my DC and got that 10 Year Anniversary thing with the coin... Now I feel old.
 
I

Icomeinpeace

Banned
TheSonicRetard said:
The day stages in Sonic Unleashed are so much fun:

Windmill Isle Act 1-2

Skyscraper scamper Act 1

Arid Sands act 1

Jungle Joyride Act 1

If I'm looking to kill and afternoon, I'll run through every day stage in Sonic Unleashed back to back to back. I'll turn on my 360 and my wii at the same time, and go through every day act in both games, per zone.

With all the DLC and the wii version along side, there's over 80 day acts for me to play. Takes me around 4 or 5 hours.
Click to expand...

Sonic R 2, it looks like a racing game.
 
N

Nikorasu

Member
Bog said:
Man, how was it already 8 years ago that I picked up Sonic Adventure 2 for my DC and got that 10 Year Anniversary thing with the coin... Now I feel old.
Click to expand...

I got mine just the other day :D

54c2rp.jpg

33l011x.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Interview with Shuji Utsumi (SEGA Co-COO) by Japanese media outlet Seizo-Trend
Business Game Dev
1
1K
Unknown? replied
Let's predict how well or badly Sonic Frontiers will sell before launch.
40
2K
Eddie-Griffin replied
IGN: Phil Spencer Has Now Been Head of Xbox for 10 Years; We Look Back at His First Decade
Opinion Analysis 2 3
130
7K
ZehDon replied
A record of Segas reactions, mistakes, missteps, poor or misguided decisions, JUST in 1996.
2 3
138
14K
kvltus lvlzvs replied
Sly Cooper Celebrates 20 Years Today
30
2K
Dr. Claus replied
Top Bottom