Support NeoGAF

[Smiles and Cries]

I like most of these because it would have been seen as a spin-off different Sonic Universe the backlash might have been heavy but it would have been really brave and could have worked

 

[Astral Dog]

Sonic with two eyes? now i have seen everything.

Owl Lyric is much better.

 

[FleetingFlowAir]

I like the first Sonic one and Lyric as an owl, but that's about it.

 

[Data West]

I actually like this one...

It's like Sonic reimagined by Don Bluth.

oh my god he's adorable

 

[Unbounded]

Lyric as an owl would've been pretty badass, actually.

 

[TheOGB]

It cracks me up to imagine Iizuka being shown these and him just lookin like

The only decent one.

Those are probably just references based on CG artwork

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

I actually really like the Sonic ones. Except for the chubby one. They still retain what made Sonic Sonic. The Dr. Eggman ones? Eh.

 

[Son Of D]

Because its a redesign? They were trying to take it in a different direction.

There's redesigning a character and then there's making a completely brand new character that doesn't resemble Eggman at all and then slapping his name on it.

It'd be like if a Mario game released with some new designs and had a slim, tall dragon as the villain but it was still called Bowser.

 

[MrBadger]

Oh my god I just realised that lanky twat is meant to be Eggman

 

[Doctor Decimate]

at a certain point you might as well just make a new IP.

 

[Secret Fawful]

There is redesign and then there is making a completely new character. They were going for the latter.

No, they weren't. They were going for something radically new, through new eyes, which is something Sonic desperately needs. Except Eggman; he's terrible.

 

[ULTROS!]

I actually like this one...

It's like Sonic reimagined by Don Bluth.

This looks like something from Lilo and Stitch.

 

[lonedigitalwolf]

I actually like this.

But Eggman. NO.

Yep, i liked that as well, kinda reminds me of old school animation (circa og Mickey Mouse).

 

[Crayolan]

I think I've seen fan-art hedgehogs better looking than this.

 

[Nanashrew]

Some of the Sonic concepts make me think of the recent Mickey Mouse cartoons.

It's not really bad.

 

[Poltergust]

No, they weren't. They were going for something radically new, through new eyes, which is something Sonic desperately needs.

Uh, if anything, Sonic needs to stop reinventing the wheel with each game.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Oh, wait... that's supposed to be Eggman? It must be mislabelled. There's no way they were making Eggman a young, confused looking engineer with hair issues.

 

[Haunted]

Reportedly, that's pretty much what the Sega execs said when they first saw those designs.

 

[MrBadger]

No, they weren't. They were going for something radically new, through new eyes, which is something Sonic desperately needs. Except Eggman; he's terrible.

That's the opposite of what Sonic needs.

 

[plasmawave]

"kill me"

 

[rpmurphy]

I can't stop laughing at this. AO.

Decades of going fast has taken its toll on Sonic.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

I actually like this one...

It's like Sonic reimagined by Don Bluth.

I like it too tbh

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Some of the Sonic concepts make me think of the recent Mickey Mouse cartoons.

It's not really bad.

This is an outstanding redesign. It goes back to the feel of the original but makes it feel brand new at the same time.

 

[Demon Lizardman]

Wow, they dodged a barrage of smg bullets right there. Some of those would fit somewhere else like a Pixar o Dreamworks film, not a Sonic game.

 

[pinkurocket]

I like some of this concept art.

But it's not Sonic. It seems clear that from the start they didn't know what they wanted their game to be. What a mess.

 

[Astral Dog]

I seriously dont know what they were doing with that Eggman, he looks much younger and not evil. then again his final design its almost the same as the current one, so maybe they should had go a little far as its an spin off.

Im loving Owl Lyric, much better than that awful, stupid final design, i thought he was a mook, or a lackey at first.

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

Cross post from the OT.

What I find interesting, why commission an outside studio if you want them to make samey shit? It's almost as if BRB said, "Fuck it. This is what they want, let's give them garbage." Dying to hear the whole story but I doubt we ever will.

Edit:

Glad to see I'm not alone in enjoying some of the initial designs.

 

[PensOwl]

Honestly, none of this concept art is really bad, it shows a diverse and expressive range of styles from competent artists. The problem is its attached to the baggage of the Sonic universe and the demands of its fans.

Everything but Sonic himself is kinda reminiscent of SteamWorld Dig actually

 

[Thorakai]

No, they weren't. They were going for something radically new, through new eyes, which is something Sonic desperately needs. Except Eggman; he's terrible.

...but I'm talking about Eggman.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Hey guys we got the rights to make a Sonic game. Lets make him look like anything but Sonic

 

[Nocturnowl]

This game deserves all the critical panning it gets for not giving me the glory of Owl Lyric.
Just think, he could've join the lineage of jerk Owl bosses in platformers like Sly Cooper's Clockwerk and Tropical Freeze's Skowl, well I've still got Ori and the Blind Forest incoming I guess.
Hang on, why are Owls always the bad guys?
Actually Owl lyric dodged a bullet missing this game, Sonic Team please pick him up.

Meanwhile those main character redesigns are pretty drastic, Eggman is so far removed from the point, still interesting to see the various ideas on display be it good and bad.

 

[Hackworth]

Hey, that top left sonic seems kind of cute.

 

[D-Man]

None of the Eggman designs look even remotely similar to Eggman's original design. I don't even.

 

[- J - D -]

Shoulda just gone whole hog and used one of the more radical redesigns for everything. None of them are even bad, they're just unfamiliar, and most people already hate the familiar (in regards to Sonic and his world) anyway, so fuck it, shake it up. Too late, though.

Also, Lyric the owl is both a more interesting design and a more fitting one for the name than the evil snake with armor they ended up with.

 

[Captain Europe]

Hey guys we got the rights to make a Sonic game. Lets make him look like anything but Sonic

Pretty much, it's clear that these guys didn't know wtf they were doing.

 

[dreamcastmaster]

I like the first one with the shorts for a reimagining.

 

[KamenSenshi]

All terrible. For Sonic series anyway. As something totally new and unrelated they are fine, but none fit the Sonic brand. These wouldn't tie in at all, who would see that and know it's supposed to be Sonic, much less Eggman.

 

[Nanashrew]

This is an outstanding redesign. It goes back to the feel of the original but makes it feel brand new at the same time.

It really is. The design also gives them much more flexibility on movement like the old cartoons too so they can play around with the animation, from stretchy limbs, expressive faces and so much more.

 

[lonedigitalwolf]

This game deserves all the critical panning it gets for not giving me the glory of Owl Lyric.
Just think, he could've join the lineage of jerk Owl bosses in platformers like Sly Cooper's Clockwerk and Tropical Freeze's Skowl, well I've still got Ori and the Blind Forest incoming I guess.
Hang on, why are Owls always the bad guys?
Actually Owl lyric dodged a bullet missing this game, Sonic Team please pick him up.

Meanwhile those main character redesigns are pretty drastic, Eggman is so far removed from the point, still interesting to see the various ideas on display be it good and bad.

I'd avatar quote you but don't know how to...

 

[Kusagari]

Owl Lyric looks like a goddamn boss.

 

[CrazyDude]

I actually like this one...

It's like Sonic reimagined by Don Bluth.

It looks like something out of lilo and stich.

 

[Brazil]

First one is actually pretty awesome.

 

[Arc Christelle]

I love it. Instead of getting a shitty Sonic design we could have gotten something unique, with actual style. Something resembling those recent modern Mickey Mouse shorts, even.

No, they weren't. They were going for something radically new, through new eyes, which is something Sonic desperately needs. Except Eggman; he's terrible.

Typical Disney worship. "Oh this shit looks like something from Disney/Pixar! Looks grand!"

Sonic doesn't need a redesign, and he damn sure doesn't some generic attempt at Disney's appeal. Shit lacks everything that about his character that the past designs had. "Stylish Colorful Edginess." The final design was still horrible due to that lack of taste with all those split hairs and bandages.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I'd honestly love to see a young Eggman like that. Based on the art, I imagine him as a less poindexterish Mandark.

 

[Nanashrew]

Concept art often takes weird turns till you find that one that clicks. I bet not many knew that Sonic was originally going to be a porcupine or a rabbit.

And another concept getting close to finalizing his design.

 

[Maintenance]

Some of the Sonic concepts make me think of the recent Mickey Mouse cartoons.

It's not really bad.

This one is perfect, comparing this to the Sonic one is like comparing a Tesla Model S to a G-Wiz.

 

[OchreHand]

Well, the environments are nice.

at least. .....

 

[Silky]

Typical Disney worship. "Oh this shit looks like something from Disney/Pixar! Looks grand!"

Sonic doesn't need a redesign, and he damn sure doesn't some generic attempt at Disney's appeal. Shit lacks everything that about his character that the past designs had. "Stylish Colorful Edginess." The final design was still horrible due to that lack of taste with all those split hairs and bandages.

I'd put in a hard argument that the first concept (clothed Sonic) really nails the edginess part, considering the exaggeration in his running stills.

With exaggeration comes the over the top factor that the sonic art layout has always had. For instance, the early Sonic redesign art that appeared during the Saturn era that would lead into the Adventure look would be an example.

 

[Fuu]

I really like this one, makes me want an animation with this design.

 

[nns3d]

The owl design for Lyric should've been final tbh