Support NeoGAF

[jarrod]

Updated!

Sonic Team USA
-Sonic Adventure 2/Battle (DC/GC)
-Sonic Heroes (GC/PS2/XB)
-Shadow the Hedgehog (GC/PS2/XB)
-Sonic the Hedgehog (360/PS3)
-Sonic Rush Adventure (DS)

Sonic Team UGA/SEGA GE R&D1
-Sonic Riders (GC/PS2/XB)
-Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)

DIMPS
-Sonic Advance 1-3 (GBA)
-Sonic Rush (DS)

Backbone Entertainment
-Sonic Rivals (PSP)
-Sonic Rivals 2 (PSP)

 

[speculawyer]

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Sonic Team USA
-Sonic Adventure 2/Battle (DC/GC)
-Sonic Heroes (GC/PS2/XB)
-Shadow the Hedgehog (GC/PS2/XB)
-Sonic the Hedgehog (360/PS3)
-Sonic Rush Adventure (DS)

Umm...

Fifth time's the charm?

 

[PkunkFury]

Well . . the one good Sonic game is only $24.99 at fry's this weekend. I think I'll pick it up.

They also have Idiocracy on DVD for $6.99. <----Get this.

25 for Wildfire is still a bit iffy. It's a good game at times, but very frusterating as well. The worst part about it is that they make you unlock "powers" like smoother character control... WTF? Make him control well from the start! I beat it on a rental and I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it. Might pick it up for 10 dollars one day to unlock everything.

idiocracy for 7 dollars, however, is an amazing deal

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Damn this video is ****ing nuts.

http://www.archive.org/details/Sonic2_1812

And yeah Sonic games went to shit a long time ago. The 16bit games still hold up really well. Shame we'll never see anything like them ever again(especially in terms of art design).

 

[ZealousD]

The main problem with Sonic is really a lack of polish, and the addition of useless content that isn't near as fun.

Take a look at Sonic Adventure 2. 85% of the game was complete crap, mainly around the treasure hunting and mechanical robot shooting sequences. Most of the later Sonic/Shadow levels also had far too many unfun bottomless pits.

However, there are four levels in the game that stand out as fun and worthy of being in a 9.0 game.

City Escape
Radical Highway
Green Forest
White Jungle

These levels are fun. You go through the levels with great speed and everything works great. I can still go back and play any of these four levels and have a great time. They're simply polished and lack the kind of elements that make Sonic games no fun, like tons of bottomless pits.

A sonic game with the kind of depth of Sonic Adventure 2 (lots of levels, bonus missions, medals), while focused on polished levels designed entirely around Sonic would be excellent. However, SEGA needs to realize that in order to do that, they can't fart the game out within a year.

 

[Gattsu25]

Bullshit. Sonic games of the past have had loads of depth. Posting level maps prove this, and as far as play mechanics go, gravity and physics and acceleration were a massive past thats been since lost. In 2d you could rev up and run up loops, arches, and defy gravity briefly. Levels used to use this to their advantage, but in 3d theyve turned into on-rails set pieces.

The main error with 3d Sonic games has been the level design. Yeah you've got the shitty plot and added characters, but its the levels themselves that suck balls. Its the "suspended over bottomless pits" bullshit that needs to go. In 3d Sonic games, levels are more like roads, with death-gaps in between. What level designers need to do is look at more successful 3d games design, that work with the dimension correctly. That means having a base layer, not bottomless pits, and working from there. Thats what Yasuhara took with him to Naughty Dog after Naka called him "useless" and fired him.

Sonic Wii is even lazier games design, as its relegated gameplay to the most basic of interactions on rails. Egh, I cant be arsed to continue. I've lost all hope for the series now, and I don't see it ever getting better until its outsourced to either Capcom, Artoon or maybe even Treasure.

Quoted for ****ing Truth

 

[speculawyer]

25 for Wildfire is still a bit iffy. It's a good game at times, but very frusterating as well. The worst part about it is that they make you unlock "powers" like smoother character control... WTF? Make him control well from the start! I beat it on a rental and I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it. Might pick it up for 10 dollars one day to unlock everything.

idiocracy for 7 dollars, however, is an amazing deal

Yeah, I just read some reviews. Forget that Sonic game.


Idiocracy remains a must-buy however.

(and they have Office Space for $6.99 too . . . under-appreciated Mike Judge masterpieces.)

 

[Buffy4ever]

I really want to try Sonic and the Secret ring. As for the past 3d sonic games, I really like the Sonic /Shadow levels in most of the games. I even like the SONIC 360's sonic and /shadow levels ( I got a new copy for $16.00). I don't like the extra character levesl, and I went back toPlay Sonic adventure 2 after playing the Sonic 360 game, and I hate the tails/ Dr. Rggman stuff. and I felt meh, on playing Knuckles and rouge levels. Like I said the sonic/shadow levels were good. I wish Sega would make a game with just Sonic/shadow type of levels, even the pitt levels are fine to me, since Sonic always had pitts and lava spot in them.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I wish Sega would make a game with just Sonic/shadow type of levels, even the pitt levels are fine to me, since Sonic always had pitts and lava spot in them.

Well..

I really want to try Sonic and the Secret ring.

..there you go.

 

[No_Style]

Bioware to save Sonic!

Spoiler

I hope...

A lot of what made Sonic cool was speed, so I have no idea what BioWare can do to make it an RPG and maintain speed. The only concept I can think of is have it like Super Paper Mario on the Wii where there is light platforming and RPG elements.

 

[Masta_Killah]

What went wrong with Sonic Team?

They went 3d.

 

[jarrod]

They went 3d.

It was fine on Saturn (NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, Sonic World).

 

[dirtmonkey37]

There is still time to disband Sonic Team and start over.

Yeah. Sega should go ahead and hand over the franchise to another developer for a full revitalization of the property. What Eidos did -- when they handed the Tomb Raider property over to CD and commanded them to make a game of it -- that was clever. SEGA should think along the same lines.

 

[Teddman]

Sonic Rush was a Sonic Team/Dimps co-production. There is often the misconception on this forum that it was made solely by Dimps.

 

[jarrod]

Sonic Rush was a Sonic Team/Dimps co-production. There is often the misconception on this forum that it was made solely by Dimps.

So were the Advance games... as in Sonic Team produced them and DIMPS actually developed them. :lol

Sonic Team developed the core engine used in boss battles (it came from their E3 Sonic Rub demo) but all the actual gameplay and level design was from Dimps iirc. Hideki Naganuma did more for the game than Sonic Team though.

 

[No_Style]

What went wrong with Sonic Team and the Sonic franchise?

They went 3d.

Corrected. Nights saved them.

Sonic Team can redeem themselves by bringing back Ristar for Wii, NDS or PSP.

On top of that, Sega/Smilebit, bring back Jet Set Radio for Wii or NDS.

IF there was a time for some graffiti, IT WOULD BE NOW!

 

[polyh3dron]

Sonic Team sucks balls.

Samba De Amigo, Phantasy Star Online and Chu Chu Rocket say hi.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Sonic Team's best work in like the past 5 years is Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg if you ask me...Which was nothing amazing, but it was different, and sort of fun.

 

[polyh3dron]

Well, considering that Wildfire/Secret Ring's only other recent competition are the Sonic Adventure series and its ilk (Shadow, Heroes, and now 360/PS3), it may end up being the best 3D sonic game as of yet.

...Of course, how much would that be saying for Sonic's 3D outings as whole, though? :lol

Truth be told, I think the best that could happen for the series would be like what an above poster suggested: going to Artoon. Say what you will about Blinx and Yoshi's Island DS, but the guys on that team are the ones who pretty much made Sonic as great as he was during the 16bit era. I think giving Sonic back to some of his other "fathers" could end up being good for him, or at least, give us something different from what we have gotten as of late.

I mean, the series under Naka went for more of this increasingly "realistic/uber-stylish" take with each progressive game, culminating now with 360/PS3. I can't help but wonder though, if Sega had decided to stick with the vision of Sonic's world that Oshima created with Sonic CD, how would things have been today...

NOOOOOOOO not Artoon.. They can't even make a good game with Microsoft's moneyhats, Akira Toriyama doing character design, Hironobu Sakaguchi directing and Nobuo Uematsu doing music!! That Blue Dragon demo was pretty bad.

 

[polyh3dron]

Corrected. Nights saved them.

Sonic Team can redeem themselves by bringing back Ristar for Wii, NDS or PSP.

On top of that, Sega/Smilebit, bring back Jet Set Radio for Wii or NDS.

IF there was a time for some graffiti, IT WOULD BE NOW!

There is no more Smilebit unfortunately.

 

[jj984jj]

Greg from IGN said in his recent preview that Dimps is involved in Rush Adventure as well, I remember he was the one to set us all straight about Rush being done by Dimps (everyone thought it was Sonic Team until the game came out and that's why it got so much more attention than the Sonic Advance games), I think it's safe to say they are involved in at least some level if he says they are.

 

[Mr_Furious]

What went wrong with Sonic Team?

Sonic Team only exists in name now. The "talent" has moved on.

 

[Teddman]

So were the Advance games... as in Sonic Team produced them and DIMPS actually developed them. :lol

Sonic Team developed the core engine used in boss battles (it came from their E3 Sonic Rub demo) but all the actual gameplay and level design was from Dimps iirc. Hideki Naganuma did more for the game than Sonic Team though.

jarrod, you need to make up your mind on this one. :lol

Seems to be some confusion on who developed what for handheld Sonics...

DIMPS
-Sonic The Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure (NGPC) 1999
-Sonic Advance (GBA) 2001
-Sonic Advance 3 (GBA) 2004

Sonic Team
-Sonic Advance 2 (GBA) 2002
-Sonic Pinball Party (GBA) 2003
-Sonic N (NGE) 2003
-Sonic Battle (GBA) 2003
-Sonic Rush (NDS) 2005

Sonic Advance 2 was still developed by Dimps, only "under the supervision of Sonic Team."

I was corrected later on TNL... I haven't beat it myself but I do think it's ST.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1475447

 

[No_Style]

There is no more Smilebit unfortunately.

I died a bit after learning that. (I should have known, but I guess I was in denial)

The talent still exists though. Hope is still here...

 

[jarrod]

NOOOOOOOO not Artoon.. They can't even make a good game with Microsoft's moneyhats, Akira Toriyama doing character design, Hironobu Sakaguchi directing and Nobuo Uematsu doing music!! That Blue Dragon demo was pretty bad.

Yoshi's Island DS is literally better than anything to come out of Sonic Team since... uh... basically since Oshima left in the first place. :lol

Getting Artoon to make a Sonic the Hedghog 4 would be like a dream come true, but there's zero chance of it ever happening.

jarrod, you need to make up your mind on this one. :lol
[/b]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1475447

heh, there'd been tons of conflicting news in both directions. It's Dimps though, and I wouldn't doubt if the same is true for Rush Adventure (despite SOA's claims of it being Sonic Team USA).