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Sonic the Hedgehog Community Thread |OT3 & Knuckles|

Nert

Member
Nert, why is January 5th the deadline. :( :( :(

(I know you're busy.)

I can always push the deadline back a few days if it seems like people need more time. The selection of any date is a little arbitrary, but here are some of my reasons for going with January 5th (for now, at least):

1) It's a Sunday, so people would have the entire weekend to wrap up their thoughts and their votes if necessary.

2) All of the votes for this are still counted by hand, and a decent amount of work goes into the formatting and presentation of the results thread, so I wanted to set aside some time to work on that. Especially in the context of...

3) Getting out in front of the game of the year topic. For fairly obvious reasons, the game of the year topics garner significantly more attention than the soundtrack topics, and the soundtrack results threads pretty much die once those results are posted. timetokill has been super cool about providing links to our results threads in the GOTY results threads, but that doesn't seem to bring in too many new people.

So yeah, as long as we can get the results up in a way that meets our standards, and as long as we can do this before GOTY's results are posted, we'll be good.
 
I really wish I knew more about Lost World's development. Its strange how much they've apparently missed the mark, coming off of two moderately well-received games.

Seriously. I noticed in your review how they've apparently removed key moves while adding awkward new ones, ones that really don't make life easier.

"If it ain't broke" should've been plastered on the walls of the Sonic Team building, I guess.

What is even more odd is that I'm to believe the Colors team developed this one, right? they had maybe 3 years if that was the case, but then again this seems to fall into what has been kind of a constant issue with modern Sonic Team (as you mentioned "if it ain't broken" along side throwing things and hoping it's sticks idea.)

That would require making more assets than just that one tree, that one ground texture, a single pipe and two enemies



I'm pretty comfortable blaming Takashi Iizuka. Since his return, all the games he's been getting out in front of (Sonic 4, Lost World) seem to be some of the worst. The only exception is Sonic Generations, but parts about that are super boneheaded and a step back, too (but generally only in minor ways).

He checked out after Shadow the Hedgehog and was only mentioned as Special Thanks in Sonic 06 and Unleashed. Starting with Sonic Colors, he started to slowly work his way back in to the spotlight. I feel like Sonic 4 was his first major "I'm back, this is what I am doing now" thing.

Coincidentally, Sonic 4 and Lost World also do that really bad Sonic Team thing where they don't seem to... keep what worked about past games and instead decide to re-invent everything from the ground up, and usually much worse.

These games are as much a team effort as anything but it's definitely interesting that the more Takashi Iizuka represents the mouthpiece of Sonic Team, the more their games embrace their worst habits.

Mario & Sonic qualifies for the latter category, right



I'm usually all-in for a good Iizuka bashing, but I can't let the directors of those two games off the hook either. Lost World is Morio Kishimoto's fault, formerly the lead game designer of Secret Rings and Black Knight. He's also the director of Colors, and given LW's scattershot approach to mechanics, I'm more and more convinced that Colors was a very happy accident. Sonic 4 was handed off to Toshiyuki Nagahara, director of Unleashed Wii.

Iizuka's never had a strong vision for the series or a grasp of good game design, but neither does anyone else in Sonic Team management, evidently.

I remember reading once that Rivals was going to be platformer, until Iizuka suggested(?) to Backbone the change to racing.

I wonder how much control he exterts to the teams now that he is the head of the group, and with cases like Sonic 4/Rivals if the issues falls on him/Sonic Team/Dimps for the design and mechanic choices made. With Colors and Generations in comparison to Unleashed (which I did like fyi) and (presumably since I've only played the demo) Lost World, to even Sonic 06, it seems like Sonic Team always tries add too much variety to the pot and it doesn't work or buckles under the weight...when they should (obviously) limit themselves a bit with proper planning/focus on what works and move forward with that and maybe make improvements. I'm also curious if SEGA's release schedule doesn't also factor in.

If I had to pick someone else as a head/face of Sonic Team, I personally think Yojiro Ogawa is a good candidate. In past interviews, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and at least had some interesting ideas...though according to SEGA Retro, it looks like he is in Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios now.

i was looking at the director of sonic generations, a game that was pretty good and



what

Yeah, that one confused me too. Sega seems to be throwing staff at the wall to see who sticks.

Stranger things have happened, though really we just need someone who is consistent, it would help.
 

BlackJace

Member
What is even more odd is that I'm to believe the Colors team developed this one, right? they had maybe 3 years if that was the case, but then again this seems to fall into what has been kind of a constant issue with modern Sonic Team (as you mentioned "if it ain't broken" along side throwing things and hoping it's sticks idea.)





I remember reading once that Rivals was going to be platformer, until Iizuka suggested(?) to Backbone the change to racing.

I wonder how much control he exterts to the teams now that he is the head of the group, and with cases like Sonic 4/Rivals if the issues falls on him/Sonic Team/Dimps for the design and mechanic choices made. With Colors and Generations in comparison to Unleashed (which I did like fyi) and (presumably since I've only played the demo) Lost World, to even Sonic 06, it seems like Sonic Team always tries add too much variety to the pot and it doesn't work or buckles under the weight...when they should (obviously) limit themselves a bit with proper planning/focus on what works and move forward with that and maybe make improvements. I'm also curious if SEGA's release schedule doesn't also factor in.

If I had to pick someone else as a head/face of Sonic Team, I personally think Yojiro Ogawa is a good candidate. In past interviews, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and at least had some interesting ideas...though according to SEGA Retro, it looks like he is in Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios now.





Stranger things have happened, though really we just need someone who is consistent, it would help.

Right, and it's kind of why I roll my eyes when people harp on long-running franchise for not "innovating the mechanics" enough between titles. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have things refined, than "innovated" into something ultimately inferior just for the sake of it being fresher.

Sonic never needed innovation, or redefinition, it needed refinement.

Colors felt like it did that with Unleashed's formula, and Generations (albeit not without faults) did that with Colors.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
I can always push the deadline back a few days if it seems like people need more time. The selection of any date is a little arbitrary, but here are some of my reasons for going with January 5th (for now, at least)...

So yeah, as long as we can get the results up in a way that meets our standards, and as long as we can do this before GOTY's results are posted, we'll be good.
Well, we'll see. If anything, I might cut my LTTP vote or focus on that last if I start running out of time. Besides, you sometimes push the date back, so that's fine.

Also, a lot of ports and "released in this region for the first time ever since the 1990s" games were released this year, so I wonder if people would want to give a vote to those. I do feel a little iffy about allowing people to vote for licensed soundtracks without enforcing justification, but I think that's the nature of some of the heavy-hitters this year and thus unavoidable.

Mario & Sonic qualifies for the latter category, right
I'd qualify it as its own soundtrack in this case, but if you'd really like to, you can certainly take my approach and hand out certain "awards" to soundtracks that would otherwise not be in your Top 3.

(It's honestly my way of cheating a bit and trying not to list hundreds of honourable mentions. But some of those, I just wanted to give a bit of a spotlight to certain soundtracks that stood out that I couldn't really vote for.)
 

Sciz

Member
I'd qualify it as its own soundtrack in this case, but if you'd really like to, you can certainly take my approach and hand out certain "awards" to soundtracks that would otherwise not be in your Top 3.

Well, I wasn't really planning to participate in the first place since I haven't played all that many games from this year, but 3D World's getting way too many votes and I'll be damned if I let Yokota waltz away with another award for writing three good tracks again.
 
Right, and it's kind of why I roll my eyes when people harp on long-running franchise for not "innovating the mechanics" enough between titles. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have things refined, than "innovated" into something ultimately inferior just for the sake of it being fresher.

Sonic never needed innovation, or redefinition, it needed refinement.

Colors felt like it did that with Unleashed's formula, and Generations (albeit not without faults) did that with Colors.

while I do like innovation, there is a time for when it is needed and there is a time when it's not...I do agree it's much more important to refine current mechanics rather keep trying to re-invent the wheel. Hopefully if Sonic Team does keep the parkour system, they work out the kinks for the next game...and not overload the whole wisps concept.

What I noticed in Lost World through viewing videos of playthroughs and in my recent replay of Colors is that with the wisps, they had to be unlocked first through story progression and could be used in previously cleared levels for new paths/areas to explore...that was something I now appreciate and feel that Lost World missed.
 

FSLink

Banned
So I'm about to go home for the holidays and my little brother has a copy of Sonic 06. I originally bought it for him used as a joke along with a PS3 on condition that he keeps the PS3 if he beats the game...he told me recently he managed to do it, lol. I never actually played the game myself, only seen videos, and out of morbid curiosity I want to try it out.

Should I borrow it just so I can experience this game design atrocity for myself? Also if I do, 360 vs PS3? I want the worst experience.
 
From what I read when it originally came out, the PS3 version had a slight improvement in comparison...don't know if that was debunked or held true.

Having just coming off beating the game, all I can say is that I hope you have a high tolerance/patience...it is quite a difference from just watching videos of the game to actually playing the final product.
 
I feel like Professor Farnsworth in the Jurassic Bark episode when he was yelling at everyone that the lava crater was hot, but nobody was listening to him. In this instance, the lava crater is Sonic 06.

STOP PLAYING THAT GAME FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
 

Riffled

Banned
Yeah, that one confused me too. Sega seems to be throwing staff at the wall to see who sticks.

Given the no-name staff it could be Iizuka has a much more hands-on approach. But, dunno it doesn't seem to know his own games too well given the Interviews...

Usually some less desirable games result out too many games within a short timeframe. Like 06 was bad, but next year Secret Rings was okay. Then afterwards it seemed to reverse, and Unleashed turned out to be better than the Storybook Wii game (Black Knight).
Colors and Generations handled the yearly release schedule actually really well.
Next year we should see another game, and see how that turns out.
 

Anth0ny

Member
so i tried playing bioshock infinite and my fan went crazy and computer just rebooted on my ass

went back, tried again... same thing happened

now i remember why i hate pc gaming =|
 
I love Christmas themed fan art

1461871_10202810177914263_35074255_n.jpg
 

qq more

Member
From what I read when it originally came out, the PS3 version had a slight improvement in comparison...don't know if that was debunked or held true.

Having just coming off beating the game, all I can say is that I hope you have a high tolerance/patience...it is quite a difference from just watching videos of the game to actually playing the final product.

It's definitely not true. The PS3 version is much much more broken than the 360 version.
 

Sciz

Member
SonicGAF's Song of the Day - #85
Christmas Week!


Song: Slipshod Slopes
Game: Wario Land Shake It!
Composer: Tomoya Tomita

Tomita's one of the old school Konami Kukeiha Club members, and as such is one of the industry's best by default. These days he's still writing music with all the catchiness of the 8-bit era, but with high-grade arrangements and a rich, palpable sense of warmth. He'd make an excellent Sega employee if he weren't tied up with his fellow ex-Konami staffers at Good Feel.

Shake It's heavy on the funk, but it's also a game with very diverse environments, and sometimes the music puts down the sax and relaxes for a while. As such, this piece isn't about raking in cash or shaking down mooks, but simply enjoying the quiet majesty of a snow-covered world. Kinda wish it'd stick with the electric piano a while longer, though.
 
So I'm about to go home for the holidays and my little brother has a copy of Sonic 06. I originally bought it for him used as a joke along with a PS3 on condition that he keeps the PS3 if he beats the game...he told me recently he managed to do it, lol. I never actually played the game myself, only seen videos, and out of morbid curiosity I want to try it out.

Your poor brother, having to go through that just to keep a PS3. :(
 

Razzer

Member
SonicGAF's Song of the Day - #85
Christmas Week!


Song: Slipshod Slopes
Game: Wario Land Shake It!
Composer: Tomoya Tomita

Ahh, gentle woodwind sections, lovely. The brass is also fairly relaxed. A nice tune overall.

Also, don't play 06. When you watch others with nice editing it seems like it would be fun for a laugh, when you actually play it you just end up depressed. Listen to Beef and Schala. I got like halfway when I was younger, I am never touching that piece of trash again.
 

PKrockin

Member
Sonic 06 is just boring and mildly annoying. It's a ton of repetitive missions, long load screens, a needlessly huge hub world, and forgettable cutscenes. Secret Rings is the real rage inducing piece of shit that's entertaining to watch others suffer through.
 

AniHawk

Member
nah secret rings was a fun experiment. at least there was a focus on what it wanted to be and there were some well-designed levels. it also wasn't plagued by technical issues. i also liked the eventual customization of sonic and how i could change it up to approach certain levels.

secret rings should have been refined into something else. instead we got black knight.
 

qq more

Member
StH 2006 is to me completely brilliant in a few zones, for a few moments I was playing in awe seriously. I was running on water for gods sake, how much cooler can things get. Maybe like a rocket launching boss that covers the whole screen in 3D on 100 meters distance.
 
StH 2006 is to me completely brilliant in a few zones, for a few moments I was playing in awe seriously. I was running on water for gods sake, how much cooler can things get.

Yeah that's pretty cool.

Until the game just randomly throws you under the water for no reason. :x
 
The last game I played that could be considered close to bad was Sonic Lost World so maybe that's a sign of some sort.

I don't get the whole desire to play 06 for its sheer awfulness thing anymore, I think i've witnessed enough of it from various sources to bypass the whole "it's so utterly horrid that it's hilarious" stage to just see it for the miserable mess it truly is, there is no laughter, just pity and a shit ton of loading screens.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Sonic 06 is just boring and mildly annoying. It's a ton of repetitive missions, long load screens, a needlessly huge hub world, and forgettable cutscenes. Secret Rings is the real rage inducing piece of shit that's entertaining to watch others suffer through.

This is the total opposite experience I had.

Sonic 06 is a fucking terrible game. But it is the OPPOSITE of boring. The cutscenes are anything but forgettable (I can't remember a single cutscene from colours or generations, but the kick to the back of the head from 06 will stick with me forever). The missions may be repetitive, but you never know what crazy glitch is going to stand in your way during each play through.

I legitimately wanted to play 06 every day because I knew it would completely surprise me SOMEHOW, and at the very least make me laugh. I didn't find it very frustrating at all. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe I'm just good at games. I think it's a bit of both.

06 was a ton of fun for all the wrong reasons. I'll take that game any day over an average but forgettable experience, like Colors.

In other words.... Anihawk you need to play this fucking game. It's nutty.
 

Razzer

Member
I haven't played any bad games this year! Because I haven't played a whole lot in general haha. I've gone through Bayonetta, Dark Souls, Doom, Nier, The Last remnant , The Last of Us, Hotline Miami and will be playing Super Mario 3d World soon as it's a christmas present. Add constantly playing Dota since like summertime and you have my year, plus some Wii U stuff that has bled in from last year. Haven't finished any of them except TLOU lol.

Edit: Now that I think about it I hated the last remnant so much I put it down after an hour, but I've only heard good things about it so it probably isn't bad.
 
I suffered something of a sudden breakdown when playing Playstation All Stars in multiplayer last month upon now realising that the game that entwined itself with the Twisted Metal Stage was in fact Jak 2 (for those unaware each stage in that game slams two different series together after a brief period of normality), none of us playing had ever been able to place the reference but my revisit to that wretched game allowed me unlock the door that should've stayed closed.
Baron flippin' Praxis appeared on the screen in the background and then I was overcome with Jak 2 edginess "I'm going to kill Baron Praxis!" and so on.

This is what Jak 2 does to you.
 
Shouldn't you be working on your game instead of playing bad ones?

Playing Jak 2 gives vital lessons in what can constitute poor game design in a game that is actually playable at its core as opposed to just being flat out broken or unfinished, it's a must play for the budding designer.
 

PKrockin

Member
StH 2006 is to me completely brilliant in a few zones, for a few moments I was playing in awe seriously. I was running on water for gods sake, how much cooler can things get. Maybe like a rocket launching boss that covers the whole screen in 3D on 100 meters distance.

TMTI0My.png


:p

This is the total opposite experience I had.

Sonic 06 is a fucking terrible game. But it is the OPPOSITE of boring. The cutscenes are anything but forgettable (I can't remember a single cutscene from colours or generations, but the kick to the back of the head from 06 will stick with me forever). The missions may be repetitive, but you never know what crazy glitch is going to stand in your way during each play through.

I legitimately wanted to play 06 every day because I knew it would completely surprise me SOMEHOW, and at the very least make me laugh. I didn't find it very frustrating at all. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe I'm just good at games. I think it's a bit of both.

06 was a ton of fun for all the wrong reasons. I'll take that game any day over an average but forgettable experience, like Colors.

In other words.... Anihawk you need to play this fucking game. It's nutty.
Oh, one reason 06 was more boring to me is that it only took me 3 lives tops to beat the mach speed sections. Most people would probably lose their minds at Radical Train like Pokecapn and co.

Most of the glitches were just scripting errors that kill me. Bullshit, but when it's totally out of my hands it doesn't make me as mad. Then you've got Secret Rings whose controls fuction precisely 80% of the time. It makes me feel if I just try a little harder or figure out the trick to it I can make them work. It gives me a little hope. Then it fucks me.

Also, giving Sonic a Tony Hawk-esque sliding charging jump is the worst design decision in the series.
 

AniHawk

Member
i would be down for a return to jak ii. i would like to just put an end to it once and for all. it's probably not a bad game, as in, it functions competently, but it is a bad game in the sense that it brings evil unto man.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Do you see what happened now? People want to play/replay Jak II. I have the Jak Collection but I haven't played Jak II in that collection since I experienced it on PS2. I kinda don't want to. :p

About that speedrunning thing, I'll write something up for it next week since I'm not going to be home this weekend.

I just finished everything school-related today, so I've been pretty busy. Sorry for the delay everyone.
 

Razzer

Member
Do you see what happened now? People want to play/replay Jak II. I have the Jak Collection but I haven't played Jak II in that collection since I experienced it on PS2. I kinda don't want to. :p

About that speedrunning thing, I'll write something up for it next week since I'm not going to be home this weekend.

I just finished everything school-related today, so I've been pretty busy. Sorry for the delay everyone.

It's fine, looking forward to it. I wonder how many people will be interested.
 
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