tnorrlotssb
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2012
- Messages
- 4
There was not a Sonic Series General Discussion thread that I could find, though it is not at all impossible that I overlooked it, if it does exist. My apologies if this thread is unnecessary.
There's a lot to discuss, but I'll just start off with SEGA's falling profits and the idea that the Sonic series needs to be completely overhauled.
I do not believe that the series actually needs to change. I think the problem is that it has changed. I'm not going to say that only the Classic games were good or anything. That's rediculous, though I will say that the HD Era of Sonic games is a bit of a letdown. The problem lies in the physics. The physics system is way too complicated. The best of the 3D Sonic games were on the Dreamcast Era. The controls were sharp for the most part and the game actually felt like a video game, not some physics simulation to understand the momentum of anthropomorphic animals. Momentum just doesn't feel right in the 3D platforming business, as your movements are less precise, and that can be an issue. The 2.5D platformers do need momentum, however, because precision is less important because you haven't the need to control depth. Momentum helps you move faster in a 2D environment, and as such, is a good thing. However, making a left turn very quickly after developing momentum in a 3D platformer simply makes for either a jerky game or one with little precision. A simpler physics engine would help in the 3D Sonic games. Reviewers would feel more in control when playing and give the game a higher score, and increase promotion.
To further improve the HD Era, cut out the mid-level change from 3D to 2.5D. While many see this as innovative, it actually makes the gameplay less consistent and awkward to change the thought process. If you want a 2.5D sidescroller, that's great. If you want a 3D platformer, that's great, too. The two should not transistion seemlessly, as the change in controls is well, awkward, even if you don't realize it.
Get rid of the crosshairs when using homing attack. These make the game feel less fluid and more digital, and are unnecessary. It doesn't really help the controlls any, and creates too much action on the screen, with can throw you off a bit when you're trying to go fast and make the jump to the other side of a gap.
Other than that, keep HD graphics from HD era, lose the glitches, and bring back those great storylines from the Dreamcast Era and Sonic could be revived, gameplay wise.
Now to increase sales, don't make the same game on both handheld and console. This creates continuity issues and the one of them generally loses it's value, usually the handheld. Sonic Generations almost completely lacked story on the 3DS, and I feel like I missed a lot of cutscenes that my friend enjoyed on his PS3, and I'm sure that only the console Generations is true canon, similar to the DS Sonic Colors being true canon, as Silver and Blaze meet for the first canonical time, something that one buying Sonic Colors on the Wii would miss out on. Not only does making different games on handheld and console increase quality, but it increases sales. If one owns both a Wii and a DS, is that person going to buy two copies of Sonic Colors? Probably not. Would that person have bought a Wii Sonic Colors and another DS title, such as another Sonic Rush Title? More likely. By creating two of the same game with great differences, SEGA wastes time and resources that could potentially be spent on a completely different title that would sell to those who own both console and handheld and those that only have handheld. This also puts out at least the two games a year, which could be released 6 months apart, keeping Sonic fans more interested and less likely to spend their money on other franchises that are more productive quantitatively.
And so now, by completing these tasks, the Sonic franchise could back in the game, or at least it would have it's red-sneakered foot in the door. I apologize for writing so friggen much, but I do aspire to design video games, and critique length is one of my habits that sometimes be troublesome.
Hopefully this kicks off the thread in a positive direction. I hope to see some intelligent discussions take place.
There's a lot to discuss, but I'll just start off with SEGA's falling profits and the idea that the Sonic series needs to be completely overhauled.
I do not believe that the series actually needs to change. I think the problem is that it has changed. I'm not going to say that only the Classic games were good or anything. That's rediculous, though I will say that the HD Era of Sonic games is a bit of a letdown. The problem lies in the physics. The physics system is way too complicated. The best of the 3D Sonic games were on the Dreamcast Era. The controls were sharp for the most part and the game actually felt like a video game, not some physics simulation to understand the momentum of anthropomorphic animals. Momentum just doesn't feel right in the 3D platforming business, as your movements are less precise, and that can be an issue. The 2.5D platformers do need momentum, however, because precision is less important because you haven't the need to control depth. Momentum helps you move faster in a 2D environment, and as such, is a good thing. However, making a left turn very quickly after developing momentum in a 3D platformer simply makes for either a jerky game or one with little precision. A simpler physics engine would help in the 3D Sonic games. Reviewers would feel more in control when playing and give the game a higher score, and increase promotion.
To further improve the HD Era, cut out the mid-level change from 3D to 2.5D. While many see this as innovative, it actually makes the gameplay less consistent and awkward to change the thought process. If you want a 2.5D sidescroller, that's great. If you want a 3D platformer, that's great, too. The two should not transistion seemlessly, as the change in controls is well, awkward, even if you don't realize it.
Get rid of the crosshairs when using homing attack. These make the game feel less fluid and more digital, and are unnecessary. It doesn't really help the controlls any, and creates too much action on the screen, with can throw you off a bit when you're trying to go fast and make the jump to the other side of a gap.
Other than that, keep HD graphics from HD era, lose the glitches, and bring back those great storylines from the Dreamcast Era and Sonic could be revived, gameplay wise.
Now to increase sales, don't make the same game on both handheld and console. This creates continuity issues and the one of them generally loses it's value, usually the handheld. Sonic Generations almost completely lacked story on the 3DS, and I feel like I missed a lot of cutscenes that my friend enjoyed on his PS3, and I'm sure that only the console Generations is true canon, similar to the DS Sonic Colors being true canon, as Silver and Blaze meet for the first canonical time, something that one buying Sonic Colors on the Wii would miss out on. Not only does making different games on handheld and console increase quality, but it increases sales. If one owns both a Wii and a DS, is that person going to buy two copies of Sonic Colors? Probably not. Would that person have bought a Wii Sonic Colors and another DS title, such as another Sonic Rush Title? More likely. By creating two of the same game with great differences, SEGA wastes time and resources that could potentially be spent on a completely different title that would sell to those who own both console and handheld and those that only have handheld. This also puts out at least the two games a year, which could be released 6 months apart, keeping Sonic fans more interested and less likely to spend their money on other franchises that are more productive quantitatively.
And so now, by completing these tasks, the Sonic franchise could back in the game, or at least it would have it's red-sneakered foot in the door. I apologize for writing so friggen much, but I do aspire to design video games, and critique length is one of my habits that sometimes be troublesome.
Hopefully this kicks off the thread in a positive direction. I hope to see some intelligent discussions take place.
