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Sonic the Hedgehog thread

CannonStreak

CannonStreak

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The thread for all things Sonic the Hedgehog. Feel free to share your memories, favorite media (such as individual games, comic series, etc.), anything about Sonic really! I happen to be a big Sonic fan since my childhood, and though the games may be controversial now and not so big in quality, there are still big fans of Sonic out there, so why not make this thread?

Feel free to share Sonic game ideas and gameplay ideas too.

Now, as of this post and topic, there is Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Origins and the show Sonic Prime coming out this year. I hope for the best for all three of these. Also by the time of this post and topic, there will be a Sonic Central tomorrow at 9 AM Eastern time. What do you all hope to see there?
 
Janx_uwu

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Here are my predictions for the Sonic Central tomorrow.
Will most likely show up: Partnerships with other games, cool merch, some kind of birthday event that comes out of nowhere, at least a passing mention of all known major releases of 2022, new characters for the mobile games (probably some more classic variants since it's an anniversary month and we have Sonic Origins on the way), a new animation and/or comic to go along with Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Colors Ultimate for some game streaming services no one cares about, and 'one last thing' (could be either a story trailer for Frontiers or a new game we haven't heard of yet).
Might show up, and would be awesome: Next game (preferably a 2D modern Sonic game), a trailer for Sonic Prime, new Tails Tube announcement (why has it been so long since the last one?), a new multimedia thing we don't know about yet
 
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CannonStreak

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Well, the Sonic Central thing happened, and there was news on Sonic Forces Speed Battle, a trailer for Origins, Sonic Prime, the DVD release of the second movie, etc. As for Frontiers, here is more stuff for it.



What do you all think of it?
 
Janx_uwu

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What was the point of this presentation?
Don't get me wrong, I love an excuse to talk about nothing but Sonic for a whole day. But it doesn't seem like anything needed to be addressed. It's not like last year, where some kind of presentation was necessary due to the then-ongoing news drought (and despite initial disappointment, I think that one delivered). This time it was like they felt obligated to make a ten minute presentation and then just cobbled together whatever they could and called it a day.
They could've just released all of this 'news' seperately, or in a line of Tweets like the Pokémon Company sometimes does. But they had to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Well, at least my gal Sir Percival is in Sonic Dash now. And the way the voiceover pronounced Mephiles was very funny.
 
Quillion

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A Sonic thread on this site... surprised it's taken this long.

I posted this in the unpopular gaming opinions thread, but I'll say it here again:

Giving the other characters like Tails and Knuckles abilities like flying, gliding, and climbing was always a bad idea, no matter how cool it seemed. I know a lot of Adventure series haters rag on the characters' individual stories for playing too differently from one another, but in hindsight, that kind of unfocused, scattershot variety was inevitable given how... not designed those aerial/vertical abilities are for Sonic's high-speed gameplay.

We saw the weakness of that approach as early as S3&K, and I'm saying that as someone who loves S3&K and holds it as a personal "perfect 2D platformer" alongside Super Mario World. S3&K's level design by all accounts wasn't as fast-paced and fluid as Sonic 2's, and it really couldn't have been because it had to keep Tails and Knuckles's abilities in account.

The Adventure-era games simply had no choice but to give the other characters their distinct levels and goals to fully support their decidedly un-Sonic abilities. At least the 2D games can kind of get by on balancing Sonic's abilities with the other characters' aerial abilities because 2D inherently requires verticality for deeper level design, but the 3D games' inability to support that kind of verticality plus their focus on more scripted moments means that doing the S3&K/Mania style of character in 3D is next to impossible.

It's not too late to fix this though. It would be better if they simply ditch Tails, Knuckles, and similar other characters' aerial/vertical abilities are outright abandoned to unburden the level designers now and in the future. They should focus more on other aspects of their characters like Tails's gadget use and Knuckles's strength. I'm at least willing to compromise with keeping flight and gliding in 2D, but the 3D games need to embrace the lack of such.
 
Champion of Hyrule

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I’m sure no one wants this thread to literally just be “unpopular sonic opinions” but I figure I’d post an unpopular opinion I have here (which

I think the classic sonic games, even Sonic 3 have more unfair levels and bull**** level design than the adventure era games.

Yes, the classic games obviously have better level design and a better design philosophy than the adventure games, they also have better precision and control but still the classic games feel completely filled with random stuff you can’t see that can kill you instantly, and other unfair things like that.

Yes, Adventure games have this problem too and are also really unfair (especially heroes) but still it feels worse in the classic games, especially because you usually have to either restart from the beginning of the game or from the beginning of a really long level which can be absolutely soul-crushing at times. Overall I just think the adventure games and even games past that feel so much fairer than the classic games
 
Quillion

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Champion of Hyrule said:
I’m sure no one wants this thread to literally just be “unpopular sonic opinions” but I figure I’d post an unpopular opinion I have here (which

I think the classic sonic games, even Sonic 3 have more unfair levels and bull**** level design than the adventure era games.

Yes, the classic games obviously have better level design and a better design philosophy than the adventure games, they also have better precision and control but still the classic games feel completely filled with random stuff you can’t see that can kill you instantly, and other unfair things like that.

Yes, Adventure games have this problem too and are also really unfair (especially heroes) but still it feels worse in the classic games, especially because you usually have to either restart from the beginning of the game or from the beginning of a really long level which can be absolutely soul-crushing at times. Overall I just think the adventure games and even games past that feel so much fairer than the classic games
Click to expand...
IMO, the only classic Sonic game that feels consistently unfair is Sonic 2, which has issues with enemy placement from even Emerald Hill.

Sonic 1 and 3&K both seem to delineate "mostly platforming" sections and "mostly running" sections and adjust enemy placement accordingly.
 
Oracle Link

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I Still havent beaten a single Sonic game (If you dont count Adventure were i abused the Save Option on my EMU)
I just suck at sonic but anyways i would wish for the Sonic 2 DVD Release to have an option for the Voideogame Ost as Background music!
But alas thatll never happen!
 
CannonStreak

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Here is something new in regards to Sonic Frontiers.


And here is some footage on Sonic Frontiers' cyberspace levels.

 
CannonStreak

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Well, it has been a while, but...

asia.sega.com

SONIC ORIGINS Official Site|SEGA

Sonic Origins Official Website Sonic Origins Plus—jam-packed with all-new features—and the Expansion Pack DLC, which includes all of the additional content, are releasing on 6/23/2023 (Fri)! https://asia.sega.com/SonicOrigins/en/
asia.sega.com asia.sega.com

They released a patch that fixes plenty of bugs in Sonic Origins, but apparently not all of them. You can check out the details within the link above.
 
Oracle Link

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SonicSmasher1 said:
Here is something new in regards to Sonic Frontiers.


And here is some footage on Sonic Frontiers' cyberspace levels.

Click to expand...
Im sure shes gonna be the Final Boss or something!
 
StrangeKitten

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Champion of Hyrule said:
I’m sure no one wants this thread to literally just be “unpopular sonic opinions” but I figure I’d post an unpopular opinion I have here (which

I think the classic sonic games, even Sonic 3 have more unfair levels and bull**** level design than the adventure era games.

Yes, the classic games obviously have better level design and a better design philosophy than the adventure games, they also have better precision and control but still the classic games feel completely filled with random stuff you can’t see that can kill you instantly, and other unfair things like that.

Yes, Adventure games have this problem too and are also really unfair (especially heroes) but still it feels worse in the classic games, especially because you usually have to either restart from the beginning of the game or from the beginning of a really long level which can be absolutely soul-crushing at times. Overall I just think the adventure games and even games past that feel so much fairer than the classic games
Click to expand...
Agreed. I was very bad at video games as a kid, and could never get far in any of the classic Sonic titles. I think the biggest issue was having to start over if I lost all my lives, of which I only had around 4 or 5. It was just really discouraging to know I would have to replay a lot of what I had already passed to get the chance to look at the part I was having trouble with again. That meant I couldn't just focus my mind on overcoming the hard part, which was really hard as a kid with ADHD. Compare that to the Adventure games where, with the help of strategy guides, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 got to be among the few games I was able to beat back then.
 
Janx_uwu

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I agree with Champion that it probably shouldn't just be turned into an unpopular opinions thread, but before talking about Frontiers I did wanna say this: I weirdly love the physics of Heroes and Shadow. One propels you at sound speeds with zero warning, and the other is that but also an ice skating rink with guns. I love it. Those games constantly make me innovate with my movement and I feel so much freedom when I play them.

Anyways, Sonic's Front Ears! Yeah, I feel weird about this game. I'm not like, wow I cannot contain my excitement for this video game, which is weird because if I was still a kid I'd be losing my marbles over this being a real thing. But I had a really busy summer and I'm having an even busier junior year, so not only have I not really had time to sink my teeth into every little detail the game has to offer, but my standards rose incredibly since Forces, so I've been particularly skeptical with this one. The game's definitely looked better as time went on, but beyond the story, music, and the novelty of "wow Sonic but they hired that man" I don't think it'll knock my socks off. But I'll still buy it cuz it's a Sonic game and who would I be if I didn't mindlessly consume everything Sonic Team threw at my face?
(I really really hope I'm wrong though, I want this game to be everything 11-year-old me wanted from a Sonic game and loved about BotW)
The Cyberspace levels look boring but could be deceptively fun I suppose, and Big's Fishing alone will make it my GOTY. Like Sonic and his friends went through a bunch of portals and stuff just to get to the Starfall Islands and big is just...there. It's perfect. Vandalize is pretty good and the main theme is fantastic. I like how the Sky Sanctuary song has vocals, not expected but sounds awesome! And I'm glad critical response has been, almost across the board, "it's got problems but it's good!"
 
Oracle Link

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Welp ive just watched The First Boss and it was Amazing The Music and eveerything just Chefskiss!
And yes Watched not played first of the Switch Version Probably looks Terrible Second Sonic Games are rather Difficult!
But im fine with a letsplay its still fun!
Also Sage looks to cute to be the Final Boss Maybe she Either Controls a Mech, Eggman is the Final Boss Again, she has a Final boss form or the Final boss is Someone else!
also its hillarious how German Sonic Voiceacting is more Consistent we Had the Same Sonic Since X Which is by the Way The First Sonic To really Count when it comes To Germany as The Games Pre Generations werent Translated!
Also Please if you Quote me dont spoil Anything im HYPER (Sonic) Exicted for the rest of the Story!

Edit: And Yeah The Movie still changed The Actors and in Sonic Prime thev German Shadow Actor speaks Sonic!
 
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LiveStudioAudience

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Quillion said:
A Sonic thread on this site... surprised it's taken this long.

I posted this in the unpopular gaming opinions thread, but I'll say it here again:

Giving the other characters like Tails and Knuckles abilities like flying, gliding, and climbing was always a bad idea, no matter how cool it seemed. I know a lot of Adventure series haters rag on the characters' individual stories for playing too differently from one another, but in hindsight, that kind of unfocused, scattershot variety was inevitable given how... not designed those aerial/vertical abilities are for Sonic's high-speed gameplay.

We saw the weakness of that approach as early as S3&K, and I'm saying that as someone who loves S3&K and holds it as a personal "perfect 2D platformer" alongside Super Mario World. S3&K's level design by all accounts wasn't as fast-paced and fluid as Sonic 2's, and it really couldn't have been because it had to keep Tails and Knuckles's abilities in account.
Click to expand...
As bit of a counter to this, I'd say that abilities of 2D Tails and Knuckles work in the context that the most ideal Classic Sonic title is one that balances platforming, speed, and exploration, which Sonic 3&K (as well as Mania) does beautifully well. The three games preceeding it tended to be great at emphasizing one strong element (Sonic 1 with platforming, Sonic 2 with speed, & Sonic CD with exploration) to the detriment of one or both of the other two. Thus the existence of Tails and Knuckles allows for more streamed lined exploration for many players while still allowing Sonic himself to be the speed oriented character.

And with Mania Plus that idea is carried out even further as we now had three categories of characters; exploration, speed, & platforming/defense. Tails & Knuckles obviously fit the first, Sonic & Ray the second, and Mighty in the third. Ray achieves in the air what Sonic is on the ground; fast movement that does take skill to perfectly pull off with the latter's drop dash allowing even more organic movement in that regard. Mighty's nature allowed hazards to be a bit more nerfed and became an option for those most bothered by spikes or enemies out of nowhere.

The only real missing thing from Mania was having one more defense/platform emphasized character; perhaps an Amy Rose with her hammer that could destroy spikes and potentially being able to hit projectiles back against enemies. Throw in a double jump and the ability to roll into a ball, but no spin dash, and you'd have someone too context sensitive for mastering exploring or speed most of the time, but a skilled player could make her almost untouchable by enemies or traps.
 
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Quillion

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Just got Frontiers for my PC. It's an old thing (a laptop at that), so it fell just short of recommended settings, but hey, at least I can get 60fps.

The game is flashy yet simple. The core gameplay tries to combine as many elements from many other Sonic gameplay styles and alternate gameplay styles into one.
  • Treasure Hunting? You gotta explore open zones and collect things.
  • Shooting? The Sonic Boom lets you blast enemies with compressed air waves while you're locked on.
  • Werehog? The game encourages combos and flashy moves. The combo followups from a homing attack even take after those from Shadow's gameplay in Sonic 06.
  • Old Boost Gameplay? Cyberspace portals have that covered.
  • The fishing minigame is nice and simple, not suffering from wobbly controls and finicky fish AI like in SA1.
Solid stuff so far. Plus, the game isn't really open world, more like a sandbox platformer akin to Mario 64 and Banjo. I'd call it a mid-size sandbox game rather than the mini-sandboxes of old sandbox platformers. Admittedly, it fulfills a low-key dream of mine to see a Mario 64-styled Sonic game.

LiveStudioAudience said:
As bit of a counter to this, I'd say that abilities of 2D Tails and Knuckles work in the context that the most ideal Classic Sonic title is one that balances platforming, speed, and exploration, which Sonic 3&K (as well as Mania) does beautifully well. The three games preceeding it tended to be great at emphasizing one strong element (Sonic 1 with platforming, Sonic 2 with speed, & Sonic CD with exploration) to the detriment of one or both of the other two. Thus the existence of Tails and Knuckles allows for more streamed lined exploration for many players while still allowing Sonic himself to be the speed oriented character.
Click to expand...
That's actually insightful. Most people think of Sonic CD of being the exploration-oriented one, but the idea that Sonic 1 emphasizes platforming and Sonic 2 emphasizes speed makes sense.

That said, I think part of the issue is that, at least in my opinion, the kind of exploration that CD, 3&K, and Mania promote works against Sonic's speed rather than with it. Feeling around the walls looking for secrets is inherently a slow-paced task, plus it doesn't help that while you might find a Special Stage ring or the Roboticizer, most of those secrets are items you can find in other places.

Exploration that emphasizes the different paths available in a Sonic level works much better in my opinion. Using timing and reflexes to find things like Red Rings works much better. That said, forcing to take a specific path in one go to get everything at once like Sonic Advance 2 doesn't work.
 
LiveStudioAudience

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I think my acceptance of the slower exploration is somewhat rooted in a concession towards fans that either need a gradual adjustment to the speed oriented nature of Sonic titles or those that outright aren't as interested in speed for gameplay. Stuff like Red Rings and alternate paths works perfectly for him and such concepts work well most of the time. But for Classic Sonic, having the option of Knuckles and Tails for that kind of thing does feel like it has merit (even if ideally one would have stages oriented for them rather than wholly sharing with Sonic). Tails being the proverbial easy mode for newer/novice fans at least feels more organic than outright difficulty options and even Knuckles venturing into slightly harder challenges due to level emphasis does seem like a good balance variety wise.
 
Quillion

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LiveStudioAudience said:
I think my acceptance of the slower exploration is somewhat rooted in a concession towards fans that either need a gradual adjustment to the speed oriented nature of Sonic titles or those that outright aren't as interested in speed for gameplay. Stuff like Red Rings and alternate paths works perfectly for him and such concepts work well most of the time. But for Classic Sonic, having the option of Knuckles and Tails for that kind of thing does feel like it has merit (even if ideally one would have stages oriented for them rather than wholly sharing with Sonic). Tails being the proverbial easy mode for newer/novice fans at least feels more organic than outright difficulty options and even Knuckles venturing into slightly harder challenges due to level emphasis does seem like a good balance variety wise.
Click to expand...
Still though, the "Classic" approach to Tails and Knux has the problem of making Sonic look inferior. Sonic may still be the fastest, but because Tails and Knux have better aerial command, they ultimately have better mobility than speedy Sonic himself. Sonic simply can't access major parts of the level that his aerial friends do.

And that in itself leads to the design headache of designing the levels to "balance" the three. In hindsight, what SA1 did with Tails and Knux (have the former race Sonic, have the latter hunt for treasures) ends up feeling like an easy way out of the problem.

Honestly, Blaze in the Rush duology and the Avatar in Forces are both better-handled playable characters than anyone else in Sonic's history. All because they find ways to be unique without having abilities that work against Sonic's speed.
 
Mamboo07

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Quillion

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So we're finally getting the closest thing to S3&K playable characters in a 3D Sonic game.

Except that because Frontiers is an open zone platformer Tails and Knux's abilities will actually fit the game, unlike 3&K and Mania.
 
Oracle Link

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So i just finnished the sonic Frontiers Lets play ive been watching and i gotta say Great game But:
Everything about the End is super anticlimactic and keep in mind the lets player played on hard so i actually saw the Battle!
But i guess thats the trade of for 4 Super Sonic Finales!
 
Veca Gorebyss

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♦


i love "sonic adventure". the game.

its actually just a part of my memory. favorite childgood game of mine. one of.

it can be much better though.

31:38 onward | https://youtu.be/Z13eY1NdP6g

but i feel like the way youtuber somecallmejohnny puts it is beautiful. about the gameplay of the game.

the control. its distinctly fun to weild these characters. for the most part. compared to the other games. i feel like there is something to "shadow the hedghog" and "sonic heroes". other sorts of control style.

but i just love the game for various reasons.

im even realizing powerfully spiritual reasons.

the game does tap into spiritual mysticism. ancient stuff. and all that.

the whole process of "chaos level 1" to next stepbis significant to my transgender journey.

i feel like is all i can say so far.

youtube video worthy from me.

johnnys quote for some reasons also resonates in my life commonly for some reason too.

i keep remembering his quote. lol.


♦


10:56 onward | https://youtu.be/XddOxvmgu6U


♦


- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be


♦


kind of.

i guess.

if you have to use wavedashes or shielding to get you moving. an erorr.

or whatever. haha.


♦


- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be


♦

Oracle Link said:
I wouldve shown you a picture of Precious Mangey but i digress watch Sonic Prime NOOOOW!
Click to expand...
LINk nuff said!

Lfofl.
 
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Oracle Link

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Veca Gorebyss said:
♦


i love "sonic adventure". the game.

its actually just a part of my memory. favorite childgood game of mine. one of.

it can be much better though.

31:38 onward | https://youtu.be/Z13eY1NdP6g

but i feel like the way youtuber somecallmejohnny puts it is beautiful. about the gameplay of the game.

the control. its distinctly fun to weild these characters. for the most part. compared to the other games. i feel like there is something to "shadow the hedghog" and "sonic heroes". other sorts of control style.

but i just love the game for various reasons.

im even realizing powerfully spiritual reasons.

the game does tap into spiritual mysticism. ancient stuff. and all that.

the whole process of "chaos level 1" to next stepbis significant to my transgender journey.

i feel like is all i can say so far.

youtube video worthy from me.

johnnys quote for some reasons also resonates in my life commonly for some reason too.

i keep remembering his quote. lol.


♦


10:56 onward | https://youtu.be/XddOxvmgu6U


♦


- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be


♦


kind of.

i guess.

if you have to use wavedashes or shielding to get you moving. an erorr.

or whatever. haha.


♦


- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be


♦



LINk nuff said!

Lfofl.
Click to expand...
SO You first Turn big, Then Into A Fish than a Abomination and finally a Kaiju?
I Dont Know what to think of that!
 
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