New voices sound better than I was expecting (well, in Sonic's case; for Tails it's hard to NOT sound better). I still wish Tails was more than a [tornado fang]ing navigator/cheer-leader, which he's been reduced to ever since Rush, but the game is looking cool otherwise.
Apologies for the lateness in responding to one of Batty's posts. It really is something I wanted to comment on, but real life kept me busy.
DISCLAIMER: Despite fragmented quote tags the entirety of Superbat's post is here.
Some explanation would have to be given to why Blaze is in the game all of a sudden. And it would really serve no purpose whatsoever. Just let the game be without nitpicking on the absence of a single character who isn't prevalent in the Sonic series and is only wanted in this game because it's unofficially Sonic Rush 3.
I'm sorry, but I just see that argument as too "in the box". It would take all of five seconds to put her in the game, but it's too inconvenient to write a scenario for it? Not buying that. The vast majority of decent platformers are games in which nobody gives a rat's butt about the story. And even if no story rationale behind her appearance can be thought of, she could always be a post-game bonus. It's not as if there's any reason for Luigi in NSMB, or the Navigators in X8.
The Wii isn't the only console around, and Sonic Team has proved time and time again to not be able to hold the responsibility to handle more than one single gameplay mode without [tornado fang]ing it all up for almost ten years.
The mentality that multiple characters mandate multiple gameplay modes is the very thing that shoots Sonic Team in the foot. Just because I want to see Tails in gameplay does NOT in any way shape or form mean that I want to see Tails-specific stages. I don't. Tails-specific stages belong in a Tails-specific spinoff game, not in a Sonic game.
When I speak of characters, I am not speaking of alternate gameplay modes. I am speaking of the STH2-S3&K approach: maybe a few character-specific routes because you can, but still clearly within the same basic gameplay mold. Black Knight has multiple characters but in a single gameplay mode (crapass versus mode not withstanding; I'm referring to the main game). Sonic Unleashed has only Sonic, but in multiple gameplay modes. You're muddling two different issues together whereas I am discussing only one.
Further, the Wii is where Sonic has seen the most action this console generation. But even including all home consoles, we have four Sonic titles: Two are Sonic-solo (Secret Rings and Unleashed), and one (Black Knight) as additional characters wholly optional. Only STH 2006 features characters who may be considered detrimental to gameplay. And, dare I say, the last game of the previous generation was also a hedgehog-solo game, and one which made more than a few critical missteps. Rush games both feature an alternate player and were well-received. There is no correlation between "solo" status and the quality of the title, period.
So far, what we've seen of both new home console games they're making, suggests that they're at least decent and not a complete shitty mess like the ones before. We still have to judge that for ourselves, but for now, the system seems to be working. Aside from your favoritism for a game most people seem to hate and alot of other questionable choices, surely you can find this easy to understand? The one thing people need, is a GOOD Sonic game. At this point, as long as they can deliver quality to us, I will not give a flying [tornado fang] about whether the game stars Rocky the Raccoon or Honky the Hippo. Sega's keeping it as simple as they can in both of these games, while still offering simple extras to make it memorable. With everyone bitching about this "back to origins" bullshit, we need simplicity more than ever. We need a game that gamers, fans and reviewers can enjoy equally, a game which has the potencial to be fun for pretty much everyone. For now, from what we've seen, this seems to be travelling in that direction. It's an improvement on everything the halfway good parts of Unleashed were, built on the easiest home console to program for nowadays, on a system Sonic Team has experience with. Everything about this makes sense.
I will note that the Sonic Cycle is not officially broken until gameplay impressions have been established among the masses.
Further, remember who you're talking to. Hardcore MegaMan fan who just came off two years of sequels in the NES mold, following ZX for all its awesomeness being bogged down with God knows how many fetch-quests. I know a thing or two about return to simplicity, and yes, Sonic could absolutely benefit from that. But, like MegaMan 9, in returning to roots there is such a thing as turning the clock back too far. It's one thing to return to the old style; it's quite another to return to the original draft and discard all progress made since then. Ask anyone their favorite Sonic game, and your answer will most likely be STH2, SCD, or S3&K. In two of those three, you have multiple characters.
To me, a return to form without Tails is just as offensive as if STH4 didn't feature a spin-dash. Sure, you could make the game great regardless, but you just have to ask, why?
Anyway, Sonic fans will [sonic slicer] beyond racionality.
The one universal constant of gaming.
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