Well, then it sucks to be you, Ben. But I think it'd be foolish to prioritize one misstep over any future attempts at correcting it. Not unless there is some other reason to return to that version when given the choice.
As for Heroes, my gripe with it is that the "character selection" amounts to a difficulty setting and voice preferences, nothing more. They all tackle the same stages and bosses and there is almost no difference between the teams ability-wise. Which in itself would have been fine if the game didn't require you to clear it as every one.
Team Chaotix is a whole other beast. Shadow The Hedgehog's missions were at times a minor annoyance, Team Chaotix was a constant headache.
Technically, you can say that they did that much earlier, with SMB2-JP/Lost Levels.
Lost Levels is one game made in the image of its predecessor. I meant more long-term. NSMBW is pretty much is a hats-off to every Mario game from arcade Mario Bros. up to SM64, plus the DS NSMB.
Because what the MD Sonics did with this aspect was inherently flawed. You could earn the glow before the game was over
I didn't say to copy the Genesis approach step-for-step. It's pretty commonplace for the Emeralds to hold some story-relevant value these days. If that continues it pretty much mandates that using their power in stages is restricted to replays. Nothing wrong with that.
and neutralize any remaining challenge away before the game was "finished" (except for Sonic 2).
What Sonic 2 were you playing? Or are you referring to the fact that the Death Egg doesn't have enough rings to activate Super Sonic? Still doesn't change the fact that you're neutralizing a lot of stages.
In the fact, I'd call it more true of Sonic 2 than the others, since it lacks a save feature, you cannot carry the hope of replaying with the emeralds outside of cheating. So, if you care, you're driven that much harder to collect them as early as possible.
There's no other perks to being Super Sonic, like being able to find new things in levels, old bosses having new battle patterns or the like.
Maybe in STH2, but in S3&K that's not entirely true. The higher jump gives Sonic an easier time accessing branches that would normally require Tails's help. Super Sonic also breaks walls automatically akin to Knuckles (with the exception of Knuckles' character-exclusive routes, of course), which makes finding hidden paths easier. You could easily stumble into something you had previously missed.
The worst you can say about Sunshine is that it felt too gimmicky because of FLUDD and tacked-on Yoshi, and lacked the polish that either 64 or Galaxy possessed. But there was never anything truly detrimental about the game, itself.
I actually didn't mind FLUDD, even if the platforming "bonus stages" were generally the better parts of the game. It functioned fine and was fun to use, particularly when filling up Petey's gut. No, my issues with Sunshine lie elsewhere:
1. As you mentioned, Yoshi. Not only is he available by fetch-quest only, but he's impossible to take between stage entrances/exits, and he EVAPORATES ON CONTACT WITH WATER (you also lose him if he goes hungry long enough, but it takes a long time for that to happen so it's not much of an issue; still stupid). It's atrocious. As big a fan as I am of the super dragon, even I would be tempted to ignore him completely if not for the fact that his fruit juice is required to get past certain blocks.
2. Speaking of Yoshi's fate during stage entrances/exits, a fundamental flaw in *ALL* 3D Mario's is the inability to carry
anything between stages. In 64 nobody cared because the game had no permanent power-ups anyway. Nozzles in Sunshine? Forget it. This is the one thing Galaxy did nothing to fix, although it's less noticeable since nearly all of its power-ups are either timed or designed for specific obstacles. Still, I don't know many who would call a timed Fire Flower a good thing.
3. There is a severe lack of variety in the scenery. Not since Lost Levels has a Mario game focused on a single visual motiff. In Sunshine, EVERYTHING is the damn island paradise theme. It gets old.
4. Going with the lack of variety, and perhaps most detrimental of all, you have the same number of stars as SM64 crammed into fewer stages. Which means even more repetition in an environment already lacking variety, and a general lack of feeling of "progress" as you strive to collect more Shine Sprites for whatever unknown benchmark is next (Sunshine is the only 3D Mario to not bother telling you what your next collection goal is).
I'm sorry, but the Adventures beat that in my book. I don't care if the occasional glitch sends you falling through the floor, it's worth it.
a truly bad camera
I don't think the 3D game exists that has not, at some point, been criticized for a bad camera. Tiny Huge Island gave me more camera issues than either Adventure. If it didn't break Mario, it doesn't break Sonic.
questionable hit/collision detection
One more reason SA2 is a "quality over quantity" issue as compared to SA1.
Sega wasn't exactly master of physics in 2D Sonic games, either. Many times I've sent Sonic flying through a wall in the oldschool side-scrollers.
Whoa, back the heck up.
Let's get one thing straight.
Other 3D Marios > Super Mario Sunshine = Sonic Adventure 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Other 3D Sonics
Okay, now I don't feel like I've failed teaching you people, carry on.
*gives Aldo ZEE UPPERCUT!!*
If you fail to differentiate SA2 from "other 3D Sonics", then you are fit to teach nothing.