Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

[ZeroCracked]

And remind people of that horrible [tornado fang]ing game? 

Just thinking about Sonic Advance 2 makes me want to scream. I'm glad the recent games haven't been made by Dimpshits. Sonic Advance 1, 3 and Sonic Rush were OK, if only because the Special Stages were actually not bad. (Not including SAdv1's Special Stages, those suck)and the levels were solidly built (As in, not BOTTOMLESS PITS EVERYWHERE, ok, SAdv3 had that in spades, but it was easier to avoid them and you didn't fall for miles all the time.) Sonic Advance 2 though, all they cared about was speed and making it almost impossible to get those damn rings, the game isn't the least bit fun, the music is ok, but thats it.

Haven't played Rush Adventure, So I cannot comment on it.

But honestly, I don't see where this praise Dimps' games get is actually deserved (Well, Adv3 and Adv1 its fine, same with Rush. Just not Adv2 or Unwiished.) Its like with Sonic 2 and MegaMan 2, I can't see where they are better than the 3rd installments, which with Sonic 3, is my favorite of the Genesis games, and with MM3, my favorite classic series game. Sonic 2, yeah its fun, but I put it on a list of Sonic games that I don't like (Because of 3 things: Those damn coconuts monkeys ALWAYS getting me AFTER I kill them. RIGHT BEFORE GETTING TO A SPECIAL STAGE. 2: The Special Stage and its memorization required. 3: Tails was just damn worthless, no Flying, retarded in special stages, he didn't do [parasitic bomb], thankfully they fixed that in S3.) [/rant 2]

Hey look, another angry rant. Probably should revive the "[sonic slicer] about Sonic" thread.

Haha, funny. I say Advance 2 is a horrible game, but 06 is just OK. Talk about plain wierd.

You... Really don't like Dimps... Do you?

[AquaTeamV3]

In all honesty, though, I *HATED* the red-ring mechanic.  Sonic is simply not the gameplay style where "search for out-of-the-way-trinkets" works; as awesome as Super Sonic in Colors was I got very, very frustrated on my way there.

^This.  The special stage mechanic shouldn't be an issue of searching the stage for numerous special items.  Haven't played Sonic Colors myself, but I know all too well the nightmare of collecting those golden rings in Sonic Advance 2.  It's far too distracting to pull off in a normal playthrough, where as with the other games you could just look for a secret path and be on your way to that giant ring/special spring/etc.  I hope the bonus stages come back, too.  The ones in S3&K were a nice diversion, and they allowed you to get some nice stuff through the gumball machine and that weird laser minigame.

and the levels were solidly built (As in, not BOTTOMLESS PITS EVERYWHERE, ok, SAdv3 had that in spades, but it was easier to avoid them and you didn't fall for miles all the time.)

Bottomless pits are something that I'm worried about them making too much use of again.  When you fell off the main path in a classic Sonic game, you simply ended up on a lower portion of the stage.  This kind of got you curious as to what was up there, and caused natural replay value as you'd go through again to see what was hidden throughout the stage.  With bottomless pits being used so often now, it weakens the appeal of exploration in stages, which is kind of a shame.  Multi-layered stages are a big part of why I have so much fun with S3&K; even S3 alone has quite a bit of depth despite the game itself being short due to the stage layouts.

Really, bottomless pits started coming into play more often even as early as Sonic advance 1.  I can think of a couple situations off the top of my head where you'd fall into one of those pits that had you careening for miles until you finally died.  If they simply nix them and maybe add a bit more to the stages themselves, then we'd have a much more solid title.

[Police Girl]

I stopped reading here.

I have different tastes in my games than you do, so whatever.

You... Really don't like Dimps... Do you?

I don't understand why people think Dimps are so great at making Sonic games, when half of the levels they create suffer Bottomless Pit Syndrome (Which again, you fall for WAY TOO LONG, which shows how empty most of the lower part of the stage is). Its pretty much hold right and the level plays itself with like ONE or two areas where you need to actually platform (read: jump up or off of a rope).

Plus, they made Unwiished, which shows heavily in the awful level design.

I will give them one thing though...

The Graphics are really nice, Sonic Advance 3 and Rush have shown improvements over Advance 2's bullshit. And for some reason Sonic Advance 1 is much better than 2.

Something I'm not sure about, did they make Sonic Battle? Because thats OK too... if it weren't packed with "Guard Robo" Mute-Gamma as EVERY enemy that isn't a main character. They wouldn't be so bad if they had some [tornado fang]ing noise when they're going to explode.

^This.  The special stage mechanic shouldn't be an issue of searching the stage for numerous special items.  Haven't played Sonic Colors myself, but I know all too well the nightmare of collecting those golden rings in Sonic Advance 2.  It's far too distracting to pull off in a normal playthrough, where as with the other games you could just look for a secret path and be on your way to that giant ring/special spring/etc.  I hope the bonus stages come back, too.  The ones in S3&K were a nice diversion, and they allowed you to get some nice stuff through the gumball machine and that weird laser minigame.

One thing about Color's Red Rings is that you don't need to collect all 5 of them in a single run of a level without dying. It really helps.

[Flame]

Its still annoying, because you have to HUNT for them. And some are very annoying and out of the way to get. By the time you have gotten ALL of them, you have played the game to death, leaving very little fun left, the novelty of Super Sonic then wearing off quickly. then you have to play the entire Sonic sim, which just rehashes most of the stages somewhat, to get chaos emeralds. Tell me, why couldnt we just have special stages then? Special stages that give you emeralds..?

Hell, make the rings the way in. Yknow the Sonic heroes type of Special stage where you need to keep something till the end of the level.

[Police Girl]

Well, if they do that again, I hope they make it so you can pick it up if you get hit, unlike Heroes where the key would just disintegrate.

[ZeroCracked]

Well, if they do that again, I hope they make it so you can pick it up if you get hit, unlike Heroes where the key would just disintegrate.

That utterly destroys the challenge of it. I disagree.

[Police Girl]

That utterly destroys the challenge of it. I disagree.

What challenge? Getting Cheap Shotted isn't challenge, thats annoying. So is flying off of the edge due to buttery platforms.

Besides, they could have it so the key vanished if you didn't recollect it in time, but have it vanish faster than the rings.

OR RATHER, just make the special stage non-existant for Modern Sonic, have it be Classic gameplay only and have Modern collect them some other way.

[Gaia]

OR RATHER, just make the special stage non-existant for Modern Sonic, have it be Classic gameplay only and have Modern collect them some other way.

Since naturally, the Chaos Emeralds in modern times were basically taken out of special stages and had a dragonball-like role in the plot in the last decade anywho.

[Waifu]

What challenge? Getting Cheap Shotted isn't challenge, thats annoying. So is flying off of the edge due to buttery platforms.

Besides, they could have it so the key vanished if you didn't recollect it in time, but have it vanish faster than the rings.

OR RATHER, just make the special stage non-existant for Modern Sonic, have it be Classic gameplay only and have Modern collect them some other way.

I like that idea since the last few games didn't really do anything for Special Stages. I want to get frustrated at my constant failures to obtain one Cahos Emerald again. I want to able to go across levels as Super Sonic again.

[Hypershell]

Well, that's one area where STH4 actually delivered.

I never minded the "Dragonball" story approach that the Adventures took.  You could, however, always blend the two as Heroes did.  Have the Special Stages unlock a Last Story scenario (just without the mandatory game replays that Heroes and Shadow are infamous for).

[Flame]

Geting Chaos emeralds was so frustrating in Heroes.

[Waifu]

Geting Chaos emeralds was so frustrating in Heroes.

Agreed.

[ZeroCracked]

Geting Chaos emeralds was so frustrating in Heroes.

Eh, not really.

[Flame]

Mainly because getting through some of the stages was annoying. Particularly rail canyon and bullet station and the rail stages in general

[Hypershell]

Well, I wasn't referring to the key mechanic.  Hated that part.  I'd rather ye olde hidden alcove with giant ring portal.  *shrugs*

[AquaTeamV3]

Sonic 3 had the best method for getting into the stages IMO.  S2's goal posts weren't terrible, but you could run past one accidentally and would be unable to scroll back a certain distance.  That and they robbed you of all of your rings after exiting the special stage (fixed in Knuckles in Sonic 2 IIRC).  I do like the Sonic 1/CD method of getting the giant ring at the end of the stage.  Come to think of it, I didn't really mind CD's special stages too much.  They could be annoying at times, but the fact that you could get infinite time with enough skill (nab the aqua-colored UFO whenever the time runs low) gave you some leverage.

[Flame]

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicGenerations/
website's up

some screens
http://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/04/new-hi-res-sonic-generations-green-hill-zone-screenshots/

Also, seems like Generations will be dubbed for various European languages.
http://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/04/sonic-generations-getting-multiple-dubs-in-europe/

[ZeroCracked]

Mainly because getting through some of the stages was annoying. Particularly rail canyon and bullet station and the rail stages in general

The main thing is, with Heroes stages, it's not difficult or annoying as much as you need to focus and pay attention more. Often you're focused on speeding through and getting that A-Rank when if you have the key, you should take it slower and pay more attention. Oftentime, even if you slow it down, you'll still have the A-Rank.

[AquaTeamV3]

I remember literally taking 15 minutes to complete one of Team Chaotix's stages (I think it was the second mission in Mystic Mansion).  Despite the time I spent on the level, the fact that I didn't die once and had slaughtered so many enemies allowed me to snag an A-Rank on the level. I was pretty shocked.

[Kieran]

A similar thing happened to me in Sonic Adventure 2, with one of Robotnik's stages.  I think it was either Lost Colony or Cosmic Wall, I'm not sure which.  In any case, I just took my time and blasted the [parasitic bomb] out of anything that moved, without losing any rings.  Must've been damn close to running out of time before I reached the goal, but I made it, and the game gave me an A.

Also, it seems that if you collect all of the rings in a stage (presumably without losing any), the game gives you an A regardless of anything else.

[Satoryu]

Had to be Cosmic Wall. On an average playthrough I'd estimate it would take a regular player around 8 minutes to beat the stage. The time bonus for that is like nothing. Also, the score requirements on Dreamcast are a fraction of what you need on Gamecube. On GC, you need 100000 for an A on Mission 5. On DC, it's like half that.

[Kieran]

I've never played the Gamecube version, when I think about it.  I do have Sonic Adventure DX, though.

[ZeroCracked]

In short, I believe the whole "Keep the key" system would likely work for Classic Sonic while maybe some kind of "Catch the golden ring on the way" system would work for Modern Sonic. Thing is, the whole Golden ring thing should be where you can't backtrack. Just to keep the challenge in place and the monotony (Sonic Colors Red Ring Collecting) away.

[VixyNyan]

♪ Rolling around at the speed of sound, Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow. ♪
♪ Can't stick around, have to keep moving on, Guess what lies ahead, only one way to find out! ♪
♪ Must keep on moving ahead, No time for guessing, follow my plan instead. ♪
♪ Trusting in what you can't see, Take my lead I'll set you free. ♪

♪ Follow me, set me free, Trust me and we will escape from the city. I'll make it through, follow me. ♪
♪ Follow me, set me free, Trust me and we will escape from the city. I'll make it through prove it to you. ♪

♪ Follow me! Oh yeah! ♪

[Flame]

WHERE'S THE SOOOOOOONG D:

Im sure it will be in the final version. Im looking forward actually, to a classic-fied version of it.