Topic: Ultra Turbo Super Extreme "What are you thinking?" Electric Boogaloo Alpha EX ed

[Sakura Leic]

Damn that's amazing!

[Quickman]

[tornado fang]ing earache.

[Sakura Leic]

For some reason my left heel feels a bit irritated.  Maybe I need to put some lotion on it.

[Strider Xhaiden]

I'd like to find whoever approved the Rail Canyon and Bullet Station levels in Sonic Heroes and punch them in the face. Repeatedly.

Forced rail-grinding over insta-death falls does not make for good level design. Especially when the rail-switching mechanics are as bad as these.

> Attempts to shift from rail to platform
> Crazy momentum means I somehow overshoot the platform and fall to my death
> Level gives no indication that there are any alternative routes
> Spend 5 minutes going around in a circle because I have no way of safely getting to the places they want me to go
> Die

Seriously, I hate levels like this. Ah, well. At least I've got Frog Forest to look forward to when I finally get done with this dreck.

[Amatiramisu]

I always hated the Forest levels more. Sure the rail levels were difficult due to bad mechanics but they were straightforward and if you were willing to sacrifice time, you could slow down the pace (just straight jump onto the other rails) for the sake of precision. Plus the music is tops.

[Strider Xhaiden]

Frog Forest is probably one of my favourite levels in the game, in terms of overall looks (I'm a sucker for lush forests and blue skies), and I love the music for it. Rail Canyon just irks me in particular because missing a rail = instant, unavoidable death. Yeah, I know that's true of any level with rails, but Rail Canyon is like 90% rails. It's just poor level design, IMO.

[ViperAcidZX]

I always hated the rail grinding mechanics of Sonic Heroes in general. To me, switching between rails is imprecise and finicky Rail Canyon only serves to remind me how crap the mechanics are. Having experienced Sonic Heroes on the PlayStation 2 didn't make things any better.

[Amatiramisu]

Yeah having an actual stable framerate on the GC helped haha.

I honestly never had a real issue with the Rail stages. I blazed through them first run and later-on I could consistently A-Rank them. Lost Jungle was the real issue for me because sometimes the game just decided it didn't want to work and it would leave me stranded in the middle of the swamp with no way out. That whole world in general was glitchy as hell.

[Sakura Leic]

I actually really hated Rail Canyon but I think I made it to Lost Jungle but that was as far as I got because I couldn't pass the second act, I I still liked it better than Rail Canyon. 

That being said Sonic Heroes was one of the more glitchy games I found, I died a lot in Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace bacause I kept somehow going through a wall or something with the rising platforms.  Grand Metropolis gave me issues too.

[Phi]

Heroes had sketchy level design all around, yet still feels more complete than Lost World and Boom.

[Strider Xhaiden]

If I had to rank my top 5 levels from Heroes, based solely on atmosphere (looks, music, etc.) I'd probably have Casino Park (love casino themed levels, always have, always will), Frog Forest (for the reasons mentioned above), Grand Metropolis (sci-fi esque cities are win in my book), Hang Castle and Egg Fleet, in no particular order.

The canyon levels kinda bore me, honestly, and while I like the aesthetics of the level, Bingo Highway can go die in a fire too due to the crappy ball physics.

[ViperAcidZX]

That's another thing I loathed in Sonic Heroes, Bingo Effing Highway. I don't mind pinball too much but god damn can Bingo Highway can pad out the length of the level thanks to said crap ball physics.

[Strider Xhaiden]

Would it be a controversial thing if I said my favourite 3D Sonic game overall was the first Adventure game?

[ViperAcidZX]

Not really. Some things in the Adventure didn't age too well, and Sonic Heroes was kind of a return to the classic 2D games (as SomecallmeJohnny would put it), although the added emphasis on combat wasn't necessary (especially for Team Dark). I never got to beat it because PS2 version annoyed the hell out of with the frame-rate issues.

I will say this about Sonic Heroes: [tornado fang] the special stages, and [tornado fang] Team Chaotix's mission-based gameplay.

[Strider Xhaiden]

Agreed on Team Chaotix, especially the "don't get detected" missions. Forced stealth in a Sonic should never be a thing.

Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, but I remember spending hours as a kid just wandering around Adventure's hub worlds. It felt like an actual place, and I liked that a lot. Adventure 2 was fun, but the massive jumps between stages never really clicked with me, even if I do think City Escape, Metal Harbour, Radical Highway and White Jungle are amazing.

[Amatiramisu]

Chaotix is my favorite ;_;

I can't really pick favorite stages from Heroes because they were all terrible, in terms of overall design. Too many points that needlessly break the flow/momentum of the stage. Final Fortress was the best in terms of flow though.

[Phi]

Chaotix is my favorite ;_;

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THla9_tnK5c[/yt]

Door into Summer is one of my all time favorite Sonic tracks, and Tee Lopes did a fantastic remix.

[Amatiramisu]

Man, even their theme in Heroes was the best of the four.

http://youtu.be/T9E66ywToGU

[Strider Xhaiden]

Yeah, I like Chaotix as characters, but the mission-based stuff just didn't fit the rest of the game, I think.

Now, an L.A. Noire-style game with the Chaotix in the lead role....

[Amatiramisu]

Man, I just want them to get more representation period.

I'm fine with the FOCUS ONLY ON SONIC schtick that Sonic Team's sticking with because they made the only good modern sonic games. (Unleashed, Colors, Generations, and Lost World), but a Chaotix spinoff would be based.

[Phi]

Personally, I think Team Dark's theme is a very close second.

[Strider Xhaiden]

Team Dark's theme actually got me into Julien-K, which is neat.

.....

Y'know, as long as we're discussing hypothetical spin-off games, a Team Dark one that focuses on their work for G.U.N. post-Shadow might be pretty cool. Hell, I'd like an empire-management style one where you play as Eggman.

[Police Girl]

Personally, I think Team Dark's theme is a very close second.

That brings back memories of being an edgy 11-year old.

Good times, couldn't play Heroes for [parasitic bomb] though, [tornado fang] those special stages.

[Amatiramisu]

Team Dark's is a good second too, followed by Follow Me. We Can is just terrible though.

I really need to replay Secret Rings and actually PLAY Black Knight. I'll fight anyone who says those games didn't have the best music in the franchise.

(Although Riders: ZG comes close.)

[Strider Xhaiden]

I really need to replay Secret Rings and actually PLAY Black Knight. I'll fight anyone who says those games didn't have the best music in the franchise.

Black Knight suffers a little due to the daft waggle-controls for the swordplay, but I agree with you on the music. Misty Lake, Molten Mine, Dragon's Lair and especially With Me are some of my favourite songs in the whole Sonic franchise.