Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2003 8:06 am Post subject: Sega needs to reinvent their flagship character...
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Face it, people. Sonic needs a makeover; badly. The new '3d' image they've given him is good as far as I'm concerned, but the games... they lack something. They lack a true direction in which Sonic Team wants to take this series. So, I gave some thought as to how I'd like a new Sonic game to be. And, best place to start - the best ever Sonic game.
Sonic 2. That's my opinion, so don't turn this into a thread bashing Sonic 2 or telling me that the original is teh roq. I'm sure it is; I preferred Sonic 2. So... I was thinking about this sublime game... went and played it a little bit... looked through my walkthrough book... trying to see how the style and brilliance this game contained could be implemented in a new game today.
And then I realised that I don't need to think this deeply about it. The answer, my friends, is in the first thought I have when I think of Sonic 2. Chemical Plant, Metropolis and Oil Ocean. Three of the greatest Sonic zones EVER. Then I thought of my second favourite Sonic game. Sonic CD. And it hit me - something which sega have COMPLETELY neglected to include in the new Sonic games; something which could make that difference, and could make the blue hedgehog stand out.
Urban, technological future-dystopia.
At least... I thought they'd missed it out. Then I was reminded of Speed Highway, which remains my favourite zone from Sonic Adventure. And Final Rush/Chase and, to a lesser extent, Metal Harbour from Sonic Adventure 2. Then City Escape and Mad Space have elements of it. All of these are my favourite levels from these particular games.
They all do it in parts - they all do what Sonic 2 managed in Chemical Plant, Metropolis and Oil Ocean, and what Sonic CD did SO WELL in the 'bad future'. This is, if you look back through the games, where Sonic appears most comfortably. Even Launch Base and Carnival Night from Sonic 2, Lava Reef act 2 from Sonic and Knuckles and Scrap Brain and Star Light from Sonic 1 - they all contain this slightly warped urban cityscape or giant machine ideal which has been SO MISSING from the Sonic Adventure games.
So, as far as I'm concerned, this is the way forward. Reinvent Sonic totally as an urban 'cool guy'. Then stick him in a dystopic future game like Sonic CD's bad future levels - zones like Starlight Speedway or Star Light Zone justaposed with a Metropolis/Chemical Plant and Metal Harbour. Then top it off with an outer space Ă¡ la Final Rush. The possibilities are endless and, the best thing? It really does contain all these aspects of what Sonic is best at; the urban ideal. Add a thumping urban/dance soundtrack from something like the Chemical Brothers and you have yourself a unique, dark, FAST platformer.
Don't get me wrong. Aquatic Ruin, Emerald Hill, and all the other zones... have their place. But while different zones with different settings may have worked back on the Mega Drive, it's time to be NASTY. Drop it all, and concentrate on Sonic as a cool character. Make the blue hedgehog do for techno what Wipeout did for dance music, or what Rez did for Trance.
Status: Offline Joined: 19 Mar 2002 Posts: 3434 $poons: 342.10 Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2003 12:00 pm Post subject:
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I'd love to get Sonic Jam working on my saturn again, to play all the old Sonic games.
I don't know where Sonic aquired the Urban-furture-dystopia feel about it. The Sat:AM episodes were like that as well. Sonic 2 and Sonic CD and to some extent Sonic the Comic (Which I used to collect when I was younger) managed to capture the sort of place that you would be living in if an evil bloke like Robotnik ran the world. My favorite stories in STC were the ones set within Metropolis city. I also really liked the idea of the Bad Future, a dark version of the Miracle Planet/Little Planet where Sonic doesn't exist. Maybe Sonic's future does lie in the sort of Dark Urban catagory...
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:09 pm Post subject:
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I prefer the 2D stylings of old myself, Sonic's transition into 3D has been relatively mediocre at best. If Sega were ever to bust out a new 2.5D Sonic, or at least clean up Sonic Advance a bit (C'mon, it looks much worse than the Megadrive games), I'd regain a lot of my lost faith in the character.
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2003 4:13 pm Post subject:
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I'm disappointed with the 3D updates, totally soulless and unnecessary...I also agree that Sonic 2 is the best... 8)
But I'm not sure of the new direction you propose...I would rather see Sonic go back to the bright colours/cartoon style-maybe even something along the lines of Yoshis story(SNES)...
If one more game goes for street cred with a techno soundtrack it will be the death of the industry _________________ Vindik8or wrote:
For those of you too SIMPLE to understand what you are typing, there is no need for a T in my name, seeing as how it is common knowledge that 8 is spelled 'eight'.
Status: Offline Joined: 19 Mar 2002 Posts: 3434 $poons: 342.10 Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2003 10:23 am Post subject:
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-Xenocide- wrote:
You know that the TV series totally crushed Sonic's image.
"I want some more chili dogs! Nyah!"
It depends which series you saw, there have been several.
There was a sort of jokey one where Sonic was portrayed as you say above.
There were the Sat:AM episodes which indroduced a slightly modified storyline and a few new characters like Sally and one of Sonic's relatives who got on the recieving end of one of those robot machines. This series was the good series which I want to see again
Oh and there was a zone called Genocide City originally built into Sonic 2 along with Hidden Palace and the Wood Zone. I think it was supposed to be a sort of Bad Future make of Chemical Plant/Metropolis zones. It was taken out some time before the final reliese, possibly because of the name.
Oh and BTW, if there is anything you want to know about Sonic, I swear I know more than Sonicwired _________________
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2003 12:00 pm Post subject:
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I think the last thing Sonic needs is a brittish accent... he needs something more modern ... which the generations of today would call "Cool".
First: a Jamaican Accent Would suit him nicely
Second: It wouldnt Hurt for him to maybe change is Hair Do...
Third: Hello??? Who Wears Blue Anymore???
Status: Offline Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 2188 $poons: 106.40 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2003 12:52 pm Post subject:
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This series was the good series
The concensus between the individuals I knew at the time was that the series you refer to was absolute horrible shit and should be buried in the core of the Earth along with the Godfather Part III, Rocky V and other travesties.
Status: Offline Joined: 19 Mar 2002 Posts: 3434 $poons: 342.10 Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 1:11 am Post subject:
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...of course, many disagreed with the new characters, and Sega were probably very cautious when they introduced new characters into the Sonic mould. Still unsure wheither Big the Cat was such a good idea on Sega's part.
But since companies rarely discuss with each other when game/cartoon types appear, there was a fair degree of varaiation, which you can't blame Sega for. _________________
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