Sonic Generations

[KingBroly]

Newly revealed




Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Releases: Fall 2011

Someone post the Sonic cycle. In all honesty, this is the first Sonic game I've been excited for in a long time and it's because of the obvious.

[Eternal Rain]

Even though the trailer may not give us much of an indication of what exactly the game is like, it's still neat to see old school Sonic again. I wonder if Sega will hire Jaleel White to voice retro Sonic, since it's safe to say Roger Craig Smith will be modern Sonic again.

Good thing I'm a multi system owner so that way I can keep enjoying Colors and be able to play this new Sonic game.

[Chosenoneknuckles]

That's Green Hill and Ice Cap Zone confirmed then [with Sky Sanctuary sometime Sega...?! ].

I was totally expecting the two Sonic's to fuse at the end too [oh, and Classic Sonic's face when he first appears totally screams Mickey Mouse to me]. Lol!

I wonder if they intentionally made Classic Sonic 'cute' to contrast with 'cool' modern Sonic [and hey, I've seen no 'Fat Sonic' references yet - I never got that namesake]?

Hope they also make Classic mute and express through facial / bodily gestures - and bring back the Special Stages into the main series for good, personally.

Am expecting a Wii or 3DS port to come out shortly after the other two though [as cutting the Nintendo crowd out
entirely would be a stupid business move].

[vinniebrock]

hmmm... well i'm intrigued. Cautious optimism setting in in 3... 2... 1... although the lack of a 3DS version seems kinda lame. i'd gladly take a Colors 3DS if not a port of this. or both.

[Chosenoneknuckles]

Apparently several insiders on Retro say this about it:

'It's going to include remade levels from each major sonic game. With several alternative costumes.'

The first we all knew [though what counts as major from Sega will be interesting - as I never knew the Sega CD ever existed myself, yet alone Knuckles Chaotix and Sonic CD, here in Blightly], but the later is... intriguing at least. Only Shadow comes to mind though?

Unless Werehog makes it in too. Haha.

[KingBroly]

If they have the Werehog in it, I won't even touch it. If they have Sonic kissing a human girl, I'll destroy all copies with my mind.

[Devil_Rising]

Hmmmmmmm................bad history of 3D Sonic games? Check.

Fairly lackluster recent attempt at making an (heretofore still incomplete) "Sonic 4"? Check.

Chances of this actually being bad ass like the old ones? Minimal.


Call me a skeptic this once....but I dunno. I've been burnt by 3D Sonic quite a bit. And am I the only one that gets flashes of the LAST PS3/360 exclusive Sonic? *shudders*

[motherbra1n]

I suppose this is to make up for sonic colours.

sonic colours was so disappointing to me, i was hoping for a good 3d sonic game, not a 90% 2d sonic game with godawful jumping mechanics and 10% 3d on rails sections with some of the worst boss fights in video game history.

since then ive completely given up all hope on a good 3d sonic game until they give another dev a try, a dev that has a flawless track record on translating 2d games to 3d (hint: begins with N)

[Popple]

I've pretty much given up on Sonic.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, or three times, or four times...

Granted I was never the biggest Sonic fan to begin with, but I can tell when games are crap. Not saying that this one is automatically crap but I'll wait for the reviews. It's kind of a moot point for me anyway since I own neither a 360 nor a PS3.

[motherbra1n]

they just dont seem to know what theyre doing when making a 3d sonic game. the closest they got to a good 3d sonic game was the daytime stages in sonic unleashed and even then, those were just good, they didnt blow me away, and i think sonic team know this and start getting desperate and adding things in for "variety" like the werehog and the sword which only make thiongs worse

the most annoying thing about sonic colours for me was how 80% of the game was 2d when we were already getting a 2d sonic colours for the ds. so that was their solution? avoid 3d whenever possible so the games dont suck? im very surprised at how well it was received by critics (apart from gametrailer whom i agreed with)

[Mako]

I'm hoping this will turn out good, it has me pretty excited. Sonic Colors was good so let us hope this is good as well.

[KingBroly]

New gameplay trailer:

Spoiler:

Classic Sonic >>>>>>>>>>>> Modern Sonic

[Wonks]

Looks fantastic.

From what that trailer shows, it's a lot of what fans have been clamoring for; visually, it's demonstrative of a few fan-made mock-ups or independent games.

I'm really hoping that the "Project Cafe" rumors are true and this game comes to it. (One might argue that Wii fans had Sonic Colors recently, but I suppose I'm a bit spoiled/greedy when it comes to Sonic on Nintendo systems.)

[Chosenoneknuckles]

Looking pretty damn awesome. ^

Definitely gonna be sticking to Classic Sonic in my 360 copy [unless both versions of a level need to be completed to progress]. I won't miss the speed boosters + run-fast + skidding gameplay at all [although Colours did make it far less shallow and fun than it was in Sonic Rush and Unleashed], I still feel it's [generally] a lazy and shallow excuse to just stretch levels out.

Love the slight swinging of the camera in Classic stages to reveal a 3Dscape [like when Sonic raced into the spring in this footage].

Playable Tails and Knuckles after the main game would just sweeten this already gargantuan treat for me personally!

But dammit, the end of that trailer totally teased Mystic Cave for me... until that giant Chomper came.

Very much doubt it'll come out next year on the new Nintendo console though [as the anniversary buzz will be over]. It'll be a silent Wii port come Christmas [like Unleashed].

[Mako]

Wow, it is looking very nice. Can't wait to play it even if I have to buy a sonic game on my PS3, which I don't like doing. To me Sonic and Nintendo go along much better for some reason lol. Also, classic Sonic > modern Sonic by a lot. They should use classic sonic for all future sonic games and just kill the modern look.

[Wonks]

Eh, I'd be on board with a Wii port, chosenoneknuckles. I had a lot of fun with Sonic Unleashed, despite the missing levels of its HD counterparts...

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the plot of Sonic Generations:

Sonic’s universe is thrown into chaos when a mysterious new power creates ‘time holes’ which pull him and his friends back through time. As a result, he encounters some surprises from his past history including Classic Sonic, Sonic as he was in 1991

I think anytime you start throwing in time travel, you tend to complicate your story and confuse your audience (at least the ones who are concerned about cannon). Sonic's progression to the lanky, green-eyed hedgehog of today just seems like a natural progression to me. One born not out of the hero's maturation through the years, but a company's need to tweak his appearance. For instance, Sonic's debut on Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was able to show incredible detail for its time, so why shouldn't Sonic Team/Sega put a bit more features into their flagship character?

By doing the time traveling, you're creating a line between Sonic from Genesis and illustrating him as very much a youth (Sonic was stated to be 15 at the time the original game was released). "Modern Sonic" seems to have the attitude of an 18-year old, but unless I'm mistaken, his actual age hasn't been clarified in recent times, so years could have passed (and for all of his adventures, probably have).

Unless of course you're doing the Michael Chrichton Timeline application where "Modern Sonic" isn't going back to his original self, but a slight deviation of himself in a parallel--but almost identical--universe with, perhaps, all the similarities of the Sonic Genesis adventures, but one variation might be the appearances of the characters.

Then again, one could make the observation with the inclusion of Silver, Blaze, Eggman-Nega, etc. that time-traveling has already caused confusion and making another plot with a similar theme really couldn't make that much difference.

...But I digress. The gameplay for both "Classic" and "Modern" Sonic truly look like the best of both worlds. Obviously too early to say, but looks like Sega just keeps making these Sonic games better and better.

[motherbra1n]

Eh, I'd be on board with a Wii port, chosenoneknuckles. I had a lot of fun with Sonic Unleashed, despite the missing levels of its HD counterparts...

dont mean to sound like a fanboy but didnt the hd version of sonic unleashed just have a lot more unnecessary crap?
like rail shooter segments, exploring a city with human characters.

once again the gameplay so far looks extremely lame. the 2d segments look like theyve been ripped directly from one of the first sonic games and just upgraded to hd just like sonic 4 and as always, the 3d segments look more or less on rails.

its either oversize final fantasy like swords, stinkin werehogs or just crappy level designs, or a mixture of 2.

[Wonks]

dont mean to sound like a fanboy but didnt the hd version of sonic unleashed just have a lot more unnecessary crap?
like rail shooter segments, exploring a city with human characters.

It did have these things, but it also had more Sonic (regular Sonic) levels. For instance, two whole stages are cut from the Wii version: Empire City (New York) and Mazuri (Africa). The latter has a boss stage from there, but that's it--no regular gameplay. Additionally, the Wii versions have fewer regular Sonic levels, not to mention not having downloadable content.

Wii Sonic Unleashed is enjoyable, but the HD versions are regarded to be the superior version.

[KingBroly]

The only reason I'm excited is Classic Sonic. Modern Sonic has to use boost power to max the speed of Classic Sonic. That's how awesome Classic is.

Sega, if you read these boards, DUMP MODERN SONIC.

[motherbra1n]

Wii Sonic Unleashed is enjoyable, but the HD versions are regarded to be the superior version.

gamespot and ign say otherwise but i dont exactly care much since i refuse to endure those horrible werehog stages

the first steps to making a good 3d sonic game are

A) make sonic a mute hero, and preferably get rid of voice acting altogether
B) have NO human characters WHATSOEVER aside from Dr. Eggman
C) stop adding in so many 2d sections to hide their inability to make a good 3d sonic (biggest problem for me in sonic colours)
D) it needs to be much less on rails, its jsut run straight and jump, the levels need to be just a little bit more open

[Devil_Rising]

I think a lot of people here are assuming this is going to be fantastic. That's probably a bit premature. Just saying...how many of the past Sonic games that have come out in the last few years, did any of you start out by seeing trailers of, and going "Oh, that looks awesome"? I'll give this a fair shot, sure. But there's no reason to assume it's going to be amazing based on a video. Hell, I thought Secret Rings was going to be bad ass, till I played it. And to be fair, it might have been okay, had it CONTROLLED even half-way decent. And if you hadn't had to play the damned levels over a hundred times just to advance to the next stage. lol...but that's another story.

I'm just not going to take it on good faith that Sega can pull out a great Sonic game anymore. Not after especially Sonic 4 being, to me, such a letdown.

[motherbra1n]

sonic 4 was sega pretty saying "we dont know how to make a good sonic game, so we just pretty much made a remake of the originals and added useless crap that doesnt change anything gameplay wise like cards to make it seem like were actually trying something new"

sonic 4 was just minor, the real blow for me was sonic colours.

[Chosenoneknuckles]

Just played the 360 demo here in the UK [and yes, Classic Sonic only].

My initial thoughts was that it played [and looked] very well [although the lack of Modern gameplay to contrast is a disappointment - even if I am not entirely keen on his racetrack gameplay].

I did have three annoyances throughout my two playthroughs [high ground and low ground routes] though:

- Merely walking up to a rock shattered it...
- If you're not at top speed before entering the giant brown corkscrew and loop halfway through the stage - the game will force you into running and through it automatically
- On the top route of the stage [I think it was around 2/3s through] I wanted to jump over to the next platform but I hit an invisible wall of sorts and was forced down to the lower route...


[YouTube]http://youtu.be/8nptj-9_cu8[/YouTube]

Spoiler:

You think you know know it, from the original, but you'd BE WRONG. This Motobug is here to FUCK YOU UP. It's got like rocket boosters or some shovel and it be charging at you at the speed of light and ramming right into your potbelly classic hero! He ain't messing with you, he is some serious shovel. Some dictator of fun out to stop your shenanigans. Motobug has got it's eyes on you, IT'S EYES ON YOU! You can't hide, it'll charge right after you! It traps you, in an arena surrounded by spikes. Oh man, you're so fucked now! Motobug is coming to get ya! He's comming to get ya! WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

Cheers for this gem Sonic Retro [user Dusk Golem]


OH, and according to Sonic Retro people looking through the Demo assets have confirmed that the Modern Sonic stage is in the demo, just locked off. And that's not all. ALL of the City Escape assets, yes even the whole stages, are in the demo, just not accessible.

Also, some spoilers coming. Highlight after this to read.

Spoiler:

It looks like Knuckles is for some reason in the directory, which suggests he might be playable but that is not confirmed. Also found as well are models for Modern and Classic Super Sonic.

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php? ... t&p=598324

[Zidane]

Played the demo and loved it. I just hope the camera in modern stages is easier to handle than it was on the Dreamcast. Either way this looks like my favorite game in the future. (I hope they bring White Jungle, Aquatic Ruin Zone and Oil Ocean Zone back)

[Devil_Rising]

Certainly worth giving a look, of course. I just think to myself, "How many times are Sonic fans going to sit and go 'FINALLY, a GOOD Sonic game!', only to turn around and go 'Oh.....nevermind'?" Over and over and over, that has been the case, for the last several years. In the PS2/GC generation, they didn't really push Sonic all that hard, but in THIS generation, goddamn, they have just shoved Sonic (and LESS than stellar Sonic at that) down everyone's throats. Attempt after attempt after attempt, and it seems like with every single new release, they say the same thing, "Hey guys, I know we've messed up Sonic, but THIS game gets it right, we've finally gotten back to what makes Sonic great". And then it's like "NOT REALLY".

Sonic Generations might be their best attempt yet at actually delivering on their promise. But even so, the one problem I have with Sonic in "2.5D", is that no matter what, the controls and mechanics of the game are NEVER going to feel as tight and responsive and quick as the old sprite based Genesis games. Ever. Even NSMBWii, as great a game as I think it is (I seriously put it between Mario World and Mario 3 as the best Mario games of all time), still, it too, in "2.5D", doesn't have AS tight or crisp or quick or responsive controls and feel to it as the old sprite based 2D ones did. It's not huge, but it's noticeable.

I just wonder why they don't just make a really GORGEOUS looking, hand drawn fully 2D Sonic? Give it the actual controls and feel of the original games, then people will love it. For that matter, I wish they'd do MORE of this period. Everyone abandoned 2D so early on, because 3D polygons were the big thing (even though they were ugly as hell). It's like they thought Symphony of the Night was the best 2D could get, time to move on. Except it wasn't. SotN was only scratching the surface of what devs could still do with 2D. Just look at games like Blaz Blue, or Muramasa, or Odin's Sphere, or Wario Land: Shake It, or A Boy and His Blob. 2D, hand-drawn, gorgeous, and all great games.

I may be biased, because after all these years, I STILL love 2D games better than 3D (no matter how much I do indeed love many 3D games). But seriously. There's just something about 2D, about side scrollers, or top-down games like classic Zelda, or 2D fighters, 2D rpgs, etc. And there is still so much more they could obviously DO with 2D. I just think if they really wanted to do something like Sonic the Hedgehog right...they'd DO it right, in 2D, on home consoles (not just handhelds).