The GHZ Forum

You know, at this point, it DOES seem like it's a bit overdue. I mean, ever since the first Olympics game, we've gotten:

- Sonic in three Smash games
- multiple Nintendo-exclusive titles
- the Yoshi and Zelda DLC in Lost World
- Sonic amiibo costumes in Mario Kart 8 and Yoshi's Woolly World

Can any of you think of a way to make a Mario & Sonic platformer work that isn't just "Half a Sonic game with Mario graphics duct-taped to half a Mario game with Sonic graphics"? Cuz I sure can't.

Sonic and Mario play completely differently in 2D and 3D. You couldn't feasibly build levels around each playstyle without seriously compromising both.

Mario felt sonic-like with the fludd + turbo nozzle

I'd be happy with an RPG crossover. Most any genre, really, so long as its setting isn't anodyne as the Olympics.

The problem with an RPG is that nearly all of Mario's RPGs are generally good, while Sonic's only RPG to date has been godawful. The only option I can see is to either make a completely new (and likely unfitting) system, or just make "Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi: Featuring Sonic the Hedgehog & Friends".

Ideally, yes; no-one cares about Chronicles.

The point being, in RPGs, all speed affects is in which order moves are prioritized (maybe evassiveness, too). The genre by nature is the equaliser in this regard. It doesn't necessarily need to follow any precedent, anyway, since these aren't firstmost RPG series.

Fighting games also, to a somewhat lesser degree, but there's already Smash Bros., and while there's the Tekken-style Pokémon coming out, it would be redundant. Not to mention fighters aren't conducive to substantial plot, and plot's the reason we care at all.

It wouldn't work. Half the game would be unplayable.

I dunno why you'd ever want to see a plot-driven crossover between a series that's largely devoid of plot save a few notable exceptions and a series that's been pretty heavy on plot throughout over half its existence but is infamous for said plot usually being generally awful.

Jingles wrote:Sonic and Mario play completely differently in 2D and 3D. You couldn't feasibly build levels around each playstyle without seriously compromising both.

Naka once said that they attempted a cross-over during the Gamecube days but dropped it because of this reason.
Although, I don't know why they couldn't do it in the style of Sonic Generations.

http://www.tssznews.com/2015/06/08/soni ... strassman/

So, Karen Strassman, the English-language voice actor for Rouge has updated her CV with listings for both Sonic II and Sonic Anniversary. They've actually been on her CV since 2012. It seems odd the voice acting would have been done so early.

Rob-Bert wrote:I dunno why you'd ever want to see a plot-driven crossover between a series that's largely devoid of plot save a few notable exceptions and a series that's been pretty heavy on plot throughout over half its existence but is infamous for said plot usually being generally awful.

'Cause the appeal certainly doesn't lie with some halfbaked hibred of the mechanics. And again, why are you stipulating that any aspect has to follow a precedent?

Rob-Bert wrote:I dunno why you'd ever want to see a plot-driven crossover between a series that's largely devoid of plot save a few notable exceptions and a series that's been pretty heavy on plot throughout over half its existence but is infamous for said plot usually being generally awful.

The Mario RPGs are really well written. I would absolutely play a Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi game with Sonic characters in it.

big_smile wrote:Although, I don't know why they couldn't do it in the style of Sonic Generations.

Because like I said before, that would just be "half a Sonic game with Mario graphics duct-taped to half a Mario game with Sonic graphics". It'd be more worth it to just buy a Mario game and a Sonic game normally.

Dr. BUGMAN wrote:And again, why are you stipulating that any aspect has to follow a precedent?

Because Mario never doesn't follow a precedent.

Crazy Penguin wrote:The Mario RPGs are really well written. I would absolutely play a Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi game with Sonic characters in it.

Now that you mention that, they probably should've just gotten Nintendo and Intelligent Systems to do Sonic Chronicles.

Rob-Bert wrote:
Because Mario never doesn't follow a precedent.

Im sorry are you suggesting Mario has a strong continuity

Rob-Bert wrote: Because like I said before, that would just be "half a Sonic game with Mario graphics duct-taped to half a Mario game with Sonic graphics". It'd be more worth it to just buy a Mario game and a Sonic game normally.

A Generations type game would give a nostalgic thrill from playing as Mario in Green Hill Zone or Sonic in the Mushroom Kingdom. It's not going to evolve either series, but nostalgia is a powerful source of pleasure.

Although granted nostalgia only works if it is implemented with respect. We've had so many Mario/Sonic games that try to cash-in on nostalgia, that the impact of seeing them together in a platformer will probably be lessened.

The reason I thought it would work is because both characters have different but interesting ways that they approach platforming, that could possibly be used on a similar scale. Sonic is all about exploiting the environment to gain speed, momentum, and elevation, while Mario is all about precision and skillfully using your greater variety of moves. The last segment of Twinkle Park serves as a good Sonic level that, with a few tweaks, could probably also be accessible to Mario's play style.

Everyone shut up, this is the crossover of the millennium!

big_smile wrote:A Generations type game would give a nostalgic thrill from playing as Mario in Green Hill Zone or Sonic in the Mushroom Kingdom. It's not going to evolve either series, but nostalgia is a powerful source of pleasure.

Although granted nostalgia only works if it is implemented with respect. We've had so many Mario/Sonic games that try to cash-in on nostalgia, that the impact of seeing them together in a platformer will probably be lessened.

If that's all you want, put on a ROM hack. You wouldn't even have to pay $60!

Dr. BUGMAN wrote:Im sorry are you suggesting Mario has a strong continuity

I'm suggesting Mario is as rote and predictable as all get out, as opposed to Sonic which is possibly the single most schizophrenic game series I've ever seen in my entire life.

Well, now we know what Sonic Mach 2 really was.

Think this is a test balloon? If the Boom version of Dash does at least as well as the original version, they might construe that as being sufficient interest in the new brand to keep trying. Or maybe it's more like Esrever theorized about Fire & Ice: low budget shovelware meant to piggyback on the TV show for a quick cash grab.

I'm pretty sure it's the latter, or an effort to just make Sonic Dash more "relevant" to fans of the show.. basically just another example of how they keep fragmenting their fanbase. It does seem to have a few neat differences though. I do like how the path splits, going up into the area above the clouds is really cool. Is it just me or does it seem slower than the first Sonic Dash?

Video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu4ExvqOSK4

Dash 2 is an interesting case study. The core game itself is not as tight or slick as Sonic Runners, but the implementation of "mobile-y" features like character upgrades, daily challenges, and optional freemium stuff is way better:

- Red rings let you purchase characters, rather than gamble for them, and can be earned at a relatively reasonable pace in game.

-Instead of one daily challenge, there are several "events" active at any given time. Some are grindy (collect 10,000 rings!), and some are competitive against other players (high score, most rings in one run, etc). You can focus on the ones you think will be fun, or that you will be good at, and avoid the ones that you think will be a drag.

- Participating in these daily events is the only part of the game limited by pay-or-wait-to-recharge lives (called event tickets). This is actually an effective use of that system, as limiting your number of attempts introduces a mild amount of strategy to picking when and how to tackles the challenges, and a motivating penalty for failure. The main game, and all its various achievements-style objectives, can be played at any time with no limits.

- If you wanted to play the game a LOT, a monthly "VIP" package gives you an extra revive every run, an extra two event tickets, and slightly more frequent powerup drops. It costs 27 red rings for a month of VIP status, which you will easily earn in game if you're actually playing enough to justifying purchasing the VIP package in the first place.

I would love to see them lift this system wholesale and stick it into Runners. Send that roulette wheel straight back to hell.

Lame.

Here's a screenshot of Sonic in Super Mario Maker.

I know we've had Smash Bros and that Olympics crap but having Sonic actually appear in a Mario game feels kind of weird.

Technically it's a power-up suit.

I know it's completely pedantic, but it bugs me how Sonic's 16-bit sprites are always used whenever he's in a crowd of 8-bit sprites or an 8-bit environment or whatever. It looks pretty out of place.