Sonic 2018

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Dr. BUGMAN
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

Since we have a clearer picture now, how about another cross-reference with the Knuckles' Chaotix credits?

For "Original Character concept" we have:

- Naoto Ohshima: Sonic, Eggman, Vector, Charmy*
- Takashi Yuda: Knuckles
- Manabu Kusunoki: Mighty, Ray

For an overlap between "Original Character Concept" and "Character Designer" we have:

- Kazuyuki Hoshino: Metal Sonic, Amy*
- Takumi Miyake:
- Yasufumi Soejima:

For "Character Designer" we have:

- Ryo Kudou:
- Jina Ishiwatari

So that still leaves what uncredited, Espio, Bomb & Heavy? Judging from the latter two's similarity to KC's general badniks, which are credited to Takumi Miyake, Ryo Kudou and Kazuyuki Hoshino, it's probably them. (Likewise the visual similarity between Egg Robo, Mecha Sonic Mk II and Sonic 3's badniks suggests they were created by Satoshi Yokokawa). And considering Chaotix reuses Sonic CD's mosquito badniks, they're possibly why Hoshino is credited here as well, leaving Heavy and Bomb to Miyake and Kudou.

Which leaves Espio uncredited and Yasufumi Soejima without an "original character." Hmm...

*Of course creator credit for Charmy and Amy are fuzzy even now. Even if Ohshima and Hoshino gave them major facelifts, someone else wrote and christened them, if not designing their prototypical forms. From the sounds of it, Amy in particular is the "design-by-commitee" that detractors routinely lob at Sonic himself; poor thing.

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Dr. BUGMAN
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

Addendum that won't possibly fit in the edit window:

Jina Ishiwatari in particular is an enigma. She's credited in all the major classic era Sonic games (excepting the Traveller's Tales and 8-bit titles). From the sound of it, she may be the series' unsung major contributor. Could she have been the one who proposed Sonic be a hedgehog? More relevantly, who did she design for Chaotix?

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Re: Sonic 2018

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Dr. BUGMAN
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

Well, heck. That's what I get fkr playing detective. :grin:

So, that leaves Heavy and/or Bomb to Soejima? Are they even important enough to considered characters?

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Crazy Penguin
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Crazy Penguin »

Takumi Miyake illustrated the NiGHTS story book. From the art style, it looks like he's the artist who drew all the character-action art in the JP Chaotix manual.

Yasufumi Soejima's contributions remain a mystery. "Enemy Designer" and "Boss Designer" already have their own credits, so Heavy is the only one left really (Bomb is more or less an update of the Star Light Zone enemy).

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Emperor Omochao »

What do people think the Encore mode of Sonic Mania Plus is going to be? Super Hard mode? Possible Time travelling for all zones? Both would be amazing. I'm really hoping for better zone transitions this time around.

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by big_smile »

https://comiccon2018.sched.com/event/FQ ... cool-panel
Another Sonic panel, this time at Comic-Con 2018
Sonic The Hedgehog has raced back into comics, bringing old enemies and new friends along for the ride. IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, artist Evan Stanley, Sega licensing specialist Michael Cisneros, director of product development Austin Keys, and head of Sonic team Takashi Iizuka discuss comics and upcoming games, make some surprise announcements, and more!
Some are taking the surprise announcements to be new games, although I think it's far too early for another Modern Sonic title, especially with the racing game coming out for Christmas.

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Crazy Penguin
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Crazy Penguin »

With all the Sonic Mania Plus hype, now would be a good time to finally port SegaSonic and/or Chaotix over to current systems. Or a compilation of the Whitehead versions of Sonic 1/2/CD - but Sonic 1 is already coming to Switch as part of Sega Ages, which would complicate things.

Realistically, I'm expecting the surprise announcements to be licensing based, like the Puma sneakers. Maybe something with Tangle from the comics, since the character has taken off?

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Jingles »

Crazy Penguin wrote:With all the Sonic Mania Plus hype, now would be a good time to finally port SegaSonic and/or Chaotix over to current systems.
Surely it's time for a Sonic R port? It'd be a neat way to promote the new racing game - though, at the same time, it would remind players of the empty promise in the STR logo. :mad:

The version of R on Gems Collection has no real issues and is easily the best edition of the game, so it's not like there'd be a ton of work.

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Wombatwarlord777 »

It'd be interesting to see SegaSonic come to modern systems. The games seems custom made for analog sticks!

Chaotix... Eh... Aside from completion's sake, I honestly don't think it's worth porting over as a standalone rerelease, simply because it's oppressively bland and mediocre for a Sonic game. I think the ideal opportunity for that game was as part of the somewhat oddball Sonic Gems Collection, and that ship has of course long sailed.

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by big_smile »

Naka said that SegaSonic was planned for Gems, but they couldn't get the controllers to work. And it seems Chaotix was planned for Gems too, but I guess the emulation was too difficult for them.

SegaSonic and Chaotix aren't that great games (especially SegaSonic). It's probably better for Sega if they remain unreleased. At least that way, they can keep a mythical quality to them.

Crazy Penguin wrote:Or a compilation of the Whitehead versions of Sonic 1/2/CD - but Sonic 1 is already coming to Switch as part of Sega Ages, which would complicate things.
Sega doesn't have much respect for the remastered versions. Apparently, the latest mobile versions are filled with game breaking bugs. I don't know why they just don't hire Taxman and Stealth to fix things.

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Dr. BUGMAN
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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

The whole "trackball" excuse is a weak one; several famous trackball-controlled arcade games had well-received home ports with non-trackball controls, such as Missile Command and Marble Madness. It's clearly a case of not owning up to not wanting to make a proprietary System 32 emulator (which hasn't seen any home ports/emulations for any of its games to my knowledge), or being too cheap to license MAME just for it. Presumably likewise the 32X. What their excuse for not including Eraser escapes me, but that should've run fine on a standard MD emulator.

And Burton's channel has been uncharacteristically silent lately, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it has something to do with the Traveller's Tales games.

As an aside, anyone else ever notice the Gems version of Sonic R used TT's current logo instead of the fox-thing one originally used therein. Additionally it was a marked improvement over both the Saturn and PC versions. Surely this suggests that Gems Sonic R was a source port and not PC emulations as we've taken for granted? Traveller's Tales was even featured in the Gems-specific credits whereas other original developers were not.

Should it have been obvious that the source codes were extant all along?

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by big_smile »

Eraser was actually supposed to be in Gems and it's menu entry is still left in the game code. Gems even uses a Mega Drive emulator for some of the unlockable bonus games, so I am surprised that Eraser got the chop.

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Crazy Penguin »

big_smile wrote:SegaSonic and Chaotix aren't that great games (especially SegaSonic). It's probably better for Sega if they remain unreleased. At least that way, they can keep a mythical quality to them.
I'm a big believer that video game publishers should keep their back catalogues as available as possible, whether through compilations or digital releases.

SegaSonic is admittedly a bit of a hard sell. It's a 15 minute game, and much of the challenge came from the trackball controls. It has a high score board, but it wasn't really built around high score the way most arcade games of the era were, so replay incentive is limited. But it's an obscure and interesting part of Sega and Sonic history, and the character sprite animation still looks great today, so it deserves to be available in some form. It would be a fine addition to any Sonic or Sega arcade compilation as-is. A stand-alone release however, would probably need some extra game modes (even if just a single-credit score attack) to give it a bit more substance.

Chaotix is substantial enough for a stand-alone digital release, but yeah, is a bit naff. Gorgeous graphics and a top-notch soundtrack let down by barren level design and the fiddly tether system they didn't fully commit to. Christian Whitehead has said in the past that he'd be up for porting Chaotix. I think a better idea would be to improve the buddy system and redesign all of the levels and bosses from the ground up with the existing art assets - and package it alongside the original version. They've already dipped their toes into that water with the buddy system in Sonic Mania Plus's Encore Mode. I'd gladly pay a premium for Chaotix: Good Edition.

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Wombatwarlord777 »

Honestly, with as inspired by Chaotix's art philosophies as Mania was, I'm really surprised there wasn't a level from that game reworked into a retro stage in Mania itself. It's something Sonic nerds would have gladly eaten up. I think Marina Madness in particular could've made for a great second water level.

It could've been like how Generations took Crisis City and said "Okay you guys, here's how you polish a turd."

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

I think the only reason Sonic the Fighters ever had a home release was because the other Model 1 fighters were receiving them around the same time as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series. Presumably StF would've been part of that as well were it not for Iizuka or such deciding to sweeten the pot with other titles, thus Gems Collection. StF was its nucleus.

Traveller's Tales hadn't struck pay dirt yet with Lego, so were small enough to take on such a small project.

Why Sega doesn't touch the System 32 library beyond the initial lackluster MD ports is a mystery. Revenge of Death Adder and Outrunners are highly regarded enough, and if they were republished others would surely follow, including SegaSonic. A Sonic compilation would be a good place for Rad Mobile/Gale Racers too.

(well I think it's interesting)

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Re: Sonic 2018

Post by big_smile »

I think the only reason Sonic the Fighters ever had a home release was because the other Model 1 fighters were receiving them around the same time as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series. Presumably StF would've been part of that as well were it not for Iizuka or such deciding to sweeten the pot with other titles, thus Gems Collection. StF was its nucleus.
Yup, that's my theory too. It was quite a nice gesture as well, as Gems retailed at a similar low price point of the other 2500 games despite having vastly more content (Er, well in Japan and Europe at least. In the USA, it was sold at full price. Although Mega Collection Plus was a budget price title in America and a full price one in Europe, so I guess it evens it out).

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