Shorts - Shadow/M-Flo Promotion · Rush CD · Mobile Europe

[Plorpus III]

Well, if you don't mind lag, polygons, and the occasional freeze-frame, go for it. I didn't get to play Shadow on Gamecube, but I'd guess that it's a bit better. Can never tell for sure though...
I honestly think I gave the wrong impression on Sonic Rush. Sure, it's got a cheesy story, but it's better than heroes. It may not be on par with the classics we know and love, but this is as close as you'll get. It's different. You may not like it. But it's fun. It's a good game, but all I'm saying is that if you're stuck in the past, it will never hold a candle to the originals. It's not 1994 anymore, guys. Sure, I miss those times, too. Of course I like the original games the best. But no matter what kind of game is made, it will never be worthy in your eyes if you only long for the past. You can tell there was alot of effort put into this game, and it's better than most of the newer platformers out there. It's a good game, Sonic or not. Stop holding it to a ridiculously high standard and just enjoy the god damn thing.

Shadow does pretty much suck though.

[CM August]

I wouldn't consider S3&K a ridiculously high standard. Just sayin'.

[Nova]

Is fun? That’s all I really want in a game, may rent it and see if you are right.

[Frieza2000]

Shadow has regional soundtracks?

[Professor Machenstein]

Beating up enemies with the environment is fun, but Shadow slides around the level really fast when you tilt the control stick, causing many a death by bottomless pit.

I thought SEGA fixed that right after E3 2005. People complained that controlling Shadow felt too slippery, so SEGA supposibly decreased the acceleration to make controlling Shadow easier. Like, did Shadow really go into full-speed just when you tilted the control stick? That doesn't sound like decreased acceleration to me, assuming the original acceleration wasn't even more instantaneous in the E3 version.

I also pressed Up, Down, Left, Right, X, and Start to see what would happen, and oddly enough, it accesses the debug/level select. None of the levels work, but I managed to see what all of them were. The most interesting ones were the GUN base, Black Doom's base, 2 different ARK levels from the past, and ARK ruins. Pressing select supposedly took you to "last scenario," bu it just crashes like the rest.

Yep... The same thing happened to SuperDragon of the Sonic Stadium MB when he played the Shadow alpha at GC2005 in Germany a couple months back. He said when he selected the last scenario, the game crashed. He seemed to have the same exact problems you had with the build you played. *Insert cliche "wait for the final product" comment here*

I'm glad you enjoyed Sonic Rush. Blaze seems to be a pretty cool character after all. She has a "super" form too, eh? That's another one to add to the list. I've seen screenshots with Cream siding with Blaze... Yeah, what's with that? Is Cream the alternate-reality Tails?

Shouldn't a series become BETTER as it progresses?

Not precisely, no; once a series is established, it is destined to have its up's and down's. The Sonic series had an up (Sonic 1-3&K), a down (The Saturn era, where Sonic was virtually non-existent), another up (The Dreamcast era, with Sonic Adventure), a down (Sonic Heroes), and possibly another up (Sonic Rush - Sonic the Hedgehog). It's like this with every series. What matters is whether or not the developers of a series learn from their mistakes. Clearly, SONICTEAM has failed to do even that... Unless any of their upcoming products show some real progression this time.

It may not be on par with the classics we know and love, but this is as close as you'll get. It's different. You may not like it. But it's fun. It's a good game, but all I'm saying is that if you're stuck in the past, it will never hold a candle to the originals. It's not 1994 anymore, guys. Sure, I miss those times, too. Of course I like the original games the best. But no matter what kind of game is made, it will never be worthy in your eyes if you only long for the past.

As much as I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement, I don't see why we have to worry whether or not Sonic Rush is on par with the classic Sonic games. Why not look at it as it is, a whole new game, instead of just something trying to be pre-1994? You know, that's what the problem is with the Sonic Advance games; just by looking at them, we assume they're just attempts at trying to be like the classic's... But, they're really not. They're new games... To be played in a fresh new perspective. If they entertain, they succeed. In other words, they just have to be fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Senbei]

I really agree with most of that, especially the new-old games statement. However, I don't think it applies to the Advance games, because their level pattern (in 1 & 2, anyway) were far too similar to the patterns in S3&K, starting in a forest/beach environment and ending in a space level, complete with rehashs of old '90s bosses. It seems pretty obvious that they were going for a formula that had worked in S3&K, but failed.

[j-man]

...once a series is established, it is destined to have its up's and down's. The Sonic series had an up (Sonic 1-3&K), a down (The Saturn era, where Sonic was virtually non-existent), another up (The Dreamcast era, with Sonic Adventure), a down (Sonic Heroes), and possibly another up (Sonic Rush - Sonic the Hedgehog). It's like this with every series. What matters is whether or not the developers of a series learn from their mistakes.

Well said, that man. Machenstein for the win.

[firemario1001]

You can make a Sonic game with one way linear levels in which all the player has to do is hold right and hit A a few times and people will call it a masterpiece.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

The 16-bit Sonic games may have been jumping and moving right, but they were also about...well, I guess I'd say atmosphere. The sheer variety of levels is part of the old Sonic charm; casinos, mountains, pinball arenas, underwater mazes, icey caves, factories, outer space. The music was also part of the game; calm, more somber levels would have music to match, while others, such as Metropolis, would have this rock-snyth sound to it. There were secret paths, hidden codes, Special Stages, multiple pathways, and speedy gameplay. It was also generally easy, so that people of all ages could enjoy it.

This kind of charming atmosphere does not exist in any Sonic game as of Sonic Adventure 2. Now it's all rock music, rap, in-your-face dialogue, rails, Chao raising, and gimmicks. Any video game company can conjure up mediocre platform games; just ask Capcom. It's what you do with what you got that counts.

And Sonic Team hasn't done a damn thing in that respect since 1998.

[Professor Machenstein]

Okay, so the Sonic Advance games weren't a good example to prove my point. But still, Sonic Rush looks more promising as a whole new game altogether than just an imitation of the classic Sonic games. That's all I had to say.

Oh, and well said, Tsuyoshi-kun.

[Baba O'Reily]

This topic was misleading, because I was expecting a lovely discussion about A Farewell to Kings or even Caress of Steel.

[firemario1001]

Yes, atmosphere is the most important aspect of video games. You can join on either side of that whole gameplay vs graphics argument, but when it comes down to it, you want a game that just pulls you in because the levels have this great architecture and feeling to them. Making video games is just like composing music and painting a potrait- it's an art.

[Owen Axel]

Yes, atmosphere is the most important aspect of video games. You can join on either side of that whole gameplay vs graphics argument, but when it comes down to it, you want a game that just pulls you in because the levels have this great architecture and feeling to them. Making video games is just like composing music and painting a potrait- it's an art.

It also helps if it's fun to play. Worth a jolly good time and all that.

I've seen enough absolutely gorgeous games with incredible depth of story, which turn out to be painfully tedius just to play through between cutscenes.

[Crazy Penguin]

What matters is whether or not the developers of a series learn from their mistakes. Clearly, SONICTEAM has failed to do even that....

That's exactly the problem though. They've been breaking things that weren't broken and not fixing things that were.

[Frieza2000]

They're new games... To be played in a fresh new perspective. If they entertain, they succeed. In other words, they just have to be fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

I disagree for the following reason: It's Sonic. If you want a fresh new perspective, don't make a sequel. Make something new. If you completely abandon what you started with, it's not a sequel. It's a new game with the old game's name. I'm tolerant of ups and downs, but recent games retain almost nothing of the originals. If Sega wants to release bad platformers with corny stories, they should end the Sonic series and start a new one. That's unrealistic, but it's what I want.

You might argue that Sonic is a franchise not a series. Ok. A franchise doesn't have to keep the same gameplay style. But it should keep the same aura/atmosphere. That's what made Sonic stand out to begin with, and it's gone now. And if it doesn't come back in Sonic NextGen I doubt it ever will, etc.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

If you completely abandon what you started with, it's not a sequel. It's a new game with the old game's name.

This is exactly my problem with Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes; they're not really Sonic games. Only 20% of the levels in SA2 starred Sonic, and Sonic Heroes is Lost Vikings but in 3-D. Sonic has to share the spotlight with so many others now it's no longer his franchise.

This is why I'm looking forward to next-generation Sonic the Hedegehog, and to a lesser extent, Sonic Rush, for they will actually star Sonic.

[Frieza2000]

We can infer from this interview that Sonic Next isn't Sonic alone.

GameSpy: Most of the recent Sonic titles have featured Sonic with a large cast of supporting characters. Is there any chance that, in the future, you might want to do a game starring Sonic alone again?

Naka: We have given it some thought, yes. But you see, "volume" seems to be a big thing in games these days. The media's always going on and on asking about every single little thing about a game. "Who's in it? How many stages are there? What are the play modes?" It's practically all I ever hear! And the Sonic world has a bunch of established characters, so if we did a game with just Sonic ... I can already hear people saying, "But where's Tails? Where's Knuckles? Where's Shadow? How does he do this by himself?" And then I'd have to explain, "No no, see, it's just SONIC this time." But yes, it is a challenge I'd like to do. After all, the games in the series since the first have been constantly introducing and adding new characters, so maybe Sonic deserves some "alone time" again.

Because he says he'd like to do it, not that he's doing it now. I guess Sonic might still be the only playable character, but it doesn't sound that way.

[Professor Machenstein]

Let's think for a second. What are the best 3D mascot games out on the market today? Jak? Ratchet? Sly Cooper? And tell me, how many characters are in each of those franchises? The amount doesn't have to be precise. Just estimate. Okay, now how many playable characters has there been in those franchises? One. Sure, there are parts where you play as Daxter, Clank or whatever, but that's only once or twice in the entire game, and to do some puzzle or maze chase. The whole entire city of characters in the Sonic universe isn't the problem. I've told you all that already. What matters is that Sonic [or Eggman] get the most spotlight (A minimum of 80 percent of it, a minimum). I doubt that a game called "Sonic the Hedgehog" wouldn't give Sonic the most spotlight. Besides, Shadow the Hedgehog stars Shadow, and he's the only playable character in the game. I hope the same will apply to Sonic in STH '06.

[Zeta]

Actually, I think the most recent Sly Cooper game has six+ playable characters. Sly, Bentley, the hippo, a lizard, a witch doctor, the fox girl and someone else.

[Delphine]

Actually, I think the most recent Sly Cooper game has six+ playable characters. Sly, Bentley, the hippo, a lizard, a witch doctor, the fox girl and someone else.

Are you shitting me? And the first game was so much fun. *sigh*

[Zeta]

Are you shitting me? And the first game was so much fun. *sigh*

What can I say? Naka was actually right on this front. People are demanding more in quantity, playtime, and extras over quality of a shorter experience. Not that the two have to be mutually exclusive, mind you.

And yes, in Sly 3 you can play as Sly, Bentley, Murray, The Guru (witch doctor koala bear), Penelope, Panda King, Dimitri, and Carmelita.

[CM August]

Okay, now I'm confused. The Sonic Heroes Museum page asserts that limited space is the reason Gamecube didn't have Japanese audio, but I've heard assurances that it was merely because the Xbox and PS2 versions were delayed further. This is troubling to me because I don't want to be stuck with the abhorrent English voices.

[James McGeachie]

Not knowing where else I should post this, I'll mention this here as there seems to be a fair amount of Rush discussion in this thread already.

Gamespot have updated with a new Rush review as well as 4 new gameplay videos of the game, which show off some new zones, including a Casino stage (which I hear is originally titled "Night Carnival"). The preview seems incredibly positive as a whole, but then again from what I've seen, most sites really seem to have no idea what fans of the originals, who've been disappointed with recent attempts, actually want from a new 2d Sonic game.

The preview can be found here and the gameplay videos on the media page.

[Esrever]

Oh, Shadow. Not even IGN can write a positive-sounding preview for your game.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/660/660521p1.html

[CM August]

HOLY SHIT, CHARMY'S VOICE. KILL IT WITH FIRE.