Super Sonic Galaxy

[Green Gibbon!]

Why do Brits like wasting U's?

[j-man]

We only use them when absolutely necessary. Like our sexual organs.

Why can't Yanks spell aluminium? There's the real question.

[Radrappy]

II loathe the stupid title

I love the title. It really speaks to me.

[Kogen]

I was interested until gaming magazines told me there were no gimmicks and this is the real deal.

Not that I believe them, it is just how they evoke emotions from me.

[Isuka]

(...) back on track (...)

No gimmick necessary.

FRESH CANVAS

Wii, DS

Stringing the Wisp power-ups together creates a combo that increases Sonic’s boost gauge even more quickly.

Sorry Neo, I can't help it.

The one thing about what's been shown so far that I'm not cool with is the concept... which is pretty much all that's been shown so far, so yeah. You see, there are obviously Super Mario Galaxy/ Avatar/ Ristar derivative vibes in the air, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that (other than, ironically enough, nothing fresh to speak of), but I'm, like, really, REALLY thirsty for a new Sonic game. No "creative" plots, no new, contrived game mechanics, just new stages and fine-tuning the original ruleset. I can't remember the last time we had one. The first Adventure had 10 stages, so barring everything else (which was still in a minor proportion when compared to actual Sonic game material, unlike Adventure 2 and everything after it) it was pretty much an actual Sonic game, wasn't it? The Advance ones didn't quite cut it for me, not even the first one since they were stripped from some of S3&K's features (mainly the cutscenes between each zone and, well, the very screen resolution) and didn't add pretty much anything of value, or when they did they did somewhat poorly.

So yeah, this is not what I'm still waiting for... Mario can have as many conceptual deviations and variations as he sees fit since those still end up being great games, even not so popular stuff like Sunshine or the Super Mario Land ones are pretty damn good. But I absolutely need my real Sonic game fix, and it's taking too long...

[Crowbar]

Uh oh! It's cropped off here, but that big image Esrever linked has two sides, and it says "back on track" and "no gimmick necessary." We all know what that means...

Uh oh indeed! Guess it'll be shit after all then.

[Shadow Hog]

But I absolutely need my real Sonic game fix, and it's taking too long...

Isn't that what they're making Sonic 4 for? Either way, regardless of how well it comes out, it's the best thing you're going to get right now.

[FlashTHD]

boost gauge

fffffffffffff

Oh god, just go away.

[j-man]

Why does everyone keep talking about Avatar? I don't really want to know the answer, I just wanted you to know that it's stupid.

Now, about that boost gauge. Sure, it's detestable, etc. But wasn't the point of Sonic, like way back at the beginning, to design a character and style of play that involved smashing through enemies and carrying on, without all the stop-and-pick-shit-up stuff that Mario does? I mean, I wish the motherfucker rolled into a ball more often than he does, but whatever. It'll probably still be Better Than HeroesShadow™ !

but hey guys that's just my humble opinion no offence meant yeah just my two cents kk domo ^^

[FlashTHD]

At least then there was more lateral thought involved in not dying than "hold boost to win".

So many times is Sonic being "reborn" before the advertisers/press people get a clue and think of any other tagline imaginable? 4 years of the same phrases (and variations thereof) gets pretty fucking old and lends the impression that nobody is taking the promotion of this product seriously and neither should you, dear reader.

[P.P.A.]

Those alien designs are really dull and generic.

I'll forgive everything if a stage sports a Chao in Space IV advert though... in space!

[Arcade]

Okey, the only think that makes me happy is that Nintendo has a better quality control from games in its systems than Sony and microsoft, that means the games can still be shit, but they are going to have less bugs than in other systems, wait, there isnt a giant bettle battle in this?

[j-man]

At least then there was more lateral thought involved in not dying than "hold boost to win".

If you just hold boost in Apatos - the first level - you'll die pretty quickly, or at least hit a wall! There's still some balance there, but it still ain't that roly-poly pinball feel we all know and love.

Some news or whatever.
I don't usually get all picky and quotey about this stuff, but I couldn't miss this:

Though this is a Sonic game, Sega will push marketing of Colors toward general, mainstream Wii players

Our source cited Super Mario Galaxy’s universally mainstream appeal, which Colors is internally not trying to accomplish.

HMMM.

Although the Storybook series has been discontinued (praise Allah! etc.) this is being handled by the same team, and as such is an unofficial continuation, if you're desperate to quantify these things. You can just taste the shitstorm this revelation is causing.

[P.P.A.]

I kind of realised that this probably won't interest me at all and neither do I want to see a game truly going back to the roots again. Instead of warming up the past, Sonic should only take the feel of the old games and translate it into a modern context.
To specify it: Speed and freedom. Especially Sonic CD dumped the player into awesome worlds, vast stages that were not mere obstacle courses but places to have fun in. To explore, to dash through, to feel the freedom of movement in, to feel the thrill of blazing through a funky set but also the thrill of curiosity, of exploring a wholesome new place.
Then Sonic 3 & Knuckles became a more conventional platformer sending you through obstacle courses, with hidden corners and a few paths, but failing to recreate the grandness of not playing through a level, but playing in a level. And in SA2, Heroes, Shadow, and Unleashed we end up with narrow levitating rollercoasters, though some of SA2's at least still felt like a coherent world. Actually I think this might be the reason I liked the emerald searching in SA2 and most of Sonic 06 - Though they lacked the excitement of being fast and cool and able to pace around, they at least provided the openness, the space, and the possibility to do it your way.

My ideal Sonic 3D platformer would go like this:

The first stage would be set in a lush forest, full of bizarrely shaped trees. You would run across the overgrown floor between the trees whirling up leaves as you gain speed and at some point the branches of the trees would bend and their leaves rustle as you zoom past them going in zig-zag patterns to avoid the trunks from halting you.
But then you suddenly decide to leap upwards, grab a vine, and swing yourself up to a higher level, where you explore the network of branches, try not to fall off, and leap from one platform made of leaves and wood to another while crashing through the flying badniks buzzing around as between the geometric leaves above them the sunlight reflects on their metal armours. However, you miss a jump or fail to turn around a corner on a lofty wooden path and drop back through the upper levels, past beetle badniks climbing up and down the trunks.
You decide not to charge a peelout to try and zoom through the rest of the forest, but instead you wander around a bit, explore the detailed wilderness, try to crack open a few monitors hidden behind bushes, or take a dip into a lake hidden a bit off the route behind some trees where there rests an extra live at its bottom.
Then you climb back up, this time all the way to the treetops, and spindash and run across the intersecting speedy lanes of branches. After a while they stop and you leap down the thinning rows of trees before they open up into a vast field. Without obstacles you pick up more and more speed, brush through the multicoloured grass, and- ...run off a giant cliff.
You catch a magnificent view of the next level before you fall down, the camera turning the other direction, upwards, showing the endless blue sky which serves as a background for the calculation of your time and ring bonuses.

Act 2 starts with you still falling. You see a ramp-like formation in the rock and figure that you could curl up into a ball and use it for a spectacular leap, but instead you decide to steer towards a few platforms sticking out. Safely landing on them, you hop onto others hovering in the sky, chains binding them to the cliffs surrounsing the valley you find yourself in. Curious what these chains lead to you hop onto them as they lead you to said cliffs.
There, narrow paths wind carved into the rock. After carefully walking on them you become more confident and pick up speed, still wary of falling off though. You go faster and as the paths end sometimes you evade onto the hanging bridges spanning the valley. But oh no, you just missed one! No problem, you're going fast enough to just use the slight slope to run up the wall and keep going at a 90° angle.
You fail to evade the shot of an incoming badnik however, and tumble down. Ouch. You managed to grab on to a floating platform, but realise that it hovers on a lower level than the one you were speeding on before. Fortunately a bit further you see a spring which could propel you upwards again. But before it seems like you have to make a number of precise jumps, and avoid a few patrolling badniks. You could also continue below, but as you look down you realise that this might be harder as the bottom of the valley sports unwieldy rock formations and also a fair number of dangerous spikes.
Managing to reach the spring with sweaty hands, you ascend again and land on another bridge. You wonder who built them as their purpose must be fairly limited, seeing how they twist and turn, cover great vertical distances at times, or even cross one another. After having experienced the lows of the Act, you long for the freedom of the sky again though and, instead of trying to dash up the rock you now feel a bit too insecure to use a particularly steep bridge as a ramp to jump up to the floating rocks still lingering above and cross the wide distances between them by bumping off badniks or leaping from peelouts or spindashes.
Eventually, one crumbles right below your feet however. You notice how you lose control as Sonic falls down, grabbing a bridge which also breaks, finally grabbing on to a pole. Sonic's finger slips though, and he is torn away by the river which former from all the waterfalls and small streams which lined the valley up until now. His letting go sets the pole in motion, and as Sonic is drawn out of the picture the camera pans out and reveals the spinning pole to be that of a signpost. Cue score screen.

Act 3 starts with you being shot out of an underground stream, skidding along a bit of wet rock, and stopping to see the place you have been carried to. A vast underground cave, with waterfalls, and the overgrown ruins of a civilisation long past which left only their seemingly impractical and convoluted architecture behind.


Did you notice how in S1, SCD, S2, and the 8-bit games Sonic doesn't stop at the end of a level to stand still and do a stupid pose? He keeps running, off the screen into a new experience in his adventure.

[Ngangbius]

I don't get why are they stating specifically targeting children for this title. Hasn't Sonic's main audience been kids anyway with some overlap with teens and adults?

I don't understand why Sega believes Sonic titles should be separated in specific demographics, instead of trying to appeal to everybody like the Mario franchise?

[gr4yJ4Y]

I'm, like, really, REALLY thirsty for a new Sonic game. No "creative" plots, no new, contrived game mechanics, just new stages and fine-tuning the original ruleset. I can't remember the last time we had one.

I'd really like to see Sega give the Sonic Adventure/SA2 Sonic-gameplay another go, but I don't see that happening in the near future. All that it needed was some refining and a good level designer (Not that the SA/SA2 levels were bad). Can you imagine a new game of just SA/SA2 Sonic-gameplay with a good game engine and well laid out levels with themes that haven't been done to death?

I'm still holding out to see what these Colors games are all about, despite the Nintendo Power durrhurr and the TSSZ article. The official stuff we've heard from Sega so far sounds okay.

[K2J]

I don't understand why Sega believes Sonic titles should be separated in specific demographics, instead of trying to appeal to everybody like the Mario franchise?

Mario is a general character. Sonic is a specific character tied down to attitude, which varies across demographic. The only way to reconcile this would be to make Sonic a character that doesn't speak and doesn't have an in-game story, forcing the player to empathize his own perceptions onto the character. Like that would happen!

I'd really like to see Sega give the Sonic Adventure/SA2 Sonic-gameplay another go, but I don't see that happening in the near future. All that it needed was some refining and a good level designer (Not that the SA/SA2 levels were bad). Can you imagine a new game of just SA/SA2 Sonic-gameplay with a good game engine and well laid out levels with themes that haven't been done to death?

I hope you weren't expecting much out of reuse of the SA1/SA2 gameplay mechanics; the last time Sega tried to emulate these concepts, we got Sonic 06 (a very obvious SA1 take-off) and, to a lesser extent, Shadow the Hedgehog (which is sort of SA2-based in terms of level design and gameplay, in my experience).

As per usual, I'll be posting NP scans as soon as I get the magazine. But spoiler alert, it looks like the writing staff's resident Sega fanboy is writing it, so expect it to be overwhelmingly positive.

[Segaholic2]

Okey, the only think that makes me happy is that Nintendo has a better quality control from games in its systems than Sony and microsoft, that means the games can still be shit, but they are going to have less bugs than in other systems, wait, there isnt a giant bettle battle in this?

Besides being flat-out wrong, this is one of the most idiotic suppositions I've ever seen anyone make.

[Kogen]

Whoa-whoa-whoa, big posts here! I hope you people realise that you are putting more thought into this than the actual developers.

Apparently (assuming TSSZ is right about something and not lying to get hits) the game is being developed by the fine chaps who made Black Knight. So expect it to suck on Wii and maybe be somewhat alright on DS solely due to DIMPS (if you like any of what they do).

[Radrappy]

The black knight team? Shows over folks. Guaranteed suck.

[Ngangbius]

Wouldn't it also guaranteed to suck even if the other half of Sonic Team made it instead?

[Radrappy]

Well I guess that depends on how you felt about the 350/ps3 versions of sonic unleashed. Whereas Black Knight has been accepted by all as a steaming pile of shit, the quality of Unleashed is at least up for debate.

[Yami CJMErl]

I like how the NP article says "no gimmicks" when we ALREADY KNOW that there is, indeed, one (being the "Power Mushroom" aliens) present.

[Crisis]

I gather other people find this whimsical, but I find something innately offensive about this game, just as much as Shadow or Black Knight. Perhaps it's the generic alien characters or the jaw-droppingly obvious name or the pathetic attempt to impersonate the colourful atmospheres of the classic games. At least I know it's by the Black Knight team so I can safely dash all my hopes for the next year or so.

Why did they cancel the Storyboard series? I could get behind that. It seemed to sell well and it helped Sonic Team reach their shittiness quota, so that the rest of SEGA could work on real games or fund outsourced projects that had a chance of being good. Additionally, some people liked Secret Rings. (Although apparently the honeymoon is now over since Black Knight, objectively the better game as far as I can tell, had a pretty abominable reception.)

[Neo]

the pathetic attempt to impersonate the colourful atmospheres of the classic games

Okay, hold it right there. What the fuck? So the more realistic environments suck because they're realistic, and the more surreal environments suck because they're trying to mimic the surreal environments of the original games?

You sir, should run into a bullet.