Sonic Generations

[Locit]

And the Modern Era finally makes its debut. I'm looking forward to Crisis City getting it's due--it always seemed like a decent stage idea when viewed from behind the safety of a let's play. Classic Sonic might look a little weird there fighting Iblis lizards, but whatever. It's also not really clear what the final boss for this section will be. It looks a bit like Perfect Chaos, and even does the eye thing from the SA intro cinema. But it's, uh, scaly.

[Yami CJMErl]

It looks very much like Perfect Chaos to me as well, which is wierd since he's supposed to be the final boss for the Dreamcast Era, with Egg Dragoon supposedly being the boss for the Modern Era.

My theory is either they gave ol' P.C. a major makeover (not too surprising, there were some differences between his appearance in Sonic Adventure and the Sonic X adaptation of said game), or it's a Time-Eater corrupted version of the boss.

[Radrappy]

I hated how crisis city looked. A photo realistic burning city is completely out of character for this franchise (or at least should be). Planet wisp looks identical to its wii counterpart (kind of worse actually) and spagonia returns with those awful automated running forward while enemies shoot lasers at you sequences. Boo.

[Wombatwarlord777]

I'll agree that what little of Crisis City we saw from that trailer was a touch disappointing. It doesn't seem to do away with its photo-realistic look (if any stage was in need of a general design update / overhaul, it was Crisis City) and doesn't seem to add any new graphical touches, as has been done with Spagonia, at least. And then there doesn't seem to be anything special about the way the stage plays. Sonic 2006 suffered from incredibly bland platforming, and I hope that in the end, Generation's Crisis City is a lot more fun to play through.

I do love how the un-industrialized parts of Planet Wisp have been extended. I just hope we don't zip-line over all of it!

[Majestic Joey]

Since that perfect chaos looked a little different, I was thinking maybe they combined perfect chaos with another elemental last boss. Kind of wishing they did not put in so many city levels, if this is a real game about sonic history they should have put in ice cap zone just because the ice level is so overdone in the series. Not that I mind, I would have loved to see some sort of cross between the Sonic 3 ice cap and the Sonic Adventure one.

I really hope people like classic sonic gameplay more so then there won't be any more modern style in the next game.

[Esrever]

I'd have preferred to see Sonic '06 barely acknowledged -- perhaps just with a hilarious one-liner about it being "erased from history" -- but if it had to get a stage, I'm glad it's Crisis City. I know it looks totally out of place, but that's what I like about it. It represents Sonic '06 at it's most stylistically distinct.

Not to mention it's greatest wasted potential! Crisis City could have been to the modern Sonic games what Angel Island Zone was to the classics -- taking the series' most familiar and predictable starting environment and destroying it. Instead, it was... well, OK, I'm not actually sure how it turned out because I quit '06 after the snowboarding level... but it looked pretty lame on YouTube.

Anyhow, I'm with Locit. I think the environment has inherent potential. I hope they actually make something cool out of it this time. It's impossible to tell from the five seconds of footage in that trailer though. As for Spagonia and Planet Wisp... they look fun, and I quite liked those levels, but it hasn't really been long enough to get excited about seeing them again. I'm glad the colour powers are making it in, though! I loved that pink spike ball power. Just wish they could squeeze in the drill somewhere, too!

[gr4yJ4Y]

I wonder if the wisp power-ups being set aside to Planet Wisp will make the level feel more distinct or more disconnected. I was surprised to see them in there (not that I'm complaining).

Perfect Chaos's eye looks a lot worse than I remember it on the Dreamcast. But I'm just remembering it from the GC cutscene/opening and not in game.

[G.Silver]

I'd have preferred to see Sonic '06 barely acknowledged -- perhaps just with a hilarious one-liner about it being "erased from history"

The funny thing is that they clearly aren't above doing that sort of thing, since Secret Rings and Black Knight are no where to be seen.. right? Not that the game needs more forest/island levels, but I sure wouldn't say no to a new Dino Jungle.

[Esrever]

I guess it was just too big a title to ignore. Oh well!

Dinos! Wicked and Wild!

[Radrappy]

Yeah and I have a feeling someone up top at sega really likes Silver the hedgehog because he's been in a shit ton of games at this point (Smash Brothers, Olympics, Rivals 1 & 2, Generations, 06)

Dino Jungle? I wouldn't have said no to that. Or evil foundry. Or levitated ruins. Or Night palace. You guys thought Crisis City had potential? These had potential.

[Locit]

They sure did! But, sad fact: they weren't from a main series game.

In other news, Steam pre-order bonuses for the game have been listed. What's that you say? Sega still hasn't made an official announcement about a PC version yet? Sure they did! And then they took it down.

[Wombatwarlord777]

Dino Jungle? I wouldn't have said no to that. Or evil foundry. Or levitated ruins. Or Night palace. You guys thought Crisis City had potential? These had potential.

Plus, every level you mentioned is actually engaging to play. Crisis City is a dull expanse of bleh, and its unique level theme is pretty much the only thing that sets it apart. Secret Rings needs more love.

[Crisis]

They sure did! But, sad fact: they weren't from a main series game.

In other news, Steam pre-order bonuses for the game have been listed. What's that you say? Sega still hasn't made an official announcement about a PC version yet? Sure they did! And then they took it down.

How bizarre. Why so coy, SEGA?

[Radrappy]

They sure did! But, sad fact: they weren't from a main series game.

shrug. Sega can make it a main series game if they want. People can fume and fuss but Colors is main series canon now.

[Forza Johnman]

I wouldn't have minded Crisis City, if we didn't already have Speed Highway and City Escape. Or maybe even a sort Sonic CD Time Fuckery thing, where you could have a hidden Bad Future sign post in City Escape and it looks like Crisis City.

Surprised they didn't go with Kingdom Valley. Better looking level, could kinda even argue its a new version of Marble Zone. A bit. Certain segments.

And yes, a Secret Rings level should have been in. First game with the whole Sonic's arse thing. But then again a Sonic 3 Level should have been in as well.

[Alexrd]

I would love to see Cool Edge (Day) on this game.

[Majestic Joey]

Hopefully there will be cool dlc.

[Radrappy]

I would love to see Cool Edge (Day) on this game.

what, why? It would be almost identical to the original. I mean look at spagonia. It's more or less a waste of a slot.

[Alexrd]

Hopefully there will be cool dlc.

Hopefully there will be no DLC at all.

what, why? It would be almost identical to the original. I mean look at spagonia. It's more or less a waste of a slot.

Which original? I've not seen any snow level on the game list, and I liked what I saw on Cool Edge.

[Majestic Joey]

Why not any dlc? If the game turns out good, why wouldn't sonicteam (or whoever is making it) make new remade levels for it instead of the developers taking the risk of making a new, bad sonic game with a crappy gimmick?

[Esrever]

I think there's a good chance we'll see some DLC. But I think the most likely candidate is probably a proper Stardust Speedway stage. They've already created the bulk of the graphical assets for the Metal Sonic boss fight, and a genesis-era stage is more likely to appeal to the older-skewing DLC audience. (I assume that's why they picked Metal Sonic and the Death Egg as DLC for Sonic Racing.)

[K2J]

I was under the impression the only DLC that was coming was Casino Night as a preorder bonus. But if we're dreaming, where the hell is the airship stage?

what, why? It would be almost identical to the original. I mean look at spagonia. It's more or less a waste of a slot.

Which original? I've not seen any snow level on the game list, and I liked what I saw on Cool Edge.

"Original" as in the original Unleashed stage. Porting it to Generations would result in a nearly identical stage, since the mechanics are nearly identical, at least for Modern Sonic.

[cjmcray]

I liked Cool Edge when I played Unleashed on the Ps2, but the 360 version of the stage, prettier as it was, felt a bit stale.
I didn't like the level design.

I'd prefer Shamar to be used as the Unleashed stage instead of Rooftop Run. It would give the game a bit more variety. There's already three city levels in the game. Four if you count Chemical Plant.

[Locit]

I dug Cool Edge. The music was great, the ice shiny, and it would make for an easy lead in to an as-good-as Ice Cap Zone.

[Alexrd]

Why not any dlc?

Because I don't want to pay for an incomplete game. If there is DLC, I hope the PC version is released some months later with everything in the same pack.

"Original" as in the original Unleashed stage. Porting it to Generations would result in a nearly identical stage, since the mechanics are nearly identical, at least for Modern Sonic.

At least I could play it on my PC. And being on Generations means we would have a 2D version of the stage.