Sonic Generations

[gr4yJ4Y]

Sonic 2 is the one I've played the most. Sonic 1 requires more focus and S&K3 is too long, while Sonic 2 is a decent length and pretty automatic for me at this point. I'm not really sure how I got here though.

Do I smell a poll?

[Farmer]

I'm not sure about that moustache, I don't really see it. Which may be a good sign.
Either way, that's actually pretty badass for a Sonic villain. The last I can think of was Dark Gaia who looked, well, stupid.

[Emperor Omochao]

I guess what I was trying to hint at was that, even though Sonic 1 was the first game I played back in '91, to be honest I don't think it's all that great. I played it again recently after many years and its just not one I want to go back to. I then moved on to Sonic 2 which I found better in many ways but S3&K is just in a different league for me. Yes it's epic, but I've played it a couple of zones at a time and even now I find the odd route I haven't seen before. As for SCD, it's like whatever S1 or S2 was trying to be, SCD did it better- much better.

I totally understand if fans of modern Sonic just don't get Sonic 1, they could get as equally annoyed with the Marble Zone boss and all of Spring Yard/Labyrinth Zone as I was and not in a 'this is challenging' kind of way. Hopefully, people who do like the older games can at least begin to see why other people might prefer the more recent games like Rush and Colours especially compared to Sonic 1 and 2. And if anything were to make newer Sonic fans appreciate classic Sonic, it would be S3&K or SCD and not S1 or S2.

[Radrappy]

as I sat here listening to the nakamura demo version of Starlight Zone it occurred to me just how crazy it is that Starlight isn't in generations. Crisis city. But not Starlight. What the fuck Sega.

[Esrever]

I love Starlight, but I feel like between Stardust Speedway and Speed Highway, that archtype is pretty well covered. I hope they sneak the music in somewhere, though!

What I'd really have killed for is Spring Yard. It's my favourite Sonic stage. It's funny... the original Sonic the Hedgehog was my least favourite when I was a kid, but over the years, it's worked it's up to the top of my list.

I know I've said it before, but that game just really revelled in it's physics engine in a way that none of the other titles ever tried, letting it loose in levels with far more geometrically distinct construction than anything that came after. The curved ditches and long, long slopes of Spring Yard. The boxy, entirely slope-and-curve free brick tunnels of Labyrinth zone. The spherical treadmills of Scrap Brain. The 360 loops of Green Hill and Starlight and... and the other stages didn't even have loops, for goodness sake! And all these weird and unique constructs allowed you to interact with the running and rolling physics in different ways. (Ways that the spindash would make pretty much redundant.)

It's slow and weird, but it's got a real purity to it, and an unbridled inventiveness that I really like it. Even though I wouldn't really want to go BACK to games like that, I love going back and seeing just how many different things Sonic used to be, back when there was no established "Sonic formula" yet.

[Radrappy]

the archetype might be covered but the music, dear god the music. Speed highway's music is just junk. I don't even know what to make of it. Hearing it in the ending medley was really abrasive. I like spring yard too but it's just not iconic enough for a compilation game like this. It would be in Sonic Generations: Oddball Zones along with Hill Top and Sweet Mountain. I agree about sonic 1 as well. It may not be my most played but it's really a wonderfully solid title. I always felt a little odd playing Sonic 2 because of sky chase zone and always felt a little overpowered playing S3&K. Sonic 1 is the real deal.

[cjmcray]

I played the Generations demo (classic) at WalMart today. It played exactly like the Genesis classics. A huge improvement over Sonic 4. The only thing that bugged me was that Crabmeat looked.. off, and it felt like there was a lack of enemies. Incredibly easy. But it's only the first stage, so that's to be expected.

My sister, standing behind said she doesn't get why people like Sonic. "Too much spinning and rolling. That's all you do." I tried to explain to her that only the Rush/Unleashed games do that, and the Genesis ones didn't rely entirely on speed, but she just shook her head.

[Crowbar]

But rolling is pointless in Rush. :/

I hope your sister is young because that's quite a silly way to criticise a game.

[Crisis]

Sonic 3 and Knuckles is my most played, but as a result it's the one I actually like the least, precisely because I've played it front to back until I got completely sick of it. Sonic 1 is probably my favourite now, even though (or perhaps because) it's the one I've played the least. It's a very interesting game mechanically (although S3&K probably has the better level design; they had the multiple route thing down to an art).

I've never been able to really get into Sonic CD. Since beating it once I've never been able to bring myself to do it again. I can't quite put my finger on why that is, though.

[Wombatwarlord777]

I don't really have much to add to the discussion of the classic games. I will say that S3+K is my favorite because it's aesthetically beautiful and has this great story that culminates superbly (assuming you're playing the whole thing as Sonic). I'll admit that Sonic 1 is better structured as a videogame as far as difficulty and level design goes. I've never cared for Sonic 2. It's level tropes and graphics are less remarkable than that of S3+K's, and I can always go through it as easily as shit through a goose.

Sonic CD is another matter entirely. for me. It's less about going through levels to the end than exploring them. I really like it for that, but because of that think it's kind of unfair to compare it to the other titles.

[Neo]

I'm probably a boring 3 > 2 > CD > 1 guy. That's not to say that Sonic 1 is a bad game, but it is the one I like the least. Sonic CD gives me pleasure more due to the drug-induced graphics and music, and Sonic 1 has a bit too many bumps that lessen the experience for me, like the horizontal speed cap and the walking jump bug. Oh, and fuck Labyrinth Zone's boss.

I do wish we had a chance to have more games without the spin dash, though. Come to think of it, that's probably one of the reasons I enjoy the 8-bit version of Sonic 1 on its own right. That and the decent level design. On that note, fuck Sonic 2 8-bit in its entirety.

[FlashTHD]

On that note, fuck Sonic 2 8-bit in its entirety.

What? You don't like Scrambled Egg's chute switching puzzles that occasionally lead to nothing but stabbity pain?

[Esrever]

Well, it looks like Speed Highway stage will have a nod to the "At Dawn" segment at least graphically. Kinda looks like the sun is going to rise over the course of the stage.





They've done a pretty good job of visually fleshing this stage out. I mean, you go back to the original Speed Highway now and realize it was basically a series of tubes and the occasional windowed-cube over top of a blurry JPG of buildings. The Generations version, on the other hand, looks like how I remember thinking it looked. (Although I'm sure that deep down inside, it's STILL basically just a series of tubes and cubes.)

More shots of Speed Highway, the Shadow boss fight, and the 3DS Radical Highway stage can be looked-at over here:
http://www.4gamer.net/games/131/G013139/20111021026/

[K2J]

Rehosts of those images if you're too lazy to press enter again:

http://i.imgur.com/3i2In.jpg (includes Skyscraper Scamper-esque sign references)
http://i.imgur.com/qtqg6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kGl3X.jpg

It's a cool idea. But that page also has me wondering: why is City Escape appearing here on the 3DS version?

[Wombatwarlord777]

Some of those new Classic Speed Highway screens are giving me a great Starlight Zone vibe, especially with the girders and the way the level seems to descend down through them.

I really hope that Crisis City turns out to be as interesting as Speed Highway looks now. That's one stage where there isn't anything to lose for trying some new concepts.

...I just noticed the Volkswagen-esque van that used to be in the At Dawn area still cruises about in one of those screenshots. That's a nice touch.

[Locit]

Rehosts of those images if you're too lazy to press enter again:

SO.

PURDY.

[Yami CJMErl]

I find it hilariously homage-licious that, judging from the screenshots, the intro to the Shadow fight is basically an HD remake of the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle intro movie.

[Crazy Penguin]

I opt for Sonic 1 when I want a quick playthrough and Sonic 3 & Knuckles when I have the time to really sink my teeth in. Sonic CD can be enjoyed both ways. Poor Sonic 2 falls somewhere inbetween and doesn't have as strong an identity when compared to its siblings. Still the best 2 player mode the series has ever seen mind you.

Much as I adore Sonic 3 & Knuckles, each time I replay it I become increasingly aware of how bad of an idea it was to have Special Stages and Bonus Stages during the levels rather than between them as a palate cleanser. It's disruptive, sloppy, and throws out far too many rings and power-ups. Sonic 1, whilst not necessarily the better game, is certainly the better balanced and structured.

[Neo]

Much as I adore Sonic 3 & Knuckles, each time I replay it I become increasingly aware of how bad of an idea it was to have Special Stages and Bonus Stages during the levels rather than between them as a palate cleanser. It's disruptive, sloppy, and throws out far too many rings and power-ups. Sonic 1, whilst not necessarily the better game, is certainly the better balanced and structured.

I never ever play any of the bonus stages, and I rarely go for the Special Stages nowadays. Super Sonic was fun when I was 10, but then again so was using the debug mode for hours at a time.

Maybe it would be interesting to know everybody's playing habits within each single game, too?

[Wombatwarlord777]

Whoa. Major spoilers in this series of YouTube videos. If you don't mind watching a tiny television screen, that is.

Crisis City, at least as far as Modern Sonic goes, is fairly bland, as I feared. There's a few new fire-based gimmicks, but it mostly seems to be weird 3D platforming and springing all over the place. Which is better than the original Crisis City, at least! The soundtrack has been remixed to emphasize the string instruments a little more and downplay the ominous-sounding beats (what type of instrumentation produces that, anyways?), which makes it closer to '06's general musical feel, for me at least. Generation's Crisis City does have one '06-sized loading screen, as well.

I love, however, the new Perfect Chaos battle. It's a mix between the original battle (except that this time stopping on the water can kill you, obviously) and these new 2D platforming sections where you must scale nearby buildings to get a hit on Chaos from above, while Chaos flings elemental shit at you from the background. It has checkpoints and everything and almost feels like a regular level.

[Radrappy]

guys. guys listen to that sonic 3 menu music.

http://www.mediafire.com/?87c54f2nmobgy5n

glorious.

[Locit]

Dammit now Best Buy is apparently breaking the street date. And I'm not even there to enjoy it early!! What's a fella in China to do?

EDIT: HOLY CRAP THE SKILL SHOP BGM

[cjmcray]

So I hear there is an "Open your Heart" remix for the Perfect Chaos fight. Yosh! I was worried they were just going to use Perfect Chaos Phase 2's music instead.

I'm holding off on playing the game until Christmas. I think I would enjoy the experience more to wake up on Christmas morning and play it.

But man oh man, is it going to be hard to resist the urge to play it until then.

[Crowbar]

Holy dicks those music samples are making me feel something that resembles joy I think.

I feel like not watching that big Youtube spoilers video. I think the time has finally come for me to enter the current console generation and I intend to actually enjoy this game come what may.

[Esrever]

Here's the new Door to Summer! I don't know why, but I feel like someone here might be excited to hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFAqHPFC ... r_embedded#!