Guess the Sonic Generations Stages

[Dr. BUGMAN]

4) Sonic Adventure: Sky Deck
I can sense some of you pulling away from me, but just hear me out.

I thought that there'd be no way the game would go without a zone archetype as iconic as 'flying ship', but, as great as Flying Battery is, it'd have to take a back seat to Lava Reef. Sky Base is from the bastard 8-bit era, Wing Fortress is one act (lawl), and Heroes had other zone archetypes to fulfill,leaving Sky Deck the only logical choice. Le sigh.

[G.Silver]

I don't think "chances to fix what was broken" is really what they're going for. But, like The Doc said, being in the Hedgehog Engine is going to fix a lot of problems, though it also means any levels from SA or SA2 are going to feel very, very different from their original, relatively free-roaming forms. I picked Sky Deck because even if it didn't work very well, it was an amazing stage. The final segment remains one of my favorite "3D" moments, as the ship tilts back and the level you were just in becomes something completely different. it's something I think more games should have done, even if it would be hard to implement. With modern tools it should be easy!

[Zeta]

I will state, for the record, that not only do I not like this structure, I doubt that it's actually what they're going to be doing. Only time will tell.

It would be a fine structure if they did not skip so many titles and actually included a stage from EVERY main series game. One stage from Sonic 1, 2, CD, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic 2006, Secret Rings, Unleashed, Colors, 4, and a handheld game of their choice (I guess Rush 1 or Rush 2 would be the most popular and obvious) would give them a wealth of variety instead of all of this "generic city scape" stage's that comprise the majority of their list.

So does this mean Launch Base is exclusive to 3DS, too? Because I'm starting to feel that the 3DS iteration of this game will be miles ahead of the console version of this list.

[Esrever]

But that would also be 14 different environments! Which would be great, but that's a lot more than we typically see in 3D a Sonic game.

I wonder if the "modern" stages in the 3DS version will be drawn from the Advance and Rush series?

[Zeta]

Since everyone is going to post this now, here's what I would have WANTED to see from the game (but using the structure of but a single stage from each game but not actually leaving shit out):

Classic Era:
Sonic 1 - Green Hill Zone
Sonic 2 - Chemical Plant Zone
Sonic CD - Stardust Speedway
Sonic 3 - Ice Cap Zone
Sonic and Knuckles - Sandopolis Zone

Middle Era:
Sonic Adventure - Speed Highway
Sonic Adventure 2 - Green Forest
Sonic Heroes - Bingo Highway
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 - Crisis City

Modern Era:
Sonic Rush - Water Palace
Sonic and the Secret Rings - Night Palace
Sonic and the Black Knight - Camelot Castle
Sonic Unleashed - Dragon Road
Sonic Colors - Planet Wisp
Sonic 4 - Lost Labyrinth

I wonder if the "modern" stages in the 3DS version will be drawn from the Advance and Rush series?

It would be interesting of the 3DS limited itself to only 2D Sonic stages, which it's looking like it might.

But that would also be 14 different environments! Which would be great, but that's a lot more than we typically see in 3D a Sonic game.

True, but they need to shave shit off of the stage's content anyways for gameplay gimicks that won't be in this game (like the buddy system from Heroes). They could even vary the length of each stage for Modern Sonic vs Classic Sonic depending on the era.

[Crazy Penguin]

The guy who originally posted the stage list has now said that his source was full of shit.

[Radrappy]

The guy who originally posted the stage list has now said that his source was full of shit.

And a collective sigh of relief was felt throughout the fandom. I won't be surprised though when the actual list isn't so different.

[Zeta]

Thank god.

[K2J]

I don't see why Sonic Heroes would be included as a Dreamcast era game.

I wouldn't include it in the Unleashed-era stuff, either. To me, Classic = Spin Attack, Adventure = Homing Attack, Modern = Boost.

[Zeta]

I wouldn't include it in the Unleashed-era stuff, either. To me, Classic = Spin Attack, Adventure = Homing Attack, Modern = Boost.

This is my take, too. Hence including Sonic 06 along with Heroes and the Adventures.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I think of Heroes, Shadow, and 2006 as their own dark little era.

[Farmer]

I think of Heroes as the anomalous bastard child. It didn't really play like any other game in the franchise.

[Zeta]

I still kick myself for thinking when I was 12 that the Heroes gameplay design would be a good idea.

[Radrappy]

To be fair, it was coming off the heels of SA2:B which I'm sure your 12 year old mind perceived as a bonafied masterpiece. I know mine did.

[Ritz]

Still sounds like a decent enough idea to me- push a button to change characters and access different paths. There's no reason why it couldn't work in theory. Heroes would've sucked with or without multiple characters. Shadow was worse, and you can't really blame the guns for that.

Personally, I'm still kicking my 14 year old self for thinking Shadow could've been fun because it was Heroes with just one character. That was literally my worst Christmas ever.

[Farmer]

Even though it's clearly a horrible game - again, the anomalous bastard child of the franchise - Heroes is still sort of a guilty pleasure. I thought the environments were nicely thought out, and the level design - before Rail Canyon, anyway - wasn't anything too offensive. The great soundtrack didn't hurt its chances either. It might even have risen to the ranks of 'alright' had they hired an actual writer.

[FlashTHD]

Heroes would've sucked with or without multiple characters. Shadow was worse, and you can't really blame the guns for that.

No you can't, but it was dramatically less glitchy than Heroes and still managed to be (probably by accident) entertaining and enjoyable in a sort of cheesy, mindless way. Heroes just either puts me to sleep or does something incredibly stupid to piss me off. So does Colors, in almost the same ways. Boy, so much progress since 2004 amirite?

If I remember right, Radrappy will appear shortly to snort at me or act all pissy, like the last time I said something in defense of the Shadow game.

[G.Silver]

I still kick myself for thinking when I was 12 that the Heroes gameplay design would be a good idea.

To be fair, it was coming off the heels of SA2:B which I'm sure your 12 year old mind perceived as a bonafied masterpiece. I know mine did.

Personally, I'm still kicking my 14 year old self for thinking Shadow could've been fun because it was Heroes with just one character.

Sonic 2 came out when I was 12, and not being incredibly disappointed by it is my small consolation for you guys suddenly making me feel really old.

[Wombatwarlord777]

Oh, yay. Now we've moved onto the stages we actually want. I've actually been thinking about this!

Green Hill Zone, Sonic 1 - It's a classic, and aside from not much in the way of innovation, it looks really good from the looks of it so far!

Casino Night Zone, Sonic 2 - This stage is personally the most fun "pinball stage" in my opinion, having good aesthetics while also balancing platforming with pinball-like gameplay. Aside from Emerald Hill, it's prolly the most popular stage in Sonic 2. Modern Sonic could adapt some elements from Casino Park / BINGO Highway to make his gameplay more interesting here.

Ice Cap Zone, Sonic 3 - Again, this stage is perhaps the most iconic, or at least the most memorable, from it's respective game. And it'd be a shame not to include at least one (functional!) boarding stage in Sonic Generations!

Lava Reef Zone, Sonic and Knuckles - The zone already has some of the best gameplay elements in the history of Sonic ever, and, as a lot of you have mentioned before, is integral to the plot that spans from Sonic 2 to Sonic and Knuckles. And I'd love going from an active volcano to crystallized caverns to the original Master Emerald shrine once again. Also, the Death Egg should be featured prominently (perhaps even triggering volcanic activity / a boss battle as it did in the original game)!

Stardust Speedway, Good Future, Sonic CD - Although I didn't care for the spaghetti level design of this stage, I thought it did everything else right to make it my favorite of the aerial highway stages, especially in its future rendition: Gorgeous, colorful graphics, awesome music, some great gimmicks. Maybe Metal Sonic could be raced here again (maybe appearing in a space-time fabric rip to the stage's Bad Future). The remade stage would feature new gimmicks incorporating the Good Future's implied carnival elements, such as Ferris wheels, roller coasters, etc.

Lost World, Sonic Adventure - Again, one of the iconic stages of the game, with an ancient-ruins theme that hasn't been featured in the stages I've suggested before. The wall-tile gimmick and perhaps the rock-snake (re-purposed from its original role in the water-raising room, maybe swimming against a current while Sonic must remain above water to avoid getting swept away) could make for memorable segments. If the developers feel obligated to insert a stage with water mechanics, Lost World could be a potentially good choice. Should end, of course, in the mural room.

Final Rush, Sonic Adventure 2 - My apologies to all the Radical Highway fans here, but the ARK was what stuck out most in my mind when playing SA2. It's perhaps the most expansive space station we've yet visited (both inside and out), and in a game that was remarkably realistic and gritty for the series, easily the most imaginative and colorful thing in the game. That and Final Rush featured great level design that, in all honesty, probably wouldn't be too hard to translate into something fun for Modern Sonic. And I'd like to see how a Genesis-style run of that stage would play out. A reversed gravity stage would be fine placed in Final Rush.

Egg Fleet, Sonic Heroes - I like Sky Deck, but Egg Fleet takes everything about it and makes it more exciting, making for great gameplay challenges late in the game (in this sense, I do actually think that bottomless pits would be a good gameplay element to include here). I do like the way the Egg Carrier tilts to radically change the way its level is played in Sonic's latter part of that stage in SA, so perhaps one or more of the Egg Fleet's larger flagships could do the same. Also, the beginning would feature a Sky Pursuit-esque minigame where Tails and Knuckles use the Tornado to get the Sonics into the Fleet and infiltrate it.

Radical Train, Sonic The Hedgehog - In a game where the level tropes and aesthetics are painfully bland, Radical Train is one of two that strikes be as innovative and fun to look at (the other one would be Crisis City, but since Sonic '06 didn't happen and all that, I assume that we can only travel to modern Soleanna and not its demon-infested alternative future). I mean, a train placed over the cliffs of a vast-but-lush canyon with bits of decaying infrastructure acting as platforms to advance to otherwise inaccessible parts sounds, at least on paper, like a really cool idea, and here's the chance to prove it. Nice music, too. I don't think good gimmicks and level design would be so hard to create, given that conceptually the stage has a lot to work with in the first place. Sections of Soleanna's old castle would be visible in the distant background. Elise would not have to show up.

Scrap Brain Zone, Sonic 1 - Obviously fills the "Eggman's Base" level that is essential in this game. It was also arguably the most sinister and distinctive of Eggy's various centers of command (barring Eggmanland, but that's too recent for me to consider), and with it's array of traps would make a frenetic, exciting final stage. My reimagined Scrap Brain would extend beyond what was seen in Sonic 1: We would eventually get to see various conveyor belts manufacturing robots, inserting animals into them, and their broken remains being melted down.

Doomsday Zone - Again, it's a final boss, set in space, with Super Modern / Classic Sonics weaving through asteroids to pursue Classic Dr. Eggman in his escape robot. After he's destroyed, Modern Eggman appears in some other machine, revealing himself to be in on the plot, and another boss battle ensues, conveniently after both Sonics power down.

Also, I'd like to see Special Stage-esque segments connecting each timeframe (i.e., each stage) to the next, particularly based upon Sonic 2 / Sonic Heroes's special stages. Could be fun.

That'd be it. Other stages I'd consider might be Night Palace and Digital Circuit. Those were the best stages from their respective games.

[cjmcray]

Phew! I'm glad that list turned out to be fake. I'm sure Sonic Team



Wouldn't


Do


Something


That


Stupid.

[Radrappy]

If I remember right, Radrappy will appear shortly to snort at me or act all pissy, like the last time I said something in defense of the Shadow game.

Well maybe I wouldn't if you weren't such a silly goose all the time. Liking Shadow the Hedgehog and shit.

[gr4yJ4Y]

Also, I'd like to see Special Stage-esque segments connecting each timeframe (i.e., each stage) to the next, particularly based upon Sonic 2 / Sonic Heroes's special stages. Could be fun.

I wonder if they'll bring the Heroes-esque special stages over to the HD versions, like they're doing on 3DS. Those could had been fun if they gave you better control over your character as they go around the tube and your teammates weren't bouncing around like mad as you boosted. Actually, my guess is they'll have Sonic 2-style Special Stages for classic Sonic and Heroes-style Special Stages for modern Sonic.

[Wombatwarlord777]

Actually, my guess is they'll have Sonic 2-style Special Stages for classic Sonic and Heroes-style Special Stages for modern Sonic.

Both of those stages strike me as almost too similar, except that you stick to the walls in Heroes and have to chase down a Chaos Emerald, which I found as infuriating as the cruddy controls. I'm kind of boggled that the screenshots for the 3DS version of Generations implies that they're bringing that back...

The problem is, of course, that there aren't really many examples of good special stages in more recent Sonic games. The variety I'd throw my support to would be something like that in Sonic Advance 3. It's also more differentiated (if only slightly) from those featured in Sonic 2. Or on the 3DS, Sonic 1- and Sonic Rush-type special stages.

[Zeta]

The idea of a "special" level divorced from the main game is pretty out of date, unless you want to rebrand it as a minigame or something.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

The idea of a "special" level divorced from the main game is pretty out of date, unless you want to rebrand it as a minigame or something.

Here's a statement that needs elaborating on. How is it out of date, and who hasn't thought of them as minigames?