Sonic Generations

[gr4yJ4Y]

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#!

STOP PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS! I CAN'T AFFORD BOTH THIS AND UNCHARTED 3 ON THE SAME DAY! WHY SONY? WHY SEGA?

[Neo]

(what type of instrumentation produces that, anyways?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestra_hit

Welp, I might actually buy this. Between Super Mario 3D Land and Zelda Skyward Sword, here's hoping they have one of those crazy Steam promotions where they slash the game's price by half not too far from now.

[Team Mecha]

Mega huge spoiler alert: Pre-final boss cutscene.

[Neo]

Sonic 4 theme song!

[Yami CJMErl]

Sonic 4 theme song!

Hahaha, oh MAN. Out of all the places to add a reference to that game, I think I expected it there the LEAST.

Also, I like how they made this game a DIRECT sequel to Colors.

[M.C.Dillinger]

The music for modern seaside hill is giving me the memories of sonic heroes. That's just wrong!
Sonic Heroes was the game where everyone had a lobotomy.
Sonic Heroes was a game that talked down to the intelligence of whoever pleaded it.
Sonic Heroes was a lousy game.
In Sonic Heroes having anything that left me feeling cheated and violated.

On top of that I keep playing the demo even though I don't consider the game to be very impressive from a design standpoint.

I refuse to believe that Sega and sonic team made this. This must be some kind of black magic to steal my soul and convince me I like Sex and the City!

[FlashTHD]

I found direct rips of all the music from the leaks and listened to most of it. It's, um... random.

Almost entirely remixes of course, but the quality is all over the place. It'll swing from Fat Sonic having great music to Skinny having a crappy flat-sounding version (Sky Sanctuary) and vice-versa (Planet Wisp). Outside of the stages from the genesis games, Fat Sonic's BGM isn't particularly "classic" in any regard besides the occasional use of that drum snare, which is kind of a wasteful choice. There's also a lot of miscellaneous mixes that I presume are for the missions... Stardust Speedway (US) Bad Future and a couple others really stand out, but many of the rest are, I swear to god i'm not kidding, so chintzy they sound like they were crapped out in MIDI.

The soundtrack is as polarizing as the game, really. I've discussed it with others and there's not a whole lot of agreement of which stuff is great and which sucks, which I do not see as a positive thing to be happening. I will say that one consistent problem with it throughout is a tendency to tone way down the kick that some songs originally had, to varying extremes - Sky Sanctuary and Speed Highway's 3D versions particularly, and Crisis City is neutered even worse to the point where it's lost a massive chunk of excitement. Alternatively there are some instances like 2D Chemical Plant where they'll add some new instruments, but take some of the original sounds and almost mute them in exchange.

Basically it's a mess, and consider this a heads up to those having a orgasm at the music that you may want to curb your enthusiasm a bit. There's still excellent songs in there, but lumped in with stinkers galore.

[FlashTHD]

Would also like to note that Sonic 3's menu theme on violin is a snazzy little suprise. Wish they were that clever the rest of the time.

[Radrappy]

are you gonna pick up a copy Flash? Out of curiosity.

[Team Mecha]

Also, I like how they made this game a DIRECT sequel to Colors.

Speaking of direct sequels.

[K2J]

Like I said in the Colors thread, I'm hesitant to believe this, if only because they mention Nintendo's involvement. Unless of course this turns out to be an equal exchange for another F-Zero, in which case, I'm all for it!

[K2J]

Edit limit:

That includes the use of the Wii U mini-tablets for up to a 4 person multiplayer

As of E3, Nintendo didn't have plans for multiple tablet-controllers at the same time. It's not too unlikely, but again, I'd err on the side of rumor.

[Farmer]

As of E3, Nintendo didn't have plans for multiple tablet-controllers at the same time. It's not too unlikely, but again, I'd err on the side of rumor.

I said this when it was first announced, but I'd bet money that the tablet-controllers for this thing are going to be expensive enough that few people will have more than one, if Nintendo even sell them separately. It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo's developer guidelines made a specific point of this.

[Yami CJMErl]

Also, I like how they made this game a DIRECT sequel to Colors.

Speaking of direct sequels.

I'm not sure what to think of this, apart from SEGA has apparently been reading one too many of the Archie comics (specifically the bit from the Sonic X comic where there were all the multicolored Sonic clones).

[Wombatwarlord777]

There's a whole slew of Generation's extra music at the AestheticGamer's YouTube channel. Check the uploads tab. I was especially glad to see a Route 99 remix. Not so much that I like that song, but moreso in that I appreciate that they've reached for the more obscure parts of the Sonic franchise when choosing content for this game.

The ending cut-scene is on the same channel if you scroll down through his uploads a bit. Modern Sonic serves as the inspiration for Classic Sonic to start homing-attacking. OMGtimeparadox!

[Locit]

IGN has its review up. 8.5, "great." Video review here. I know this is IGN, whose reviewing scale starts at 7, but the entire review is so completely permeated with enthusiasm that it's hard not to take heart. Plus there's this bit at the end regarding the review format:

Editor(s) note: Initially, we set out to review Sonic Generations from two different perspectives, with Jack focusing on the modern Sonic sections and Brian focusing on the old school sections. But the more we played, the more we both realized that the two sides of Sonic come together as a much more cohesive package than we initially realized, leading to us to come to almost exact conclusions.

So, uh, yeah. Some people enjoyed this game. News at eleven.

[Alexrd]

OMGtimeparadox!

Indeed.

[Blount]

I spoiled a couple of cutscenes for myself and I liked what I saw. They had the same lighthearted humor from Sonic Colors without the odd cringeworthy moment or two. Tails's reaction to the pink water from Chemical Plant is a clever and subtle throwback to the players' experiences with it. The dialogue was definitely written for fans and there are even more callbacks than I expected.

Other than most of the platforming being relegated to the classic Sonic, this game's hitting all the right notes for me. Even the level list doesn't seem like a problem anymore, now that we've seen how many new things they've added to keep each level unique.

So much better than that other anniversary.

[Neo]

So much better than that other anniversary.

Surely you mean the one about that blonde chick you play as which got mistaken for a guy, and not the one about that blonde chick which got mistaken for the guy you play as.

[James McGeachie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4LGUJ ... re=related

This is the best remix ever right?

[Wombatwarlord777]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZgRLLtL ... ideo_title

Hearing the jaunty-sounding Balloon Park remix in the bleak hellscape of Crisis City brings about a feeling that can only be described as the best cognitive dissonance ever.

Vector there chucking Sonic about only makes it better.

[Esrever]

Really surprised by the number of Sonic 3 multiplayer tunes that snuck into the game. (Pleasantly surprised, though! They're some of my favourites.) That's a pretty hilarious pairing, though!

The soundtrack as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag, but that's always the way when you're taking the all-remix approach. Inherently, every single song is going to set up a little contest in your brain between it and the original version. And sometimes, it's going to lose that contest. I mean, you'd probably think Modern Planet Wisp was amazing if it was the first version of that song you'd ever heard. But it's not! So it doesn't have the impact. It just triggers your inner nit-picker. (Well, it certainly triggers MINE.)

My favourites are the ones that dodge direct comparisons by shifting into radically different styles. LOVE the big band Casino Night, the HUB music, the string versions of the Sonic 3 menu and Door Into Summer, the rock-and-horns GHZ, the hyper synth-pop Escape from the City, the crazy dance Speed Highway, and the string-and-piano Rooftop Run. It's also always fun to hear the stuff from the classic era, like the Sonic 3 multiplayer tunes, fleshed out with modern instruments. The "regular" versions of modern era songs, on the other hand, don't really have anywhere to grow and don't make much of an impact.

All and all, I think it's pretty good for what it is. There's a few duds and a few "why bother" barely-changed tunes, but there's a lot of good stuff too. (At least in the game proper. Some of the unlockable tunes are just hastily updated replicas with new sound libraries and should probably have just been left alone.)

Can't really comment on the gameplay, though. I'm avoiding watching any of the footage folks are recording at home... I feel like I've probably spoiled enough of the game already!

[Popcorn]

My curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded the demo. It was weird. Uncanny, even. "Classic" Sonic didn't feel remotely like Sonic to me. It felt slow and floaty and the scale is all stretched. And they've got the Sonic model all wrong. He's too cute and dumpy, too mid-90s CG. If they're going for a classic look, I'd have preferred Sega to model it off the Sonic 2 title screen, not the Sonic 3 one. (Did anyone like that Sonic 3 title screen?) It annoys and depresses me that the fans are being so easily seduced by this cheap imitation, this cynical appeal to our emotional triggers. Why do we want this, exactly? We already have the classic games, and they're better.

"Modern" Sonic I don't know what to think about at all. I'm so completely out of touch with Sonic (the last one I actually bought was SA2!), I've no idea how it plays these days. I guess it plays like this. It felt like a driving game or something. I was completely nonplussed. A unique sensation of recognising something and yet finding it completely unrecognisable. I don't know if I've ever had a sensation of going from total brand loyalty to complete disconnect... so different from playing Shadow or Heroes and thinking "this sucks! I'm gonna post on the internet about it!" - nothing so passionate as that. Not even feeling, like, anger or disgust, just feeling... totally numb. Like: this is beyond me.

I'm getting old.

[Majestic Joey]

I'm getting old.

This game has been giving me that feeling. The thought of this being Sonic's 20th aniversery means I have been playing Sonic games for 20 years.

[Emperor Omochao]

I think Sonic Generations will win over fans of classic Sonic who aren't placing Sonic 1 or 2 on some rediculously high pedestal. These fans should probably accept they won't get what they want, because what they want kept the same and what they want to be 'original' is totally specific to them as individuals and will not please everyone or may even be seen as a negative by other folk. I'd like to think this game could be considered a classic in the future.

Or at least in 20 years time people will be saying 'but it's just not as good as Sonic Generations'.