The Next Sonic Story

Emperor Omochao · Post by **Emperor Omochao** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:23 pm

I notice many people have been analyzing how the gameplay of new Sonic games compare to the old genisis ones, particularly Sonic Advance 3 (which I'm finally getting tomorrow). Hopefully by the current trend the gameplay would be comparable to, dare I say, SCD by Sonic Advance 5 or 6 but something that hasn't really improved in my view is the story.

I mean, remember with S3&K, you had a strong continuation from last game, a character with a (comparitively) in-depth background and levels that reflected the story.

Now they just seem to use, reuse and re-reuse that template to the point where you have a story thats exactly like the last, a new character with a very weak 'personality file' and levels that make no sense at all, with no sense of location.

I mean wouldn't SAd2 have been so much better if Cream had a really in-depth backstory that justified why you had some weird levels such as a particular location (so far a disappearing planet and a floating island; something imaginative). Or if you didn't have Eggman decide to go to his monthly 'escape to space' plan on his millionth flying fortress? Or even a small explanation as to why every single character always makes an appearance?

It's just lost meaning really...

It would only take 2 seconds to come up with some degree of originality for a Sonic story:

e.g. the start of the story being Sonic is imprisoned in space (hence the space level as the first one) escaping the fortress via a plane sent to Angel Island to steal the M.E. (hence Knuckles is now involved in the plot) and maybe have the final showdown on a green hills type level.

A very rubbish, more to the point, original plot for say Sonic Advance 7 (i.e. by the time they perfected the gameplay and consider the plot once again).

BTW, what did everyone think of SAd3's 'plot' compared to SAd2's one?

Post by **Popcorn** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:32 pm

I had this idea for a Sonic plot a while ago... basically, Sonic would have to make sure Eggman didn't get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds-- and the last level would be in space. And the first level, would be, like, this tropical beach thing... it'd be kinda cool.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:54 pm

You stole my idea!

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:22 pm

Eggman decides to forgo using the Chaos Emeralds and use nuclear fusion to power his superweapon. While Sonic is out and thinking he's winning by "preventing" Eggman from getting the Chaos Emeralds, Eggman finishes his weapon in record time and blows the crap out of everything.

That or . . . SONIC IN SPAAAAACE!

Seriously, though. How about a game in which Eggman uses the Chaos-trappy ritual thing to transport Sonic into the Chaos Emeralds themselves? Then Sonic finds himself trapped inside of an illusionary magical world and has to deactivate the 7 Chaos Emeralds from the inside out. Each Emerald a seperate stage, of course.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:27 pm

Popcorn wrote:I had this idea for a Sonic plot a while ago... basically, Sonic would have to make sure Eggman didn't get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds-- and the last level would be in space. And the first level, would be, like, this tropical beach thing... it'd be kinda cool.

As a surprise twist, Sonic should become Super Sonic at the end.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:32 pm

I'm sick of Super Sonic. Mostly because you only get to use him in the final stage. Damnit. If I complete all the Special Stages, I should be able to blast through all the other levels as Super Sonic, too! I want to fly and cackle, mad with power as I slice through robots like a hot knife through butter!

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:48 pm

But you ARE a robot!

Post by **Pepperidge** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:54 pm

In all seriousness, I had a cool premise for a storyline in mind involving Metal Sonic taking control of the Master Emerald and blowing shit up, but Sonic Heroes has pretty much eradicated any chance of that working. Though I have been considering doing a short fanfic series called "Sonic Heroes: The GOOD Version", but I seem to be lacking inspiration at the moment.

I still think they should try and reintroduce the Battlecocks.

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 5:04 am

Zeta wrote:I'm sick of Super Sonic. Mostly because you only get to use him in the final stage. Damnit. If I complete all the Special Stages, I should be able to blast through all the other levels as Super Sonic, too! I want to fly and cackle, mad with power as I slice through robots like a hot knife through butter!

I loved the IDEA of playing Super Sonic at any time in the earlier Genesis games, but I never actually used it much, simply because the invincibility jingle annoyed the fucking hell out of me, playing over and over and OVER!!

At least Sonic 2 had an original theme for Super Sonic, but why did Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles just have to go with the neverending nerve-scraping jingle?

Emperor Omochao · Post by **Emperor Omochao** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 5:21 am

I actually have an old favourite in terms of a good plot...some of you probably have heard me mention this one:

The Master Emerald appears to be a conscious being, granting wishes and giving Knuckles clues to how he can repair it.

As a story maybe we could see Eggman try to destroy it completely so nothing can stop him as he already has all 7 Chaos Emeralds locked away safely in his secret Base. The Master Emerald senses this and decides to go insane, capturing Eggman inside it along with all of Sonic's friends. It then decides to use Angel Island to destroy the planet.

Sonic is left wondering what to do...

Meanwhile the Chaos Emeralds start to glow and levitate and finally rip through the secret Base. As Sonic is wandering around, the Chaos Emeralds find him. They then begin to morph into 7 creatures, a cross between chao and Chaos.

They each go with Sonic and give him varying powers (7 different states for partner-gameplay) so he can help them turn on their Master.

In the final showdown the 7 Chaos creatures merge and fight with Sonic to try to neutralise the Master Emerald this time...

Psxphile · Post by **Psxphile** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 9:25 am

I'd like to seem time travel return, but not necessarily as a gameplay gimmick.

Time Stones need more exposure. Little Planet can play a small part, as Angel Island tends to play a small part in Sonic Advance 1 & 2.

While we're at it, why not re-introduce Fang?

Post by **G.Silver** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 1:13 pm

When Sonic 2 was coming out they (game magazines or some such, EGM I think) were already talking about time travel and how there would be all these prehistoric levels and Flintstones-esque brontosaurus speedways and stuff. In retrospect, that sounds stupid to me now but back then I was disappointed that there wasn't anything like that.

Post by **Esrever** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:35 pm

In the back of my head, I have a completely fleshed out 3D Sonic game, complete with storyline and level sets for 8 playable characters. Pretty sad, eh? Long story short, it was a retelling of the "Death Egg saga" that just expanded some of the pre-Sonic 2 and post S&K events to include characters like Fang, Mighty and Ray in small portions of the game.

You guys have all seen Roujin Z, right? (And if so, did I spell that correctly?) As a kind of side story, I had an idea of a Metal Sonic that is so obssessed with killing Sonic that it begins to continuously "upgrade" itself every time it is defeated by building on to itself with whatever random junk is lying around. Perhaps by encorporating the husks of other defeated boss robots, etc. So, with every iterration, he'd be larger and tougher to fight... kind of like Chaos was. If the end of the "Sonic" portion of the game was destorying the Death Egg, then the "Final" game would be fighting a huge-ass Metal Sonic that had encorporated the entire Death Egg, and the Master Emerald, into itself.

Before Sonic Heroes, it was easier to think of a humongous Metal Sonic being cool, instead of looking like some kind of fucking mutated shellfish.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:53 pm

In Metal Sonic's defense, I think he arbitarily decided to use a lot of data he collected from Espio and Big in his transformation. Which is why he looks like a giant demonic Sonic with the lower half of a fat-ass lizard.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 5:02 pm

He is meant to look a bit like Perfect Chaos, isn't he?

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 11:32 pm

This is kind of weird, but I sort of have an idea for the solo story of an Espio spin-off game.

Basically, we find out that the current ninja-like Espio is actually the tail of the original Espio. That is to say, the original hot-head Espio got his tail cut off and the current Espio was regenerated from it. Anyways, the original Espio comes back for revenge along with Mighty and together they kidnap Charmy and Vector - forcing Espio2 to fight through an army of lizards and armadillos to rescue them and have a show-down with his father. *nods*

So the clone ninja Espio tails (pun intended) Espio I and Mighty accross the world. He starts off with only the ability to spin like a tornado and walk on walls. But as the game goes on, he gains a gatana, smoke bombs, shurikens, sniper arrows, and the ability to dash at high speeds, dash in mid-air, use his lizard tongue like a grappling hook and whip, teleport, duplicate himself, and of course go invisible. With gameplay that's like a cross between Sonic, I-Ninja, the Prince of Persia, and Devil May Cry.

Eventually, EspioII corners EspioI on the rooftop of a Japanese night-club and EspioII uses his superior skills and his Hatori Hanzo blade to decapitate EspioI, but is it really all over? Dun dun dun!

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 1:42 am

Green Gibbon! wrote:He is meant to look a bit like Perfect Chaos, isn't he?

I dunno if he is or not, but that thing I fought at the end of Sonic Heroes did not look like Perfect Chaos at all. The fucker could fly.

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 3:53 am

The only thing about Metal Overlord that seemed Chaos-y was his ice crystal attack.

You know what? Coatl serpents are just plain cool.

Emperor Omochao · Post by **Emperor Omochao** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 5:43 am

Maybe the next Sonic game should NOT have Tails, Knuckles, Amy or Cream mentioned or referred to in anyway.

It should be Sonic, a new strange place with an interesting background or history, that involves a special object/feature alongwith a new character.

Obviously an older character involved for Sonic to put up with.

Pretty good template in my books.

-wyvern · Post by **-wyvern** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 9:41 am

We don't want any more characters, dammit! Big the cat gets away with it because he's cool, but he's still insuitable for a sonic game. But cream is inexcusable. Do you want to risk a cream? Do ya?

Kishi · Post by **Kishi** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:17 am

Bad characters would be tolerable if they adhered to the old system wherein the supporting cast was new with each game. For a long time, if a character wasn't Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Eggman, he didn't stand a good chance of appearing more than once (not counting "side" games like Drift, Fighters, etc.). So, if you hated Amy or Vector, you could at least count on the series to move on and away from them.

These days, it's like they feel obligated to keep as many characters as they can in the spotlight, even if it means pulling stupid stuff like bringing back the dead (Shadow) or introducing a character designed just like a deceased one (Omega). I was actually pleased to see some restraint when it seemed like Amy was a no-show in Advance 2, but that certainly didn't last long.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:55 am

It's a marketing thing. The more characters you have, in general, the wider the appeal. Sonic himself is probably less popular today than alot of the supporting cast. As long as the kids want Shadow, they will get Shadow. The money must flow. It sucks, but it's nothing new, particularly not in this industry.

Emperor Omochao · Post by **Emperor Omochao** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:56 am

Well, I really meant a new character for the plot, or progress of the game...

Like Knuckles in Sonic 3, which he wasn't playable in.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 12:59 pm

Sonic 3 was designed with the intention of Knuckles being playable.

Post by **Delphine** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 1:14 pm

You mean *gasp* StH3 was designed to lock-on to S&K? LIAR!

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