Super Sonic Galaxy

[Esrever]

So, there's a few really blurry photos of the Nintendo Power preview... much too blurry to have the slightest clue what's going on in the Wii version. But you can make out enough of the DS screens to see that it's a new Sonic Rush game.

I know some of you are going to groan at the thought of a Sonic Rush 3, but me... I'm thrilled. SRA is still my favourite 2D Sonic since the originals. A different style of game, sure, but it was fun and had cool, generally well-balanced levels. I kept looking at Sonic 4 and wondering how it could possibly be the product of the same team. Well, uh... I guess it wasn't, because they were probably working on this!

[Radrappy]

With regards to the home console version, I REALLY hope they make use of the engine from the wii version of unleashed. Despite what much of the sonic community will insist, it was the superior version based on tight controls alone. I have never felt so in control of sonic during a 3d game even if he handled a little bit more like a vehicle than anything. It's hard to tell what exactly the game is going to play like based on these blurry screens but this is a little disturbing



simply because in a game like this, the camera should never be where it is in this shot. Unless, on the very unlikely off chance that this screen represents a transition between 2d and 3d gameplay.

[Neo]

I wish they would stop giving two obviously different games the same exact title. It didn't work in 1992 and it doesn't work now.

...wait, ah, was there an attempt at a penis joke in your post?

No, I just wanted to fix the horribly mangled quote. Whenever I feel the urge to stick in a penis joke, I'll just stick it in.

[MiraiTails]

I see what you did there.

[Kogen]

Phallic-insertion references are quite the lark, ho ho!

And about the game: yes, it is queer to give the same title to different things. Why not shove a 'Sonic Rush 3' in there somewhere, like in a sub title? Colours to me is looking to be Unleashed 2, minus the Werehog everyone (by this I mean people who never played it or those who love going down holes as fast as they can) hated. I might get the DS one for the sake of having another DS game (I barely use it any more), but I will pass on the Wii one. The first three games never convinced me to like what these people do and I doubt this will either.

[gr4yJ4Y]

Sonic Rush 3, eh? I'm excited for it, but my enthusiasm isn't nearly as high as it was when Sonic Rush Adventure was first announced. Maybe the whisp things will spice things up enough to keep the boost formula interesting. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the touch screen minigames in this one.

You can clearly see how they're integrating the theme park-theme into the levels. I'd guess that it uses the Wii Unleashed engine judging by the information given. In the first screen, it looks like there's 3 UI items in the top left corner, another in the top right, and the boost gauge at the bottom - which is similar to what Unleashed had, plus possibly the whisp ability.

[Crazy Penguin]

So, there's a few really blurry photos of the Nintendo Power preview... much too blurry to have the slightest clue what's going on in the Wii version. But you can make out enough of the DS screens to see that it's a new Sonic Rush game.

I know some of you are going to groan at the thought of a Sonic Rush 3, but me... I'm thrilled. SRA is still my favourite 2D Sonic since the originals. A different style of game, sure, but it was fun and had cool, generally well-balanced levels.

I'm entirely with you on Sonic Rush Adventure, but still not sold on the idea of this being a mere "handheld version" rather than a completely separate game. That screenshot of Colours DS has me a little worried that they might go back to generic enemies, rather than Zone specific baddies. As far as I'm aware the big console Sonic games haven't had Zone specific enemies for a long time, and I imagine that Colours Wii and Colours DS will likely have the same enemy roster.

[K2J]

As per usual, I will post complete scans when I get this month's NP.

[K2J]

Addendum: someone else has (readable) scans, but they're still a bit blurry. I'll post mine when they come so you can see the screenshots / don't have to parse words that are cut off by glare. In the meantime:

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg65 ... 1275514661
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg65 ... 1275514711
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg65 ... 1275514763

Looking good, to be honest. As long as they don't pull a Mario Sunshine and make all the stages too similarly-themed. Or if the execution is bad. But what are the chances of that happening?

[Zeta]

There's a stage where Sonic runs on a giant hamburger. I'm sold.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg65 ... 1275514711

Shades of Stardust Speedway. Maybe a giant graven Robotnik statue, too???

[Ritz]

Wow, I actually made it through the screenshots stage and the game still looks and sounds good to me. Like, really good. The franchise hasn't even managed to positively pique my interest since Heroes, but here, I've skipped over the "cautious optimism" phase entirely and I actually sort of want to play this. I mean, I doubt it's going to be 80+ material or anything, but when the Unleashed day stages were (allegedly) solid enough to be enjoyable, there's virtually no way this could actually be a bad game at this point.

What the fuck do they think they're doing?

[Esrever]

Well, I like the art direction! Much better than the previous Wii Sonics. I hope it doesn't play like garbage.

[FlashTHD]

but when the Unleashed day stages were (allegedly) solid enough to be enjoyable

Allegedly would be the operative word. On 360/PS3 they were Sonic Rush's kids alright: flashy and initially kind of impressive, and then after a handful of plays you never want anything to do with all but one or two of them again except when you're that bored. That and it's almost always just shy of being all QTE, literally and practically. This isn't an exaggeration. I don't know as much about the way it was handled on the Wii (not vastly different), but seems to me, the "daytime stage" structure is more appealing to people on paper than it actually is.

I'm going to point to what Gibbon said a while back about Toy Kingdom re: the food level. Common sense is telling me this is an omen with cop lights and siren attached.

[Radrappy]

The unleashed wii day stages are great. I'll say it again, they're probably the best thing to work in 3d since SA2. The complaints about lack of obstacles and wide open tracks are precisely what makes the stages so damn playable in the first place. There is nary a bottomless pit in sight until the last few levels. I also hope drifting comes back. How did you guys even feel about drifting for sonic in general? Or hell even the quick step?

[j-man]

Wii Unleashed is getting cheaper and cheaper, and I need something to take the taste of Secret Rings out of my mouth. Worth a purchase?

[Radrappy]

clearly I believe so. The handling takes a little getting used to, but once you've got it down I think you'll be genuinely surprised at how right it feels. Keep in mind though, werehog segments still suck. And they're built up of about 3 segments each giving the illusion that they're twice as long than they actually are. If you can nab it for around 15 or 20 US dollars I'd say go for it.

[j-man]

It's not usually much more than a tenner, which sounds about right. I was going to trade some stuff in, but the rates are utterly ridiculous. Might give it a look, then.

[Frieza2000]

This is indeed the first time since Heroes that the very premise of a Sonic game hasn't evoked a knee-jerk reaction of nerd-rage from me (I think SRA's had something to do with Marine, or just that it was another Rush). I had just been thinking that a planet hopping adventure would suit Sonic well, and they've wisely chosen not to attempt to complicate it with a detailed story. The powerup gimmick could work. I think my only complaints are that the aliens are ugly and eggpawns still exist. Much like Sonic 4, this could come down entirely to level design and physics.

[FlashTHD]

The complaints about lack of obstacles and wide open tracks are precisely what makes the stages so damn playable in the first place.

If empty levels are the only way it works then i'm thinking that's a problem, dude.

How did you guys even feel about drifting for sonic in general? Or hell even the quick step?

Worthless gimmicks. Neither of them were ever useful or necessary except in very obvious stretches of level where they demanded you use them, which is what I meant by the thing being a constant QTE. It's like "uh oh, very wide and sharp corner coming up! Well gosh darn will I hit the drift button combo this time or let Sonic smack his face into a fence/pit?"

Keep in mind though, werehog segments still suck. And they're built up of about 3 segments each giving the illusion that they're twice as long than they actually are.

I watched some of those. Worst grasp of gameplay flow ever. In some places you literally kill a bunch of enemies, take 10 paces down the straight path and *SAXAPHONE* whoop there's those force fields again.

[Arcade]

Want to know Sega main target with Sonic?

Five year olds= Colors= Wii and Ds games

Angst teens= Shadow+ Violence+ Guns+ swords?

Furries= All of the above plus romance plus Sonic and a teenager human girl

So which one are you?

Looking at the Sonic games I own, I guess five year old...

[Kogen]

http://i49.tinypic.com/wi5vl2.jpg

So, hmm....

I think I am done with the series. It had a good run, kind of.

[Crisis]

Just chirping in to say that a single one of those screenshots on their own would have been about twenty times as interesting an introduction to the game than the teaser video.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I hope drifting comes back. How did you guys even feel about drifting for sonic in general? Or hell even the quick step?

I liked the quick step. Every once in a while there'd be too much going on or I'd be going too fast and an enemy or spikes would be right in front of me. The quick step gave me the option to dodge the obstacle and keep going.

I never really got the hang of the drift and I don't think I'd really miss it if it was gone. I could see why they put it in, but I felt like it never gave me as much control as it should have. It only got in the way for a few portions though, so I didn't mind it too much.

Colors looks like it's essentially Sonic Unleashed 2, just without the werehog, the addition of new power ups, and in less realistically themed environments. I'm okay with that because Unleashed was the closest we've gotten to the atmosphere of Sonic Adventure. A whole game with just speed levels should be enjoyable, even if it isn't a return to SA/SA2-hedgehog gameplay.

Hopefully Iizuka is working just in the background and not hands on...?

[K2J]

Check the interview for yourself; he seems to be at a conceptual stage, not an implementation one. He also apologizes for the franchise dropping the ball in the past half-decade. Someone beat me to the scans:

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Of note is that extra characters (besides Knuckles and Shadow) will, if at all, appear in the DS version only, and one of the eight planets sounds like it's based off of Metal Sonic.