The art and visual style/direction of the Sonic series topic

[Chaos Warp]

So this topic is to discuss anything about the various visual/art styles over the years in the Sonic franchise. What is your favorite style, your least favorite, how you would improve something, anything goes in this topic, as long as it has something to do with the art and visual style/direction of the Sonic series.

Here's my two cents. I'll talk about my favorite art style:

My favorite art style was Sonic Heroes's. Colorful, vibrant and surrealistic, it invoked memories of the Genesis games and was beautiful at every turn. Unleashed was also good looking, but I dislike the realism they were going for. At least they made it cartoony, and that I can tolerate, but I still prefer a surreal style. I think it fits Sonic better. It's not that I hate realism, I don't think it should dominate the entire game, ala Unleashed (I can live with that game's realism because it is cartoony, but I still prefer surreal). Generations looks like it is taking a surreal art style into the amazing-ness of the Hedgehog Engine, and I really love that.

So what are your thoughts?

[Soniman]

Basically from SA2 to 06 (Heroes being the exception), the Sonic series was trapped in this grimdark unsurrealistic world with humans, government conspiraces, experiments gone wrong, lots of cites and humans, and other BS.

Since Unleashed, things have become Sonic-y again, yes they are still in a "real world with humans" but its much better suited to fit Sonic's style, Colors made it even better by having no humans and having the levels being crazy and surreal again.

My 2 cents

[Vertekins]

Colours' settings were surreal for a reason - Most of them were set in alien worlds. I do love a sense of fantasy in Sonic. Afterall, that's one of the reasons why I loved CD so much. But Colours was more like a 'break from reality' in a way and arguably so was CD.

'06 is everything Sonic should not be in terms of art direction - Ultra-realism. I don't want to see humans who look like they came out of GTA. I don't want to see excessively realistic surroundings. And I'm additionally thankful that furriness was left off Sonic's final model as horrible as the final model was anyway. He had squicky fur on his belly marking and inner-ears. It looks so wrong.

Unleashed IMO is the way to do Sonic. The design of the entire world has adapted to Sonic, not the other way around. It went along with Unleashed's whole point excellently - World-travel. And the Hedgehog engine made the lighting so sumptuous courtesy of Global Illumination. There was also never pop-up and this was made all the more impressive given the speed in the day stages. And the character models, especially Sonic's, are the best seen in any Sonic game by an extremely large margin. The animation is absolutely fantastic and it's only been outdone nowadays by Generations.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Verte

[Soniman]

I also hated 06's world, if just for Soleanna alone, I hate it.

While Station Square was bright, cheery, and somewhat colorful, Soleanna was drab, ugly, boring, lifeless, and grey.

[Chaos Warp]

I also hated 06's world, if just for Soleanna alone, I hate it.

Soleanna was drab, ugly, boring, lifeless, and grey.

[Soniman]

With a few exceptions, most environments in that game were kind of like that.

I wonder what Station Square would look like in the Unleashed art style?

[Noir]

I would like this art style as a staple of the games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0MwvOJEBOM

[lounge]

SA2's style because it was unique and not stereotypical. A cartoonish character in a realistic world is something I always loved about the game. What if sonic were real. Sonic in a cartoonish world is just boring to me. Not that realistic = bland. I blame that on Sonic 06's artists. Of course out of this world levels are also important like Grand Metropolis.

[Dark Qiviut]

One issue to address here.

The Sonic series has never been surreal. Surrealism is defined as something to not only be done out of surprise, but to create a symbolic message, too. The environments from the Classics and onward are a combination of fantasy and realism. There wasn't a really deep meaning in the environments other than they're designed to fit the perceived anthropomorphic atmosphere.

That said, my most favorite visual direction is, by far, Unleashed's. It takes the realistic setting, cleans it up with some Tide, and then blends in the fantasy elements Sonic has become associated with without exaggerating everything.

SA2's style because it was unique and not stereotypical. A cartoonish character in a realistic world is something I always loved about the game. What if sonic were real. Sonic in a cartoonish world is just boring to me. Not that realistic = bland. I blame that on Sonic 06's artists. Of course out of this world levels are also important like Grand Metropolis.

Actually, Sonic Adventure 2 incorporated both realism and fantasy like its predecessor. The main issue with SA2's setting is that it takes the fantasy and realistic atmospheres and splits them apart. Adventure blended them together, making the transition between the two styles more subtle and belonging.

[Vertekins]

One issue to address here.

The Sonic series has never been surreal. Surrealism is defined as something to not only be done out of surprise, but to create a symbolic message, too. The environments from the Classics and onward are a combination of fantasy and realism. There wasn't a really deep meaning in the environments other than they're designed to fit the perceived anthropomorphic atmosphere.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Verte

[Piedemon]

I loved Sonic Unleashed's scenery, it was so colorful and surreal!

And the humans felt like the fitted into Sonic's universe more than ever before, more than the humans from SA and/or Sonic X!

Edited September 22, 2011 by Jesterbumon

[lounge]

Actually, Sonic Adventure 2 incorporated both realism and fantasy like its predecessor. The main issue with SA2's setting is that it takes the fantasy and realistic atmospheres and splits them apart. Adventure blended them together, making the transition between the two styles more subtle and belonging.

Eh, but that's what I liked about SA2's environments. They did something different that made it stand out from other games. A realistic level like City Escape and a fantasy level like Final Rush are still both beautiful levels. They still feel belonging to the game because they're both equally beautiful, different enough and enjoyable to run around in. I think it's stupid that every area in sonic's world has to be both realistic and fantasy. It should be either realistic and beautiful or fantasy and beautiful.

And I found Sonic Adventure's areas less interesting to me. I don't really see how Adventure blended fantasy and realism into every environment. Ice Cap looks like a typical snowy environment, emerald coast looks like a typical beach setting, Casinopolis looked like a typical casino and so on. Adventure looked realistic but not very beautiful. Sonic 06 had the same problem. But I guess that's because I played Adventure after SA2, so everything felt like a downgrade. If you think about it, when Generations was announced, how many people asked for environments from Adventure 1? Why was City Escape chosen as a high vote if it's a realistic level? Why not Ice Cap if that level also has boarding?

There's nothing wrong with a realistic and fantasy level, but there's also nothing wrong with a realistic level as long as the beauty factor is there. This is part of the reason why I got kind of sick of Heroes environments, even though most of them are gorgeous.

[azoo]

In all honesty, the aesthetic and feel Unleashed/Colors/Generations has is my favorite. Everything is so refined, and the art style is flexible enough to feature highly detailed worlds that give a balanced feel of fantasy and realism; with the balance leaning more in one direction or the other, depending on the location. That's what makes Sonic's universe and current aesthetic so neat: you can imagine lookalikes of San Francisco and Mykonos, as well as checkered valley landscapes, and they all mesh together just fine because of the wonderfully coated cartoony flair.

If there's any style of Sonic I can pick behind that though, it has to be the '90s Japanese Segasonic' feel. I don't know if it's the conjoined atmosphere created by a mix of electronica and europop, the flashy and simple-yet-sophisticated art style, or what; but it's always been highly appealing to me. Sonic CD, Sonic R, 3D Blast Saturn, Sonic Jam, Mega Collection, and Gems Collection all have that same 'feel', and I'm not exactly sure on how to pinpoint what it is, but I know it'll always be my favorite.

[Soniman]

In all honesty, the aesthetic and feel Unleashed/Colors/Generations has is my favorite. Everything is so refined, and the art style is flexible enough to feature highly detailed worlds that give a balanced feel of fantasy and realism; with the balance leaning more in one direction or the other, depending on the location. That's what makes Sonic's universe and current aesthetic so neat: you can imagine lookalikes of San Francisco and Mykonos, as well as checkered valley landscapes, and they all mesh together just fine because of the wonderfully coated cartoony flair.

If there's any style of Sonic I can pick behind that though, it has to be the '90s Japanese Segasonic' feel. I don't know if it's the conjoined atmosphere created by a mix of electronica and europop, the flashy and simple-yet-sophisticated art style, or what; but it's always been highly appealing to me. Sonic CD, Sonic R, 3D Blast Saturn, Sonic Jam, Mega Collection, and Gems Collection all have that same 'feel', and I'm not exactly sure on how to pinpoint what it is, but I know it'll always be my favorite.

You mean kickass art like this?

View most of it here: http://www.gamesradar.com/mind-boggling-sonic-art-lost-to-the-ages/

Really good stuff.

[Dark Qiviut]

Eh, but that's what I liked about SA2's environments. They did something different that made it stand out from other games. A realistic level like City Escape and a fantasy level like Final Rush are still both beautiful levels. They still feel belonging to the game because they're both equally beautiful, different enough and enjoyable to run around in. I think it's stupid that every area in sonic's world has to be both realistic and fantasy. It should be either realistic and beautiful or fantasy and beautiful.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Dark Qiviut

[Nepenthe]

The set pieces you described above for SA1 don't suggest consistency in the art style. They suggest SA1's levels had a lot of in-level gimmicks added for gameplay variation, but that doesn't have any signficant impact on the actual consistency of a game's art direction. These are not mutually exclusive; you can have few things to do in-level and a consistent art style. Examples would be every single 3D game after SA1.

Now you can certainly argue that SA2's levels can sharply contrast with each other at times due to the lack of proper transitioning, but I'd refute it's not any real significant flaw against the game's entire art style because:

A.) Other games have done it to varying degrees without any significant backlash. In fact, it's usually been applauded. Some potentially offending levels are: Mystic Mansion/Hang Castle, Digital Circuit and Circus Park, Dinosaur Jungle, Eggmanland, Molten Mine, and Sweet Mountain.

B.) Level-to-level consistency arguably isn't a quality to behold. Sonic 06's art gets trashed on a daily basis, receiving such bashing in this very thread, yet its art is nonetheless homogenous. Thus it'd serve to reason that homogeny isn't actually all that valued, (and why would it be? This is a series where burger mountains are not only feasible but cheered), but rather an entire art direction that's actually interesting in the first place.

I would be inclined to agree with that. SA2's art style is actually interesting, and it's that interest that negates the fact that Pumpkin Hill exists next to City Escape. SA2's got extremely bright and bold colors along with its achromatic tones so there's contrast everywhere, even in the darkest of ARK levels where there's still yellows, reds, purples, greens, and blues to behold either in certain spots or everywhere on the outside the entire colony.

Another thing I think is either overlooked or looked down upon by the community is the straight-lined, geometrical precision of everything ranging from the characters to the environments. It lends well to the game's sci-fi and military themes, but in working with the colors, makes the art look not only beautiful but just plain clean, like a well-drawn anime. Whether or not they were disguising limited polygons, the decision to show them in such a way gave us one of the most graphic looking Sonic games we've ever had. Despite my love of the current, warmer Disney-esque direction, SA2 style is nonetheless one I miss.

Edited September 25, 2011 by Nepenthe

[batson]

I dont like the Unleashed universe, because it's still too realistic for Sonic. I agree with the thread starter that Sonic Heroes is a much better template for future 3D games to follow, with it's futuristic cities, checkered hills, bright shrieky colors, and entire cities made to look and function like giant pinball games.

Edited September 24, 2011 by batson

[Dantemustdie00]

When you have anthro characters as cartoony as Sonic characters are, it's natural that you don't want the rest of the races and the scenery for that matter to be out of place.

06 was jus horrendous of this. Sonic just didn't fit in their at all.

[Nepenthe]

I really don't like absolute statements and implications suggesting that cartoon fantasy and realism cannot interact. Sure, Sonic 06 may not have been the cat's meow, but at the same time, I sometimes feel like the lot of you have no imagination with what art and deliberately contrasting elements can do. :|