2 replies to this topic

[Nattala]

(Just a warning this topic contains some spoilers for Generations so if you're not to the final boss yet, turn back now).

Abridged version: I don't like being forced into a flying section at the end of a platforming game and prefer when Super Sonic plays more like the rest of the game.

I'm writing this fresh off of playing Generations as I've just realised something I should of realised a long time ago.
I REALLY hate playing as Super Sonic. The idea is cool, I have no problem with the idea being reused game after game but the problem is that most Super Sonic battles are essentially flying games stuck at the end of a platformer. It's essentially forcing you to learn a new gameplay style for the final boss, a gameplay style that often controls horribly and is poorly designed.

So I'm fighting the Time Eater and first off I can barely tell what's going on. There's this psychedelic background, there's debris flying everywhere which is barely distinguishable from the boss, there's the boss' attacks, there's a red orb flying around for some reason, there's gold clock decorations and the camera is so zoomed out that what it results in is that I can barely tell where I am, let alone where the rings are and I'm playing this on my parents big TV.

Which leads me to the first problem with playing as Super Sonic, the fact that you constantly need to get rings. I can dodge the Time Eater's attacks fine but what keeps killing me is that I can't get any rings. If I do manage to see any rings amongst the mess of the screen the camera will then change its angle to a position in which I can't see them. Yes I know there's an attack coming from behind me, too bad I can see what's in front of me now. It's the same thing in Unleashed, I could dodge Dark Gaia's attacks fine but I was always running out of rings. Why do the rings need to be depleted anyway? You already lose rings when you get hurt like in normal fights. That means Super Sonic is actually WEAKER than ordinary Sonic. Yes in levels there needs to be a limit of Super Sonic but for a battle in which you lose if you're not Super Sonic, why is it there?

This problem is only compounded by the controls which is my biggest complaint with the way Super Sonic controls. I'm always flying past rings and since you can't go back and because your rings are depleting fir some reason, missing rings means I die. And the reason I'm missing rings is because SEGA thinks its a good idea to change the gameplay genre in the final boss fight. Most Super Sonic fights play like the Advance 1 special stages. There's no depth perception, you can't tell if you're in front of the rings or not until you touch them and you can never tell how far you are going to move across the screen when you use the controls. In 2D its slightly better but you still move further than you want to across the screen; it's all very slippery. It's like no one ever playtests the final fight because its all so unintuitive.

What I'm saying is why can;t the Final Boss fight test us on the skills we've learnt throughout the game instead of throwing us at some new gameplay genre at the last minute? If you want the epicness of a Super Sonic showdown you just have to look at how Sonic adventure did it. The fight against Perfect Chaos was basically an extension of Sonic's gameplay only faster. It still had the declining ring counter but that didn't matter as much because now the rings were right in front of you, you only had to worry about steering left to right which is what you've been doing all game not up and down and all around. Yes Super Sonic can fly but do we really have to play as him flying? He didn't fly in Sonic 2 so why does he have to fly at the end of each game especially when the 3D flying just isn't working.

But maybe that's just me. Does anyone else have a problem with the gameplay of the Super sonic bosses? Do you think there should be some changes? Do you think we should just scrap it? Do you like it the way they are?

Edited by Nattala, 11 December 2011 - 10:47 AM.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Since you don't die from ring depletion in Sonic Unleashed, this post is really only about the Time Eater boss, and how ridiculously hard it is to catch rings, followed by some ranting.

Well, you're right. The HD Time Eater is a pretty bad Super Sonic boss. The 3DS Time Eater, on the other hand, is genius! Just like in in the HD version, the TE's attacks can't hurt you. However, in the Classic part if you get hit, the boss repeats its attacks some more. If you manage to get through a stream of attacks untouched, then a bunch of rings will ALWAYS spawn, which is a perfect way to balance a Super Sonic boss fight. In the Modern part, it's just really easy to catch the rings while flying forward.


EDIT: In hindsight, you may have been talking about the Wii version of Perfect Dark Gaia. I've never played that one, so I guess ring depletion could be a problem there.

Edited by Grumpy Old Guy, 11 December 2011 - 11:25 AM.

[JezMM]

Agreed that Time Eater was pretty awful. They really need to do a boss where you start as regular Sonic and can die in that form, and when you run out of rings as Super Sonic you just revert back to that state and have to build yourself up again.