3D Sonic the Hedgehog coming to eShop

[NicolasQuiles]

I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, but this port actually gave me newfound respect for the game.

 

I don't mean to sound like every typical person who complains about Sonic 1 not having the Spindash and that's what made the other games so much better... but it's true. The inclusion of the Spindash in this port makes things so much less unbearable and more forgiving. The save feature and the inclusion of both Tails and Knuckles makes this port great as well.

 

Overall, I have to say I'm impressed.

[Space☆Tomoki]

I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, but this port actually gave me newfound respect for the game.

 

I don't mean to sound like every typical person who complains about Sonic 1 not having the Spindash and that's what made the other games so much better... but it's true. The inclusion of the Spindash in this port makes things so much less unbearable and more forgiving. The save feature and the inclusion of both Tails and Knuckles makes this port great as well.

 

Overall, I have to say I'm impressed.

Wrong thread. You're playing the mobile phone version for Android and iOS made by Taxman and Stealth. This thread is for the currently Japan-exclusive 3DS port of the game. The thread you'd want to post this in would be here:

Edited July 3, 2013 by Tomoki

[Blue Blood]

The game is out locally as of today. I've just downloaded it.

 

Framerate/speed: Perfect
3D effects: 2 settings - 'fall-in' is a bit weak, 'pop-out' is really good.

Sound: Not great. Some sounds are off, and some of the channels are very quiet. GHZ sounds like it's missing it's lead as a result. Change the PSG emulation to MegaDrive 2 under settings and it gets a bit better.

[Tracker_TD]

I think that's because this is an emulation, and the sound is inaccurate (as per usual). There's other instances of the sound channel and sprite limit kicking in that sort of confirms that this is most likely an emulation too. Shame really.

 

I realise this post is from ages ago, but just to clarify - this is actually built once again from the ground up a la StealthTax, under the GigaDrive label. Emulation was really laggy according to M2.

[MykonosFan]

The game is out locally as of today. I've just downloaded it.

 

Framerate/speed: Perfect

3D effects: 2 settings - 'fall-in' is a bit weak, 'pop-out' is really good.

Sound: Not great. Some sounds are off, and some of the channels are very quiet. GHZ sounds like it's missing it's lead as a result. Change the PSG emulation to MegaDrive 2 under settings and it gets a bit better.

 

Yeah, pretty much. I'd still really recommend it, though.

[JezMM]

Already gave my thoughts in status updates but may as well repeat here.

 

 

Overall it's a good port.  It does have slowdown like the original so I think it is an emulation yeah.  My only disappointment is the 3D effect, while very 3D, is pretty simple.  Anything that wasn't in layers in the original is not in layers here.

 

For example, the trees behind the background ruins of Marble are on the same plain as the ruins, rather than being seperated to look like seperate layers.

 

No additional sprite work would have had to have been done - New Super Mario Bros. 2 frequently makes use of a mind-boggling to think about fake 3D trick where the image looks 3D without any actual spatial movement.  That is to say, bushes on the ground move at the same pace as the ground in NSMB2, and when playing in 2D they seem to be on the same plain of movement - but with 3D on, they have depth and appear to be further back than the ground - despite still moving and being firmly affixed to the "closer" ground.

 

I wish they had made use of this effect here to make things more layered.  As it stands it looks much more like an array of spritey cardboard cut-outs than I thought it would.  Still it's a solid port and good to have to hand at all times by being a download title.

[Tracker_TD]

Going to drop this here because I'm wondering if anyone's actually read it.

 

http://blogs.sega.com/2013/12/03/sega-3d-classics-%E2%80%93-3d-sonic-the-hedgehog-interview-with-developer-m2/

 

I may have misread a tad, but this seems more in the vein of Sonic Jam as opposed to emulation.

[Blue Blood]

I realise this post is from ages ago, but just to clarify - this is actually built once again from the ground up a la StealthTax, under the GigaDrive label. Emulation was really laggy according to M2.

 

Isn't the Giga Drive essentially like an emulator of sorts, though with extra functionality that the MegaDrive wasn't capable of? And this would be a rom adapted to the GigaDrive.

 

Once we had decided to include depth in rasterized areas, we figured we might as well build a MegaDrive architecture that supports stereoscopic 3D, a new SEGA console we dreamed up, which we decided to call the “GigaDrive.” We figured that if we can build this new platform on the 3DS using emulation techniques, and then create a version of Sonic The Hedgehog that runs on it, all our problems would be solved! This would give us smarter and more flexible 3D compared to patching the MegaDrive game program. In that sense, you could say we’re just “patching” a patch for a GigaDrive game, which gave us a lot more latitude to work with.

 

The fact that it has the same sound limitations and slow down in all the same instances strongly suggests emulation over port. Also, if it were to be completely recreated there'd be no reason for them to stick to the original screen resolution.

 

Anyway, it's a nice version of the game. Runs well and the 3D is very appealing. StealthTax's is better, but I can't complain much.

[Detective Shadzter]

Liking the port so far, though the 3D effect could be better. The screen tearing is also annoying. 

[Blue Blood]

Liking the port so far, though the 3D effect could be better. The screen tearing is also annoying. 

Have you changed the 3D under the settings menu? The default setting is "fall-in", but "pop-out" is way better. Same as the deal with Mario 3DL.

 

Little note about the sound: It some places it's pretty bad. The dying sound effect is almost inaudible.

[Detective Shadzter]

Have you changed the 3D under the settings menu? The default setting is "fall-in", but "pop-out" is way better. Same as the deal with Mario 3DL.

Yep, I changed it to pop-out a while ago and the problem persists. Some objects get these brief flickery lines.

[Blue Blood]

Yep, I changed it to pop-out a while ago and the problem persists. Some objects get these brief flickery lines.

The tearing is a problem even in the original. I was talking about the quality of the 3D.

[Detective Shadzter]

The tearing is a problem even in the original. I was talking about the quality of the 3D.

I don't remember this much tearing in the original. For the most part it's fine, though, it's just here and there.I agree the 3D is better in pop-out mode, but it's still not that great. 

[PSI Wind]

It was obviously not going to be as good as the Taxman port, but it seems to be the best handheld port from the sound of things.

[Blue Blood]

It's pretty much the best version of the game that's accessible today after the mobile version. The StealthTax one does oust it in every single area by making S1 to be something to be excited about again, but you can hardly complain. It's pretty solid.

[Doffy]

It's pretty much the best version of the game that's accessible today after the mobile version. The StealthTax one does oust it in every single area by making S1 to be something to be excited about again, but you can hardly complain. It's pretty solid.

Welp with everything said here, I'm definitely going to purchase it! I've been meaning to play the classics  again but since my gamecube got bricked (where I played the Sonic Mega Collection) I didn't have no means to.

[sploit]

What other Sonic games do you guys feel would make good additions to the 3D Classics series?

I know it probably won't happen, but I really think that Knuckles' Chaotix would be a perfect candidate for a 3D effect revamp.

It's visuals lend themselves well to the concept, particularly with things like the characters coming into the foreground when getting hit etc.

[Gabz Girl]

I still don't understand why Knuckles Chaotix hasn't been ported ever, yet every other Megadrive Sonic game has been ported about a million times. It can't be problems with porting the game because it was released on a normal cartridge on the crappy 32x. And we know that SEGA remembers Knuckles Chaotix because of that remix in Sonic Generations. What a tease!

[Your Vest Friend]

I still don't understand why Knuckles Chaotix hasn't been ported ever, yet every other Megadrive Sonic game has been ported about a million times. It can't be problems with porting the game because it was released on a normal cartridge on the crappy 32x. And we know that SEGA remembers Knuckles Chaotix because of that remix in Sonic Generations. What a tease!

 

Late reply, but eh,

 

1. Yes, there are problems with porting the game. Porting from the 32X is balls to do, and even now we don't really have a perfect emulation of it available (Kega Fusion is the closest, but it still has errors).

2. There's no guarantee of success with it. On the one hand hardcores might be interested because of how rare it is. On the other hand, the general audience probably haven't heard of it and would rather go for familiar titles. 

3. There's simply no interest in porting it from anyone at SEGA or Sonic Team. 

[Blue Blood]

Late reply, but eh,

 

1. Yes, there are problems with porting the game. Porting from the 32X is balls to do, and even now we don't really have a perfect emulation of it available (Kega Fusion is the closest, but it still has errors).

2. There's no guarantee of success with it. On the one hand hardcores might be interested because of how rare it is. On the other hand, the general audience probably haven't heard of it and would rather go for familiar titles. 

3. There's simply no interest in porting it from anyone at SEGA or Sonic Team.

On point 3, I don't think it would be that hard to market and get it to sell well. It'd only be a cheap downloadable game at any rate. The main problem is that it lacks 'Sonic' in the name. 'Knuckles' doesn't have near the same recognition factor.

[TheOcelot]

Late reply, but eh,

 

1. Yes, there are problems with porting the game. Porting from the 32X is balls to do, and even now we don't really have a perfect emulation of it available (Kega Fusion is the closest, but it still has errors).

2. There's no guarantee of success with it. On the one hand hardcores might be interested because of how rare it is. On the other hand, the general audience probably haven't heard of it and would rather go for familiar titles. 

3. There's simply no interest in porting it from anyone at SEGA or Sonic Team. 

 

I think they tried to include Chaotix in the Sonic Mega Collection (Plus), but they encountered problems when trying to port/emulate it. 

 

The Fusion emulation plays pretty good. It runs at a steady 50fps on my laptop.

 

If SEGA don't care about Chaotix, then why not let Taxman & Stealth overhaul the game, add Sonic & Tails, new levels, and tweak the rubber band gimmick. Then put it on iOS & android and see how it sells.

 

On point 3, I don't think it would be that hard to market and get it to sell well. It'd only be a cheap downloadable game at any rate. The problem is that it lacks 'Sonic' in the name. 'Knuckles' doesn't have near the same recognition factor.

 

They could rename it 'Sonic & Knuckles Chaotix' (obviously add Sonic), or how about 'Sonic Crackers' as per the original cancelled Genesis game.