Should Sonic have unlimited boost?

[BlueShadow]

Due to his speed, and the nature of his gameplay, I believe that he shouldn't have a boost limit. It's the player's skills that should determine how he runs.

[Polkadi~☆]

Two words, and two words only.

HELL. NO.

The boost is supposed to be a reward. Continuously boosting would be unfun, repetitive and boring. To pull it off in any way would result in a failure there and then.

[Diogenes]

Personally I think he should have a limited boost. Very limited. Limited to zero, in fact.

Then we might have a game where the player can actually control Sonic properly.

[BlueShadow]

The boost can be adjusted. It can be just simply allowing the player to run faster, rather than giving a large thrust.

[Blacklightning]

They would have to take away the boost's ability to damage to compensate. Which frankly they should be doing anyway even with a boost limit, because the ability to simply generate momentum with no contextual requirement is already overpowering enough as it is.

 

Really I just think the whole mechanic should just be overhauled altogether so it's a measure of acceleration boost rather than simply locking your speed to a specific level.

[BlueShadow]

That's what I mean.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Yeah, no.

 

Doing so would prompt players to contentiously boost, which would lead to constant deaths or situations where they could easily break through the level design. The boost was meant to be rewarded for skill and is supposed to be used with skill. There shouldn't be much reason why such a drastic change to the boost mechanic should be done.

[PickleBrows]

Generations actually fulfilled this request by having the endless boost skill, the cost was that you couldn't collect any rings at all. If you were confident enough to turn it on though, you shouldn't need the rings. 

 

For the core gameplay though, if we've absolutely must have the boost then it certainly needs some sort of restraint or more preferably, a redesign. The boost as it was in Generations still hinders the level design too much and keeps it relatively linear.

[BlueShadow]

I enjoyed Unleashed, Colors, and Generations for having the ability to boost. The problem is, I'd always run out.

It's simply that.

[JonoD]

I'm pretty sure having the boost too easy to sustain was the root of all the 'boost to win' criticism that was floating around games like Sonic Rush, Unleashed and Rush Adventure, so in that respect, I'd say no, unlimited boost would be a bad thing unless some other design element was present to balance it (and having insta-stop hazards and instant death traps would not be an answer)

 

The problem with many of the games in recent years is the instant gratification that boosting brings. Blazing speed at the press of the button can be satisfying, sure. But after a whole game of it you end up numbing to it fairly fast, and you just reach the point where boosting doesn't feel exciting or rewarding anymore.

 

In a way, I wouldn't mind seeing parts of the boosting mechanics return, but it would need a rework. So let's say after a period of maintaining top speed, Sonic breaks through the 'barrier' to earn what we would now know as Sonic's boosting state, and it would then last for however long the player could keep it up for without being slowed down or tripped up. If Sonic were to be stopped, then he'd need to begin the process again.

[BlueShadow]

Okay, well MAYBE infinite boosting isn't such a good idea. I was trying to come up with a way to upgrade Sonic's gameplay from the Adventure games, yet not making it too much.

 

I DO agree that the boost mechanic can be fun at points, but the problem is, I ended up running into too many things or just air-boosting into bottomless pits. Maybe Sonic should stick with an Adventure-style gameplay with the speed of the Mach Speed sections from Sonic '06.

[PickleBrows]

Okay, well MAYBE infinite boosting isn't such a good idea. I was trying to come up with a way to upgrade Sonic's gameplay from the Adventure games, yet not making it too much.

 

I DO agree that the boost mechanic can be fun at points, but the problem is, I ended up running into too many things or just air-boosting into bottomless pits. Maybe Sonic should stick with an Adventure-style gameplay with the speed of the Mach Speed sections from Sonic '06.

[Spooky Mulder]

If anything, I'd like the boost gameplay to be adjusted so there's speed threshold you have to reach in order to activate the boost. Being able to boost from a standstill is one of the sillier aspects of Unleashed-style gameplay. It can be fun, but setting limitations on it would be better for game design over all.

[BlueShadow]

Well, if the current boost has to be adjusted, then maybe it's not a good idea for Sonic's gameplay.

 

Sonic played REALLY well in the earlier titles, and he should play like that, only with a Z-Axis and faster speed.

[Autosaver]

Honestly, the only game I've ever had "no boost" issues is Sonic Colors. For all the flak that game gets, it did a pretty good job on balancing out how much boost you get. Also, why does Sonic need boost anyways? He could run fast without it.

 

I want less this

 

and more this

 

 

#FuckBoost #SpinDash

[BlueShadow]

The spin dash is... well, a form of boost. It's made to give Sonic more momentum from a standstill... just like the boost.

 

One thing I've enjoyed from the classics was running and jumping. I hardly ever used the spin dash, and when I did, it was on a platform that was need to advance, like in Marble Garden Zone.

 

Sonic can do pretty well without having to have a means of boosting, in all honesty. If they made a Classic 3D Sonic 1, they'd nail it. Fast speed, good platforming, that's something that most fans would enjoy.

[Autosaver]

The idea of just pushing a button to get all the benefits without any setbacks killed the spindash. It wasn't even until Sonic Lost World that we could actually use it once again. The setbacks of the spindash is that you need to charge it and that it doesn't mindlessly give you invincibility from every single monster. I prefer it that way.

 

I really hope the next Sonic game doesn't return the boost mechanic.

[BlueShadow]

Perhaps the best thing that Sonic should do is not gain a form of boost. Perhaps he should run and jump. No more homing attack, no more spin dash, no more light speed dash, none of that.

 

I realized that it would upset Sonic fans to do so, so I decided I should see if fans enjoyed the boost. It seems like people don't. I do, though.

[Sega DogTagz]

Gonna mime Liam and harp on the Unlimited Boost skill in Generations. I'm quite certain it was put in there for us speedrunner types, and it made for good practice in learning the level layouts for a "no-skills" true speedrun of a level.

 

That being said, once you properly learn a level, there really isn't a need for unlimited boost since it gives you more you can handle anyway. With a little practice, there isn't really a stage in either Unleashed or Generations where you are forced to take your finger off the boost for anything other than a tricky platforming section. They give you way more than you need (especially if you level up your hedgie), so to someone like me, this question is a moot point since they basically hand you unlimited boost as it is.

 

I don't buy in to all this boost to win non-sense, since it clashes with the other half of the population that can't control it and plummets to their death, but at the same time the series is long removed from the gratification of earning speed. I can see the appeal to something like that and hope we can find some kind of middle ground in moving forward. I severely doubt we've seen the last of the boost mechanic, but it will be interesting to see what can be done with it moving forward.

[Gabz Girl]

I fecking hate the boost so no, I loathe the idea of unlimited boost and don't want to see it. Ever.

[Diamond Sonic]

Imagine if in Halo you had unlimited Fuel Rod guns or imagine if in Call of Duty you had infinite AC-130. Infinite Boost in a Sonic game is a similar thing as it's essentially Cheat-Mode. Obviously, it's something that should never be implemented. Generations only pulled it off by making you die in one hit.

[Mania Pipe]

Uh no. I didn't really dig the Boost gameplay, except for Sonic Colors to an extent with how it handled the Boost mechanic. However, I would rather have the ability to actually control Sonic while running thank you very much.

 

And also have the Spin Dash instead.

[Milo]

While I'm partial to the suggestion that the boost mechanic would work better if was retooled to be designed around the player's acceleration, I otherwise agree with the sentiment that there shouldn't even be a boost mechanic. Sonic by nature runs fast, and if he needs a speed boost he has the spindash, which can be used in a variety of ways and has a reasonable set of limitations (Generations' spamdash notwithstanding).

 

The boost mechanic -as used in the Rush and Unleashed playstyles- places a lot of limitations and restrictions on the game design as a whole, and --though more of a personal grievance-- is in a lot of ways the antithesis of the original playstyle the series started out with (momentum-based platforming). The boost-centric game structure also causes the (main) levels having little to do in them outside of speedrunning / getting to the goal, which results in the overall game being low on game content / replay value and the developers having to somehow artificially lengthen both of those aspects with whatever they can think of.

 

Personally I don't want the boost playstyle period, let alone taking an mechanic that is already overpowered in its abilities and giving it an even longer leash.

[SonicSwag]

Of course. The Boost is the best feature ever in a Sonic game because speed is the best part in a Sonic game. Without speed, I'm not playing Sonic. And without the Boost, I feel like I'm playing shitty ass Sonic Adventure and that's no good.

 

Unlimited Boost, pls. And if people don't like they don't have to use it

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Yes. However, the boost should only make Sonic accelerate, not actually go faster. Also, Sonic shouldn't be able to move forward naturally, only right and left. Also boost should be mapped to left-stick ↑. Also he should have a secondary boost with a meter mapped to the X button that works like the previous boost.