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DEAR SEGA // Sonic Re-design (Video)


Kaze no Klonoa

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http://www.goodbloodgames.com/dear/#new-page

 

So I came across this video today, and it's a pretty good watch. It's made by Javed, who's a game designer (Who made a game called Totome on iOS) and animator. It's a first of his "Dear Developer" series where he does "animated letters" to the publishers/developers of his favorite games.

 

Video Description:

 

 

*I believe if you're going to criticise the creative content of others, bring a creative solution to the table with you.
In this video i present my case for a re-design for one of Sega's most enigmatic franchises: Sonic The Hedgehog. 
 

 

I want to put this up as a topic because I think it's an interesting viewpoint (And because his re-design for Sonic would be something I'd actually play). I think what he's come up with still would need some work, but it's an interesting (And certainly creative) idea.

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It seems odd to me that you would spend time trying to prove that Sonic's core audience are the people that grew up with him,yet suggest changing so much about his character of all things. That isn't to mention that a large portion of our demographic has a nostalgia for the 90s. He's essentially turned Sonic into a more typical indie game - a 2D puzzle platformer with a digitally painted art style (which, judging from the idea he showcased, removes the striking environments that he's known for) and a cute, vulnerable protagonist without a voice that bares virtually no resemblance to the highly extroverted original despite being a blue hedgehog in red shoes. Part of the reason I fell in love with the franchise in the first place is because the character was so different to an endearing protagonist like Mario and while I understand that there are some challenges with moving fast in 3D rather than 2D; I feel that being able to see what's in front of you is a big advantage to 3D.

 

Right now I actually would go as far as to say that I hate this idea, because while it's refreshing to hear a carefully considered analysis of the franchise for a change, it's also frustrating for it to miss the point in so many areas despite doing that. Many of the franchises' problems stem from a lack of focus and polish and of course whatever situation SEGA as a business is in at the time. Turning Sonic into another indie platformer is not the answer. That said, a couple of things I did like were the ideas he suggests for moves and shields.

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I'm really curious if the author just didn't feel any cognitive dissonance at all from proposing a thesis of "stop aiming at kids, aim at your nostalgic fanbase! Also make it unrecognizable as Sonic and instead as any modern generic indie 2d game".

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I'm really curious if the author just didn't feel any cognitive dissonance at all from proposing a thesis of "stop aiming at kids, aim at your nostalgic fanbase! Also make it unrecognizable as Sonic and instead as any modern generic indie 2d game".

Yeah this is where he lost me. I can see the potential in a sort of reboot and there were a couple ideas worth considering, but overall it's changing Sonic into something practically unrecognizable. I could probably support some pretty radical changes to the series, but they've got to be at least somewhat in tune with what the series was trying to be.

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What's kinda strange is that he thinks 18- 30 age demographic all grew up in his generation. I'm 21 years old and I never grew up the classics. I have no connection to those "good old days". The first sonic game I played was sonic adventure in 1998, I was 4 years old back then.  Not to mention the sonic fanbase is so divided. If your going to make a 2D classic-like platform game then you'll just going to appeal to that portion of the fanbase, not everybody. 

 

Don't get me wrong, this guys has some great ideas... for his own project. This isn't something I would like to see sonic to become. It's just not sonic. 

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Despite the appealing presentation, most of his ideas sound like something a company would come up with through focus groups.

 

His conclusions boil down to 'only consider ideas and concepts from Sonic's most successful game and games that are currently selling the most', so 2D only, puzzle elements, vulnerable design (aka the "big-headed childlike character in threatening world" design of many indie platformers) and 'steer away from anything his least selling games did', so no 3D, no voice acting/fleshed out characters.

 

He goes in depth to compare Sonic's sales with Mario's sales, but only uses this data to explain his reasoning about changing demographics, failing to take into account how the quality of Mario's games were not influenced by whether the game was 2D or 3D. In fact he doesn't try to actually identify what made Sonic's best selling games good on a fundamental level, or at least only looks at the superficial things they had, not taking into account what they did. Same goes for Mario; if he had actually explored that he'd realize that what makes those games, and Nintendo games in general, good to this day is that they are refined, evolved, and perfectly polished games, where as Sonic's games have never had the chance to grow and be refined since Sega is constantly changing everything and never trying to improve itself. It's ironic that his idea focuses on incorporating ideas and concepts from successful selling games, yet ends up doing the very thing that Sonic's least selling game did, change and redesign everything from the ground up... again.

 

Though to give some credit, I do like the gameplay idea he presented regarding Sonic's spin attack. It's a nice balance between the regular spin jump and the homing attack that could allow for more tight and focused level design and open up more gameplay possibilities.

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I almost stopped the video when he showed Sonic's design. That thing looked completely generic and like a cheap cash in on a passing fad. It looks like the main character of any other game created now. It's hilarious how he tried to make Sonic look like a blank canvas  and removed his expressions when the purpose of Sonic design wise is to look like he's not some avatar with a blank face like Mario. 

 

And the backpack makes it look even worse. He even says that the backpack symbolizes adventure. I think that Sonic's normal ol' design symbolizes adventure good enough. And he's "wide eyed and vulnerable", and isn't cocky anymore. I don't even need to explain why this is stupid and a waste of time. 

 

I don't think trying to make a series better involves completely destroying a character both physically and mentally, trying to make him look like any other animal protagonist nowadays. 

 

Keep your blank slate characters out of my Sonic games. 

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Going off the first idea - The redesign. No No No No No No. The last thing Sonic needs is another redesign, especially one that would basically make him a generic blank canvas. Something that is criticized heavily in our day and age. Especially with games like Zelda which has gotten a bit plot heavy that other Nintendo games and yet Link is a blank canvas. It does nothing but make Sonic into another generic face and nothing else.

 

It also goes against the idea that one of Sonic's weaknesses is the fact he's cocky. It's either used in a serious way such as in Sonic Adventure 2, or used as a joke such as in Sonic Boom's Don't Judge Me episode where his cockiness made him believe he wouldn't be put away. This isn't redesigning a character. This is completely destroying a iconic character and turning him into another generic blank canvas while destroying his personality traits bit by bit. 

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His Sonic redesign looks 5 times worse than even the Boom design. He looks like both a generic and deformed version of modern Sonic, lacking all of the traits that made him a likable character in the first place. So many things that made Sonic unique were either butchered or removed in this redesign. Thanks, I'll pass. I'm all up for Sega needing to carefully revise Sonic's gameplay style, but this is absolutely not the way to do it.

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Building further onto what I said.

 

I'm disagreeing with every thing character related he's stated. The absolutely last thing Sonic needs to be is a blank canvas. In our current age, games are praised for being much more than just a generic story with a blank canvas character who has no personality whatsoever. Mario and Link are often criticized for having these blank canvas characters, especially when they show no sort of personality traits.

 

Sonic is one of the first platformer characters who got a personality and personality traits. That needs to stay, no if ands or buts about it. It isn't an problem of the characters, it's instead a problem with the writers. The current writers are Protac and Graff and in my opinion, they are just terrible for this series. The jokes are too stupid, the characters are always horribly written, and it's just isn't good in my opinion. All the while, Ian Flynn has proved that these characters can be done well, and with some real emotion behind these characters. If these characters are to truly thrive and stand out, they need this character development and personality behind them. Not some absolutely assine idea of turning them into blank canvases all around.

 

Secondly, is his idea that Sonic should appeal to a older age group. No No No No. That's stupid. What they should be doing is working to make these characters appeal to all age groups. Again, Archie Sonic comes in here because they appeal to children but the emotion and character development behind the characters is what draws in the older fans. Sonic at the end of the day is a fucking blue fast running hedgehog. It isn't exactly easy to try make that idea appeal directly to only adults and no one else. If Sega want success, they need to appeal to both, through the characters' and the serious story moments.

 

The idea of having a blank canvas would almost definitely just draw away all older fans. Right now, we have stories like GTA V, The Last of Us, and even Ratchet & Clank. All have powerful stories and characters behind them that captures the audiences' attention and gives them the driving force to continue on.

 

Ratchet & Clank is what Sonic should be aiming to be. The world and characters can draw in the younger fans, but the smart witty humor, the serious and emotional story, and the deep and developed gameplay is what draws in the older fans as well. Not this stupid idea that Sonic should be some blank canvas in a big world. 

 

I would also disagree with the idea that Sonic's speed worked best in the 2D games. I don't like Sonic 1 or Sonic 2, because the level design just isn't built for Sonic's speed in my opinion, the enemy layout doesn't work well, and by the end of the game, it begins to feel like an endurance test more than anything. On the other hand, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Rush, Sonic Adventure, and both the 2D and 3D Sections of Sonic Generations is where I felt the gameplay blended with the speed the best. 

 

The level design was build around Sonic and his gimmicks and while Generations needed to work a bit more on the risk/reward system. I still felt it was a good system for Sonic's speed. Just one that needed to be improved further.

 

I do agree that lives should be removed from the game, along with the idea that when Sonic jumps, he should be able to be hit, and by using quick thinking the player can attack while keeping their speed.

 

The idea of a puzzle system can work as well, but it would need a bit more working. It can make the game a bit too easy, and there isn't any reason why rings would become useless. That's like saying the health system in Rayman Legends is useless because there's infinite lives.

 

As for the idea of story being told through animation and being simple. Again, no. Not only does this not work for the targeted audience of 18-30. That once again just over simplifies things. As I said, the story should be the main driving force of the adventure. Getting a good writer who can make these characters shine with good development and good emotional force behind them is what needed. Not over simplifying everything to the point where personalities and story is near non existent. Again, Ratchet & Clank does a good job with story and characters while making the gameplay and artstyle appeal to all age groups. 

 

The idea of maturity being ''through gameplay'' is one again a stupid one. One of the big reasons games like GTA V, Ratchet & Clank, and other games are so highly praised is because of their top notch gameplay and story. Gameplay isn't the only reason a person should want to play a game, the story should be good to keep people playing and mature players will want a good story to play through. A good story and characters that drives them to keep playing through the adventure. Story and Gameplay is what can make a game mature. Not just simplistic gameplay and non existent story.

 

Yes, Sonic 3 has a good story and a simple cutscene opening but the difference is at the time period, story was non existent in games. The only exception being RPGs. Now, gaming is well known for some of the best stories to grace us. It's a new age of gaming, and Sonic needs to try adapt to that era. Not try to bank on nostalgia and make a overly simple story with no character personalities. 

 

A lot of what he said is all things I just disagree with totally, and would likely make Sonic worse more than anything, making him another generic face in a pool of generic platformers. He has a few decent gameplay ideas but the majority of them is basically remove all the things that made Sonic unique in the first place and turn it into another generic 2D platformer staring a redesigned Sonic with the same colour scheme but with a really bad design.

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I'm wondering a bit about that buying powerups idea...not really as a puzzle element, but it might still work as a way to make rings more useful. It'd have to be something faster than a menu, though...maybe have a meter on screen marked with all the buyable powerups that fills while you hold a button, and buys whatever item you've filled it up to when you release? Might make things look cluttered, though...

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I really feel alone now. Am I seriously the only person in my age group who stays away from the shooter and sport stuff?

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Well, the video was interesting and informative, I'll give it that, but I can't say I'm too keen on some of these approaches. First off, I like Sonic's current design, he really doesn't need a makeover, especially one that looks like that. As far as getting rid of lives and using rings as a currency go, I don't agree with that entirely either. I do think the whole lives system is unnecessary, but I don't think rings should be used as a currency. I mean, in the comic books rings are sort of power source, so collecting 100 of them could maybe give you some kind of power up in place of an extra live. I'm also in complete disagreement that Sonic should be a solely 2D experience. I think Sonic Team figured out how to put Sonic in a 3D environment in Sonic Adventure, so just evolve that. I DO think a focus on momentum and constant forward motion is definitely what this series needs though, and the ideas he had for Sonic's move-set were pretty sweet. 

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I think gameplay-wise with his idea on Sonic's moveset and momentum, he was really on spot. That's something that really could be interesting to implement in the series. That said, I agree with a lot of you. I honestly really don't like the design he's come up with. Sonic's design itself is already simplistic and iconic. His cocky personality is something that's been around with the 80s, and while I can understand from a viewpoint why this kind of personality wouldn't be attracting at this day in age, it is. Sonic's personality as a whole defines the mood of Sonic games. He's litteraly pointed out in the video that the question "What is a Sonic game?" is something that's pretty much unanswerable (aka identity crisis), but his creative idea of a Sonic game that could patch something like that would do the exact opposite. If SEGA announced a game similar to the design of what Javed showed, I'm pretty sure our reaction right now wouldn't be so positive.

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Yeah, I'm not too keen on Javed's proposed "vulnerable, wide-eyed, non-cocky Sonic" pitch, either. Sonic was designed to be a mascot with attitude, something that would take attention away from Mario back in those 16-bit days. Every single version of Sonic-- Classic, Modern, Boom, X, Archie, whatever-- has at least some semblance of that attitude, because the people behind said versions know it's a major facet of his character. If you took that signature personality from him, he'd be nothing. His games wouldn't have sold, he wouldn't have gotten millions of fans, and we sure as heck wouldn't be talking about this video on a forum for a site dedicated to his franchise.

 

Heck, the commercial Javed showed for Sonic 1 was meant to present the idea that Sonic is far faster and cooler than Mario. Again, without stuff like that, there wouldn't be a Sonic Stadium right now!

 

I appreciate the guy for trying-- he's obviously thought this out well, and some of his ideas, like Sonic's varied jumping moveset, make good sense, not to mention his presentation is pretty well-done-- but a Sonic without attitude isn't Sonic at all.

 

Plus, do we really need another hated redesign?

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Video was well-produced. It made me listen and take it seriously. ish.

The redesign was 0/10 could not have gone worse. You can be "cool" in 2015, just not the same way as in 1991.

No, you do not need to stick to 2D. Please, please, please stop proliferating this idea.

No, you do not need to turn it into a purely inventory-based puzzler. You can introduce puzzling elements with the level design ("how do I get up there" for example).

No, you do not need to target specifically adults. You can create an all-ages experience - Kids and adults alike play Mario, with Kids enjoying it because it has interesting mechanics and level design and adults enjoying it because of the previous combined with the fact that there's no cartoony story going on with horrendous voice acting and writing and plot twists for them to be annoyed by.

 

Yes, you can convey a good story, that appeals to all ages, that players will connect with emotionally, without voiceover. This I agree with.

Yes, do bring back the elemental shields, just not like that. Actually  what he suggests is similar to Mighty's gameplay in Sonic Megamix.

 

But the thing that said to me "Nope, he doesn't get it" is this. That little animation where he shows his Sonic jumping straight up, bouncing straight down, airdashing rigidly horizontal through a perfectly square obstacle and bounce attacking at 90 degrees to that. Yeah, that's exactly the opposite of what needs to happen. It's too "blocky", too...finite. That little square could be a vert ramp, and he could roll into it to gain height and air. Which means he can land on the enemy.

 

What people seem to forget is that  the fundamental concept should be "you are playing as a bipedal walking pawn that at the touch of a button, can become a sphere, and can therefore go fast". That's a premise for a platformer right there. Utilising that premise in a curvy environment, you could move around in so many interesting, unique ways, from which speed will emerge naturally. Can you imagine Sonic rolling around a typical Tony Hawk level? Curves everywhere; which he would utilise to gain speed and reach different areas.

 

Sigh, I'm ranting. A well-produced video, but I disagree with most of it.

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He lost me at simple story. I'm honestly sick of the "simple story" buzzword because in this fanbase it usually translates to "nonexistent or poorly written 'comedy' story".

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I kinda liked the video as a whole. It would be interesting to see this guy's take on Sonic come to fruition and how they would handle story elements and such. That and the gameplay/artstyle ideas makes me think of Rayman Legends a lot and if Sonic Legends WAS a thing, I would love it rightly so.

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I think most of that gameplay stuff sounds fun, personally.  Inventory system might not be necessary, but other than that I'd at least be interested to see how most of his ideas worked in a game.

 

All in all I liked the video.  But criticism where it's due -  I'm gonna tear apart that redesign.  In detail.

 
First off, let's remind ourselves why Sonic became a beloved design in the first place.
 
1402769697718.png
 
Cute.  Simple.  Iconic.  The perfect blend of a few bright colors, a lovable compact figure, and a very unique hairstyle, all strung together in a pose full of personality.
 
Now let's take a look at this redesign.
 
tumblr_npupmvsVz71sccgsyo1_400.png
 
All over the place.
 
First let's get the glaring issue out of the way, the legs.  Sonic's head and upper body here are obviously going for an adorable toy-like appearance, something I could picture on a small teddy bear.  But then the legs are ridiculously long lanky sticks, maybe even longer than his Boom design.  The top half is trying to be cute, but the bottom half gets it wrong because lanky isn't cute. it also has no style or grace.  This is more of a personal observation on my part, and long, thin characters can be appealing, but for the most part, the most iconic cartoon characters are shorter, or otherwise more compact.  Mickey Mouse has thin limbs, but still has a fairly normal physique that keeps him short.  Mario is pudgy with thicker limbs and lots of curved lines.  Pikachu, Spongebob, the Powerpuff Girls, Hello Kitty, they all had very broad appeal, because in totally broad terms, smaller is cuter.  
 
Speaking of Hello Kitty, that's the first thing that comes to mind when looking at Sonic's face here.
 
Hello-Kitty-Wallpaper-37_605.jpg
 
One of the cutest and most marketable faces ever right there.  When the term "iconic" is thrown around in regards to character design, this is usually the first character that comes to my mind.  Dot eyes, little nose, no mouth, blank expression that can be put pretty much anywhere and still look cute no matter what.  No real personality, but it's just a cute design that is completely sweet, charming, and inoffensive.
 
That ain't Sonic.
 
While I do think Sonic should be cute, and I don't think his personality should be overplayed, he is NOT a blank slate.  In the Genesis classics, he always had a look of focus and determination, which turned into angry impatience when left idle for too long.  Even without dialogue you can tell what his personality was like.  Bold, hungry for action, but at the end of the day, still a charming good guy.  Making his eyes plain dots with no brows or expression is about as far as you can get from that.  
 
Lastly, the colors.  Removing the big eyes and gloves removes almost all of the white from his design, aside from his shoe straps.  Blue, red, white, and peach-ish skin color are the four main colors of his design, and they all work very well together.  The red is the loudest color of the four, so keeping it restricted to only his feet is a good way to have them stand out.  The blue takes up most of the body, and the peach and white work together to keep the blue from overpowering the others.  Without the white of the eyes and gloves, there's TOO much blue, on top of the blue arms, which we're all pretty sick of talking about I'm sure.  The original design struck a perfect color balance, but now it leans too heavily in one color's favor.
 
I probably went into unnecessary detail here, but hey, sometimes I think unnecessary detail is...well, necessary.  The original design got a lot right, and I feel it's still a relevant character design to this very day.  This proposed redesign has good intentions, but there's no way it would be a welcome change.
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Speaking of blue arms, I spent an embarrassingly long time wondering why his redesign gave him fat, stubby little arms...before realizing they're just bent.

 

I still say it's not a problem for Boom Sonic thanks to the sports tape and gloves, but when the whole arm is all the same blue, and especially with a soft art style like that, it really is easy to lose track of what's what.

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