SPOnG Preview

[gato]

Jumping alone is not the best way to deal with enemies – there's a split second as you're jumping where Sonic is not a spinning ball, leaving him open to attack. Once you're reached the apex of your jump, you also stop spinning – again, leaving you open to attack. For enemies where you can't use a homing attack, that can get frustrating.

It kind of worries me that part about attacking some badniks, there are probably other ways to deal with them than jumping (maybe sliding, stomping or boosting), but it still seems like it could be an annoyance.

But I'm happy to see some enemies (specially badniks) being more of a threat than those useless Unleashed bots.

And last time I played the game, I was pleasantly surprised to see a little Hazard warning appear at the bottom of the screen whenever I was about to encounter a bottomless pit or some other sudden death area. Later levels don't have this neat feature, making for a few choice phrases to be yelled out when I fell down a gap that appeared out of nowhere in Aquatic Park. Old habits like that need to be dealt with.

Me'h, not really worried about that, but I know some people will complain about it...

Anyway, reading that preview it seems like water in 3D still means instant death, could you confirm or deny this Dread?

I wasn't really expecting Unerwater 3D sections, but I would prefeer if the water behaves like that water-like liquid in Cannons Core.

[Badnik Zero]

I like how Dread compares it to SA2, that's a really really good thing. I like the humor. All the times we were told the game was targeted at kids made it easy to be skittish after market research has delivered Werehogs in the past. So the clear message that this is enjoyable by all should be repeated in other articles.

Oh yeah, Crabmeat has a homing missile? And they're harder to hit. That's a cool tidbit. It's interesting that classic Badniks would be more elite enemies.

[Aries]

Homing Attack?

Nah!

BADNIKS like it OLDSCHOOL!

No wonder Sonic is running AWAY from that Big Purple Crab thing.

heheh Good stuff Dread!

Edited September 21, 2010 by Aries

[speedduelist]

Hi, Dread.

really good read

- you really did play 25 hours?

- also i am sorry for too much questions but how good is exploration and the level design of acquirement park and star light carnival? and how much 3d and how much 2d (50/50?)

- also is their CGI Cut scenes or are they real time rendered?

- you said you will upload a video footage when its approved? did SEGA Approved it

Excuse me if i am selfish, enough of the great preview you did

you can take rest. i won't force you to answer

[gato]

Homing Attack?

Nah!

BADNIKS like it OLDSCHOOL!

I regret nothng.

[Dreadknux]

I'll clarify some stuff here, and answer a few questions;

• You can HA some badniks, note I said 'you can't HA most badniks' in the preview - Buzzbombers in Sweet Mountain and Crabmeats in Aquatic Park are two examples of classic badniks that can be HA'd.
  
• Spiny's and Motobugs can't be HA'd. Neither can underwater badniks. You only encounter Burrobots while drilling, so you obviously can't HA those either.
  
• 3D underwater areas don't equal 'sudden death,' mostly because there are no real 3D underwater areas to speak of. All underwater activity is done in 2D.
  
• To the above point, if you mean like in Unleashed where Sonic will instantly die if he touches a foot of water during the 3D segments, you don't need to worry. Bottomless hazards are always identified as bottomless pits, there are no watery quagmires that will suck you in. In Aquatic Park, when you come up to an area of water in 3D, the camera automatically pans back round to 2D view. You can boost along like Jesus, or fall and plunge into the water.
  
• There are ways of getting around the uncurling - the easiest (and probably most fun) is to stomp. But it can be a pain in the arse when underwater and you want to bop a Chopper, and you uncurl just before you land on it.
  
• No side-missions, no mini-games. The only thing you'll be playing are Acts within worlds, or the Game Land/Sonic Simulator (which is essentially the same as the 1-player Story levels anyway). There are no other gameplay mechanics besides bosses.
  
• You can play Sonic Simulator on your own. Pressing the 1 or 2 button (in the Wii Remote + Nunchuk configuration) will allow you to switch between 'RoboSonic Player 1' and 'RoboSonic Player 2' (not official names). That's what the red ball is, following you around - it's the other 'RoboSonic'.
  
• Although you can get pushed off the screen in multiplayer mode, you can escape death and the loss of a life by pressing the 1 or 2 button (Wiimote+Nunchuk config) - you'll turn back into a spinning ball and follow the remaining player around the level, until you press something and jump back into the action.

[Aries]

I regret nothng.

Hahah! XD THATS AWESOME BRO!

I'll clarify some stuff here, and answer a few questions;

* You can HA some badniks, note I said 'you can't HA most badniks' in the preview - Buzzbombers in Sweet Mountain and Crabmeats in Aquatic Park are two examples of classic badniks that can be HA'd.

* Spiny's and Motobugs can't be HA'd. Neither can underwater badniks. You only encounter Burrobots while drilling, so you obviously can't HA those either.

* 3D underwater areas don't equal 'sudden death,' mostly because there are no real 3D underwater areas to speak of. All underwater activity is done in 2D.

* To the above point, if you mean like in Unleashed where Sonic will instantly die if he touches a foot of water during the 3D segments, you don't need to worry. Bottomless hazards are always identified as bottomless pits, there are no watery quagmires that will suck you in. In Aquatic Park, when you come up to an area of water in 3D, the camera automatically pans back round to 2D view. You can boost along like Jesus, or fall and plunge into the water.

* There are ways of getting around the uncurling - the easiest (and probably most fun) is to stomp. But it can be a pain in the arse when underwater and you want to bop a Chopper, and you uncurl just before you land on it.

* No side-missions, no mini-games. The only thing you'll be playing are Acts within worlds, or the Game Land/Sonic Simulator (which is essentially the same as the 1-player Story levels anyway). There are no other gameplay mechanics besides bosses.

* You can play Sonic Simulator on your own. Pressing the 1 or 2 button (in the Wii Remote + Nunchuk configuration) will allow you to switch between 'RoboSonic Player 1' and 'RoboSonic Player 2' (not official names). That's what the red ball is, following you around - it's the other 'RoboSonic'.

* Although you can get pushed off the screen in multiplayer mode, you can escape death and the loss of a life by pressing the 1 or 2 button (Wiimote+Nunchuk config) - you'll turn back into a spinning ball and follow the remaining player around the level, until you press something and jump back into the action.

Amazing! that is very good to know Thank you Dreadknux!

Lets hope Sonic Team irons out anything that is left off.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Aries

[Saint Nathan]

[*]There are ways of getting around the uncurling - the easiest (and probably most fun) is to stomp. But it can be a pain in the arse when underwater and you want to bop a Chopper, and you uncurl just before you land on it.

So like, Sonic uncurls when going down from his jump?

Doesn't that make it like, almost impossible to hit anything?

[gato]

Awesome tidbits there Dread.

• To the above point, if you mean like in Unleashed where Sonic will instantly die if he touches a foot of water during the 3D segments, you don't need to worry. Bottomless hazards are always identified as bottomless pits, there are no watery quagmires that will suck you in. In Aquatic Park, when you come up to an area of water in 3D, the camera automatically pans back round to 2D view. You can boost along like Jesus, or fall and plunge into the water.

• There are ways of getting around the uncurling - the easiest (and probably most fun) is to stomp. But it can be a pain in the arse when underwater and you want to bop a Chopper, and you uncurl just before you land on it.

So the choppers are the "hard to kill" enemies? I actually feel glad about it, glad to see now they have some advantage in their territory unlike the classics.

• No side-missions, no mini-games. The only thing you'll be playing are Acts within worlds, or the Game Land/Sonic Simulator (which is essentially the same as the 1-player Story levels anyway). There are no other gameplay mechanics besides bosses.

Glad to see this confirmed.

• You can play Sonic Simulator on your own. Pressing the 1 or 2 button (in the Wii Remote + Nunchuk configuration) will allow you to switch between 'RoboSonic Player 1' and 'RoboSonic Player 2' (not official names). That's what the red ball is, following you around - it's the other 'RoboSonic'.

So no additional characters fancharacters colours?

I guessthey are still working on that.

• Although you can get pushed off the screen in multiplayer mode, you can escape death and the loss of a life by pressing the 1 or 2 button (Wiimote+Nunchuk config) - you'll turn back into a spinning ball and follow the remaining player around the level, until you press something and jump back into the action.

That's so Sonic Advance 3, and that's a good thing in my book.

Thanks Dread, your single post destroyed all of my worries. xD

EDIT: maybe not so happy about this game being HA based, but it's not like I was expecting other thing.

Edited September 21, 2010 by gato

[Aries]

Hey...HAing balloons is FUN! Woohoo!

WHOOSH!!

POP!!

*Epic Aerodynamics!*

hahah

Edited September 21, 2010 by Aries

[Badnik Zero]

Neither can underwater badniks.

I was wondering about this, since a lot of underwater combat looks drill-based. Interesting design choice.

You can boost along like Jesus.

I enjoy this image very much.

[Marcello]

Dreadknux: I'm curious, did you hear the new vocal song for Colours ingame? I mean this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pqWEOM3KQA&feature=related

starting at 7:45

Edited September 21, 2010 by MarcelloF

[Dreadknux]

@Galaxy Man: His uncurling tends to happen when you're about 3/4 way through your jump, so you can still hit stuff. But it can be an issue once every so often.

[speedduelist]

Dread, how is the balance between 3d and 2d ratio?

how good is the music in aqua park and star light carnival?

did the direct feed footage from Spong you mentioned got approved? and is it Recorded with a Camera or with a Recording Software?

are the cut scenes CGI or real time?

I am sorry for so many questions

Edited September 21, 2010 by speedduelist

[SykoTech]

Cool to here that they got a good ranking system this time. The one in Unleashed Wii was stupid easy, just have to do a quick speed run. This sounds a lot better, like the Unleashed HD ranking system.

Should be great.

[Hero of Legend]

Just out of a wee bit of curiosity and a silly question, are there any spots where you enter water in 3D where the platform goes downhill to underwater, so that you can basically take a foot-long dip in 3D and splash around in 3D. XD

Looking at this shot, the platforms are 90 degrees so it's either the platform, or underwater.

Loved the preview Dread, fantastic work!

Oh, and I don't think you answered if Grounder is in the game, or if they're just classed as smaller Burrobots or whatever.

[Dummy Bear]

I'm hoping they fix that little jump problem before release, but other than that, the game sounds fantastic.

I think my favorite thing about the game is the return of the badniks and how they sound like they are a bigger threat the Egg Pawns.

Man, November isn't coming soon enough.

[Aries]

“Experience has taught me to investigate anything that glows.” - Sonic

....Yep heheh.

Can't want to hear more about the story...Did you get to see Cubot Dread? I'm rather intrigued by his "accent" heheh.

Man, November isn't coming soon enough.

56 WHOLE DAYS

Edited September 21, 2010 by Aries

[Derg]

First you relieve my fear of the kind of writing by confirming the writers won't be forced to do "Heroes" kind of writing, with extra information that confrim my purchase of the game instead of renting/trying it. Now you tell a whole bunch of stuff that pushes my hype to addicted levels. Time to count the days till I get my fix, arghghg. Thanks for the previews.

[Agent York]

Late reply, but that was a very nice preview so I thank you for that Dread. Though uncurling after jumping is kinda' weird since I always try to land on enemies, not up into them.

Seriously, where'd this whole uncurling idea within Sonic Team come from. >_> It sounds more annoying in Colors and 4 than a cool addition for challenge. But besides that, sounds great to me.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Dusk the Wisp Keeper

[Phos]

Designing for tacked on moves leads to poor choices such as these.

Edit: In response to dusk, new page makes it less obvious.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Phos

[Agent York]

Designing for tacked on moves leads to poor choices such as these.

Edit: In response to dusk, new page makes it less obvious.

Hopefully it doesn't stick, since that so far sounds like the only thing that may annoy me. When I jump I aim to land on enemies. Jumping and then uncurling right before you hit the ground just brings potential "hurt" times and cheap shots to Sonic. Everything else sounds great but if I understand this correctly it sounds more hinder-some than a additional feature. Though I won't judge until I play it since to be honest I don't recall seeing this in gameplay videos and for both Colors and 4 though both look good for the most part to me I have decided to wait on any and all judgments until I'm playing through it on my own TV.

[Phos]

My impression is that this happens to get more use out of the stomp which would do very little otherwise.

In Unleashed Sonic remained curled the entire way through a jump but I've often seen instances of him remaining in an attacking state even while uncurled. Is it certain that Sonic is vulnerable post uncurling?