JezMM

This I definitely agree with, forgot about that in my post. A burst of flame when it appears behind your car might have helped (but not too much so you don't think you're actually using it).

I won't lie, the first time I suffered at the hands of Quake Wisp, I was kinda confused and thought it was a predetermined stage hazard, but it was pretty quick to figure out. I really don't think learning what each one does is that much of a struggle though. The loading screens explain them regularly and it only takes using each one and/or being hit by each one a few times to get the jist. I think with Quake and Lightning, it'd be nice if they showed up on screen for a moment to taunt the player before activating their effect, making it clear what is causing the effect to someone who is regularly in 1st on single player and hasn't had a chance to use them. Also, they probably should've used Dodon Pa's hint dialogue to explain Wisps as you collect them (assuming no-one else is talking). I mean he sure as hell took up screen space reminding me that I can pass items to teammates all the way to the end of the game so might as well put a variety of hints up there.

The only thing I will say in TSR's defense is while the item gameplay is a bit hit-or-miss, GOD I appreciate the Wisp usage over the first two games' generic items when I see them side-by-side. I know the fandom as a whole is still struggling with swallowing the "Wisps are here to stay" pill, but the fact is they're a major part of the Sonic franchise now and they are so much more appealing to look at, what with the little guys peering around quizzically, putting on a sassy expression or looking downright traumatised by everything going on around them as you wait to use them, as oppose to... Baseball Glove.

Nah, it's one campaign. You're free to use any character you like for any stage too, regardless of whether the cut-scene beforehand implies that a particular character is racing.

Well, just finished Team Adventure Mode, so I can safely say the game is decent by the fact that I did so on day of release, basically played it all day. It's a good little game, nothing special but plays well, as expected. Unfortunately I can't agree with Mayor D, Sonicka or a few others about the re-used tracks... for me they really stick out compared to the massive variety and spectacle of the newer tracks. The fact that they have new music definitely helps though. They're still fun to play, but they definitely don't feel like they might as well be new tracks. Mario Kart 8's GBA tracks they ain't. The difficulty of story mode is also a little off-putting - most of it is fine, but towards the end I was BARELY scraping past some races as my CPU teammates constantly held me back. I'd spend almost every race in 1st the whole time without ever using Wisps, just constantly offering them to my teammates to 1. help them out and 2. build my ultimate meter faster. Said teammates would spend most of the race in 4th place or lower, I'd activate my team ultimate, they'd magically catch up to me in 2nd and 3rd for about 30 seconds before dropping back down again. In the end my tactic was to mostly repeat this, saving my team ultimate for the last 30 seconds of a race or just using it as a damage-control/get-out-of-jail free card when another team used their team ultimate to catch up to me. In addition, I just don't GET the checkpoint post skimming missions or the ring-grabbing missions. For most of these I could barely make Bronze medals (with a few exceptions) and I can't fathom how one would get Platinum - especially in the checkpoint post ones where there is no way to add time to the clock. Honestly the idea of 100%ing the story mode seems so daunting that I probably won't even try. Music is great though they might have spoiled a few too many bangers ahead of time. Hidden Volcano and Clockwork Pyramid were a bit disappointing, sounding just like bland generic Jun Senoue rock of average intensity with nothing that really screamed their mood or environment. Pinball Highway and Sky Road are interesting but fell a bit flat for me melody-wise, not as cool as the visuals. Luckily at least, Lost Palace, Frozen Junkyard, Haunted Castle and Thunder Deck were all great. The remixes overall are good at worst and amazing at best. Planet Wisp's songs were all great but a little similar to each other. The story was fine, unfortunately it failed to make me last much, but seeing the extended cast interact with each other a bunch was still enjoyable. Omega never being acknowledged, Metal Sonic's lack of fanfare and Zavok's lack of explanation for being there and being Eggman's ally again were all kinda lame. Blaze and Silver getting some much needed time to be themselves was VERY appreciated though (in particular confirmation that Silver is definitely as much of a dweeb in game canon as he is in the comics, good). Yet to try out online races, hopefully the teamplay mechanics will feel more satisfying when I know it's a human making decisions on the other end, and not a stupid CPU player who spent the entire last lap of a survival race in 6th place while ignoring my item offers and never using the item they DID have. Overall I'd say it's definitely weaker overall than Transformed, mainly for track variety and basic gameplay. The team mechanics are an interesting idea, but the vehicle transformations of ASRT were more fun overall. I don't care about the SEGA stuff and am glad this is a Sonic-only affair, but the downgrade back to ASR's zones with 3-tracks-each-style is lamer than ASRT's whole game of individual tracks.

Chamomile #109

Until this hypothetical situation happens, what Aaron is doing is fine (assuming it's truthful that they have no plans for DLC ofc but even then, eh). In the case that we did get DLC? "We originally had no plans, but the fan outcry for more content was so prominent in the end that we decided to do it for you guys coz you're such amazing fans" etc etc. Problem solved.

Chamomile #108

Aaron's a good guy and I'm not gonna blame him for just doing his job, but that's literal just PR speak and nothing more*. The sad fact is, people wouldn't be asking for DLC so much if the base game's content didn't seem somehow unsatisfying, minimal, stretched-thin or incomplete, etc. Making it seem like that isn't the case by implying that the game doesn't need DLC is the best he can do about such a circumstance. If there WAS paid DLC planned, that exact same human mouth would be instead championing what great value the DLC is gonna be and how they wanted to do more than just a base game product and continue supporting it after launch with content that's worth paying for etc. *(Of course there is a chance either one of these scenarios is/would be his true feelings, but this is still what he'd have to say about it in spite of that as the face of Sonic's western PR).

Saw it today myself. I don't consider myself much of a Pokémon fan but I have an affection for the franchise to this day for it's character design and nostalgia for back when I was into it because EVERYONE was into it. Was a pretty good time, nothing groundbreaking but yeah, good stuff. I think the highlights were the humour, animation, set design and acting on both Reynolds and the human cast's part. Soundtrack was pretty nice too. The detective story twists were 50/50 - some are very predictable, others did manage to catch me out. I have a few minor gripes however (late movie spoilers, be warned):

It's sort of implied by the stinger at the end of the credits. The book Sonic was reading is shown to be Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, which then mysteriously magics itself into saying "Sonic and the Secret Rings" instead. How you want to take that scene is kind of up to the player - whether it's meant to imply Sonic took on the role of Aladdin in a story that was bound to happen, or whether he "re-wrote" the book into the story we saw instead with his actions. Or whether it's just a cute little stinger that is just a nod to the most well-known story from the Arabian Nights and nothing more.

They happened, Sonic specifically references Secret Rings in Generations, the reason why these alternate universes have characters in them that look identical to Sonic's friends is handwaved as a coincidence. That's all there is to it. Only Sonic experienced the adventures, but he clearly told his friends about them (since Tails doesn't question the line in Generations, and Black Knight's epilogue specifically consists of Sonic trying to tell Amy about it). It's not really clear how Sonic fits into those worlds (like, how he "becomes" Aladdin or King Arthur and yet leaves afterwards just fine) but it isn't really important - it's implied he leaves the worlds in a good position to look after themselves in his absence.

Colours, Generations and Lost World were entirely or PRETTY MUCH entirely Sonic & Tails adventures, and Boom is obviously a completely different canon with alternate versions of the characters. As far as the extended modern cast goes, Forces is pretty much the only game that gave all of them an equal amount of screentime in terms of character interactions, and it was... lacking. Besides all that... even if they said "we learned from Forces and we're going to deliver a satisfying, intense serious storyline with great characterisation and interactions"... Team Sonic Racing would hardly be the game to deliver that.

Story Mode is probably just there to provide some fun, unusual gameplay for people who don't enjoy playing online, of which there are many out there, especially younger kids. It's as worth putting in as it was worth putting Mission Modes in the previous two Sumo Sonic racing games, which I get the impression most people played even without a story. But yeah, I'm not expecting anything grand, though I am glad to hear it is at least voice acted. I hope the writing is decent enough to provide some laughs and fun interactions. To be honest, after Forces, it might be a breath of fresh air to get some voiced character interactions for the modern cast where the stakes aren't high, assuming they are able to write them in-character, at least (which is where Free Riders stumbled thanks to almost everyone being petty jerks to each other).

Chamomile #107