Why I Play Sonic Games

[Legendary Emerald]

I guess now would be the perfect time for me to say something that should might be apparent to any of you who have read my posts on this forums. I'll start off with a comparison of two completely different games, in completely different genres.

I don't play racing games to go fast. I play racing games for the competitive and battling aspect.

I don't play Sonic to go fast. I play Sonic for the platforming and the exploration.

Going fast, in an of itself, brings no enjoyment. Sure, the first time you play F-Zero GX is a visceral thrill. Likewise for Sonic Unleashed. But the feeling wears off, and will never be gained again once it has been lost. Does F-Zero GX's speed compliment it's gameplay? Yes, because it highlights the competitive nature of the race. Does Sonic Unleashed's speed compliment its platforming? No; in fact, it is detrimental.

Maybe some people get their thrills in Unleashed by going really fast and avoiding obstacles, but to me, it's filler. A McDonald's LCD toy in three dimensions. Enjoyable for a short time, moreso if you have the desire to increase your score/decrease your time, but not meant to hold the attention span any longer than it has new things to show you.

Similarly, it no longer excites me to go fast in the genesis Sonic games. When I play Sonic 2, I could care less when Sonic outruns the screen in Chemical Plant Act 2. Give me an enemy to jump on, a platform to reach, a hidden route to discover, a batch of rings to snatch, a boss to bash. The reason why the Sonic vs Metal Sonic race in Sonic CD is so well done is not because you are simply encouraged to go fast, but because you are in direct competition with someone who can out perform you at a moments notice.

Speed has been and will continue to be a defining aspect of Sonic the Hedgehog. But it should never be the actual focus in my opinion; instead, it should compliment the level design and overall gameplay. Sonic should move at a quick pace, have acceleration proportionate to his environment, and at most, a few set moments where the need to get somewhere faster is imperative. That's what the classic Sonic games had. That's what the first Sonic Adventure game had. That's what future Sonic games, in my view, should have.

So, why do YOU play Sonic games? Please, no discussion of the music, storyline, or characters... unless it is absolutely imperative, I suppose.

Fun fact: Generally moving quickly is a plus for Sonic in the classic games in the same way as moving quickly is a plus for Samus in Super Metroid, compared to her original game. It expedites exploration, makes backtracking easy, and allows the game to play smoother and more enjoyably in general. I don't hear anyone clamoring for Samus to star in a high-speed action game, though.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Legendary Emerald

[Vertekins]

But storyline, characters and music can be a huge part of the enjoyment for a lot of Sonic gamers. Me included.

Anyways, I play Sonic games because they offer me something no other games can offer me distinction-wise; The incredible speed, acrobatics and style. I think 360 Unleashed epitomizes this best and that's the reason why I love it and it's day stages so much. I love speed so much in Sonic games that pimping the Crest of Wind in SatSR for all it's worth is hugely HUGELY enjoying to me. It's the vibrant colours and frequent scenery porn that makes the speedy experiences so much more powerful.

However, I do love Sonic games that have complexity. Like the Storybook games with their levelling-up and skill system.

[Ferno]

I don't hear anyone clamoring for Samus to star in a high-speed action game, though.

That's because her name isn't Sonic Aran.

[Kuzu]

You wanna know why I play Sonic games? I played them because they're faster paced, and cooler tricks to pull off than in Mario, Sonic's speed and acrobatics, in addition to his character are what made me fall in love with the series and why I prefer it over Mario, Unleashed takes what I love and turns it up to 11 in glorious HD, and its damn fun to play.

Yeah slow paced platforming is fun, and is why I love Mario too, but keep it in Mario, slower pacing doesn't belong in Sonic.

That's because her name isn't Sonic Aran.

That and her games never sucked for 10 years(OTher M is another story) because the development team couldn't decide on a playstyle that works.

[Raithos]

I play Sonic games for he adventure, story, and to zip through stages super fast. I just love the speed element, as long as it looks good and it's fast, I'm in.

[Diogenes]

I do play Sonic games for speed, but speed alone doesn't do it for me. Constant speed goes numb fast. I need to feel the weight of the character, the acceleration and deceleration. It's the moment when I step over the crest of the hill and go into a roll that the thrill kicks in; that's a rollercoaster, Unleashed isn't.

And it's not just the pure speed of it. It's the ebb and flow, the twisting and turning. Done right it's in the platforming as much as it is the balls-out speed.

That and her games never sucked for 10 years(OTher M is another story) because the development team couldn't decide on a playstyle that works.

Sonic sucked for several years because they stuck with a gameplay style that didn't work. And he may languish in mediocrity for the next few for the same reason. Edited August 30, 2011 by Diogenes

[Match]

I play 3D Sonic because I hope that it will get it like Adventure again. Adventure is a platformer that feels comfortable. I can trust to make a tricky jump with its controls. Sonic Unleashed, not so much.

I think, in another thread, I made this point; a good platformer is challenging, but possible. It makes you feel powerful when you get past a tricky part... I hate to reference Jak and Daxter again, but it's a great example. There's also that feeling, when you're in the middle of the adventure, where it feels like you're at a stop on a road trip, where you don't know how you got there or what happens next. Unleashed is fun in its own right, but it is most certainly not what comes to mind when I think of Sonic. I think of the Adventure titles, how I miss them so much, how I wish and wish that Sega would get that kind of gameplay again. Not SA3, just...a platformer. Once again, I love Unleashed and everything, I just strongly prefer Adventure.

I play for those feelings I mentioned above. I play for a game that can invoke feelings of adventure.

[Kuzu]

Sonic sucked for several years because they stuck with a gameplay style that didn't work. And he may languish in mediocrity for the next few for the same reason.

[Diogenes]

I'm talking about Sonic's gameplay. That stuff's all smoke and mirrors.

[Tori Himemiya]

I play Sonic because its fun and fast unlike that round plumber who saves princesses for nothing.

Simple as that.

[Kuzu]

I'm talking about Sonic's gameplay. That stuff's all smoke and mirrors.

[pppp]

Adventure is a platformer that feels comfortable. I can trust to make a tricky jump with its controls. Sonic Unleashed, not so much

I agree,but Colors took care of that,I can platform fine in Colors.Also Generations' modern gameplay also has better controls according to the people that played it at SoS so you don't have to worry about that.

Even though i would also love to see a return to Sonic's Adventure formula. That formula never got a chance to really shine because of bs genre roulette and lazy design(Heroes and 06).

Better yet: Have the Adventure formula as the normal gameplay and then have mach speed sections like 06 had, except instead of it being an uncontrollable mess,make it like the Generations gameplay.

[DC111]

Sorry to sound like an ass, but I play Sonic games for the story, music and characters. It's not fair to exclude those elements from a discussion just because they aren't your reasons for playing Sonic games.

Having said that, I also play Sonic games for the speed, platforming, very appealing and colorful graphics (gosh, I HATE 'realistic' brown-toned games, and Sonic is about as far from that kind of thing as you can get), and varied environments. Sonic games are just freakin' fun!

EDIT: Oh yeah, and replay value. Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Unleashed were great in this respect.

Edited August 30, 2011 by DC111

[Koopalmier]

I don't play Sonic because it's "cooler" than Mario, nor because it has "darker story" (because it hasn't). I don't even compare Sonic to anything else, because, well, it's not like anything else. From the momentum-based Genesis (and SEGA CD) game(s) to the 3D platforming to the more recent, more linear gameplay, Sonic games never gave you something you'd call a Mario hack.

All Sonic games have speed sequences and platforming sequences, separated. Unleashed Daytime gameplay is more linear than before so it's more apparent. But I'll say the most stupid thing I've said here (that's saying a lot): I think that the Unleashed gameplay is as good of a transition to 3D than Sonic Adventure's style.

Well, it's more 2,5D, honestly. After the disaster of '06, I'm not sure they're willing to try again either. And Japanese people prefer 2D games to 3D games, so it gives Sonic a little more of a chance to eventually succeed there one day.

[Chaos Walker]

I don't hear anyone clamoring for Samus to star in a high-speed action game, though.

Team Ninja tried it. Apparantly it didn't go so well. Not bad, but no that great. Certainly not as good as the rest of the Metroid series. I'd have prefered seeing what happens after Fusion.

Anyway, I play Sonic because:

First video game ever. MAAAAAJOR nostalgia factor when the first thing you used a controller on was Sonic 1.

That momentum gameplay keeps me comming back for more. I got tired of Super Mario Galaxy 2 half way through. I had allready played Mario Galaxy, and I'd used Yoshi before in other games. Putting both together did nothing new. Mario is such a basic flat platformer, since he is one of the originals. He runs on the bare formula of run, jump, grab power ups, but he can get away with it because that's what he has always been made of, and it's hard to screw that formula up. That's why Sonic is a breathe of fresh air to me. There is a certain satisfaction to saying: "Look how fast I got him to go!"

I looove the music. Almost every soundtrack is amazing, save for a few obscure flops. (Sega Sonic Aracade, I look at you.)

And more recently, the rush. Wow, Sonic Unleashed was marvelous the first few times. Sonic has some very good looking cinematic gameplay due to the dynamic nature of the character. I do know that the running down section of Speed Highway has NOT gotten old though, and that is because it was sprinkled in sparingly. It was a moment to watch Sonic be epic before you got back to the regular game, except you were still playing. Same with the G.U.N truck from Adventure 2.

He taught me to care about game design and mechanics. I've always liked making games, but Sonic's lack luster performance inspired me to sit down and figure it out. So thank you Sonic. Thanks for sucking for a while. You can stop now. Seriously.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Chaos Walker

[Mollfie]

So, why do YOU play Sonic games? Please, no discussion of the music, storyline, or characters... unless it is absolutely imperative, I suppose.

But in that case there's nothing for me, and many others, to talk about lol.

I love the characters and I like seeing what they get up to. I don't play every Sonic game to the very end, I often simply enjoy watching Jez play them through (again and again and again). I love the music, otherwise I wouldn't bother listening to it outside of the games. I love the settings. I love the storylines, even the stupid bits because at least it's funny.

I think it's the characters I like most and the story. I like seeing what adventure they're going on this time, who else will pop up and seeing what wily ol' Eggers is up to.

[Legendary Emerald]

Okay, I should say something. The reason I asked you all not to talk about story, music, and characters, was that I wanted this to be a purely gameplay oriented discussion. Certainly all three of those aspects are reasons why I play the games as well, but no matter what, they by necessity come after gameplay in importance.

Having said that, if you only play Sonic games for reasons outside of the gameplay, then I'd feel you are wasting your money. Just read fanfiction or Archie comics, and buy the soundtrack CDs. It'd be much cheaper, and then maybe we wouldn't be encouraging SEGA to make another awful Free Riders game just because we are so interested in its plot that we can't NOT buy it.

(No, let's not turn this into a Free Riders discussion. Back to business as usual for this topic.)

[Chaos Walker]

Okay, I should say something. The reason I asked you all not to talk about story, music, and characters, was that I wanted this to be a purely gameplay oriented discussion. Certainly all three of those aspects are reasons why I play the games as well, but no matter what, they by necessity come after gameplay in importance.

Ah, I pulled the o'l 'don't read the first post very carefuly bit. Sorry about that, though I think my post was mostly along the lines you wanted. Anyway if that's what you want, change the title to "What about playing as Sonic is so fun?" and the decription to: "Why do you like the way the games play?" or something like that. You wouldn't get nearly as many replys, but it would filter people a bit.

Edited August 31, 2011 by Chaos Walker

[Kuzu]

Okay, I should say something. The reason I asked you all not to talk about story, music, and characters, was that I wanted this to be a purely gameplay oriented discussion. Certainly all three of those aspects are reasons why I play the games as well, but no matter what, they by necessity come after gameplay in importance.

Having said that, if you only play Sonic games for reasons outside of the gameplay, then I'd feel you are wasting your money. Just read fanfiction or Archie comics, and buy the soundtrack CDs. It'd be much cheaper, and then maybe we wouldn't be encouraging SEGA to make another awful Free Riders game just because we are so interested in its plot that we can't NOT buy it.

(No, let's not turn this into a Free Riders discussion. Back to business as usual for this topic.)

that's a pretty simplistic conclusion don't ya think? I mean 9/10 Sonic Fan Fictions suck, and Archie is going through....problems, there are people out there who play the games for the story, if only because they've become engaged by the characters and their world, there's nothing wrong with that.

[T-Min]

It depends on what particular game I'm playing. I enjoy games like Unleashed and Rush for different reasons than the classics or the Adventure games. Sonic can give me thrilling, rollercoasterlike gameplay with obstacles to overcome, or lots of platforming and exploration. Either way, I'm having a dang good time. The speed, however, is a big part of what makes it enjoyable for me, and I find something is very missing when it lacks a proper amount of speed. For the record, even if it wouldn't have changed how bad it was from an objective standpoint, I may have gained some enjoyment from 06 had Sonic only run fast.

Edited August 31, 2011 by Rigby

[Legendary Emerald]

I mean 9/10 Sonic Fan Fictions suck, and Archie is going through....problems, there are people out there who play the games for the story, if only because they've become engaged by the characters and their world, there's nothing wrong with that.

[Kuzu]

9/10 Sonic game stories suck, imo, or are at least ruined by poor writing and translation. That or story is nearly non-existent. I'd say if people really cared mostly for the story, they probably should have jumped ship as soon as Heroes was released. That's not to say Adventure 1 and 2 had great storytelling, though I think most people would agree that its about as "deep" or complex as it ever got (without tripping over itself like in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 2006).

I won't begrudge people their interests and tastes, though. After all, I've read a fuck-ton of Sonic fanfiction; I stick to the known names who are guaranteed to at minimum provide a better story than SEGA does. Professional storytellers, Sonic Team ain't, despite whatever the credit crawl may make you believe.

But that's fine for me, because I play for the gameplay first, and music second. Plot would be a distant third.

[Diogenes]

There's actually nothing inherently wrong with that. It's not like you expect Solitaire to tell you a story, right? Some games put their full weight on the actual game, and make no attempt to tie a story to it; it's simply a set of rules with success and failure conditions to challenge and entertain a player.

Of course, as soon as the decision was made to create a character, that was pretty much out the window. Sonic's been telling stories from the beginning, and he will continue to.

[Kuzu]

There's actually nothing inherently wrong with that. It's not like you expect Solitaire to tell you a story, right? Some games put their full weight on the actual game, and make no attempt to tie a story to it; it's simply a set of rules with success and failure conditions to challenge and entertain a player.

Of course, as soon as the decision was made to create a character, that was pretty much out the window. Sonic's been telling stories from the beginning, and he will continue to.

Edited August 31, 2011 by Shadic93

[DC111]

Okay, I should say something. The reason I asked you all not to talk about story, music, and characters, was that I wanted this to be a purely gameplay oriented discussion. Certainly all three of those aspects are reasons why I play the games as well, but no matter what, they by necessity come after gameplay in importance.

Having said that, if you only play Sonic games for reasons outside of the gameplay, then I'd feel you are wasting your money. Just read fanfiction or Archie comics, and buy the soundtrack CDs. It'd be much cheaper, and then maybe we wouldn't be encouraging SEGA to make another awful Free Riders game just because we are so interested in its plot that we can't NOT buy it.

(No, let's not turn this into a Free Riders discussion. Back to business as usual for this topic.)

Fair enough, guess that didn't seem clear before. Though I DO read fanfiction, and the Archie comics, and I buy soundtracks. Still nothing like sitting down and playing a Sonic game, though.

...And Free Riders' plot kind of sucked, so that can't really be blamed for the sub-par gameplay. Not that the quality of the plot has any real relation to the quality of the game anyway. Okay, I'm all done now, sorry.

EDIT: Oheylook, 500th post.

Edited August 31, 2011 by DC111