What keeps you coming back to the franchise?

[Kuzu]

You just couldn't save your sarcastic jokes, could you?

I said It's hard to explain.

..and the moon has nothing to do with what I meant and even if it did, it was nothing compared to what shattered rotten pieces of continuity we have now.

You set yourself up for that one, I just took advantage.

[Diogenes]

..and the moon has nothing to do with what I meant and even if it did, it was nothing compared to what shattered rotten pieces of continuity we have now.

The continuity is as intact as it's ever been.

Also I don't see how you could say that '06 had a "soul" and Unleashed didn't.

[krazystitch]

As simple and blunt as this may seem, I just..like the series, really.

I grew up playing the original games on the SEGA Genesis and followed through with it on the Gamecube with SA2 and so on, Sonic has pretty much just become part of who I am and I'm not ashamed of it or anything. I'm a fan of the character and the games themselves, so I'm always looking forward to see where it might head next.

[Robot Teleporter]

I alwayse liked the characters and stories. Most platformers have very simple stories, and mindless voiceless characters. Which I don't mind too much, but sonic has attitude and personality, and his stories are alwayse a little more epic than just saving a princess or anything like that. I kinda alwayse felt that Sonic was less of a platforming hero, and more of a "comic book" style hero, who had good platforming games. Also even the bad moments in his games were more funny than game breaking, in most cases.

[dirupti]

In short, my subscription to Archie's STH and SU is what keeps me coming back. When you get 2 comics every month they get pretty hard to ignore. I'll be perfectly honest, I think the comics have been pretty sucky lately, yet somehow the never ending slew of cliffhanger holds my attention.

[ArtFenix]

The continuity is as intact as it's ever been.

Also I don't see how you could say that '06 had a "soul" and Unleashed didn't.

Edited January 30, 2012 by ArtFenix

[SilentDoom]

Well, maybe you can't see it but I do. It's just that the game was rushed and unfinished. Otherwise there could be day/night change, unlockable Metal Sonic, Super Sonic on levels and other stuff. It was definitely an ambitious project and that's where I see it's soul. I see its soul in the story as well. It definitely needed more again, but the feel of it and that gorgeous ending.. No other Sonic game except Sa and Sa2 had that feeling. Unleashed on the other hand.. I don't know.. I didn't get that feeling with the story or that feeling of freedom playing the levels. The game wasn't that ambitious even though it was finished for the most part.

OK. I just like SNG much more than unleashed for a lot of reasons and some of these reasons you may not like.

You will hate S06 whatever I say, won't you? Then let's agree to differ.

[Soniman]

Edit: delete please

Edited January 30, 2012 by Grooseinator032

[Emmett L. Brown]

Fun.

That's it. I want a fun fast-paced platformer, and that's what Sonic is best at. I'll gladly accept a bad story, cheesy dialogue, poopy friends, and even the occasional glitch and bad physics just as long as the core gameplay is fun. Maybe that's why I'm one of the few who don't see Sonic 4 as the anti-christ of new Sonic games. I had fun playing it, so it lived up to my expectations.

[Kuzu]

Well, maybe you can't see it but I do. It's just that the game was rushed and unfinished. Otherwise there could be day/night change, unlockable Metal Sonic, Super Sonic on levels and other stuff. It was definitely an ambitious project and that's where I see it's soul. I see its soul in the story as well. It definitely needed more again, but the feel of it and that gorgeous ending.. No other Sonic game except Sa and Sa2 had that feeling. Unleashed on the other hand.. I don't know.. I didn't get that feeling with the story or that feeling of freedom playing the levels. The game wasn't that ambitious even though it was finished for the most part.

OK. I just like SNG much more than unleashed for a lot of reasons and some of these reasons you may not like.

You will hate S06 whatever I say, won't you? Then let's agree to differ.

...wut?

[Blue Blood]

This bolded part, what are you basing this on?

Fact, mostly. The http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbNsAcKoJ2Q, the various text in the game referring to playable Metal Sonic (alongside amigo character episodes), an unused "?" life icon on a dark blue BG (Sonic had light blue, Knuckles had red, Amy had pink etc) and there were several other cut features with blatant evidence all on this page. The only part that ArtFenix has got wrong is the day/night system. That was a scrapped feature because it didn't work with CG cutscenes and the rest of the game. Heck, we never saw it in anything BUT the '06 tech-demos.

So yeah, much as I agree that there was absolutely no soul in '06, ArtFenix is mostly right there.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Blue Blood

[SilentDoom]

Fact, mostly. The http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbNsAcKoJ2Q, the various text in the game referring to playable Metal Sonic (alongside amigo character episodes), an unused "?" life icon on a dark blue BG (Sonic had light blue, Knuckles had red, Amy had pink etc) and there were several other cut features with blatant evidence all on this page. The only part that ArtFenix has got wrong is the day/night system. That was a scrapped feature because it didn't work with CG cutscenes and the rest of the game. Heck, we never saw it in anything BUT the '06 tech-demos.

So yeah, much as I agree that there was absolutely no soul in '06, ArtFenix is mostly right there.

Ah that's interesting. Thanks for this. I never knew about that before. Surprising they didn't bring this idea back until Colours though.

[Diogenes]

Well, maybe you can't see it but I do. It's just that the game was rushed and unfinished.

Among other things...but I still don't see how you see so much more "soul" in a game so fundamentally broken. Like, just comparing the hub worlds, '06's are big but damn near empty. They're cold and uncaring. There's some copy-paste NPCs with missions that aren't worth bothering with and that's about it. Unleashed's are so much more...cozy, you could call it. Smaller, but filled with memorable characters. How is Unleashed the game that's lacking?

You will hate S06 whatever I say, won't you? Then let's agree to differ.

This doesn't help either of us understand the other.

e: You talk a lot about some vague "feel", and I think that's why the conversation will go nowhere. You need to dig in and find out what it is that creates that feel, and how and why. Those are things that can actually be discussed properly, rather than just throwing personal opinions against each other.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Diogenes

[Dr. Mechano]

There are two main things that keep me around:

1.) Eggman. He's awesome and I'll always think so, duh.

2.) The people. No matter how disillusioned Heroes/Shadows/2K6 made me with the series, some of the fanbase (like you guys!) are pretty great.

[Scar]

Well, maybe you can't see it but I do. It's just that the game was rushed and unfinished.

That alone is evidence enough to support the idea that Sonic 06 had no soul. If it did have soul, then it would have at least resembled a finished product, which it clearly wasn't. Unfinished implies a lack of care and thus a lack of "soul".

Yeah, you like 06 more and whatnot, but its almost a joke to believe that Unleashed is less soulful than 06. So much effort went into making it, even though it wasn't perfect. They developed a brand new graphics engine, they threw in tons and tons of references. So much effort went into its production. To this day its production values are unmatched by any Sonic game.

I dunno, I personally judge the "soul" of the game, based upon the effort put into making it, not by the potential it possesses. In that sense, Unleashed tops most Sonic games, and Sonic 06 is very much soul-less.

[batson]

Why do i stay with the series? Because im in love!

I can't explain why, i honestly can't, but about 9 years ago i simply fell in love with the series. Sonic had been a big part of my childhood during his heyday in the early to mid 90's, so that's without a doubt part of the explanation behind the sudden infatuation with the series that i experienced at age 16. But then, there are many, many franchises i obsessed over as a child that i never truly reconnected with like i did with Sonic, so the sheer fact that i grew up with the the hog cant be the whole explanation. Well regardless of what caused my feelings, all i know is that in 2003 i went back and played Sonic Adventure for the first time since when it was originally released, and then played the Mega Drive games for the first time again in over half a decade, and over the course of probably just a few weeks, i had developed this strong emotional bond to the series. A bond that still remains, that has never even come close to breaking, and which i honestly suspect will remain as long as i live.

Oh but just for the record, im not talking about romantic love. That would have been... funny. XD

[Zany Mallet Maniac]

Elementary my dear fan, I love the characters and the gameplay! When I take control of the blue blur I experience this overwhelming sensation of excitement and a smile grows on my face! Some may call that experience not having a life, but I call it having fun!

[Burnt Ash]

Well, I've only recently gained some interest in the franchise (tried SA2 some years ago, discovered ShTH and Sonic 2006 a year ago). Well, what keeps me into the franchise is my interest in the characters (I like pretty much all of them), the outstanding music in each game (minus Chronicles), and several of the stories, which was one thing that made me enjoy SA2 as a kid.

[Sapphire]

What keeps me coming back? I never left!

Why do I like it? I can't really say. All I know is I'm happy when I'm doing anything Sonic related, be it playing a game, reading a comic, listening to the music, or even discussing the blue guy. Why would I want to leave something behind that's just so much fun to me? Sonic is a huge part of my life, and I just couldn't see myself walking away from all of the Sonic goodness in my life.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Well I've been with this series since I was at least 3 years old, maybe even 2 according to my mom since that's the age I started reading (unreal, I know). It's kinda hard to let go of something you've been around with for a long time.

Now what kept me around during the dark ages was the hope that this series can bounce back from it's decline, and apparently I wasn't wrong. Although the mess that been done has already done it's damage, there's still hope for this series to recover itself even greater than ever.

Along with that, there's the usual discussion of the characters, the story, the gameplay, and the potential new ideas we can bring to the floor for discussion as we usually do.

[Kuzu]

I also love getting into discussions about my favorite characters, whether the series tanks or not, there's always something to talk about at least.

[Johnny Boy]

What keeps me coming back? Well hey, even when a series starring your favorite fictional character starts going through tough times, you just can't abandon something you've been attached to since early childhood. And now that sonic is seeing a bright future, you can bet that I'm going to stay for a hell of a lot more.

[Phos]

I bought Sonic Generations because I posted a while back ion one of those rage filled Sonic 4 threads that I might have bought Sonic 4 "If Sonic looked right". I don't think I want to repeatedly spend $30 on a four hour game that I only play once.

[...]

I bought Sonic Generations because I posted a while back ion one of those rage filled Sonic 4 threads that I might have bought Sonic 4 "If Sonic looked right". I don't think I want to repeatedly spend $30 on a four hour game that I only play once.

Well, I can see your point.. Edited January 31, 2012 by Dr. Felix

[ArtFenix]

Among other things...but I still don't see how you see so much more "soul" in a game so fundamentally broken. Like, just comparing the hub worlds, '06's are big but damn near empty. They're cold and uncaring. There's some copy-paste NPCs with missions that aren't worth bothering with and that's about it. Unleashed's are so much more...cozy, you could call it. Smaller, but filled with memorable characters. How is Unleashed the game that's lacking?

OK, I agree that HUBs in Unleashed are better.I just don't like it's style. Too small aread. Maybe its becaose SNG HUBs look like those in Sonic adventure which I love. Unleashed is definitely not empty, but it's not that big either. memorable characters? Dunno.. No one beats Sonic man IMO]]]. oh yeah, I remember the ugly pixar style humans design

e: You talk a lot about some vague "feel", and I think that's why the conversation will go nowhere. You need to dig in and find out what it is that creates that feel, and how and why. Those are things that can actually be discussed properly, rather than just throwing personal opinions against each other.

You're right. And there are actualy quite a few things that I like about SNG which I could mention right now, but I'm sure some of guys won't like maybe.. half of them. plike serious branching story..even if it's sometimes just overdramatic, I still like most of it ; or other playable characters involved in the story ; or robots design//I could go on] So I'm not sure if we should do this and derail the topic even more. Besides, far foo many people hate he game and I don't think it's possible for me to change their opinion on it no matter what I say.

Maybe I defend this game also because it's the last of its kind, the last of more japanese looking Sonic game with Sa style, realistic humans pwhich I prefer to pixar looking, which I dislike] and great story [yup, the story is filled with plot holes but other than that I like it quite a lot].

Edited January 31, 2012 by ArtFenix