Rebooting the Franchise: Good or Bad?

[Indigo Rush]

I always thought that was more smugness than cheeseballiness... but to be fair it was open to interpretation.

[Scar]

When was he a cheeseball in, say, S3&K?

He wasn't so in the game, but he was marketed as such. The marketing was all we had to base things off of, considering there was no in-game dialogue or voice-acting/

[Kuzu]

I think the DiC cartoons had too much of an influence.

I get the feeling that SEGA originally intended Sonic's "attitude" to be more like this:

You mean being an ass?

[Your Vest Friend]

He would deliberately get a game over if you left him too long in Sonic CD. That's a pretty asshole move.

[Sapphire]

I'm definitely taking this rumor with a grain of salt (a whole salt shaker, more like it), but I'm still a little worried that this reboot may actually happen. My opinion? Well, I really don't find a franchise reboot necessary at all. Why? *cracks knuckles* OK, here we go.

First off, I don't really want to see/see the need for the canon to be totally wiped clean. The canon is already pretty non-continual. Sure, I'd like to see it set straight, but continuity doesn't seem all that important in the Sonic series as a whole. For example, someone isn't going to be confused on the plot of Sonic Unleashed if they haven't played, say, Sonic Heroes. And going off of what Jez said before, I've come to accept the canon as it is, so even though I may find some parts of the continuity kind of stupid, I really don't want to see all that go.

On a side-note, I'd be happy if they started adding more references to the canon in games. Little references make me happy, like how in SA2, it was mentioned that Tails got his Chaos Emerald from saving Station Square in Sonic Adventure. I'd LOVE to see more of these little "shout-outs".

As for characters, I feel TOTALLY reintroducing them is not a good idea. Most people already know who the important characters are, and having Sonic re-meet these characters would only confuse people. Instead, little "refreshers" to who characters are would be a fantastic idea. For example, Sonic could run into/visit Knuckles at the Emerald shrine and have Knuckles explain his role as guardian. This could clear up some canon issues for some characters, while still keeping their back-stories in check.

The gameplay shouldn't be drastically changed either. Sonic is finally back on his feet after years of digging himself out of a hole, so Sega shouldn't fix what's not broken. Some slight gameplay changes could be made, though, such as adding in other playable characters that have been playable in the past (Tails, Knuckles, etc.).

Also, I don't think the Skylanders route should be taken. It's too gimmicky and will only appeal to younger kids. I probably wouldn't even buy this game and needed accessories/figures if I was given the money to do so.

As for the appearance makeovers? Sonic's appearance has changed many times since 1991, and it even seems to change with every few games. I'm not worried about this, even if they do change it again.

Long story short, I'm pretty much against this speculated reboot. But it's not all bad, and I'm not going to disown my beloved blue hedgehog over it.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Sapphire

[jondawg87]

A reboot may be a good idea. But I think something that would be good for the series is a classic made sonic game. Like when they made megaman 9 a couple of years ago. Probably not gonna happen, but it would be good. Maybe just keep 3d for new sonic and 2d for old sonic.

[Kuzu]

It amazes me how people on the Sega Forums are saying this is a good idea.

[Cola]

Rebooting the franchise is a TERRIBLE idea.

I mean, we've finally got an established canon, a good universe, CHARACTERIZATION.

And now people want to take that away? No.

no

NO NO NO

NOOOOOOOOOO.

Maybe retcon a few things here and there, but stay far away from a reboot.

[Indigo Rush]

Why do people think that rebooting the franchise would mean the removal of good characterization of all things? If anything, this "re-boot" could just be a re-establishment of canon in a less convoluted way. For example, they might re-work the stories of the Adventure games in such a way that the main plot is intact, in a less convoluted manner with better storytelling and even better gameplay. And in regards to characterization, this is independent from canon or gameplay. We probably wouldn't have to go through several games to "get it right" again, in fact they'd probably have a more solid re-introduction of all things.

I might be one of the few people who think that this could be a very good thing for the franchise, if executed in a proper manner, anyway.

[Cola]

Why do people think that rebooting the franchise would mean the removal of good characterization of all things? If anything, this "re-boot" could just be a re-establishment of canon in a less convoluted way. For example, they might re-work the stories of the Adventure games in such a way that the main plot is intact, in a less convoluted manner with better storytelling and even better gameplay. And in regards to characterization, this is independent from canon or gameplay. We probably wouldn't have to go through several games to "get it right" again, in fact they'd probably have a more solid re-introduction of all things.

I might be one of the few people who think that this could be a very good thing for the franchise, if executed in a proper manner, anyway.

If that's the case, I'm all in. I'd love for all the clutter and clash to be removed.

[Indigo Rush]

Yeah. Granted, there's no telling how it'd go down IF in fact this is happening. Let's just cross our fingers and hope for a good solid re-boot.

It seems like SEGA is taking its "Hard Reset" advice to heart.

(Now I kinda want to write up how I'd make Sonic's world and setting, but that's fanfiction silliness)

Edited May 31, 2012 by Indigo Rush

[leemour84]

I cant see it happening tbh, I mean since Sonic Unleashed the Reviews have been steadily going up, then COLOURS came and GENERATIONS and all gaming sites have said SONIC'S BACK! SEGA should now let this be, continue this good run, dont do this SEGA you wont get any new fans believe me! Yes reboots can work for games (CALL OF DUTY/MEDAL OF HONOR) & films (FAST 5/BATMAN BEGINS) but it isnt called for for SONIC.

[Solkia]

Depends what's being rebooted.

The canon? there is no strict canon, so it really isn't a huge loss.

The characters? Kind of indifferent. I'd miss some of the new characters, but if it kills off Amy (which it wouldn't unfortunately), then I'm all for it.

The gameplay? again, indifferent. I enjoy modern gameplay, but I acknowledge it's lackluster appeal to a lot of people. As long as the new style is fun and the actually PUT EFFORT INTO THE DESIGN BEFORE RELEASING IT, then sure, why not?

[Kuzu]

Why do people think that rebooting the franchise would mean the removal of good characterization of all things? If anything, this "re-boot" could just be a re-establishment of canon in a less convoluted way. For example, they might re-work the stories of the Adventure games in such a way that the main plot is intact, in a less convoluted manner with better storytelling and even better gameplay. And in regards to characterization, this is independent from canon or gameplay. We probably wouldn't have to go through several games to "get it right" again, in fact they'd probably have a more solid re-introduction of all things.

I might be one of the few people who think that this could be a very good thing for the franchise, if executed in a proper manner, anyway.

Or they completely rewrite everything from the past decade, and make the characters almost completely different from what's been established.

[Chaos Warp]

Or they completely rewrite everything from the past decade, and make the characters almost completely different from what's been established.

Well then, that would be an example of a bad reboot.

[Spooky Mulder]

I think it could be healthy. Post SA2, the series got into some pretty deep trouble. SEGA and Sonic Team really lost their way. When Unleashed came along, it sort of breathed life into a dying franchise. It was a glimmer of hope, and it proved that Sonic is capable of being good again. Colors and Generations built on its successes and modified based on its failures, and people have started to look at the series as good again.

Unfortunately, the series hasn't been redeemed. The baggage from the dark days of Sonic is still around, and future Sonic games have to carry that baggage. To me, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, and even Sonic 4 all seem like experimental games. They're good in their own right in some ways, bad in others, but they do nothing to set the direction of the franchise. They're one-offs, and games like that give SEGA a chance to search for a new direction to take the franchise, but they can be easily ignored if the games flop. Sonic needed a true reboot after the 06 Disaster, but SEGA couldn't afford to commit to an idea if they weren't completely confident in it, which is why we got the Unleashed Soft Reboot.

What I think has finally happened though is that SEGA has finished experimenting. Sonic Team has decided on a direction to take the franchise after almost 5 years of running in circles, and now they're ready to committ to it. It probably means wiping the slate clean, and starting fresh with Sonic and Eggman battling in Green Hill Zone; and I'm okay with that. If its done tastefully (Read: not the Skylanders route), it could be exactly what Sonic needs to be great again.

[sonfan1984]

It amazes me how people on the Sega Forums are saying this is a good idea.

It might sounds like an good idea until they fuck it up and then people would want/beg for the old one back.

[Chaos Warp]

I think it could be healthy. Post SA2, the series got into some pretty deep trouble. SEGA and Sonic Team really lost their way. When Unleashed came along, it sort of breathed life into a dying franchise. It was a glimmer of hope, and it proved that Sonic is capable of being good again. Colors and Generations built on its successes and modified based on its failures, and people have started to look at the series as good again.

Unfortunately, the series hasn't been redeemed. The baggage from the dark days of Sonic is still around, and future Sonic games have to carry that baggage. To me, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, and even Sonic 4 all seem like experimental games. They're good in their own right in some ways, bad in others, but they do nothing to set the direction of the franchise. They're one-offs, and games like that give SEGA a chance to search for a new direction to take the franchise, but they can be easily ignored if the games flop. Sonic needed a true reboot after the 06 Disaster, but SEGA couldn't afford to commit to an idea if they weren't completely confident in it, which is why we got the Unleashed Soft Reboot.

What I think has finally happened though is that SEGA has finished experimenting. Sonic Team has decided on a direction to take the franchise after almost 5 years of running in circles, and now they're ready to committ to it. It probably means wiping the slate clean, and starting fresh with Sonic and Eggman battling in Green Hill Zone; and I'm okay with that. If its done tastefully (Read: not the Skylanders route), it could be exactly what Sonic needs to be great again.

I feel they could accomplish something similar without regressing everything. Start from where the Sonic games were undisputedly good (The Classics and MABYE Sonic 4), and rebuild from there. Introduce the aspects of the Modern era such as humans and more human-like environments, modern characters such as Shadow, Rouge or Blaze, etc, etc and such in a more solidified canon and world, and in a way less convoluted way.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Chaos Warp

[Sapphire]

Sega kind of reminds me of myself when I was in 3rd grade when we were finally allowed to use calculators in math class...

...when I was bored, I would always use my pencil to press the reset button on the back, over and over.

[DGam'r]

Why reboot when the games are starting to be liked more, Sonic is making a comeback!

[Kuzu]

Why reboot when the games are starting to be liked more, Sonic is making a comeback!

Because his story is crap, and the characters are too one dimensional to be interesting. /Sega Forum post.

[sonfan1984]

They can fix the story and the characters in future games. They don't need an reboot to do that.

[Indigo Rush]

Its more about erasing and retconning some of the most embarrassing and convoluted plot points from the series' history. Moments such as Shadow the Hedgehog's cluttered past, Sonic 06's timeline catastrophe and the Eggman Nega/Silver/Blaze plothole factory are things that are forever embedded into the series' canon unless they're formally removed with a massive retcon. There's simply too much to ignore, and it'd be much better to retell certain aspects and mold it as the new canon.

Because right now, if you want to get the whole picture, you either have to play through a mess of mediocre games, or try and figure it out on internet forums and databases. We still have people who don't know why Robotnik is called Eggman, or whether or not Shadow is an android. SEGA doesn't even seem to know if Sonic 06 is canon... and they can't even recall how Sonic 3 & Knuckles played out. This is an incredible failure.

So as a matter of fact, rebooting/retconning is most certainly part of fixing the story and characters in future games.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Indigo Rush

[Kimb]

Maybe retcon a few things here and there, but stay far away from a reboot.

[SpeedKeed]

I agree with Cola, retcon a little bit, but no reboot. I love Sonic the way he is. If you wanna reboot, make a movie.