Sonic Before The Sequel

[McGroose]

I wonder how well After the Sequel will compare to this game...

Edited August 11, 2012 by Mephiles550

[Kuzu]

An AMAZING OST, a unique story that takes place in between Sonic 1 and 2 with flash-sprite animated cutscenes, and original Zones.

Oh and the fact that it's actually finished.

[A.T.]

How was the soundtrack made? Fruity Loops or what? Who made it aswell or was it from another game?

i just played the game and it isn't half bad! I will probably finish it later.

[Carbo]

Falk made the music.

He makes his music in SONAR but the workstation doesn't matter as much as the instruments and studio technology that are mostly universal.

[JezMM]

Gaw all this raving about the music is making me wanna hurry up and finish the original release already. I could just listen to the OST but that's not how game music is meant to experienced. Guess I'll soldier on a bit now. I'm sure I must be only a couple of hundred zones off the end at this point.

[A.T.]

Thank you.

I will look into that music making software

[WarioBone]

The mini Death Egg Robot is nigh impossible.

Ha...hahaha...HAHAHAHA!!! A-ha! Hahaha...ha...heh...

Oh, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder.

WAAAAAAAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -collapses-

Edited August 12, 2012 by Billionaire Playboy Wario

[SilentDoom]

The mini Death Egg Robot is nigh impossible.

Strategy

First attack: Go to either of the far corners

Second attack: Go to the far right corner and crouch/spindash

Third attack: Jump about 2 or so seconds after he goes red

It's actually an extremely easy boss especially comparative to some of the truly dickish ones beforehand. It just takes quite long since he takes like a million hits

Surprisingly, I haven't voice my views on this game yet but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one of the best Sonic fangames I've ever played. It's definitely a very lovingly crafted game and considering most of it (barring the OST and engine) were done by one guy that's pretty dang impressive. I have a fair share of problems with it though:

- The physics are a little off, though not game breakingly so. They still feel more right than, say, Sonic 4 and the level design at least has slope arrangements that make use of the physics.

- 3 acts per zone is too many. Especially once you get the later levels which just feel like they drag on for too long. By the time you get to Titanic Tower, you're looking at 4 to 5 minute acts. Not even Sonic 1's levels had that. It almost feels like a bit of a chore to get through them as you reach the later stages, which is a shame because they're aren't even badly designed levels.

- A little more trope diversity would be nice. At times it would feel like the level aesthetics would bleed into each other. There's a little too many "metro" levels in my opinion. Some more "natural" or over the top tropes would've been quite nice.

- Sometimes it feels like the levels lack the substance and memorability levels from games like Sonic 2 and S3&K have. The main reason for this is actually I think because of the fact that they're designed for length rather than overall scope. Levels from say Sonic 2 (even the later ones) took no longer than about 4 and a half minutes at a stretch (most were 1 or 2), but they had so many ways of going about tackling them. This almost takes the Sonic Unleashed approach where the levels are long, but there's not all that much to do in them except plough forward. Though that's not entirely the case here partially because it is a little more open ended and a lot slower paced than Unleashed.

- I'm not sure whether or not they've been removed completely, but I can't find those neat little Super Sonic capsules that were in the previous version. I went to a couple of the locations that I knew had a Super Sonic capsule but couldn't find them. Maybe this is me just being stupid though.

- Boss designs irk me. They don't look like Robotnik robots save for the final one. They look like something out of a completely different series.

- Whilst I love the new sprite, the new peelout bothers me and is nowhere near as good as the old one. The old one and the Sonic CD one were really cool because they had that wicked after-image effect that really made it look like you were going at super sonic speed. This one loses that effect for some reason. Also not a fan of how his hands are closed instead of open. Nitpick though.

But you know, despite these I still really enjoyed playing. The level art all looks gorgeous. Sunset Star in particular was a real joy to look at. The story and story presentation are really awesome. The plot does a really nice job of answering some of the questions that may have been brought up between the events of Sonic 1 and 2. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible. I cannot praise those guys enough. They did an excellent job crafting a diverse soundtrack. The music covers so many genres its incredible. Probably more than any Sonic game ever created. And each track is lovingly crafted and just really pleasing to listen to. Falk, KgZ, Funk Fiction and Ristar I tip my hat to you. You've created something magical. I still enjoy busting through the levels and replaying them so I can get a better feel for them and tackle them with the utmost efficiency I can. It's how I play Sonic 2, and I feel that mentality can apply here too.

So yeah, it's fun. Can't wait for After the Sequel.

[Wentos]

The OST in in youtube, go listen to it there. This game is pretty garbage, you literally just go and jump and you beat it.

So your logic is that a Sonic game where you both jump and beat the game is considered garbage? Why are you even on this forum then?

[Sean]

Why are you coping an attitude? Cut it.

[Semi-colon e]

Ha...hahaha...HAHAHAHA!!! A-ha! Hahaha...ha...heh...

Oh, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder.

WAAAAAAAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -collapses-

Yeah well, by this point I'd been playing for so long I just gave up out of ending fatigue. it's probably not that bad, but I'd lost all patience and just wanted it to end by this point.

Also I played the SAGE demo of After the Sequel, and it seems to be shaping up to be a lot better with more memorable levels and gimmicks, so I eagerly await that.

[Soniman]

I actually dont mind the length so much, they just really need to cut down the number of acts.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Soniman

[PerfectChaos]

Is this game actually good? I stopped playing after the horrible first level.

[Soniman]

General census for the game seems to be mediocre at best, though I personally think its decent.

[Blue Blood]

Is this game actually good? I stopped playing after the horrible first level.

Apparently it gets better. But really, I've forced myself through the first three or four zones boring and still would only recommend the soundtrack.

[Komodin]

Well, I played through the SAGE demo of the sequel and, to be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. The first few zones were pretty good, easily much better than the entirety of Before the Sequel. After Technology Tree Zone, however, things just kinda went downhill with some rather dodgy obstacles instilling real bullshit difficulty. Everything else was superb; the gameplay itself and level design still needs some work.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Been playing through a lot of it just to see what the fuss is about. It's good... but it's not as good as a lot of people are making it out to be, not by a long shot.

The music is the main attraction for it and the second level 'back to the 60's' moment with Tails. The first act is close to completely pointless an had it not been for the trip fest in the second chances are it would have been deleted a while ago.

Just don't get why so many people are going ape over this when the main attraction is the soundtrack.

[Soniman]

Funny, because the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that is consistently praised.

[Komodin]

The soundtrack is pretty much the only thing about it that doesn't elicit a Komodin Meh out of me.

[Semi-colon e]

Funny, because the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that is consistently praised.

Just like most of the actual Sonic games then!

I kind of find this adequate. It's like how the Nostalgia Critic described Cloverfield as a "Big Nuclear Flaming Ball of Adequacy". That's how I feel about this game. But the scope of the project as a fan project is good, and it's finished too! I'm gonna give props for that, I just don't find it very interesting to play.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Semi-colon e

[WarioBone]

I find it rather humorous that people are complaining about how long this game is when the REAL Sonic games are painfully short. If you find yourself getting bored of it, take a break.

Then again, this game ISN'T perfect by any means, and isn't the second coming of Christ. But it's great by Sonic fangame standards, and pretty good by regular Sonic standards. We have to remember that this guy worked EXTREMELY hard on this game. He isn't some faceless team of underpaid devs cranking out a game to put bread on the table, he's a guy who made this just so other people could enjoy it. He's one of us, and I honestly think that's worth something.

[Blue Blood]

I find it rather humorous that people are complaining about how long this game is when the REAL Sonic games are painfully short. If you find yourself getting bored of it, take a break.

I'm sure length wouldn't be such an issue if it didn't make the game as a whole feel so diluted. It's not uncommon with fangames for the devs to go OTT and put quantity over quality.

[Semi-colon e]

After building up to a climax with the two water levels, Titanic Tower felt really climatic. But then there's the cloud level. And then that other sky level with the red and green dot things which was drawn out. Then the Death Egg and the final boss. It seems to spend so long building up the climax that it feels drawn out. It's poor pacing that is the issue rather than it merely being too long. Though fewer zones with better quality would have helped the pacing and the zones kept could have had more variety in level gimmicks. It seems like After the Sequel is kind of going for this though, to some extent.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Semi-colon e

[WarioBone]

After building up to a climax with the two water levels, Titanic Tower felt really climatic. But then there's the cloud level. And then that other sky level with the red and green dot things which was drawn out. Then the Death Egg and the final boss. It seems to spend so long building up the climax that it feels drawn out. It's poor pacing that is the issue rather than it merely being too long. Though fewer zones with better quality would have helped the pacing and the zones kept could have had more variety in level gimmicks. It seems like After the Sequel is kind of going for this though, to some extent.

I felt that Arcane Altitude was unnecessary. The cloud level was a cool moment, but I feel the game should've ended with Titanic Tower, followed by a short Death Egg level.

Those weight-altering things are cool, though. This game was not in short supply of cool gimmicks, that's for sure. Each level had something about it that was unique, sometimes even among different acts.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Billionaire Playboy Wario

[TheOcelot]

I have just downloaded SBTS and played it. I got to Zone 8 before I lost all my lives and died.

The physic's are quite good. Playable and flyable Tails (YAY). There are lots of cool gimmicks, like that bubble level which is quite good. The ring placement is odd. I like that there a lot of hidden areas with item boxes. The special stages are more like bonus stages.

I think the Tails bosses are brilliant, so creative. The Sonic bosses on the other hand are shit. They suffer badly because of some of the physic's issues, where you don't know how Sonic will land when trying to hit Robotnik/Eggman. When Sonic roles down a hill and then up again, you can't jump in the opposite direction which is a shame.

The enemy placement is rubbish. I kept running into enemies and losing rings. You run/move so fast that you don't see the enemies until it's too late.

One of the good things about this game is the soundtrack which is pretty good and stopped me from getting too bored. I know the game had lots of references to all the classic games which was nice. The overall feel of the game to me is a Sonic 2 vibe.

An interesting fan game.

Edited August 12, 2012 by MilesKnightwing