IGN: A Tour of Sonic Lost World [Gameplay]

[PickleBrows]

So, we've seen some footage now. Does anyone reckon there's still a chance of more traditional flat ground (can still be up in the sky) for us to explore or are we likely to only get things like what we saw from the demo?

[Dizcrybe]

Actually, we had a GHZ remake and a Sweet Mountain remake.

 

Oh come now, that level hardly resembled Sweet Mountain outside of having candy. It's actually kinda impressive how Sonic Team managed to make another candy level and not rehash Sweet Mountain.

 

Well, outside of its boss fight (looking at you Truffle Bills).

 

 

I'm hoping that there are more traditional 3D levels and that not all of them are based on these strange tubes. The parkour system almost seems wasted on these non-traditional 3D segments. Speeding Sonic up from where he is now doesn't seem detrimental to the game. Especially when the player has more control over his speed now that he ever had before.

 

Right now he's really just a speedy Mario without the distinct features like triple jump, long jump and various other acrobatic feats.

 

Also he has the homing attack and spindash, so... not really like Mario at all?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall Mario levels ever taking place on tubes. Planetoids, yes, but not tubes.

 

Also I don't remember Mario ever running straight down one of these "tubes" until it ended, leaving him to skydive down untill he reached another one.

 

And even with this slower speed, he has a run button, which upon pressing, he still moves faster than Mario.

 

All of these Mario connections you're making are very tenuous.

[Soniman]

Right now he's really just a speedy Mario without the distinct features like triple jump, long jump and various other acrobatic feats.

 

Instead he has a bunch of new features of his own granted by the parkour system that allow to separate himself from Mario than before (wall running, ledge grabbing, mid-air backlfip etc).

[Diogenes]

I phrased it horribly but my point wasn't necessarily the boost mechanic made me feel like Sonic but that games like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations had an incredible sense of speed that this game does not have from what I have seen.

I think when you focus on speed to the extent that the boost games did, you necessarily sacrifice control and interaction. The faster Sonic goes, the less you can ask of the player due to reaction times, the increased scale of errors, etc, so to make those games work, they're much simpler and do some of the work for you. I really don't think there's any way to get boosting speeds and in-depth interaction to work well, and I'll take playing games over watching them any day.

 

e: especially since the "incredible" sense of speed doesn't last for more than a few runs. Once you get used to it it basically flattens down to nothing. Memorable, tangible speed is in doing, not being.

... and the tubular level structure isn't really in line with anything I consider to be, well.. Sonic.

Tubes and Sonic go together like peanut butter and bananas, even if this isn't the best way to use them.

Right now he's really just a speedy Mario without the distinct features like triple jump, long jump and various other acrobatic feats.

No, but he's got the homing attack, the spin dash, wall running, wisp powers, etc.

 

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall Mario levels ever taking place on tubes. Planetoids, yes, but not tubes.

Well, there were some tube-shaped planetoids.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Diogenes

[Solly]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall Mario levels ever taking place on tubes. Planetoids, yes, but not tubes.

Mario Galaxy had plenty of tube-like structures that you walked on either the inside or outside of.

Also, it had worlds made of candy, and while that itself is a fairly common level trope, between the tubes, gravity and planetoids, it's pretty hard to deny the Mario Galaxy influence going on. Not that I have a problem with it.

[Dizcrybe]

Mario Galaxy had plenty of tube-like structures that you walked on either the inside or outside of.

Also, it had worlds made of candy, and while that itself is a fairly common level trope, between the tubes, gravity and planetoids, it's pretty hard to deny the Mario Galaxy influence going on. Not that I have a problem with it.

 

Well, of course there's Galaxy influence, but calling Sonic "a speedy Mario" is a gross exaggeration.

[Solly]

Well, of course there's Galaxy influence, but calling Sonic "a speedy Mario" is a gross exaggeration.

Oh, I agree. There's definitely a lot differentiating the two in terms of how they play.

[Chaos Warp]

Well, of course there's Galaxy influence, but calling Sonic "a speedy Mario" is a gross exaggeration.

With the way he controls from what we've seen, it might not be as gross an exaggeration anymore. 

[Soniman]

With the way he controls from what we've seen, it might not be as gross an exaggeration anymore. 

 

More like with how he controls now, it's an exaggeration more than ever before...

[Chaos Warp]

More like with how he controls now, it's an exaggeration more than ever before...

 

Instant accel for both speed tiers kind of seems like Mario at least in the 3d games.............Even without any momentum there was acceleration and deceleration in Sonic's controls in almost all the games, and without it it'll probably feel really unnatural and binary, as Blue Blood put it.....

Edited June 8, 2013 by Chaos Warp

[Djawed]

I've calmed myself a lot about expressing my opinion on this game, but I am still bothered by how much the basic movement mechanics have changed. Maybe the reason I keep coming back to talking about it is because I feel like IMO its so close, but so far away.

.

yeah i feel the same way. Id describe it as them taking 3 steps forward and 1 step back in comparison to others where its usually the other way around. Its so close, the more reason u want it to get there. its really just very minor things holding it back and fixing it seems less a matter of time or skill but more a matter of awareness

I really hope they are and are still polishing the gaem. Also well said Blue blood. you basically summed up exactly what i think about the game

Edited June 8, 2013 by Djawed

[Lady Soniko]

Not to nit pick, but doesn't Mario have a run button too? He walks when you move the analogue, but to clear wider gaps you take a running jump with the dash button....It's all pretty similar if you ask me, Mario has various jumps at his disposal, Sonic has parkour based around his momentum at what he does best, running. But there's nothing wrong with that, it just makes me angry when someone blindly ignores the similarities and writes them off because they don't want to admit it.

 

I'm sorry but if you can't see the connections and similarities between the two, you must be blind.

[StaticMania]

Not to nit pick, but doesn't Mario have a run button too? He walks when you move the analogue, but to clear wider gaps you take a running jump with the dash button....It's all pretty similar if you ask me, Mario has various jumps at his disposal, Sonic has parkour based around his momentum at what he does best, running. But there's nothing wrong with that, it just makes me angry when someone blindly ignores the similarities and writes them off because they don't want to admit it.

 

I'm sorry but if you can't see the connections and similarities between the two, you must be blind.

Yeah, but Mario only has a Run Button in the 2D games.

[Lady Soniko]

Yeah, but Mario only has a Run Button in the 2D games.

 

3D Land would like to have a word with you.

[Blue Blood]

It's a shame the IGN footage doesn't show more of the spindash. I presume you can probably charge it up to go faster by tapping the second tripping (Aaron just holds it) to go faster, and you can see Sonic only steers left and right while rolling. It would be awesome if that skilful rolling builds up speed.

 

There's something else I noticed in rewatching the Wii U footage. 

 

You get all these bonus points and animals for combos with the new homing attack (which, might I add, I love the mechanics of). But all those enemies are outside of the main path. The speed boosters literally go down the dead centre of Wind Hill, so if you hit them you're going to end up missing enemies which will ultimately be detrimental to your performance. That's cool The boosters still don't need to be there, especially in the candy level, but I really appreciate the fact that you might well be rewarded and have a better experience for avoiding them.

EDIT: I hate that timer though, and I sincerely hope that it can be disabled (Advance games), only counts towards bonuses (ala Colour Bonus) or is just something imposed upon this demo. The timer is capped at 500 seconds, which is about 8 and a half minutes.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Autosaver]

Wait, something I just noticed in the video.

 

Aaron says that instead of seeing 3 levels all using the same theme (ie: Green Hill), the levels will each have unique themes. He used the Desert zone as an example. Desert area and Dessert area. Hmm, this is interesting.

[StaticMania]

3D Land would like to have a word with you.

Well yeah, But I...(I don't know). I guess I just forgot, but yeah that too.

[Sarah Jane Smith]

A run trigger is fine. A run button a la 3D Land is uncomfortable on the thumbs. But then, that's Nintendo's fault for refusing to let its customers choose their own control schemes.

[Lady Soniko]

A run trigger is fine. A run button a la 3D Land is uncomfortable on the thumbs. But then, that's Nintendo's fault for refusing to let its customers choose their own control schemes.

 

To be fair, having it on the shoulder buttons on the 3DS isn't much better, they're just as uncomfortable as the buttons are, especially under heavy usage.

[Blue Blood]

Wait, something I just noticed in the video.

 

Aaron says that instead of seeing 3 levels all using the same theme (ie: Green Hill), the levels will each have unique themes. He used the Desert zone as an example. Desert area and Dessert area. Hmm, this is interesting.

It's all up for questioning now. We see... 

 

Wii U

• Windy Hill Zone 1- typical GHZ stage
• Desert Ruins Zone 3 (Desert Ruins 1 on the menu)- candy stage
• Desert Ruins Zone 2 (Desert Ruins 2 on the menu)- honeycomb stage

I'm wondering how this all works, cause it's weird. Are they using the word 'zone' instead of 'act' now? And why are all the levels so different, yet lumped under the same unfitting name? It's confusing.

Oh and for the hell of it:

3DS

• Windy Hill Zone 1 (video title)
• Windy Hill Tutorial (video title)
• Desert Ruins Zone 2

Edited June 8, 2013 by Blue Blood

[chirf]

You know... the more I see of this game, the more I kinda miss generations.

 

I like that they added more platforming and made his speed more controllable with the speed tiers, etc, but I wish they took the generations formula and just expanded on it. Give it better controls, more platforming, but keep the same sense of speed.

 

Cause now it doesn't feel as "balanced" as everyone says, between speed and platforming. Now it just feels like platforming, with a little speed put in.

 

And no, if you ask me, the mach speed zones don't make up for it. It's nothing like a generations level. It's just an on-rails run through that forces you to go left or right. 

 

 

I REEEAAALLLLY hope when this 3 game partnership is over, they make another generation styled game for next gen consoles, and implement the changes to control and maneuverability to it. The only complaint I really had with generations was the slippery platforming...

[Carbo]

It's all up for questioning now. We see... 

 

Wii U

• Windy Hill Zone 1- typical GHZ stage
• Desert Ruins Zone 3 (Desert Ruins 1 on the menu)- candy stage
• Desert Ruins Zone 2 (Desert Ruins 2 on the menu)- honeycomb stage

I'm wondering how this all works, cause it's weird. Are they using the word 'zone' instead of 'act' now? And why are all the levels so different, yet lumped under the same unfitting name? It's confusing.

Not going to lie, it has me pretty excited. If only because it seems like the variety in artistic tropes and stage setups will be staggering. Hopefully it means that no one stage will be the same.

Admittedly there is some confusion with the Desert stage though. I could understand the third stage as sort of being something of a transition if the original stage is literally a desert but the second one?

[EuroMIX]

The honeycomb stage could make sense as a transitional stage between Windy Hill and Desert Ruins, perhaps. It does seem like it'd be better as a Windy Hill Act though.

[KrazyBean]

I really hope that Red Rings can be recollected as many times as you like, like in Colours. That's one thing I hated in Generations, were as soon as you get a Red Ring it's gone for good. Even the Medals in Unleashed turned translucent and were still obtainable even though you already collected it before.

 

This will make life much easier for me if I wanted to make Red Ring guide videos. I needed to make a second save file just to do that in Generations.

[chirf]

I really hope that Red Rings can be recollected as many times as you like, like in Colours. That's one thing I hated in Generations, were as soon as you get a Red Ring it's gone for good. Even the Medals in Unleashed turned translucent and were still obtainable even though you already collected it before.

 

This will make life much easier for me if I wanted to make Red Ring guide videos. I needed to make a second save file just to do that in Generations.

 

Funny, cause I actually liked that about Generations lol it helped me remember which ones I got so I wouldn't have to remember all the ones I found.

 

They should just make it a dark transparent symbol if you've already found it. Like how stars are blue and transparent when you collect them in Mario games (sorry for yet another mario reference XD)

 

EDIT: Just re-read your post, and I could have easily made the Unleashed reference instead of Mario lol my bad

Edited June 8, 2013 by chirf