Sonic After the Sequel

[DJ EAR]

The game has some annoying enemy placement, level design, and trouble telling platforms from background or foreground visuals.

-->My biggest issue of all is the visuals/colors: I find it a CONSTANT chore to stop and experiment with visuals to discover if they are platforms, walls, foreground elements or background elements. Because the colors are so vibrant in each area - it's hard to clearly tell what has been defined as the play-area, and what isn't just there to look nice.

 

However, it makes up for all that with an incredible Soundtrack full of funk, EDM-Influenced Electronica & Orchestral tunes. I agree with others that most people seem to be more interested in the OST than the game itself, but I can't say I've never done that before myself.

 

Some things I wish were in the game, that I think could have polished it up to a much more shiny state:

1) I'd love a save-feature to at least remember what level I exit out of.

2) More of a solid 'bounce' off enemies.

3) A less fatiguing jump SFX,

4) Stages that don't drag for so long without much difference.

...but they hardly distract from the experience as a whole.

 

S:ATS Could do with a tad tweaking, but to see a finished game is lovely + it's fun as hell.

 

6/10 - It's a charmingly fun game that could still use some work & polish (but congratz on actually completing it!)

[Sarah Jane Smith]

After clearing Parhelion Park Act 2, I got to Act 3 and was promptly placed in a closed-off area with just floors and walls, and no way out. Upon restarting I got to an actual level where I could move around... wat

 

Edit: Then, at the boss act of the same zone, it froze while the pink Caterkiller was going down, but the screen kept "rumbling" from the explosion.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Martha Jones

[SilentDoom]

Soundtrack is now up!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SonicATS13?feature=watch

Downloads coming very soon

Edited June 19, 2013 by SiLeNtDo0m

[Jeffhog]

Soundtrack is now up!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SonicATS13?feature=watch

Downloads coming very soon

 

Noooooot officially. Someone must've had early access/ripped 'em out of the game or Soundcloud and made his own channel out of it, at least from what Falk assumed earlier today. Won't make a big deal out of it though, the OST should be right around the corner now.

 

Had it been an official channel, those YouTube videos would have the proper album art (which is pretty cool, by the by) rather than a cropped printscreen. :v

[WarioBone]

This game is a lot of fun, but my computer seems to have MASSIVE framerate issues running it, so I don't have the patience to get through the whole thing.  I made it to Technology Tree's boss, Game Overed, and gave up.

 

Seems fun, though, although the stages definitely seem to drag on, a flaw shared with the first game.

[Jeffhog]

If you haven't checked the front page, the SATS soundtrack is out!

[t0ms0nic]

Ah, so that's why there were spoiler tags in Retro's topic... glad I avoided them and actually went exploring.

 

Lilac was later found splattered on the ground below, because she figured the best idea upon entering an alternate dimension was to leap down from the battleship in the clouds.

 

I was always curious what Lake meant a while back when he openly said he had a surprise for Strife. Pretty damn clever and out of it's way (not sure if the colour switches in the previous stage were in a particular order, just spent about five minutes pressing them at random), even if it is Lilac's old design and the joke hits home harder than it does now, but still.

[Knuckles]

Just got to Cyan City. So far, this game is pretty fun! Definitely makes me want to check out Before the Sequel.

[MamboCat]

Only played through one level and it wasn't that dissimilar from the demo (but I had got used to the demo's music! XD). Started the next level but quit after drowning! First impressions are it's pretty neat. I like the cutscenes and some of the alternative sprites such as the Super Peel Out "charge up" mode. Also it took me a while to remember there was a spike shield!

 

I think the levels look nice but they are a little "busy". I guess they're trying to impress.

Edited June 19, 2013 by MamboCat

[JezMM]

Just played through the whole thing in one go, which in itself is high praise considering I found BTS exhausting and "endless" feeling to the point it took me about 5 or 6 sessions to beat the whole thing.  I decided to try my luck with Classic Mode because I wanted to play the Special Stages - they were really fun!  I appreciated the 30 rings to unlock them since the levels are quite hazardous, and the special stage difficulty was pretty reasonable too.  Failed a few of them but managed to have all emeralds by halfway through Moon Mansion if I recall.

 

The level design is WAY more varied and the level length and difficulty felt more reasonable.  I totally agree with the OP comments that the enemy placement is bizarrely cheap early on and becomes more well-designed as you progress through the game.  The bosses were great this time too, though the true final boss was a little bizarre.

 

I totally see where complaints about the levels looking the same comes from.  While every act has a unique gimmick and the enemy designs and traps are great fun and very inventive, they do have a bit of a fetish for futuristic cities and/or "nature meets technology" trope.

 

 

Oh, the music was awesome of course.  Totally driving and pumping, and somehow felt more consistent in style throughout than BTS' soundtrack.  Also not having copious amounts of Kirby Super Star music during cut-scenes helped with that consistency too.

 

 

 

Only odd things I had were I swear the cut-scenes were playing slower than the music (and I'm on a high-end PC), many of them seemed to cut off early too, or were just really oddly cut generally.

 

Also did the Sugar zone have no boss or did I glitch there?  Because I don't recall it having a boss.

 

 

 

Overall though this was an impressive game.  Way better than BTS, even if every now and then some design aspects of BTS I didn't like crop up - thankfully never for too long.

[SilentDoom]

So you guys know the remix for Special Stage 7 of

Can You Feel the Sunshine

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6UnxCDlKE

?

 

What if I told you that throughout that entire song, it's a male voice singing.  Andy Tunstall is the one doing the vocals.

Blew my god damn mind when I found out. 

Edited June 20, 2013 by SiLeNtDo0m

[DJ EAR]

So you guys know the remix for Special Stage 7 of

Can You Feel the Sunshine

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6UnxCDlKE

?

 

What if I told you that throughout that entire song, it's a male voice singing.  Andy Tunstall is the one doing the vocals.

Blew my god damn mind when I found out. 

O.o? You couldn't figure that out on your own?

[SilentDoom]

O.o? You couldn't figure that out on your own?

 

No especially since the alius he uses for this song is different to his usual one.  The pitch is at the sort of pitch where most guys that can sing that high would adjust to a lighter falsetto but he didn't here.  I found a very feminine quality to his voice here, the performance was very true to TJ Davis'.  That said though, it was a damn good performance and he has a damn good voice.

[Red]

Playing through Classic Mode at the moment and managed to get all 7 Chaos Emeralds by Moon Mansion. Gotta say I really like the special stages, they're fun yet challenging without being too frustrating. :3 Only problem is now everytime I jump I'm gonna hear the Super Sonic music on loop DX No more soundtrack. :c

[SilentDoom]

Playing through Classic Mode at the moment and managed to get all 7 Chaos Emeralds by Moon Mansion. Gotta say I really like the special stages, they're fun yet challenging without being too frustrating. :3 Only problem is now everytime I jump I'm gonna hear the Super Sonic music on loop DX No more soundtrack. :c

 

The Super Sonic music is the same as the level music but sped up and higher pitched (like collecting a pair of speed shoes).  He doesn't have a specific theme.  Fun fact though, if you get Speed Shoes then transform into Super Sonic the music pitches up and speeds up twice.  I've only been able to do this in Storm Station Act 1 so far though.

[Dark Flame Master]

I just played it for the first time, up to the forest level. It's really awesome, and the music kicks so much ass, glad I downloaded the soundtrack at the same time. 

 

Also, I'm getting an awesome Daft Punk vibe from the track "Flight Thrills - For Cyan City Act 2." Anyone else or just me?

Edited June 25, 2013 by Dark Flame Master

[Dizcrybe]

Question about the cutscenes: whenever they come up, all I get is a white screen? Is there any way to fix this?

 

Also, I got finished with Horizon Heights. So far, I think it's a great game. I especially like how Act 3 introduces a little visual gimmick with the invisible platforms that only show up when lightning strikes. Fantastic music as well.

[MamboCat]

Um so yeah... playing the special zones and saw this.

 

 

I remember this from the demo, but the finished version? :s Has anyone else had this background problem?

[mikeblastdude]

I'm a bit late to this topic, but I downloaded this recently and have had an absolute blast with it. There are some really interesting levels/gimmicks that make this game stand out, and I can't help but appreciate all of the effort that went into making it. It has its flaws sure, but I had a great time playing through this. Always nice to see a Sonic fan game actually being finished.

 

Also, as many other have said, the soundtrack is amazing. I've been listening to it on my iPod like crazy. The Moon Mansion tracks are probably my favorites (especially Act 3; hot damn).

 

So yeah, big thumbs up from me on this.

[Dizcrybe]

Just finished the Cyan City Boss.

 

Why.

 

Do they let you get hurt.

 

AFTER.

 

You beat the bloody boss?

[JezMM]

Um so yeah... playing the special zones and saw this.

 

 

I remember this from the demo, but the finished version? :s Has anyone else had this background problem?

 

I saw that too, I didn't think it was a glitch though, is that a placeholder texture or something?  I assumed it was a deliberately weird/surreal/virtual reality sorta background or... something.

 

 

 

Btw the game's soundtrack was almost the exact length of my travel time on my holiday to Belgium so I listened to the whole OST from start to finish on both the way there and back.  Damn what a good soundtrack.  Though I think the two final boss themes should have been swapped.  Act 1 is SO uplifting but Act 2 spends a bit too much time being airy-fairy and "trying to be epic", and has several calm spots that would be terribly unfitting if one was to play the final bit of gameplay during it.

Edited June 28, 2013 by JezMM

[Pylorian]

I finally decided to download this and I'm greatly impressed. Only played through the first 3 acts so far but it's really fun so far.

Edited June 29, 2013 by endless possibility

[Celestia]

So, this might be a dumb question buuuuut, has anyone figured out how to unlock Debug Mode on the Special Mode menu?

 

Also is it just me or does the Boss Rush have a major glitch? 9 times out of 10, the Parhelion Peak boss glitches at the end and the giant robot doesn't attack Eggman, so you're just stuck there as the screen shakes (this never happened to me in normal gameplay, just the boss rush). It didn't happen twice, but those instances seem more like an exception to the rule than anything.

[a mystery]

I just played it for the first time, up to the forest level. It's really awesome, and the music kicks so much ass, glad I downloaded the soundtrack at the same time. 

 

Also, I'm getting an awesome Daft Punk vibe from the track "Flight Thrills - For Cyan City Act 2." Anyone else or just me?

 

I'm pretty sure it was intentional - that's what Andy Tunstall says, anyway.

"heavily inspired by Voyager."

 

So, this might be a dumb question buuuuut, has anyone figured out how to unlock Debug Mode on the Special Mode menu?

 

All I know is that it has something to do with Sash Lilac. This might help a bit...

[Ravenfreak]

While i'm not too much of a fan of fangames (i'm more of a hacker myself...) I just had to download this fangame and check it out since it had pretty awesome music! Too bad it runs pretty slow on my gf's computer, but it's still somewhat playable. I've made it to Parhelion Park Act 1 so far but haven't played much of it in a while. My favorite track is definitely the remix of Combat Night Zone, but I wish someone would extend the original composition of the song since it's a tad bit better IMO.