Is this franchise based purely on nostalgia?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I doubt people asked for Werehog or a sword totting gimmick.

People didn't ask for a lot of things in this series, so it's not like they're listening to every request.

[Salamander]

Though you can't deny that things like Sonic 4, Sonic Generations, and even the SA2 version of Green Hill (maybe even SA's Ice Cap), are obvious throwbacks. Hell, they have been using the same stage themes throughout the entire life of the franchise. They know how to use nostalgia to the series advantage, but it's not the only thing keeping it alive. Especially considering a number of people who play the games are kids. Young kids at that. They're not reliving the days of the Sega Genesis. They just think Sonic is cool and wanna the games.

 

If Sonic Team decided to no longer do throwbacks, I'm sure people would STILL buy Sonic. Let them cease making Green Hill type levels, I'll be good with that. 

 

To me this is the important issue here, which is where the line lies between a throwback, and part of the brand identity.  If Sonic never had checkered brown hills with green grass again, would it still be Sonic?  Surely it would - but it might just have lost an important piece of familiar imagery.  However, it's also true, at least in my opinion, that that familiar imagery is perhaps a little too familiar and could do with being revised and reimagined sometimes.  And I think that sameyness is a clear attempt on the part of Sonic Team to reassure purchasers of the continuity of the present product with the famous classics - capitalising on that sense of familiarity and memory of quality.  Nintendo does it a lot too, and I think more noticeably recently - but that's a matter for another topic, it's just a point of comparison here.  I think they would be a bit more visually original in their designs and other ideas if they felt in a more comfortable position in terms of profit and popularity.  As it stands, they want people to look at their screenshots and trailers and immediately think "Yep, that's Sonic."  Which they might not have done for, say, '06, Unleashed, Black Knight... and those are the games that got criticised for being too different in one way or another, and if a game is already risky or outright bad, you don't need to hand the critics more ammunition.  Hence, Lost World.

[FlameStream]

To go back to the original question, I don't believe that it's based purely on nostalgia at all.

There are indeed some stuff that identify Sonic games. Aside from characters, I believe rings are the next thing.

Regarding checkered hills with green grass though, I never really thought they are a must in Sonic games.

Their forced inclusion sometimes irks me a bit for some reason.

And when I think about it, my favourite sonic games don't feature them after all.

[mrstupes]

I will say that Sonic 1 personally I dont think holds up, to get back to that nostalgia argument. Theres a lot of slow boring levels like Marble Zone. That I just dont find fun anymore. I think Sonic 2 is a much better game. I do agree that they at times relay too much on the nostalgia, I think sonic 4 ep 1 & 2 were sort of boring cause of that. I know that was the whole point of those games, but when they turned out to not be so great. I think sonic lost world visually is a cool and new interpretation to that classic sonic style.  

 

Is there anyone that read that article in the original post and agrees with it. Like truly feels those Sonic games were not actually good? Like for me personally I dont think they hold up as well as I like to believe in my heart. They are good games, but not the masterpieces I used to think they were. 

It is the internet, so there will always be someone out there to hate something. 

Edited November 2, 2013 by mrstupes

[Mr. Hardstone]

I know this is a place for Sonic discussion, but I feel like Mario is a series which gets by on nostalgia and the strength of its own franchise alone. Much like Sonic, ALL of it's original 2D entries were great (though given the choice, I'll always pick Sonic over Mario), but since the SNES went away, I personally count 2 Mario games that I like, and consider to be good, which are (say it with me) Mario 64, and Super Mario Galaxy. When they reverted to the familiar 'old school' setup with New Super Mario Bros, it was like going backwards, but not in a good way. One of the reasons I love Sonic games is because of the 'gimmicks'. If a game gets criticised and badly reviewed because it tried something new, and that new thing didn't work out, I can still appreciate that they were trying something new and not just churning out the same old toss like Mario games do. I feel like they 'tested the water' on this with Sonic 4 (thankfully, that was awful on its own merits), but after Generations, Sega could have EASILY released 2D 'classic style' game after game using that engine to appeal to the retro crowd, and I commend them for not doing so, and continuing to try new stuff. Give me a sword, or a Werehog, or Wisps, or something new any day of the week over a Sonic 4, Sonic 5, Sonic 6 ad infinitum. 

 

After I bought my Wii U I picked up New Super Mario Bros U, so I had something to play (I bought it in anticipation of games, when there were basically none), and even though I had that, Darksiders 2 and Nintentoland to play, I literally returned Mario the next day because it was so boring. It felt like the same damn game I've been playing since I was 5. Sonic Lost Worlds comes out, and I'm still in 2 minds as to whether I really like it or not, but I certainly didn't get bored of it, and I'm certainly not done playing it!

To sum it up, I think that the games have evolved and changed and are generally different enough to each other that nostalgia doesn't hugely come into it. Sure, one of the reasons I love Sonic is because I started young and basically grew up along side it (got Sonic 2 in '92), but the same can be said for everything else I grew up with, like TMHT, Power Rangers, etc. THEY are things I feel nostalgic towards, but they're not things I'm really interested beyond that feeling of 'remembering the good old days'.

I find myself literally rolling my eyes whenever they use the Green Hill trope. Unleashed had gorgeous original levels, as did Colours, and though they had similar gameplay styles, the 'tone' of the games couldn't have been much more opposite. These things used to 'identify' the Sonic brand DEFINITELY aren't needed, in my opinion.

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

It also helps that Mario was made more and more well rounded in order to work well with many of the concepts they came up with it, whether old or new. Meanwhile, Sonic suffers a risk over crippling overspecialization that much of the media seems to further and further encourage he continue doing, making Sonic less malleable to work with newer concepts that don't work well with his speed.

 

Something that I praise Lost World for getting Sonic out of, but now it's made a different problem of its own going by what reception I've been seeing of it.