Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

That kind of posting is more likely to piss people off, though. Azookara was exhasperated because right after he made a big post demonstrating there is a cohesive Sonic style you contradicted him, not because of opinions.

 

Ok I do apologies then.  My statement was stupid, it should have been mentioned and I will try to think about what I'm trying write from now on.

Provided enemies can be taken out with one hit I think we'll be fine in terms of combat.

Of course that then lends the question of how to keep combat from feeling stale... while Sly Cooper 1 had one hit kills, you also had very little health and were sneaking around most of the time. Similarly, while Ratchet's enemies can be obnoxious to take out in groups, the game makes up for it with a large variety of weapons to choose from, many of which are hilarious.

How will they implement combat in this game so that it both does not cause massive slowdown like Unleashed, but at the same time doesn't get tediously annoying because of how easy the hordes are to ka-pow?

Overall I'm curious to see what this will look like...

...and of course, if dubstep makes its way into the soundtrack again.

 

Personally I will most likely only like the combat (let alone love) as long as it keeps the pace going.  So it doesn't make the area you are in boring or overstay it's welcome.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Sonic Team's problem is always that they try too hard, especially not to be stale.

 

Ignoring the fact that Generations and 06 both got wastefully rushed and ended up being less than they could have been.

 

Look, I like Sonic Team still, but it's come to the point where I'd say they're not trying hard enough.

[Mauro Fonseca]

They literally change gameplay every other game. That's not not trying hard, again, that's trying TOO hard. Being so afraid of staleness and so utterly bored with games they change everything every game. They've been like that since 1991, as soon as Sonic 3 they wanted to stop doing sidescroll platforming and go isometric.

[azoo]

And about the whole gameplay thing..

 

The gameplay in a span of twenty+ years has been at least 5 different gameplay styles.

 

1 ) Classic - Sonic runs, jumps and spins. Spin down hills to achieve maximum velocity. Rev up a Spindash for a shortcut to that.

2 ) Adventure - Basically the same, but in 3D, and with less and less emphasis on rolling and more on combat as they came.

3 ) Heroes - Convoluted team mechanic, kinda sucked; also more focus on combat than ever before. Also no more rolling EXCEPT ROCKET ACCEL

4 ) Boost - Completely new mechanics based on blasting forward at top speed and twitch-reaction game mechanics.

5 ) Parkour - Somewhat harking back to 'Adventure' but not really, introduces parkour elements as well as a little combat.. (????)

 

But even with all this jumping back and forth in gameplay style, the games seem to have recurring things.

 

Rings. Springs. Slopes and rolling hills. Loops. Spikes. Dash pads (yep, those too). Level design with a sort of flow. Monitors. Spread out and scattered enemies. Animal capsules / goal rings / sign posts. Being submerged in that art style I mentioned before.

 

It's why Sonic Boom is rather questionable as a Sonic game, since it seems to be introducing even more combat focus, and kind of going against most philosophies. It seems to take place in mostly flat, open areas; where you wail on enemies more in a straight cut path. Speed isn't really a focus, and just about everything besides rings and one or two ramps were shown that resembled what's to be expected from a Sonic game.

 

Sonic and co also seem to move in a very binary fashion. If you want an example of what that feels like, try Sonic Lost World, or in fact most action-adventure games. There's a set walking/running speed and your movements are very cinematic, but they don't feel kinetic or that you have full control, they're like a specific animation playing. This is the vibe I'm getting from the gameplay footage, since it seems to pair along with games the people in this company have made before (in other words: Jak & Daxter).

 

And while this is a spinoff game, it's also a spinoff based off a tv show based off this exact game series. So you'd assume it'd take elements from one and apply it in another. For it to be so off and away from Sonic in both gameplay and art style just makes this feel foreign.

[Autosaver]

Apparently it's been confirmed it runs at 1080p.

 

Which makes me think it runs at 30fps due to the amount of detail. A little sad, but 1080p is cool too.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

And while this is a spinoff game, it's also a spinoff based off a tv show based off this exact game series. So you'd assume it'd take elements from one and apply it in another. For it to be so off and away from Sonic in both gameplay and art style just makes this feel foreign.

 

Well I guess that means we are going to have to step out of our comfort zones a bit then (no offense(I'm including myself as well)).

 

 

Apparently it's been confirmed it runs at 1080p.

 

Which makes me think it runs at 30fps due to the amount of detail. A little sad, but 1080p is cool too.

 

Not really.  Sonic Lost World run at 1080p at 60fps I doubt this game is going to have an excuse.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Apparently it's been confirmed it runs at 1080p.

 

Which makes me think it runs at 30fps due to the amount of detail. A little sad, but 1080p is cool too.

yeah, could be 60FPS, as all it requires is proper resource management and optimization, and considering its being developed soely for the wii-U by this team for over 2 years now it ought to be extremely streamlined

[Mauro Fonseca]

Another note since this is a common bit of misinfo I'm seeing everywhere- this is not a game based on a tv show. SEGA decided they wanted to take the West by storm on a multimedia approach right from the start, and both game and cartoon were made at the same time; however, generally the cartoon seems to bow to the game, seeing as how BigRedButton were the ones to do all the design work etc.

[Nepenthe]

I could imagine using CryEngine instead of whatever native stuff Sonic Team used for Lost World warrants shooting for a steady 30 on the Wii U.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

Heres a question.  Who do you think is writing the story for Boom.  A mixture of people, is Pontac back in the chair or have we got some new writers?

[Mauro Fonseca]

For the game, the story's being made in-studio.

 

For the show there's a list already, isn't there? It's generally various experienced cartoon writers, much like Pontac.

[Soniman]

So this is the first Pontac-less Sonic game since Unleashed then? This should be intresting to see.

[Tani Coyote]

Hmm, the fact Naughty Dog's involved makes me think we really might see ourselves some Jak-esque power ups indeed. If they're unique to each character I'll be fairly sold.

I wonder who's going to be writing it. If they outsourced it to Sony-related writers too... oh dear god, this has me sold. I think it'll be the most entertaining story in ages.

Though I presume they might have the folks from the show also write the game for consistency.

[SilentDoom]

A deeper look at the teaser trailer:

 

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

[RK64]

yeah, could be 60FPS, as all it requires is proper resource management and optimization, and considering its being developed soely for the wii-U by this team for over 2 years now it ought to be extremely streamlined

 

It also helps that all of these guys past work was 60FPS outside of Uncharted (and I think the PSP Daxter game?), as all of the PS2 Ratchet and Jak games were at 60 FPS. With the game having much more exploration and platforming (like Lost World), I'm sure they will push for 60FPS if they can . Either way, the animations look very smooth so far and the world just looks great, so who knows .

[Splash the Otter]

If that's the case I can't wait for Mario to get all edgy and borderlands on us. Because he's been going for over 25 years and kept consistency for the most part, so why can't Sonic?

 

Not saying I disagree because seeing Sonic in outlandish bad lands garb tickles me in all the right places, but my point still stands really, and Mario remains as a critical success with the same formula/character designs/ level tropes/ story etc.

Mario's a critical success because he's a cash cow. It's nearly impossible these days for Nintendo to release a Mario game that isn't critically acclaimed. unless they went out of their way to make it bad on purpose. I'm not saying Mario is mediocre, but it feels to me like he's getting by mainly on how popular he is.

 

Provided enemies can be taken out with one hit I think we'll be fine in terms of combat.

Of course that then lends the question of how to keep combat from feeling stale... while Sly Cooper 1 had one hit kills, you also had very little health and were sneaking around most of the time. Similarly, while Ratchet's enemies can be obnoxious to take out in groups, the game makes up for it with a large variety of weapons to choose from, many of which are hilarious.

How will they implement combat in this game so that it both does not cause massive slowdown like Unleashed, but at the same time doesn't get tediously annoying because of how easy the hordes are to ka-pow?

At risk of sounding hypocritical, I actually think the Mario series could provide a few ideas. Look at the Rexes in Super Mario World, which get shorter after one hit and go down after a second. Something like that could be done with a robot being visibly damaged after the first hit, or maybe with an armored robot needing an extra hit to remove its armor. Just as long as the combat is interesting but not overly complex (and doesn't drag the game down of course), I don't think it will be too much of a problem.

[Diogenes]

The gameplay in a span of twenty+ years has been at least 5 different gameplay styles.

 

1 ) Classic - Sonic runs, jumps and spins. Spin down hills to achieve maximum velocity. Rev up a Spindash for a shortcut to that.

2 ) Adventure - Basically the same, but in 3D, and with less and less emphasis on rolling and more on combat as they came.

3 ) Heroes - Convoluted team mechanic, kinda sucked; also more focus on combat than ever before. Also no more rolling EXCEPT ROCKET ACCEL

4 ) Boost - Completely new mechanics based on blasting forward at top speed and twitch-reaction game mechanics.

5 ) Parkour - Somewhat harking back to 'Adventure' but not really, introduces parkour elements as well as a little combat.. (????)

This is just me being picky but I'd argue against Heroes being a distinct style; it's basically just Adventure style with the team gimmick tacked on. Take SA2 Sonic, cripple the spindash and butter his shoes, and you've got Heroes' speed characters.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

@Ogivle & whoever else:

 

I'm just kinda boggled at the thought that you can't really see the difference between Jak & Daxter and Sonic the Hedgehog's visual styles, or say that Sonic "doesn't really have an established style". Like, it's one thing to like one over the other, but to act it's completely unacknowledgeable? Man.

 

 

 

THIS is the Sonic style.

Funny how you're using Lost World, a game that many folks said didn't look like a Sonic game to argue what is "Sonic Style".

 

Oh and I think you're forgetting these guys too:

 

If you ask me, this so-called "Sonic Style" term is as nebulous as the Milky Freakin' Way.

 

I may not have been immediately able to spot Boom to be a Sonic game from that trailer of the CryEngine. But given how varied ( and why not, Sonic's a traveler) the tone, style, mood, locales,gameplay and everything are with the Sonic franchise, I can very well buy into Sonic Boom "looking like a Sonic game".

[Lady Soniko]

Kinda hoping we get narrative akin to the Jak games, because lordy knows I love the Jak games and their stories.

Mario's a critical success because he's a cash cow. It's nearly impossible these days for Nintendo to release a Mario game that isn't critically acclaimed. unless they went out of their way to make it bad on purpose. I'm not saying Mario is mediocre, but it feels to me like he's getting by mainly on how popular he is.

 

I...Uh.. Wha? Cash cow or not, his big games aren't even remotely dependant on his popularity, they are polished, quality games that leave the player wanting more.

 

Super Mario Galaxy is probably the greatest gaming experience I've ever witnessed in my life so far, nothing has topped it since, that sort of feeling isn't conveyed through popularity alone...

[Diogenes]

Funny how you're using Lost World, a game that many folks said didn't look like a Sonic game to argue what is "Sonic Style".

Yeah, well, they're wrong. Even if some people feel it pushed too far towards stylized and cartoony, no one's going to mistake Windy Hill for anything but a Sonic level.

If you ask me, this so-called "Sonic Style" term is as nebulous as the Milky Freakin' Way.

Of course it's going to look nebulous if you take all 20+ years of a series that has spent more time than not floundering around trying to figure out what it is. Failures to live up to the style don't mean that there never was one.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Apparently it's been confirmed it runs at 1080p.

 

Which makes me think it runs at 30fps due to the amount of detail. A little sad, but 1080p is cool too.

I wouldn't count 60 fps out of the picture.

[azoo]

Good job cutting off the part where I explained why I chose those pictures.

 

 

 

Yes, this is mostly what was established in the past three or four games, but Unleashed-Colors-Generations seemed to set out to make a 'blanket' art style that takes the disorganized (yet similar) styles of the previous games and blends them together. ( Lost World is shown here because it even has it's rare exceptions. )

 

It didn't really help out your argument. :v

[Kuzu]

At the end of the day, Sonic is a franchise that appeals to many groups of people for whatever reason or another, with their own little interpretations of the series. Some like whatever, some don't.

 

 

I firmly believe it is impossible to have anything Sonic related where the general consensus is that its good, because too much has been split.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

At the end of the day, Sonic is a franchise that appeals to many groups of people for whatever reason or another, with their own little interpretations of the series. Some like whatever, some don't.

 

 

I firmly believe it is impossible to have anything Sonic related where the general consensus is that its good, because too much has been split.

 

Agreed.  In the end, this is never going to please every Sonic and believe me if that happened I can officially say that the world has come to an end.

[azoo]

Is it really that split though? Because that just sounds like a copout to not worry about this and just let the series do whatever it feels.