"Sonic Dissected" Dissected: (LEGO) Sonic Dimensions As You Truly Imagined It

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Colors doesn't even have a story in the manual.

 

Incorrect. Colors did in fact have story included in the manual.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Even if Colors didn't have a story in the manual, I don't see how that's a case against it when, as barebones as it was, it has a story in the game.

[Celestia]

What about Sonic 3 and Sonic CD, aren't those really adored Sonic games? They both had intros.

That is true. Still, Sonic 1 and 2 don't. They are also fairly adored and probably the games they had in mind when they had Colours (and Generations of course) start out with a level.

 

Colors doesn't even have a story in the manual.

I personally don't think that's even necessary if the game in question is telling a story on it's own. I could argue that even 3&K doesn't need it since the story it tells is really easy to follow just by playing it and nothing else. I do miss the days of game manuals having a bunch of info, tho'...but that's a discussion for another day.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

Okay, probably way too late and nobody cares anymore, but a video that should have been out about 10 pages of discussions ago here:

Do let me know if I said another word that causes a war.

 

 

And yeah, Ett Maniskt Jävla Försvar, the male/ female thing was a poor choice of words and another example of me trying to mix humor with serious debate that probably backfired.
Never the less I have faith in my viewers that they're smart enough to get the point.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Well, glad you came to clear that up among some of us, Roger. I for one hope you make yourself home here, despite the intense atmosphere at times.

 

As for how to differentiate your jokes? I suggest you take more jabs at yourself when you make them like you do in your videos. At bit more self-depreciating humor can go a long way, kind of like how you made fun of your own animating skills in one of your videos. Now as for how you do that, I've no clue. People have their own quirks, so I don't know how you would go about it.

[Indigo Rush]

We definitely appreciate the clarification, Roger!

 

This place can get a little heated and defensive, but we're not trying to be malicious, honest!

 

I hope future discussion can go on just as cleanly and orderly as I know we all want it to be.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Ah! The clarification and elucidation is much appreciated Roger.

 

Here's to merry more and the hope of things only going UP from here!

[Roger_van_der_weide]

Self-depreciating jokes huh?
Funny, I got a complaint from the other camp that I do that way too often. Hm.

 

Oh, and thank you Rusty Spy for the explanation of my actions in the Unleashed chapter.
Right on the money.

The jokes are an overly visual explanations of a more subtle issue I highlighted before.
They don't represent the truth, they make a little abstract thing that bothers me more solid.
Compare to a Nostalgia Critic Sketch. "It's so stupid, they might as well have done this-".
Except, true, the Critic's sketches are usually closer to the actual event that happened.

Altough because of that, his jokes fail to amuse me quite often. 
If the accidental issue in the actual movie is funner then your calculated parody sketch, something's wrong to me.
Entertain versus pure knowledge. The recurring issue.
I'll do my best figuring out a way to do it better.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Self-depreciating jokes huh?

Funny, I got a complaint from the other camp that I do that way too often. Hm.

Well it must be a balance thing, I guess.

 

If you ask me, self-depreciation makes people appear more modest towards others. Better to be seen as modest than as a pretentious to some people.

[TearForFear]

Oh, and thank you Rusty Spy for the explanation of my actions in the Unleashed chapter.

Right on the money.

The jokes are an overly visual explanations of a more subtle issue I highlighted before.

They don't represent the truth, they make a little abstract thing that bothers me more solid.

 

About that. I know this expedient and I don't have anything against it

 

In fact, I have a suggestion for you if you want to go back to Lost World!Sonic in a future episode.

 

You know, the very first time I heard the infamous line "supposed to be the fastest -> too slow to save his buddy" I immediately thought of the Simpsons episode when Flanders is sick of Homer and leaves Springfield, and Homer cries "He's gone! And it's all someone's fault!!!"

 

While Sonic is blaming himself the words he used to express his feelings were really really wrong, he sounded like he wasn't even aware that it was he himself that spindashed Tails into the trap

 

My grip was that I didn't get if you intended the opinion you express in the Dissections as subjective or objective, just that.

 

I don't "criticize you for feeling a certain way about something", I just found odd that you used the expedient I mention above after stating "I noticed these things = I want you to think about it"

 

Anyway, moving on

 

 

Okay, probably way too late and nobody cares anymore, but a video that should have been out about 10 pages of discussions ago here:

Do let me know if I said another word that causes a war.

 

Must be the animation of the mouth and the different tone of voice, but  this portrait of yourself (at least for my eyes, and ears) makes you look more friendly and approachable compared to your appearences in the Dissections.

I really like this "other version" of yourself

 

As for those -like me- who don't or can't understamd your jokes, I suggest to add an annotation that says "this is a joke" or something like that. The laugh tracks could get old and annoying really fast

[Briraka]

If I recall correctly, Roger, you said that you were inspired by Egoraptor's Sequilitis videos, right? I've noticed that when you're telling a joke, it's often done in a very quick manner like Ego does. However, the setup in Sonic Dissected seems more laid back and calm compared to Sequelitis. In Ego's videos he's often all over the place, fast delivery and all that, but in your videos you and Luke don't have that same sort of energy that Ego does. It's like what you and Luke discussed in one of your 06 parts, where 06's plot tried doing both SA1's day in the life style, while having SA2's action, twists and turns and it didn't work.

 

Also, I wouldn't put any laugh tracks or annotations when you're going to tell a joke. The humor should come naturally, and you shouldn't worry too much about people taking it the wrong way because some people just do regardless how clear the intent was. Like, I'm pretty sure even AVGN or Nostalgia Critic get comments with people thinking that they're being serious when they're really not.

 

So yeah, try improving your delivery instead of putting little signs of "THIS IS JOKE, LAUGH HERE."

[RustyRick]

Oh, I didn't happen to catch this video here at all until today. Nice explanation there and I hope your video's will be received with a much less negative reception now.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

No I don't have a Patreon, hopelessly outdated with cool and hip internet social thingies, especially since I already got so many people talking on the websites I'm already on that I have no desire to add more.

Funny thing with Nostalgia critic,  while I do know when he makes a joke or not, I'm always confused whenever he makes a straight joke (Look at how stupid this is!) or a satirical joke (Being a Daffy Duck character, I'm deliberately getting this wrong and overreacting for comedic effect!).
Never sure whenever he's talking as the Critic or as Doug. Maybe this is an issue that's also the case with me, although my "character" is less of a full on separate personality from me.
 

The increased animation makes me nicer? That's a weird effect.
Afraid I have no plans on increasing the animation quality of regular dissectes, they're light break projects for me in between heavy animations. Tough if this is a shared concern, I could try and figure out a more balanced compensation between the Phoenix Wright style portraits and actual animation.

[RustyRick]

The increased animation makes me nicer? That's a weird effect.

 

From my perspective it's just the tone of your voice that makes you come off as much more nicer to people here, the added mouth animation added to the effect, I guess, but alright.

[Nepenthe]

The point of the Dissected series is to espouse opinions about the Sonic franchise. Subsequently the animation is a secondary feature as the show is more dependent upon his actual writing (which is ultimately what defines the character) than the technical quality of the animation to entertain the audience. If he eliminated animation altogether, the overall harm to the purpose of the project would be minimal. Thus, increasing the animation quality to a substantial degree would ultimately be a waste of time, especially since he's admitted he's doing heavier animation projects on this side. That isn't "hipster" BS; it's proper allocation of resources which is what content creators have to juggle with on the job.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

Ah okay, thanks for the info with Patreon. Pretty cool project.
Great to see things like that exist.

Tough
A) I'm terrified filling in tax forms will be more complicated with weird income

B )I feel awkward earning money by utilizing copyrighted videos and music and
C) lack self esteem and rewards to give to people.

I'll think about it but I feel uncomfortable.

 

"Ok, that's just hipster BS. It doesn't take to long until your character gets hopelessly flanderized and unlikable with that mindset. I thought you liked character development, right?"

 

Hm? Don't worry, I'm not keeping the animation quality low out or ironic enjoyment. Heck I don't even understand what's particular ironic about doing things you dislike on purpose. I always thought things happening by accident was a big part of irony, doing things deliberately ruins the effect. Ah well, hipster logic. 


I like character development in narratives, but Sonic Dissected isn't a narrative and Roger and Luke aren't strictly characters, they're  hosts.
Hosts typically don't go trough character development, other then increasing their knowledge and figuring things out on the topic at hand. ^^;

If you'd use these arguments against the characters of my more straight IMP cartoon show, then you'd have a good point.

But my parodies/ discussion shows work on a different level then a proper narrative and unlike the Nostalgia Critic I don't really try to make my "character" alive beyond the occasional silly moment.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

It's fine! I just watched your "Sonic ... in ... minutes" and went BALDY MCNOSEHAIR on you. Hilarious stuff. Your "Free Riders" made me pee. Seriously. Such fun should be illegal.

Ohh, using the "disrupt serious debate by making a joke throwing everyone off" technique against me eh?

Clever bastard.

Guess that puts me in the frame of mind of the people not getting my jokes.

[FriendBot]

I've seen it as well, give me some time for me to dissect. Okay?

[Kuzu]

I was kind of amused by his little notes so people won't overreact.

[FriendBot]

First off, HOORAY FOR HD!

 

Second, it's great how Roger decided to shorten his videos, some videos go on for too long IMO.

 

I like the touches where Roger points which lines are sarcastic or hyberbolized, makes it easier for us to understand.

 

I can get the idea that Sticks looks similar to Marine through the color scheme but that's all the similarities, they both are very different characters with different personalities. 

 

Sticks can be used to show us more about the environments the team are in and give us a glimpse of what this universe has to offer but that's just me. I liked how Roger points out on why having another hedgehog without anyone losing their shit could be based on fan characters.

 

All the characters are going to have their funny moments, whether it is Knuckles being overly cocky or Sonic being derpy. Sticks seems to have the energy and quirkiness to make her jokes more unique out of all the other characters.

 

I'll say that it's a coincidence that Sticks looks reminiscent to Marine since there was no mentions of it. 

 

I don't recall Sticks being Australian, correct me otherwise. XP

 

I do get a feel of Unleashed from this game, since most of the gameplay we've seen of Rise of Lyric is combat-based platforming, which is similar to the Werehog, while the speed sections are a minor part of the game.

 

Comparing Battle/Fighters with Boom's combat does show that Boom doesn't have as much excitement but all the flashy moves you can do seems to well enough to make it interesting.

 

I can see how Boom can already be on the fence with some fans, not saying all, but SOME of the fans that dislike this game through Roger's explanations. 

 

The levels in the RoL were a bit dull was because one is a mining factory level and another is an underground ancient base, I don't really think a broader color scheme would fit "The Pit". But  I understand his complaints on how the visuals would look better in a movie rather than a game.

 

Knuckles doesn't even look that bad but whatever.

 

I think the in-level dialogue in Boom is a lot more enjoyable than the homing shot statements in the Time Eater bossfight since it feels more similar to Heroes' in-level dialogues. 

 

I'm glad that Roger likes the improvement in the voice actors and it makes more sense on how Colors story doesn't really work for most people due to Roger's points. 

 

I guess the "Rings! Omomomom!" line was a bit out-of-nowhere but I still found it pretty funny since it's just Sonic being a joker and just having fun with the adventure.

 

When Roger discusses on how the humor is used in recent games, it does make me realize how poor the jokes really were but he could be grasping straws at this. The joke on this goes for a bit too long for my tastes.

 

Overall, this episode was nice and it's great that Roger took in the feedback gained from his viewers and us, makes me feel happy and stuff.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Well he's improving. The "Sarcasm Mode" was cute too.

[Marioroxmysox]

Hey, Roger Van Der Weide. Remember me? I would like to say something about your Sonic Boom video:
First of all, I think Sonic Boom is going to be great, because unlike Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, the Characters in Sonic Boom is more of a TV style than an internet style.

 

Let's compare Sonic with Pac-Man and how they were originally: You have Pac-Man... he was just a gluttonous muncher; that's just it. It evolved later when Ms. Pac-Man came in, and the history of Pac-Man changed forever. When the Pac-Man TV series by Hanna-Barbera was released, Pac-Man was given a definate personality: an Adventuerous Family Man who lives in the colorful realm of Pac-Land. And it became a staple for years to come. Then we have Nicholas Maurice Parlouzer, AKA Sonic the Hedgehog (Yes, I'm making Sonic's real name Nicky Parlouzer, Deal with it). His personality was being cocky but not arrogant, impatient but not rude, and that he protects the enviornment from the pollution and robotics of Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik.

Now why am I saying Sonic Boom is better than Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures? Let's compare Sonic with Pac-Man and how they were in their respective spinoffs. First, Pac-Man. Remember that Pac-Man was originally a family man? Well, Namco stopped caring about it, and went back to making Pac-Man into a glutton, this time as a teenager. If it was the 1980s, it would make sense, but it's not! His personality is heinously horrendous. He doesn't care about his friends, food is his top priority, and that mouth is nothing more than a nusience to listen to.

Now for Sonic... well, Sonic has been downhill for a long time. His personality is now sharp and harsh and overshadows everyone. However, it seems as though he's been trying to pick himself up lately. And that's where Sonic Boom comes in. Sonic now relys on his friends like he does in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, He is serious like he was in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and he's less of a jerk than he was in Colors, Generations, and Lost World, and of course, the most important part in a story: CHARACTER INTERACTION! Sonic can now talk to Tails, Knuckles, Amy, even Eggman. They won't be simple-minded close-minded about each-other, or be punchlines to be laughed at.

 

Now for the issues you have:

1. "Knuckles is not Knuckles anymore!": Jeez, when will those close-minded people learn... I'm not trying bash to those die-hard Knuckles fans who want him to be the Guardian of the Master Emerald, and I know they're gonna hate me for saying this, but... I think it's very overrated... or at least in terms of his job. Let me explain why: I heard that a job does not describe a character's personality, it's that a personality can describe a person's job. I can understand that, but... do they even mention Knuckles' previous record track of how the Master Emerald was stolen/almost stolen? No. So I assume that Knuckles just sits there and do nothing before Eggman came into the picture in Sonic 3 Complete (Sonic 3 and Knuckles). All I ever got (in my opinion) was "You stole the Chaos Emeralds", "Eggman, you tricked me", and "I must get the Pieces of the Master Emerald", that's just it. I can't even understand his personality from that point of view. Now, I'm not saying Knuckles being alone is a bad thing, but it's just that he has to have a schedule for Alone Time and Friendship Time. They tried to do that in the games, but there's no reason because they showed Knuckles as a lazy bum as he was before meeting Sonic in the past. Point is, You need to choose one or the other, or scrap the character altogether.

So, when the writers of Sonic Boom looked over Knuckles' actions in the Past games (Sonic 3, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Heroes), they gave him a personality to understand; in a way, he's somewhat gullible to say the least. Knuckles is not that stupid, but he likes to be there for his friends. What Knuckles lacks in brains, he makes it up in power. However, when there's certain moments like these:

You need to try to think like them. Does he want to give the orders in HIS words because it sounded awesome, or did he not reword it right when he heard He and Tails are going to protect the village? Only time will tell when the game is released... also, in my opinion, Knuckles' redesign is not THAT bad. I will say this however: REAL ECHIDNAS DON'T FLY! (I mean, yeah, I can understand Knuckles can glide because of his dreadlocks, but I guess if he's TOO BIG to glide, get rid of the gliding altogether; that's what Tails is for, because he can fly with his TWO tails, and kitsunes fly in folklore)

 

2. Gameplay is like Unleashed: Well, it IS similar to that of Sonic Unleashed... just without the Werehog (which is a very usless addition). It's like Sega of Japan saying "OOO! Look at this new gameplay machanic with this new character! OOP! Guess we won't be seeing the Werehog again!" Seriously, what's the point of it again? Just take the Werehog out of it, and it'll be fine... that werehog was a waste of time. Also, I'm trying to see if they ARE trying to give it multiple paths. As for people complaining about Springs and Speedboosters, here's something that I think will be interesting: In the classic games like Sonic 2, diagonal springs were trying to emulate the illusion of walljumping (Sonic 2 (SMD), Emerald Hill Act 2 - Ring Attack (285 Rings)) , while Speedboosters (at least a minimum amount of it) try to emulate the illusion of speed (Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Chemical Plant Act 1). Sonic 4 failed to capture the point of it, because the placement is unnecessary or there are two many speedboosters, not to mention there's too many springs where you could've walked around the platforms, all explained here: SGB Review - Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (5:38 - 5:58). For Sonic Boom, I hope those Springs and Boosters are like that in the classic games, while most of them are by choice to take a different path. I'm looking at you Dimps.

 

3. The TV Show is a sitcom: Sitcoms (or Situation Comedies) can be interesting, if it was done right. Take Regular Show or the Simpsons for examples: Those shows had memorable characters, the situations are a mixture of real-life and crazy movie moments, and the stories are basic three act stuctures to understand what's going on. Sonic the Hedgehog had levels called "ACTS" like "Green Hill Zone Act 1 - 3", so being it possible that Sonic Boom having a story being told in a 3-act structure like that of Regular Show (since both shows have 11 minute episodes), with characters that are colorful (Sonic's Cockiness, Knuckles' Gullibleness, Amy's Happiness, Sticks' Craziness, Tails' Intellignce, and Eggman's Arrogance), it can work in what I assume is Sonic Boom's interpretation of South Island.

Sonic and his friends to me look like Freedom Fighters more than the SatAM cartoon does. And yeah, I hope it works a lot better in terms of Sonic working with his friends, because Sonic in SatAM was a bit of a pushover in that show, especially when interacting with Sally, who thinks she's better than everyone else, and doesn't accept the fact that she made mistakes (Just because your a princess DOESN'T mean you can't deny that you made a mistake).

 

4. "Eggman is not smart anymore": Well, of course not. Nobody's perfect. Also, I think you went a bit too far with that "Ralph Wiggum" Joke. You should've gone with something less harsh like King Bowser Koopa, which is Sega's inspiration to Eggman, since Yuji Naka himself got the concept of speedrunning in platforming by going through the fastest time on the first Level in Super Mario Bros.

 

5. "Rings! Omomomom!"/"It's like these tracks are built for me!": Hey, I've seen worst jokes in the Ghostly Adventures, I don't want this one to be bashed like that. I mean, you think this joke is suppose to be a reference to Pac-Man? Pac-Man goes "WakaWakaWaka" not "Omomomom". Also, isn't it hypocrytical that Ryan Drummond's overacting get's a free pass ("Talk about Low Budget Flights! I'm Outta Here!"), while Roger Craig Smith does not ("It's like these tracks are built for me!")? I'm not sure if you HAVE or HAVEN'T seen JonTron's Bubsy video:

(12:32 - 13:07) In otherwords, if you mention anything about the game designers within the game, it's not worth it. I don't hear Sonic mention a game designer in the game, do I?

 

6. "Those Redesigns are bad!": Have you even paid attention to HOW they changed it? For what it's worth, I understand this kind of change, even for a spinoff. This is what TV Tropes called "Shown Their Work". Why? Because These writers definately did research on each aspect on how a certain part of the character looked like that. And here are the quotes from TV Tropes:

• The bandaging on Sonic and Tails' shoes? That's called spatting, a practice in which athletes wrap sports tape around their shoes and ankles for stability and to protect their feet and ankles from injury.
• Sonic's new Scarf of Asskicking^note  actually has some practicality: wind chill at the kind of speeds Sonic achieves can be murder on one's neck. This is a big reason why airplane pilots during World War I wore scarves, themselves: to protect their necks. It can also be pulled over his face to keep dust and bugs from flying into his mouth at high-speeds.
• The bandages around Knuckles' arms and hands? Boxing tape. Serves the same purpose as Sonic and Tails' spatting, only for his hands and wrists.
• Amy's handwraps and sarashi, too, are justified by the ginormous hammer she carries.

So I give Sonic Boom credit for making these characters look like that. At least Sonic's change in Sonic Boom is more reasonable than... Pac-Man's in the Ghostly Adventures.

 

Other than that, well, Sonic Boom is very promising, and I hope it does better than "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures". When Sonic Boom is released, we'll make a comparison. I'd rather suggest you not watch "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures" until "Sonic Boom" is released, because we need a fair fight.

[Kuzu]

...Can you please space that out properly. That is a serious eyesore to read.

[Marioroxmysox]

...Can you please space that out properly. That is a serious eyesore to read.

Sorry, I'm new here... plus I never would've thought I have to space out everything for myself.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

Hmm, I didn't notice anything wrong about Marioroxmysox's message?
Ah well. I'll probably make the same mistakes as he did here then.


Ett Maniskt Javla Forsvar
No, I don't think I'll comment weekly on each episode unless they do something spectacularly right/ wrong in each episode. Which I don't expect. And if it is, it'll be annoying to hear me rant about the same things over and over.

 

 

 

Marioroxmysox
Saw the Pacman show, one episode. It, uhhh...Terrified me. Glad I'm not a pacman fan and I feel for them.
Tough not sure if Pacman's personality was that popular to begin with, but then again my girlfriend is a big fan of his Supernintendo adventure game so it's possible.

 

Yeah, I like Sonic to be able to talk to his friends.
Wasn't planning on going on about Knuckles anymore until the show is out, tough had to nod at the design again before I get 500 "so you LIKe his new design now? betrayel!" emails again.
To be honest some interactions with Knuckles in the released cutscenes were okay, so I'm on the fence on him again.

 

 

About Tails's flying ability making Knuckles gliding pointless, err question, will Tails be flying that much in this game? I haven't seen footage of him flying outside of the first trailer.
Not to mention there's Amy's triple jump and Frost stated Amy is his favorite character. I fear Tails's flying ability will be limited to only specific parts in the level, just like Knuckles. So it'll be less "figure out who can traverse this stage" and more a   "Oh, here's a Tails fly spot. Guess I have to use Tails here."  thing.
But that's just me asuming and jumping to conclusions, so I'll stop right there.
Let's just say it's a worry in my gut and leave it at that.
 

 

Comedy is a complicated thing, it depends on context, who's saying it, why they're saying it.
The "This is a low budget flight" is a action one liner, a statement of authority on enemies that captured him.
I don't mind those, as long as they're earned (Which is my problem with most aciton one liners in the modern games, the enemies have so little dignity or sense of threat that it just feels like bullying and not a cool James Bond one liner. If Eggman was kicking ass and capturing animals and holding big speeches and THEN Sonic comes in insulting him, it's great. But here he's constantly being insulted by his own robots, flailing around hopelessly and even undermining his own authority (I know I say this everytime but THIS time I'll succeed!) Sonic coming in and pouring even more salt on the wound is not exciting anymore.)

I am probably nit picking here,  but in my gut it feels completely diffrent. Just one feels like embracing adventure to me " You want me? Come and get me! Whoo!" and the other like deteachment. "Oh, it's that loser again.". Subtle but vital importance.

But that's that. The jokes I'm worried about in Boom are of a diffrent nature, more 4th wall breaky.
I want Sonic the humorous rebel, not Sonic the meta stand up comedian.

 

 

 

 

"You should've gone with something less harsh like King Bowser Koopa, which is Sega's inspiration to Eggman,"

 

Man I WISH Eggman was like Bowser. Bowser's a freaking bad ass in most games. That Mario 3d land climax was intense, Mario jumping from platform to platform crumbling apart while Bowser is in full pursuit shooting lasers. Bowser is intense ,he's big, he growls, he's dangerous.
And even when he's used for comedy like in Mario and Luigi saga, he has AUTHORITY.
He's funny because he's the big guy in charge, screaming at his poor subjects.
The only game I can remember where Bowser was a bit of a loser is Mario Sunshine and even there he's still better then Eggman.
YES, PLEASE give me Eggman inspired by Bowser.

Current Eggman isn't Bowser, he's closer to Doofensmith from Phineas and Ferb, except at least Perry takes the guy serious, so even HE has more dignity.

 

 

 

"Those Redesigns are bad!"

?! When the heck did I EVER say that? I even complimented that I loved the designs, especially Eggman!
it's only Knuckles I'm worried about, everything else is cool. Or are you just referring to Sonic fans in general now?

I LIKE the redesigns.
HOWEVER, I absolutely DESPISE your justification of "There's a logical reason for their design so it's good."
By that logic, I can have a Sonic redisgn where his face is all bloated and his eyes pop out and there's bloodveins and puss everywhere because "Hey, if you run at enormous speed without face protection and had so many dangerous adventures, having your face look like a half decayed corpse is logical!"

Just having a realistic reason isn't justification to do whatever.
Again, I LIKE most of the designs, but let's not kid ourselves here, they're redesigned to make them look cool, not to make them realistic or obey any laws of physics. Because if we're going to do that there's a whole lot more extreme things you gotta change.
As if sportstape will help if you go 500 MPH while being fired at by rockets.
So less "Sonic runs fast so he needs sportstape to avoid medical injuries." and more "Sportstape provides a sense of speed and it helps you associate them with real sports people!".

Sonic and friend's redesigns is a delicate balance between being "new", being "Cool for the kids" and being "respectful to the original vision."
And far as I'm concerned, they very much succeed in that ,except with Knuckles the "respect to the original vision" is a bit out of balance. But again, I said I wouldn't worry or stress too much about it anymore, so whatever, I can deal with it. Just sayin'.
 

 

 

 

Already Saw Pacman and I don't think a comparison is fair as Sonic has an identity as "cool and hip for the kids" while Pacman never had much of an identity.
Altough True, I suppose him being a housefather is a cool twist since that's a very unique element we never see videogame heroes have, especially not mascottes.
Never the less, it's comparing apples and oranges, so nah.
Not to mention I'll be really sad and depressed if Sonic Boom becomes comparible with Pacman's  ghostly adventures.
Except for the envirements, I kinda like how Pacman's futuristic city looks like and wish Sonic Boom used more vibrant settings like that.