Sonic Lost World. Was it that bad?

[GOAT]

Never played the game. I do want to though, as I've gone on a recent Sonic game binge. I've read all the reviews about it and basically most of them are negative. The two that jumped out at me: Gamespot gave it a 5/10 and Metacritic has it at a 63/100. In my opinion those ratings tell me that this game is bad, or mediocre at best.

 

So why? Is this game really that bad? Would love to you your guys' opinions.

 

Also sorry if there has been a topic like this. I couldn't find one, so I decided to make one.

[Nepenthe]

While I've not played the game myself yet, know that Gamespot's review has been called into question after people- non-fans and fans alike- called out the video review for using blatantly manufactured footage to prove claims that were already disagreeable. So it's less likely to be taken into consideration on that front.

[Jason Berry]

Bad? Hell naw. It's got more highs than lows. Disappointing? Yes. The builds and previews going up to the game's release built up our expectations much higher than it delivered. A big part of the problem was super easy bosses and over complex controls for a Sonic game. That said, there are many worse Sonic console games than Lost World.  

[Spin Attaxx]

Overall, it's a mixed bag. While the gameplay isn't a bad change from the boost2win formula, it's flawed in areas. While the Deadly Six are cool characters, they are rather flat and make for pitifully easy bosses. While the story has its strengths lie in the interactions between Sonic, Tails and Eggman, they have been controversial (mainly over Tails being a jerk).

 

Aside from that, the music is great, the Wisps feel unneeded (and even awful before the patch) and there are levels that will make you want to scream (oh hai Lava Mountain 2).

 

Simply put, you'll either love it, or you'll hate it. Or you'll find it meh.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

In my opinion yes and no.

 

First for the positive, the graphics, and music are great. Also the first two zones are a lot of fun to play through but It all goes downhill from Zone 3 onwards,

 

First is the story where characters like Tails are turned into snark machines and Tails is the worst. He acts like he is the smartest person ever, rubs his inventions in Sonic's face and puts the entire world in danger just so Eggman won't be able to one up his smarts. Think about it, Tails goes on like a asshole who blames Sonic once Sonic gives him a warning to stay safe and then accuses Sonic of trusting Eggman more than him. What the heck is Tails talking about? First of Tails didn't see the machine before and so had Tails not been able to figure it out in time, all their friends would have been killed along with the planet all because Tails had to be a selfish person who thought he could do everything. Along with that, The Zeti probably would have become far too strong for Sonic to beat since they would have the entire planet's power in them so Sonic & Tails would have likely then be beaten and turned into the zeti's robot minions. Also characters are just changed so stupid jokes can be made.

 

But the two biggest problems after Zone 2? Problem 1 is that they introduce far too many gimmicks in a short amount of time, most of which just don't play well. There's one level in Zone 4 where Sonic is in this hard to control snowball throughout the entire level and must fight Zeena in that snowball as well. Rings also only stick the snowball and only are collected once Sonic passes a checkpoint. Another involves having Sonic glide in the air and not being able to homing attack, with the only way to go down is holding the jump button but of course the entire bottom is a bottomless pit so hold A down too far and you'll die and trust me, It's a very easy mistake to make.There's also more gimmicks in the game as well.

 

Finally is just how cheap the game gets. Rather than have a difficulty curve, there is instead cheapness and difficulty spikes. Sky Road and Lava Mountain spring to mind as some of the cheapest Sonic zones I've ever played, with unfair bottomless pits, stupid enemy placement, levels that sometimes go on too long and more. It really gets annoying.

 

The thing is the game could have been good, the new controls are not too bad but the problem is Sega went back to trying a whole bunch of new gimmicks most of which failed, It is OK if you can get over the cheap levels (As Spin Attaxx said, Lava Mountain Act 2 is one of the cheapest and personally It's one of my most hated Sonic levels, It's also the one level I'm currently stuck on in Sonic Lost World.) but It's a huge step down from the greatness of Generations.

[Person]

I wasn't dissappointed with the game, I actually really liked it. I very much enjoyed the parkour gameplay, and felt like the game was pretty solid overall. The problem lies within the responsiveness of the controls, which were sometimes frustrating, but ok most of the time, and with a lot of the game's stages. When levels were good (Desert Ruins 1, most of the basic 3D levels) they were good, but when levels were bad (the pinball stage, the snowball) they were either boring or just not very fun. There was difficulty increased way too fast, and it didn't help that this used to be one of the ONLY Sonic games where you didn't get an extra life from 100 rings, it's a really good thing they patched this game.

 

I feel like if I were to sum up all of the problems into one, it would be that "the game tried to do too many new things too quickly".

 

These things being said, I still really enjoyed SLW, and would definately like to see the parkour mechanic return in the future.

[KingIgort]

It's not quite as bad as people make it out to be. I've been playing it on off since I first got it at the end of January and there's a lot about it that I love. I can see why people could be disappointed with it, and it does feel like a step backwards in some respects, but the parkour element is fantastic, something the Sonic series has needed in a good long while. 

 

Finally is just how cheap the game gets. Rather than have a difficulty curve, there is instead cheapness and difficulty spikes. Sky Road and Lava Mountain spring to mind as some of the cheapest Sonic zones I've ever played, with unfair bottomless pits, stupid enemy placement, levels that sometimes go on too long and more. It really gets annoying.

 

I don't know if I necessarily agree the game gets cheap (certainly not as much as the later levels in Adventure 2 or Heroes, for example), I thought the difficulty certainly did jump at the end though. Can you give some examples of what you mean by cheap in, say, Sky Road, for example? Just not something that bothered me personally, probably. And as an additional point, I think Sky Road Act 1 is the only level I felt went on too long, but I only felt that way after I went back to replay them.

[Scott]

Well, I've been playing it non-stop all week, since buying it. 

 

On my initial playthrough, it rarely felt like a Sonic game and more like Mario Galaxy (and in some cases, right down to the music) and overall the game doesn't seem to like it whenever you "try" to go fast. I think that fact that there is a separate button to run is a bit worrying. It's a nice breath of fresh air for the removal of the boost, but it's slow and in some cases - clunky. Wisps are a forced gimmick that will either make the experience better for you, or make you want to rip your hair out.

The game also makes excessive use of guyroscope sections which are more trouble than they're worth. Upon completing the game, you'll obviously know most of the pathways and genera;;y how each level is laid out and this will make your next playthroughs much easier and eventually you'll become a natural. But this game has lost the simple "pick up and play" formula the series has always had among it's main titles and for that, I am sorely disappointed. 

 

Also, Bottomless pits - THEY.ARE.EVERYWHERE!!! One of the biggest complaints I've seen from reviewers and fans alike is the use of bottomless pits as cheap difficulty - I gather inspiration from this is from Mario Galaxy and in that game, it works because Mario is naturally slow. When I play a Sonic game, my brain says "Gotta go fast" And everytime I do that, I either get hit from an enemy or fall in a bottomless pit, usually it being the latter. 

 

There has never been a single Sonic title ever that I have disliked/hated/whatever, but this title was a little out of my comfort zone for a Sonic title. If you buy it, be patient with it. Don't rush, take your time - you get plenty of it.

 

(Based on the 3DS version)

[Alluusio]

The controls took a bit of getting used to and I suppose that is the main turn off. I didn't think it was very much fun on my first playthrough at all. After I got hang of the mechanics the game got better but then another flaw emerged, Very few of the stages used the parkour mechanics in any meaningful way. It was almost always faster to just spindash through so unless you just like fooling around the parkour doesn't really do anything except by in a few predetermined locations where it's mandatory. 

 

It's a fun game but just reeks of wasted potential. 

[jords]

There was barely any focus on the parkour.

So many gimmicky levels like the snowball, free flying level, moving fruits, and any other stuff I missed.

Most wisp was annoying to use like the rocket, asteroid, eagle and rhythm. Drill, and laser was pretty fun to use because they stayed the same.

Although I just ignored most of these and kept playing I still enjoyed this game. They had some nice gimmicks like the running parts they had in some levels.

The stealth mission on the first Zor boss level and his second boss level with everything going dark and you gotta turn on the lights to see were your going.

Most levels were great but most barely had focus on parkour.

[Willsy]

I don't think it's bad at all, and it's certainly been growing on me the more I see of Rise Of Lyric. It's a step down from Generations though IMO, but it's still good.

[Dizcrybe]

Put me down for "no".

 

While the bulk of the level design seems to steadily get worse upon reaching SIlent Forest Act 1, ideas for levels can get too experimental for their own good, and teh game's mechanics are unintuitive, there is genuine fun to be had with this game. I enjoy playing it, I like the parkour system, and there are some good levels in the game. It's far from a great game, but it's not the abomination people make it out to be.

[Kittea]

I think you should just play the game and decide for yourself People seem to forget that reviews are opinions and while some aspects of them may be factual the majority are purely based on personal opinion.

[Irish David]

I enjoyed it but the controls I felt were too fiddly and some of the levels I wanted to pull my hair out but the graphics, colour, story and music were very good so if it is reasonably priced I would give it a bash

[Shaddy Zaphod]

The biggest reason some people didn't like this game and haven't liked Sonic Boom is that they go in with no idea what they're going to get, at the same time acting like they can have any sort of expectations. I watched the Brainscratchcomms playthrough of this game, ClementJ642, Nickonauqamagna and somecallmeJohnny's reviews before I bought the Wii U version. I knew what was coming except for the extra world and the flying levels. And I thought it was really fun. Some parts were odd, and most of it was really easy, but I thought it was decent. So yeah, the game is decent. It's better than Sonic Unleashed. I wouldn't put it above Sonic Colors or Generations, or maybe even Sonic 4, but it is not, I repeat not a bad game. I am have no suspicion that this game wasn't a step back from the formula we had before, or even that I prefer the Boost games. But if this became the standard for Sonic (excluding some things to be refined, of course), I wouldn't kill myself. It's okay, that's all I can say. The fact that it's cheaper than most Wii U games these days makes it worth paying for, especially with the 3 DLC levels to expand the game, and I hope we get more of that in future titles.

[Willsy]

I can echo the complaints with the controls, but they weren't all that bad for me. But god they were so twitchy. And I will also echo what has been said about the experimental levels.

[-blank-]

Bad?

 

Hahahahano.

 

Lost World was flawed, yes. It was incredibly flawed. I certainly wouldn't put it as one of my favorite games in the series. But, at the same time, it had this nice little charm to it and once you got used to the controls it's actually quite enjoyable. Also, despite its respective flaws, I thought the story was fairly good and I quite like how Sonic was characterized. Hell, I don't even think Tails was as bad as people make him out to be.

[GOAT]

Hmmm. So from what it sounds like, the game was pretty flawed but it didn't outright suck. It also sounds like this game was a little ovehyped which I definitely can see.

 

Story was decent? Music is good? Controls are twitchy and annoying? Game drops off after the first couple levels? Not enough parkour? Some bosses were too easy? And something about Tails being a dick? Haha

 

Does that basically sum it up? And yes I plan to play it regardless, I was just curious to see what SSMB had to say.

[Stritix]

Honestly, it's terrible. I can easily say I put it below '06 and Shadow. Those games were incredibly flawed, but Lost World's design choices are far worse. I've played through both versions and it barely feels like a Sonic game. Iizuka said they were aiming for Mario fans, but in the process they have alienated a lot of Sonic fans. From jumping to planetoid to planetoid, chasing fruit, playing as a snowball for an entire level, facing a new group of enemies that resemble the teletubbies, it just simply does not feel or look like a Sonic game at all. It's a gimmicky mess of ideas that simply don't work for Sonic. It really baffles me that they added a run button. They removed acceleration as a factor and gave Sonic binary speed. That's the exact opposite of what you should do with Sonic. Presentation-wise the graphics are incredibly lacking detail and far too simplistic. The OST has a few decent tracks, however as a whole is lacking the energy and catchiness of past Sonic OST's.

 

I can rant and rave about how unfitting Lost World is for the Sonic series for hours, however after Lost World's critical and commercial failure I highly doubt they will be continuing in this direction. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what direction Sonic Team is taking for the next main series Sonic game.

[Gabz Girl]

No it's not bad at all, and that's a total exaggeration from most people (especially the critics!). It's a highly flawed game with some good stuff thrown in, so let's just say it's a mixed bag. The best things about SLW include the graphics, the music and some of the story which has its moments. The flaws however...well..

There's the parkour which, while a great idea on paper, hardly works half the time and its mechanics are never fully explained in any tutorials in game. Level design is frustrating especially later on in the game and sometimes a bit too Mario like, not necessarily a bad thing but it was still fairly obvious. The story was fairly weak, the Deadly Six had no backstory or motives explained, Lost Hex's origins are never explained, Knux and Amy appearing and hardly doing a Goddamn thing, WHY ARE THE WISPS THERE OMG...the list goes on, so yah.

But don't let it stop you from trying it out SLW! It's an alright game and it can be fun...at times. You just need an open mind, prepare yourself getting used to all new controls and think of this an experimental Sonic game. Hell I'm one of the few here who thinks the parkour system could work REALLY well if it was ironed out a little in a future Sonic game. So try it out and see what you think. It's a mixed bag, but it can be fun.

[Endy]

Lost World is just average IMO. It had some good ideas, and certainly alot of bad ideas. But what really cripples the entire thing is ridiculous amount of stupid mistakes Sonic Team likes to make all the time. Its really bad at teaching the player how most of its basic mechanics work, so most players won't know what they're doing until they've made it halfway through the game. I didn't even know how to run along walls horizontally in 3D until I got to Frozen Factory. The Wisps are also pretty terrible too. In some instances I enjoy their use more than in Colors, but for a few months after the game's release the only way to control them was through asinine use of the tilt function on the gamepad. It took me months to figure out how the Eagle and Black Hole wisps controlled but by then they already patched in control stick support. Its another example of them not explaining anything properly.

 

I enjoy the story for what it is, the music is pretty good. But while the graphics certainly are crisp, I can't say I enjoy the art style. Enemies look like plastic and some structures just look like building blocks. People compare it to Mario, but I have to disagree. It feels like an exaggerated Kirby art style! If you're curious try it out, but just as a warning the game is going to kick your ass to hell and back on your first run through. Its one of those games you need to play twice in order to get more enjoyment out of.

 

Oh yeah and the 3DS version...

 

no. just no

[Kenny_Glover]

The game was another unnecessary experiment. Sonic Team finally found a working formula in Colors and Generations. They should have stuck with that.

[Casshern]

If expanded upon, the Lost World formula has a lot of potential to become something extraordinary. The "Boost to Win" style got rather stale after Generations, so I welcome different attempts. There's really only so much that you can do with holding a button and watching Sonic go fast.

[Solkia]

The game was an unnecessary experimentation. Sonic Team finally found a working formula in Colors and Generations. They should have stuck with that.

 

Even the concept of parkour in a Sonic game?

[Kenny_Glover]

Even the concept of parkour in a Sonic game?

 

 It was nice as a concept, but it was poorly executed. If it was gonna be as bad as it was we should have done without it.