Dr. Strangehog, or How I Learned to Stop Being Cynical and Just Enjoy Sonic Games (aka The Cynicism Topic)

[Dizcrybe]

Maybe I'm just simple. All I want out of this series is good gameplay and level design.

[CottonCandy]

 It's kinda sad that the franchise is in a terrible condition to the point that the bad games are much more memorable then the recent good ones. I mean, when someone mention sonic more than likely sonic 06 will be the first one mentioned ( add Sonic Boom to that now). Hell, does anybody talk about sonic lost world anymore or remember that it exist ? lol

[Dizcrybe]

 It's kinda sad that the franchise is in a terrible condition to the point that the bad games are much more memorable then the recent good ones. I mean, when someone mention sonic more than likely sonic 06 will be the first one mentioned ( add Sonic Boom to that now). Hell, does anybody talk about sonic lost world anymore or remember that it exist ? lol

 

Not outside the fanbase, but even that was considered bad by most.

[Nepenthe]

If that's literally all that stimulates you, then more power to you. You've probably been happier than me. But making a game that performs well and is consistent isn't all that great outside a vacuum when not only the series been better and/or more relevant under contexts that required more investment in the games, but the wider gaming industry in large has moved on from these kinds of arcade experiences, for better or for worse. That, and not every good, simplistic game is equal and competitive. For all of the progress Sonic Team has made to temper off the franchise's negative reputation, we have yet to get a game that's actually on par with its competitors. In a world with limited money and time, what advantages exist in buying any modern Sonic game over a Mario, Rayman, or Donkey Kong one? Good isn't really enough for me, not when this franchise had a pedigree.

[Indigo Rush]

tl;dr

 

 

 

Which platformer are you going to spend $60 on?

[CottonCandy]

Not outside the fanbase, but even that was considered bad by most.

 

Okay then, let me use a much better example. Sonic and all stars racing transformed. Outside of the fanbase, does that game get more attention as sonic 06? :/

[Kuzu]

I'd use another game beside Boom tbh.

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[Nepenthe]

Using the Boom trailer is the easy way to frame the question when the quality gulf between those two games is huge. I'm asking that question in regard to Sonic Team's games too where people were adamant on claiming that Sonic Team had finally broken the cycle and the games were getting high critical remarks.

[Kuzu]

So compare Lost World to 3D World.

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[Gabz Girl]

Using Sonic Lost World over Boom might've been a better idea Indigo. =P

 

Funnily enough Sega always tries to make awesome looking trailers for their terrible games, so they're really good at tricking people into buying them. Didn't seem to work with Sonic Boom though.

[Mania Pipe]

I want to post this so I can say my two cents and say that I'm really tired of the "quality" that Sonic Team has been putting out in their Sonic games for the last couple of years. While Colors and Generations were decent Sonic titles, but will anybody even remember those like Sonic Adventure or the classic series? No. Why? Because, they feel so barebones and incomplete like barely anyone worked on it with any kind of passion and just winged it through and through. Marketing aside? Lol what marketing? Sonic Team does absolutely nothing to captalise them in the same vein as the Adventure era and just move on with a completely different game formula without so much of a second thought. 06 and Boom will always be remembered for how they've had a huge hype for people and end up being complete fucking abortions to the series that they love to make fun of constantly. I think Takashi Iizuka has absolutely no idea what the fuck he is even doing with this franchise and doing all of these fucking genre roulette with each passing Sonic game. Why is he even still head of Sonic Team when he's giving out these awful ideas and keep tarnishing Sonic's reputation?

 

Sonic Team, you've screwed up time and time again and I'm getting really sick of it. The only reason why I'm still in this damn fanbase is because I like Sonic. Sonic Team, for the millionth fucking time, get your shit together!

 

Using Sonic Lost World over Boom might've been a better idea Indigo. =P

 

Funnily enough Sega always tries to make awesome looking trailers for their terrible games, so they're really good at tricking people into buying them. Didn't seem to work with Sonic Boom though.

 

I still disagree and say that Sonic Lost World was not that bad of a game, but it was rather an average game becauase it has so much going for but just didn't fulfill it. I've already had to say about the Sonic Boom games.

[Dizcrybe]

Okay then, let me use a much better example. Sonic and all stars racing transformed. Outside of the fanbase, does that game get more attention as sonic 06? :/

 

No, but that's not even really a Sonic game.

[Lady Soniko]

I have absolutely no faith in the franchise at all, what little I do care for I cling to for the memories they provide, I honestly think Black Knight and the Spin off racers were my last enjoyment in this franchise. Generations doesn't count since it's still a mish mash of former Sonic nostalgia, but Sonic Colours and especially SLW was the final nail in the coffin for me, I honestly am past caring and fighting for the series because to me, in it's current state and direction it seems to be going it's un-salvageable.

 

I await news of the big next gen game coming to see if this changes anything but within my experience? I doubt it will. My prime time was Adventure era and I've had at least some beef with every instalment in the modern series to begin with, Sonic just isn't what I remembered it being to me any more.

[Wittymations]

I'm at the point where I hate this franchise. I have no faith in it whatsoever. Well, aside from the comics.

 

While I still like the characters and want it to succeed, I just don't think it will. Far as the games go, there's literally nothing about the current direction that appeals to me, or at least current as in Generations and Colors, I'd have to see what will be next because, even with Lost World's stupidity, there's some superficial elements in Lost World that "kinda-sorta-maybe-a-little if you tilt your head and squint your eyes" look like something I can enjoy but I'd have to see what it evolves into for the next game.

 

I've had negative opinions about the games since I loaded up Heroes for the first time all the way to now. At this point, I'm pretty much defeated.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Nah, I feel the cynicism in SSMB is a self-feeding loop that exaggerates itself and is rooted in misguided expectations. I liked Colours, and Generations, and SLW, and since Boom was nonsense aside, am pretty hype with the new direction and how things will carry on for ST.

 

I feel ST gets more shit than it deserves, especially since 2010, since for every complaint of "but they're so unstable" I can remember a complaint in this very forum a couple of years ago of "I hate this I want these games to change".

 

It'd be absurd to say there's no reason for people to be cynical here. I don't think it's absurd to say it feels they're barking at the wrong tree, though. Really don't find it fair to have the looming shadow of the Adventures chaining everything down at this point.

[Nepenthe]

I agree that the cynicism of SSMB is self-fulfilling and is thus more exaggerated than it needs to be. Misery loves company, after all. One could even argue that the amount of undue pessimism casts doubt on some of the veracity of the criticism Sonic Team receives. But I do think the dissatisfaction with the current games is honest, nor is it hypocritical (you can't determine whether or not it's the same people demanding both change and consistency. Even if you could, there's enough context surrounding these terms and the way Sonic Team implements criticism that makes it disingenuous to conflate them as mutually exclusive.) Is it fair that people are waiting for another Adventure-esque experience to come along? Not fully; every game should stand on its own merits, but that's simply not how we process our media consumption, especially when it comes to long-running series that create expectations for themselves. People are going to retreat to and uphold the art that is most satisfying to them. It's no different from the shadow the classic games have cast over the franchise since SA2/Heroes.

[Gabz Girl]

I still disagree and say that Sonic Lost World was not that bad of a game, but it was rather an average game becauase it has so much going for but just didn't fulfill it. I've already had to say about the Sonic Boom games.

Oh right, I did just mention bad and SLW in the same context. ^^;; well yeah, I guess SLW isnt bad per se but it still had awesome trailers yet ended up being a forgettable and as you say, average experience

[Kuzu]

We're rather notorious for being perceived as a bunch of babies for never knowing what we want, so I can imagine how some people feel would just come across as more whining to the outside looking in. The series has gotten better with this new, simplistic direction whether we like or not and one could argue we should just be happy with that. 

 

Unfortunately, we got this pesky thing called individuality so that's not gonna happen :V

 

If a person does not like the direction of something they've been putting their money towards, then they should be free to criticize it as they see fit. Such is the life of the consumer. I mean if an element of a series that you once liked is removed, and they keep ignoring said elements, you expect people to just sit down and be happy about it?

 

And the kicker is that all of this could be solved if Sonic Team had any sort of relationship with its consumers to at least get an idea of what we want. It doesn't even require forgoing their current approach, just a tweak or two.

[Sami]

We're rather notorious for being perceived as a bunch of babies for never knowing what we want, so I can imagine how some people feel would just come across as more whining to the outside looking in. The series has gotten better with this new, simplistic direction whether we like or not and one could argue we should just be happy with that. 

 

Unfortunately, we got this pesky thing called individuality so that's not gonna happen :V

 

If a person does not like the direction of something they've been putting their money towards, then they should be free to criticize it as they see fit. Such is the life of the consumer. I mean if an element of a series that you once liked is removed, and they keep ignoring said elements, you expect people to just sit down and be happy about it?

 

And the kicker is that all of this could be solved if Sonic Team had any sort of relationship with its consumers to at least get an idea of what we want. It doesn't even require forgoing their current approach, just a tweak or two.

 

Honestly there are so many other franchises I loved as a kid that I dropped like bad habits as soon as they took weird, stupid turns I didn't like. I honestly have no idea why I just can't seem to do it with Sonic. For whatever reason I'm still invested in these games even when they're doing this bad.

 

Ratchet and Clank All 4 One? Done. Series was dead to me at that point lol, haven't looked at it since. The PS4 game might bring me back though.

 

Spyro on anything other than PS1? Fucking lol. Spyro is a great trilogy of PS1 games. What's a Hero's Tail? You must be thinking of something else sillyhead, there are only three Spyro games.

 

But Sonic? Stuck through all the bullshit. I honestly wonder why.

[Diogenes]

I feel ST gets more shit than it deserves, especially since 2010, since for every complaint of "but they're so unstable" I can remember a complaint in this very forum a couple of years ago of "I hate this I want these games to change".

I don't think those points are necessarily contradictory. I think the series' constant shifting and reinventing of itself has done a lot of harm, giving the series little in the way of proper evolution, wasting time on a lot of ideas that simply didn't work, and continually fracturing the fanbase, so it would benefit from being more stable. But it can't stabilize around any arbitrary idea, and I don't think they'd have much success chaining themselves to...well, basically anything they've tried with 3D Sonic. Even though the boost formula had some success, I think it's ultimately a dead end, so I think they were right to try something new with Lost World, even though it didn't work out. And because it didn't work out, the rumors that the next major game won't be like the boost games or Lost World at least give me a nonzero interest in it.

[Kuzu]

Honestly there are so many other franchises I loved as a kid that I dropped like bad habits as soon as they took weird, stupid turns I didn't like. I honestly have no idea why I just can't seem to do it with Sonic. For whatever reason I'm still invested in these games even when they're doing this bad.

 

Ratchet and Clank All 4 One? Done. Series was dead to me at that point lol, haven't looked at it since. The PS4 game might bring me back though.

 

Spyro on anything other than PS1? Fucking lol. Spyro is a great trilogy of PS1 games. What's a Hero's Tail? You must be thinking of something else sillyhead, there are only three Spyro games.

 

But Sonic? Stuck through all the bullshit. I honestly wonder why.

 

 

I think Sega has brainwashed us; we want to leave, but we are subconsciously wired to always have some attachment to the series.

 

 

 

Its fucking diabolical.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

I think we stick around because we know Sonic is capable of so much more, and all it would take is a few adjustments to unleash that potential.  

[Wittymations]

We seen what the series is capable of, it's just that Sonic Team can have a goal right in front of them, but they're running on a treadmill, or, even worse, think the goal is to the left, right, or even backwards to the real goal.

[Indigo Rush]

The concept of Sonic is a really appealing one.

 

 

Small wise-cracking little blue pin cushion saves the world from robotic dystopia by rolling around in a ball, bopping on top of technicolor ladybugs at the speed of mach 1, also bouncing like a pinball and collects golden rings and multicolored beryl gems in surreal fantasy and sci-fi settings and occasionally stands on top of a red and white De Havilland Moth family biplane and also sometimes goes into space and turns into a golden super saiyan angel-like god of lightspeed to stop a clownish dictator that is modeled loosely after Teddy Roosevelt and a song from the Beatles and looks like an egg and names all of his deadly robots after eggs. His best friend is a yellow fox with two tails and can also fly with them, and his other friend is a red monotreme with spikes on his fists and listens to rap music.

 

Sounds like a good time to me. 

[pppp]

I never abandon a franchise I like no matter how crap its gotten, cause I can always at least make fun of how crap it's become, which always amuses me, that's why I'm still into Final Fantasy, and paying attention to that King's Quest reboot.