What would make you being excited about Sonic 2016?

[Diogenes]

I get what some of you mean by saying that the boost gameplay has run its course, but personally I'd happily go with a mentality of not fixing what isn't broken.

Sonic Team have an absolutely terrible record with experimentation and more often than not when they try a new idea it just falls flat on its face and is awful. I'd much rather play similar games if it meant they were of similarly consistent quality.

I can fully understand not wanting the series to dive face first into another pile like Lost World or RoL, but personally I'd rather they take that risk than settle for more boost gameplay. I think it is broken, even if not on the same level as some other games in the series; it's shallow, it's too tightly focused to fix it being shallow, and it's so costly to make the huge levels it requires that we end up with games half packed with filler that still feel too short.

And on top of that I'm just plain sick of it.

[Kuzu]

I think I'm too exhausted from this series to really give a damn anymore honestly. 

 

 

 

If Boost comes back, people will complain how shallow and broken it is. If they try to experiment again, people will cry they should be consistent. If Pontac and Graff are writing, I have nothing plot wise to look forward to aside from maybe a joke or two I'll laugh at. 

 

 

So in short, I got nothing really to be excited about because all possible outcomes don't really seem the most ideal due to the factors.

[-Mark-]

Hello again guys! I have been reading your comments and they are really cool. I just want to make sure everyone remember the original question: What kind of content in the TEASER would make you be excited about Sonic 2016? We aren't talking about the game but about the promotional footage so no need to fall into technical discussions about the gameplay; it wouldn't be seen in a teaser. What I'd like to know is what kind of content would make you be hyped for 2016.

I didn't even answered my own question: I'd like to see that the material of the game is back to a proper tone that everyone can enjoy and i'd like to see that the game will happen in the Sonic world. The lastest games are way too sugary and abstract.

 

 

Basically this. 

 

Quite frankly, all they'd have to do to grab my attention in any potential trailer would be to say "We've fired Pontac and Graff and they're never coming back". 

 

It's kind of sad, but I'd honestly say their writing has actually ruined the series more for me than any bad game ever could. No matter how bad Shadow and 06 were, I was still at least invested enough in the characters and the world in which they lived to give a damn. Sonic from Colours onwards doesn't even feel like the same character anymore.

[azoo]

I get what some of you mean by saying that the boost gameplay has run its course, but personally I'd happily go with a mentality of not fixing what isn't broken.

Sonic Team have an absolutely terrible record with experimentation and more often than not when they try a new idea it just falls flat on its face and is awful. I'd much rather play similar games if it meant they were of similarly consistent quality.

People often chew out various Nintendo franchises (most notably Mario, Zelda and Pokémon) for just rehashing the same basic formula over and over again and never really making any drastic changes, I'd much prefer that to change for the sake of change that more often than not turns out bad.

Which is why I'd rather them ditch the boost stuff and go back to the classic / Adventure gameplay style. Nothing was broken about them, and the only problems were due to things people weren't experienced with doing in 3D at the time. :v

[Milo]

I think I'm too exhausted from this series to really give a damn anymore honestly. 

 

 

 

If Boost comes back, people will complain how shallow and broken it is. If they try to experiment again, people will cry they should be consistent. If Pontac and Graff are writing, I have nothing plot wise to look forward to aside from maybe a joke or two I'll laugh at. 

 

 

So in short, I got nothing really to be excited about because all possible outcomes don't really seem the most ideal due to the factors.

 

...yeah, this is also how I feel by this point. It doesn't help that Endri said from what he's seen at Sonic Team, they are experimenting with a new engine that follows neither Lost World or the Boost playstyle on the point of the team experimenting yet again. So yeah, not excited. :/

[PickleBrows]

...yeah, this is also how I feel by this point. It doesn't help that Endri said from what he's seen at Sonic Team, they are experimenting with a new engine that follows neither Lost World or the Boost playstyle on the point of the team experimenting yet again. So yeah, not excited. :/

 

While the track record suggests there's going to be trouble about this. Right now, people are finding the boost bad for the longevity of the games and the Lost World gameplay a good idea that stumbles in its execution.

 

People are wanting Sonic Team to start making the games consistent at their core. For them to do that, I can imagine they would've gone back to the drawing board to figure out how they want the series to be going forward and then build an entirely new style that still retains the key elements of Sonic.

 

...Although this is Sonic Team. If Lost World's level design was conceived by rolling up a sheet of paper, I wouldn't be surprised if this time they've spent the time hitting play-doh with a hammer.

[Gabz Girl]

...yeah, this is also how I feel by this point. It doesn't help that Endri said from what he's seen at Sonic Team, they are experimenting with a new engine that follows neither Lost World or the Boost playstyle on the point of the team experimenting yet again. So yeah, not excited. :/

[Moppsy]

For me to get excited for another Sonic game, I'd love for the inclusion of multiple characters handled in the way SK3 and Advance 1&2 handled them i.e. similar to Sonic but with quirks of their own.  Sonic is a cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything don't get me wrong; but I've grown attached to the many characters of the franchise to the point where having them left out leaves me wanting more with each solo Sonic game.

 

As for boosting, I'd say bring back Sonic Advance 2's method of boosting.  As soon as you reached a certain speed threshold, you'd be propelled at max speed with a nice after image following you.  The amount of rings you had prior to boosting effected how quickly you'd get the boost, giving some incentive into collecting and holding on to rings.

[Scar]

Which is why I'd rather them ditch the boost stuff and go back to the classic / Adventure gameplay style. Nothing was broken about them, and the only problems were due to things people weren't experienced with doing in 3D at the time. :v

 

Hard to say whether it was inexperience or just outright incompetence. SA1 is no doubt somewhat of a buggy mess in today's day and age, but it put forward good enough ideas, which relied on a few tricks to make it feel as close to classic as possible (booster pads and perhaps some scripting) because it was the first real go at 3D and they couldn't get it to work quite as they'd like. SA2 took those ideas and made the existing problems worse, rather than refining or resolving them.

 

By the time we got to Heroes, Shadow and 06, inexperience in 3D is no longer an excuse. Its down to poor gameplay design, level design and piss poor programming.

 

Unleashed was a by-product of the successes that Rush received (or so I'd like to think), where all 3D games were being slaughtered critically while Rush was praised to the moon and back. I guess either someone at SEGA or Sonic Team saw that and saw an opportunity to bring that to the 3D games. Obviously, as has been mentioned by Blue and Dio, the levels needed to be ridiculously massive and they STILL felt short, so padding was needed (enter the Werehog). From then on, we know how it goes.

 

Fact is, Heroes - 06 wasn't critically destroyed because the concept behind the gameplay was inherently bad (except for Shadow, that game was made with the wrong priorities in mind), its more a case of just being badly designed and badly put together.

At least that's how I see it.

[Sami]

I think I'm too exhausted from this series to really give a damn anymore honestly. 

 

 

 

If Boost comes back, people will complain how shallow and broken it is. If they try to experiment again, people will cry they should be consistent. If Pontac and Graff are writing, I have nothing plot wise to look forward to aside from maybe a joke or two I'll laugh at. 

 

 

So in short, I got nothing really to be excited about because all possible outcomes don't really seem the most ideal due to the factors.

The only reason people are complaining about lack of consistency is because the two games that came after the boost games were both entirely different and also ranged from maybe ranged from maybe sort of mediocre at best to complete dog shit.

I'd love to see people complain about lack of consistency on a critically acclaimed extremely well made game.

Hard to say whether it was inexperience or just outright incompetence. SA1 is no doubt somewhat of a buggy mess in today's day and age, but it put forward good enough ideas, which relied on a few tricks to make it feel as close to classic as possible (booster pads and perhaps some scripting) because it was the first real go at 3D and they couldn't get it to work quite as they'd like. SA2 took those ideas and made the existing problems worse, rather than refining or resolving them.

 

By the time we got to Heroes, Shadow and 06, inexperience in 3D is no longer an excuse. Its down to poor gameplay design, level design and piss poor programming.

 

Unleashed was a by-product of the successes that Rush received (or so I'd like to think), where all 3D games were being slaughtered critically while Rush was praised to the moon and back. I guess either someone at SEGA or Sonic Team saw that and saw an opportunity to bring that to the 3D games. Obviously, as has been mentioned by Blue and Dio, the levels needed to be ridiculously massive and they STILL felt short, so padding was needed (enter the Werehog). From then on, we know how it goes.

 

Fact is, Heroes - 06 wasn't critically destroyed because the concept behind the gameplay was inherently bad (except for Shadow, that game was made with the wrong priorities in mind), its more a case of just being badly designed and badly put together.

At least that's how I see it.

SA1 wasn't made by the same people as SA2 - Heroes.

[Scar]

SA1 wasn't made by the same people as SA2 - Heroes.

 

That explains SO much.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

What would get me excited, and something that could be perceptible even in a trailer, is a good-looking, sensible "Sonicy" art direction. The character design and aesthetic has always been one of the things that I've loved about Sonic, but it hasn't been performing at peak in recent games IMO. While I appreciated SLW's return to some classic themes, it also looks so over-the-top flat and cartoony, and the Deadly Six don't remotely resemble anything that would traditionally fit into a Sonic game. It just feels so wrong, and perhaps vaguely Mario-esque. The Wisps are also a part of that overall aesthetic, both the aliens themselves and the transformations they give Sonic. And don't get me started on food-themed levels Sonic should be cartoony, obviously (the last thing I want is a return to 06!), but it's always generally combined simplicity, detail and attitude to create a visual style radically different from something like Mario or Kirby. Even Sonic CD, with its "surreal" appearance, has a sense of depth that comes from the level of visual detail it has.

 

And as for Sonic Boom...well yeah, it IS trying to differentiate itself from the main series, so I can give it more of a pass...but it still isn't as appealing to me as a more traditional Sonic style. Lankly legs and huge buffness is awkward, excessive sport tape and unnecessary accessories are tacky, and the NPCs and enemies don't follow the Sonic aesthetic at all, even when just compared to the Boomified main characters. And as for the scenery and areas, they're not nearly bright or cartoony enough.

 

I'm not actually much of a gamer mind you (I love Sonic but don't even bother to finish the games...or get many consoles...blah), so I don't know that I'd actually buy it or anything, but I'd enjoy it from a distance =P

[Moppsy]

What would get me excited, and something that could be perceptible even in a trailer, is a good-looking, sensible "Sonicy" art direction. The character design and aesthetic has always been one of the things that I've loved about Sonic, but it hasn't been performing at peak in recent games IMO. While I appreciated SLW's return to some classic themes, it also looks so over-the-top flat and cartoony, and the Deadly Six don't remotely resemble anything that would traditionally fit into a Sonic game. It just feels so wrong, and perhaps vaguely Mario-esque. The Wisps are also a part of that overall aesthetic, both the aliens themselves and the transformations they give Sonic. And don't get me started on food-themed levels Sonic should be cartoony, obviously (the last thing I want is a return to 06!), but it's always generally combined simplicity, detail and attitude to create a visual style radically different from something like Mario or Kirby. Even Sonic CD, with its "surreal" appearance, has a sense of depth that comes from the level of visual detail it has.

 

I think art style being more "Sonic-like" would help too.  It's one of the main problems I had with Sonic Unleashed and the bad guys during the night stages.  They looked a bit out of place.  Same goes for Chip.  As for Colors and Lost Worlds, seeing the wisps and the deadly six in adverts put me off and I stuck to just watching let's plays on them.  Still not used to those design choices.  I get that the world of mobius isn't strictly our world, but up until Shadow the Hedgehog, we only had anthropomorphic animals and giant robots.  No aliens or mystical creatures and whatnot. 

[Diogenes]

I get that the world of mobius isn't strictly our world, but up until Shadow the Hedgehog, we only had anthropomorphic animals and giant robots.  No aliens or mystical creatures and whatnot.

Chaos, tho.

[Kuzu]

And Biorizard.

[Moppsy]

Chaos, tho.

Forgot about him.  I'm gonna have to go commit sudoku.

 

But the feeling remains the same.  I'm just not a huge fan of baddies they've been giving us so far that aren't Eggman.  It doesn't always have to be Eggman, It could be a new anthro critter or something. 

[Kuzu]

I think the fact that guys like Dark Gaia, Chaos and Solaris look so out of place kind of better emphasize how other worldly and monstrous they are. But yea, they were kind of overused, so I think the novelty has definitely worn off. Sadly, we've come to a point where nobody wants to see anyone else other than Eggman lol.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

If you think about it, Chaos 0 sort of fits some of the general design principles of the anthros - generally human shape, but with a tiny body and much bigger hands and feet, "spikes" on his head, and even a tail. 'Course, you can't say the same thing about his emerald-fueled forms...

 

Black Knight Kuzu, you bring up in an interesting point, which makes me think maybe the reason the Deadly Six looked out of place was they weren't out of place enough. Perfect Chaos and Dark Gaia and Biolizard are creatures so completely unrelated to everything around them that they almost don't affect the surrounding aesthetic. But these guys weren't huge weird-looking monsters, they were reasonably-sized, colorful humanoids. They seem like a part of the world in the way those other guys don't. 

 

But anyway, back on topic.

 

What might excite me more than anything, actually, is more characters such as Knuckles or Shadow appearing, and any reference to previously established Sonic canon. For example, if they mentioned Knuckles in connection to Angel Island or the Master Emerald, and that having relevance to the story, that would make my day. An indication of other characters being playable (Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, whatever) would be elating as well.

[Tenko]

Something that does throwback and nostalgia well but is at the same time new and fresh. Something that uses the bright but also edgy feel of the classics, particularly Sonic CD or Sonic 3K in vibe, but as a current gen game using all the new consoles have to offer. I don't want another Adventure era game, nor any of the newer stuff, or a failed retro game like Sonic 4. Perhaps similar to Generations or Colours, but all new content and a competent story, as personally they are the best of the meh 3D games Sonic has been in.

Really excited? That would be either a brand new classic saga, with a proper classic Sonic and crew, done by Stealth or Tax or both. Or failing that, having the lost characters making a revamped come back in some form in the new game. Nack, Mighty or Ray returning would blow my mind regardless of how shite the game ended up being >.<

[Roger_van_der_weide]

Something that uses the bright but also edgy feel of the classics, particularly Sonic CD or Sonic 3K in vibe,

[Mauro Fonseca]

A game that has a story where Eggman is the main and competent threat. He doesn't have to get rid of his goofy nature, those two can work hand in hand.

 

One or two more characters (Extra points for Eggman since I'm biased, this can make the above null, though).

 

Cheesy rock music again. I'm the type who enjoys cheesy material.

 

No more forced jokes. I'm under the impression that the jokes in Colors even made kids feel embarrassed for watching it.

 

Fun hubs.

[ChikaBoing]

That explains SO much.

[Dizcrybe]

You know this can mean virtually anything, aside from a "bad" game lol.

 

Then let me be a bit more specific:

 

Gameplay that I can enjoy.

 

 

Personally I'd just like a game that everyone can enjoy for what it is

 

I'll drive from New York to London before that happens.

[Sami]

No, it was made the same people, it was just under different management and more resources.

 

Sonic Team USA had much less staff, somehow SA2 turned out technically to be sound however.

Different management + less people = "Not the same people".

Sonic Team was essentially split in half after SA1 and a lot of key figures moved back to Japan to work on Phantasy Star Online.

[Milo]

Different management + less people = "Not the same people".

Sonic Team was essentially split in half after SA1 and a lot of key figures moved back to Japan to work on Phantasy Star Online.

 

This, except people were leaving Japan to work on Adventure 2 in the US, not people moving back to Japan to work on Phantasy Star Online.