Can Magnet Shields and Light Speed Dash Coexist?

[Nepenthe]

The Boost is probably not a thing anymore anyway, nor does it necessarily need to be powered the way it was in Unleashed in order to work. I'm also not sure how the Boost makes the fire shield pointless since you're not impervious to fire while boosting.

[shdowhunt60]

The Boost is probably not a thing anymore anyway, nor does it necessarily need to be powered the way it was in Unleashed in order to work. I'm also not sure how the Boost makes the fire shield pointless since you're not impervious to fire while boosting.

[Nepenthe]

I understand the Air Boost, but the Fire Shield's functionality wasn't only limited to its aerial ability. It was, for example, a bit of a lifesaver in Angel's Island boss battle due to it rendering fire attacks null. The boost doesn't have this so it's not really equivalent.

 

And once again, the boost has had so many incarnations in the series it doesn't even need to work like it did in Unleashed if it were to see more use.

[Indigo Rush]

Air boost.

[Salamander]

The Lightning Shield could also protect you against some electric obstacles, I think (like the electric floors in Death Egg), and the Bubble Shield protected you from drowning.  Those abilities actually had a lot more to do with the idea of a "shield" than the air boost, double-jump and ring magnet, and bounce - though those were also kind of relevant to the nature of their particular shield.  With that in mind, in a really conservative estimation of a future Sonic game as a 3D platformer with all previous abilities and shields - which seems unlikely to happen - why not just replace the Fire Shield's air boost with the light-speed dash?  That why it can be just another optional mobility upgrade rather than something crucial to level completion.

[shdowhunt60]

Platforming benefits and environmental benefits are not necessarily equatable.

 

We're not talking specifically about the shields from Sonic 3, just the "magnet shield" in general, which doesn't always have a corresponding double jump or anything like that. 

 

Reapplying platforming qualities to the elemental shields in a more modern 3D Sonic game where he already has an arsenal of abilities at his disposal (bouncing and stomping, air dashing and double jumping) is silly. Resistance to fire, attracting rings and breathing underwater (fire, electric and bubble respectively) are great benefits as is.

[Tara]

Nowhere in that post does it say the elemental shields were "mandatory."  It would be pretty asinine game design if you couldn't get through the stages without them, but it's hard to deny that Hydrocity and Lava Reef are much less of a nightmare with the bubble and fire shield respectively.