Ok I think I'm going mad - I actually like Sonic 06

[~G~]

All being Sonic fans, I'm hoping I don't get judged too harshly on this matter. And I think these are the only forums I can say this without getting my arse completely chewed out - also hoping some died hard Sonic fans might back me up, so I'm not a total gaming pariah.

Basically I actually enjoyed playing through Sonic 2006.

Let me explain.

I bought Sonic 06 when it first came and hated it.

It was a buggy mess, I hated Shadow, Silver and Tails and gave up about halfway through Sonic's story mode - because the game was nearly unplayable. - I remember dying five times in a row on the world map trying to get into one of the levels. - All you had to do was press X and Sonic was meant to rush along a line of rings and enter the level. But either Sonic kept missing the little island with the level on, Tails would stop him in mid air or Sonic would randomly fall through the level.

It was a bloody mess.

However since then I played the other Sonic games that came out.

-Sonic and the Secret Rings, which was ok, but I can't say I enjoyed the whole game.

-Sonic Rush - I enjoyed, but not as good as the original Megadrive ones.

-Sonic Rush Adventure - I hate that game. Didn't like the levels, the characters, the stupid boat parts and the story.

-Sonic Unleashed - I enjoyed, but couldn't stand the Werehog levels and really some of Sonic's levels were just too damn fast.

-Sonic and the Black Knight - Also hate. Some of the levels seem pretty cool and look good (for a Wii game), But the controls are terrible and I just couldn't get into the story at all. So basically gave up about halfway through.

But then I had the random urge to play Sonic 2006 on the Xbox 360 again. I started from the beginning and finished it - liking almost every second of it.

I think Tails sucks still. And I don't like Shadow's vehicle sections.

But other than those two issues I actually enjoyed the game! Especially the ending levels, I really enjoyed the challenge.

I don't know if there has been a patch or something - but I found the game far less buggy than I remembered and I found that I enjoyed Silver's levels more than the other characters.

So either I have gone a bit senile in my old age and have started to enjoy the most critically hated Sonic title ever, or playing some of the other recent Sonic games has actually made me appreciate the 2006 360/PS3 title.

I'll let the abuse begin now

[serpx]

All being Sonic fans, I'm hoping I don't get judged too harshly on this matter. And I think these are the only forums I can say this without getting my arse completely chewed out - also hoping some died hard Sonic fans might back me up, so I'm not a total gaming pariah.

Basically I actually enjoyed playing through Sonic 2006.

Let me explain.

I bought Sonic 06 when it first came and hated it.

It was a buggy mess, I hated Shadow, Silver and Tails and gave up about halfway through Sonic's story mode - because the game was nearly unplayable. - I remember dying five times in a row on the world map trying to get into one of the levels. - All you had to do was press X and Sonic was meant to rush along a line of rings and enter the level. But either Sonic kept missing the little island with the level on, Tails would stop him in mid air or Sonic would randomly fall through the level.

It was a bloody mess.

However since then I played the other Sonic games that came out.

-Sonic and the Secret Rings, which was ok, but I can't say I enjoyed the whole game.

-Sonic Rush - I enjoyed, but not as good as the original Megadrive ones.

-Sonic Rush Adventure - I hate that game. Didn't like the levels, the characters, the stupid boat parts and the story.

-Sonic Unleashed - I enjoyed, but couldn't stand the Werehog levels and really some of Sonic's levels were just too damn fast.

-Sonic and the Black Knight - Also hate. Some of the levels seem pretty cool and look good (for a Wii game), But the controls are terrible and I just couldn't get into the story at all. So basically gave up about halfway through.

But then I had the random urge to play Sonic 2006 on the Xbox 360 again. I started from the beginning and finished it - liking almost every second of it.

I think Tails sucks still. And I don't like Shadow's vehicle sections.

But other than those two issues I actually enjoyed the game! Especially the ending levels, I really enjoyed the challenge.

I don't know if there has been a patch or something - but I found the game far less buggy than I remembered and I found that I enjoyed Silver's levels more than the other characters.

So either I have gone a bit senile in my old age and have started to enjoy the most critically hated Sonic title ever, or playing some of the other recent Sonic games has actually made me appreciate the 2006 360/PS3 title.

I'll let the abuse begin now

I think you just developed a level of tolerance for the flaws of Sonic 06. Kind of like how people think beer tastes like piss, but they eventually start tolerating and gaining a taste for it. Same instance.

I have small tolerance for Sonic 06, so I have to drink a lot of shots before I can actually settle down and play more than a level or two.

[Vertekins]

The opposite happened to me. I initially thought of SONIC '06 as a real fun game, even thinking of it as a 'refined' Sonic Adventure. As weird as it sounds, I derived quite a bit of enjoyment before I saw it for 'what it was' and I eventually went so off it that I wonder why I was so initially enamoured with it. I go through my bag of games, see SONIC '06 and almost always think about nothing but bad things because of how broken it is in terms of how useless the characters outside of the 3 main hedgehogs (Except maybe Blaze. Wait, Sonic sucks too effieciency-wise), how very awkward Sonic and Elise look together (As much as I love their interaction), how goddamn ugly the hubs and the NPC's are and of course, how obscene the loading times are.

I find it so peculiar how I went to highly regarding that game to thinking of little more than bad things when I see it. And I'll say one thing; I wasn't influenced by other dislikers in my gradual dislike of the game.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Dude, I liked it cause everyone else hated it. I didn't believe everyone when they said about bugs. when I played it was fine. Its on eof my fav games now. So your answer is your not insane.

[TheGerkuman]

The way I see it, it's a flawed game. When I play it, I can see what they got right, and what they got wrong. Glimmers of gold in an ocean of mud, basically. As such, I like playing it, but only in small doses because the problems begin to grate after an hour or so. XD

[The Adventurer]

I played it once on a friend's console. I got through Sonic's story and halfway through Silver's without anything 'buggy' happening, although White Acropolis pissed me off to no end. To this day, I have no idea why people always say it bugs out on them. (Not that I'm dying to play it again or anything.)

That was fairly recent, so maybe there was a patch or something.

[Sega DogTagz]

The game itself is very much within the Sonic genre, so anyone who enjoys the style can certainly derive some entertainment from it. I know I do and I often find myself parked in front of the TV playing the game for hours despite knowing of its hideous flaws.

The things the game does right (like Blaze) are certainly top notch. There is no shame in actually liking the better parts of the game. The only problem with it is the inexcusable errors, glitches and loading times. Sonic should be treated as a first party franchise and such glaring mistakes are not to be forgiven.

Still, the game has bright points which are fine to play. Blaze, Silver and a select few of Sonic's stages are a blast. (I already miss moving stuff with my Silvers mind). Shoot, I even like to beat things to tar with Shadow every now and then. As long as your fandom doesn't blind you to the atrocities the game commits, then there is no reason that you cant find a few select points to have fun with.

[JezMM]

I too managed to enjoy 2006. I like the story, love the music, and the gameplay is... eh, it's solid.

To be honest it was only the loading screens that really ticked me off. I'm okay with dying from a glitch here and there, but Kingdom Valley's Mach Speed section was not a good place to learn that Game Over's send you back to your last save, and it only automatically saves after levels.

Kingdom Valley Act 4 (Mach Speed Area)

Game Over

Loading

Title Screen

Loading

Menu

Loading

Hub

Loading

First Trial Description

Loading

First Trial

Loading

Hub

Loading

Second Trial Description

Loading

Second Trial (Failed)

Loading

Hub

Loading

Second Trial Description

Loading

Second Trial (Failed)

Loading

Hub

Loading

Second Trial Description

Loading

Second Trial (Success - damn this one is too hard)

Loading

Hub

Loading

Third Trial Description

Loading

Third Trial

Loading

Hub

FUCKING SAVING THIS TIME NOW THAT I KNOW

Loading

Kingdom Valley Act 1

Loading

Kingdom Valley Act 2

Loading

Kingdom Valley Act 3

Loading

Kingdom Valley Act 4 (Mach Speed Area)

...That was not a nice punishment for getting a game over during the most broken part of the game. D=

Consider my stupidly long post a representation of how long it took.

But apart from that, and the Silver ball puzzle, it's mostly okay.

The bosses however were a bit overly-long, I'll say that. Especially since most of them have instant kill attacks near the end of their life.

Edited July 16, 2009 by JezMM

[edge.]

Looks like the reason people thought it was bad were mainly b/c of the loading times, the numerous glitches and Elise and the end of the game.

[JezMM]

Just gonna throw out a vote for "There's nothing wrong with Elise, a little boring, but nothing bad: also people need to stop fucking overreacting about the "beastiality" in a game set in a world where animals and humans are clearly not seen as being that seperate".

But yeah, the loading sucked.

[edge.]

Just gonna throw out a vote for "There's nothing wrong with Elise, a little boring, but nothing bad: also people need to stop fucking overreacting about the "beastiality" in a game set in a world where animals and humans are clearly not seen as being that seperate".

But yeah, the loading sucked.

My friend is the WORST when it comes the beastiality thing. She is a one-dimensional character though. :\

[Dreadknux]

You're not insane. Sonic 06 followed the same formula as Sonic Adventure, which was critically acclaimed when it was released in 1999. Had the game not been released in a total alpha state, it would have been a million times more enjoyable than it is now.

As I sit here, away from my 360, and think about Sonic 06, there's a lot about Sonic's gameplay that can be seen as positive. When you compare it to the uncontrollable speed-fest that was Unleashed, a more serene 60fps Sonic with some interesting platforming elements makes Sonic 06 - theoretically - the better game.

But as we all know, the game wasn't finished, and many other factors ultimately killed it. Glitches. Shadow. Silver. Stupid plot. Elise. Soleanna. Stupid location. Iblis. Stupid design. Eggman's redesign. Not enough original ideas (I mean, the Egg-Viper-alike final boss, seriously?). The fact that yet again Eggman wasn't the villain. Time travel bullcrap. Armageddon. Forgettable level themes. Loading. Uninteresting graphics and character design. Stupid ranking systems. Boring final level (Aquatic Base should be giving me some sort of penultimate showdown feeling, ala Final Egg or Final Fortress or Scrp Brain. Instead I got boring as hell water blobs).

So yeah, I think you've got a point G. When you break down Sonic 06 and delve deep into what it -could- have been, it had the potential to be something great. And if you ignore all the crap stuff about 06, you can find some small form of enjoyment out of it.

[edge.]

You're not insane. Sonic 06 followed the same formula as Sonic Adventure, which was critically acclaimed when it was released in 1999. Had the game not been released in a total alpha state, it would have been a million times more enjoyable than it is now.

As I sit here, away from my 360, and think about Sonic 06, there's a lot about Sonic's gameplay that can be seen as positive. When you compare it to the uncontrollable speed-fest that was Unleashed, a more serene 60fps Sonic with some interesting platforming elements makes Sonic 06 - theoretically - the better game.

But as we all know, the game wasn't finished, and many other factors ultimately killed it. Glitches. Shadow. Silver. Stupid plot. Elise. Soleanna. Stupid location. Iblis. Stupid design. Eggman's redesign. Not enough original ideas (I mean, the Egg-Viper-alike final boss, seriously?). The fact that yet again Eggman wasn't the villain. Time travel bullcrap. Armageddon. Forgettable level themes. Loading. Uninteresting graphics and character design. Stupid ranking systems. Boring final level (Aquatic Base should be giving me some sort of penultimate showdown feeling, ala Final Egg or Final Fortress or Scrp Brain. Instead I got boring as hell water blobs).

So yeah, I think you've got a point G. When you break down Sonic 06 and delve deep into what it -could- have been, it had the potential to be something great. And if you ignore all the crap stuff about 06, you can find some small form of enjoyment out of it.

The one thing I don't like about Sonic Team is that Sonic and time-travel does mix well in the games. They keep on milking the time travel thing for all that's worth, which isn't really that much.

[Badnik Zero]

Agreed with Dread. I think this game could've been called Sonic Adventure 3, and all of the SA elements are there.

The game is the skeleton of a Sonic Adventure game, with not a lot of meat unfortunately, but a fan of that series can appreciate what they were trying to do. Coupled with time to heal the massive disappointment this game caused, we can play it objectively, or at least without throwing it across the room in frustration and rage. I've only ever rented it. I'd like to try again too.

[Sean]

The game never had a chance. I did buy into the hype at the time but all I literally did was watch the original E3 trailer, got excited, and promptly forgot about it until the game was released. Looking at it now, there's no way the game could have been saved. Not even if it ironed out all of its glitches, polished its graphics, ditched the loading times, and used Eggman's normal design.

Not even Vector could have saved it. The game's grade A shit in its heart of hearts. Cool that some people actually managed to derive some enjoyment out of it though.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Jake

[BakingBluePotatoe]

........ I still don't have a 360. so I can only comment what I saw on Youtube.

.... I kinda think the graphics are cool... 'till Elise and those other humans that aren't Eggman appear. >.>

Personally, I think if they ever make a game based on Archie's "Mobious", it would look fine. x3

[SuperStingray]

Sure, it's a mess of a game, but there's no shame in liking it if it has things of interest. Me? I think it's awful, but as said before it has it's moments. The gameplay was generally... mediocre with glitches and average without them, the locations and character designs felt uninspired, the voice acting was dull, the loading times were intolerable and Sonic's storyline was cliched and cringe worthy. But I found many great parts like Crisis City, End of the World, the soundtrack, most of Silver's story [the Blaze placement issue aside], and pretty much all of Shadow's story. And even among its issues, many parts have been blown out of proportion such as the kissing scene, Eggman's design and voice work.

[edge.]

Sure, it's a mess of a game, but there's no shame in liking it if it has things of interest. Me? I think it's awful, but as said before it has it's moments. The gameplay was generally... mediocre with glitches and average without them, the locations and character designs felt uninspired, the voice acting was dull, the loading times were intolerable and Sonic's storyline was cliched and cringe worthy. But I found many great parts like Crisis City, End of the World, the soundtrack, most of Silver's story [the Blaze placement issue aside], and pretty much all of Shadow's story. And even among its issues, many parts have been blown out of proportion such as the kissing scene, Eggman's design and voice work.

I actually like Eggman's design for the game. I heard one of the taglines were "What if Sonic was real?" or something like that. If it was they nailed it with Eggman.

[redmenace]

Aquatic Base- some good ideas but overall awfull

Crysis City - omg <3 <3 <3

Dusty Desert - disgusting

End of the World - good

Flame Core - some good ideas but overall awfull

King Valley - good

Radical Train - good (Sonic), speed section - awfull

Tropical Jungle - disgusting (Sonic), good (Rouge, Silver)

Wave Ocean - some good ideas but overall awfull

White Acropolis - disgusting

Soleanna - disgusting

Every boss but Egg Genesis (good) - disgusting, solaris (meh, but good)

Character design - disgusting, nightmarish (Eggman), good (Rouge)

Edited July 17, 2009 by redmenace

[Ferno]

I enjoyed most of the game myself, especially levels like Radical Train and Crisis City. I dunno, for some reason, even though it wasn't finished, and not as fun as Unleashed, It just seems to fit in better with the games before it better than Unleashed for some reason, In my opinion.

In my opinion, The hate for this game is overrated, SA1 is just as buggy, not to mention it was unfinished just like '06. *Puts up flame shield*

This topic almost makes me feel like cranking up the game right now.

Edited July 17, 2009 by Inferno

[speedfreak]

Why do so many people like to do this? They start a topic saying they enjoyed a game that most people hate. Isn't it enough that you (some how) enjoyed it? Posting a topic about liking 06 is like asking a bunch of people to call you crazy and say the game sucks.

I refuse to play the "look past it's flaws" game. If a games good, it's good. There is no "it could have been good". Any game "could" be good, but if they're not then they're not. ET for Atari could have been good, Superman 64 could have been good, and yes, even Sonic 06 could have been good, but none of them were.

Oh, and uh, you're crazy and the game sucks.

[Sega DogTagz]

I actually like Eggman's design for the game. I heard one of the taglines were "What if Sonic was real?" or something like that. If it was they nailed it with Eggman.

I'll agree with that. I loved realistic Eggy and I will defend him to the death. He wuz AWESOME.

In fact, I loved the more Athletically built Sonic even though everyone else in the world hated him. I don't know why people scream like Sonic is 8 feet tall in 06 because they really didn't change his height much.

[DC111]

I wish it would've been called Sonic Adventure 3. Nostalgic? Yup. I know it's just a title, but still... if they could have ironed out the glitches and loading times and maybe some of the character designs, it would have been worthy of that title.

As far as my opinion on Sonic and Elise... I liked their relationship. A lot. To me, Sonic's human and has the personality of a human. To say SonicxHuman is beastiality is like saying a black person and a white person being together is wrong.

In fact... I'm going to go post a separate topic about Sonic and Elise so I don't throw this one off its track.

[Ferno]

Why do so many people like to do this? They start a topic saying they enjoyed a game that most people hate. Isn't it enough that you (some how) enjoyed it? Posting a topic about liking 06 is like asking a bunch of people to call you crazy and say the game sucks.

I refuse to play the "look past it's flaws" game. If a games good, it's good. There is no "it could have been good". Any game "could" be good, but if they're not then they're not. ET for Atari could have been good, Superman 64 could have been good, and yes, even Sonic 06 could have been good, but none of them were.

Oh, and uh, you're crazy and the game sucks.

Because we're all crazy if our opinions on a game don't match someone else's. Saying the game sucks is an opinion, not a fact.

[speedfreak]

Because we're all crazy if our opinions on a game don't match someone else's. Saying the game sucks is an opinion, not a fact.

Chill, I was joking around with that last line.

Edited July 17, 2009 by speedfreak