The Gaming Historian set to take on Sonic

[SuperStingray]

For those of you who don't know him, The Gaming Historian is a YouTube series which gives an in depth look at the background, contributions and fruits of the video game industry. Apparently, he's had some heavy requests to do Sonic the Hedgehog, which will be released in two parts on July 22nd and 27th respectively. Oh, and he's usually relatively objective so I wouldn't expect him to tear Sonic a new one for his more recent endeavors.

[Tombi]

I remember seeing some of his videos a few months ago, and if you're not one to look at long winded articles about video games; it's very intriguing to watch.

I don't think the videos will unearth any astounding facts or anything like that, but I'm sure they will be interesting enough. Gametap already had their excellent retrospective on Sonic but they seemed to mainly focus on his inception and earlier days, with this apparently being the "complete history". I think this can only do good considering that a lot of people just believe any old tripe they hear, and this should hopefully give a clearcut idea of the facts of the matter are. (As all of his episodes so far have done.)

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

So we can pretty much expect this guy to be reasonable in what is good and what is to fault, and voice his opinion in a more mature and calm stance and hopefully not place blame on things such as characters, settings, style, and stuff like that even though he may not personally favor some aspects?

I don't know. I'm a little skeptic on this. I'm not expecting the worse, but I don't really know how this'll fair out.

The GameOverthinker was one of the few people who, even though he followed a similar "go back to the roots" and Character genocide path, he never insisted it to be the only or even the best idea, but simply AN idea. With that, he has my utmost respect despite me disagreeing with a lot of his ideas.

I hope the Gaming Historian is very balanced and fair with this franchise. We're sick of the bullshit simply because of style from a lot of outlets.

...And I KNOW some of the stuff is deserved. But a lot of stuff isn't.

Edited July 20, 2009 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Phos]

The GameOverthinker was one of the few people who, even though he followed a similar "go back to the roots"

No he didn't. He described a game where the primary challenge was overcoming topographical features via stored or built up momentum. It would probably be like a less interesting take on Portal. Less interesting because you would have to use hte physical features of the stage, rather than placing your portals where ever you want.

Also, your downplaying the effect style and setting can have on a game. An extreme example would be "Eat Lead: the Return of Matt Hazard". The humor really makes that game. Likewise, Timeshift could have stood out had they stuck with the steampunk astetic, but they swapped that out for a much more generic modern city, and the game suffered for it.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

No he didn't.

I was merely simplifiying it. No need to get pedantic about it, Phos.

Also, your downplaying the effect style and setting can have on a game.

I'm not downplaying anything, you're just making it seem like that.

Sonic's been through just about every setting you can think of prior to him jumping into the 3rd dimension. Cities, Forest, Grasslands, Military bases, etc. you name it. He wouldn't suffer anything just because he appears in a San Fransisco-esque setting, or any real world inspired location instead of Green Hill Zone. And heck if it would make anyone feel better, they're better off meshing the best of some of the more sub-surreal worlds in the Classics with the real world inspired worlds in the Modern games.

For the most part it's stylized to where he and the environment fit together depending on the art style of the game. Everything is really personal taste, not a gamebreaker. There are some instances like in Sonic 06 where the environment and the characters were a bit of a mess together, but for the most part, styles like Unleashed, SA 1 & 2, and even Shadow the Hedgehog to an extent mesh the characters and the environment well together.

But again, that's a personal taste, and you may not feel the same as I do. And to that part, we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

Edited July 21, 2009 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Blacklightning]

No he didn't. He described a game where the primary challenge was overcoming topographical features via stored or built up momentum. It would probably be like a less interesting take on Portal. Less interesting because you would have to use hte physical features of the stage, rather than placing your portals where ever you want.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but... isn't that almost EXACTLY what you've been asking for as far as Sonic mechanics go? Momentum gained by slopes to overcome and enhance the existing level? For ages I've been trying to figure out exactly where you're coming from and it never seems to get any easier whenever something like this comes out.

[Phos]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but... isn't that almost EXACTLY what you've been asking for as far as Sonic mechanics go? Momentum gained by slopes to overcome and enhance the existing level? For ages I've been trying to figure out exactly where you're coming from and it never seems to get any easier whenever something like this comes out.

Physics in the classic games had a big effect on gameplay, but spots wherein it was an actual challenge to build enough momentum to get over something were rare. I've seen many people exaggerate how often this was used, and there was virtually no way to force he player to do it after the introduction of the spin dash. The more common applications of pinball dynamics have to do with going around loops, flinging Sonic into the air off of a quarter pipe, and anything that bounces you (springs, bobons, bumpers, paddles). Jumping while moving on an angled surface also affects the way Sonic jumps considerably. He also gains speed when rolling on a curved surface. I suspect this was a physics bug they decided not to fix.

[Senator NinjaShark]

I know its a Bit Late, silence!

The Gaming Historian uploaded Yesterday The First Part of His Multy-Part-Sonic-Recap-Epic Folks!

So Lets All go Go watch it or at least those who havent watched it already.