Detective SSMB & The Case of the Sonic 25th Anniversary "P.g. 100 is the best... food discussion started."

[Mauricius]

1 hour ago, Chris Knopps said:

Being honest, I'd like another feline in the franchise since Blaze is (SUPPOSED) to exist in a different dimension and can't really coexist with Sonic like the rest of the cast.

A female character, with a persona akin to Sonic himself so we have someone who can throw Sonic's persona/attitude in his own face, kind of give him a taste of the medicine he gives everyone else.

Would make for an interesting plot.

That's what Tiara was supposed to be, right?

Anyways, I don't think they should add more main characters until they start doing something with the current cast. If the plot requires a certain type of character that hasn't been done before, then it's fine. For example, characters such as Gamma, Chaos or Chip didn't harm the series in any way. However, I feel that they often put characters in games with no real reason to be there, especially from Heroes to '06.

I'd really like if they do something with Silver again. He's one of my favorites (as an idea, I definitely don't like how they handled him), and he could be an awesome character if done right.

[molul]

I liked Silver and Shadow the first time I saw them (that is, without knowing anything else but their design). I liked the idea of more hedgehogs with different personalities and looks. They made more sense to me as characters in Sonic's universe than a crocodile, a bee, or even a fox.

[Hyp3hat]

I think the reason 'Sonic's Shitty Friends' gets thrown about a lot is that these characters are poorly written. Cream, for instance, has no character qualities besides 'polite' and 'has a pet chao'. Charmy Bee is purposefully designed to be annoying to the surrounding cast, which annoys the viewer. Silver was portrayed in 06 to be a complete moron (then again, so was everyone else) and hasn't been seen since, presumably because his backstory was so weirdly convoluted for no reason - if Sonic 06 is canon, SIlver probably wrote himself out of existence when they killed Solaris.

Everyone else has just one note - Espio = Ninja. Amy Rose = The Girl. Rouge = The Sexy One (ugh) Knuckles = The Meathead. The Deadly SIx all possessed one character trait that was their whole personality (The Leader, The Crazy One, The Emo One, The Girl, The Fat One, The Old One).

People respond positively when these characters have depth and a reason to be in there - Shadow in SA2, Knuckles in S3&K and Adventure. Even Chip, annoying as he was, had relevance to the plot. A lot of Sonic's weird crew don't have a reason to be in these stories outside of fanservice. 

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

That problem only happened in Sonic-06 tho? Which did many things/everything wrong. I haven't seem them treat Blaze this way outside of Sonic-06.

there are moments in games like the black knight, and more recently sonic runners, that get on my nerves.

Sonic Runners? Black Knight?

Sonic Runners has a 50 episode plot that doesn't involve anyone but Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Sure, they have these spin-off events but to my knowledge when Blaze appeared for the first time in an exclusive event, she didn't do much nor hang around a male character.

And as for Black Knight, I can't remember the story as I haven't played it since the week after its launch. But I do know this, it's a storybook game. Every Sonic character that appeared in the game is portraying somebody else apart from Sonic himself. So Blaze isn't Blaze. Amy isn't Amy. Tails isn't Tails.

[molul]

18 hours ago, TCB said:

So Polygon posted a lengthy reflection piece on Sonic the Hedgehog, mostly from Big Red Button's Bob Rafei. It's in the Rise of Lyric thread, per NintendoEverything, which links to the original article. But there was something from Iizuka near the end that said:

“Because [Rise of Lyric] tried a different take on Sonic from the norm — and considering the results — this made Sonic Team feel that we want to build a Sonic title which represents the evolution of the Sonic series over the last 20 years.” –  Iizuka

This clearly means Sonic Generations 2 right guys Let the speculation run rampant again. I personally am looking at the word evolution. I just find that word...interesting when Iizuka uses it.

Just read the article. I'm half surprised, half not surprised Rafei didn't see the Sonic Boom negative reviews coming. Not for the gameplay itself but just for the new design. The bandages will never make sense to me, and the new Knuckles will always look really weird to me (not only because of the legs issue). Mario has never needed big redesigns to appeal to mayor audiences, just great games one after another. Changing Sonic's look may be taken as "brave" from Sega, but to me it actually shows that Sega is not confident on its games, so they try to make Sonic look different to see if that works (and then Rise of lyric came).

I've always preferred classic Sonic over modern Sonic, but only for the gameplay. Actually, I think modern Sonic redesign made sense and looked like a nice evolution. I have no problem with green eyes or with Sonic being taller. Sonic Boom redesign, however, looks like a mess. Perhaps without bandages and a more normal Knuckles, it wouldn't be that bad, just another twist.

I expected Sega to split Sonic brand in two different game branches: the 3D building from Generations and a 2D or 2.5D building from S3&K, and BOTH with modern Sonic. That way, die-hard classic fans MIGHT have forgotten about classic Sonic design (if those 2D games with modern Sonic were really good), and 3D fans would have good new games.

But with Sonic Boom, everything's come to a mess. Some people still want classic Sonic, some people don't want Boom design to bury modern Sonic, and apparently some people want more Sonic Boom (I guess not more people than those who like classic or modern Sonic). One franchise, three different branches, and three different audiences that are not fully satisfied with their choice (except for modern Sonic fans maybe, as Colors and Generations were actually cool).

Sega CEO and Marketing dept. now has much more to fix in order to get a solid franchise from Sonic. If you look at Mario, you know what Nintendo did well: stick to what works, expand on what makes the game better, and always deliver great games.

Nintendo, please buy Sega already.

 

 

[Marcello]

15 minutes ago, Ming Ming Yuigahama said:

Sonic Runners? Black Knight?

Sonic Runners has a 50 episode plot that doesn't involve anyone but Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Sure, they have these spin-off events but to my knowledge when Blaze appeared for the first time in an exclusive event, she didn't do much nor hang around a male character.

And as for Black Knight, I can't remember the story as I haven't played it since the week after its launch. But I do know this, it's a storybook game. Every Sonic character that appeared in the game is portraying somebody else apart from Sonic himself. So Blaze isn't Blaze. Amy isn't Amy. Tails isn't Tails.

I don't agree with his opinion on Black Knight, but if you ask me, even though she's called Percival, she's still Blaze and if you do have criticism for her portrayal in it, it should be about Blaze, since that's the way they decided to handle the character in that game.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

But still, that's not Blaze as "herself". Sonic can't talk about her past with the Sol Emeralds, Marine etc. because she couldn't remember as it isn't her.

Percival is in Blaze's body, that's how I see it.

[Shadowlax]

To comment on two things rather briefly.

1) i dont think story relevance has anything to do with it. I play plenty of games with characters thrown in for fuck all. Don't get me wrong, I want narrative to be more important in sonic again. But the issue is sega half assing shit. Throwing things in an rushing games  ad gameplay is what pushed folks away . That isnt to say aesthetic isnt important. I would argue sonics recent aesthetic hasn't benefited him. And may even worked to his detriment. But thats another discussion.

2) i don't think boom was a show of lack of faith. I think boom, hear me out here, was a legitimate and still is a legitimate attempt to split their demo's. 

[FourCartridge]

Repost from Status Update(last few pages don't seem to talk about this so amusing it's new):

http://www.polygon.com/2016/2/8/10756318/sonic-the-hedgehog-great-rocky-history

It's another restrospective article about Sonic, but this one has an Iizuka interview buried in that's actually pretty relevant.

Quote

"Because [Rise of Lyric] tried a different take on Sonic from the norm — and considering the results — this made Sonic Team feel that we want to build a Sonic title which represents the evolution of the Sonic series over the last 20 years," Iizuka says on what future Sonic games may look like. He continues, saying that "modern Sonic won’t be changing his design in games anytime soon." Iizuka wants the character to remain the same five, even 10, years from now.

Generations 2 anyone?

Edited February 9, 2016 by FourCartridge

[Dee Dude]

It's too early for Generations 2. The only new main Sonic game we had post Generations was Lost World... That's literally it.

Wait until the 30th or 35th anniversary and then we'll talk about a Generations sequel.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Why do people automatically assume "Generations 2" though? I am not a big Generations fan, however it's a bit too early for that and just because there are 3 Sonic's in the picture or they say they want to branch off from Boom, doesn't mean that it's another nostalgia pandering mess. This is coming from someone who doesn't have much hope for this series.

All they are saying is that modern Sonic's design won't change. So anything is possible. 

[Wraith]

I don't think it will literally be Generations 2 but it's probably heavily based on the series's roots regardless, which a lot of people don't really want.

I think it could work if they just took influence from the series's roots and made something new, but I doubt that's how it's going to go down in reality.

[Celestia]

For some reason I keep imagining a game where you revisit old locations from throughout the series' history, but all in the present day and with noticeable changes due to all the time that's passed. Maybe even go the opposite direction Generations did chronologically--starting with a LW or Colours stage and going back, so that we start out with stages that obviously wouldn't have changed much, and finishing with a Sonic 1 level that's changed a lot.

[Chris Knopps]

27 minutes ago, Celestia said:

For some reason I keep imagining a game where you revisit old locations from throughout the series' history, but all in the present day and with noticeable changes due to all the time that's passed. Maybe even go the opposite direction Generations did chronologically--starting with a LW or Colours stage and going back, so that we start out with stages that obviously wouldn't have changed much, and finishing with a Sonic 1 level that's changed a lot.

For some reason I just want a new 2D game with original stages with a 2.5D look akin to the DKC series...

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I also prefer original stages as well as properly incorporating the Genesis gameplay in a 3D setting. 

That would actually be my dream for the 25th anniversary game, to see the Genesis gameplay and physics come to a modern game. That's what I want. 

[Tails spin]

You know how in Shadow the Hedgehog we returned to Prison Island( with a major change to it) and the Ark, (and well the majority of Gens),Well that's what I would want in a anniversary game. Having Classic/Pixel Sonic start out in Green Hill Zone but now it has more of a Palm tree Panic look then Tails takes us on his plane and we land in Lava Reef Zone on the floating Island. Then afterwards the plot moves us to new areas. 

[Chris Knopps]

1 minute ago, Tails spin said:

You know how in Shadow the Hedgehog we returned to Prison Island( with a major change to it) and the Ark, (and well the majority of Gens),Well that's what I would want in a anniversary game. Having Classic/Pixel Sonic start out in Green Hill Zone but now it has more of a Palm tree Panic look then Tails takes us on his plane and we land in Lava Reef Zone on the floating Island. Then afterwards the plot moves us to new areas. 

I don't want any returning stages in any form whatsoever. It's a thing called originality returning to this franchise.

[Tails spin]

6 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

I don't want any returning stages in any form whatsoever. It's a thing called originality returning to this franchise.

It's fine that YOU don't want it. I just stated what I would like. Plus like I was saying Prison Island looked nothing like it did in SA2. And the majority of the Ark looked different than what was in SA2. You can still put a lot of originality on an old stage to make it something interesting and new.

[Kuzu]

Ya know, and I'm probably asking for a lot given the series' track record, but I really want a new game that adds some bit of world building like Unleashed. That game really was the last one to feel like...ya know, an adventure. 

So like, maybe there's this new location that shows up that Sonic explores and discovers some hidden secrets and mysteries on the island that he has to figure out. Basically Lost World, but with actual context :V

I just liked the sense of adventure that games like Unleashed give off; it feels right at home with the series and never feels out of place like most people accuse prior games. I feel like later games try to do the same, but extremely watered down by comparison.

[Iamaspaz]

I don't care who is playable,if its filled with nostalgia,or anything. I just want a good game. Like,seriously, please let this game be good! I hope they work hard on this game...and I really hope it isn't big's big fishing adventure 3.

[Hyp3hat]

Yeah, I think Unleashed is a good tone to strike - minus, y'know, the werehog, Chip and those goddamn medals - but it gave context and weight to the world to see it all, with the hubworlds and map etc. Unlike, say 06, where it made Soleanna appear as it if was in The Twilight Zone. To the east, we have the tropical beach, to the west, a forest, to the north we have a desert, a snowy mountain range, and the railway that goes nowhere. Also, underneath it all is a sprawling base with coral and dolphins. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Erm.... I don't know if this is a clue or not...

 

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

2 minutes ago, Detective Paradox said:

 

So, apparently, the letters in the image say:

"The secret is inside the empire. We can get it back.">

I've seen others say this... How the hell did you get that from the image?

[Tails spin]

Look at the tag for Madeon.

 

it states they have a pixel tour.

Pixel sonic anyone?

More evidence of Classic Sonic game play confirmed? Yes in my book

[Chris Knopps]

3 minutes ago, Detective Paradox said:

 

So, apparently, the letters in the image say:

"The secret is inside the empire. We can get it back.">

EDIT: There's more but I can't read it

It's official, Mobotropolis/Robotropolis in the next game.

Comic artist makes render for SEGA

Adventure trolling

Mentioning of Mobius

Calling it. Freedom fighters ahoy.

Or... I dunno... Scrap Brain returns...?