Homing Attack: Want or Do Not Want?

[Candescence]

Did you guys play Unleashed 360?

I did, actually. I utterly hated it and I think that style of gameplay should die in a fire, and I thought the Wii version was better, as everyone knows. But that's beside the point.

Skyscraper Scamper Day Act 1: There is a simple "use the homing attack to get across pit" section, where if you allow yourself to drop down, you will find another line of enemies to chain across, should you time it right, leading to an alternative route.

Cool Edge Day Act 2-2: Two examples from here: Firstly at the start there are spiked balls blocking your direct line of attack towards an enemy, so you have to let yourself drop down and homing attack at the last second. And in a later section, you are flying down a long, large cave with sets of springs floating in mid-air, some dummies, and some real. You have to navigate Sonic with the control stick towards the correct one in order to proceed, using the homing attack only once you've targeted it.

I found these puzzles to be very fresh and reminded me that the homing attack still has value. They just need to intergrate this sort of thing into the main levels, leading to alternative routes, instead of keeping them as side challenges (well, except for that Empire City example).

Never mind that Sonic Unleashed's alternate routes were merely minor sidetracks that simply lead back to the main path (a REAL alternate path would span most if not all of the level while crossing over with the other paths constantly like they did back in the Genesis days), and alternate paths in Sonic are normally supposed to take you up, not down, and they sound more like more of Unleashed's annoying trial-and-error shit than actual puzzles.

All that discussion of Z-targetting fighting: No, just no. That'd slow Sonic down way too much. Any kind of fighting that causes you to stop and start - even if only slightly would be as bad as the enemy hoardes in Sonic Heroes. Ugh.

When did we suggest that it should be stop-and-start affair besides bosses? Not that Sonic needs to move constantly all the time, but still.

Edited August 19, 2009 by The Sniper

[Remy]

I did, actually. I utterly hated it and I think that style of gameplay should die in a fire, and I thought the Wii version was better, as everyone knows. But that's beside the point.

Never mind that Sonic Unleashed's alternate routes were merely minor sidetracks that simply lead back to the main path, and alternate paths in Sonic are normally supposed to take you up, not down, and they sound more like more of Unleashed's annoying trial-and-error shit than actual puzzles

Your goggles are so incredibly rose tinted I don't even know how to respond to that.

Your statement that unleashed's puzzles are annoying yet you prefer the more werehog/puzzle heavy wii version gives me brain ache.

Also the fact there are multiple paths implies there is both a high path and a low path mmyess? DOn't even know what you're trying to get at there, you seem to just be ranted about the travesty that was Unleashed (psst: it was the best sonic game in years)

First of all, killing enemies should not be a requirment, apart from bosses, but those are big enough that it shouldn't be a problem either way.

Collecting every ring isn't a requirement either, I guess we should map a button press for picking up all rings individually.

What on earth is wrong with you, you strange little man. Do you even comprehend the posts you quote or do you just scavenge through them looking for the best place to inject your snarky comments.

How does his comment of "enemies shouldn't be a problem" get twisted into "LET'S MAP BUTTONS TO EVERYTHING". The idea that the attack part of the homing attack being removed is horrible, by the way. You talk about "options" after homing attack, What attack options does Sonic the Hedgehog even have? Oh right, jump and spin, and roll while spinning! Why should Sonic the hedgehog be about deep combat in the first place? People talk about the spin dash as if it's gods gift to platforming game combat depth, as if it's very REMOVAL has caused the modern games to disintegrate into shallow trash.

Here's news: the spin dash was great because with a flick of ones thumb he could go from running to attacking while maintaing moment, it wasn't great because of mythical combo options, it was great because it allowed you to keep going after some dumbass monkey robot got in your way.

I think the homing attack at it's core, is a somewhat good idea, it allows you to target and attack enemies effiecntly at high speed, without losing too much time and allowing the player to move on.

The problem is, A.) it's been used a design crutch, and B.) it's fucking unreliable as to what you're actually homing on. Although I do indeed think SEGA has made serious strides towards fixing B in recent times (the visual lock on aimer thingy) A.) still remains a glaring flaw.

It's kinda of sad in a way that the most difficult platforming one had to do in SA2 was either whilst griding rails or hopping between a series of baddies mysteriously suspended in the air. I think personally there would be a lot less disdain for this move if the idiotic enemy hopping sequences were omitted. Things like Z-Targetting aren't a real fit for Sonic really, the strafing/camera lock on is a bit much for a game series that features enemies that mostly die in one hit.

[Tornado]

Things like Z-Targetting aren't a real fit for Sonic really, the strafing/camera lock on is a bit much for a game series that features enemies that mostly die in one hit.

Perhaps you are right, in retrospect, but I still think that a lock on system could allow for something that has never really been done in the 3D games: Enemy combo linking. Jump on one, lock on the next if its close enough and move towards it in mid-air.

[BlazingTales]

Nevertheless, the homing attack has been ingrained in Sonic's repertoire for so long that it feels natural and, at least to me, solves the problem of getting a pinball traveling at hundreds of miles per hour to destroy an infinitesimal object in a vast three-dimensional space. I don't get upset at having to use it and in fact feel a cheap satisfaction when doing so because not only is it immediately destructive, but because it can help you bypass small obstacles by shooting off over them at a high speed and can get you back on a ledge if you happen to overshoot it.

However, there is boredom to be had with it because it hasn't been expanded on. Despite its potential to be a unique way of moving around a level and a valuable life saver, the most you'll use it for is to do is bop three or four enemies before moving on. After all, Sonic's entire arsenal is focused on the idea of moving forward instead of moving around, thus everything he does feels restricted in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps it would help if Sonic Team expanded on the Homing Attack's purpose simply by giving Sonic more maneuverability with it? Allowing Sonic to travel in arcs, curves, and at various degrees upwards and around instead of merely boosting straight forward towards the closest target?

Well put. I don't think the problem is the homing attack itself, but rather being limited to the homing attack. Playing games like Sonic Heroes was very boring to me, because all I would do is press 'A''A''A''A''A''A' untill all the enemies were dead or until I flew off the edge.

I feel Sonic Adventure/2 did combat right. There were several speed/momentum based moves that made attacking enemies fun and non-repetitive, and Homing-attack across the air was generally only used to access secrets, rather than being tools to slack off on level design.

Regarding earlier comments on the Spin Dash (while we are on the discussion of attack moves), it would be nice if it was used as a slingshot mechanism in the 3D games. Like in Sonic CD, you could charge your Spin Dash for a second or two (avoiding the ability to spam it, although I hate how SA2 went about it, because I don't like assigning more than one move to a single button) and catapult yourself forward; controlling Sonic here would be less sensitive so you could easily guide your way around not-so-sharp corners and stuff. I think it would be pretty cool if you could unleash a Spin Dash and mow down a number of grounded enemies this way, tilting the control stick (and not having Sonic control sporadically in ball mode) to guide your direction and bounce off enemies in succession.

One move I always thought would be interesting is Sonic's spindash from Sonic Championship/Fighters/whatever it was called. Sonic would charge up a spin dash on the ground and then lock on the ememy and hit them. I really thought that was neat, and I would love to see it in a future game. It would be interesting to find a way for Sonic to rucoshe off enemies on the gound, as you said. Perhaps it would use a program similar to the light speed attack?

[Tornado]

Well put. I don't think the problem is the homing attack itself, but rather being limited to the homing attack. Playing games like Sonic Heroes was very boring to me, because all I would do is press 'A''A''A''A''A''A' untill all the enemies were dead or until I flew off the edge.

I will say something in the homing attacks defense: Part of the problem with Heroes was because some idiot on the design team thought it brilliant to make the standard, thousands-in-the-game level one Egg Pawns (and every other enemy in the game, for that matter) take more than one hit to defeat.

[BlazingTales]

I will say something in the homing attacks defense: Part of the problem with Heroes was because some idiot on the design team thought it brilliant to make the standard, thousands-in-the-game level one Egg Pawns (and every other enemy in the game, for that matter) take more than one hit to defeat.

Yeah, I never really liked Heroes to be honest. I do like the homing attack, but after some time of doing ONLY that, it can get repetitive. That's why I suggested adding some variety to the moveset.

[Rusty Spy]

I'm too fucking lazy to pick out quotes from two pages, and I seriously hate the fact that most East Hemisphere members here are living on nearly polar opposite ends of the Time Zone as me, in response to the timing that this thread was made.

[/rant]

As for the Homing attack, they could do what they did in Black Knight and make the HA a method of homing in on an enemy to attack and continue at a fair pace. It could be a mix between the HA and the spindash where the HA could home in on an enemy, and a simple button press can make Sonic do a spindash that will tear right through an enemy, and even chain multiple enemies near him.

It actually is more like a mid air spindash but with homing, one on the ground would just bash through enemies while doing it in the air with the HA could attack flying enemies and even be used to cross pits like before. It's quite similar to the regular HA, only it's not just a mash 'A' fest, rather it requires another attack to damage enemies effectively.

And it doesn't have to be limited to just the spindash and Homing Attack, it could be used in conjunction with other moves Sonic may have, and for the sake of consistency, they could be like the different sword attacks from Black Knight. i.e. a regular running attack, a aerial from the ground, etc.

To give a better picture, it could be like this, aside from Sonic's regular rolling, etc.:

Regular jumping works the same as all games and damages enemies,

A thrust attack like from BK could just be the spindash,

A jumping attack(e.g., and upper kick like attack) could be used by attacking an enemy in front of him while Sonic leaps into the air to set up for another attack to hit enemies ahead and string together a combo,

etc, etc.

A lot of this could work in conjunction with Sonic's speed to allow for minimal speed loss and opens up different attack scenarios (e.g. rolling through an enemy while running, upper attack an enemy and use an HA/spindash combo against a line of enemies ahead, or even up above, etc.) and is for the most part pretty simple once you get down to it.

Yeah, I never really liked Heroes to be honest. I do like the homing attack, but after some time of doing ONLY that, it can get repetitive. That's why I suggested adding some variety to the moveset.

But you had the Power formation to deal with the enemies.

In fact, the Homing Attack was not very effective in that game most of the time, and you'd be using Power formation to attack enemies most of the time.

Edited August 19, 2009 by VirgoTheCougar

[Tornado]

But you had the Power formation to deal with the enemies.

Which is a compromised solution to a problem that never should have existed in the first place.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Tornado

[JezMM]

Never mind that Sonic Unleashed's alternate routes were merely minor sidetracks that simply lead back to the main path (a REAL alternate path would span most if not all of the level while crossing over with the other paths constantly like they did back in the Genesis days), and alternate paths in Sonic are normally supposed to take you up, not down, and they sound more like more of Unleashed's annoying trial-and-error shit than actual puzzles.

It's actually kinda ironic, that the very Empire City alt route I exemplified is one that takes you a completely different route from normal. It lasts up to 30 seconds or so if you manage to keep to it (which is a long portion of a level by Sonic standards). And yes, there are many points where it crosses past the regular route so you can leave it at almost any point.

I still say Unleashed had no more trial and error than the old games, I never once suffered a cheap death as a result of level design, but then I didn't spam the boost all the time like most people apparently did... I felt every death was deserved.

And frankly, I'd take trial and error platforming over Wii's endless run-a-thon any day. I don't think it's possible to have fast Sonic being thrilling dangerous without having some difficulty involved, and the Wii's piss-easy and unexciting day levels are prime examples of this.

[Rusty Spy]

Which is a compromised solution to a problem that never should have existed in the first place.

But at least it worked when it was most efficient. Once you were fully leveled up most enemies dropped with a single hit and even all your team mates could attack effectively. Only the really big robots were the ones that took a few hits, but it was appropriate, at least they weren't glass cannons.

[JaidynReiman]

I don't really want to argue on the subject of Sonic Unleashed, since I've never played it, but I would like to talk about the homing attack. Frankly, I don't see what's wrong with it. Most enemies drops like a fly, anyway, and as I've seen a lot of people complain about, Sonic isn't that much about exploration, but moreso on "keep moving." The homing attack does that quite well in 3D games.

I don't think you should have to homing attack a series of enemies across a bottomless pit, but if used like in Sonic Unleashed, it could provide an additional path to take that you couldn't access normally. And I'm not saying they can't put a series of enemies over a bottomless pit, either. They could also do that to split off from the main path. Then there's other things, such as the Light Speed Dash (often shortened to Light Dash) which can also provide alternate direction.

I do think that the Spin Dash should be corrected so it feels better in 3D games, though. And I also think that the Homing Attack could work well in 2D games as long as it is coded right. Once again, it could be a nice way of providing alternate paths you can't normally access, and also split up the characters more. If the path was too high, Knuckles might not be able to reach it, but Sonic or Shadow could.

I'm not saying it should be in 2D games, though. I'm just saying that it could work if it was designed right.

[Carbo]

Homing Attack is not a shit move. It's just how the dev's decide to use it.

Case in point: Sonic Heroes. I could have brought up Shadow cause of the same game engine but it doesnt feel so awkward cause of constant one-man gameplay.

Now I read a few arguments comparing it to other methods, just want to give my two cents on it.

Lock-On: I'm getting mixed impressions on what the point of this was, locking on just in order to spot the enemy and hitting accurately with a normal jump or was it locking on in order to hit him with a homing attack? If the second one, okay, understandable. Nerfing the move a bit but at the same time simplifying it cause of bugs/glitches that may occur. I could support this. If the first one, no. Go back through your entire catalogue of 3D Sonic games and tell me whether you actually took your time to jump on an enemy one by one without the homing attack. Lock-On in such circumstance would only be a give or take because then would come the imminent camera issues cause of the speed.

Bounce Attack in favor for Homing Attack: Reffer to the last parts of the previous arguement but with an extra cup of coffee. Bounce Attack was a nifty feature, sure, but for taking out enemies it was horrible, largely in due cause of Sonic's speed. Bounce Attack breaks flow, unless its upgraded for a Sonic Unleashed esque engine which I can most likely imagine myself, it would be great for platforming elements and it wouldnt break the speed, it'd simply bounce forward in your current speed for an extra oomph for your jump, but most definitely not for an attack. Sonic is not Mario and Sonic is not a Mario game. The "Sonic can because Mario does" shit is not true. Using the ground pound arguement is also flawed because not only are Mario's enemies majority of the times atleast the same size as he is, but the entire thing goes on a slower pace and is a different kind of platform game than Sonic that a ground pound is barely even necessary for conventional enemy use. Sonic's enemies are alot often half of his size. Add the homing attack, people will be calling it broken. Do without it, people would bitch an amazing amount over how 80% of enemies serve as nothing more than aesthetic appeal.

I'm neutral with the homing attack. I'm on the side of using a lock-on button for the sake of initiating a homing attack and in all other cases use it as a jump dash to keep the flow running and having an extra jump since I found that it served for more purposes than just attacking enemies, and I doubt that alot of other people believe different.

I'm speaking the lastly mentioned above from the standpoint of the Sonic Unleashed engine since in Sonic 06 it was horrid and in Sonic Heroes it felt awkward. Sonic Adventure 2 and 1 were good examples along with Unleashed, sadly it was replaced with an Air Boost attack.

Making Sonic's 3D moveset more versatile is stupid, you're already dealing with the fastest thing alive, as if trying to adapt that into a 3D environment isnt proven to already be 70% forbidden science. Majority of all these extra moves that were ever added into a game were most highly useless (see Sonic 06, bar the dash gem which actually made things go less sluggish and more faster).

Edited August 19, 2009 by Chernobyl-Tan

[JaidynReiman]

Sonic's moveset primarily relates to curling up into a ball and launching himself at enemies. This is done in a variety of ways, and it is quite versatile. However, yes, Sonic's gameplay is much more fast-paced than that of Mario. It doesn't mean we can't have some slower-paced gameplay, like a lot of Unleashed's 2D sections, but adding more moves for Sonic doesn't really help. And yes, things like Sonic's bounce are actually quite useless for attacking enemies.

Though, I think we can show off some issues. Of course, Sonic's Homing Attack would become a Jump Dash when there's nothing to home onto. I also think that Sonic Heroes/Shadow the Hedgehog's Triangle Jump move would be a cool feature to add into other games (Sonic Unleashed does utilize a similar feature, but its for scaling walls instead of running/jumping across them). Adding things like this doesn't really give Sonic "new moves," but it doesn't mix up current moves and utilize them to access otherwise unavailable paths.

There's also something else I wouldn't mind seeing. The bounce attack I think would be useful to bring back, but I think it should be merged into the "Stomp" in Unleashed. When using the bounce attack in the air, instead of being able to direct your path, you fall straight down, and then when bouncing up again afterwards you can direct Sonic's movement a little bit. It could be used as an attack, but it wouldn't really be that useful in most cases, except to avoid getting damaged when falling down to a lower platform. However, the bounce attack wasn't really about attacking; moreso, it was about reaching higher heights. It is useful in some cases, such as when fighting Shadow the first time, but of course, since you get it after facing Shadow, it really doesn't help much.

[Carbo]

Sonic's moveset primarily relates to curling up into a ball and launching himself at enemies. This is done in a variety of ways, and it is quite versatile. However, yes, Sonic's gameplay is much more fast-paced than that of Mario. It doesn't mean we can't have some slower-paced gameplay, like a lot of Unleashed's 2D sections, but adding more moves for Sonic doesn't really help. And yes, things like Sonic's bounce are actually quite useless for attacking enemies.

Though, I think we can show off some issues. Of course, Sonic's Homing Attack would become a Jump Dash when there's nothing to home onto. I also think that Sonic Heroes/Shadow the Hedgehog's Triangle Jump move would be a cool feature to add into other games (Sonic Unleashed does utilize a similar feature, but its for scaling walls instead of running/jumping across them). Adding things like this doesn't really give Sonic "new moves," but it doesn't mix up current moves and utilize them to access otherwise unavailable paths.

There's also something else I wouldn't mind seeing. The bounce attack I think would be useful to bring back, but I think it should be merged into the "Stomp" in Unleashed. When using the bounce attack in the air, instead of being able to direct your path, you fall straight down, and then when bouncing up again afterwards you can direct Sonic's movement a little bit. It could be used as an attack, but it wouldn't really be that useful in most cases, except to avoid getting damaged when falling down to a lower platform. However, the bounce attack wasn't really about attacking; moreso, it was about reaching higher heights. It is useful in some cases, such as when fighting Shadow the first time, but of course, since you get it after facing Shadow, it really doesn't help much.

This was majorly some of the stuff that I mentioned with, especially the last part about the bounce attack and the stomp. I actually went through a stage not long ago and used the stomp and imagined how it would have been cool if Sonic would have kept going with the same speed but instead went straight up again with the running speed he had but only with a higher jump. Something like that would most certainly amount to effectivity and rule of cool, and the homing attack/jump dash part was something I agreed on, which was why I'd definitely welcome a lock-on mode as long as it doesnt screw up camera and as long as it still works like a regular homing attack while the regular jump dash is the default when not locking on.

Triangle jump I didn't mind that much but implementing it could be kinda hard in a game like Sonic Unleashed since alot of its use was arguabely a half-scripted one-button QTE sequence (in Heroes that is since Shadow had the ability to run). As for the slower sections, I'm all for platforming and slower sections, but aiming and jumping in a Sonic game still hardly works in such ocassions. Games like Mario and Banjo-Kazooie do this better cause of the general gameplay and engine, hell in BK you couldnt even kill enemies by jumping them, you had to use attacks.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Chernobyl-Tan

[JaidynReiman]

^ Well, I read through part of your post. I didn't read it fully, so I was merely trying to add onto what you said.

Though, I don't really see how the "Triangle Jump" thing is a "scripted QTE", since you can change the angle and you do fall after merely a few seconds. However, if they add in the "run on walls" part from Shadow the Hedgehog, that would be alright, too. Heck, they could make it so that it 2D its a "wall jump" to get you higher up, while in 3D, its a horizontal thing.

[Carbo]

^ Well, I read through part of your post. I didn't read it fully, so I was merely trying to add onto what you said.

Though, I don't really see how the "Triangle Jump" thing is a "scripted QTE", since you can change the angle and you do fall after merely a few seconds. However, if they add in the "run on walls" part from Shadow the Hedgehog, that would be alright, too. Heck, they could make it so that it 2D its a "wall jump" to get you higher up, while in 3D, its a horizontal thing.

Might be misremembering then since its been a while that Ive played Heroes and the Triangle jump wasnt one of the things that stuck onto me really. All I remember is pushing the jump button rapidly to get forth and thats it.

[MirageDark1]

The homing attack kills me a lot.I try not to use it but then again that seems to be one of the only attacks you get now. Whatever, I'm sticking with jumping up and killing things that way.

[Ebby]

Never mind that Sonic Unleashed's alternate routes were merely minor sidetracks that simply lead back to the main path (a REAL alternate path would span most if not all of the level while crossing over with the other paths constantly like they did back in the Genesis days), and alternate paths in Sonic are normally supposed to take you up, not down, and they sound more like more of Unleashed's annoying trial-and-error...

I will agree to that. Even if you stray and go another way you're still going to end up on the main path. And I do think it's a lot of trial and error and figuring out what side path is best for you to get to the goal quickly. But who cares it's still fun.

[Crystal Kingfisher]

I think it's gotten pretty old over the years. It was cool back in SA1 and SA2, but now that's pretty much the only (or one of the only) attack Sonic ever does now and I've gotten tired of it.

[Blazey Firekitty]

Couldn't we just solve this problem by giving Sonic a button that makes him do a horizontal spin attack at will? Kind of like the boost, but less super powerful?

[Blacklightning]

*post*

...where the hell did all of THAT come from? You talk about lack of comprehension and yet didn't even TRY to think about where I was coming from. Good going, genius. The only actual point I made is how bad the reasoning is - I mean, dumbing down something because "it isn't necessary"? Right, I guess we should remove the option to block in fighting/beat-em-up games, or the ability to jump in shooters, or the ability to roll in Sonic games... which is kinda funny actually considering ALL of those things have been done before, to less than enthusiastic response. Necessity shouldn't equal to making something potentially much more convulted than it needs to be, and to think otherwise is simply idiotic.

The rest of this post is mostly you shoving words in my mouth, but what the hell, I'll take a bite at some of it.

The idea that the attack part of the homing attack being removed is horrible, by the way. You talk about "options" after homing attack, What attack options does Sonic the Hedgehog even have? Oh right, jump and spin, and roll while spinning!

Your goggles are so incredibly rose tinted I don't even know how to respond to that.

OH, THE IRONY. He has a lot more options than that and you damn well know it - them not showing up until the 21st century isn't an excuse. Irregardless...

Why should Sonic the hedgehog be about deep combat in the first place?

...who said anything about deep combat? What I described was only slightly more complex than a fucking Klonoa game - is that somehow your definition of deep, or do you have a problem with a single move achieving more than one purpose?

People talk about the spin dash as if it's gods gift to platforming game combat depth, as if it's very REMOVAL has caused the modern games to disintegrate into shallow trash.

...okay, I gotta be honest, I really want to know where you're getting all this from. Do you actually have sources for this at all in this thread or are you just making crap up on the fly? Hell, call me crazy but I don't think the spindash was even mentioned until this post.

[JezMM]

In all fairness, this "homing attack" idea. Even if there are multiple choices, who would use anything but the fastest one? Essentially you're just making it so the homing attack takes three button presses to work instead of two.

Sure, you could make certain enemies need different attacks to defeat, but essentially then you're just turning it into a game of memorisation. It wouldn't add anything to the combat at all really.

And then of course, you could have combos of attacks once you're homing in - however the only way this would have any purpose is if enemies had health bars. And that's just no. Never again.

[Blacklightning]

In all fairness, this "homing attack" idea. Even if there are multiple choices, who would use anything but the fastest one? Essentially you're just making it so the homing attack takes three button presses to work instead of two.

Sure, you could make certain enemies need different attacks to defeat, but essentially then you're just turning it into a game of memorisation. It wouldn't add anything to the combat at all really.

And then of course, you could have combos of attacks once you're homing in - however the only way this would have any purpose is if enemies had health bars. And that's just no. Never again.

Well, in all fairness, it would have to rely on a stage's level design to work effeciently (but really, if your levels don't compliment your gameplay in a Sonic game in the first place, you're probably doing it wrong already). Yes, I have no doubt a majority of its usage would consist of going straight forwards, but it could still find its uses as a platforming aid as per the classic flip, or a method of getting you and/or an enemy to the ground quickly, which can be pretty important advantages given the right context.

As far as actual utilization goes, aka button presses, well admittedly I haven't thought of a method of controlling all this yet, but this could all still fall under a single button press if it's done the right way. It could be as simple as launching you in the direction the control stick's tilted in when a HA hits an enemy, and just have the stomp and jump buttons to substitute for "up" and "down" when the need arises. There are probably better ways about it though.

And sorry if I sound annoyed on this part, but I don't recall ever mentioning the possibility of combos so much as deciding which direction you fly in immediately after a HA. Okay sure, I might've mentioned chaining one move, but only as a matter of directional change. I don't expect Sonic to be a combat heavy game, I'd just rather the HA was a lot more competent as a movement aid so it doesn't bring you to a complete stop every time you use it.

[Joseppi]

I like the homing attack as long as it stays out of the 2D games. It is really nice for the 3D ones though. A Sonic game is (at least should) be about speed. If there isn't a homing attack in the 3D games, you have to stop and slow down to attack enemies. And well, that sucks.

[serpx]

The homing attack brings too many problems in the game (i.e. missing target and falling into a pit), please get rid of it.

Alternative solution? Make the robots bigger targets. (i.e. some of the bots on second Sonic CD vid).