Sonic Remake Ideas

[Iko]

I'd go for the Sonic Advance trilogy.

-Redesign it completely: keep the same zones and most of the musics (remixed with better sound quality), but redo the level design completely, keeping only a couple of iconic sections for each level intact; the game is now one big single game splitted in 3 chapters instead of being 3 separated games, kinda like Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

-Update the movesets of the characters to be more balanced and different from each other.

-Other than the regular 5 characters, make Gemerl playable too, as a 100% bonus unlockable (kinda like Metal Sonic in Sonic Adventure, or it was only in the DX version?).

-Keep the same visual style but imporve the graphics with more details and better resolution. The sprites should be animated like in the original games, no 3D models, no retro pixel art, something more like Warioland Shake It, Hollow Knight or Cuphead.

-Use the Advance 2 gameplay as the base and build over it; I mean, boost mode enhanced by rings, air tricks, and all.

-Tiny Chao Garden should stay as a bonus minigame; if anything, add more stuff to it

-Add some more story to the game, explain better what's happening, and especially, tell a sum of the events of Sonic Battle before the Sonic Advance 3 section, to explain Gemerl's origins.

-Make a completely new set of special stages, keep the old ones as bonus stages, activated at checkpoints like in Sonic 3.

-Make it so that you need to get the emeralds only once, with any character, no more need to get them with all the characters separately.

-Replace the special rings with the red star rings, give some hints to the player about how to get them (maybe a radar or something), make it so that once collected, they become big rings worth 10 regular rings each (from the next playthrough), and you keep them forever, you never lose them; once you get all of them in a level, they unlock bonus content, but they also allow you to access the special stage at the end of it (you just need to collect them in one of the two acts to unlock the special stage).

-Use the Advance 2 brake minigame at the end of act 2, while put a miniboss at the end of act 1, with a transition to act 2 at the end, so that it feels like if act 1 and 2 are one big single act instead (special stage would only be accessible in act 2 though, if you din't brake and run at full speed - it's your choice though). Advance 3 levels should have just 2 acts instead of 3.

-Get rid of the boring boss endurances at the end of the Advance 1 and 2 sections (especially 2), but keep all the Super Sonic bosses as bonus (unlocked by reaching the end of a chapter with all the emeralds, it still counts even if you restart the game with all the emeralds already).

-Since the game has many zones (3 games in one), the levels are slighty shorter than usual, they are obviously redesigned to be like that.

-Act 1 and Act 2 should have some visible differences, and in-game events may happen (like in Sonic 3 when Eggman burns the forers, or when Marble Garden crumbles).

-If it doesn't require too much, add some more bonus characters for time attack mode, such as Blaze, Shadow, the Chaotix and so. They don't appear in the story, but you can unlock them for time attack by collecting red star rings. They don't need to be designed with the same effort as the main characters of the game, for example, Shadow can be a copy of Sonic with just a small difference: they are more for fanservice than for actual content.

Basically, a completely new game that sadly will never happen.

[Endy]

sonic game bad. you get wrecked. take that sonic gmae

remake sonic game! sonic game not bad when remake sonic game

 

perfect!!!

 

you literally can't comprehend the sheer volume of how much lack of correction i requrie in this

[MetalSkulkBane]

Sonic Drift. At least it's gonna be hard to mess up.

2 hours ago, Iko said:

-Use the Advance 2 gameplay as the base and build over it; I mean, boost mode enhanced by rings, air tricks, and all.

This is good example of asking for something, without realizing how it fits.

Advance 2  was build with that speed in mind. Other two games have completely different level design. At best boost would be useless, at worst cause of death.

Might as well ask for Sonic 1 with Lost World's park-our.

[Diogenes]

10 hours ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Personally I feel the Chao minigame to be the best digital pet game out there made so far,

I don't really play pet sims but if that's true the genre must really be suffering 'cause the chao gardens...they kinda suck huge ass.

I wouldn't be against there being some form of garden that you could enter and pet the chao and do some amount of physical interaction, but i just don't think a full pet sim is a good match for Sonic. Even if you reduced the grind it's still a genre designed for patient, laid-back, long-term play, while Sonic gameplay is fast, action-packed, and typically over pretty quick. It's hard to switch gears that radically, and I'd wager most people would rather just rush to the next level than spend 30 minutes petting a baby and shoving various objects into its face.

If they want to bring back chao for the hardcore chao raisers they'd be better off doing so in a separate game, where it can be given both the developers' and the players' full focus rather than awkwardly competing with Sonic's gameplay.

[Wraith]

The long term grind of the chao synergizes with the natural replayability of Sonic. I think the idea makes sense and just needs to be tweaked/expanded.

[Dr. Detective]

I wouldn't touch the Chao Gardens again, personally. Not because I think they suck. I did it once when I was a kid on a relative's copy of SA2:B when I was in New York for the Summer and it was the saddest thing ever when me and my little brother had to leave the chao we made behind when we went back home.

I think we named him Chubbo. 

I hate goodbyes.

[Badnik Zero]

3 hours ago, Diogenes said:

If they want to bring back chao for the hardcore chao raisers they'd be better off doing so in a separate game, where it can be given both the developers' and the players' full focus rather than awkwardly competing with Sonic's gameplay.

Well, the Chao were just a way for Sonic to ride the Tamagotchi wave of the late 90s. While the virtual pet craze is long dead, there are other viral games like Neko Atsume, which is close enough to the same type of game. If they wanted to create a non-intrusive Chao feature they could link it to a mobile game that uses your overall ring count or other in-game metric as currency for raising your pets. Then they could have micro transactions and who doesn’t love micro transactions.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

7 hours ago, Diogenes said:

I don't really play pet sims but if that's true the genre must really be suffering 'cause the chao gardens...they kinda suck huge ass.

It was far from perfect. But obviously the people who liked it don't think it sucks. =p

7 hours ago, Diogenes said:

I wouldn't be against there being some form of garden that you could enter and pet the chao and do some amount of physical interaction, but i just don't think a full pet sim is a good match for Sonic. Even if you reduced the grind it's still a genre designed for patient, laid-back, long-term play, while Sonic gameplay is fast, action-packed, and typically over pretty quick. It's hard to switch gears that radically, and I'd wager most people would rather just rush to the next level than spend 30 minutes petting a baby and shoving various objects into its face.

Personally I always like side content in games that isn't just purely more of the same. Part of the appeal of a adventure genre game is the variety. Only rushing across level after level is not what a adventure game genre is really about in my opinion, Sonic Adventure might be a Sonic game but it is still part of the adventure genre too. I think contrasting gameplay can be fun as long it isn't counterproductive to the main gameplay, and a pet sim that doesn't force you to play it or hold hostage important content behind it for the rest of the game in theory isn't getting in the way in my opinion. The people who are not interesting in that part can just skip it. Not every part of a game needs to appeal to everybody, for example I don't play nor care about many of the extra modes in games such as time attack modes on Sonic games... that type o stuff normally just isn't for me, but that doesn't mean I think it should be removed.

7 hours ago, Diogenes said:

If they want to bring back chao for the hardcore chao raisers they'd be better off doing so in a separate game, where it can be given both the developers' and the players' full focus rather than awkwardly competing with Sonic's gameplay.

I don't think that is quite as much of a perfect answer as you think it is. Did you know enough people actually enjoy the aspect of going on a adventure with Sonic characters and bringing back home items they collected to their Chao garden? There is something special about going on a adventure and hunting down content for another part of the game, a idea i would like to see expended upon. Making it a Chao only game that would probably remove Sonic & gang and be a handheld game where "YOU" the player are the invisible avatar taking care of everything isn't as cool really. It is simply very fun controlling the Sonic cast & seeing the different interactions/results they have with the Chao.

[Multikaris]

Is it too early to remake Forces? Because that game deserves a remake.

[Endy]

10 hours ago, Diogenes said:

I don't really play pet sims but if that's true the genre must really be suffering 'cause the chao gardens...they kinda suck huge ass.

I wouldn't be against there being some form of garden that you could enter and pet the chao and do some amount of physical interaction, but i just don't think a full pet sim is a good match for Sonic. Even if you reduced the grind it's still a genre designed for patient, laid-back, long-term play, while Sonic gameplay is fast, action-packed, and typically over pretty quick. It's hard to switch gears that radically, and I'd wager most people would rather just rush to the next level than spend 30 minutes petting a baby and shoving various objects into its face.

If they want to bring back chao for the hardcore chao raisers they'd be better off doing so in a separate game, where it can be given both the developers' and the players' full focus rather than awkwardly competing with Sonic's gameplay.

what kind of absolute fucking moron wants more content in a video game

[Dr. Detective]

3 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

Is it too early to remake Forces? Because that game deserves a remake.

I don't think it is.

A premise as cool as "Dr. Eggman finally took over the world" is flexible enough and versatile enough that it could be tried again and be accepted. Especially since what Forces did left so little impact. There were flashes and hints of what could have been sprinkled in here and there but none of it really had to time to fully develop into something good.

We must be sure to replace Infinite with Batman's Scarecrow or Spider-Man's Mysterio so we can have some REAL fun with mind-fuckery illusions this time. 

[Iko]

20 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

This is good example of asking for something, without realizing how it fits.

Advance 2  was build with that speed in mind. Other two games have completely different level design. At best boost would be useless, at worst cause of death.

Might as well ask for Sonic 1 with Lost World's park-our.

I realize it, and I also realize that you don't need that linear level design for that mechanics to work.

I have played Sonic CD, in which you have a similar gimmick where you have to build your speed in order to time travel. The level design is not linear, is a maze instead; still, the player has to find a way to reach the time-travel speed and keep it long enough to activate the thing.

Advance 2 doesn't have time-travel, but reaching boost mode is still a form of gratification, a reward, and something that skilled player should be able to maintain for longer. Having to work hard to build your reward works better than having to just touch a speed booster to gain it.

Also, boost mode is in Advance 3, but only with a specific combination of characters (I can't remember what, probably something involving Sonic). Level design has nothing to do with that, they removed it to switch the focus to the tag move gimmick.

EDIT: not to mention that I specified that the levels would be redesigned completely, which means that whatever gameplay you are aiming for, the levels would be designed around that; so that claim makes no sense at all because the game I proposed would be redesinged with Boost Mode in mind as well (that, as I said earlier, does not necessarily mean linear level design).

[MetalSkulkBane]

3 hours ago, Iko said:

I realize it, and I also realize that you don't need that linear level design for that mechanics to work.

I have played Sonic CD, in which you have a similar gimmick where you have to build your speed in order to time travel. The level design is not linear, is a maze instead; still, the player has to find a way to reach the time-travel speed and keep it long enough to activate the thing.

Advance 2 doesn't have time-travel, but reaching boost mode is still a form of gratification, a reward, and something that skilled player should be able to maintain for longer. Having to work hard to build your reward works better than having to just touch a speed booster to gain it.

Also, boost mode is in Advance 3, but only with a specific combination of characters (I can't remember what, probably something involving Sonic). Level design has nothing to do with that, they removed it to switch the focus to the tag move gimmick.

EDIT: not to mention that I specified that the levels would be redesigned completely, which means that whatever gameplay you are aiming for, the levels would be designed around that; so that claim makes no sense at all because the game I proposed would be redesinged with Boost Mode in mind as well (that, as I said earlier, does not necessarily mean linear level design).

Eeeh, I'm still not convinced it would be more than small gimmick, like playing Sonic 1 with homing attack.

Unless you redesign all the levels, but then you play Sonic Generations, advance edition. I know a lot of  people who preferred advance 1 level design over advance 2.

[Tara]

I wouldn't mind the Chao Garden returning but I feel it should be supplementary to the series rather than an integral part of it.  Like have a mobile phone app for it or something.  I remember many people getting SA2... or more accurately, I remember people using MY copy of SA2 specifically for the Chao Garden, so keeping them separate I think would have the benefit of both creating brand awareness as well as making it so that people who were only interested in one didn't have to bother with the other.  Maybe have it linked to the core game in some way, but I don't really have any ideas for that beyond like, maybe the rings you collect while playing the game are uploaded to a Sega account which is then transferred to the Chao app.  But that seems rather shallow to me, since that would mean the only way I can think to obtain rings outside of grinding through levels repeatedly would be microtransactions, which isn't something I like seeing used in lieu of actual game design.

[Emerald Chaos]

It's a shame Sonic Runners isn't around anymore (in an official capacity). It would've been the perfect game to tie to a mobile Chao raising game.
They could've even used the character models from Sonic Runners as your avatar in the Chao Garden, letting you play as whoever you've unlocked in Runners. 

[Wraith]

Any post that discusses cutting down or stripping out the Chao amounts to rereleasing a Sonic Adventure game with less content to me. I feel like this would be baffling to most if we were discussing any other game. 

Even if you don't like it or the way it contrasts with Sonic gameplay..that was why it was optional. If it ruins the pacing for you you don't have to engage with it. Sectioning it off to a mobile game is a solution to a problem that essentially doesn't exist and would only serve to overcomplicate features that were bundled together and worked  fairly seamlessly together in '98. 

Only Sonic fans feel the need to try and give everyone with slightly different tastes their own gated community. It's like. cutting the fishing hole from OOT because some people don't care for it.

[Diogenes]

2 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Sectioning it off to a mobile game is a solution to a problem that essentially doesn't exist and would only serve to overcomplicate features that were bundled together and worked  fairly seamlessly together in '98. 

Did it, though? I can't say I like the whiplash of going from a fast, fun action stage to jogging across the overworld to the chao gardens and shoving animals into your chao for maybe a single level up. Or the awkward and limited interactions with your chao because a high-speed action/platformer character who turns into a buzzsaw whenever he jumps isn't designed for babysitting. Or how time not passing if you're not in a garden means your chao eat about one fruit a day and never level up stamina unless you sit around doing nothing for hours.

2 minutes ago, Wraith said:

 It's like. cutting the fishing hole from OOT because some people don't care for it.

The fishing hole does suck, though. And there's actually stuff locked behind catching fish. Last time I played OoT I got all but one heart piece because I just couldn't bear spending more time on that shitty minigame, and that left a bit of a sour taste.

[StaticMania]

Maybe just have slower time passage when not in the garden and Chaos can live to 10 and not 5.

SA2 didn't have awkward interaction since ground B button actions were disabled and there's no reason to really jump (most of the time).

[Badnik Zero]

3 hours ago, Wraith said:

Even if you don't like it or the way it contrasts with Sonic gameplay..that was why it was optional. If it ruins the pacing for you you don't have to engage with it. Sectioning it off to a mobile game is a solution to a problem that essentially doesn't exist and would only serve to overcomplicate features that were bundled together and worked  fairly seamlessly together in '98. 

I agree actually. I messed up and forgot this was a remake topic when replying. Of course the garden shouldn’t be removed if it’s already there. Remember though that the Chao were designed to be mobile and played on the VMU. Mobility was the main draw of virtual pets, they were keychains. If the main Chao game is grindy, it doesn’t need rebalancing in an old game, it just needs the ability to connect to a newer mobile app. I never played with Chao on a VMU, I don’t know what it’s like besides mini games. But an app could have mini games, a pedometer, PvP, feeding, special items, even selfies with the Chao, etc. This goes for remakes or future Chao support.

[Wraith]

10 hours ago, Diogenes said:

Did it, though? I can't say I like the whiplash of going from a fast, fun action stage to jogging across the overworld to the chao gardens and shoving animals into your chao for maybe a single level up. Or the awkward and limited interactions with your chao because a high-speed action/platformer character who turns into a buzzsaw whenever he jumps isn't designed for babysitting. Or how time not passing if you're not in a garden means your chao eat about one fruit a day and never level up stamina unless you sit around doing nothing for hours.

The fishing hole does suck, though. And there's actually stuff locked behind catching fish. Last time I played OoT I got all but one heart piece because I just couldn't bear spending more time on that shitty minigame, and that left a bit of a sour taste.

I'm for streamlining the mechanics. Just not for dumping them. They could have a better inventory system and and change the time management system to be active somewhat while you're playing stages. I say "somewhat" so the player doesn't miss any steps in their chao's evolution while they're out and about. 

[Endy]

13 hours ago, Diogenes said:

Did it, though? I can't say I like the whiplash of going from a fast, fun action stage to jogging across the overworld to the chao gardens and shoving animals into your chao for maybe a single level up. Or the awkward and limited interactions with your chao because a high-speed action/platformer character who turns into a buzzsaw whenever he jumps isn't designed for babysitting. Or how time not passing if you're not in a garden means your chao eat about one fruit a day and never level up stamina unless you sit around doing nothing for hours.

That is why...it is optional. What is your praxis here?

[Diogenes]

I dunno man maybe this is weird of me but I kinda want the things in games to be good instead of bad?

[StaticMania]

It'll be good later, but it has to exist first.

And be fixed.

[Dr. Detective]

I've been wondering and thinking about remakes a lot recently. Specifically after the Crash thing happened, I've tried my hand at imagining what they could do for the first two Adventures and Heroes. Mostly those three but the idea of retelling the events of Sonic 1, 2, and 3 with baby green-eyed Sonic is a little enticing too. You know, since the Classic world is supposedly separate now, seeing how those events happened in our Modern world context could be neat. I'd imagine it would really only be a more fleshed out version of the same events though. Because, again, not much feels all that different. Modern Sonic still has Green Hill and Chemical Plant and what not.

Ah, but Heroes. There's so much I wanna do. I could see the benefit to making the levels a bit shorter and of course the controls would need to be made less slippery. All that obvious stuff. The levels themselves I'd probably have to chart out in order to see which order I could rearrange a few things for the sake of fitting in with the changes made to the story. As in, unless they need to fight a certain team at a certain location, they don't need to go through every level in the same exact order.

I'd like to see different parts of the levels rather than them going through the same ones with slightly altered enemy and platform placement too. A slight change in scenery would be welcome. In 2-player you can actually view some of the locations at night or at sunset so I'd probably have it so that some of the characters reached those locations at different times of day. Maybe even have it raining in Hang Castle or show Casino Park when the power is off. 

Mainly, I'd probably dedicate the entire story of the Chaotix playthrough to just figuring out everything that happened during the lead up to Eggman being betrayed by Metal, not just the identity of their client. That includes what he was doing right before it happened, what his initial plan was before all this started, a discovery of and detailed showcase of how the take-over by Metal went down, a view of how the package got sent out and delivered to the Chaotix; the whole nine-yards. Just, whatever they can find by infiltrating those bases and looking through all of Eggman's security cameras and documents and shit. If you regulate the backstory stuff to discoveries made by the game's detectives, the other stories can focus more on the here and now.

Then there'd be the team thing. Ideally, when switching between characters, I'd prefer there to be only one character on screen at a time. That was kind of my dream as a kid. I would always love it whenever I had to leave a character behind on a switch to go find the other ones because that would leave me with time to play as Charmy by himself. It was fun...

...BUT if we have to keep it so that they're all there at once, I'd take the entire concept of switching between characters out and just make it so that the three of them function as one character. Get rid of the button that switches between speed, power, and flight, and just make it so that the press of a button initiates what the flight and power characters can do. Press x and x again to do the homing attack. Press square to break shit as Knuckles. Press and hold triangle to fly. Press triangle over and over to do the Thunder shoot, I guess, if you still want that move to stay in. Press x and square to do the awesome tornado move. Press ZL or whatever to do the team blast. I don't know what you'd do with the circle button. I'm not as good at making up stuff for gameplay but a general outline like that seems cognicent. 

My imagination is running a bit wild and I don't have a concrete enough way to explain everything I'm thinking about it seems. Hopefully, I'm making some semblance of sense to people who actually know their way around gameplay. 

[Plasme]

On 2/19/2018 at 6:02 AM, Diogenes said:

Tails:
-Severely nerf his flight. Instead of having relatively lengthy freely controlled flight, focus on short bursts that work more like long jumps and high jumps. Keep his gameplay closer to Sonic's, with flight being used for quick shortcuts or accessing alternate routes instead of letting him fly over half the level.

Knuckles:
-Like Tails, nerf his abilities. Have his glide drop off over time instead of maintaining a steady descent and only let him climb certain (common, but not omnipresent) walls.

Surprised by how much I disagree with you here, especially because I agree with you on a lot of things.

I don't think nerfing character abilities is a good idea, because it greatly limits the fun of the character. Tails' flight is less fun and useful in Heroes and Sonic 4 because of how nerfed it is. It just functions as a more awkward double jump and is annoying because of how fun his flying is in Sonic 3 and even Adventure 1. Similarly, Knuckles' gliding was nerfed in Knuckles Chaotix and Heroes which made him utterly unfun because of how ineffective his abilities are. 

The issue isn't their abilities but the level design. Ideally, Tails and Knuckles should have independent levels which take advantage of their abilities. Adventure 1 is half assed about it, which is why you can destroy those levels with Tails and Knuckles.