Shadow's SA2 motion movements and gameplay for the future

[Dash Speed]

Doesn't anyone find it odd that the best Shadow has ever moved at top speed was SA3 Shadow moved like he was as fast as Sonic in SA2 which would be a default slow motion in later games.

Why doesn't Sonic's Team bring back the programmer who made those movements back to Shadow when he's playable? Why can't they use that running motion again now?

[Shaddy Zaphod]

What I'm assuming you're trying to take issue with is either Shadow's top speed being slow post-SA2, or his animation moving too slow. So first off, which "programmer" works on a game has nothing to do with that, it's a design element or lies on the animator.

Second, Shadow's top speed is the same as Sonic's as of Forces, and having his animation jitter back and forth as fast as it does in SA2 looks completely goofy and terrible, so it's a good thing it moves at a speed that makes sense for hover shoes now.

[Blue Blood]

I've always liked Shadow's SA2 running animation best, but as @Shaddy the Zaphod said, it's a bit goofy when he's at full speed. SA2 used motion capture, unlike all of the games since, which explains why it's animations are so different. The animations in that game had a real tendency to look off in certain scenarios, but still look really good at the best of times. I've just got a thing for the SA2 models in general. The ones they use int he current games look awful by comparison, particularly Rouge.

Going back to that approach, rather than the incredibly stiff and stilted animations that they use for everyone these days would be a marked improvement, especially considering the advances in animations since SA2 released 17 years ago. It doesn't need to be mo-cap, but the way that they model and animate characters now could be improved ten-fold. SEGA seriously need to look another way for their character models and animations because they're just so average and plain. 

I generally do love that Shadow skates instead of runs. Giving all of the character unique running styles is always a nice touch, particularly in Mania with the top speed animations or Heroes where you get to see three characters on screen at once. But I really hate this:

Shadow's running animation in Forces/Generations isn't anywhere near as bad as Sonic's. But when he starts boosting, he stops running and instead just flies. Why? It looks cheap and is horribly generic of dark and/or powerful characters (see Infinite too). Shadow looks far better skating than whatever the fuck he's doing when he's flying.

[Tarnish]

Yay, good to know I'm not alone in this matter. The SA2 running animation is definitely the best we got so far, I think due to the fact it's dynamic: the faster his speed is, the faster his animation is. Not like what we got after SA2, which is the same animation speed regardless of the character's speed.

SEGA/Sonic Team seems to possess the unique ability of getting things near perfect at first try, then slowly ruining it at every following attempt:
- At least we had some remnants of the momentum based physics in SA1 and SA2 in 3D. Now, they can't even recreate that in 2D anymore unless they get an indie game studio on board.
- Grinding: momentum based requirering actual player input in SA2, now an automated conveyor belt that requires no skill.
- Shadow's running animation: energetic, dynamic in SA2, boring, generic in every other game.
- English voice actors: we got pretty damn good voices for each  character in SA1-2, but then they just got worse with each new voice actor. And I'm talking about the actual VOICES, regardless of their delivery of the lines.

[Blacklightning]

Okay, I feel like I'm going to get kicked for this, but I feel like this is one of the only things that ShTH got perfectly right.

Skip to 1:50 if you haven't already. You see this shit? Every motion is smooth and floaty. This is a cutscene that remembers Shadow doesn't need to take individual footsteps - every motion carries him a fair distance on his own, and he can glide the rest of the way once he's picked up speed because hovering preserves a lot more inertia than running does. His ingame running cycle doesn't quite have that much attention to detail, but at the very least it also acknowledged that Shadow doesn't need to flail like a fucking maniac to keep his speed high.

Honestly my ideal run cycle for Shadow would be pretty much the exact opposite of SA2's - start frantic, transition into slow and smooth once he has enough momentum to glide on. Maybe that doesn't have as much "energy" as say, Sonic running at such full pelt that his arms trail behind him, but hey, I'm not the one who decided to put fucking hoverboots on him.

[Bowbowis]

17 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

Shadow's running animation in Forces/Generations isn't anywhere near as bad as Sonic's. But when he starts boosting, he stops running and instead just flies. Why? It looks cheap and is horribly generic of dark and/or powerful characters (see Infinite too). Shadow looks far better skating than whatever the fuck he's doing when he's flying.

My guess is that it's supposed to reference him flying along the stage when he uses Chaos Control in his own game. Black Knight did the same thing with Lancelot's Soul Surge, although it at least had the telltale blue aura, so it was clear that was what it was supposed to be: 

 

8 hours ago, Blacklightning said:

Maybe that doesn't have as much "energy" as say, Sonic running at such full pelt that his arms trail behind him, but hey, I'm not the one who decided to put fucking hoverboots on him.

Honestly, I'd say that lower energy is perfect for Shadow's character. It helps reinforce that he's Sonic's equal and opposite. Sonic is a showoff, a daredevil, his animations should be very kinetic and emphasize style. It's part of how he taunts his opponents, sort of a, "Hey! Look at how much unnecessary crap I can do and still beat you," kind of thing.

Shadow by contrast is pragmatic and professional, so his animations should be more minimalist and emphasize efficiency. In a roundabout way,  this too is a taunt, his way of saying, "You are literally nothing to me. I'm not going to use any more energy than is absolutely necessary to take you down."

[Darth InVaders]

I hate Shadow's boost animation of flying too. I wish Sonic Team would go study speed skaters' movements more. Hell, if they took Shadow's current boost animation and just kept having him kick his legs in that flying pose, that would be better.