Team Sonic Racing - Upcoming Sonic Racing Game

[JosepHenry]

We need some GOOD light hearted self aware humor though. We haven't got much of these.

[DabigRG]

12 hours ago, Roger_van_der_weide said:

Was just confused why light-hearted self aware humor is suddenly a "breath of fresh air" despite that being the status quo for a decade now.
I've seen sentiments like that before, sorry if I came across I'm picking on Jezz.
People suddely acted we're fresh from another dark age is confusing to me.
I suppose I should blame the movie for that.
(Despite the movie also looking to be a light hearted comedy, minus Sonic's nightmare face)

 

There's a simple, one word explanation for that:  timing.

Remember that when Colors came out, Sonic was something people talked about for being bad and full of itself. People commonly bring up Shadow packing heat, Sonic's   being kissed by a human, Sonic turning Werewolf as things to make fun of and the fact that two of those games were generally considered bad and controversial didn't help.  Ever since Shadow was added to the series, there was a mostly consistent drive to make things even darker, edgier, and more epic than the last and it just got ridiculous in conjunction with a drop in quality.

To break out of that trend, they changed how the series carried itself again in 2010. SonicTeam had a willingness to joke about how the series generally goes and even poke fun at some the sillier things they've done. Things got better with Colors and arguably Unleashed for two reasons: the tone became lighthearted again and SEGA started to focus on solid gameplay again. And it was refreshing, even humbling at the time and the series picked up momentum.

But as some ya'll love to say nowadays, things took another downturn after Generations. Lost World was generally polarizing and accused of cribbing, the Sonic Boom subseries got meddled with and became known for either the disastrous Wii U game or the TV show that was generally satirical, and after a four year hiatus, Forces came out. The latter speaks somewhat clearly as something of a ill conceived attempt to appeal to those who want things to be how they were in the Dreamcast era while and insufficiently downplaying some of hallmarks people were getting tired of from the Modern--mostly failing to really do either on top of being it's own well made thing. 

What went wrong to cause this both of these trends: Oversaturation. They had a big success and got acclaim from people from a particular element or two and thus tried almost constantly to replicate those same feelings across many following games. Unfortunately, a combination of missing the poin and doing the same thing over & over caused people to get tired and a drop of quality to the games themselves made people turn on them. This is notable in the Modern era's case because it was primarily conceived to absolve those complaints. This was in conjunction with SEGAs attempt to launch a subseries that mostly failed outside the TVshow, which itself partly channeled some of the stuff people were getting tired of. And I don't wanna repeat what a desperate, half-hearted "course correction" Forces was. 

It really didn't help that, unlike the Dreamcast and early Modern era, we didn't many spinoffs and side games to tide us over and vary things up in between. That hiatus I mentioned before was made of nothing more than a few Boom things and a bunch of phone games. Sonic Runners was a fun little episode venture that, much like Generations, celebrated the game franchise in general. That was really nice, but unforunately it was just a phone game and thus many of us didn't/couldn't appreciate it too much. Thus, we were mostly stuck with mainline games that were constantly treated as having something to prove.

So yes, Team Sonic Racing is indeed a breath of fresh air. A low stakes side project that just encourages to have fun playing a dumb video game on an actual console again. And that's okay.

[Dr. Detective]

I think the big reason I don't consider TSR to be a breath of fresh air on the story-telling front is, aside from my preconcieved notions that it'll be a similar story to what we've been getting for the last nine years (aside from Forces) there's also the fact that... I literally can't consider it that because I haven't played through the game's story yet...

It just kind of hit me that this talk of it being a "breath of fresh air" is a bit premature at the moment. So I'm gonna just wait.

 

[DabigRG]

29 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

I think the big reason I don't consider TSR to be a breath of fresh air on the story-telling front is, aside from my preconcieved notions that it'll be a similar story to what we've been getting for the last nine years (aside from Forces) there's also the fact that... I literally can't consider it that because I haven't played through the game's story yet...

It just kind of hit me that this talk of it being a "breath of fresh air" is a bit premature at the moment. So I'm gonna just wait.

 

Admittedly, there is a tiny bit of deja vu in that one of the draws for me is "What is Zavok doing in this story?" Though who Dodon Pa is is another one.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

On 5/5/2019 at 2:38 AM, Plasme said:

So seeing as it comes out soon, who's hyped?

I'm hyped.

[Graystripe2000]

9 minutes ago, DaddlerTheDalek said:

I'm hyped.

Me too.

[Sonicka]

Thirded. 

Well, I’m optimistic at least anyway. I’m not going to shy away from the obvious that CTR: NF’s is going to be THE Kart racer of this year. 

I mean, the reveals just keep coming and coming without any stop to sheer amount of content they are pouring into this remake (even now the customisation options that TSR had the edge on - appears to be left in the dust).

Buuuut I love the way Sumo always nails the driving controls in their titles, so I’m more than looking forward to zipping around these tracks and experimenting more with the team based gameplay. 

Even if this isn’t exactly the Sonic Kart racer fans were asking for, there is no way this is a Sonic Forces type of situation where we have a dumpster fire around the corner. I have no doubt the game is still going be great... and whilst it was wise to delay this 6 months for the extra polish and whatever, it’s just a shame CTR is around the corner. 

 

 

[Dr. Detective]

I'd say optimistic is a nice word to use. I'm certainly anticipating something.

I remember feeling like a zombie when I bought Generations and Forces. I really like Generations a lot but I wasn't hyped when I got my hands on it. I knew what was going to be in the game already. The trailers and the leaks told us all the stages and bosses we were going to fight. I knew from this that it was going to be yet another short mainstream title, the second one right after Colors disappointed me. I hoped that the other characters being in the game would at least lead to some good interactions and stuff but no... they just stood in the same spot the entire game and did nothing.

At least I saw a glimpse of what Generations' story could have been with the LEGO Dimensions Sonic.

As far as TSR goes I'm expecting it to be a more fulfilling experience than a lot of what we've gotten recently, even if I still have reservations about a few things. 

[Fire-N-Space]

If only they didn't make it so gambling was the only way to get car parts. 

[Ruomarta]

19 minutes ago, Fire-N-Space said:

If only they didn't make it so gambling was the only way to get car parts. 

Dude, you're not using ACTUAL money get these parts. It's just in-game currency.

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, Fire-N-Space said:

If only they didn't make it so gambling was the only way to get car parts. 

Okay, so, as was stated numerous times already (and in my opinion what should have been expected but whatever) you don't gamble to get car parts.

You play the game. They give you points for each race you complete. You exchange those points for parts. No money is required. It's the same thing they did in the first All-Stars Racing. 

It's no wonder Aaron seems worried about being vilified over allowing us to have DLC. Whenever we ask for it his response is always "Everything is in the game! We're not going to nickel and dime you like that!" as though DLC is a bad thing too. 

The fact that they seem so worried about it when it's the one thing they've remained consistent with is kind of upsetting. Whenever they've had DLC it's always been free and they've never done this microtransaction thing with Sonic on consoles. Ever. Even that stupid Super Sonic stunt they tried to pull with Forces not only ended up being free forever but started off free anyway (It was still bullshit but the point still stands).

I feel like, at least when it comes to this, they're allowed at least a tiny bit of the benefit of the doubt. I know they're a corporation and they do a lot of dumb shit and I call them out on it all the time. Hell, the fact that they allowed the Sonic movie to happen this way is unforgivable. But I don't like being the kind of person who also isn't willing to recognize when they have a consistent pattern of doing something good too. 

[Fire-N-Space]

27 minutes ago, Ruomarta said:

Dude, you're not using ACTUAL money get these parts. It's just in-game currency.

I don't mean gambling literally, in TSR you put your in game coins in a slot machine and win parts at random.

Wow, three people thought I was talking about real money lol!

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, Fire-N-Space said:

I don't mean gambling literally, in TSR you put your in game coins in a slot machine and win parts at random.

Wow, three people thought I was talking about real money lol!

 

gambling

1. 1.

   play games of chance for money; bet.

   "she was fond of gambling on cards and horses"

   synonyms:

   bet, wager, place a bet, lay a bet, stake money on something, back the horses, try one's luck on the horses; More

Of course three people thought you were talking about real money. That's literally what gambling is. It's not a substitute for "getting things at random". 

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Dr. Detective Mike said:

 

gambling

1. 1.

   play games of chance for money; bet.

   "she was fond of gambling on cards and horses"

   synonyms:

   bet, wager, place a bet, lay a bet, stake money on something, back the horses, try one's luck on the horses; More

Of course three people thought you were talking about real money. That's literally what gambling is. It's not a substitute for "getting things at random". 

Video game characters can also gamble away their in game money. 

[Eurisko]

7 hours ago, Ruomarta said:

Dude, you're not using ACTUAL money get these parts. It's just in-game currency.

And thank God for that eh? in a climate where so many games release with microtransactions its great to see Sega holding back on that.

[Badnik Mechanic]

A new car!

Now there's also something else really interesting about this tweet...

It's true! I couldn't believe it when it was pointed out to me! That costume has not been used for years and suddenly here it is! 

Wonder if it means that Sega have all the other old Sonic costumes somewhere.

[Jango]

Yeah, couldn't help but notice the SOAP shoes. Pretty neat. I wonder if these are all little clues teasing the remake.

[Ruomarta]

27 minutes ago, Jango said:

Yeah, couldn't help but notice the SOAP shoes. Pretty neat. I wonder if these are all little clues teasing the remake.

I'm not telling you to not dream, but I seriously wouldn't look into that too much.

[Tracker_TD]

Yeah, don’t look into the mascot thing. That mascot suit has seen surprisngly regular use at events for years - it was used at a Japan Relief Fund event of some kind a couple years back and more recently last year at a SEGA sponsored sports game or something (alongside SEGA’s sports mascots who look like Ristar gone way of Uekawa)

[Jango]

I know, just imagining. 

[DabigRG]

3 hours ago, Mayor D said:

A new car!

Now there's also something else really interesting about this tweet...

It's true! I couldn't believe it when it was pointed out to me! That costume has not been used for years and suddenly here it is! 

Wonder if it means that Sega have all the other old Sonic costumes somewhere.

Perhaps.

1 hour ago, Jango said:

Yeah, couldn't help but notice the SOAP shoes. Pretty neat. I wonder if these are all little clues teasing the remake.

I'd kinda hope not. 

[Jango]

I don't know man... While I'd prefer a brand new game from Sonic Team, as concerning as... that sounds... *ahem*, a Sonic Adventure remake could shed some light in this dark period we're going through right now with the crappy movie and no sign of a Mania 2 yet.

I think it's one of those things "you didn't knew you wanted untill you actually see it" ya know? Picture Windy Valley in crispy HD graphics like the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

[Milo]

22 hours ago, do a barrel roll said:

I would like an Adventure remake someday, but not by Sonic Team of Japan. They already made a remake of Adventure for the GameCube, and it was pretty much inferior to the original Dreamcast version.

Adventure DX was a "enhanced" port, not a remake of the original game (although that's not to detract from your point, the term "enhanced" is rather dubious in the case of that game and I wouldn't trust them to handle a remake properly either).

As for franchise management, I think the only way we'll honestly know where Sonic goes from here is what the circumstances of the production for the next mainline (/ platforming) game is. Which might not be for a while (Iizuka confirmed that it had entered production during the SXSW Sonic panel). As it stands though, it seems over the past few years, Iizuka has been busy juggling dual roles as the head of CS2/Sonic Team back in Japan with Forces' production and being the series producer over at America with TSR and Mania [Plus]'s production. I can't imagine that's going to carry on forever though as that sounds extremely exhausting.

[Multikaris]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 1:48 PM, DabigRG said:

There's a simple, one word explanation for that:  timing.

Remember that when Colors came out, Sonic was something people talked about for being bad and full of itself. People commonly bring up Shadow packing heat, Sonic's   being kissed by a human, Sonic turning Werewolf as things to make fun of and the fact that two of those games were generally considered bad and controversial didn't help.  Ever since Shadow was added to the series, there was a mostly consistent drive to make things even darker, edgier, and more epic than the last and it just got ridiculous in conjunction with a drop in quality.

To break out of that trend, they changed how the series carried itself again in 2010. SonicTeam had a willingness to joke about how the series generally goes and even poke fun at some the sillier things they've done. Things got better with Colors and arguably Unleashed for two reasons: the tone became lighthearted again and SEGA started to focus on solid gameplay again. And it was refreshing, even humbling at the time and the series picked up momentum.

But as some ya'll love to say nowadays, things took another downturn after Generations. Lost World was generally polarizing and accused of cribbing, the Sonic Boom subseries got meddled with and became known for either the disastrous Wii U game or the TV show that was generally satirical, and after a four year hiatus, Forces came out. The latter speaks somewhat clearly as something of a ill conceived attempt to appeal to those who want things to be how they were in the Dreamcast era while and insufficiently downplaying some of hallmarks people were getting tired of from the Modern--mostly failing to really do either on top of being it's own well made thing. 

What went wrong to cause this both of these trends: Oversaturation. They had a big success and got acclaim from people from a particular element or two and thus tried almost constantly to replicate those same feelings across many following games. Unfortunately, a combination of missing the poin and doing the same thing over & over caused people to get tired and a drop of quality to the games themselves made people turn on them. This is notable in the Modern era's case because it was primarily conceived to absolve those complaints. This was in conjunction with SEGAs attempt to launch a subseries that mostly failed outside the TVshow, which itself partly channeled some of the stuff people were getting tired of. And I don't wanna repeat what a desperate, half-hearted "course correction" Forces was. 

It really didn't help that, unlike the Dreamcast and early Modern era, we didn't many spinoffs and side games to tide us over and vary things up in between. That hiatus I mentioned before was made of nothing more than a few Boom things and a bunch of phone games. Sonic Runners was a fun little episode venture that, much like Generations, celebrated the game franchise in general. That was really nice, but unforunately it was just a phone game and thus many of us didn't/couldn't appreciate it too much. Thus, we were mostly stuck with mainline games that were constantly treated as having something to prove.

So yes, Team Sonic Racing is indeed a breath of fresh air. A low stakes side project that just encourages to have fun playing a dumb video game on an actual console again. And that's okay.

Also, there's several characters we haven't heard much from recently that will be heard again. (though they were in some cases seen plenty via stuff like comics and mobile games) Though not all of them seem to be in (like Cream, the Rogues, etc). Plus this is also a breath of fresh air QUALITY-wise, due to things like ROL and their complete lack of energy.  

[The Tenth Doctor]

Caddicarus got a chance to play it, he gives his thoughts in a vlog style video. Really positive actually.