How is it that non-canon (or even fanon) Sonic series (comics) are doing better than the main games themselves?

[Mountaindewandsprite]

Any ideas?

[Diogenes]

Being canon is not inherently linked to quality?

Sonic Team sucks. They've sucked for a long time. This series has been falling to pieces for a long time because of that. It shouldn't be a surprise that there are people out there who can do better.

[SaturnWolf]

I do imagine part of it is that fan projects don't have nearly as many people to answer to or hoops to jump through as officially licensed material.

Not hiring writers that have no love or passion for the source material also can never go wrong.

[Dr. Detective]

What it is doesn't matter. Who's making it does. 

[Strickerx5]

2 hours ago, Mountaindewandsprite said:

Any ideas?

This is certainly an interesting discussion point, though I'd highly recommend taking a look at the forum guidelines. You need to put more effort into the initial post to further strengthen the discussion. As it stands now, this could've very easily been a status update.

I'd advise updating your post to include more detail like your own feelings on the topic. Seeing as there's already post being made I won't lock it this time but, going forward, understand that this isn't the norm.

[dbzfan7]

Well non canon or more specifically fanon is not held down by mandates and breathing down the neck so...that is probably part of the reason.

[Mountaindewandsprite]

1 hour ago, Strickerx5 said:

This is certainly an interesting discussion point, though I'd highly recommend taking a look at the forum guidelines. You need to put more effort into the initial post to further strengthen the discussion. As it stands now, this could've very easily been a status update.

I'd advise updating your post to include more detail like your own feelings on the topic. Seeing as there's already post being made I won't lock it this time but, going forward, understand that this isn't the norm.

Alrighty!

[Dr. Mechano]

I think "non-canon" is a bit of a moot point when it comes to the Sonic games, whose "continuity" is a disjointed, confusing mess that seems to wildly change from game to game. 

Forces alone references Generations (Sonic remembering Classic Sonic) while simultaneously appearing to retcon Generations' entire premise (Classic being from "another dimension" instead of the past).

I think that, even if there perhaps once was a cohesive Sonic canon, there sure isn't one now. It feels like it's written by a child, who's just throwing whatever he thinks sounds cool at the time into the story, regardless of whether it contradicts or clashes with previous lore. 

[JezMM]

Just in the interest of fairness, do consider the fact that comics can do whatever the hell they like as long as it doesn't break branding rules laid down by SEGA and the artist can draw what needs to be drawn.

When Sonic Team write stories for the games, those stories have to have everything modelled, animated, rigged, voice acted in many different languages, scored, have sound effects applied, tested, compressed, made to line up with the game's aesthetic concepts like themes and mechanical concepts like level progression.

It's much more reasonable that a team of creative individuals might either fuck up or not have the budget/time to complete the story as they originally envisioned it, especially if changes to the game end up causing the story to become incompatible and need reworking.

 

That's just comparing the points that both media have in common - presenting a narrative.  If we break down everything each respective product needs to be good:

Comics:

• Visuals
• Story

Games:

• Visuals
• Story
• Sound
• Gameplay
• Replay Value

A comic needs to be good at two things to be considered 100% good.  One could argue that Sonic Forces did good on visuals and sound at least, two things, but that still results in an overall 40% good product.

This is massively simplifying it, but hopefully my point makes sense.

 

That's the nice way of being fair.  The slightly more brutal form would be "the comic team are good at what they do, the game team are mediocre at what they do" - but the fact is neither do what the other does so it wouldn't be fair to compare them.

Of course it's perfectly possible that the comics team could write the next Sonic game and it will have an amazing story, but if changes in the game mean the story has to have modifications that - due to time pressures - cause it to fall apart... well that's not necessarily the development team "ruining" the great story the comic guys wrote - that's just game development.

[Gumbit]

Simply because they don't care , just pick the money and run away . Fans care so much about the characters , and when you care so much about anything , you wouldn't accept its downgraded .

[Marco9966]

It's a shame that there are all these interesting characters that used to have their own stories and be playable, and are now cheerleaders.

We wouldn't even get beloved characters like Chaotix, Shadow, BLAZE, Silver and KNUCKLES and TAILS if these games wanted "only Sonic playable".

[Red Hot Jack]

Yeah non canon hardly matters. The comics have a talented team that brings passion and effort to the art and writing, which means quality. Sonic Team aren't talented at all. Sega's weird decisions are a thing too, but now they also control the comics so I'm not sure, the comics are still amazing despite that.

[ShadowSJG]

8 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

It's a shame that there are all these interesting characters that used to have their own stories and be playable, and are now cheerleaders.

We wouldn't even get beloved characters like Chaotix, Shadow, BLAZE, Silver and KNUCKLES and TAILS if these games wanted "only Sonic playable".

06 killed the many characters formula

[Mountaindewandsprite]

Everybody brings up the best point of being held back by mandates and the like. I hadn't thought about that.

[Sonictrainer]

6 hours ago, ShadowSJG said:

06 killed the many characters formula

That came out 12 years ago and was in development hell.

There's no excuse anymore.

[Diogenes]

27 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

That came out 12 years ago and was in development hell.

There's no excuse anymore.

Excuse: Sonic Team has proven that they can't handle even one playable character properly. They recently tried with 3 and produced an absolute turd.

[Soniman]

Between the comics (Archie and IDW),Mania,Mania Adventures and even the Boom show you get the impression that literally everyone who works on Sonic has a genuine passion for it except Sonic Team and that’s really sad

[Mountaindewandsprite]

3 hours ago, Soniman said:

Between the comics (Archie and IDW),Mania,Mania Adventures and even the Boom show you get the impression that literally everyone who works on Sonic has a genuine passion for it except Sonic Team and that’s really sad

Yeah. That is the reason why some people have called for either ST to replace their current  staff or just give the rights to another company.