Why do some fans hate the spindash?

[Guergy]

I remember how a long time ago, I heard once from another forum I frequent that Sonic 2 was a polarizing game due to introduction of the spindash. I had Sonic 2 when I was a kid but I had no idea that many fans hated the spindash. I never thought much of the mechanic or even how the mechanic supposedly 'breaks' the game, I just never saw it as anything to fret over. What are fair criticisms of the spindash mechanic and it is place in the series? 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Many people thought that Sonic should be solely a marble controlled by the momentum of the game and giving him his own way of building up speed quickly even on flat ground was a betrayal of that. 

Thankfully, they're proven wrong by the fact that Sonic 2 is easily more fun than Sonic 1.

[Guest]

Sonic 1 gets a lot of flack for, ironically, being too slow in certain sections, and too difficult to build up speed if momentum is lost. If anything, spin-dash helped fix this. Idk how anyone could hate it.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Hating the spin dash?

I...must be a little out of the loop in some circles because after almost 30 years, this is a first that I’m hearing.

I can’t imagine playing a Classic title without a spin dash after Sonic 1.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

I'm pretty sure that's an extremely uncommon opinion. I can see where it's coming from, not having it does make it more challenging to gain momentum and I can see the merits of that. I usually play Sonic 1 in its original form without the spin dash and I like it that way. But I most definitely like the spin dash in general and think it's a great boon to most games it's in.

[StaticMania]

They should make another game without it

[Mountaindewandsprite]

Tbh, I've never heard of anybody who hated the spin dash. In fact, I've seen numerous people saying they prefer it over the boost.

[batson]

I have some conflicting opinions on the spin dash. On the one hand, I love it. I love performing it and the classic games in which it feature are my favorite games in the franchise.

On the other hand, I am also very fashinated with the idea of Sonic 1 where the only way to build up speed is to take advantage of the environment, and I wouldn't mind seeing this concept being done (if done well) in a 3D game.

[Piko]

The only issue I can think of is that the spin dash lets you build up speed right off the bat. In Sonic 1, you have to use your surroundings to build momentum which, while it can be pretty hard to pull off, is way more rewarding.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Fans that hate the spindash? Did I miss something?

[Guergy]

On 3/22/2021 at 8:45 AM, DaddlerTheDalek said:

Fans that hate the spindash? Did I miss something?

I thought that way too until I discovered the internet. It seems like they how it interferes with the marble momentum physics of the first game.

[Wraith]

How well it works depends on how well it's balanced. In the classic games, the "hitch" in your flow that comes from having to stop and charge it is enough of a detriment that you won't want to use it all the time. It also just...isn't always a good idea to mindlessly charge forward in a 2D game, even if you are a hitbox during the move. Speedrunners still use it basically all the time though so it might be worth considering nerfing the charge time or something. 

Sonic Adventure onward though I could see hating the mechanic. It's way too good most of the time and also your only way of curling up. "Optimal" Sonic Adventure play seems to boil down to mashing B with a few well timed spindash jumps mixed in. It can feel pretty satisfying to carve your own path through the level but completely ignoring the level design aside from the placement of some objects to do so probably isn't the best way to go about it.

Sonic Adventure 2 made a few smart changes when it came to reigning it in, but I think that the main thing those games were missing was an easy way to curl while running. Combine that with Sa2's spindash and I think you might have had two options to gain speed that balanced each-other out well.

 

[KnuxDLX]

I lived for spindash in Sonic 2. They wanted to show us something new that Sonic could do, and I think most would agree that it worked beautifully.

 

It was (like many things) clunkier in CD but by Adventure it was clear that the spindash is always going to be one of Sonic’s signature moves. A2 added some fun mechanics even though it seemed a little less intuitive and there was a greater danger of spindashing into outer space.

 

I would say spindash is only bad in Brawl where it’s basically just the easiest way to roll off the stage and KO.

[NintendoSoul]

Hating the spindash? That's next level nostalgia goggling if I ever heard it. Most classis fans I interacted with don't get that extreme.

[OwlEyes]

On 3/20/2021 at 6:15 PM, Shaddy Zaphod said:

Many people thought that Sonic should be solely a marble controlled by the momentum of the game and giving him his own way of building up speed quickly even on flat ground was a betrayal of that. 

Thankfully, they're proven wrong by the fact that Sonic 2 is easily more fun than Sonic 1.

I agree. I can't even stomach playing the original Sonic w/o having the spindash added in.... it actually MADE sonic.