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The Boost: Was It A Mistake?


Multikaris

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1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

 

Hard to say. Ignoring some of the whispers we've gotten from leaks, we do have confirmation that Sonic can level up. So there is still the possibility we are looking at a LV 1 boost here.

 

Even the homeing attack looks noticeably tamer (no contrails) so there is the possibility that we are being shown weaker versions of where some of these moves might end up.  We might not know for sure until we get a peek at the level up skill tree.

Assuming we get to see that here. 

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I'm really trying to understand this critique of Boost games level design but it just seems like you're basing all of it on Forces and the opening levels of Unleashed/Colors/Gens. Forces deserves all of it of course, Sonic Team took something that worked and dumbed it so far down it turned into a caricature, but the simplifying the other 3 boost games into corridoor simulators is pretty insulting to how well designed their 3D gameplay is (Colors much less so but there are a few very solid 3D areas that make the presence of the 2D gimmick acts even more painful).

As for the boost itself, I'm personally cool with it. Even though I grew up with the 2000s games, I wasn't fond of the increased focus on action vs the speed platforming that I wanted more of. Whenever I replayed SA1, Heroes or Shadow, I always picked the stages that let me ignore as much tedious nonsense as possible. The Boost games are basically more streamlined versions of older 3D Sonic, trimming out the unwanted level padding and going all in on speed with some traditional platforming, and this is why I think it's been overall successful with critics and general consumers. On an related note, I never understood the argument that the Boost can't work as a full game without padding when literally every 3D Sonic game except maybe LW is balls to the walls full of padding.

I also think it's way more a distinct playstyle for Sonic vs whatever was going on from Heroes-Werehog. Hoping those Frontier leaks were legit and that the "Cyberspace" levels actually are Generations-boost style, wanna see if they learned their lesson from Forces and try to actually improve on what Gens established.

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25 minutes ago, moonarcana said:

I'm really trying to understand this critique of Boost games level design but it just seems like you're basing all of it on Forces and the opening levels of Unleashed/Colors/Gens. Forces deserves all of it of course, Sonic Team took something that worked and dumbed it so far down it turned into a caricature, but the simplifying the other 3 boost games into corridoor simulators is pretty insulting to how well designed their 3D gameplay is (Colors much less so but there are a few very solid 3D areas that make the presence of the 2D gimmick acts even more painful).

As for the boost itself, I'm personally cool with it. Even though I grew up with the 2000s games, I wasn't fond of the increased focus on action vs the speed platforming that I wanted more of. Whenever I replayed SA1, Heroes or Shadow, I always picked the stages that let me ignore as much tedious nonsense as possible. The Boost games are basically more streamlined versions of older 3D Sonic, trimming out the unwanted level padding and going all in on speed with some traditional platforming, and this is why I think it's been overall successful with critics and general consumers. On an related note, I never understood the argument that the Boost can't work as a full game without padding when literally every 3D Sonic game except maybe LW is balls to the walls full of padding.

I also think it's way more a distinct playstyle for Sonic vs whatever was going on from Heroes-Werehog. Hoping those Frontier leaks were legit and that the "Cyberspace" levels actually are Generations-boost style, wanna see if they learned their lesson from Forces and try to actually improve on what Gens established.

But they didn't remove it. They just seemingly neutered it to only add a small boost in speed and removed the aura. 

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10 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

But they didn't remove it. They just seemingly neutered it to only add a small boost in speed and removed the aura. 

Yeah I know, I just mean I hope these Cyberspace levels end up being designed more like Gens instead of Forces

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Personally speaking - no. I do think the boost gameplay and formula ended up butchered by the time we got to Forces, the exact same way that 06 did the same job to the Adventure style back in 2006, but I don't think it's particularly fair to say that it was a mistake. 

I don't really think it's particularly fair to act as if the boost formula is just a press down and win button, that it invalidates all level design that comes along with it. As someone who put in the hard work to platinum and 100% each and every single boost title, games like Unleashed will utterly kick your ass if you aren't constantly making full usage of Sonic's abilities, knowing when to use each ability in tantum with one another, where to take short-cuts, where to react, etc. And while it's nowhere near as brutal as Unleashed is with it's difficulty - Generations employs the very same deal when it comes to wanting to actually do good in it's levels.

The boost mechanic relies on the level design around it to compliment it, to make it work - and the same could be said of the Adventure style. There's a stark contrast between the design of say - Ice Cap from SA1, and White Acropolis in Sonic 06. One compliments and makes the gameplay style really work well, making it a super fun set-piece that changes up the gameplay well, the other is a tedious, boring, awfully-controlled slog because on top of the controls not being up to snuff, the level design itself doesn't remotely work well with it. 

It's the same for the boost formula, games like Unleashed compliment it with easy to pick up, but hard to master controls and level design that really encourage you to practice and work hard to get better at the game, while Forces just makes it boost to win, with the odd occasions of having to be careful in 2D segments. There's a great deal of difference trying to master even Unleashed's earlier levels, and Forces' latest levels. I think it's certainly a different take, and I do think it's fair to either dislike it compared to the Adventure or Classic gameplay, if it's not your cup of tea - but I certainly don't think it's fair to call it a mistake that could never have happened.

Do I think it could do with being changed up? Yeah, I do - it has sort of grown stagnant at this point (although I blame that partially to Forces again), but I don't think that's a fault of the boost formula either. If it was Classic, or Adventure, or hell - if it somehow got popular - Lost World's design that ended up in a game like Forces, I still doubt all of the same boring tedious problems would still be present. I think it's more a Sonic Team issue than a Boost issue.

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