The ONE thing STH06 got right.

[Cortez]

Even though I don't like how skinny and tall the characters were in '06, I agree that their eyes look very real and beautiful. That's probably the only thing I like about the game though, next to the music.

Yeah those eyes on the normal designs would look fantastic. And whoops, completely forgot about the music, that was superb too, though perhaps too serious for a Sonic game imo.

[lounge]

Yeah, the eye's are pretty beautiful. I also liked the main character models, especially the brightness on Tails eyes. They just needed to animate sonic's brow exagerrations and mouth better. I don't like Shadow's model though. His face just doesn't look good.

[Aquaslash]

Wow, I never looked at them like that before. Those eyes sure are pretty. I like the color on Rouge's especially (was always fond of that teal)

[Guest Jordan4K6]

I don't see anything bad about Sonic 06. I love everything about it, and the less than 20 second loading screens and glitches never bothered me. Though the stages are kinda too long. We need a game with 06's style and Sonic Adventure 2's gameplay. And bring back the chao!

[Ebby]

Hmm, those actually are very nice eyes! They're very vivid and they look full of life. We can actually give the game credit for that one! The music? Eh... I know no one agrees but I think most of the music was just too darn epic sounding to be in a Sonic game.

But hey "Dreams of an Absolution" (the original please) is still the best character theme ever.

[JezMM]

I personally think the soundtrack and level design (sans enemy horde areas) was done right too, but that's just me. D8 They are purdy eyes though. Something was almost piercing about them at times mind you. I overall prefer the softer look of all the characters in Unleashed.

[redmenace]

The level design... depends. There are some which are pretty good, some just horrid. Wave Ocean, White Acropolis and Flame Core were despicable, especially because they were the obvious tributes to Adventure levels and they were poor imitations, Dusty Desert and Tropical Jungle were also tributes to former levels (desert and forest levels) but Sonic needed to carry Elise around (already horrid) and use her special powers to travel across sand / water (even more horrid). Aquatic Base e is this misc of interesting with systematic that makes me not play it often, Radical Trains was a throwback at the Heroes levels and had different kinds of gimmicks so enjoyable and this with Crysis Core and (less) Kingdom Valley are awesome. End of the world had an interesting concept but if feels like they had no time to do a final level and just ran with it, which is quite probable. All the adventure fields and boss fights sucked except the Egg Genesis.

In my opinion, even the models looked wrong mostly. Sure the eyes were beautiful, but long Sonic and associates and overall Eggman were painfull to look at in my opinion.

Edited November 10, 2009 by redmenace

[Barry the Nomad]

Okay, I know this has been said time and time again, but I just hate this game. I picked it up again last night and played Sonic's story from the warehouse battle to White Acropolis. Comparing everything Sonic had done up to '06 and everything he has done since '06 to '06 itself made me realize how broken and just plain awful this game is.

This moment infuriated me: "would you like to collect rings for the hotel?" -> loading -> "Collect rings!" -> loading -> awkward mini-game of randomly appearing numbered crates and speed pads, including a locked spring that I easily cheated by bypassing via standing on a stop sign and jumping to the next spring -> loading -> "you did it!")

Then White Acropolis hit. Oh. My. God. I was on the snowboard, yet had running controls. So awkward! There was no gravity or inertia pulling me down the hill, I could easily go up the hill just as I could go down. And the pits didn't help either.

The ONE redeeming factor was the music. Sad thing is, I want to play more of '06 just to torture myself.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Doctor Eggman

[Blue Blood]

Hmm, those actually are very nice eyes! They're very vivid and they look full of life. We can actually give the game credit for that one! The music? Eh... I know no one agrees but I think most of the music was just too darn epic sounding to be in a Sonic game.

But hey "Dreams of an Absolution" (the original please) is still the best character theme ever.

I agree actually. While some tracks weren't epic/serious/dark sounding, like the Waters Edge, the style didn't blend with Sonic. This was a critical improvement that Unleashed brought- there were several synthetic sounds and melodies in every track. Some of the 06 music was impossible to hum along too.

[Semi-colon e]

The level design... depends. There are some which are pretty good, some just horrid. Wave Ocean, White Acropolis and Flame Core were despicable, especially because they were the obvious tributes to Adventure levels and they were poor imitations

Er what? White Acropolis is nothing like Ice Cap except for the snowboarding, it's set at night, the music and feel is very different, there's no icy cave, it's much more open, and it's an Eggman base. Having only played parts of Sonic 06, White Acropolis was one of my favourite levels (of the first 4 lol).

I liked the attempt at attention to detail as well. All the little things like Sonic's running animation, the cracks in the pavements, the footstep things, the pitter patter as he runs, that sort of stuff makes it feel so much more alive. Unfortunately, time was lacking. It could have been so epic =/ I'd like another White Acropolis styled level again. No, I'm not joking. Eggman having an icy base and Sonic sneak into it? Feasible imo and "Sonicy" enough for me.

[Blue Blood]

I think the level design of 06 was vastly let down by scripted events (you can hold the controller 32 seconds in Shadows Crisis City while the game plays itself), overuse of rails, 'enemy chambers' and of course, terrible controls. But the actual style of them was more like SA1 than any of the other 3D games. There's:

SA1 Style

SA2 Style

Heroes Style

Unleashed Style

Heroes style was reused quite poorly in Shadow, and SA1 style was brought back in 06. It was pretty terrible to play in 06, but was my favourite 3D style.

[azoo]

If the level design was placed in with SA1's gameplay (or maybe even Unleashed's gameplay for that matter), and they replaced all the scripted crap and dash panels, it would've been gold. But the physics-less and overly clunky and slow controls, dash panels and stuff ruined it. I was actually proud of how the first part of Kingdom Valley (for Sonic) has so many alternate routes hidden in it; it blew my mind to play a 3D Sonic game that actually had non-linearity and several paths.

Actually, I think right now I'm gonna list (from greatest to least) the stages that had the biggest potential to be amazing levels if those things didn't tie them down:

Kingdom Valley

Crisis City

Flame Core

White Acropolis

Aquatic Base

Tropical Jungle

Dusty Desert

Radical Train

Wave Ocean

Edited November 11, 2009 by Azukara

[Blue Blood]

If the level design was placed in with SA1's gameplay (or maybe even Unleashed's gameplay for that matter), and they replaced all the scripted crap and dash panels, it would've been gold. But the physics-less and overly clunky and slow controls, dash panels and stuff ruined it. I was actually proud of how the first part of Kingdom Valley (for Sonic) has so many alternate routes hidden in it; it blew my mind to play a 3D Sonic game that actually had non-linearity and several paths.

Oh bloody hell. That can't be stressed enough. Kingdom Valley The Air was wonderfully crafted. You start off on a straight forward path that's simple enough, but then in branches in so many way. Up, down, left and right. Fantastic. Dusty Desert and Tropical Jungle also meet this. They were very well made. Apart from the "walk anywhere" issue with Dusty Desert. Bleck. Holding Elise didn't make difference really.

[Phos]

I'd like to point out that Sonic 06 had an overabundance of bottomless pits, and the levels that didn't had too many enemies and or random hazards (I'm looking at you, Flame Core).

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

The reason they made the eyes look like that was to coincide with the whole 'realism' bit which the fans later shunned. It's your fault they went back that way.

Seriously, though. Realism can be plugged into this franchise if it's done the RIGHT WAY, and we all know the huge, gaping whirlwind of WRONG StH 06 was.

The best models were probably the refined SA2 ones in SA2:B; it was a perfect mixture of leanness and classic proportions. Sonic had a V-taper but he also had a belly on him.

Edited November 13, 2009 by nUcLeArEnVoY

[Chooch]

Sonic '06 did a lot more right than people give it credit for and if it weren't for the bugs and loading times everyone would love the damn game.

The ideas they had for each character's gameplay were solid, the soundtrack was one of the best the series has ever had (I'd be pretty quick to say better than Sonic Adventure 2), there were a lot of little missions to do that added to the replay value, a lot of levels were really well put together (I love Crisis City, Kingdom Valley, and Flame Core with Sonic) and well.. I like Silver.

Part of me thinks the only reason Silver gets so much hate is because he debuted in a not-so-good game. Everyone started hating on Shadow after his game wasn't up to par (I actually liked it quite a bit) when years before some of those same people were in love with him. It's stupid to suddenly think a character is worthless because you didn't like the game you were playing and I honestly question whether or not people would think Blaze was a stupid character if the general consensus was that the Rush games were bad.

[Legendary Emerald]

Sonic '06 did a lot more right than people give it credit for and if it weren't for the bugs and loading times everyone would love the damn game.

The ideas they had for each character's gameplay were solid, the soundtrack was one of the best the series has ever had (I'd be pretty quick to say better than Sonic Adventure 2), there were a lot of little missions to do that added to the replay value, a lot of levels were really well put together (I love Crisis City, Kingdom Valley, and Flame Core with Sonic) and well.. I like Silver.

This.

Everytime I see someone post something that begins with "the one thing STH06 got right", or ends something with "at least it's better than 06", I get really upset. Yes, it is just their opinion, but it completely goes against mine in a way that never fails to get a rise out of me. I realize this is my problem, and not theirs, but still...

I loved the storyline in 2006, even if some of the writing could have been a bit better. For a non-Jun Sonic soundtrack, I was genuinly surprised by how amazing most of it was. The missions, despite taking a long time to load, were mostly interesting and well worth completing if for no other reason than to extend the play time (and the missions were on the whole a lot more fun than the ones in previous Sonic games). Hell, I even collected all the silver medals in the town stages with both Sonic and Shadow!

Most of the levels ranged from good to great, and the only levels I don't like are Shadow's ice level (because of that damned buggy), and Silver's desert level (because of that damned billiard ball). Then there are the optional hard missions, which despite being mostly the same as the originals, are still fun to play through. Hell, you can buy even HARDER missions if you want to (I've only bought Sonic's hard missions), and the 360 version is supposed to have an Amigos mode.

The leaves the game with three flaws: long load times (which don't bother me at all except during missions; using dial-up for 8 years tends to give one abnormal patience), glitches (most of which can be avoided once you've played through the level), and Amy (oh god, what went wrong there?). Three, admittedly big, flaws. However, three mistakes does not a bad game, make in my opinion.

Anyways, I've gone far off topic. Yes, the eyes in Sonic 2006 were really cool looking. In fact, I thought the character redesigns as a whole were amazing. I still laugh whenever someone says "Sonic is as tall as the humans in 2006", because it obviously shows they've never played the game.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Legendary Emerald

[Semi-colon e]

The levels in 06 weren't that bad from the little I've played, but the town crap really slows it down. Otherwise I agree. It had many good and bad ideas, just the good ideas weren't always implemented well. And I even enjoyed Crisis City's speed section and only died once right at the very end, which was lollers.

I died like 6 times on Flame Core and got a game over though, kept falling off the first running wall bit, I sense if I ever play again Flame Core is gonna be a bitch (a bitch with awesome music, mind).

Also Sonic having so little story relevance annoyed me. You get him running around dodging searchights, chased by whales, and going through destroyed cities etc. For what? OH NO I GOTTA SAVE ELISE

Fuck sake.

[JaidynReiman]

I...disagree... what about the music? That is by far the best thing about the game. (Frankly, though, I also quite liked the plot... *shot*)

[azoo]

Nextgen had a ton of good ideas and a ton of terrible ideas, yet just about ALL the good ideas were poorly implemented, leaving Nextgen to not really have that much redeeming qualities about it, period (probably minus the music, the in-game character models and how some of the levels looked).

I'd like to point out that Sonic 06 had an overabundance of bottomless pits, and the levels that didn't had too many enemies and or random hazards (I'm looking at you, Flame Core).

I will say that while Crisis City and Tropical Jungle had some nasty, annoying bottomless pits (not helping that it seemed both of these stages were practically built over them), Kingdom Valley's bottomless pits didn't bother me too much. And random hazards and too many enemies isn't exactly the fault of the level design, but because of the horrid object placement. I'd place that complaint in the same folder as the one that mentions the overabundance of dash panels and super-automated springs.

[Blue Blood]

After playing 06 and Unleashed today, it is clear which has the better models, animations, effects, colours and all that- Unleashed. However, 06 has not been bested in terms of texture quality. In Unleashed textures are very often stretched, thus making the look blurred and pixelated. 06 on the other hand uses a greater variety with much greater detail. Just go look at the sand in Jungle Joyride and compare it to Wave Ocean. In fact, do the same with the palm leaves and wooden platforms.

[azoo]

And of course, people will complain that Nextgen had very repetitive textures on large walls (like if you look in the background of Dusty Desert and see the giant rock walls). However, when do you ever see a game that isn't made in the Unreal Engine (or the Hedgehog Engine for that matter) that doesn't have repetitive wall textures? Hey, don't lie, even Green Hill did in Sonic 1. =P

And I agree with that, Blue Blood. The quality of the little things in that game are absolutely gorgeous. Those little tidbits from Wave Ocean that you mentioned are great examples of this, and I can't help but smile every time I see how much care some of the graphics department put into this game. Sure, it wasn't as top-notch as Unleashed by any means, but it definitely didn't deserve to be considered the same level graphics as a 6th gen game. It surely had impressive graphics (and a beautiful 60 fps to boot), but it wasn't pushing the limits of the 7th gen capabilities as what Unleashed did.

[Marcello]

Sonic '06 did a lot more right than people give it credit for and if it weren't for the bugs and loading times everyone would love the damn game.

The ideas they had for each character's gameplay were solid, the soundtrack was one of the best the series has ever had (I'd be pretty quick to say better than Sonic Adventure 2), there were a lot of little missions to do that added to the replay value, a lot of levels were really well put together (I love Crisis City, Kingdom Valley, and Flame Core with Sonic) and well.. I like Silver.

Part of me thinks the only reason Silver gets so much hate is because he debuted in a not-so-good game. Everyone started hating on Shadow after his game wasn't up to par (I actually liked it quite a bit) when years before some of those same people were in love with him. It's stupid to suddenly think a character is worthless because you didn't like the game you were playing and I honestly question whether or not people would think Blaze was a stupid character if the general consensus was that the Rush games were bad.

I wouldn't say that (The bold part). I thought Tails was sucky. I mean Dummy Rings? >_>. But the rest is pretty much right, though I do like the SA2 music more.

[Chooch]

To be honest I wasn't even really thinking about the 'Amigo' characters and moreso the main three hedgehogs.

Tails' gameplay was laughably bad, yeah. My apologies. ;

[Legendary Emerald]

Are you kidding? Tails was fun as hell to play as! His running speed may have been slow, but when flying, he was almost as fast as Sonic. Dropping dummies rings on top of robot's from the sky = priceless. Staying on the ground and aiming was NOT how the character was meant to be played, and I laugh when people don't realize this.

Gamma's (I'm sorry, OMEGA's) game play was fun as well, except it could have used a targeting cross hair. Rouge was fun for the same reason as Tails, but she was unfortunately marred by the wall clinging glitch. Blaze was amazing, and I wish she had gotten her own storyline to play through. Silver was definitely unique, and even though his attacks didn't hit their target every time, the system worked and was more than enjoyable.

Sonic is Sonic; what else needs to be said about that? All of Shadow's vehicles with the exception of the buggy were pretty fun to play with, if not a little difficult to master (looking at you, motorcycle). The only characters that got shit gameplay were Amy, Knuckles, and (arguably) Rouge. Even then, the IDEA behind their respective gameplay style was solid... except maybe Amy. Don't know WHAT the fuck they were thinking when they turned her into The Invisible Woman.