Play For Score Or Speed?

[RedYellowBlueCR]

Hey all.

So it seems I have a very interesting situation, and I want to know what your all's input is on the matter. It started way back when I received my first Genesis system for my birthday. My first game was Sonic, naturally. While I let other members of my family play it, I was glued to it 85% of the time. Everybody had a liking for Sonic, it was universal, but I didn't just liked it, I LOVED it. I was so fascinated by the capabilities of Sonic, and how fast he could move. Everybody in my family always took there time, and played it slow so that could get the highest score, but me, I was wreckless and kept moving forward not caring about what could potentially hurt me, my soul purpose objective was to play the game for the speed. So it made me curious, how dose everyone here handle the classics? Do you take it slow, or do you become a speed freak like myself? lol

Edited March 18, 2010 by HighCaliburFun

[Satan]

That's a question I ask myself whenever I sit down to play something. It's fun to see how fast you are at beating something, because that lets you know how good you are at it, but at the same time, I like dicking around and just playing for fun. Usually now when I play it's with somebody else and we just try to finish it before one of us has to go fulfill some obligation or another. I suppose it really just depends on how much time I have on my hands.

[Glenn]

It purely depends on my mood, really (and also, good question)!

Sometimes I'll start, for example, Emerald Hill Zone and get a really good momentum going, and keep trying to maintain it until the goalpost. When something comes along and breaks that momentum, like spikes or a misplaced jump, I almost feel like restarting. Then again, sometimes I won't mind. If I come to a screeching halt near, say, that loop-de-loop with the starpost and the epic amount of rings atop it, I'll hang around and use the platforms to access it. Or even, just thinking about it, the epic ring stash and extra life atop the loop-de-loop in Green Hill Zone, where to access it you must take the "low road" which is, of course, slower.

But if I'm playing Sonic to escape or vent frustration or something, I'll just go purely for speed. My inner Sonic fan wants to stop and soak in all the detail, but sometimes it just ain't practical!

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

I'm pretty much inbetween the two, I try to play the game as fast as possible while trying to get as many points i can from destroying the badniks,rings then a nice fat juicy 50000 time score from the end of the acts:)

Edited March 18, 2010 by Crash

[Nemain]

My favourite way of playing the older games, especially S3&K, is actually ring collecting. I like to see how many I can legitimately get by the end of a given level level, both with and without bonuses/super forms. I think my highest over any level so far without super forms is 831 on Sandopolis Act 1. Certainly helps pass the time on train journeys into university.

I do enjoy a good speed run though, particularly on the newer games. Nothing like getting out of a dull lecture and having a good run about with Sonic to get into a feel good mood!

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

I go for both getting points and going fast. I know going fast gets you points, especially games like Sonic Unleashed. I like to rack up points, while going fast.

[SefHighwind]

I guess it really depends on the game I play. When I play the original Sonic, I normally take it a bit slow for ring collecting so I can nab chaos emeralds, but the only stage I love to speed through is Star Light Zone just because it's built for speed. The original Sonic game is the only one I really haven't mastered as well as Sonic 2 and Sonic 3&K.

Speaking of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3&K, these games I tend to play fast just because I really have the games down. Hell, when I play Sonic 2 I tend to attempt a no death run, but still I haven't been successful. However, these games are the ones I played a lot when I was a kid, so it's only natural that I would play for speed and score at once.

[DMNBT]

My playing style for all Sonic games could be described as "Stop & Go". Normally at tha start of the level I start going as fast as I can until I'm stopped by something, then I start taking it slowly and carefully until I'm confident enough to go back to speed. Then the cycle repeats.

[Mega]

I play for the platforming! Something that modern Sonic games severely lack.

[Solly]

My playing style for all Sonic games could be described as "Stop & Go". Normally at tha start of the level I start going as fast as I can until I'm stopped by something, then I start taking it slowly and carefully until I'm confident enough to go back to speed. Then the cycle repeats.

Yeah, basically this.

But unless it's one of the games that ranks you on performance like the 3D ones, I don't see much point in points. How many people actually care about getting a high score in anything that isn't an fighting game or old arcade/Atari game?

[Vertekins]

It depends on the game.

When it comes to Mega Drive or Game Gear Sonic's, I usually play them casually. Like go with the flow, speed and go slow where it is required. I do make a point about collecting as many rings as I can though and I have a habit of trying not to do an Insta Shield with Sonic in order not to go Hyper because the music gets on my nerves XD Same for Tails and Knuckles. If I want to play destructively and quickly, Hyper forms is all I need.

When it comes to 3D Sonic's especially Unleashed, I go as fast as possible. 360 Unleashed is so excellent for this, it prizes the gamer that has an intimate knowledge of the level layout as well as Sonic's moves and how to apply them. It's pretty fun in SA2 to rev-up a spindash then go rolling fast with momentum through stages, especially ones with steep inclines like Radical Highway or City Escape.

[azoo]

I like to go through the stages using the world to take advantage of my speed and the game's rolling physics, making the stages feel like giant playgrounds. I still believe in going from point A to point B (it's what I usually do), but I've noticed there's more ways to go fast than just going forward, and that's why I loved backtracking in the Genesis games so much. I usually also go with the flow of the stages, trying to keep decent enough momentum, and then when finding a nice big downward slope, I kick it into overdrive by starting up a roll, and then I'm in speed heaven. Of course I also have fun with some platforming areas; they keep the pacing of the stages really fresh.

Of course, the reasoning behind having fun using the world as my playground, going fast and exploring are all exact reasons why I'm against the score and grade-based gameplay of every game since SA2.

[eXtaticus]

It all depends on the game; Sonic Adventure, for example, I play for speed, whereas on Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic '06 I try to find a good compromise between both of them.

I guess I just feel somewhat pressured to attain the highest rank on the games that evaluate my score in that manner (although on Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, I try to complete each level as fast as I can so as to spend as little time playing the game as is humanly possible)...

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Neither. I play for fun, and I couldn't care less if I had -1000000 points or was walking like a snail so long as I have fun with the game. Then again, Sonic Labyrinth wasn't exactly fun because of how slow it is, so I guess I do care about how fast I can go.

[Nepenthe]

I don't play the classics for any specific goal beyond beating a few particular levels or the whole campaigns, and with the exception of a contest or two I've never had the personal incentive to strive for either. However, I started playing for both score and speed when the 3D games rolled around, specifically SA2, Unleashed, and Riders, the former two as me and my brother initiated some speed-running competitions with one other, and the latter for rather obvious reasons.

[-Mark-]

I must say, not once have I ever played a Sonic game with the intent of getting a good score. At the same time though, I don't really play them purely for the sake of speedrunning them, either.

Eh, I guess I'll be boring and say I actually just play them for fun. D: Probably a bit speed-focused though, but it's not like I ever really try to finish the games as quickly as possible.

[RedYellowBlueCR]

This is what I always use to demonstrate to people just how stupid fast I learned to get with these games. xD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD0SyKzNoXU

The first act here is what I show people, the second act, I screwed up to much. lol

Edited March 18, 2010 by HighCaliburFun

[Teoleulbogo]

Points never realy seemed to matter to me, but then again I never tried to zoom through the whole level without realy trying to collect things. I guess you could say I play for the sake of playing, with no real intention of doing anything accept enjoying myself.

[Semi-colon e]

I try to play skilled, as in not get hit, do crazy stunts, bounce off as many things as possible, do spin dash jumps (especially in 3D) which are enormous, and in Sonic CD, Peel Out a lot. In the Rush games, I try to keep my speed up as much as possible.

In later games I get annoyed if I don't get the top rank though

It's really hard to explain, but I try to play as smoothly as possible which is why stop and go zones such as Marble Zone annoy me so much.

[Thirsty Pocket]

I play for the platforming! Something that modern Sonic games severely lack.

Are you a burglar? Because I used to have those exact words in my mouth.

Anyways, occasionally I will put on some extra speed, but only if I played it a lot before... but that goes for non Sonic games too.

[Brianzilla2004]

It's all about the speed. Certainly in the Genesis games, at least. I mean, all you have to do to get a perfect score in the old games is run through a level over and over again, collecting all of the objects and defeating all of the Badniks, then kill yourself and repeat the process over and over. For speed you actually need to be good.

[Saint Nathan]

It purely depends on my mood, really (and also, good question)!

Sometimes I'll start, for example, Emerald Hill Zone and get a really good momentum going, and keep trying to maintain it until the goalpost. When something comes along and breaks that momentum, like spikes or a misplaced jump, I almost feel like restarting.

Hahaha, I have to restart, as I refuse to move past EHZ without every mother fucking emerald. So getting hit EVEN ONCE screws up my chances of getting a good 50 rings up without passing another, Harder than shit bro.

Also Sonic games have a score? I never noticed as it contributes nothing to the gameplay except lives. And for that I have the sirens in Launch Base. Sit near the edge, spindash, let it constantly go off, you'll see what I mean.

Score is nothing. Hell, I play MARIO with the run button held down.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Nathan Speed

[RedYellowBlueCR]

Hahaha, I have to restart, as I refuse to move past EHZ without every mother fucking emerald. So getting hit EVEN ONCE screws up my chances of getting a good 50 rings up without passing another, Harder than shit bro.

Also Sonic games have a score? I never noticed as it contributes nothing to the gameplay except lives. And for that I have the sirens in Launch Base. Sit near the edge, spindash, let it constantly go off, you'll see what I mean.

Score is nothing. Hell, I play MARIO with the run button held down.

I have never went super Sonic without the cheat in Sonic 2. The special stages are just wwwaaayyy to hard.

Also, Mario? Who's Mario? Oh, you mean that wannabe plumber guy. I didn't know people still played those games. lol (j/j) Sorry, I have a extreme case of being a Sonic loyalist.

[Chooch]

I'll play as slow as I need to in order to get the highest score I can. I don't really know how to explain it. If I know the level well enough and can navigate traps and stuff with ease then I'll go through it really quickly while simultaneously getting the high score I want. If I don't know the level as well, I'll go slower.

[Rusty Spy]

I never bothered to get high scores in any game that didn't have a definitive ranking based on points since I never knew how much "a lot" was. It's all just a bunch of numbers on the screen to me. The only time I ever cared about points(in Sonic games at least) was when looking at the scrore tally and seeing how close I was to the next 50,000 points for another 1-Up.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Black Spy