The tone of Sonic Colours and the future of Sonic Team

[Blazey Firekitty]

Engaging over-anyalitical thread...

Looking back, Sonic Adventure 2 was a game that highly influential on most of the Sonic games from the past decade. The game introduced a much darker and philosophical tone to the series that it had never really seen before, and much of the titles that followed in its wake tried imitate that tone. Even Heroes had it's surprisingly sad and serious moments.

With this new decade beginning, Colours seems to be the polar opposite of what Adventure 2 was. The heavy sci-fi influence is still there, yet the game is probably the most obviously happy-go-lucky title the game has seen since the 16-bit era.

Perhaps this may be a sign that Sonic Team believes that this sort of lighthearted tone is one that will prove appropriate for all of their games in the near future. Unleashed was half-way there, and Colours seems to have completed the transformation of Sonic's image from a dark, epic fantasy, back to the sort of whimsical wonderland the series displayed in the 90's.

Granted they aren't aping the gameplay from the Mega Drive games- Colours still looks more like Unleashed than anything else- but the team seems to have recaptured, at on some level, what made the classic era games great in terms of presentation...that sense of a surrealistic landscape where the only limitations are those of the imagination.

[Mike]

Sayonara, Serious the hedgehog.

[EXshad]

Well, it already looks like a polished version of daytime Unleashed in the gameplay department, so story-wise, it might be similar as well. But I liked the happy-go-lucky tone, though I think at times, the humor was laid on a bit too thick. I don't mind it at all for games like this. I mean, if the game doesn't need to have a big, angst-ridden story, why should it have one? I'm all for something light-hearted, as Sonic games should be about putting a smile on your face.

Hell, as a whole, the entire premise and tone of this game sorta reminds me of Sonic CD, for some reason or another...

Also, the fact that this game is being written by 2 of the writers of Madworld has me intrigued. Maybe, just because the story is light-heartened, doesn't mean that it doesn't have to be non-existent, eh?

[Phos]

I'd be rather glad if this marked the end of the serious business plotlines, they tended to not work out very well.

[ArtFenix]

I can't agree. They worked quitr well. At least, Sa and Sa2.

I LOVED serious storylines. I don't mind light-hearted stories as long as there are some games with serious storylines like in Sa/Sa2/S06.

Edited July 3, 2010 by ArtFenix

[Frozen Nitrogen]

I can't agree. They worked quitr well. At least, Sa and Sa2.

I LOVED serious storylines. I don't mind light-hearted stories as long as there are some games with serious storylines like in Sa/Sa2/S06.

Seconded. If Colours marks a return to saccharine Heroes-ville, I won't be best pleased.

I think the problem they had with Shadow and '06 is that they tried to be OMG DARK all the time. I don't remember Sonic (or anyone else) cracking a single joke in either of those two stories.

Balance is key. In the original Genesis games you started off saccharine sweet, with bunnies and flowers and green hills, but as you went on through the game you eventually descend into mechanical hell a'la Scrap Brain Zone. Here it was often the gameplay providing the dark drama (given that they didn't really have story), as you jab the control pad in increasing terror, desperate to keep your few remaining lives and avoid the actual threat of a GAME OVER if you take the platforming insufficiently seriously.

So light-hearted start, srs business end is my soapbox ramble of what the story tone needs to be. This is kinda what happened in SatBK (with Ye Olde England environments literally twisting into magical evil-scapes after Avalon), and that worked OK.

[JaidynReiman]

I want a better mixture of lighthearted themes but a deep and serious plot. I loved Sonic 06's plotline, but it was a little TOO serious. Unleashed had a nice, darker theme going for it, but it still had a lot of humorous antics mixed in. Sonic Adventure 2 also was a nice mixture of darker, more serious plotline, despite being fairly lighthearted. I certainly don't want to see that go away, but personally, I don't anticipate it.

Colors may very well have a lighter theme, but that doesn't mean all games after it will be like this, especially since it isn't the "main" Sonic game coming out, and they typically have a darker plotline going for it. Plus, Black Knight and Sonic Chronicles, two other fairly recent games, also had more serious plots with some humor mixed into it. Whether the gameplay was any good is a different story, but plotwise they've got a good combination. Colors is one game of many released.

[Flyboy Fox]

A single game is never a reliable indication of a change in direction. We've seen so many different game styles, genres and moods in recent years. We can look at them as experimentation or as an attempt to embrace a much larger and more varied fanbase... but nothing more than that, really. As long as there are varied demographics, there will be attempts made to extend the Sonic franchise to those demographics. I can't see them sticking with any one stable 'tone' any time soon, tbh.

[JezMM]

I think the writing of Unleashed and Black Knight is a clear indication they'll never do something as downright idiotic as Heroes' OR 2006's tones ever again. I am not concerned at all quite frankly.

Though I do think you can tell a good story without sacrificing a whimsical tone. See: absoloutely any Pixar film, but The Incredibles and Up in particular.

[SykoTech]

Definitely glad to see them moving away from the doom-n-gloom story-telling. SA2 wasn't THAT bad I suppose, but the games that followed it sure were. Though I hope Colors doesn't go too far with the light-hearted theme.

I'd prefer if they made it on par with S3&K/SA1, but I doubt that will happen given the levels made out of dessert and such. So a tone like Unleashed would be the next best thing. As long as they stay away from Heroes material.*cringes*

[Badnik Zero]

Well happy Sonic doesn't have to mean the forced sing-along that was Heroes. And serious doesn't mean the humorless mess of '06.

A good story will have some of everything. Unleashed, along with the Rushes and Storybooks had nice balanced stories. Just because we're in space doesn't mean it won't be fun. And people are so quick to call SA2 a serious plot, maybe because of the ending. But it was as silly as the first Adventure if not more.

Just because we feel tension during the final chapter, or feel sad when Gamma or Chip leave... Unleashed was dark, really? We have nightmare monsters, but those are villains. Chip goofs off the whole game, we have SA-55 and Eggman scenes, and I can't help but feel Pickle's design was meant to make us laugh.

So yeah, what I need is a nice cartoon plot that I can still care about. Maybe some colorful creatures to save from a diabolical plan. It looks good so far.

[Blazey Firekitty]

So light-hearted start, srs business end is my soapbox ramble of what the story tone needs to be. This is kinda what happened in SatBK (with Ye Olde England environments literally twisting into magical evil-scapes after Avalon), and that worked OK.

Come to think of it, Unleashed's story progressed in a similar way to Black Knight's, and I really liked that. Chip starts out seeming like a shallow joke character, but eventually we see a more human side to him, as he admits that though he's been the protector of the planet for eons, he's never had a real reason to care about what he's doing until he traveled with Sonic and saw the kinds of people that lived on it. And then Pickle gives a philosophical speech about how the dark, creepy things we fought in the game aren't something to be feared, but just a natural part of existence.

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Come to think of it, Unleashed's story progressed in a similar way to Black Knight's, and I really liked that. Chip starts out seeming like a shallow joke character, but eventually we see a more human side to him, as he admits that though he's been the protector of the planet for eons, he's never had a real reason to care about what he's doing until he traveled with Sonic and saw the kinds of people that lived on it. And then Pickle gives a philosophical speech about how the dark, creepy things we fought in the game aren't something to be feared, but just a natural part of existence.

I'd probably have appreciated it more if it hadn't been Pickle & Chip, the most charmless, dustbin-worthy characters ever to marr a main series Sonic game with their tedious prattle.

[Flyboy Fox]

I'd probably have appreciated it more if it hadn't been Pickle & Chip, the most charmless, dustbin-worthy characters ever to marr a main series Sonic game with their tedious prattle.

I have to agree... especially as far as Chip was concerned. He spent the majority of the game as a cheap sidekick-of-the-day and grated on my nerves horribly with his supposedly humorous 'antics'. The twist at the end of him being Light Gaia was interesting, or at least would have been if I had any interest in him as a character XD Time that I personally felt could have been MUCH better spent on building up any one of the existing characters.

Unleashed had some good ideas in principle, but they were poorly executed (and of course it had some TERRIBLE ideas too). Certainly not the worst Sonic game ever, but it really kinda failed at what it was trying to do. I wouldn't say that it's an example to learn from in a positive way.

[Scar]

I'd probably have appreciated it more if it hadn't been Pickle & Chip, the most charmless, dustbin-worthy characters ever to marr a main series Sonic game with their tedious prattle.

Professor Pickle was badass.

Aside from that yeah, Chip was decent, but felt sort of uneeded.

I want a story where Sonic acts like a goddamn 15 year old teenager [minus the swearing..]

Most of the time he's so unlike a Teen. He never really has any moments of insecurity. Granted, teens are usually cocky, but sometimes they do have insecurities.

It would be interesting to see where that would take Sonic. It could spell some comedic moments in water levels such as " Oh WTF? Water....do we really have to...."

Also, I want to see Sonic get annoyed, he's always laughing, he NEVER gets pissed off at Robotnik and it urks me.

I don't mind an overall light-hearted happy story, but it would be kinda nice if they had some underlying story elements that were more serious than they appear to be.

I hope them Mad World writers write a decent script.

So far the writing has been so goddamn poor, that the much hated voice actors haven't really had a chance to....well....act.

[Ruby Havoc]

Why are you guys hating on Prof. Pickle? We was awesome.

I don't think Sonic has ever acted like a teen. I wonder what that would be like.

[Frozen Nitrogen]

I want a story where Sonic acts like a goddamn 15 year old teenager [minus the swearing..]

Most of the time he's so unlike a Teen. He never really has any moments of insecurity. Granted, teens are usually cocky, but sometimes they do have insecurities.

Coming up next, Sonic fails to obtain a fake ID and has to beg Rouge (the only 18+ one) to go into the 7/11 and buy cheap beer for him, Knuckles, and Tails.

On the way home, Sonic crashes his dad's Extreme Gear and spends the night in jail.

While apparently a catastrophy, this incident gives ends up giving Sonic a bad-boy reputation at Emerald Hill High, so now Blaze and Wave are all over him.

AND STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK, when Shadow dares Sonic to TP-attack Old Man Robotniks house! Sexy hi-jinx ensue!

[Flyboy Fox]

Coming up next, Sonic fails to obtain a fake ID and has to beg Rouge (the only 18+ one) to go into the 7/11 and buy cheap beer for him, Knuckles, and Tails.

Tails is eight D: ... I smell Child Services getting involved here.

[Scar]

Coming up next, Sonic fails to obtain a fake ID and has to beg Rouge (the only 18+ one) to go into the 7/11 and buy cheap beer for him, Knuckles, and Tails.

On the way home, Sonic crashes his dad's Extreme Gear and spends the night in jail.

While apparently a catastrophy, this incident gives ends up giving Sonic a bad-boy reputation at Emerald Hill High, so now Blaze and Wave are all over him.

AND STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK, when Shadow dares Sonic to TP-attack Old Man Robotniks house! Sexy hi-jinx ensue!

You know what I meant.

Thats a bit of a harsh generalisation.

[Diogenes]

You know what I meant.

I don't. Sonic has pretty much always seemed like a teenager of a sort. Not a realistic teenager, but, uh, who wants to see a realistic teenager in a game about a talking blue hedgehog with super speed beating up an egg-shaped man and his robots?

[Viviroking]

AND STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK, when Shadow dares Sonic to TP-attack Old Man Robotniks house! Sexy hi-jinx ensue!

Shadow's a 50-something year old artificial life-form. Who has no real sense of humor. Dispite that, Sonic TP-ing Robonik's house would be an awesome mini-game.

[Diogenes]

Shadow's a 50-something year old artificial life-form.

Chronologically 50, but in terms of actual time spent "awake", he's probably the youngest character in the series...

Can't argue with the "no sense of humor" bit tho'.

Edit:

I wouldn't say Shadow's completely devoid of humor...In Heroes, he taunts Sonic while smiling(It'll be a date to DIE for!), and still wears his cocky grin as Sonic becomes angry. He just needs to be written that way more often.

I prefer to chalk that bit up to the amnesia... Edited July 4, 2010 by Diogenes

[Blazey Firekitty]

I wouldn't say Shadow's completely devoid of humor...In Heroes, he taunts Sonic while smiling(It'll be a date to DIE for!), and still wears his cocky grin as Sonic becomes angry. He just needs to be written that way more often.

[Mr. Mackey]

I wouldn't say Shadow's completely devoid of humor...In Heroes, he taunts Sonic while smiling(It'll be a date to DIE for!), and still wears his cocky grin as Sonic becomes angry. He just needs to be written that way more often.

^agreed.

As for the future of Sonic Team, I don't want a game any "darker" than SA2. So far I'm really liking the tone of Colors, it's lighthearted and fun. And right now, that's what Sonic needs.

[Ebby]

A good story will have some of everything. Unleashed, along with the Rushes and Storybooks had nice balanced stories. Just because we're in space doesn't mean it won't be fun. And people are so quick to call SA2 a serious plot, maybe because of the ending. But it was as silly as the first Adventure if not more.

Just because we feel tension during the final chapter, or feel sad when Gamma or Chip leave... Unleashed was dark, really? We have nightmare monsters, but those are villains. Chip goofs off the whole game, we have SA-55 and Eggman scenes, and I can't help but feel Pickle's design was meant to make us laugh.

Unleashed is balanced? I feel it was really lighthearted. I'd say it was the lightest of the series.

As for serious plotlines, I like them. They just have to do them WELL. I don't think they know how to do a serious plot without making a new character though. Why is it that we need some new character to be a or the main plot device? I'm sure they can make a good story without adding a new person, or even with few characters. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles could most likely carry a darker themed plot on their own. No need for "Mascara-wearing-chest-hair-having" the Hedgehog to be included.

I actually don't hate all of these new characters, I just think they're not needed.