Concerns?

[Blue Blood]

I love how suddenly everybody hates Unleashed gameplay. This wasn't the case two or so years ago, was it? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also I don't believe my view on it has changed much since. I went through a phase where I hated it but that's because I went pure nostalgiafag for a while. Unleashed's daytime stages have almost always been a blast to me, as they've always given me the feeling of a true adrenaline rush while playing a video game (that isn't one of the classics). Eye candy + speedy platforming and reaction tests = win.

and for the record, Colors' gameplay to me sucks in comparison to UnleashedHD's.

Apart from the part I crossed out, QFT. This is exactly the same thing that happened with Rush. Remember how much everyone loved it when it was new? Then at some point it became cool to hate it.

Ah well, I'm happy with everything so far. Especially the Unleashed gameplay as far as M.Sonic goes. Yeah.

[lounge]

Dammit! I'm so sick of that Unleashed gameplay. I can't stand seeing it anymore. Why don't they just let it die. It's so boring to play as, and if there's anything in your way all you have to do is boost. I can't even see where I['m going because he's so fast.

The classic gameplay on the otherhand, wow, now that looks fun! I can't believe I'm saying that, but really that looks engaging and the motion and physics look so amazing. I haven't been that impressed by sonic gameplay since SA2B. I can't believe I used to not love the classic games.

[Sega DogTagz]

Apart from the part I crossed out, QFT. This is exactly the same thing that happened with Rush. Remember how much everyone loved it when it was new? Then at some point it became cool to hate it.

Rush fell off a cliff. It was THE game, and then the boost jumped to consoles and crap hit the fan on that front.

Unleashed's love hate was never that drastic IMO. There were some legitimate challenges to it afterall. But it does look like people take more and more offense to it as time goes on.

[BlazingTales]

I couldn't be more thrilled about the game, but I do have a couple of small concerns:

The graphics seem a bit... low textured, I suppose. Like the OP said, Sonic's models seem a bit unfinished, and additionally there are a few parts of Green Hill that seem... "frosted over." Some of the still shots of the level look fantastic though, so I hope it's just the trailer that makes things seem low quality.

"Classic Sonic's" gameplay looks absolutely fantastic, and I look forward to playing levels re-imagined in classic Sonic fashion. I'm not too picky, but I do hope the "uncurling" is fixed. It won't present itself as too much of a problem for me if it's not changed, but I'd appreciate the extra polish.

Finally, I want to see more "modern Sonic" gameplay. I loved Unleashed's daytime stages, but I think it would be beneficial to the formula to take a couple of cues from Sonic Colours. Drop the over punishing QTEs, occasionally force the player to slow down and move about on platforms for a while, and tone down the boost just a little bit. The trailer shows that Sonic's boost is powered by destroying badniks, so hopefully that's a sign Colours' style will play a small part in improving the gameplay.

Edited April 19, 2011 by BlazingTales

[Saber]

Im agreeing with those who know the game is going to be fun. When Colors came about? It seemed everyone loved Unleashed and considered that such a great game. Now that there using more Unleashed HD then Colors gameplay, people saying how boring ect it is. I doubt SEGA will go back to the Adventure formula anytime soon, and I had a blast with the fast passe of Colors, Unleashed. Only thing im worried about are the glitches (if they are any) and also what other levels beside green hill zone they will bring back. Levels from other games? Or just the first one? We will see.

[Korama]

See all that? Looks pretty naff. I'm wondering if that's just cause things are under construction still (like Sonic having a painted on mouth in early Unleashed shots) There's also the oddities with low quality textures elsewhere. Seeing as everything else is looking damn perfect so far I'm not all that bothered, but though it was worth a mention anyway. Anyone else got any concerns yet?

Edited April 19, 2011 by Korama

[jeremycarrier]

Those would be absolutely fucking amazing but.. Sky Sanctuary is my favorite stage ever in a 2D Sonic game if not my favorite stage ever in a Sonic game period.

[Blue Blood]

Yes, I saw that and, like you, got slightly concerned. But then I remembered that a.) it's a work in progress, not the final game and b.) those "screenshots" have the crazy resolution of 5120x2880 pixels. The game will probably run in 1280x720 at best, unless they optimize the hell out of it. Scaled down to 720p, things already look less concerning:

Incidentally, I was looking at some old prerelease Unleashed images and videos recently too, and noticed that some locations looked slightly worse than in the final game. So these graphical issues will likely be fixed, I hope.

[Eternal EX]

Another thing I'm concerned about is the amount of money I'll loose this year. This game, Crysis 2, BF3, AC3 (if it comes out this year) Brink...I'm gonna be in debt .

[RidersDX]

I liked the Unleashed formula at first, but mainly due to just how amazing it looked. But after awhile, it's just not fun anymore. I've not picked up Unleashed in the longest time. So I am not looking forward to more Unleashed daytime like levels this time around. They aren't horrible, I'm just so tired of this formula at this point. At least Colors tried and insert more nice platforming into it. But it seems like they're making all the platforming go into Classic Sonic.

Edited April 19, 2011 by RidersDX

[Indigo Rush]

My only main issue is uncurling for classic Sonic.

The smaller complaints I have are pretty small: I haven't seen any little animals pop out of the badniks yet, and the lack of a score in the upper right of the HUD it kind of irking me.

But those are fairly minor. Other than that... no complaints at all.

Other than the huge issue that there isn't more gameplay for me to watch. ;_;

Edited April 19, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Blue Blood]

My only issue is uncurling for classic Sonic.

Really, that's is.

It's very strange that it's there, but I'm not sure just yet. He also uncurls on the ground sometimes, so it could just be cause this game has the SA1 style spindash and the player is pressing X to uncurl before all the ramps. Yeah... not likely. But there's still time to go yet. And unlike with S4E1, I can see this game is being made with some heart and it could easily improve with time.

[Indigo Rush]

As long as I'm not going to fall into enemies lined up for me to do the homing attack, I guess I'm okay with it. I'm going to categorize Classic Sonic's gameplay as a sort of "introduction" for people who have never played the original before. The basic gameplay is there, with a few niggles that they won't find odd. Sonic 4 seemed to try to do that, but the physics were so awful, no one could play that game and go to the originals and feel like they're the same game. At least with this, Sonic controls pretty much the same.

Like I said, it's not nearly enough to keep me from loving the game.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Glenn]

Rare that I worry about forthcoming videogames, or even discuss them, but I do have a few concerns.

Firstly, I'm worried that I'll be bored by half the videogame... namely, the Classic Sonic levels. Sure, 'tis a nostalgic bit of fun, and there's lovely new visuals to enjoy, but to be honest? The original classics have been released to death, and I play them regularly. The concept of remixing old zones with new technology (in other words, Modern Sonic's gameplay) is fascinating and interesting and looks gorgeous... and I'm worried that I'll be rushing Classic Sonic to get to what I'll personally see as the entire point of the videogame. The hope? Indications are that they're not straight copies of the original level layouts. Still, flashy visuals aside, there'll be a feeling of "been there, done that".

Secondly, framerate. I saw the clip of...

...the escape from the cave in Modern Sonic's gameplay, along the grind rails while being chased...

...and the framerate, which was fine until then, started to splutter. I know this is early days but, when they released gameplay footage of Sonic Unleashed, it was all super-smooth and nothing like the final product. Modern Sonic's stages use the same engine, the Hedgehog Engine, and so I'm a little concerned that we'll be forever patching the framerate with DLC. It'd be quite nice, after all the mess of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode One, to have a beautiful Sonic videogame working out-of-the-box, without post-release DLC crutches.

That's pretty much it. Very minor things, to be honest, and overall my excitement can't get much higher.

[Blue Blood]

...and the framerate, which was fine until then, started to splutter. I know this is early days but, when they released gameplay footage of Sonic Unleashed, it was all super-smooth and nothing like the final product. Modern Sonic's stages use the same engine, the Hedgehog Engine, and so I'm a little concerned that we'll be forever patching the framerate with DLC. It'd be quite nice, after all the mess of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode One, to have a beautiful Sonic videogame working out-of-the-box, without post-release DLC crutches.

That's pretty much it. Very minor things, to be honest, and overall my excitement can't get much higher.

The framerate for Unleashed looked fine in trailers (as is to be expected) but looked absolutely abysmal in the first non-trailer footage we saw. Check this (skip to 50 seconds for the gameplay to start):

Around about 1:30, it's absolutely terrible! There's nothing like that in Generations so far. It stutters about a bit, but not like that at all. And with months to go, things are only going to be improved upon. The other thing to mention is that the Hedgehog Engine is graphical and the entire game uses it, not just the M.Sonic gameplay.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Scar]

I bloody well hope they upgraded it. Not only so that it runs smoothly with Adabat levels of detail, but to also take on some more modern graphical effects such as radiosity and better GI instead of baking onto the textures.

Right now, everything looked low-poly (might be the sheer volume of stuff onscreen) and the textures had a pretty low resolution. Given Unleashed's visuals, I reckon they will eventually upgrade the models and use better textures.

[Dummy Bear]

I think my only concern is M. Sonic's level design going back to Unleashed's linear bottomless pitted trial and error gameplay rather than Colors' multileveled gameplay.

I mean, I like Unleashed's Sonic stages but there were some really unfair deaths likeAdabat's water running for instance.

[Sushi]

I think my only concern is M. Sonic's level design going back to Unleashed's linear bottomless pitted trial and error gameplay rather than Colors' multileveled gameplay.

I mean, I like Unleashed's Sonic stages but there were some really unfair deaths likeAdabat's water running for instance.

One preview (I forgot which one) mentions that both sonics will get multileveled stages.

I think they learned their lessons. Colours did a great Job with the level design in terms of difficulty / unfair deaths. So I guess Generations will have some good leveldesign for Modern Sonic.

Look, if I enter a new Zone / Act for the first time, then I take my time. I only use the boost if its safe to. Once I memorized the stage, then I start playing around with the boost and stuff.

And my concerns? Actually, I've got no concerns yet. I was fine with the Unleashed / Colours Gameplay, and Classic Gameplay is fine to me as well.

Edited April 19, 2011 by BlueBlurAustria

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Debug code is always less efficient and slower than Release code, as it's padded with lots of extra error catchers to make sure that the code behaves itself whilst it's still being developed. It should be much faster at release.

However:

Usually once the code is complete and working in Debug Mode, making a Release version of the code instantly makes the code bug out in random places that were previously patched over by the Debug systems. You then need to run through this version of the code and clean up all the bugs.

Sometimes developers give up and release the code in Debug Mode simply because it works, and so you get a version of the game that is prone to slowdown when it shouldn't be. Hopefully that doesn't happen here, but you can probably think of a few games off the top of your head which have patches of slowdown that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now you know why.

(No, not all slowdown is caused by debug padding, for those of you slow on the uptake.)

[Tyranno]

I don't think the uncurling itself was the problem in Sonic 4. It was the fact that you went up stiffly and had only limited control over your momentum and where you were falling. You flew up straight and then came down like a stone, and the only option was the homing attack to regain your forward movement.

In the trailer, Sonic uncurls after going up the ramp, but control doesn't seem to be taken away from him. He keeps running and he seems to move in an arc as he progresses upward. Not like Sonic 4 at all.

[Diogenes]

I don't think the uncurling itself was the problem in Sonic 4.

It was one problem of several.

[Tyranno]

It was one problem of several.

I was saying, the problem wasn't that he uncurled from a ball, it was that he sank like a stone; in a franchise that's about flow and movement, restricting him in such a way kills part of the point. If Sonic can still move and ascend, like he appears to, I don't care if he's in a ball or not.

[Blue Blood]

I was saying, the problem wasn't that he uncurled from a ball, it was that he sank like a stone; in a franchise that's about flow and movement, restricting him in such a way kills part of the point. If Sonic can still move and ascend, like he appears to, I don't care if he's in a ball or not.

Coming out of a ball means you can't roll of legde/ramp and hit enemies. Rather, it means the opposite. You're flying through the air, completely defenceless with limited control. Not good.

[Tyranno]

Coming out of a ball means you can't roll of legde/ramp and hit enemies. Rather, it means the opposite. You're flying through the air, completely defenceless with limited control. Not good.

That's fair, but you could make the argument that that makes airborne enemies less of a challenge then.

[Eternal EX]

One preview (I forgot which one) mentions that both sonics will get multileveled stages.

I think they learned their lessons. Colours did a great Job with the level design in terms of difficulty / unfair deaths. So I guess Generations will have some good leveldesign for Modern Sonic.

Not to me. I had more cheap deaths in that game then I did in any of his past games. Maybe it was because I was using the wii-mote at first? I don't know but Unleashed HD, when I did die, it was because I was rushing a new area I have not played in. It's expected to die when you rush a new area. DUH!