Retroactivity

[-Mark-]

I'll admit that my opinions have fluctuated on a few games, but again, that's usually because of noticing something wrong with them that you just happened to overlook at the time, or as others have said, comparing them to newer, better games and realising they were only 'good for the time'.

I think for me, the biggest example is Sonic Heroes. I don't dislike it now by any means, but it's definitely near the bottom of my '3D Sonic games' ranking. At the time, I think I was more caught up in the hype than anything else. Secret Rings also; it's still a very good game in my opinion, but the controls, level-up skill system and mission-based gameplay drag it down.

I think one issue with the Rush/ DS/ Sonic 4 thing is that the formula is just getting a bit stale, is all. Rush was revolutionary at the time (I personally prefer Rush Adventure), and people loved it. Colours DS is just more of the same, with less stages and a forced-in gimmick; the Wisps felt far too compulsory in the DS version, and Planet Wisp DS is just drill-spam.

[Tobbii]

Are you sure about that? From what i have heard, most people in the fanbase neither loved nor hated it when it first came out. That it was mostly just sorta "yeah, it's alright i guess", and that the era when SA2 was enormously popular within the Sonic fanbase didn't start until a few years later (maybe 2004 or so) when the kids who played it back in 2001 became old enough to join the online Sonic community. Granted, i myself didn't join the online fanbase until 2003, so i dont have any first-hand experience of what it was like back in 2001, but this is the impression iv'e gotten when speaking with people who have been in the fanbase longer (like some of the guys over at GHZ who have been involved in Sonic's internet fandom ever since the mid 90's).

When I got it 2001 it became my fav. game of all time. Then I toned it down a bit and just thought it was a fantastic game, replaying it makes me think that maybe I toned it down too much. I could only find one complaint throughout playing, and that was Rouge/Tails's racing stages.

[Chooch]

For me, with Dimps, it's like this:

Sonic Advance was fun.

Sonic Advance 2 was fun.

Sonic Advance 3 was fucking horrible.

Sonic Rush was great.

Sonic Rush Adventure was great.

Sonic Colors DS was mediocre.

That leaves Sonic 4 which is also mediocre.

It's really their later stuff that's been pretty bad.

I forgot to mention that I also found Wii Sonic Unleashed to be incredibly mediocre in comparison to the real version. Regardless, what I say still stands, it's really their later stuff that hasn't been up to snuff.

[Badnik Zero]

I don't think I change my opinion for anyone except myself. I think we experience this perspecitve shift whenever a new game comes out, and as the game hype settles. People see the praise the new game gets, they get tired of it, they point out flaws. Or if a style returns, they point out the flaws in the existing model.

Secret Rings was good enough for 2007. Is it good enough for 2008?

Unleashed gameplay was good in 2008. Is it good enough for a 20th Anniversary?

Rush physics were good enough for a boosting game. Is it good enough for a classic game?

Chao were cool because of Tamagotchis. Werehog was cool because of God of War.

And on and on, with the Adventure games, voice actors, Sonic Heroes...

My opinion? Sonic R is charming but bad. Werehog is good but boring. Fishing gameplay sucks. Sonic Rush is a great game but it's not a classic game. Dimps does an okay job. Secret Rings is good, Black Knight is not. The Adventures were good, Sonic Heroes is not. Unleashed had a good formula. Rolling physics are still awesome.

[Rusty Spy]

And Dimps made Advance 1 and Sonic Team made Sonic 06.

[jman]

My favorite game of all time was Sonic the hedgehog 3. 3 dimensional yet still in 2D and yet it was a great experience.

[ChikaBoing]

My only opinion that has changed was Sonic Heroes and SA2. I used to love Heroes and hate SA2, but now I just find them both OK. Guess with becoming more older, I leaned to handle Treasure Hunting, and notice the flaws in Heroes,such as controls, more.

Also on the whole Dimps vs. ST debate. I always considered Sonic Team to be better than Dimps. With the exception of a few(Shadow and BK), I always saw more potential in ST games and concepts, than of Dimpses. . With Sonic Team if the game were developed under better circumstances and more time, I would consider them better than almost everything Dimps made. Dimps made/makes more finished and more playbable/well-coded games, but that's it really,nothing really big ambitions-wise. And it just now became more noticeable, when SEGA became much more organised, and DIMPS just stayed the same old average company.

Edited May 25, 2011 by ChikaBoing

[Zyron]

Some of the fluctuating opinions actually make sense if you think about it, for some if you're younger you tend not to look too much into some things with games and just enjoy then, then if you come back to the same game after being spoiled with the newer iterations you replay the old and seem to wonder "I actually enjoyed THIS?"

Even though with the Sonic series I never really experienced this, as a lot of times my opinions with them are fairly consistent with the time they're formed. Although some of the more drastic switches I feel could also seem like it's just a thing of "following the herd of opinions just to fit in" But who am I to judge?

The swap between Big being a hated character to now not so much is a bit understandable, but I find the development to be a bit late in the fanbase. In Adventure I always felt that the largest hate of him was in his levels and the atrociously slow speed he walked...or should I say Waddled in the adventure fields, which made getting from point A to point B a bit of a hassle. In Heroes and Chronicles (according to what I've gotten around to playing of so far) he had a bit more character development to show that he is capable of things other then simply fishing. And actually makes him seem a bit more competent there too. Thing is, some people do end up being heavily opinionated towards their own belief, and thus attack anyone whom they think is wrong.

--2005- Rush is the best thing ever. 2010- Rush is shit and S4 is just Rush 3.--

When I got rush, I rather enjoyed it a lot despite beating it rather quickly. (But the only reason that I did was because at the time it was one of the first DS games that I got so at the time I didn't have much of a library of games with the exception of GBA stuff, right now it takes me ages to even beat a single game because of this.) The other day I got Rush back out once more and still find myself really enjoying it, despite wanting to start a new file re-enjoy everything in it again as I went though it the first time. I can't say anything on S4 as ever since that came out I find myself with a lack of Wi-Fi to load points onto my Wii and get the game.

--2007- Secret Rings is fantastic. 2008/9- Secret Rings is one of the worst Sonic games ever.--

Some of this "could" be attributed to being spoiled with the later Wii Sonic games that came out like Unleashed and Colors. When I got the game I though of Secret Rings to be alright. Gameplay wise it was acutally rather neat, but when I was playing it I found some areas rather frustrating and simply put the game down for a while. I tried picking it up a year later and I just find that some aspects of the controls just don't stick in my head as well as other games for some reason. Not that it's always bad, but the game never was that memorable for me in the first place for that. Some games I can pick right back up 2-3 years later without playing and can remember the controls on the spot, and some I just can't do that.

--2008- The radio effect while boosting Unleashed is awesome. 2011- Ruined forever.--

I actually never noticed the radio effect, but then again, some minor sound and music effects often skip my notice in the first or second time I play through a game entirely.

--Advance Years: Dimps are the only ones keeping Sonic alive. 2010/11- GET THEM AWAY FROM MY HEDGEHOG--

The only one of Dimps' games so far of that I've played and never really cared for much was Advance 3. The rest were rather enjoyable (despite Rush Adventure was good gameplay wise, I just don't find the game itself to be too memorable, and trying to find the Emeralds that Johnny has without aid of a map to be rather annoying as well.) I can't say on S4 or Colors DS as I haven't gotten around to getting those games yet. (S4 because of lack of Wii-Fi to buy it, Colors DS because I want to get a few things fixed and paid off with my car now along with another class paid for before I bother buying more games to play) But still, I felt that they were doing good with those games of theirs that I do have and played, thus if Dimps continue making more games as long as they're fun to play, then go right on ahead.

I probably could of went on about the other points that were brought up, but I'm tired as it is when I was writing this (it's 1 AM for me here) so excuse any talking in circles that may be going on or anything that may be wrong spelling/ grammar wise.