Rock, Paper, Sonic

[Memph]

If they stripped Classic Sonic from Generations, made new levels in the same engine and tidied up the physics, I'd have what I'd be happy with in Sonic 5.

This ^
Dear god this. I don't even think they'd need to tweak the physics, as whilst being undoubtedly different to real classic, they still worked.
I honestly don't know what they're playing at with this episodic stuff. I snagged 1 for a couple quid and by act 3 I still felt robbed. The graphics were abysmal (i checked settings but couldn't seem to fix the horrible jagged shimmer on Sonic) and the complete lack of inertia/momentum and cheap falling out of the sky deaths were just painful. The music was also rather a letdown for a Sonic game.

Ep 2 looks no different tbh. At least not different enough. I can't really justify 10 squid on a platform game when I have a million and one other options from 20 years ago that do the job better.

[The JG Man]

Right. The point of sequels is to improve on the predecessor, but all they've done is given the game a lick of paint which in 20 years won't look as good as the original trilogy and CD still hold up to be. Generations wasn't perfect, but it was good enough that most people were happy to waive the complaints at the fact that it was simply fun.

Anyhow, two videos that you may be interested in watching regarding Episode 2. The first is a Quick Look, whilst TotalBiscuit also did a WTF Is...?. Do take a look at the link that TB lists in the description to Errant Signal. It's a good watch, summarises most people's feelings on the series in an eloquent and accurate manner.

[The JG Man]

File this under massive rumour, but we may be getting some Generations DLC, which would be in order, I'd say.

[Rauten]

File this under massive rumour, but we may be getting some Generations DLC, which would be in order, I'd say.

Not just Generations DLC, but a load of other stuff. Most sites are disregarding it as nothing more than a massive troll, though. There are apparently, from what I've read, certain inconsistencies in what he says.

[Kodeen]

File this under massive rumour, but we may be getting some Generations DLC, which would be in order, I'd say.

Looks interesting. I'm currently taking a break from Generations just because the last couple of levels were just frustrating, but I'm sure I'll get back in at some point to collect some shinies. Hopefully the new levels don't want to crush my soul immediately.

[Flint]

Some Sonic news that are slightly more confirmed - HD'd-up Sonic Adventure 2 is heading towards PSN/XBLA. Looks like it's the SA2: Battle re-release version as well, and will most likely contain achievements etc like the recent SA:DX HD re-release did. Nothing about a PC version yet but considering SEGA have been pretty happy to release Sonic stuff on PC for a while now, I'd guess it's likely.

According to the article comments the PSN/XBLA listings seem to have now vanished so looks like we're dealing with an accidental info leak.

Arguably one of the series' most divisive entries thanks to its wild gameplay-flipping and introduction of Shadow (although we should remember that in this game he wasn't yet the emo git he later became), but for me it's not only one of my very favourite Sonic games but generally one of the most important games released for me on a personal level. Would be very excited to get this running nicely on my computer.

[The JG Man]

Intrigued because I never played it, but put-off, because I'm fairly certain I didn't play it because of its apparent quality. Release date is some point in October, which means we can expect it on PC maybe January?

Looking forward to getting S4: E2 now. I think it'll be worth it on sale. For what it's worth, and to fill up my post with a bit more content:



It's amazing what actually doing what you say you're going to do helps with musical quality. Even though the original track is actually one of the best in-game anyhow, I can't see how this isn't better in every way. It even fits with the game better. Dammit, music guys.

[Flint]

I played S4:E2 at a friends' place and it has to have one of the most abysmal soundtracks in Sonic history, particularly that winter zone that sounds like a 10-second loop. Turning the songs into 16-bit seem to make them a little better, at least.

[Rauten]

SA2 on PC, be it the DC or the GC version, would be a Dream Cast true (har har har).

It seems that SEGA is intent on reselling me all my classic DreamCast games for the PC; And I'll happily oblige and buy them all, even if I still keep all the GDs as if they were the key to the holy grail.

@JG: SA2 is one of the finest games for the DreamCast, and as far as I'm concerned, one of the very best 3D Sonics. While it does have camera issues up the proverbial backside every now and then, the gameplay is solid, the different playstyles all feel good and well fleshed out, and it has one of the very goddamned freaking best, if not THE BEST OST of any Sonic game ever. God damned Jun Senoue at his best, I tell ya.

[Flint]

and it has one of the very goddamned freaking best, if not THE BEST OST of any Sonic game ever.

Hell yes. The only other Sonic OST that could challenge it is the Generations one and, well, that's a best of compilation in the first place.

[DarioSamo]

PC Master Race reporting in. Please enjoy your additional content. You're welcome.



If you do not own Sonic Generations for PC, it's at 40% off right now on Steam til the summer sale ends. It might be lower later on, since it's not a daily deal, but consider it if it doesn't happen to pop up later on.

[The JG Man]

I imagine it will go on sale because there are enough Sonic games to justify a Sonic franchise sale; the rest of the Sonic games are on individual sales too, but low down, as well as the fact that when the Generations DLC and CD came out, they did a cheap Sonic weekend. It's certainly not unprecedented.

Anyhow, the more important part: damn. It's amazing to think what has been achieved without mod tools on Generations in such a short amount of time. I've been keeping up with the hacking/modding thread on Retro and there's a buzzing excitement whenever I see a YouTube video linked, regardless of whether or not it's a test or a level demo. Still, good luck with the hacking contest!

[Flint]

For what it's worth, the Sonic Adventure 2 re-release has now been officially announced. With a teaser trailer where Sega self-deprecatingly pokes fun at how they can't seem to keep anything secret anymore.

[The JG Man]

Warning, includes terrifying screaming fans.

Why hasn't Episode 2 been on sale yet on Steam? And by that, I mean down to a more reasonable price (although I will buy it if it doesn't go further on sale).

[The JG Man]

I bought Episode 2 when it was 40% off.

Maybe if it was 70% off, I might have found it more enjoyable.

The only things I can think of it doing better than, say, Sonic 2 is that you can restart levels, as well as bonus stages, from the pause menu and you have a level select. That's it. I don't believe that in 20 years time, its graphics will hold up as much as the Genesis Sonics have.

It's absolutely hilarious that a fan engine re-release of a 20 year old game can be such a better product in its entirety than a budget title made by the people who're supposed to be good at making them. Granted, CD was a remake, but, still. Classic Sonic Generations beats Episode 2 by a long, long margin.

[Memph]

I had my doubts, but I still had it in my cart at 40% off... until I read that. I'll wait for 75%.
Cheers :)

[The JG Man]

I should say, it's not a bad game, it just doesn't so anything out-standing and any good things are countered by a few bad ones. Rolling/spin-dashing is a waste of time (especially with the tag-team move which moves you quicker and gives you the same protection/damage) for example. It's not worth £10, nor £6. £4 and less, sure. You need to spend a bit of time once you've got it giving the game AA too. The graphical tweaks can turn the game from looking "acceptableish" to "Actually, this looks pretty darn good." What they need to do is get the person who did the level design for Sky Fortress acts 2 and 3 and get them to exchange their knowledge with the rest of the team. The level design is probably the worst thing in the entire game - the third level has a massive wall (literally) that prevents you from going anywhere and essentially trapping you, forcing a restart. Chuck in a few bottomless pits for no real reason (hello Oil Desert act 1) along with the spring and booster pad sections and there are some levels that are just not good.

Here's hoping with a Sonic 5, they use the Retro engine, either keep the graphics in the Genesis style or keep them as they are now because, whilst not as stylish, they're certainly above functional and then use the Genesis sound-front (or the music bods from Generations), make some good levels and you'll have a great game.

As it is, I can see no real reason why you'd pick Ep 2 over, say, Generations if you wanted a quick blast of a Sonic game.

[Flint]

Aaaaaand (indirect) confirmation that SA2 is heading to our beloved PC.

[The JG Man]

Mmm, I'm interested in what its release means, but I don't know if I'm prepared to get it. Wasn't a massive fan of Adventure, but then I did play it several years after release (as in, I bought it about a year and a half after the Wii came out and got the GC version) so things just got better, 3D platformer-wise. I can't imagine I'll feel any differently for SA2. Who knows?

So I was having a think. Until the new Sonic/Sega arcade racer comes out, there isn't a whole lot to talk about. Just wanna throw out some ideas for some sort of community challenege or playing. Firstly, who out there has 4: Episode 2? If there's enough, perhaps we can organise a co-op meet-up? What would also be cool would be to do time attacks against each other, so who has Generations? We can add each other on Steam and then try and compete with best times etc. Maybe there are other avenues too, such as "Who can beat Sonic CD the quickest" and maybe base it off the time attack mode in that etc.

I know this thread is more to do with discussing Sonic, but it might make it a bit more active this way, rather than talking about the odd new game and the occasional mod news for Generations.

Actually, talking about mod news for Generations:


Looks pretty cool!

In addition, the fan game "Sonic: Before the Sequel" has had a re-release. I haven't had chance to check it out, but I did play the previous version and actually, it was good. Generally fun level design, pretty good physics etc. Worth a look at for sure. Here's a clicky! Not a rom-hack, by the way.

[The JG Man]

For what it's worth, the SAGE (Sonic Amateur Game's Expo) website has opened, so there's a few free Sonic games to try out. I may play some over the next day or so, try and report back with findings.