Fixing Sonic the Hedgehog.

[Mogwai]

http://kotaku.com/5325967/sega-fixing-sonic-is-going-to-take-time
nice article about sonic's descreasing popularity over the years. maybe sega should just make 2d games like new super mario bros.

 

[Silent_Dave]

that's actually a pretty good idea.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

They can keep it 3D, or make it 2D, all I know is they need to rid themselves of any character who isn't Sonic, Doctor Robotnik, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Sonics probably sitting in a cockroach invested motel stubbing out cigarettes on arm.

 

[Brainiac 8]

They can keep it 3D, or make it 2D, all I know is they need to rid themselves of any character who isn't Sonic, Doctor Robotnik, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy.

This is how you fix Sonic Sega! Mostly same thought as Bill.

Keep it 2.5-D. Characters involved Robotnik, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and obviously Sonic. Give it an over the top story to fit the whole Robotnik taking over the world theme. Make it solely about Sonic running fast through the levels.

No humans, no werehog, no gimmicks, no Bigs the Cat or Hooker Bats or any other stupid side character. Just Sonic, bit story, giant robots, running fast.

 

[Mogwai]

yeah, they can get rid of all the characters that appeared after the 'genesis' generation.

 

[Brainiac 8]

Return of Robo Sonic would be welcome also.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Stop putting things in the Hedgehog's hands. No more swords, or guns.

Sonic is not a beat-em-up, nor is he a werewolf.

Sonic should be fast gameplay. Don't make him stop to give coins to village folk.

Also, fire everyone on Sonic Team and start over. Or sell the license to Nintendo and let them do it right.

 

[Brainiac 8]

I agree about Nintendo. If anyone could pull him out of the gutter, it's the company that has had several franchises going for twenty + years, and still having people go out in droves to buy them.

 

[Mogwai]

i would trust nintendo with sonic...any day.

 

[Havok83]

Sega does continue to release 2D Sonic games and they are from waht I hear, very good. Problem is they only release them on the DS while the other systems get the 3D crap

 

[GL1]

The 3D is just fine, its the gameplay that's broken. Some slick Camera work can give us the same perspective and keep Sonic looking cool. Having story is fine, the only thing is the story is supposed to serve the action, not the other way around.

I don't think Team Sonic understands how to make 3D racing, which is essentially what sonic does, exciting and engaging. And their bosses, at least the ones of the past ten years, are laughable.

Here's what they need to do to fix this up.
1) Make Sonic Faster
- More Speed, silky smooth framerate, sonic should be the fastest videogame characater, and newbies should be able to lose control of his max speed and plow into some spikes they didn't see coming.
2) Give Sonic options when running
- Most important: a jump that doesn't kill all momentum. This is the one thing that broke the 3D games or than anything. You could give a tap and hit the next platform moving. It was just another thing to slow sonic EVEN MORE! Also, a sidestep and a slide for obstacles/tackling enemies. Being able to Airdash into a run, run straight up walls, even if you don't have enough momentum to get to the top.
3) Give Sonic more challenges while Running
- This is the hard one, the most important. Instead of stopping Sonic to fight x, y, and z, let the environment and its valid hazards be the challenge, instead of just a static track. Let the stops be quick for a skilled player, a bop on the head (instead of a slow chain dash). Up the ante with moving challenges and threats. It's one thing to go through a level, another to go through the same level with RoboSonic chasing you down.
4) Fix the camera, and the boss fights, and the storyline and...
- The camera has been horrible, imho. It has to be more intuitive. Bosses seem uninspired, still doing the three soft spot hit with a waiting pattern. A general lack of insight and creativity mars the series now. It needs all around more quality and polish, even if the speed comes back.

That's all, keep your stories, your extra characters, your whatever. If you speed sonic up, and get him back to running and cannonballing animals free, maybe throw in some wisecracking like on the cartoons, the game will be good, you'll get old fans and new.

Short version: Stop Slowing Sonic Down.

 

[Raiden]

Sega should try to make Sonic go back to what made him Sonic in the first place, instead of making him a Mario clone or other gimmicks like were-Sonic or knight Sonic. I don't think 3D is the problem; they can make Sonic fast in a 3D environment, but they have to make him fast, and think of his game like Sonic's a mobile race car that can do so many different stunts. Stop slowing him down; one overweight plumber is more than enough.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

I dunno if it's because I've been playing Street Fighter IV all week...

But, I think keeping 2D gameplay with 3D graphics could be awesome.

 

[Spider-X]

3D isn't the problem here. Sonic's levels in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were both great. Hell, the Daytime stages in Sonic Unleashed are pretty damn bad ass too. SEGA just needs to get their acts together and make a Sonic game without slowing him down by making us play these other characters or turning Sonic into a (insert anything that would make Sonic slower...like a Werehog). Also, they need to work on making a really good camera.

and for the love of JEEBUS CHRIST himself...GIVE US THE ABILITY TO PLAY AS SUPER SONIC IN ALL LEVELS AGAIN!!!!!!!

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

I think they could break things up a bit, and maybe create a sonic game with the classic gameplay and see how that works.

2D gameplay isn't dead, that much is for sure.

Like you said, if they can find a way to keep you going at blazing speeds with Sonic...then it'll be a winner.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

I stop playing Sonic games after the first game on Dreamcast, when I couldn't figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. They tried to make the game like Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie, but much more complicated.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

3D isn't the problem here. Sonic's levels in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were both great. Hell, the Daytime stages in Sonic Unleashed are pretty damn bad ass too. SEGA just needs to get their acts together and make a Sonic game without slowing him down by making us play these other characters or turning Sonic into a (insert anything that would make Sonic slower...like a Werehog). Also, they need to work on making a really good camera.

3D is the problem. There's no way Sega can make levels as big as the Genesis games in a 3D environment like in the 3D Sonic games. That's why Adventure had the ******ed the ******ed treasure hunts and occasional racing levels. Same reason why they had to tack on the awful Werehog parts in Unleashed.

Making it 2.5D like Street Fighter 4 or Brawl would allow them to have big levels like the 16 bit games but with modern visuals.

 

[Union Jack]

make sonic 3d..but have the travelling between levels like the daytimes sonic unleashed but still have the big roaming areas too in the main game..sonic is about speed but you cant explore at top speed..the need to gel the two together.but no gimmicks and no bloody werehog.
just sonic and tails and knuckes in a big epic story...but have someone write an intellegent story...not just robotnik taking over the world.
and set it in moebius(green hill zone etc )..not on some pseudo-earth.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sonic eventually fell into Nintendo's hands. He's starting to appear in some of their crossover games.

 

[StrainedEyes]

make sonic 3d..but have the travelling between levels like the daytimes sonic unleashed but still have the big roaming areas too in the main game..sonic is about speed but you cant explore at top speed..the need to gel the two together.but no gimmicks and no bloody werehog.
just sonic and tails and knuckes in a big epic story...but have someone write an intellegent story...not just robotnik taking over the world.
and set it in moebius(green hill zone etc )..not on some pseudo-earth.

Since when is Sonic about exploring?

Sonic Adventures 1 was a fantastic game, I don't know what happened between then and now that makes Sonic Team think Werehog is ok.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah, when Sonic was the man...when I was a kid...it was about superfast platforming.

 

[Spider-X]

3D is the problem. There's no way Sega can make levels as big as the Genesis games in a 3D environment like in the 3D Sonic games. That's why Adventure had the ******ed the ******ed treasure hunts and occasional racing levels. Same reason why they had to tack on the awful Werehog parts in Unleashed.

Making it 2.5D like Street Fighter 4 or Brawl would allow them to have big levels like the 16 bit games but with modern visuals.

Apparently you haven't played Sonic Unleashed, because some othe those levels are friggen massive. They absolutely can make 3D environments on the scale of the old 2D ones. I don't know where you come off thinking otherwise...

 

[Spider-X]

make sonic 3d..but have the travelling between levels like the daytimes sonic unleashed but still have the big roaming areas too in the main game..sonic is about speed but you cant explore at top speed..the need to gel the two together.but no gimmicks and no bloody werehog.
just sonic and tails and knuckes in a big epic story...but have someone write an intellegent story...not just robotnik taking over the world.
and set it in moebius(green hill zone etc )..not on some pseudo-earth.

This is part of the problem with Sonic...some of these games have taken the stories way too seriously...we're talking about a blue super fast running hedgehog here...any attempt to be taken seriously comes off as super ultra #1 cheese fest (examples: Shadow the hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog on PS3 and 360, Sonic and the talking Sword crap game, and so on).

I say keep the story simple and retro and give us amazing levels. Just keep the story as it was in the 2D days...Robotnik captures animals, puts 'em in robots, and tries to get the Chaos emeralds. Sonic saves animals, get's the emeralds, becomes Super, and kicks ass. It's a tried and true formula...why deviate? For christ sake, Mario has been running on the same formula since game one and those games are still really really good.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

Apparently you haven't played Sonic Unleashed, because some othe those levels are friggen massive. They absolutely can make 3D environments on the scale of the old 2D ones. I don't know where you come off thinking otherwise...

I've seen footage. Those levels are only half the game though. The other half is the werehog beat-em-up part. Sega can never produce levels from the Genesis games in a 3D environment. That is why they need to take the 2.5D approach.