General Sonic The Hedgehog thread

I didn't mind the Adventure games and their attempts at story, but yeah, I agree. I think the series being more light-hearted is better off overall. Which isn't to say that doing more "serious" stuff is impossible, but the tone should still be more parodic and playful.

...I miss the Storybook series already.

I wish they'd do a sci-fi one. Or something with greek/roman myth. Or, I mean, Japanese mythology. Maybe Noir or mystery somehow. African mythology. Charles Dickens Victorian pulp steampunk story adventure things. Like, I'm not entirely sure whether any kids became more literate or interested in the Arabian Nights or stories of Arthur as a direct result of those two games. But I can sorta hope.

Mind, I did like the gameplay of the Adventure games. They could have used more polishing, better camera controls, handling, fixed some glitches, and Big's gameplay really had no reason to exist, but I think they sorta threw some babies out with the dirty bathwater since Adventure 1.

This series kinda needs to pick a gameplay style and stick to it. Which it seemed like they were doing from Unleashed to Generations but now they aren't apparently.

That hardly equals up to poorly written, you just didn't care. As I said they we're decent, not anything I would call outright horrible because there really isn't anything offensive to it. (Outside of the first Adventure horrible VA and Limited Animation in the cut scenes)

edited 20th Sep '14 5:31:48 AM by AfroWarrior27

That hardly equals up to poorly written, you just didn't care. As I said they we're decent, not anything I would call outright horrible because there really isn't anything offensive to it. (Outside of the first Adventure horrible VA)

I'd argue that Sonic 06's story is straight up offensively bad. the game in general is, really, but that goes without saying.

i just think sega put way too much effort into them and it didn't pay off. well i guess it did in the sense that some people liked them for whatever reason, but from a general quality standpoint, i'd say no.

edited 20th Sep '14 5:34:45 AM by wehrmacht

Adventure 2's last story & Gamma's Story is what really got to me, otherwise I probably would agree that they we're decent. The fans just glorify it's way too much.

But yeah, Sonic 2006 is an obvious example on how not to do Darker and Edgier. I'm pretty sure everyone can agree on that.

edited 20th Sep '14 5:37:46 AM by AfroWarrior27

Personally, my first introduction to the franchise was when it was all dark and super serious, and personally, I prefer sort-of dark Sonic the hedgehog plot.

Granted quality writing would dramatically change things, whether it's aliens attacking (Shadow) or aliens being attacked (Colours).

Vaguely related side-note; looking at the Wisp page on the Sonic news Network made me horrified at Eggman's plot. I wish I felt the same actually playing the game, because kidnapping aliens and draining their life force until they become horribly mutated and destructive versions of themselves should be more worrisome than it actually is.

I mean.

...I've been checking out some of the Archie comics basically for the first time. Admittedly mostly because of that Mega Man crossover. And the fact that the Mega Man comics from Archie are actually kinda pretty good. I like how some of the recent comics have been handling things. They've been sillier. They've been making fun of things.

And, I do sorta like the way Colors at least briefly went back to the way the first game was a sorta kinda environmentalist plot. What with Eggman being the evil industrialist hurting animals and stuff. Only, I guess Eggman/Ivo Robotnik was meant to be sort of Communist and/or Russian. But now, with the theme park thing, he's a capitalist. Which is a little funny.

I did like Gamma's story in Adventure 1. I sorta like the way Adventure 2's Dark Story and Last Story gave a little bit of focus to Eggman. Although, yeah, I think Adventure 2 actually got a little too dark. I'm not sure who thought making a story in a game starring an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog about government conspiracies and genocide was a good idea.

It all depend on execution in the end.

Like if I was to tell you about a Mario game with a serious storyline was great. I'd probably get strange reactions but truthfully the story of Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario are both greatly received because they execute it well.

I'd probably get strange look if I was to say that a series about animated and silly toys took a dramatic and dark route, but Toy Story 3 turned out to be a great movie.

That all proves that anything could go a dark route, it's just how great it could be depend on the writers.

edited 20th Sep '14 5:52:46 AM by AfroWarrior27

All of those things still had plenty of jokes and silly moments.

Like, Super Paper Mario had a whole lot of fourth-wall breaking in the tutorial.

...I can't think of a part of Sonic Adventure 2 where it didn't take itself seriously.

I mean, what jokes there were, and I don't think there were very many, got messed up by the voice acting playing them almost totally straight. And seemingly not understanding the concept of comedic timing.

...I didn't mind the darker and edgier parts of 06 or Shadow at all really. Let's just remove "everybody can agree with that" from our vocabulary and speak for ourselves on this matter.

That said, 06's only issues I saw ultimately was how poorly the time shenanigans were handled. I just didn't find that to make sense.

I still find the only actual issue with Shadow's story was the inconsistencies with Adventure 2. Besides that, I find the whole Black Arms blood a great idea as is. I think it gave more options to Shadow and helped separate him from Sonic. So I couldn't be more than happy they did that.

...Adventure 2 had jokes? That game was overly serious. Not hyper dark or anything, but definitely serious. Adventure 1 felt a bit lighter. Heroes was really light bar the ending(till the narm kicked in, anyway).

edited 20th Sep '14 5:56:28 AM by Irene

The only thing I can think of is Knuckles crashing the ship.

Which, I mean, I hope that was meant to be funny. As it was, it just seemed tedious.

...I don't understand how you don't have a problem with Shadow and 06. You're in something of a minority there, I think.

More like "mostly everybody can agree with that" there's a very small minority that enjoyed the story of those games compared to those that didn't.

And .

edited 20th Sep '14 6:01:25 AM by AfroWarrior27

I mean. I think that the more serious characters like Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Metal Sonic and so on can come back.

As long as they have the piss taken out of them every now and again.

Like this.◊

And this.

Or this.

edited 20th Sep '14 6:08:18 AM by unnoun

Yeah, a Sonic game being completely serious with nothing other than that, is very dull.

That describe Sonic2006 pretty well. You could tell Sega/Sonic Team we're trying hard to appeal to the "Dark & Complex" crowd of Sonic fans with that game. But 2006 had other issue as well, like how bland Sonic himself was in that game, or how all the characters other than Shadow had to hold the Idiot Ball to advance the plot forward. And then of course the beaten to death Sonic X Elise moments and the horrible VA.

Hard to take 2006 seriously at all. The exact opposite happen instead.

And of course better writers, they we're able to overall keep the tone of the story fun despite going to more of a dark route. But even with the jokes and silly moments the things I mention did still have some very severely dark & tense moments that i'm sure everyone will remember it for.

edited 20th Sep '14 6:23:11 AM by AfroWarrior27

so no one cares at all about Unleashed I take it, then?

i haven't played unleashed extensively, so i can't comment on it too much besides the fact that it seemed to be a step in the right direction.

the werehog is still dumb though.

Sonic Unleashed's story was actually pretty good. Flawed, but good. Really, it wouldn't have been that bad if they had just shortened the Werehog levels some. The cutscenes, story, music, and DAT OPENING kinda bring into "good Sonic game" territory for me.

I agree with Irene in regards to Shadow and 06; I had no problems with them being serious stories, but I did have an issue with the execution of certain portions of 06's narrative at least. I also feel that Unleashed did a good job at being serious while maintaining some lightheartedness during its storyline.

That said, I think the Storybook games had better executed narratives overall, even in light of Colors and Lost World.

I never was able to see all of Unleashed's story. Or I did a really freaking long time ago. I only remember the beginning at best. I actually loved how the Werehog came about with the whole Gaia thing. I actually love the beginning part too.(keep in mind its story is one of the ones I felt was handled really well overall that I remember. I think somebody uploaded all the cutscenes and labeled it a "movie", so I might be able to find and rewatch it. It's a long game and all)

I think the fact that Eggman got the severe better of Sonic, and turned the world into chaos, was a great premise. Sadly, we don't see this kind of cool thing often in Sonic. Rarely does Eggman outsmart him as is(another time is in Adventure 2 near the end of the Hero and Dark stories), but when he does, it's pretty amazing, imo.

I liked Unleashed.

The problem wasn't solely that they were serious stories, it was the way they we're presented that was the issue. As mention in my previous post, anything can take a dark and serious route, but it has to be presented well.

edited 20th Sep '14 6:50:19 AM by AfroWarrior27

I really liked Unleashed, had the Wii version. The cutscenes were beautiful (wish they had more), day stages were a blast, and the final part is probably my favorite out of all the finales of the other Sonic games.

The Werehog levels were so BORING though, and hard once you got later in the game Not to mention as you got near the end, it increased to 4 acts, and for Eggmanland, 5!!!!. It almost made the day stages not worth the trouble, just because they were so long!

Don't remember where I read this, I think Nintendo Power, but they summed it up as for every Day stage, there's another 3 Night stages. And that's not counting the 3 acts.

It took me a while to finally beat the game, but when I finally got to the finale, it was amazing!

Eggmanland was probably the coolest final level of any Sonic game! Eggman's main goal throughout the series was to build Eggmanland, and here we're finally seeing it. Not to mention just beforehand, Chip's reveal as Light Gaia was shocking to me. It might of been predictable to others, but for me it was like "Whoa, WHAT?!?!" Then the final boss was AMAZING, and again, maybe my favorite final boss. (With Biolizard right beside it, 'Supporting Me' man) Chip controlling a giant robot, Sonic running to an orchestral soundtrack, then the final battle with Super Sonic, with the epic rock music that accompanies those. The parting with Chip really gave me the feels too. I feel like crying every time I hear the ending song.

Honestly, if you haven't finished Sonic Unleashed, you should not read the spoilers above and get to it. It's worth it!

I still think I prefer Sonic Adventure 2's finale though,it was awesome, even though it was CONFUSING AS HECK!!!!

Keep in mind I barely could play through the 360 version. I'll just leave it at "the gameplay wasn't that fun to me." overall. I have said my reasons before, but I don't need to rehash them all that much. I'll just leave a note of it. Since you probably never read it, so... ^note I didn't feel like I could really control Sonic in the day stages. Much like the Mach Speed sections, I'm going so fast, I can't just choose where I want to go in any decent way. I was never a fan of the boost, since it's that or run into enemies. I actually don't like that form of game design myself. This isn't an issue from Adventure 1 to 06 either(Mach Speed sections aside). The Werehog was a bit too slow and wonky for my tastes. I liked it better than the day stages, but not by much. The fact I had strong control was nice, though. However, I do think the fact his physical attacks are hyper weak is a bit silly. Of course, the enemies were probably super powered up compared to normal while you're in a new body that's all stretchy, which tend to not be physically hyper strong. As for the Tails sections, they're remakes of the previous Tornado stages in Adventure 1. Except... badly designed. You have to press the X button at the exact times or take damage. Press X to Not Die is heavily in it. Related, the constant exact combos just to finish off a boss somewhat annoyed me. However, I never got past those Tails stages, so I didn't fight any bosses like that, so I can't fully judge the combo thing. Finally, I did enjoy the regular Hub. I felt decently in control. But the fact you could lose a life in it after 06 removed that is... silly. You had infinite lives in the Hub in that game. >_< Lastly, I very much dislike the new Homing Attack. I just want to jump, and quickly go. If I miss an enemy, fair enough. If I don't, sweet. But waiting to lock on slows me down heavily. I feel that part actually works against the idea of Sonic being hyper fast. Ironically.

Hence why the story is easier for me to talk about, since I honestly found it good.

Unleashed's story is fine, but it ends up dropping things that it seemed to be setting up and then the story just straight lines all through the middle.

Its not the best at it, but its still good.

Doesn't help that it inadvertently started the trend of Tails being nothing more than "that guy who does gadgets and things".

It's the third time Eggman has unleashed some deadly evil and lost control of it. Was Unleashed the game where Eggman tried to divide the continents again, or was that Sonic Advance 3?

...I'm outta here.

I really just... can't comprehend how anyone likes Modern Sonic's dialogue in Colors, Unleashed, Generations, Lost World, or Boom. There can be no opinions that differ from my own.

-aims orbital death laser-

Really, the OVA is my de facto Sonic voice/personality.

In Sonic X, Sonic would do these awkward pauses whenever he was mocking or observing someone. In SATAM, his catchphrase was "way past cool". In Heroes, while not terrible, he had lines like, "Show'em why we're SONIC HEROES!" In the post-Colors games, he's been juvenile.

The OVA was the most natural, cool-sounding voice - it was puckish, it was frank, it was laidback. A bit nasally, which fit Sonic's body type.

edited 20th Sep '14 11:25:51 AM by FOFD