General Sonic The Hedgehog thread

That seems old news already, i'm pretty sure it was covered years ago

The Sonic Boom sub-series is fantastic. The games were bad but the other derivatives weren't. The idea and characterization was great. It's a shame it only lasted a few years.

Helps that from the get go it stated that it was it's own thing, so it didn't influence the main series

I didn't care for the lighter tone at first but the cartoon's spontaneity and meta humor won me over. I'm disappointed we still haven't and probably aren't getting a Season 3.

Of all the things with Sonic to be sad about, the lack of a season 3 is my top 1. Season 2 doubled down on the references, character-based humor and fourth wall jokes, and it was great. There were some really funny episodes.

Also if you wanted to hear the voice cast with a lot of creative freedom, that was the place to get it.

I loved the Boom show, and I think it was criminal of Cartoon Network to give it such a dumb airing slot.

Don't remind me.

Edited by erazor0707 on Jan 9th 2019 at 7:04:53 AM

They had to make room for more Teen Titans Go

I don't know much about the show, but the movie was fantastic.

Hey look, it's 2D Sonic in 3D.

You know, I may get crucified for saying this, but I honestly wish the games would bring back the edge factor from the early 2000s.

Yes yes, I know that may seem weird, but just hear me out. Even back when he was first introduced, Sonic was always intentionally designed to be a cooler and edgier character than the likes of Mario. Even though they were filled with colorful characters and the like, even the early Genesis games took themselves more seriously than other platformers at the time, dealing with things like bad futures, unwilling robotization, and the destruction of the world. Subsequently, the early 3D era games continued with that tone, just done with a slightly more stone-faced look.

And you know what? I honestly think it worked out. Yeah, they were really cheesy (any game that involves talking animals naturally has that slight feel) and the stories being dark and serious could make it a bit jarring, but they were always earnest in their execution, and for a kid playing the games, that was enough. Heck, even Shadow the Hedgehog was done the way it was because several kids told Sega that it would be cool if Sonic used a gun. For all that game's unintentional comedy stemming from all the try-hard cool factor, as a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Nowadays, I enjoy it ironically, but the point still stands.

Problem is, after the 06 debacle, it seems that Sega and Sonic Team have been extremely reluctant to do something more serious like that again. So now we have all these games that don't take themselves seriously in the slightest, have jokes almost every second, and even when they go for a more serious tone, they never fully commit to it, as Forces unfortunately showed, leading to jarring tonal shifts. It just doesn't have them same feeling of earnestness that the early games had, at least to me. Heck, even the Genesis era games were more serious than what is being made now.

That's not to say games like Colors or Generations are bad, far from it. For me at least though, without at least a bit of edge, the games simply lack the factor that made them stand out from other similar platformers, and ironically end up feeling like watered-down imitators of the very games the series initially set out to be the antithesis of.

So I say, with all seriousness, bring back the edginess. Yeah, it may be silly, but it still wouldn't be as cringe-inducing as the tone is now.

Edited by LDragon2 on Jan 9th 2019 at 11:19:25 AM

It would be exactly as "cringey" as it is now.

True, but I would much rather take something that is earnest in its tone rather than trying to be "ironic".

I'd wager Unleashed, Secret Rings and Black Knight, in spite of their gameplay flaws, managed to strike a good balance between lighthearted and serious without coming off as cringe-y.

IMO.

It wouldn't be earnest now.

Not with the current writers, no. Shame too.

I wonder if most of the current problem with Modern Sonic couldn't be fixed if Sonic Team weren't so aggressively ashamed of the series' past.

The context of edgy in this series is such an hilarious buzzword, because the games aren't really "edgy", they just kind of gave a shit.

Even if they did give a shit like back then, unless Sega actually gives the development a budget and a reasonable development time, we're just gonna run into the same issues as before.

There are problems with Sonic but it isn't just that Sonic is edgy. Sega/Sonic Team just needs to really get their heads together.

"Edgy" is kind of a buzzword in general and has been for years, but in the context of Sonic it's often used where "actiony" would be a better descriptor.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Jan 10th 2019 at 9:23:24 AM

Secret Rings and Black Knight I will agree struck a perfect tone that I would have enjoyed in later games. And once again, for the 30th time in this thread probably, I will say that a Sonic Storybook spin-off/direction would have been brilliant.

Continuing with the Arabian Nights theme (there's a crap ton of stories in there), Arthurian legend, or moved onto a Sonic-styled take on European fairy tales, or any other form of myth. That easily could have been Sonic's niche like kart-racing and parties are Mario's.

Edited by Soble on Jan 10th 2019 at 6:37:51 AM

I wrote this earlier but yeah I'm in agreement that "edgy" Sonic really just treated its material with some gravitas, which I loved and is a big part of why Ian Flynn's Sonic comics are so good. He respects the series.

Sonic Team very much follows the "throw the baby out with the bathwater" philosophy of game design.

Sega knows they don't have to try with this series because it'll sell regardless of quality because its Sonic.

So they put all of their resources into their other, better-selling, products.

Mania was only able happen because Taxman proposed the idea to Sega, and they approved of it. So unless some new blood like that comes in, can't see Modern Sonic ever getting that treatment.

Especially since the fan game community are mainly centered on classic gameplay, which isn't what people care about when it comes to Modern Sonic.

Have the games actually been doing all that well lately? IIRC Lost World and RoL especially performed poorly.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Jan 10th 2019 at 9:33:16 AM

My hypothetical business degree says that selling a product based purely on brand recognition can and will only last for so long. Telltale, Channel Awesome, and 343 Industries learned this the hard way.

Sega makes so much money from their other products, that's hardly an issue. Sonic is honestly chump change for them.

Even something like Forces sold reasonably well and that's all they probably care about.

They really don't care that much about Sonic, and it shows. Just look at how many people left over the years due to disputes with Sega. Developing Sonic games under Sega sounds like a shitty experience

They did well enough, that's all that matters.

That said, Lost World and Rise of Lyric were on the Wii U, which was already a questionable console to begin with

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Jan 10th 2019 at 10:00:00 AM