I was never bothered by SA2's asset reuse because I never even thought of it that way. I always compared it to SA1 where the almost every non-Sonic stage were literally just part of Sonic's. Not to mention Heroes, where every team has the exact same stages, just slightly altered. By that measure, every stage in SA2 in completely unique, even if they reuse visual assets. And every similar-looking stage is in the same area story-wise, it's not like the characters go to two totally different places that both look the exact same.
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Inside the Ark and Outside the Ark are pretty hard to simply reuse assets for 2 separate characters...
But since you brought it up, they both go inside the ark and outside the ark with the reused assets for their respective levels.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Yeah. I feel the same way. Plus its not just visual fixes, the PC mods I've seen are a sight to behold sometimes. I've seen Trans Fem Sonic done for a lot of games and I'm hoping SA 1 and 2 arne't far behind.
Are explosions science?If Amy's speed cap weren't so severe, and she had a few more levels that really leaned into baby's first horror missions, it could've been a really great side part. I feel like Hot Shelter being made for her really showed what they could do.
The tight hallways, having to put together little puzzles and open doors before Zero got you, or just the cool setpieces like the TV screens blowing up.
I like the idea that she's like a Luigi to Sonic's Mario. Kind of a floaty, slower run that gradually speeds up with more momentum until you can hammer bounce to huge heights.
I FINALLY figured out why Ian Flynn's interpretations of Shadow felt a little off to me.
Because he writes Shadow as much more emotional than he usually is.
And I know this because I have consumed far too much Japanese media for what is healthy, and understand how ST interprets Shadow from Western audiences.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.That's the gist of it, yeah. Shadow is too much of a Japanese character for a Western writer to fully grasp due to Values Dissonance.
God, I hated sounding like a fucking weeb in that previous sentence.
Edited by Tomodachi on Sep 9th 2022 at 3:36:29 AM
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.That's what makes the Boom version of Shadow so amusing to me. A lot of the hardcore fandom dislike this version of him because he's essentially a parody, but he's really a parody of the more shallow (occasionally American) interpretation of him; the edginess, the quick to anger mentality, the antipathy towards Sonic, etc. Its taking that concept to the eventual endpoint of characterization and showcases how silly it ends up being.
I don't really follow. What about Shadow's "stays stoic to cover up his trauma" thing is inherently Japanese? I can definitely see the contrasts between Flynn's more emotional take on Shadow and everyone else's, but how much can be attributed to culture clash and how much can be attributed to Flynn's personal style?
His trauma doesn't actually matter to this current iteration...
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.![]()
Because as ![]()
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said, that's basically how a lot Western writers interpret Shadow.
Not that its inherently a bad thing mind you, but it does explain why Shadow suddenly becomes much more angry and loud when under a Western pen.
I don't think people hate the Show's version of Shadow because he only shows up twice and its so over the top, you cannot take him seriously.
And yes, I hate how much I sound like a weab right now. Pleade don't make me any more self conscious than I already am...
Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Sep 9th 2022 at 6:45:40 AM
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.We clearly have't seen the same fans.
Best wishes, a Boom fan.
Edit: I don't know how to properly explain it. Shadow is clearly a shonen character, a rival, which of course originates in Japan. Western media doesn't really have a similar archetype (or didn't? Dunno). The closest we got in the West I could think of are Batman (who is absolutely stoic and holds his emotions in check) and Punisher (who has a nonsense attitude while being a cold killer), and even then, Batman saying cocky one liners like Shadow is out of place, you expect that more out of his sidekick. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.
Edited by Tomodachi on Sep 9th 2022 at 3:52:09 AM
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.The version people hate is the game version I've noticed.
Batman is like the closest. But since Shadow is obviously more Vegeta than anything, that's what people associate him with.
And let's be real, Batman has his violent moments. Never the forget The Dark Knight Returns.
Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Sep 9th 2022 at 6:53:05 AM
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.![]()
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The funny thing is, he absolutely does still have his rivalry with Sonic in 06 lol.
If you listen to the Japanese dub, there's a sense of reluctantance for Sonic wanting to work with Shadow. And that's from Sonic.
There's also things like lightly teasing each other about how slow the other is.
Western writers just turn it into a pissing contest between the two when it's more of a light competition between them.
Well screw those people.
But you know who can elaborate here? Our resident Japanese connoisseur, Kuro Bara Hime.
Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Sep 9th 2022 at 6:57:49 AM
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.

Another thing that helped out with SA 2's repeated stage assets is the fact that it's rare for characters to have the same level theme more than once, meaning that even when you're going through three "Eggman desert base" stages in a row, it doesn't feel like you're just running through the same level thrice over.
The only time the same character plays through the same stage theme multiple times is Eggman (Lost Colony and Cosmic Wall), and Sonic (Crazy Gadget and Final Rush), and in both cases they made sure the levels remained pretty distinct from each other despite that.