Big issue was not just tying it to a bleh new gimmick, but an expensive one. And something not available easily on the Xbox One(I forget if it was even ported to that), but this means Free Riders couldn't be put on the Xbox One without said thing.
On the other hand, they didn't bother to rework it to be remotely better for the Playstation or Nintendo consoles, which both had motion controls at the time. Which is also what hard killed it as a game. Being bad alone isn't enough, but having no ports? It never stood a chance. Hell, it's the only Sonic game I never ever will get because I'm not paying that much for the Kinect too. And only for one game. ...I've only owned one Sonic game I can't play, and that's a case where it was a single copy available rarely somewhere. Free Riders isn't "rare" in comparison.
Shadow?Can't be helped. Unless Blaze brings Marine to Sonic's world with her (and Sega gives her some kind of actual move pool) we likely won't be seeing her any time soon.
Also, her intro was a bit contentious. She was obviously supposed to be annoying and become less so, but that's always going to be a tricky situation. Just because someone is supposed to be irritating at first, doesn't mean people will stop finding them so when they are supposed to.
One Strip! One Strip!If they want another recurring villain they should just bring Nack/Fang back; we don't have a concrete bounty hunter/thief type antagonist. Don't know why there's this weird mandate that Classic characters must be limited to the Classic universe when they hardly use the damn thing. If there was some legal reason I'd get it but this just feels like some weird "we want to keep the sacred cow Classic games separate from cringe Modern era" mindset
Edited by RJ-19-CLOVIS-93 on Feb 26th 2023 at 2:14:22 AM
I think it might just be to keep the classic world populated with characters without introducing too many characters or bringing up questions like "Okay, but where was this modern person earlier, or this classic person now?" I'm fine with the distinct sets. And there isn't actually a shortage of villains in the either era, they could just stand to have some better writing. As far as villains and anti-villains go, we now have:
Classic:
- Robotnik
- The Hard Boiled Heavies
- The Hooligans (Fang, Bean and Bark)
- Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll
Modern:
- Eggman
- His children Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, and Sage
- Zavok and the Deadly Six
- Infinite
- THE END
- Dr. Eggman Nega
- The Babylon Rogues
IDW:
- Starline
- Rough and Tumble
- Surge and Kit
- Clutch
- Mimic
- (Classic Tails and Sonic also still have Wendy Witchcart's gang in IDW)
I was doing a controller test, so I went back into Frontiers, and just did nothing for a while to see if I could still trigger Sonic's incidental dialogue. Since this was my postgame save file, it automatically resets to the autosave point before you get the last emeralds necessary for the final boss, so there's not much left to comment on. Especially since I already triggered the "Sage, you're growing up" line. So at this point, Sonic didn't say anything, but the disembodied voice did. She disables the controls to force you to listen to her explain how to upgrade your stats from the Hermit and Elder Koco and do other things to progress the story. She really seems to want Sonic to get on with it.
I think Sonic's comments are too infrequent. It's possible to go the whole game and only hear one or two lines.
It's worth pointing out that in Bark and Bean's debut, they were actually introduced as Sonic's friends whom Sonic had entrusted one of the 8 Chaos Emeralds (yeah...), as was everyone in the tournament with the sole exception of Fang, who was singled out as having stolen his Chaos Emerald for entry.
They were only really villains when Archie decided to yoink them in for that role purely because this was their only appearance and one of Fang's only appearances, so they got arbitrarily associated with each other.
For what it's worth, the 30th anniversary special pulled back the villainy on Bark and Bean a bit. Amy says Bark's a good guy just with some not as good friends (and he even shows his better qualities), and Bean isn't "evil" so much as "if Daffy Duck was a Mad Bomber." Even the "hooligan" nickname I think is meant to suggest that they're not that bad, just misguided.
I find some of the trios of characters and side characters to be interesting. Especially given how rarely some of the more household animals are used.
- Hedgehog(s), fox, echidna
- Crocodile, bee, chameleon
- Armadillo and flying squirrel
- Weasel, duck, polar bear
- Hedgehog, bat, robot
- Hedgehog, rabbit, cat
- Cat and racoon
- Hawk, swallow, albatross (okay, these are all birds, at least)
And then IDW gave us:
- Wolf, lemur, beetle
- Platypus, tenrec, fennec fox
- Wolf, ocelot, octopus, lion, howler monkey
And of course, the freedom fighters: Squirrel, rabbit, walrus, ...Antoine's a coyote now?
Huh. I think T.W. Barker might be the most prominent dog in the series, and I didn't even know he was a dog.
Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Feb 25th 2023 at 1:44:52 PM
That makes sense to me. Bark kinda shares moves with Jeffry Mc Wild and Bean is from Dynamite Dux so its like the Retro Sega/Sega Fursona team. Sorta.
Are explosions science?It may be my cynical self talking but I think Honey is just a cameo character and not necessarily a Sonic-Sonic character.
I'm sure there are legal doors behind her character.
So I don't see her joining anyone.
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.Given that the parent company legally owns her, I personally suspect that Honey would be highlighted if there was interest and Sega wasn't so hung up on the classic/modern divide. Heck if there was an ongoing classic comic spin-off series from IDW, she'd probably be a recurring character fairly quickly. You could probably even pair her with Mighty and Ray; make them another trio alongside the big three, the Hooligans, & the Chaotix.
Edited by BorneAgain on Feb 26th 2023 at 10:13:51 AM
Word of Ian
says that the End's 'infinite' power is more akin to it being a timeless entity and it wasn't at 100% when it was fought during the final battle; that said, even in a weakened state it was a catastrophic world-ending threat and the Ancients didn't solve the problem, they just delayed it.
Imagine trying to stop the end of the universe.
Or let's pull mythology terms: imagine stopping Ragnarok permanently, or Apophis permanently, or killing Death in a sword fight.
Edited by Tomodachi on Feb 27th 2023 at 7:50:55 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.

I also hesitated if I should have counted Jet and Marine as prominent.