Sonic Generations

[Tani Coyote]

Link to video.

Sega has released yet more footage, this time of the bosses seen throughout the game. It appears there are more stages than bosses, the bosses being

Spoiler :

the Egg Dragoon, Perfect Chaos, and Death Egg, while there are rival bosses in the form Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Then you have the final boss, the Time Eater... 7 bosses. I'm guessing one for each Chaos Emerald?

I will say I'm disappointed in the Time Eater's appearance(seen in a cutscene clip at around 48 seconds). He/it looks rather bland. Besides, we tried a time eating final boss before - his name was Solaris and he was in the worst Sonic game ever released. Do not want Sega, big do not want.

Overall though, I am eager to see this. The game releases in North America on November 1st. That's right, just little over two weeks!

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Well I've always just pretended the Sonic franchise stopped after Sonic 3 and Knuckles and this, I think, make me feel vindicated.

Well vindicated with a pang of regret over what might have happened had he not been grossly mismanaged by Sega...

I mean, at the very least didn't Sonic become a soulless shell of his former self when he was sold off to Nintendo, thus making a decade long rivalry with Mario pointless?

 

[Omega124]

Well I've always just pretended the Sonic franchise stopped after Sonic 3 and Knuckles and this, I think, make me feel vindicated.

Well vindicated with a pang of regret over what might have happened had he not been grossly mismanaged by Sega...

I mean, at the very least didn't Sonic become a soulless shell of his former self when he was sold off to Nintendo, thus making a decade long rivalry with Mario pointless?

While I thought the series started to suck after Adventure, I mostly agreed with you until the critical lack of research in that last paragraph. No, the franchise was not sold off to Nintendo. Sega still owns Sonic, and releases new games on all three consoles. Just because he was in a crossover or two doesn't mean being sold off.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

I knew I should have just stopped typing while I was ahead I stand corrected.

Regardless of how he got there I maintain, however, Sonic on a Nintendo device especially, less so Sony and Microsoft, just feels wrong and this recent reincarnation is proof of Sega failing to admit that while he was a good character and money spinner, he belongs in the nineties and should killed off as a project before my generation's nostalgia is completely tarnished

 

[Tani Coyote]

It's only "wrong" because Sega was competitors with Nintendo for so long. But, they saw they could make more money developing software than hardware and so dropped out - let everyone else handle the hassle that is current generation consoles. They are only doing what any business worth staying around does - change with the times.

Personally I see Generations as the crown jewel of the Blue God's revival - the ever more expanded merchandise and greater ratings than ever before seem to point towards a renaissance. Can't wait for the new cartoon!

Also, to heck with nostalgia. The blue blur is gonna keep doin' what he's always done: keep running!

Though there is a funny bit: while a source wasn't provided, I heard Sega was actually making it policy to try and kill off Sonic for several years. Given the crapstorm that was Shadow 05 and Sonic 06, I'd believe it. But it seems the fanbase was too loyal to Master Needlemouse, and as such, they've abandoned that. Never mind such a string of utter crap helps make the new games look even better.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Also, to heck with nostalgia. The blue blur is gonna keep doin' what he's always done: keep running!

To heck with nostalgia, while praising a game that is depending on nostalgia?

 

[Tani Coyote]

To heck with nostalgia, while praising a game that is depending on nostalgia?

I think appeal to nostalgia is good(heck, it's half the Archie comics' basis), but it shouldn't be used as your fuel. You need new ideas, not rehashes of old ones, to stay alive. This game is celebrating 20 years, so that its re-imagining old stages is fine by me. But if every game to come was just a rehash of the previous...

 

[Wilks johnson]

Woohoo, I finally pre-ordered the game and we are pretty close to the release date!

Honestly, the more I see of Generations, the more excited I am for the game.

Oh, and there is an awesome Cnet preview with Aaron Webber (Finally, a preview in English ).

The Preview shows off some of the hub world and complete walk through of Sky Sanctuary and Seaside Hill. The preview shows both the classic and modern versions of each level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKsUzrAFpQ

Spoiler :

Also, when they are showing off the hub world, look closely when he shows off the location of the side missions. You can see a model one Sega Genesis. I'm not sure what exactly that means, although I would guess it allows you to play GHZ from Sonic 1 or something along those lines.

 

[Tani Coyote]

A new demo's been released. Coders have naturally cracked it, and some new information has been gleaned:

I'm assuming these are all optional.

Spoiler :

Character Team-Ups

In levels with Tails, you press the Y button to call him to you, similar to how the elemental shields were shown with Y in that one screenshot. It’s likely all those little powerup icons we saw are things you can use with Y.
You can call Espio in a fashion similar to Tails. He has a grappling hook.
There’s also the ability to call Vector. He throws you to locations.
A team-up mission with Amy is included; she gives you the hammer jump.
There’s a team-up mission with Cream in a level with no rings. The only way to get rings is to call on Cream to throw you some.
There’s a treasure hunt for buried metals. You call Knuckles, who digs into the the ground for you.
Rouge team-up: heavily armored robots block you–call on Rouge to take them out.
Blaze team-up: the level has walls of flame which Blaze can extinguish.
Charmy team-up: …he can make a vortex at your feet. What?

Character Races/Battles

The Tails race is with Tails in a plane.
In the race with Knuckles, he will burrow underground to chea–er, use his unique abilities to take shortcuts.
Rouge tries to stop you with bombs in her race.
There’s an Espio fight in which you have to shine a spotlight to find him while he’s invisible.
“Collect 10 Chao and reach the goal before Cream!” (…explains itself.)

Miscellaneous Gameplay/Challenges

There are time trials that have powerups that give you more time.
The doppleganger race is not against the other era version; it’s essentially a ghost race, complete with translucency.
In the challenges with the giant enemies you just knock them over instead of killing them, but then they can be used as platforms.
The icon with the motobug and the ring is for Ring Time, which changes all enemies into rings (presumably for just a few seconds.)
There are apparently challenge missions with multiple animal capsules, where Sonic has to release all of them.
There’s a mission where Sonic has to carry the sign post to the end and knock it around, presumably like the end of Sonic 3 Act 1s where you could juggle it. The player has to knock it to the end of the level without it falling into pits.
There are single-ring challenge missions.
Jump panels are in at least one challenge act, presumably as in Sonic Adventure.
There’s a time trial in which your boost meter is 3 times the size of normal but it doesn’t replenish. That explains the “300% Boost” seen earlier.

Some music was ripped from the demo as well. Oddly, the main theme song isn't in there - Sega seems very reluctant to release it, so I'm guessing it's gonna kick ass.

The most prominent music ripped was the ending credits music:


Link to video.

Notice the reference to Sonic 1 in how it's organised.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Best Buys around the country have broken the release date! All over, there are reports of people getting copies no questions asked.

It seems it's stopped now(Best Buy likely issuing an order to all stores to stop), but the effect has already been felt - videos, music, gameplay, etc. are spreading like wildfire across the web.

I am definitely looking forward to my copy on the 1st! The music(as always!) and levels show promise, even if the plot is paper thin.

The boss battle against Perfect Chaos, which was streamed by IGN so I assume it was approved unlike that large booboo:


Link to video.

 

[Wilks johnson]

Yeah, I've pretty much stopped looking at Generations content after people on Retro started talking about some Best Buy's breaking the street date.

Although I did listen to a lot of the music, and it's freaking awesome! Can't wait for Nov 1st! Sadly I've got an accounting exam the same day, so I probably won't be doing a midnight release(my local Gamestop is doing one).

Also, the Super Sonic Racing remix is hilarious. Who knew Sega had a sense of humor?

Spoiler :

They remix part of an old Sega Saturn commercial into the beginning of it.

Edit: The game is out in North America, and it's pretty awesome. I'll post my (spoiler free) thoughts about the game in a bit.

 

[Tani Coyote]

My friend rented the game; I'm due to get the actual game tomorrow in the mail but was impatient.

I should have waited.

I beat the game in about 5 hours.

I got S ranks on most of the stages I played(I played Modern; he played Classic).

Spoiler :

I was really impressed with how they touched up the stages - there are parts that will seem as if they were cut and pasted, but they are re-arranged in such a way the stage feels new. For example, modern Spagonia starts out the same way but quickly turns different, and also has the iconic clock tower grind, but again, still goes differently.

I especially loved what happened with Chemical Plant and Sky Sanctuary, and how insane the truck from hell in City Escape has become, weaving in and out of your path. Planet Wisp and Egg Dragoon were the hardest parts for me, naturally. I beat most stages on the first try.

I really loved the Shadow and Silver boss battles; Metal Sonic's was lackluster.

The troll in Classic Crisis City is hilarious as you'll all find out.

I like many of the remixes! Especially epic is the Sonic 2 Final Boss' remix.

The plot cracks jokes about other games so that's fun.

So, those're my positives. My negatives?

-No theme song; Sega, you're full of disappointment in this regard.
-The final boss is REALLY annoying, not because it's hard, but because every two seconds your variety of friends are shouting "Switch with the y button" or some such, even when you have a bajillion rings.
-Short short short short. When talking about 3'3'' hedgehogs, that's saying a lot.
-Not much of a story. I know for SOME this has appeal, but for me, that's a downside. I suppose it's a case of YMMV. Then again, in a game that involves replaying a bunch of old stages, it's only natural not much will be surprising. Black Knight had more surprises than this.
-I hate Shadow's voice actor as per usual. I'd really like someone who could copy David Humphrey's impression, but that's just me being a nerd.
-Colors had a short plot, but there was humor to be found. There's barely any dialogue to be had here.

The metacritic score seems to be 79/100. I'm sure the short length is partly to blame. 5 hours =/= 50 dollars; I don't know what you're smoking Sega, but I think I'll pass on buying your next game fresh off the presses.

Overall a good game, but I'm afraid SA2 will still remain my personal favorite. For everyone else, well... your mileage may vary.

 

[Wilks johnson]

Decided I might as well do a new post. If you want to stay completely in the dark about level design or other things, don't read.

The Positives:

Spoiler :

1. The classic sonic physics are considerably better than Sonic 4. Yes, this warrants talking about.
2. The mentions to other levels are awesome. For example, the water current with breakable poles in Classic Seaside Hill which references Hydro City.
3. The collection of music that you can have play during any of the levels is pretty awesome. There are fifty songs that you can unlock to have play instead of the regular music in the game. For example, you can have Green Forest from SA2 play during Chemical Plant if you wanted.
4. The music is absolutely amazing. Seriously, this is possibly one of the best if not the best Sonic soundtrack of all time.
5.The level design is great. Multiple paths that encourage replaying. If you enjoy trying to get a higher score or better time you'll enjoy replaying the levels many times, although YMMV.
6. There is a very large amount of side missions and thankfully most of them seem to be enjoyable.
7. Some of the references to past games were funny as well as some of the cut scenes.
8. Yes, the Classic Crisis City troll is hilarious. I've got to say, it was pretty unexpected.
9. A large amount of unlock able content like concept art and music tracks.

The negatives.

Spoiler :

1. Minus the side-missions, the game is very short. If you don't replay the stages, it's just a rental.
2. Although some of the cut scenes were entertaining, they left a lot to be desired. There were so many missed opportunities to poke fun at previous games in the series.
3.The story is pretty lack-luster. Granted, I'm glad they didn't pull another 06 and go way over the top, but it could have used a little more depth. I haven't played Colors, so I don't know how it compares.
4. Controlling modern sonic during slow or not-quite-fast sections is still awkward.
5. The final boss is stupidly annoying. Constant character narration is not necessary.
6. I felt like there weren't enough bosses. Also, the Metal Sonic fight was disappointing.

Overall, the game was very enjoyable despite some flaws. Thankfully the replayabilty adds a lot to the game for me, although it should have been longer.

Oh, and the Super Sonic Racing remix is still freaking hilarious. My life will never be the same.

 

[Tani Coyote]

They definitely should have crammed more bosses into it(only 6 bosses and 1 final boss, yet 9 stages whaaaat), and made it slightly more challenging. I really wanted to be able to fight the bosses as either character. Classic Sonic fighting Shadow would have been so epic because of the connotations. Old vs. new!

I hear there's a "hard mode" for bosses, though I'll check that out. I got S ranks on most stages easy, so...

I understand they were going for a simple plot, but any simpler and it'd be Genesis-esque. Some may cheer that on, but I certainly don't. I like the 21st century.

For one, they have so many characters I'm amazed they couldn't make it a bit deeper. There were barely any storyline cutscenes; most cutscenes are "rescued character x" in origin. It was weird seeing Shadow and Silver suddenly pop up in the last cutscene when you didn't really do anything with them prior.

The final boss literally made me wish the entire cast would be erased, though. Sonic Adventure 2's final boss had narration, but only every half minute at most, and it was very brief. I do not need to be told "Switch with the y button" for 15 minutes straight. The only useful thing they said was "hold hands with the triggers." Otherwise, shut up adorable animals!

I did get a kick out of the references to various levels, either in music or design. While Sega copy/pasted the iconic parts(running into the factory on Planet Wisp from a grassy field, going down Spagonia's clock tower, etc.), most of it was a genius reimagining.

There's already rumors about a Sonic Dimensions, which takes place immediately after and involves more reality-altering hijinx.