I have a hankerin' for a new 3D Sonic.

[Sharky]

There was a time I couldn't have given two shits about Sonic, I didn't buy a single console Sonic game from Sonic Adventure 2 until Sonic Colours. Sonic Heroes, Sonic 06, Shadow, those Wii Story Book onrails games? The spin offs? Absolute garbage. Was pretty prepared to never buy a Sonic game again. Sonic Colours CGI trailer comes out, took one look, thought 'nope another steamy pile of shit...' But then gameplay, and holy shit... Loved it. Same goes for Generations, loved it. Suddenly I'm a Sonic fan again... (Sonic Boom can suck it.)

Give me the polish of Sonic Lost World, the speed and graphics of Sonic Generations and the level designed of Sonic Colours and I will give you my undivided attention... I've been waiting for a new Sonic game in the vein of Sonic Generations since I finished it in 2012.




So in mid June the PSO2 lobby will be Sonic themed and this cat enemy will appear in a Sonic costume (pictured below) Maybe that's when the next Sonic will be announced? Or maybe when Sonic Runners is finally released outside of beta.

[MadeManG74]

Starting the Sonic Cycle early are we?

Just kidding, Sonic is showing more promise recently. I still expect the new game to be mediocre to bad, but they've been slowly getting better. They seem to be one step back, two steps forward instead of the other way around the last few games.

I'm hoping the next Sonic game is something special, but as someone who didn't really like Colours or Generations I guess there won't be much for me in it regardless. I should get back to Generations, I only got as far as Sky Sanctuary then had to do side missions to unlock keys or some bullshit.

[George]

I'm a bit glad that Sonic Team is taking their time. Personally not the biggest Sonic fan, I'm more of a SEGA fan, as in I like their other titles more, but when Sonic Team does it right its pretty interesting to see. I hope they don't release a new game till 2016 and its pretty good.

[Sharky]

Admittedly Sonic isn't in my top five SEGA series, it may scratch the top 10 though, but right now I'm totally up for a new 3D Sonic game.... So long as it follows the Colours/Generations kind of gameplay and hopefully improves on it further.

[MadeManG74]

So long as it follows the Colours/Generations kind of gameplay

Didn't they play completely differently though? I thought Colours was really a spin-off kind of thing.

[Sheep]

I might be the only one on this lovely planet to have loved both Sonic Booms (and the Cartoon Network show was pretty cool as well).
But I guess that's what you get with SEGA... I'm also the only one around to NOT hate Aliens: Colonial Marines though I'm a huge fan of the Alien franchise and (of course) love Alien: Isolation a million times more.

But back to Sonic - I can see why so many fans hate these games, but it makes me angry to think of the reasons.
Sonic is part of my life since my early childhood when I first played the original trilogy on my father's SEGA Genesis. The first Sonic games that did not quite make me happy (and by that, I mean I was f***ing annoyed and I raged anytime I tried to play it...) were the adventures on that ominous Dreamcast console, because that stupid 3D speed running was not controllable anymore and the camera angles were a gazillion times as disturbing as in the first Spyro... these games made me leave Sonic for a long time, until I discovered that playing games has become a culture and I should consider to become a part of it and I revisited the old Genesis games a few times, not for long though. And revisiting them, I felt that even though Sonic still had a strong appeal to me as a gamer, the gameplay was... well, not so much great really. I mean, you are just running and running, from one "increases-speed-and-makes-Sonic-run-even-if-you-don't push-any-button"-thingy to another, and while you miss all the beautiful level design, you don't even have to do anything. He's running anyway. And THAT's why, when I tried out the so harshly criticized Sonic Boom spin-offs, I was satisfied. It still had the obligatory running-fast-sequences but it would also let me walk around in non-linear (!!!) levels, play as four different characters with four different abilities, looking to rather find all secret items and areas then just to have finished it faster than the last time, and I felt like being set back into the good ol' days of 3D jump 'n' run / action adventures of the Playstation era, like Spyro and such. And the Nintendo 3DS version is almost a Metroidvania, a genre of which there can't be enough games today.
I'm no lover of the modern gaming culture and I love when new games have an old school touch. And this was truly old school, even if it tried to be modern in some parts and failed.
Plus: those goddamn obligatory 3D third person running segments that have always pissed me off and will always piss me off and which I will NEVER understand how ANYONE was able to like or even tolerate, in Sonic Boom they work as well as they never have down before, neither in Sonic Adventure DX nor in Sonic Generations, which was in parts a good game (thanks to the beautiful 2,5-D-levels). They did NOT make me rage-quit the game, and that means something.

Sonic shares his place on top of my SEGA (and maybe even my all time favorite) game list with Alien Isolation and Company of Heroes 2 and I will buy the next "Sonic Whatever" anyway, even if it's announced to be a Hatsune Miku crossover xD

[Sharky]

Welcome to the forum Sheep!

Didn't they play completely differently though? I thought Colours was really a spin-off kind of thing.

Na they're pretty similar, same mix of 3D/2D perspectives, speed sections and platforming sections. The main difference was the whole Wisp thing in Colours which gave Sonic power ups and was pretty good. In some ways Colours was the better game in terms of level design, had some great light puzzle elements and platforming. Sonic Generations was far better graphically, better level set pieces and the speed sections were great imo. Another great feature of Generations was the way you could build a custom move set for Sonic. Loved that.

[CrazyT]

I might be the only one on this lovely planet to have loved both Sonic Booms (and the Cartoon Network show was pretty cool as well).
But I guess that's what you get with SEGA... I'm also the only one around to NOT hate Aliens: Colonial Marines though I'm a huge fan of the Alien franchise and (of course) love Alien: Isolation a million times more.

But back to Sonic - I can see why so many fans hate these games, but it makes me angry to think of the reasons.
Sonic is part of my life since my early childhood when I first played the original trilogy on my father's SEGA Genesis. The first Sonic games that did not quite make me happy (and by that, I mean I was f***ing annoyed and I raged anytime I tried to play it...) were the adventures on that ominous Dreamcast console, because that stupid 3D speed running was not controllable anymore and the camera angles were a gazillion times as disturbing as in the first Spyro... these games made me leave Sonic for a long time, until I discovered that playing games has become a culture and I should consider to become a part of it and I revisited the old Genesis games a few times, not for long though. And revisiting them, I felt that even though Sonic still had a strong appeal to me as a gamer, the gameplay was... well, not so much great really. I mean, you are just running and running, from one "increases-speed-and-makes-Sonic-run-even-if-you-don't push-any-button"-thingy to another, and while you miss all the beautiful level design, you don't even have to do anything. He's running anyway. And THAT's why, when I tried out the so harshly criticized Sonic Boom spin-offs, I was satisfied. It still had the obligatory running-fast-sequences but it would also let me walk around in non-linear (!!!) levels, play as four different characters with four different abilities, looking to rather find all secret items and areas then just to have finished it faster than the last time, and I felt like being set back into the good ol' days of 3D jump 'n' run / action adventures of the Playstation era, like Spyro and such. And the Nintendo 3DS version is almost a Metroidvania, a genre of which there can't be enough games today.
I'm no lover of the modern gaming culture and I love when new games have an old school touch. And this was truly old school, even if it tried to be modern in some parts and failed.
Plus: those goddamn obligatory 3D third person running segments that have always pissed me off and will always piss me off and which I will NEVER understand how ANYONE was able to like or even tolerate, in Sonic Boom they work as well as they never have down before, neither in Sonic Adventure DX nor in Sonic Generations, which was in parts a good game (thanks to the beautiful 2,5-D-levels). They did NOT make me rage-quit the game, and that means something.

Sonic shares his place on top of my SEGA (and maybe even my all time favorite) game list with Alien Isolation and Company of Heroes 2 and I will buy the next "Sonic Whatever" anyway, even if it's announced to be a Hatsune Miku crossover xD

Even though I disagree with most of what you said, I think theres some truth about the gameplay. It has always been kind of automated indeed and a lot of the environment and level design just flies by past you making it hard to appreciate on first playthrough. But this was a lot less the case with the classics. I dont think what you're saying counts for the latter levels of most sonic games. but esprcially doesnt count for sonic 1 and sonic&knuckles. So what do you think of sonic 1? Its become my favourite of the bunch for not applying to your description

And yes welcome!

[crackdude]

This break is just what Sonic needed.
I've noticed "internet opinion" has been that "Sonic games were not that bad after all". It takes time to fully recover from the blunders between Heroes and Colors, but if the next game is excellent he's right back to the limelight

[George]

The thing that always gets me is that Sonic titles just aren't as polished as they should be for a flagship franchise. Like SEGA has had this issue in the last ten years, every title they release either seems unfinished or rushed to the market. They just can't continue doing this. After 2012 they said they would focus on lesser IPs that made money and I thought that mean't they would polish before release but we got:

Sonic Boom, Sonic Lost World, Rome II, Alien Colonial Marines.

Not the most polish games in the world. Sure Alien: Isolation was polished and was a good game. But SEGA has had a history of sending out Creative Assembly's last console game unfinished, Viking: Battle of Asgard.

Even though we like Sonic Generations, the game wasn't completely glitch free and polished. I mean, that last boss... it feels like Sonic Team starts developing the game from the start and sorta don't finish up the end.

[Nirmugen]

Basically Generations was a new start from what they've done in Unleashed and 2.5 years weren't in a good schedule.

I'm grateful that now that creative Team of ST has things in works with 4 years and a little more of development  to receive all the neccesary feedback to make the game more completed. I hope they are doing that.

[Sharky]

About the polish, I agree but I think it has got progressively better with each new release. (Again talking about Sonic Team games, not Sonic Boom.) If there was one thing going for Sonic Lost World, I would say it was VERY polished. The animations were great, the platforming felt responsive the aesthetic was brilliant.

Sonic Lost World stumbled by design... Some weird choices in the way it played, the whole cylinder levels, the tacked on Wisps... But polish wise, I think it was the most polished 3D Sonic ever.

Here is a particular level I thought was great:
EDIT: Damn! Embeded videos don't let you start at a sepsific time... Skip to 21 minutes, 11 seconds for the level I mean.
https://youtu.be/Pf31xakRr3g?t=21m11s

[CrazyT]

^Sonic lost world could have been such a great game if it had any sort of inertia(if that's the right word). Really liked some of the level design

[Sheep]

Thanks for all your welcome ;D

I dont think what you're saying counts for the latter levels of most sonic games. but esprcially doesnt count for sonic 1 and sonic&knuckles. So what do you think of sonic 1? Its become my favourite of the bunch for not applying to your description

You're absolutely right, of course. There is no doubt about the fact that the first three Sonic games were awesome and maybe they're still the best entries in the franchise. Sonic The Hedgehog was great, but it can't be my favorite in the series since two things are missing: the spin and Tails! So the second game was harder, but it had Tails, so it was a jump forward. The peak of Sonic games in my opinion that was not quite reached again until today, was Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Cause Knuckles! And it's graphics were the most beautiful I think, they were more soft and natural than that mechanically looking Green Hill and Casino Zones.

I would never ever try to criticize the old Sonic games for what they were. I was just trying to argue that some hard-boiled fans of long-time-franchises sometimes look at new steps too critically. Of course, Mario has beaten Sonic so often when it comes to bare game quality, but though I love Mario as well (who does not), I will always prefer and respect Sonic more, since the Sonic Team has tried to expand the flagship in one way or another, and yes, they failed multiple times, they failed horribly sometimes, but I prefer to have some Sonic games I truly love and some that I just don't want to touch than to have to be happy because on new year's eve I already know there'll be either a new solid Sonic Kart, or a new solid Sonic Bros., or a new solid Super Smash Hedgehog, or a new solid Sonic Party, or ...

And as I look at the Sonic franchise, if I can't have my old blue SEGA Genesis Hedgehog back, I would be glad to take the "Sonic Boom"-Sonic rather than that stupid, arrogant, impotent 3D Sonic from the adventures... 

[Centrale]

...but though I love Mario as well (who does not)...

Me. I don't like its physics and I don't like the basic gameplay mechanic of jumping on top of enemies.

But, somewhat back on topic, I appreciate your explanation of why you like Sonic Boom, but speaking as a Sega fan who is generally mystified by the Sonic fanbase*, I feel your distaste for the other games just underscores that Sonic fans are an irredeemably polarized community, and there will never be a universally celebrated Sonic game because everybody wants something different based on their expectations rather than just being open-minded and getting into whatever Sonic Team comes up with. Ultimately the only thing Sonic Team could really do differently is just to polish the games better, assuming they are given the necessary time and actually have the necessary skill.

*or should I say "fanbase/mob of hysterical haters who can never be satisfied"?