Sonic 25th Anniversary - Offical Topic.

[Team Andromeda]

Nakamura has a fine track record outside 06. He was the director of Sonic 06 but he was also responsible for directing Samba de Amigo, Billy Hatcher and Rhythm Thief.

He's one of the true talents inside SEGA Japan . Sonic 06 was a mess, but that was thanks to the Shinobi PS2 producer.  This game is going to be ace

[Barry the Nomad]

What if they added SatAM Sonic and Robotnik to the mix?   

Can you please not make multiple posts in a row? If you have additional thoughts, please edit your most recent posts. Thanks!

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I'm really excited by what we saw. Yeah, it's darker but it has more of a lighthearted look to it than '06, I think helped by the fact that it is still colorful and maintaining the modern Sonic design aesthetics, not attempting such a realistic look. Like, the giant robots are scary, but also kind of funny looking.

[CrazyT]

Some direct feed of modern gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zm0FvEn5CU&feature=share

[Barry the Nomad]

A high res video is floating about and I took several screen caps and added them to our article: http://segabits.com/blog/2017/03/17/sonic-forces-modern-sonic-gameplay-video-and-screens-released-gameplay-details-revealed/

[Shun-Di]

Can you please not make multiple posts in a row? If you have additional thoughts, please edit your most recent posts. Thanks!

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I'm really excited by what we saw. Yeah, it's darker but it has more of a lighthearted look to it than '06, I think helped by the fact that it is still colorful and maintaining the modern Sonic design aesthetics, not attempting such a realistic look. Like, the giant robots are scary, but also kind of funny looking.

It looks like it's darker though, like the bad guys are upping their A-game.  That's what gives me that SatAM vibe, like Robotnik has already won and everyone has to team up to stop him.

[CrazyT]

Good times imho. No one should be upset about one of the other. Can just love one and trying/enjoying the other too. I'm not too impressed with sonic forced from the little footage, but i'll sure be enjoying it when it comes out.

[Tad]

A high res video is floating about and I took several screen caps and added them to our article: http://segabits.com/blog/2017/03/17/sonic-forces-modern-sonic-gameplay-video-and-screens-released-gameplay-details-revealed/

Wow, this looks incredible. I don't actually think this looks darker as such now. The level just seems to be at sunset so you see an incredible mix of reds and yellows with other colours.

Nakaruma will be fine then if he's really only had one miss. The third gameplay style is interesting, I just hope it doesn't overshadow or detract from the other styles. It might be playing as Tails or Robotnik or maybe even just something added on like the chaos gardens etc.

[Shun-Di]

Wow, this looks incredible. I don't actually think this looks darker as such now. The level just seems to be at sunset so you see an incredible mix of reds and yellows with other colours.

Nakaruma will be fine then if he's really only had one miss. The third gameplay style is interesting, I just hope it doesn't overshadow or detract from the other styles. It might be playing as Tails or Robotnik or maybe even just something added on like the chaos gardens etc.

Think we'll ever see another Teen rated Sonic game?

[Sharky]

You know, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone still harps on about returning to Sonic Adventure style... WHY?

When it came out in Dreamcast I loved Sonic Adventure; it was a fun game, I was 13... But looking back on it now it's an absolutely shit Sonic game!
We complain about Werehog gameplay not being right for a Sonic game... When Sonic Adventure 1 had FISHING... FISHING! What says fast action platformer like grinding to a hault to fish for an hour!? In fact overall Sonic gameplay made up what? 25% of the overall game? The rest of it was bogged down with all sorts of nonsense.

And when we look back upon the highlight of the SA games - the (rare) Sonic sections... I still don't see what's so special. People continue to talk about 'exploration' and 'platforming' But I just don't see it... The Sonic stages are about as linear as it gets! In fact, it took until Sonic Colours to reintroduce consequential deviations in the paths that have been MIA since the 90's... And then there is the loose controls and broke af homing attack...

They're just bad... Pure bad.

[Shun-Di]

You know I can't for the life of me understand why anyone still harps on about returning to Sonic Adventure style... When it came out I loved Sonic Adventure, it was a fun game, I was 13. But looking back on it and playing it, it's a shit Sonic game! People complain about Werehog gameplay in a Sonic game... When Sonic Adventure 1 had FISHING... FISHING!

What says fast action platformer like grinding to a hault to fish for an hour!? In fact overall Sonic gameplay made up what? 25% of the overall game? The rest of it was bogged down with all sorts of nonsense.

And when we look back upon the highlight, the (rare) Sonic sections... I still don't see what's so special. People continue to talk about exploration and platforming... But I just don't see it... The Sonic stages are about as linear as it gets. In fact it took until Sonic Colours to reintroduce consequential deviations in the paths, missing since the 90's... And then there is the loose controls and homing attack.

They're just bad... Pure bad.

fishing was still one part of the game, not the whole thing.  sure there were a bunch of times you had to fish to catch the same frog over n over, and yes it was a pain in the butt, but the story itself was short.  really all Big the cat was was padding. 

[CrazyT]

You know, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone still harps on about returning to Sonic Adventure style... WHY?

When it came out in Dreamcast I loved Sonic Adventure; it was a fun game, I was 13... But looking back on it now it's an absolutely shit Sonic game!
We complain about Werehog gameplay not being right for a Sonic game... When Sonic Adventure 1 had FISHING... FISHING! What says fast action platformer like grinding to a hault to fish for an hour!? In fact overall Sonic gameplay made up what? 25% of the overall game? The rest of it was bogged down with all sorts of nonsense.

And when we look back upon the highlight of the SA games - the (rare) Sonic sections... I still don't see what's so special. People continue to talk about 'exploration' and 'platforming' But I just don't see it... The Sonic stages are about as linear as it gets! In fact, it took until Sonic Colours to reintroduce consequential deviations in the paths that have been MIA since the 90's... And then there is the loose controls and broke af homing attack...

They're just bad... Pure bad.

I think for me it's just seeing how japan has been making great strides in game design since this generation started, a renaissance as they say, has got me used to see great inovation in franchises. Think final fantasy, resident evil, metal gear solid, nier, zelda and so on. I like that they're showing that innovation can be done by inventing a new base/framework while still staying true to the franchise and succeed at it. I'm afraid that the boost formula is going to feel stale to me at this point honestly, but then again the game is going to have 3 styles of gameplay apparently. I didnt really know that so that could change everything. Keeping everyone happy as they did with generation, improve upon that and maybe have something unexpected? The 3rd gameplay style has really got me curious...

[Shun-Di]

I think for me it's just seeing how japan has been making great strides in game design since this generation started, a renosaince as they say, has got me used to see great inovation in franchises. Think final fantasy, resident evil, metal gear solid, nier, zelda and so on. I like that they're showing that innovation can be done by inventing a new base/framework while still staying true to the franchise and succeed at it. I'm afraid that the boost formula is going to feel stale to me at this point honestly, but then again the game is going to have 3 styles of gameplay apparently. I didnt really know that so that could change everything. Keeping everyone happy as they did with generation, improve upon that and maybe have something unexpected? The 3rd gameplay style has really got me curious...

The Legend Of Zelda especially.  Breath Of The Wild has me excited for the same reasons I'm excited for Sonic Mania.  it's what I loved most about Zelda games in the past, the open world exploration, the secrets to find, the dungeons, weapons breaking takes getting used to, but Final Fantasy 2 and Dark Cloud did it and nobody complained.

[Kuronoa]

http://kotaku.com/sonic-forces-looks-like-a-2017-take-on-classic-sonic-1793372387

This is what I was talking about before. Other news sites put out a neutral article and yet Kotaku went for the clickbait.

A high res video is floating about and I took several screen caps and added them to our article: http://segabits.com/blog/2017/03/17/sonic-forces-modern-sonic-gameplay-video-and-screens-released-gameplay-details-revealed/

Nice work.
I like the giant mech designs, and when Sonic is in the air you can see the grassy hills are cubic and surreal and not realistic. We might actually see Classic Sonic style environments without being remade zones.

[Tad]

You know, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone still harps on about returning to Sonic Adventure style... WHY?

When it came out in Dreamcast I loved Sonic Adventure; it was a fun game, I was 13... But looking back on it now it's an absolutely shit Sonic game!
We complain about Werehog gameplay not being right for a Sonic game... When Sonic Adventure 1 had FISHING... FISHING! What says fast action platformer like grinding to a hault to fish for an hour!? In fact overall Sonic gameplay made up what? 25% of the overall game? The rest of it was bogged down with all sorts of nonsense.

And when we look back upon the highlight of the SA games - the (rare) Sonic sections... I still don't see what's so special. People continue to talk about 'exploration' and 'platforming' But I just don't see it... The Sonic stages are about as linear as it gets! In fact, it took until Sonic Colours to reintroduce consequential deviations in the paths that have been MIA since the 90's... And then there is the loose controls and broke af homing attack...

They're just bad... Pure bad.

The games haven't aged well, but I think at the time the industry was a different place. We still saw tons of 3D platformers getting high praise like Banjo Kazooie, Spyro etc and it wasn't intill the end of that gen we saw them all but one or two die. We're starting to see them return from Yooka-Laylee, a hat in time etc mind. I don't think the adventure games are terrible as such, but they did have issues even on release.

As for Adventure 3, I think people that want it are just after a Sonic and friends big adventure. I don't dislike the idea, but it's pretty obvious Sega will need to build A3 with Generations style of gameplay in mind while rethinking the rest.

Also, I forgot to mention in my previous post. Thanks to Segabits and the whole team for covering this event. Your twitter updates and coverage has been great.

[Shun-Di]

The games haven't aged well, but I think at the time the industry was a different place. We still saw tons of 3D platformers getting high praise like Banjo Kazooie, Spyro etc and it wasn't intill the end of that gen we saw them all but one or two die. We're starting to see them return from Yooka-Laylee, a hat in time etc mind. I don't think the adventure games are terrible as such, but they did have issues even on release. 

Blame Microsoft for pushing Rare to make other games instead of what they were already working on.  Instead we got weaker versions of Conker, Perfect Dark, and a car building Banjo Kazooie game with a big empty hub world.  Physics got better, but gameplay wasn't as tight.  Games were starting to hit that era of fps war shooters and sandbox games with ragdoll physics.