So Sonic might have a bit of a first impressions problem, if my still intact review of Sonic's story is any sign. This is mostly because until Generations, Sonic's control has been massively volatile, simply not accelerating the way you expect, not steering the way you expect, and some other things I can't claim to fully know 2 years later. So people get salty, say it's aged, and then go play some shit like uh... "Mario goes to the park, and feeds a duck, that's pretty cute". And while the latter two parts of that ain't me, the former definitely was for about every Sonic game I played. Eventually tho salt fades and one can be convinced that, yeah actually, this hub, kind of a vibe. Sonic, pretty cool guy, he can even go to the park, and feed a duck to a creature, that's pretty cute. If one's inputs were to eventually adapt to the outcomes in this game, then they would see that Sonic is fucking busted. His spin dash simply achieving non-stop speeds and physics no over-worked Sega employee could possibly design around, and tho the levels are still designed for a kids platforming game, seeing this small furball just absolutely blast through it beyond his own creator's expectations makes my character-action lovin poisoned ass brain go "Ah, yeah, this is rad". This is of course a retrospective made at a distance, my blasting through it is sub-par all things considered, but again with my previously mentioned poisoned ass brain, I tend to respect games of higher heights to shoot for, even tho I can barely aim myself. What's truly the point of feelin like you mastered something anyway? It's the top of the mountain, a dead end. In that sense I do welcome a game that's a bit beyond me, tho probably not exactly like Sonic so that's perhaps something to elaborate on another time.
All of this is to say, Sonic is cool!
But this is a Tails review.
Everyone loves Tails, even the boomers because they remember him. People like to throw around the idea that the game would be better if they developed less characters and spent that time making the levels less cringe and for nae-nae babies, and there's something to that idea even if things rarely work out so simply. I've yet to play more than half of the equation in all this, but ultimately Tails is a fine addition to the game regardless of it being the correct timeline or not.
You see, counter to what I've written about Sonic, Tails is almost the Sonic Adventure hater's way of playing Sonic Adventure. His moveset is nowhere near as volatile as Sonic's (especially if you were to miss out on the flying speed upgrade), and he can soar past most of the level geometry. I feel like the clever thing in this is that instead of just ultra-capping his trademark flying ability, they simply light a fire under your ass by asking you to beat a guy that by all means should be faster than you, in a race. So Tails' levels consist of the same as Sonic's, but now re-contextualized as you're encouraged to just utilize your rather nice breezy fast hover to skip right through the level, while always bein pushed to move forward at that pace because Sonic is a rubber-banding motherfucker. It gets to the point where the final level barely even feels like the Sonic equivalent, which I guess lines up with his character motivation to not be in Sonic's shadow all things considered. Overall while simpler in playstyle, you're still breaking these levels over your knee, made more cathartic with the memory of being grounded by them, and that's pretty cool.
Also Believe in Myself is a pretty nice theme.
Expect the reviewin rust to get more shakin off as we dive into the rest of Sonic Adventure's cast... eventually.
All of this is to say, Sonic is cool!
But this is a Tails review.
Everyone loves Tails, even the boomers because they remember him. People like to throw around the idea that the game would be better if they developed less characters and spent that time making the levels less cringe and for nae-nae babies, and there's something to that idea even if things rarely work out so simply. I've yet to play more than half of the equation in all this, but ultimately Tails is a fine addition to the game regardless of it being the correct timeline or not.
You see, counter to what I've written about Sonic, Tails is almost the Sonic Adventure hater's way of playing Sonic Adventure. His moveset is nowhere near as volatile as Sonic's (especially if you were to miss out on the flying speed upgrade), and he can soar past most of the level geometry. I feel like the clever thing in this is that instead of just ultra-capping his trademark flying ability, they simply light a fire under your ass by asking you to beat a guy that by all means should be faster than you, in a race. So Tails' levels consist of the same as Sonic's, but now re-contextualized as you're encouraged to just utilize your rather nice breezy fast hover to skip right through the level, while always bein pushed to move forward at that pace because Sonic is a rubber-banding motherfucker. It gets to the point where the final level barely even feels like the Sonic equivalent, which I guess lines up with his character motivation to not be in Sonic's shadow all things considered. Overall while simpler in playstyle, you're still breaking these levels over your knee, made more cathartic with the memory of being grounded by them, and that's pretty cool.
Also Believe in Myself is a pretty nice theme.
Expect the reviewin rust to get more shakin off as we dive into the rest of Sonic Adventure's cast... eventually.