KarrotoZetsubou
139 Reviews liked by KarrotoZetsubou
A Few Steps From A Masterpiece.
Sonic And The Secret Rings is an experience quite unlike any others in its own fair share of negative and positive manners on the plus side it has some of the best pre rendered sonic cutscenes only limited by the Wii's resolution and awesome soundtracks,strong sound design and voice acting and a very unique take of the arabian knights/story of aladdin ontop of the stages themselves fitting the theme of the story with alot of cinematic automation and strong locations but that doesn't come without its flaws so for the flaws lets take a look then shall we?
the controls are a major one as jesus who at sega decided a basic mechanic such as moving your character should be tied to whacky motion controls that are super sensitive and unresponsive at the same time going forward and sideways is too sensitive and backing up requires you to tilt at like what 130 degrees backwards its absurd and not only are the controls hair pulling monotony so is the level design at times with an over use of grind rails with terrible mechanics and overall repetitive stage design that goes hand in hand with no enemy variation there is like 3-4 enemies that all function mostly the same as homing attack bait outside of the flamethrower spirit that adds the layer of timing to it that only really gets you in the final quarter of the game because the stages are too easy before so to really make it much of a challenge.But on the plus side for gameplay the skill tree system is perfect and makes me wonder why they never brought it back you could argue generations did but it was nowhere near as indepth or interesting as it had less abilities you could get and the said abilities were more tame/lame in comparison ontop of no way to raise the total capacity for more of them to be equipped unlike secret rings and its great in secret rings as the level system incentivises replayablity and actually getting good at the games mechanics I do feel some of the abilities should've just been part of sonics base kit but it's whatever like the back-step should for example.
Overall: An overhated entry thats for sure but I can understand where it comes from as the controls are really just that bad but if you can look past them you can see the massive missed potential this game brings with its great skill tree system,character writing,narrative,soundtrack,set-pieces and replayablity and heck you could even argue this game was an inspiration for the boost formula as it also shares the fast paced reaction time style of gameplay ontop of having speed-break that is in my opinion better than the boost as its higher risk higher reward and doesn't feel cheap to use at any moment as it can get you killed without preperation or timing.So all in all a good game with limitless potential crushed by a terrible control scheme and repetitive level design/enemy repitition.
Trivia:
This game was originally meant to be a port of 06 to the Wii as mid development 06 team split for that purpose but ended up becoming its own thing for the better or worse.
Sonic And The Secret Rings is an experience quite unlike any others in its own fair share of negative and positive manners on the plus side it has some of the best pre rendered sonic cutscenes only limited by the Wii's resolution and awesome soundtracks,strong sound design and voice acting and a very unique take of the arabian knights/story of aladdin ontop of the stages themselves fitting the theme of the story with alot of cinematic automation and strong locations but that doesn't come without its flaws so for the flaws lets take a look then shall we?
the controls are a major one as jesus who at sega decided a basic mechanic such as moving your character should be tied to whacky motion controls that are super sensitive and unresponsive at the same time going forward and sideways is too sensitive and backing up requires you to tilt at like what 130 degrees backwards its absurd and not only are the controls hair pulling monotony so is the level design at times with an over use of grind rails with terrible mechanics and overall repetitive stage design that goes hand in hand with no enemy variation there is like 3-4 enemies that all function mostly the same as homing attack bait outside of the flamethrower spirit that adds the layer of timing to it that only really gets you in the final quarter of the game because the stages are too easy before so to really make it much of a challenge.But on the plus side for gameplay the skill tree system is perfect and makes me wonder why they never brought it back you could argue generations did but it was nowhere near as indepth or interesting as it had less abilities you could get and the said abilities were more tame/lame in comparison ontop of no way to raise the total capacity for more of them to be equipped unlike secret rings and its great in secret rings as the level system incentivises replayablity and actually getting good at the games mechanics I do feel some of the abilities should've just been part of sonics base kit but it's whatever like the back-step should for example.
Overall: An overhated entry thats for sure but I can understand where it comes from as the controls are really just that bad but if you can look past them you can see the massive missed potential this game brings with its great skill tree system,character writing,narrative,soundtrack,set-pieces and replayablity and heck you could even argue this game was an inspiration for the boost formula as it also shares the fast paced reaction time style of gameplay ontop of having speed-break that is in my opinion better than the boost as its higher risk higher reward and doesn't feel cheap to use at any moment as it can get you killed without preperation or timing.So all in all a good game with limitless potential crushed by a terrible control scheme and repetitive level design/enemy repitition.
Trivia:
This game was originally meant to be a port of 06 to the Wii as mid development 06 team split for that purpose but ended up becoming its own thing for the better or worse.
Sonic the Hedgehog
2006
A Flawed Masterpiece.
Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) is such an ambitious title in many ways that has a suprising amount of strong qualities despite its reputation and shortcomings that makes it a subjective masterpiece for me one that sadly is bundled with objective flaws.As for the story they went for a darker in tone story that falls apart in areas with the plot holey time travel and weird romance sub-plot that feels quite awkward because its between a human teenager and a hedgehog that is quite off putting to put it lightly but the overall narative while cheesy is pretty strong and wraps up with a bittersweet endings for the franchise its a solid story with stakes but falls flatter compared to other franchises as for the sound design and music it is all perfect down to the last details from hub world,atmosphere,boss fights,vocal themes,etc this game does it all so well and the sound effects are crispy and impactful the character voice lines mid level is the weakest aspect in this derpartment but nothing immersion breaking.As for controls whilst there is no momentum per se it doesn't need it as downwards slopes and inclines aren't common in this game and the levels aren't built around it so it gets a pass and yes the spindash is basically useless but for platforming and percision it works well homing attack feels responsive with a holdable float inbetween for good repositioning and the addition of the bounce braclet that helps percise movement even better so even though the controls don't feel right for sonic there not objectively terrible otherwise.As for gameplay its split up into 3 main stories with other characters playable in them but for the sake of the review not becoming an essay i'll be focusing only on the main 3.
Sonic: Sonic's gameplay is very akin to his adventure era games especially adventure 1 with more open ended level design,automation that allows for awesome cinematic like moments,great environments,etc and mach speed sections that test your reaction times and level knowledge overall builds up for a satisfying game experience.
Shadow: He play's much alike to sonic but with a heavier focus on his vehicles and combat with him having an chaos energy bar that can be charged up to 3 that gives him stronger versions of his previous abilities and even new ones for example the homing chain,chaos blast,improved chaos spear,etc. So for shadows gameplay you're trying to defeat as many enemies ASAP to unlock his 3rd bar and go crazy that feels quite fun to play but could get repetitive after long periods of playing as there isn't much depth to his combat.
Silver: Unironically the most over hated aspect of this game because sure his running speed sucks and the dusty desert ball puzzle can go take a hike but one thing that makes him fun is his options and kit and you can be pretty creative with level exploration as his glide can be held but you will loose bar really quickly but if you space out your inputs or mash you can make longer use of it paired with his ability to hold "R2/RT/ZR" on a box to get a bit of extra starting height can allow you to get to places either faster,earlier or maybe places your not even meant to maybe whilst unintended it makes for a fun and satisfying character to play and his ability to take out large crowds in one fell swoop is unmatched by sonic and shadow.
In terms of visuals this game looks absolutely amazing for its time because of good use of lighting,texturing and modeling (outside of the human models) this games visually stood the test of time swimmingly maybe not as well as unleashed but this was an earlier title with many development issues so ill cut some slack.
Overall: This game is really looked at as "one of the worst sonic games if not worst games of all time" for not many reasons sure there is alot of bugs and glitches but many of which outside of silver softlock have to be intentionally ran into to showcase how "bad" this game is and alot of elements in this game are overlooked by whats not there like momentum and acceleration but if you just take the game for what its worth you will be left with a medium length but satisfying experience thats held up 2 generations later.
Trivia:
This game went through many development issues such as staff shortages (due to the team being split for secret rings that was originally meant to be 06 Wii),Deadlines,Technical Errors (the game had a more complete build in progress but ran into gamebreaking issues and had to be reverted for retail release the TGS 2005 and E3 Demos prove this to be the case with alot of features and physics improvements that were missing in the final release) and overall bad communication makes you really wonder how it even released in the state its in as its far more playable than it should be considering the limitations that were forced upon it.
Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) is such an ambitious title in many ways that has a suprising amount of strong qualities despite its reputation and shortcomings that makes it a subjective masterpiece for me one that sadly is bundled with objective flaws.As for the story they went for a darker in tone story that falls apart in areas with the plot holey time travel and weird romance sub-plot that feels quite awkward because its between a human teenager and a hedgehog that is quite off putting to put it lightly but the overall narative while cheesy is pretty strong and wraps up with a bittersweet endings for the franchise its a solid story with stakes but falls flatter compared to other franchises as for the sound design and music it is all perfect down to the last details from hub world,atmosphere,boss fights,vocal themes,etc this game does it all so well and the sound effects are crispy and impactful the character voice lines mid level is the weakest aspect in this derpartment but nothing immersion breaking.As for controls whilst there is no momentum per se it doesn't need it as downwards slopes and inclines aren't common in this game and the levels aren't built around it so it gets a pass and yes the spindash is basically useless but for platforming and percision it works well homing attack feels responsive with a holdable float inbetween for good repositioning and the addition of the bounce braclet that helps percise movement even better so even though the controls don't feel right for sonic there not objectively terrible otherwise.As for gameplay its split up into 3 main stories with other characters playable in them but for the sake of the review not becoming an essay i'll be focusing only on the main 3.
Sonic: Sonic's gameplay is very akin to his adventure era games especially adventure 1 with more open ended level design,automation that allows for awesome cinematic like moments,great environments,etc and mach speed sections that test your reaction times and level knowledge overall builds up for a satisfying game experience.
Shadow: He play's much alike to sonic but with a heavier focus on his vehicles and combat with him having an chaos energy bar that can be charged up to 3 that gives him stronger versions of his previous abilities and even new ones for example the homing chain,chaos blast,improved chaos spear,etc. So for shadows gameplay you're trying to defeat as many enemies ASAP to unlock his 3rd bar and go crazy that feels quite fun to play but could get repetitive after long periods of playing as there isn't much depth to his combat.
Silver: Unironically the most over hated aspect of this game because sure his running speed sucks and the dusty desert ball puzzle can go take a hike but one thing that makes him fun is his options and kit and you can be pretty creative with level exploration as his glide can be held but you will loose bar really quickly but if you space out your inputs or mash you can make longer use of it paired with his ability to hold "R2/RT/ZR" on a box to get a bit of extra starting height can allow you to get to places either faster,earlier or maybe places your not even meant to maybe whilst unintended it makes for a fun and satisfying character to play and his ability to take out large crowds in one fell swoop is unmatched by sonic and shadow.
In terms of visuals this game looks absolutely amazing for its time because of good use of lighting,texturing and modeling (outside of the human models) this games visually stood the test of time swimmingly maybe not as well as unleashed but this was an earlier title with many development issues so ill cut some slack.
Overall: This game is really looked at as "one of the worst sonic games if not worst games of all time" for not many reasons sure there is alot of bugs and glitches but many of which outside of silver softlock have to be intentionally ran into to showcase how "bad" this game is and alot of elements in this game are overlooked by whats not there like momentum and acceleration but if you just take the game for what its worth you will be left with a medium length but satisfying experience thats held up 2 generations later.
Trivia:
This game went through many development issues such as staff shortages (due to the team being split for secret rings that was originally meant to be 06 Wii),Deadlines,Technical Errors (the game had a more complete build in progress but ran into gamebreaking issues and had to be reverted for retail release the TGS 2005 and E3 Demos prove this to be the case with alot of features and physics improvements that were missing in the final release) and overall bad communication makes you really wonder how it even released in the state its in as its far more playable than it should be considering the limitations that were forced upon it.
This review contains spoilers
Sonic Adventure Adventure(d) sonic into the 3D platforming market.
Sonic Adventure is a marvel of its time being the first fully 3d platforming game in the franchise but does it hold up well in the vast sea of 3D sonic media that we have today? well lets dive in and take a deep look at sonic adventure.
Sonic's Story: in the titular character's story you learn more about the world and past of sonic adventure more than sonic himself that works fine because the character of sonic has already been well established in previous media and doesn't need much addition and moving on from narrative this story in particular is a blast to play by incorperating the classics principals and level design philosophy you get a 3D sonic experience like no other with great use of its more open ended level design to create many branching paths best showcased in red mountain as such complimented by the games controls and physics catering to this with a floater jump,the newly introduced homing attack making defeating badniks much easier due to not needing much percision making the flow of the game work in its favor topped off by the amazing momentum and spindash in this game that allows you to get major speed downhill that can be used to transition in on and incline to get massive height to fully engage with the games level design and cause the player to think outside of the box that boasts great replayability.
Tails Story: The gameplay of this story is your pitted to race against sonic in more shortened down levels that have been redesigned with tails in mind with extra dash panels and platforms to compliment tails flight mechanic even though the sonic AI doesn't pose much threat in most instances the real meat and bones of this story is using tails flight to your advantage to try and get to the goal quicker while exploring new paths and approaches to doing so making each level of this story short and sweet with alot of depth and as for the narrative its about tails becoming an individual not just sonic's companion/sidekick who isn't as interesting but actually establishing tails as an individual and it isn't instant it really only reveals its true colors in the 2nd act where soni and tails go through a horrific plane crash that results in tails and sonic getting split up at first tails is helpless and clueless on what to do but due to certain events over the stories runtime he evolves into his own person and even saves the day by himself making for a tale about tails making a name for himself without sonics help.
Knuckles Story: This has you playing as the dutiful echidna as he ponders on his purpose in life often wavering as to why he is protecting the master emerald to being with as in act 1 he's content with it and in act 2 he starts to divert from his path concluded with act 3 where he has his answers set out as to why he is the guardian of the master emerald making for a satisfying narrative to follow and the gameplay taps into the narrative as earlier on in the story the master emerald is shattered and the gameplay is a collectathon where you play as knuckles trying to rebuild the master emerald by collecting all the shards as there scattered around the levels in random but set locations and located using a radar in a game of hot and cold and the gratifying replayablity of this gameplay style is the way the levels are layed out and trying to memorize all possible emerald locations and beating it as fast as possible.
e102-Gamma's story: this heartfelt journey is about e102 as you find yourself in eggmans lab as he assigns you a few missions as gamma blindly obeys his every command such as destroying a sonic doll and learning to scan for details ontop of locating a frog with an odd tail.But this all changes when he's assigned to capture a bird and accompanying the bird is none other than selfless envoirmentalist Amy Rose as she makes him question his being and who he is and in the spur of the moment gamma decides to form a will of his own and allow amy to escape with the bird and once confronted with sonic at first he wants to kill him due to eggmans orders but snaps out of it with the help of amy once again booting him into full sentience and finally giving him worth and his new found goal is to "save" his comrades in need at the end of each level and some time later he returns to the egg carrier planning out his final mission to save e101-beta MK.II and in doing so having saved all of his accompanying robots and he does he accomplishes his objective but seeing the bird that comes out of beta he realizes that the flicky inside of him is from the same family due to one of its memories leaking into his mind and because of that instead of recovering the battle damage he suffered with his auto repair system he shut it off taking his own life to reunite the family in a really touching,sad but beautiful moment that is to be remembered.As for his gameplay its an arcadey styled shooter that involves shooting certain targets to gain time and reaching an objective as fast as possible and the fun of replaying these levels is having more time left once you reach the goal by playing efficiently.
Big's Story: Whilst not being close in quality to the prior stories it delivers in a charming albeit goofy way as the story is majorly detatched from any of the games main events and narratives and is really just its own thing and im all for it there is so much charm and goofyness in this story but not much I can really explain outside of one word "Frwoggy :)" and as for its gameplay its a fishing minigame that can be beaten in maybe a minute or two max once you've mastered the mechanics that aren't hard with a guidebook or video tutorial/manual for the game.The replayability would come from fishing up the optional fish if simplified fishing is your thing? not mine though so I don't often revisit this one unless for main story progression.
Amy's Story: Well the game couldn't be perfect and this story is the epitome of what is bad about this game as neither the narrative or gameplay have no merit to them in the end and it ends up feeling like a slog even though its the 2nd shortest story in the game.Well as for story its about amy one day out shopping when a blue flicky crash lands into her while being chased by a killer robot and its now your job to protect it at all causes and run away from the killing stalking machine but thats about it the first cutscene speaks all for this story outside of overlapping events this story doesn't bring anything to the table.And as for gameplay.... yeah this is even worse this just kind of sucks as its a chase scequence but for 4-7 minutes per level with little tension as the robot chasing you sucks and your not really running from it per say.. more like slowly waddling along while perfoming awkward puzzles,combat and platforming that makes for a unreplayable slog of a story that you only beat to get it out of the way overall a weak experience in a game full of memorability.
Super Sonic's Story: this one while not great isn't bad either it just feels kind of tacked on and there as a reward for beating all 6 prior stories and can be beaten in no time what so ever so it starts at the focal point of all the stories and angel island has just conveniently crash landed? and chaos somehow survived being fragmented into ice? anyways chaos is back and has turned against our loveable egghead and is back with vengence as he quickly swoops all the emeralds from under everybodies feet and transforms into perfect chaos everything seems to be full on despair and ruin until... the residents of station square start cheering on sonic despite the city being in ruin and flooded completely with no signs of life? and there is a plot convenient "actually chaos didn't use all the energy of the emeralds and you can use the rest of it" moment and sonic just kinda becomes super sonic from depowered emeralds... and the final scene is also an oddball as chaos meets tikal someone who he deeply bonds with and she cures him of evil cool so far it makes sense? then sonic and co. just leave without explanation or helping out the completely trainwrecked city as it fades out to credits??? like sure I guess...? but story aside gameplay wise this is the easiest final boss ever as you literally just hold forward and collect rings but atleast its backed with a cool soundtrack... until it isn't and gets replaced by some mediocre theme in the 2nd act that is meant to be harder and more intense.Yeah this story is really just kinda there I appreciate the sentiment but its nothing special being riddled with plot convience and underwhelming gameplay.And I didn't even note how they removed the tikal tutorials so sometimes the game just expects you to know where to go or just stumble around until something happens that is bad design.
Overall: Despite the games 2 maybe 3 final stories not living up to the rest of the game it still managed to leave a lasting impact in the sonic community as its still brought up in discussions of best sonic game and I say rightfully so as when this game shines it really shines objectively its not a 5/5 due to its already mentioned issues + glitches and visuals not holding up but due to nostalgia and lasting impact and accessability to all generations I cant help but give this game a 5/5 also due to personal impact as I as a person wouldn't love sonic as much today without it in it's cheesy but heartwarming 90's action.
Trivia:
1.This game was originally destined to release on the saturn alongside the scrapped "Sonic x-treme" but got pushed to a dreamcast release but an early saturn build can still be found in the form of the "Sonic World" expansion of the saturn classic trilogy collection Sonic Jam.
2.This game's porting and releases are certainly a tale to be heard as not only is this a port its actually a multi-port as...
- This game originally came out on dreamcast in 1998
-Then got ported to gamecube in 2003 as DX loosing lighting effects and certain visuals like blur on sonics legs while running and ontop of other things
-Then got ported to home PC's in 2004 as DX once again with degraded visuals and missing water effects and ripples and haze,etc
-Then that 2004 degraded port got ported to X360/PS3 in 2010 as Sonic Adventure with no DX features despite being the same otherwise with even more visual degrading in 4:3 with ugly purple borders and changed lighting once again with certain HUD elements stretching and squashing because the 2004 port adjusted them to fit 16:9 and weren't returned
-Then LATER ON in 2012 the DX content got readded to the X360/PS3 in a really scummy PAID update not free but PAID update that should've just been included in actuality
-Then that same sonic adventure DX PS3/X360 port came to steam in 2011 with the DX DLC already bundled for free
so all in all that makes SADX steam release a...
port of a port of a port of a port of a really old dreamcast release from 1998 with a bunch of degrading in the process... yeah its rough
3.Sonic Adventure was an experimental title for the dreamcast (also its launch title) and was mainly used to show the capabilities and how it can cater to many playstyles and its presumable SA2 only had multiple stories to continue the trend.
4.When the dreamcast game later on came to the west it fixed alot of issues and back in japan they decided to rerelease the game under the name "Sonic Adventure:International" with all the fixes made to the worldwide release retranslated back to japanese.
5.International wasn't the only time this game would get a weird release as it also recieved a version of the game known as "Sonic Adventure:Limited Edition" that served as a way to rent the game in july 1999 before the game recieved its full release.
6.The game's title is "Sonic Adventure DX:Directors Cut" the DX stands for deluxe and it has directors cut in the title despite no involvement of the original director so the actual title is ironically "Sonic Adventure Deluxe:Directors Cut" even though it removed alot of lighting aspects and introduced many bugs not even making it a definitive edition of the game to being with.
7.Chao were created to inspire replayability in the game via making you replay levels for rings and animals but did you know the main aspiration for the chao garden were these little handheld devices called "Tamagotchi" that were huge in the east that allowed you to raise a virtual pet?
8.There is much cut content in this game because it was released only in 16 months such as completely cut levels like windy valley beta that is still in some cutscenes and artwork for the game that is still got remnant code in the files that has been fully restored and can be downloaded as a mod for the steam release!
9.There is rewards for 100%ing this game that are very worth it such as access to the game gear titles that you can access in extras AND playable metal sonic skin for sonic?
10.This game both DX and DC versions had many DLC that could be downloaded/installed via various means that added tracks to twinkle circuit and also premotional art and mini content for things that were releasing at the time in the sonic franchise?
11.The dreamcast version had something called the "Lantern Engine" that added much more ambient lighting that was cut in the DX version of the game but if you are playing on PC you can install BetterSADX + Dreamcast Conversion to experience the game with the best of both worlds!
12.To celebrate the release of the game they dispatched people wearing sonic character costumes to areas of "Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Akihabara." to cosplay the characters to premote the game.
13.Did you know alot of this games soundtrack was recycled and remixed from Sonic 3D Blast?
14.In the dreamcast version of the game both sky chases used low poly/saturn models of tails and sonic when the camera was less focused.
15.You can actually chese sky chase act 1 and 2 by sitting in the top right corner so go get something to eat maybe brew yourself a cuppa heck go take your toilet break while playing these zones and save yourself some time out of your day!
Sonic Adventure is a marvel of its time being the first fully 3d platforming game in the franchise but does it hold up well in the vast sea of 3D sonic media that we have today? well lets dive in and take a deep look at sonic adventure.
Sonic's Story: in the titular character's story you learn more about the world and past of sonic adventure more than sonic himself that works fine because the character of sonic has already been well established in previous media and doesn't need much addition and moving on from narrative this story in particular is a blast to play by incorperating the classics principals and level design philosophy you get a 3D sonic experience like no other with great use of its more open ended level design to create many branching paths best showcased in red mountain as such complimented by the games controls and physics catering to this with a floater jump,the newly introduced homing attack making defeating badniks much easier due to not needing much percision making the flow of the game work in its favor topped off by the amazing momentum and spindash in this game that allows you to get major speed downhill that can be used to transition in on and incline to get massive height to fully engage with the games level design and cause the player to think outside of the box that boasts great replayability.
Tails Story: The gameplay of this story is your pitted to race against sonic in more shortened down levels that have been redesigned with tails in mind with extra dash panels and platforms to compliment tails flight mechanic even though the sonic AI doesn't pose much threat in most instances the real meat and bones of this story is using tails flight to your advantage to try and get to the goal quicker while exploring new paths and approaches to doing so making each level of this story short and sweet with alot of depth and as for the narrative its about tails becoming an individual not just sonic's companion/sidekick who isn't as interesting but actually establishing tails as an individual and it isn't instant it really only reveals its true colors in the 2nd act where soni and tails go through a horrific plane crash that results in tails and sonic getting split up at first tails is helpless and clueless on what to do but due to certain events over the stories runtime he evolves into his own person and even saves the day by himself making for a tale about tails making a name for himself without sonics help.
Knuckles Story: This has you playing as the dutiful echidna as he ponders on his purpose in life often wavering as to why he is protecting the master emerald to being with as in act 1 he's content with it and in act 2 he starts to divert from his path concluded with act 3 where he has his answers set out as to why he is the guardian of the master emerald making for a satisfying narrative to follow and the gameplay taps into the narrative as earlier on in the story the master emerald is shattered and the gameplay is a collectathon where you play as knuckles trying to rebuild the master emerald by collecting all the shards as there scattered around the levels in random but set locations and located using a radar in a game of hot and cold and the gratifying replayablity of this gameplay style is the way the levels are layed out and trying to memorize all possible emerald locations and beating it as fast as possible.
e102-Gamma's story: this heartfelt journey is about e102 as you find yourself in eggmans lab as he assigns you a few missions as gamma blindly obeys his every command such as destroying a sonic doll and learning to scan for details ontop of locating a frog with an odd tail.But this all changes when he's assigned to capture a bird and accompanying the bird is none other than selfless envoirmentalist Amy Rose as she makes him question his being and who he is and in the spur of the moment gamma decides to form a will of his own and allow amy to escape with the bird and once confronted with sonic at first he wants to kill him due to eggmans orders but snaps out of it with the help of amy once again booting him into full sentience and finally giving him worth and his new found goal is to "save" his comrades in need at the end of each level and some time later he returns to the egg carrier planning out his final mission to save e101-beta MK.II and in doing so having saved all of his accompanying robots and he does he accomplishes his objective but seeing the bird that comes out of beta he realizes that the flicky inside of him is from the same family due to one of its memories leaking into his mind and because of that instead of recovering the battle damage he suffered with his auto repair system he shut it off taking his own life to reunite the family in a really touching,sad but beautiful moment that is to be remembered.As for his gameplay its an arcadey styled shooter that involves shooting certain targets to gain time and reaching an objective as fast as possible and the fun of replaying these levels is having more time left once you reach the goal by playing efficiently.
Big's Story: Whilst not being close in quality to the prior stories it delivers in a charming albeit goofy way as the story is majorly detatched from any of the games main events and narratives and is really just its own thing and im all for it there is so much charm and goofyness in this story but not much I can really explain outside of one word "Frwoggy :)" and as for its gameplay its a fishing minigame that can be beaten in maybe a minute or two max once you've mastered the mechanics that aren't hard with a guidebook or video tutorial/manual for the game.The replayability would come from fishing up the optional fish if simplified fishing is your thing? not mine though so I don't often revisit this one unless for main story progression.
Amy's Story: Well the game couldn't be perfect and this story is the epitome of what is bad about this game as neither the narrative or gameplay have no merit to them in the end and it ends up feeling like a slog even though its the 2nd shortest story in the game.Well as for story its about amy one day out shopping when a blue flicky crash lands into her while being chased by a killer robot and its now your job to protect it at all causes and run away from the killing stalking machine but thats about it the first cutscene speaks all for this story outside of overlapping events this story doesn't bring anything to the table.And as for gameplay.... yeah this is even worse this just kind of sucks as its a chase scequence but for 4-7 minutes per level with little tension as the robot chasing you sucks and your not really running from it per say.. more like slowly waddling along while perfoming awkward puzzles,combat and platforming that makes for a unreplayable slog of a story that you only beat to get it out of the way overall a weak experience in a game full of memorability.
Super Sonic's Story: this one while not great isn't bad either it just feels kind of tacked on and there as a reward for beating all 6 prior stories and can be beaten in no time what so ever so it starts at the focal point of all the stories and angel island has just conveniently crash landed? and chaos somehow survived being fragmented into ice? anyways chaos is back and has turned against our loveable egghead and is back with vengence as he quickly swoops all the emeralds from under everybodies feet and transforms into perfect chaos everything seems to be full on despair and ruin until... the residents of station square start cheering on sonic despite the city being in ruin and flooded completely with no signs of life? and there is a plot convenient "actually chaos didn't use all the energy of the emeralds and you can use the rest of it" moment and sonic just kinda becomes super sonic from depowered emeralds... and the final scene is also an oddball as chaos meets tikal someone who he deeply bonds with and she cures him of evil cool so far it makes sense? then sonic and co. just leave without explanation or helping out the completely trainwrecked city as it fades out to credits??? like sure I guess...? but story aside gameplay wise this is the easiest final boss ever as you literally just hold forward and collect rings but atleast its backed with a cool soundtrack... until it isn't and gets replaced by some mediocre theme in the 2nd act that is meant to be harder and more intense.Yeah this story is really just kinda there I appreciate the sentiment but its nothing special being riddled with plot convience and underwhelming gameplay.And I didn't even note how they removed the tikal tutorials so sometimes the game just expects you to know where to go or just stumble around until something happens that is bad design.
Overall: Despite the games 2 maybe 3 final stories not living up to the rest of the game it still managed to leave a lasting impact in the sonic community as its still brought up in discussions of best sonic game and I say rightfully so as when this game shines it really shines objectively its not a 5/5 due to its already mentioned issues + glitches and visuals not holding up but due to nostalgia and lasting impact and accessability to all generations I cant help but give this game a 5/5 also due to personal impact as I as a person wouldn't love sonic as much today without it in it's cheesy but heartwarming 90's action.
Trivia:
1.This game was originally destined to release on the saturn alongside the scrapped "Sonic x-treme" but got pushed to a dreamcast release but an early saturn build can still be found in the form of the "Sonic World" expansion of the saturn classic trilogy collection Sonic Jam.
2.This game's porting and releases are certainly a tale to be heard as not only is this a port its actually a multi-port as...
- This game originally came out on dreamcast in 1998
-Then got ported to gamecube in 2003 as DX loosing lighting effects and certain visuals like blur on sonics legs while running and ontop of other things
-Then got ported to home PC's in 2004 as DX once again with degraded visuals and missing water effects and ripples and haze,etc
-Then that 2004 degraded port got ported to X360/PS3 in 2010 as Sonic Adventure with no DX features despite being the same otherwise with even more visual degrading in 4:3 with ugly purple borders and changed lighting once again with certain HUD elements stretching and squashing because the 2004 port adjusted them to fit 16:9 and weren't returned
-Then LATER ON in 2012 the DX content got readded to the X360/PS3 in a really scummy PAID update not free but PAID update that should've just been included in actuality
-Then that same sonic adventure DX PS3/X360 port came to steam in 2011 with the DX DLC already bundled for free
so all in all that makes SADX steam release a...
port of a port of a port of a port of a really old dreamcast release from 1998 with a bunch of degrading in the process... yeah its rough
3.Sonic Adventure was an experimental title for the dreamcast (also its launch title) and was mainly used to show the capabilities and how it can cater to many playstyles and its presumable SA2 only had multiple stories to continue the trend.
4.When the dreamcast game later on came to the west it fixed alot of issues and back in japan they decided to rerelease the game under the name "Sonic Adventure:International" with all the fixes made to the worldwide release retranslated back to japanese.
5.International wasn't the only time this game would get a weird release as it also recieved a version of the game known as "Sonic Adventure:Limited Edition" that served as a way to rent the game in july 1999 before the game recieved its full release.
6.The game's title is "Sonic Adventure DX:Directors Cut" the DX stands for deluxe and it has directors cut in the title despite no involvement of the original director so the actual title is ironically "Sonic Adventure Deluxe:Directors Cut" even though it removed alot of lighting aspects and introduced many bugs not even making it a definitive edition of the game to being with.
7.Chao were created to inspire replayability in the game via making you replay levels for rings and animals but did you know the main aspiration for the chao garden were these little handheld devices called "Tamagotchi" that were huge in the east that allowed you to raise a virtual pet?
8.There is much cut content in this game because it was released only in 16 months such as completely cut levels like windy valley beta that is still in some cutscenes and artwork for the game that is still got remnant code in the files that has been fully restored and can be downloaded as a mod for the steam release!
9.There is rewards for 100%ing this game that are very worth it such as access to the game gear titles that you can access in extras AND playable metal sonic skin for sonic?
10.This game both DX and DC versions had many DLC that could be downloaded/installed via various means that added tracks to twinkle circuit and also premotional art and mini content for things that were releasing at the time in the sonic franchise?
11.The dreamcast version had something called the "Lantern Engine" that added much more ambient lighting that was cut in the DX version of the game but if you are playing on PC you can install BetterSADX + Dreamcast Conversion to experience the game with the best of both worlds!
12.To celebrate the release of the game they dispatched people wearing sonic character costumes to areas of "Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Akihabara." to cosplay the characters to premote the game.
13.Did you know alot of this games soundtrack was recycled and remixed from Sonic 3D Blast?
14.In the dreamcast version of the game both sky chases used low poly/saturn models of tails and sonic when the camera was less focused.
15.You can actually chese sky chase act 1 and 2 by sitting in the top right corner so go get something to eat maybe brew yourself a cuppa heck go take your toilet break while playing these zones and save yourself some time out of your day!
Sonic Colors
2010
An Overall Strong Handheld Experience That Rivals It's Main Console Counterpart.
Sonic Colors DS (Rush 3) is the third installment of the rush series despite being named Colors DS and does things better and worse than its predecessors as for what it does better the overall feel and controls especially the homing attack feel much better in this title but the fact they removed the trick system AND the "R" input tricks is unfortunate as it made the rush and advance games have an extra layer of execution you needed to pay attention too.But on the bright side it has all the great level themes of the console game ontop of playing like the rush games with strong level layouts and the wisps feel well incorperated and not too out of place in this installment and are a welcome addition to the overall game.Overall if you like the advance triology and the previous 2 rush games this game is very akin to those and i can't recommend it enough + it has a final super sonic fight that the main console counterpart didn't.
Trivia:
The wisps in the version of this game are quite different actually,Spike,Hover,Frenzy and Cube were all removed but in there stead is Void and Burst.
Sonic Colors DS (Rush 3) is the third installment of the rush series despite being named Colors DS and does things better and worse than its predecessors as for what it does better the overall feel and controls especially the homing attack feel much better in this title but the fact they removed the trick system AND the "R" input tricks is unfortunate as it made the rush and advance games have an extra layer of execution you needed to pay attention too.But on the bright side it has all the great level themes of the console game ontop of playing like the rush games with strong level layouts and the wisps feel well incorperated and not too out of place in this installment and are a welcome addition to the overall game.Overall if you like the advance triology and the previous 2 rush games this game is very akin to those and i can't recommend it enough + it has a final super sonic fight that the main console counterpart didn't.
Trivia:
The wisps in the version of this game are quite different actually,Spike,Hover,Frenzy and Cube were all removed but in there stead is Void and Burst.
Sonic Rush Adventure
2007
A Near Perfect Handheld 2D Platforming Sonic Game
Sonic Rush Adventure sequel to Sonic Rush expands on the original in many ways and many ways for the better but still has a few core issues that stops it from being perfect the positives compared to the first game would be,much better level design less hazards and bottomless pits to punish high speed gameplay and first time players,the narrative is much stronger this time with much more dialogue to flesh out the story,world and characters and the boat driving sections from island to island are quite charming and not hair pulling levels of challenge that make for quite a nice pace breaker between levels.And as for the issues,you need to grind alot to get the true ending for the game and the setpieces are less memorable than the original and the advance series that it is a sequel too but despite its flaws this game is one of the best games on the nintendo DS and has quite a bit of replay value and fun to be had i'd recommend this game to any fan of the 2D sonic games.
Trivia:
There is special idle animations for tapping the characters while there on the touch screen.
Sonic Rush Adventure sequel to Sonic Rush expands on the original in many ways and many ways for the better but still has a few core issues that stops it from being perfect the positives compared to the first game would be,much better level design less hazards and bottomless pits to punish high speed gameplay and first time players,the narrative is much stronger this time with much more dialogue to flesh out the story,world and characters and the boat driving sections from island to island are quite charming and not hair pulling levels of challenge that make for quite a nice pace breaker between levels.And as for the issues,you need to grind alot to get the true ending for the game and the setpieces are less memorable than the original and the advance series that it is a sequel too but despite its flaws this game is one of the best games on the nintendo DS and has quite a bit of replay value and fun to be had i'd recommend this game to any fan of the 2D sonic games.
Trivia:
There is special idle animations for tapping the characters while there on the touch screen.
Sonic Rush
2005
Used To Think This Game Was Great Until I Replayed It Recently....
Sonic Rush is the first game in the franchise to utilize the boost formula and on paper it has alot of promise,short but sweet story,one of the best characters in the franchise introduced,cool level themes/setpieces and the "R" input from advance 2/3 returns here with improvements so how does this game end up falling flat? the final special stage,stage design and bosses thats how it does and for me to truely get across my point i'll have to go into each stage.
Leaf Storm Zone: Ah this is a great introduction level to the game might be one of the best in the franchise being a unique take on green hill with a kicking sound track and level design that doesn't want me to grind my balls against a cheese grater because of the absolute unfairness of unforseen hazards that would never be seen coming unlike later levels,bottomless pits are placed only here and there and most of the time are just there for punishing mindless gameplay and the boss is also not unfairly designed while giving minimal challenge that makes sense for a first boss fight overall a really strong first level and now lets see how this game continues from here.
Water Palace: Another fantastic level from DIMPS here this level proves that underwater levels in sonic games don't have to suck with its fast paced nature,gimmics that suit being underwater,percise but fast platforming and refreshing visuals to boot and its boss gives a small challenge but again is relatively fair and fun to fight this level however is where my praise for this game is going to decline at a rapid pace...
Mirage Road: Oh my god this level is just fustrating to me its so much Stop,Start,Stop,Start its just fustrating to play as there is many forced combat sections,scripted events and overall pace breakers and BOTH ACTS have this escalator sequence that... are possibly the most offensive thing this level does as it goes against sonic level design philosophy as it completely breaks your pace,spams enemies and hazards at you and is completely scripted with no way to go faster this isn't the hardest level to play in this game but oh my does it make you want to pull hairs while playing and its boss after all this annoyance.. IS THE MOST PATHETIC BOSS IN SONIC HISTORY it is so god damn EASY it shouldn't be the this easy after this really bad stage well atleast the soundtrack and visuals are nice
Night Carnival:This stage brims aesthetic and charm visually but does the layout compensate for it as they introduce this STUPID light bridge mechanic that again goes against sonic level design philosophy as sometimes you can miss the button in a blind playthrough and just fall to your imminent death and if not you have to slowly wait for it to cross to the other side and it is used around EVERY BLOODY CORNER THEY COULD SNEAKLY PLACE THIS BOLLOCKS MECHANIC.It's dreadful and is the antithesis of what sonic should be about that in my opinion is high risk but rewarding in immense speed platforming that you just cant do and the boss is actually probably one of the best in the game sitting at the right level of difficulty. Is what i'd say if it didn't spawn those silly little badniks that have the most terrible hurt box i've ever seen its just ughhhhhh.
Huge Crisis: hehehehe..... HUGE CRISIS MADE ME GO THROUGH A MENTAL CRISIS LIKE OH CHRIST HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GONNA SUFFOCATE ME IN PLATFORMS JUST FOR TRYING TO GO FAST like I swear to god dimps with this game must've just hated the player because how much of this games level design is just trying to kill the player for going fast in a blind playthough is concerning and the amount of slow sections,forced combat and gimmics in this level that just don't work all blend together to make a terrible level with nothing going for it and the soundtrack and level themes/set pieces are SO BASIC compared to the rest of the game and to make things worse THE BOSS IS A RESKIN OF THE FIRST ONE.Another terrible zone maybe another one to go....
Altitude Limit: This level isn't great but isn't as mind numbing for me as the ones before it because sure there is alot of unfair bottomless pits and the aircraft and paraglider gimmics that pace break but most of the time in this level you can go fast and not get punished for it ontop of no forced combat,good air level theme,strong soundtrack and a boss fight who sure has alot of phases where he can take damage but also can easily catch you off guard and isn't a slow and painful drag to take out? yeah this one will mark higher in my books for stages in this game despite its flaws overall decent zone,dont hate it.
Dead Line: I actually REALLY enjoy this level because it is difficult yes but its the final level for blaze and sonic,the soundtrack SLAPS,the stage visually reminds me alot of sonic adventure 2's "Final Rush" and the gimmics while still there are difficult in a fun way and don't break your pace i'd actually argue they work in its favor,no forced combat and alot of ramps and slopes for building speed fast? overall the first 2 acts are solid then the icing on the cake is the bosses of this zone are sonic and blaze that both bosses are extremely fun and dont feel too unfair if you just bait and punish overall this zone is a fantastic final zone to the game thank god
Final Boss/Unknown:This boss is a mixed bag for me because its first few phases are excitingly difficult in a way that feels fun but then it introduces these lighting producing machines that force you to keep walking between 2 bolts of lighting to not get hit and the window of time you have to not get hit is absurd and it requires split second reactions and these said lightning bolts scatter your rings so much if you get hit your basically toast so what could've been a great final boss gets absolutely ruined by one or two terrible attacks....
Special Stages: These are fun little special stages that make use of the Nintendo DS touch screen in a cute and charming way... until the final special stage that is just the worst part about this game in general you need to get a majority of the rings while percisely dodging and weaving cruely placed mines at a fast pace on a DS TOUCHSCREEN USING A STYLUS WITH PIN POINT ACCURACY ON A 3 INCH BLOODY SCREEN... yeah it really sucks and who designed this is cruel.
Egg Salamander: A underwhelming but acceptable conclusion to the game a boss fight that feels very akin in tone to the "Sonic Pocket Adventure" final boss with having you reflect projectiles at the robot with sonic and shooting hadokens with blaze at the unsuspecting scientist and it ends with sonic and blaze doing the "Sonic Forces Double Boost" on the egg(men) duo and concluding the game.
Story: SKIP THIS SEGMENT IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED: Blaze a pyromancing cat from another timeline ends up in sonic's world after an incident with "Eggman Nega" and the "Sol Emeralds" caused a rip in the space-time continuum making both worlds awkwardly merge and threatens there existence Blaze soon after runs into cream the rabbit who takes her to her house and has a talk over the dinner table sipping tea with blaze to ask her where shes from and what shes doing here,etc blaze reveals her motives and teams up with cream to find the remaining "Sol Emeralds" while on the way they bump into many friendly faces and characters who are commonplace in the sonic franchise and have short bite sized interactions and overlaps and explains alot about sonic's half of the story that I am not going to really touch up on as its not too important ironically and is just sonics perspective of the same events,towards the final act of the game sonic and blaze finally talk face to face and and up duking it out because of blazes arrogance to trust sonic and the victor depends on playthrough but soon after the eggmen team up and with no time to spare sonic and blaze form a makeshift team after certain events that transpired for them to mutually understand each other and overcome there diffences and literally pull a... "Friendship Is Power" and revive the energyless Sol Emeralds and both super form and stop the evil scientist duo and restore space-time back to normal with sonic saying his farewells to blaze and the game wraps up.
Overall: A strong start with a really rough middle and decent end.Sonic Rush is a great premise and start to a new era of sonic muddled by poor game design choices and automation what could've been the best 2D sonic experience trumping the advance games wittled down to bottomless pits and uninteresting gimmics and dragged out boss fights make this installment a drag to sit through not to mention you have to beat it TWICE to get the final boss.
Trivia:
Blaze was originally going to be black and red with less defining features and a shadowy figure like apperance before her more well thought out redesign that suits the character much better.Chances are the design was changed to avoid comparisons to Shadow The Hedgehog from being drawn.
Sonic Rush is the first game in the franchise to utilize the boost formula and on paper it has alot of promise,short but sweet story,one of the best characters in the franchise introduced,cool level themes/setpieces and the "R" input from advance 2/3 returns here with improvements so how does this game end up falling flat? the final special stage,stage design and bosses thats how it does and for me to truely get across my point i'll have to go into each stage.
Leaf Storm Zone: Ah this is a great introduction level to the game might be one of the best in the franchise being a unique take on green hill with a kicking sound track and level design that doesn't want me to grind my balls against a cheese grater because of the absolute unfairness of unforseen hazards that would never be seen coming unlike later levels,bottomless pits are placed only here and there and most of the time are just there for punishing mindless gameplay and the boss is also not unfairly designed while giving minimal challenge that makes sense for a first boss fight overall a really strong first level and now lets see how this game continues from here.
Water Palace: Another fantastic level from DIMPS here this level proves that underwater levels in sonic games don't have to suck with its fast paced nature,gimmics that suit being underwater,percise but fast platforming and refreshing visuals to boot and its boss gives a small challenge but again is relatively fair and fun to fight this level however is where my praise for this game is going to decline at a rapid pace...
Mirage Road: Oh my god this level is just fustrating to me its so much Stop,Start,Stop,Start its just fustrating to play as there is many forced combat sections,scripted events and overall pace breakers and BOTH ACTS have this escalator sequence that... are possibly the most offensive thing this level does as it goes against sonic level design philosophy as it completely breaks your pace,spams enemies and hazards at you and is completely scripted with no way to go faster this isn't the hardest level to play in this game but oh my does it make you want to pull hairs while playing and its boss after all this annoyance.. IS THE MOST PATHETIC BOSS IN SONIC HISTORY it is so god damn EASY it shouldn't be the this easy after this really bad stage well atleast the soundtrack and visuals are nice
Night Carnival:This stage brims aesthetic and charm visually but does the layout compensate for it as they introduce this STUPID light bridge mechanic that again goes against sonic level design philosophy as sometimes you can miss the button in a blind playthrough and just fall to your imminent death and if not you have to slowly wait for it to cross to the other side and it is used around EVERY BLOODY CORNER THEY COULD SNEAKLY PLACE THIS BOLLOCKS MECHANIC.It's dreadful and is the antithesis of what sonic should be about that in my opinion is high risk but rewarding in immense speed platforming that you just cant do and the boss is actually probably one of the best in the game sitting at the right level of difficulty. Is what i'd say if it didn't spawn those silly little badniks that have the most terrible hurt box i've ever seen its just ughhhhhh.
Huge Crisis: hehehehe..... HUGE CRISIS MADE ME GO THROUGH A MENTAL CRISIS LIKE OH CHRIST HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GONNA SUFFOCATE ME IN PLATFORMS JUST FOR TRYING TO GO FAST like I swear to god dimps with this game must've just hated the player because how much of this games level design is just trying to kill the player for going fast in a blind playthough is concerning and the amount of slow sections,forced combat and gimmics in this level that just don't work all blend together to make a terrible level with nothing going for it and the soundtrack and level themes/set pieces are SO BASIC compared to the rest of the game and to make things worse THE BOSS IS A RESKIN OF THE FIRST ONE.Another terrible zone maybe another one to go....
Altitude Limit: This level isn't great but isn't as mind numbing for me as the ones before it because sure there is alot of unfair bottomless pits and the aircraft and paraglider gimmics that pace break but most of the time in this level you can go fast and not get punished for it ontop of no forced combat,good air level theme,strong soundtrack and a boss fight who sure has alot of phases where he can take damage but also can easily catch you off guard and isn't a slow and painful drag to take out? yeah this one will mark higher in my books for stages in this game despite its flaws overall decent zone,dont hate it.
Dead Line: I actually REALLY enjoy this level because it is difficult yes but its the final level for blaze and sonic,the soundtrack SLAPS,the stage visually reminds me alot of sonic adventure 2's "Final Rush" and the gimmics while still there are difficult in a fun way and don't break your pace i'd actually argue they work in its favor,no forced combat and alot of ramps and slopes for building speed fast? overall the first 2 acts are solid then the icing on the cake is the bosses of this zone are sonic and blaze that both bosses are extremely fun and dont feel too unfair if you just bait and punish overall this zone is a fantastic final zone to the game thank god
Final Boss/Unknown:This boss is a mixed bag for me because its first few phases are excitingly difficult in a way that feels fun but then it introduces these lighting producing machines that force you to keep walking between 2 bolts of lighting to not get hit and the window of time you have to not get hit is absurd and it requires split second reactions and these said lightning bolts scatter your rings so much if you get hit your basically toast so what could've been a great final boss gets absolutely ruined by one or two terrible attacks....
Special Stages: These are fun little special stages that make use of the Nintendo DS touch screen in a cute and charming way... until the final special stage that is just the worst part about this game in general you need to get a majority of the rings while percisely dodging and weaving cruely placed mines at a fast pace on a DS TOUCHSCREEN USING A STYLUS WITH PIN POINT ACCURACY ON A 3 INCH BLOODY SCREEN... yeah it really sucks and who designed this is cruel.
Egg Salamander: A underwhelming but acceptable conclusion to the game a boss fight that feels very akin in tone to the "Sonic Pocket Adventure" final boss with having you reflect projectiles at the robot with sonic and shooting hadokens with blaze at the unsuspecting scientist and it ends with sonic and blaze doing the "Sonic Forces Double Boost" on the egg(men) duo and concluding the game.
Story: SKIP THIS SEGMENT IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED: Blaze a pyromancing cat from another timeline ends up in sonic's world after an incident with "Eggman Nega" and the "Sol Emeralds" caused a rip in the space-time continuum making both worlds awkwardly merge and threatens there existence Blaze soon after runs into cream the rabbit who takes her to her house and has a talk over the dinner table sipping tea with blaze to ask her where shes from and what shes doing here,etc blaze reveals her motives and teams up with cream to find the remaining "Sol Emeralds" while on the way they bump into many friendly faces and characters who are commonplace in the sonic franchise and have short bite sized interactions and overlaps and explains alot about sonic's half of the story that I am not going to really touch up on as its not too important ironically and is just sonics perspective of the same events,towards the final act of the game sonic and blaze finally talk face to face and and up duking it out because of blazes arrogance to trust sonic and the victor depends on playthrough but soon after the eggmen team up and with no time to spare sonic and blaze form a makeshift team after certain events that transpired for them to mutually understand each other and overcome there diffences and literally pull a... "Friendship Is Power" and revive the energyless Sol Emeralds and both super form and stop the evil scientist duo and restore space-time back to normal with sonic saying his farewells to blaze and the game wraps up.
Overall: A strong start with a really rough middle and decent end.Sonic Rush is a great premise and start to a new era of sonic muddled by poor game design choices and automation what could've been the best 2D sonic experience trumping the advance games wittled down to bottomless pits and uninteresting gimmics and dragged out boss fights make this installment a drag to sit through not to mention you have to beat it TWICE to get the final boss.
Trivia:
Blaze was originally going to be black and red with less defining features and a shadowy figure like apperance before her more well thought out redesign that suits the character much better.Chances are the design was changed to avoid comparisons to Shadow The Hedgehog from being drawn.
Sonic Advance 3
2004
The Trilogy Advance In Quality Each Installment.
Sonic Advance 3 is such a good game in ways that make it hard to describe in words but it trumps the previous installments tenfold to start with the presentation is superb,the controls finally have dropped the weightyness advance 1 and 2 had for the better these controls are so great paired with the trick system from advance 2 (thats better here because more things trigger it and its less punished by the stages),the team mechanic that allows variation in playstyle and stage traversal in a way heroes could never dream of accomplishing,great setpieces once again,memorable OST,GEMERL who is a tie in to EMERL from sonic battle. In general advance 3 blew me away as I couldn't imagine the advance games to get any better after 2 but boy did this game hold my beer because WOW this game is much better than 2.If you like any of the 2D sonic platforming games PLEASE go do yourself a favour and play this game as its honestly one of the strongest if not strongest 2D platforming sonic game and has held up super well in one too many aspects to count this is peak 2D sonic like it or not.
Trivia:
Inputting "Up R Down L Right Left" on the main menu after beating all the special stages will allow you to replay special stages at any point you want!.
Sonic Advance 3 is such a good game in ways that make it hard to describe in words but it trumps the previous installments tenfold to start with the presentation is superb,the controls finally have dropped the weightyness advance 1 and 2 had for the better these controls are so great paired with the trick system from advance 2 (thats better here because more things trigger it and its less punished by the stages),the team mechanic that allows variation in playstyle and stage traversal in a way heroes could never dream of accomplishing,great setpieces once again,memorable OST,GEMERL who is a tie in to EMERL from sonic battle. In general advance 3 blew me away as I couldn't imagine the advance games to get any better after 2 but boy did this game hold my beer because WOW this game is much better than 2.If you like any of the 2D sonic platforming games PLEASE go do yourself a favour and play this game as its honestly one of the strongest if not strongest 2D platforming sonic game and has held up super well in one too many aspects to count this is peak 2D sonic like it or not.
Trivia:
Inputting "Up R Down L Right Left" on the main menu after beating all the special stages will allow you to replay special stages at any point you want!.
Sonic Advance 2
2002
Sonic Advance 2 Advance(d) The Original In Every Aspect
Sonic Advance 2 has to be one of the best 2D platformers ever made the amount of polish and good design this game seeps through every corner of this game its just so amazing from movement to controls,visuals,sound design and level design this title does it all to the highest degree the newly added trick system makes this game so fun to play trying to find the optimal paths through this games levels that are designed to let you go as fast as your skill allows for in a super stylish manner if fast paced action platformers are your thing this game is a MUST go play it right now if you have any means or access to you will not regret your time with this title.
Trivia:
This game was originally going to have the team mechanic advance 3 has but it got scrapped before completion but is still acessable through various means
Sonic Advance 2 has to be one of the best 2D platformers ever made the amount of polish and good design this game seeps through every corner of this game its just so amazing from movement to controls,visuals,sound design and level design this title does it all to the highest degree the newly added trick system makes this game so fun to play trying to find the optimal paths through this games levels that are designed to let you go as fast as your skill allows for in a super stylish manner if fast paced action platformers are your thing this game is a MUST go play it right now if you have any means or access to you will not regret your time with this title.
Trivia:
This game was originally going to have the team mechanic advance 3 has but it got scrapped before completion but is still acessable through various means
Sonic Advance
2001
Sonic Advance(s) Onto The Gameboy Advance.
Sonic Advance is a 2D platforming game that plays much akin to the original triology but on handheld but does it still hold up in current year? Well my answer would be hell yeah because this game rocks.Sonic Advance is a short but sweet experience jam packed with charm from the sprite work to soundtrack and overall feel,the level design is great with many varying paths and new gimmics that elevate the levels to further heights but the game doesn't come without its flaws the screenspace can lead to leaps of faith and off screen enemies just kinda hitting you but couldn't really be helped because of hardware.And the controls do feel a bit too heavy/weighted compaired to said classic games but dont let these flaws discourage you from one of the strongest 2D sonic experiences to date.
Trivia:
If you press "Up Right Down Right L Right R Right A" on the select screen for sonic you can use tails as a partner!
Sonic Advance is a 2D platforming game that plays much akin to the original triology but on handheld but does it still hold up in current year? Well my answer would be hell yeah because this game rocks.Sonic Advance is a short but sweet experience jam packed with charm from the sprite work to soundtrack and overall feel,the level design is great with many varying paths and new gimmics that elevate the levels to further heights but the game doesn't come without its flaws the screenspace can lead to leaps of faith and off screen enemies just kinda hitting you but couldn't really be helped because of hardware.And the controls do feel a bit too heavy/weighted compaired to said classic games but dont let these flaws discourage you from one of the strongest 2D sonic experiences to date.
Trivia:
If you press "Up Right Down Right L Right R Right A" on the select screen for sonic you can use tails as a partner!
Shadow the Hedgehog
2005
Where's That Damn 4th Chaos Emerald!
Shadow The Hedgehog is the next home console sonic game after Sonic Heroes and it's DNA really show's in the games visuals and controls albeit the game is hell of a lot better controling than heroes.The branching paths idea is awesome on paper until you realize how many endings they actually are and ALL OF THEM are needed to unlock the final boss so what could've been a silly but entertaining entry into the sonic franchise becomes a slog because how much you need to actually replay the game to get the true ending it might even be up there as one of the worst games to 100% because of it,It REALLY is that bad so a good take-a-way for this game is the game is good,the soundtrack is great,the visuals are the same as heroes,controls well,satisfying gameplay,cool gimmic in the path-branching that gets dulled down by content overload (that is mainly padding)
Trivia:
Originally the game was meant to have multiple vocal tracks depending on what path you took but it ended up getting scrapped.
Shadow The Hedgehog is the next home console sonic game after Sonic Heroes and it's DNA really show's in the games visuals and controls albeit the game is hell of a lot better controling than heroes.The branching paths idea is awesome on paper until you realize how many endings they actually are and ALL OF THEM are needed to unlock the final boss so what could've been a silly but entertaining entry into the sonic franchise becomes a slog because how much you need to actually replay the game to get the true ending it might even be up there as one of the worst games to 100% because of it,It REALLY is that bad so a good take-a-way for this game is the game is good,the soundtrack is great,the visuals are the same as heroes,controls well,satisfying gameplay,cool gimmic in the path-branching that gets dulled down by content overload (that is mainly padding)
Trivia:
Originally the game was meant to have multiple vocal tracks depending on what path you took but it ended up getting scrapped.
Sonic Heroes
2003
Sonic Heroes Isn't My Hero.
Sonic Heroes is a game that i've personally always had mixed feelings on as in certain aspects in an amazing game and others not so much.... Anyways I think its time to start with what this game does well
Story: While there isn't much of it what is there is pretty great especially the final story has one of the most interesting antagonists in the sonic franchise but if your looking for a narrative experience this game isn't exactly for you as its light on story.
Stage Design:This is one element of sonic heroes that shines really well from setpieces to the actual layouts the sonic heroes stage design is well thought out and accomodates well to the gimmics and unique aspects of heroes to its fullest potential.
well thats basically all the good out of the way from me because... damn this game has anchors to say the least
Controls: I really don't know how SEGA did it they had perfected sonics control scheme in 3D with the prior two titles so the fact this game controls like sonic constantly has ice physics baffles me when you land even the slightest directional input sends you FLYING. And ontop of that there was so many times where i just kinda fell off platforms due to the slippery nature of this games physics and MY GOD is the analog stick sensitive in this game all of this combined can make percise platforming segments a chore to get through thank god there isn't many of them in this game.
Visuals: The stages look great but... SEGA what are these character models... they went for a more chibi style opposed to the adventure games and everyones looks like they have been absolutely drenched in 50 layers of gloss it is not appealing to the eyes what so ever..
Repetition: This game might aswell be the book standard definition of the word as you have to play through the game 4 times with minimum changes just to unlock the final boss and unlike the adventure games where overlapping levels felt fresh because of how different characters took different paths or had unique gimmics (like treasure hunting) in this game.... IT ALL FEELS THE SAME FOR ALL 4 SQUADS it is honestly so disheartening especially after adventure 1 & 2 PROVED SEGA can pull this concept off well this for me is the biggest issue with this game.
Overall: Sonic Heroes had so much potential but got squandered by terrible controls and un-needed padding if you want to play this game play team sonic and maybe chaotix then just download a save file with final story unlocked save your time as your not gonna miss out on much in doing so...
Trivia:
There was originally be 2 extra levels that were themed by pirates and ruins but got scrapped in early development but concept art of them still exists online.
Sonic Heroes is a game that i've personally always had mixed feelings on as in certain aspects in an amazing game and others not so much.... Anyways I think its time to start with what this game does well
Story: While there isn't much of it what is there is pretty great especially the final story has one of the most interesting antagonists in the sonic franchise but if your looking for a narrative experience this game isn't exactly for you as its light on story.
Stage Design:This is one element of sonic heroes that shines really well from setpieces to the actual layouts the sonic heroes stage design is well thought out and accomodates well to the gimmics and unique aspects of heroes to its fullest potential.
well thats basically all the good out of the way from me because... damn this game has anchors to say the least
Controls: I really don't know how SEGA did it they had perfected sonics control scheme in 3D with the prior two titles so the fact this game controls like sonic constantly has ice physics baffles me when you land even the slightest directional input sends you FLYING. And ontop of that there was so many times where i just kinda fell off platforms due to the slippery nature of this games physics and MY GOD is the analog stick sensitive in this game all of this combined can make percise platforming segments a chore to get through thank god there isn't many of them in this game.
Visuals: The stages look great but... SEGA what are these character models... they went for a more chibi style opposed to the adventure games and everyones looks like they have been absolutely drenched in 50 layers of gloss it is not appealing to the eyes what so ever..
Repetition: This game might aswell be the book standard definition of the word as you have to play through the game 4 times with minimum changes just to unlock the final boss and unlike the adventure games where overlapping levels felt fresh because of how different characters took different paths or had unique gimmics (like treasure hunting) in this game.... IT ALL FEELS THE SAME FOR ALL 4 SQUADS it is honestly so disheartening especially after adventure 1 & 2 PROVED SEGA can pull this concept off well this for me is the biggest issue with this game.
Overall: Sonic Heroes had so much potential but got squandered by terrible controls and un-needed padding if you want to play this game play team sonic and maybe chaotix then just download a save file with final story unlocked save your time as your not gonna miss out on much in doing so...
Trivia:
There was originally be 2 extra levels that were themed by pirates and ruins but got scrapped in early development but concept art of them still exists online.
Sonic Jam
1997
Sonic World Is A Nice Look Into The Future Keeping It Short Not Much Else To Say But Nice Collection Of The Classics.
TRIVIA:
The sonic model used in this game was originally going to be reused in sonic adventure evident by sky chase in the dreamcast version using the model from this game
TRIVIA:
The sonic model used in this game was originally going to be reused in sonic adventure evident by sky chase in the dreamcast version using the model from this game
Sonic R
1998
Cool Concept With ... Execution
Sonic R is an attempt at making a sonic racing game where you run on foot instead of using vehicles that could be such a great idea if executed better.But sadly they decided to give it the jankiest control scheme that you could imagine that really sucks as this game has so much potential but atleast the OST's and track designs are top notch with many varied pathways and incentive to explore a potentially amazing game made mediocre by a bad control scheme
TRIVIA:
The game was orignally ment to be called "Sonic TT (Time Trial)" but was later rebranded to "Sonic R"
Sonic R is an attempt at making a sonic racing game where you run on foot instead of using vehicles that could be such a great idea if executed better.But sadly they decided to give it the jankiest control scheme that you could imagine that really sucks as this game has so much potential but atleast the OST's and track designs are top notch with many varied pathways and incentive to explore a potentially amazing game made mediocre by a bad control scheme
TRIVIA:
The game was orignally ment to be called "Sonic TT (Time Trial)" but was later rebranded to "Sonic R"
A Very Underlooked But Remarkable 2D Platformer
Sonic Pocket Adventure is the perfect game for anyone who enjoyed the genesis classics even remotely as it captures the spirit of those games well.To the point of reusing level themes in a inoffensive way as it takes the themes but brings completely new level design to the table in a Sonic Mania like fashion.I think its really impressive how good the spritework is in this game considering its limited hardware and its less screencrunched than the "Advance" games ontop of having airtight controls.And for a very out of the blue handheld game the bossfights are very creative sporting many unique gimmics my personal biggest problem about the game is that it really had to reuse Metropolis Zone.Conclusion is if you have access to this game by the limited various ways to play it I cant recommend it enough for a genesis sonic game fan as its everything that made those games good.
TRIVIA
There is a playable prototype for the game that you can find on the internet that has a few minor differences if you want to do so!
Sonic Pocket Adventure is the perfect game for anyone who enjoyed the genesis classics even remotely as it captures the spirit of those games well.To the point of reusing level themes in a inoffensive way as it takes the themes but brings completely new level design to the table in a Sonic Mania like fashion.I think its really impressive how good the spritework is in this game considering its limited hardware and its less screencrunched than the "Advance" games ontop of having airtight controls.And for a very out of the blue handheld game the bossfights are very creative sporting many unique gimmics my personal biggest problem about the game is that it really had to reuse Metropolis Zone.Conclusion is if you have access to this game by the limited various ways to play it I cant recommend it enough for a genesis sonic game fan as its everything that made those games good.
TRIVIA
There is a playable prototype for the game that you can find on the internet that has a few minor differences if you want to do so!
A fun and well made game in its own right. Nothing to special or mind-blowing that sets it apart from Spider-Man PS4, but as a standalone expansion it does a great job of reminding you of insomniac's excellent rendition of the web-head. The overall message and themes of this game's story are strong, however I can't help but feel that the execution left a little more to be desired.