I’ve previously admitted that Sonic Generations is a great game. It’s got to have been for it to have solidified my interest in the series. The celebration game of everything Sonic the Hedgehog, with a wide variety of music tracks and a number of favourite levels.
One thing I wish it had done, though, was use more. Sure, the adage that more doesn’t equal better, but Generations… could have used more. I’ve talked before how there didn’t feel like there was much interaction with the worlds or characters (for any character not a Sonic or Tails, anyway), and I wished there had been. Here, then, I aim to present an idea on how it could have been expanded. More levels and more interaction between characters and the worlds. Unlike with the Redesigned Galar concept, I won’t be sticking to as strict a guideline. By providing expansion, it needs more room to do so.
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Last month I offered up some ideas for games within the Pokémon franchise, with the three fitting roughly into the labels of main game, side game, and spin-off. This month I am doing the same for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Now, it would be easy to say for a main game Adventure 3 – specifically Chao Theory (that old concept of mine from back in 2013), but I’m not. What I want to see from a main series game these days is something that Lost World failed to execute beyond basic implementation. There’s a lot of excitement and curiosity about this new racing game from SEGA. Unless a misdirection, we know it to be a kart racer – but that’s it. As you’ve no doubt seen, I like talking ideas, with post three having recently been added of the Future of Mario Kart series.
Much like ideas for a future Mario Kart game, I’m doing the same with this Sonic racer. Everything will be contained within this post, with levels, characters, and other ideas within. And no racing game is complete without the tracks to race on, so we’ll start there. For this idea, there are eight cups of four tracks, but each cup is effectively part of an island. Each island is a hub that the tracks are accessed from, but also becomes a track itself for the final challenge. This is a bit of a surprise, one not announced in the Monthly Update. This series of posts is called Rewrite, where I take a story and – while keeping within what it set up – rewrite it to make it flow better, or to at least make better sense of certain points. For the first one, I thought a recent game would work best, and so I tackle Sonic Forces.
The story of Forces felt as though it just played out as a reason for the levels to be played. However, it tried to go beyond the usual platformer type story for something an action-adventure game might have instead. But it failed for a reason. In trying to be big, it didn’t understand how to do so in the right way. Well, the latest trailer for Sonic Forces just hit, and... That character creator rumour is true. Essentially, it allows the use of seven species to use as a base to create a character. Those species are wolf, rabbit, cat, dog, bear, bird, and hedgehog. No foxes, echidnas, or chameleons in sight.
From the small teases within the trailer, it looks as though this is going to be an interesting system. Yeah, count me upset at no chameleon base, but what we do have looks to be a good start. However, this post isn't just a news update, as there's some thinking to do here that I'll be talking about. And no, it isn't a thousand-word essay on the species I'll be using. It was not long after 18/April-2011 - when the first Sonic Generations trailer was released - that something inside clicked. I had been with Sonic for ten years now, but only as a general fan.
I hardly took notice of any games, hadn't played most of the games released since Sonic Heroes, and definitely wasn't a part of any fan related groups online. So what was it that made me take notice of Sonic Generations, which ultimately crafted me into the fan of the series I am today? The earliest memories I have with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise are with Sonic Adventure 2 way back in 2002. I can also remember owning both Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R on PC, though of course not having a computer until around 2004/5 those two would have come around that time.
I also had Sonic Heroes and Sonic Advance 1 and 2, but I couldn't exactly be called the biggest fan like I was with Pokémon. In that period of 2005-2010, when my gaming passion grew, I had owned hardly any new Sonic the Hedgehog games. The only game I did own was the first Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, on both DS and Wii. The 10th anniversary of Sonic was what first got me into the series. The 20th anniversary helped cement my love for it. I started to take more notice. I followed Generations almost all the way through - from reveal to launch. Fact of the matter is, Sonic Generations got me to love the series, and I have since played most of the games I missed out on. Spoilers. Spoilers. Oh so great.
Spanish or not, it's too late. Videos pasted. Game surprises wasted. Avoid Youtube at all cost, Otherwise the wait is lost. Just a little poem there, to show how displeased I am at this news. You heard me. Sonic Lost World has had its street date broken. Spanish retailers (or at least one) have broken the official release date for Sonic Lost World, and spoilers have already been posted onto YouTube. And as said, my idea of Sonic Adventure 3. Why am I uploading this so early after the previous article then? Well, a recent bout of the rumour mill has been going, and basically the game 'Sonic Excursion' seems to have been taken as fact by almost everywhere. I won't bother going into it, as I'm sure that many of you will have seen it somewhere.
But onto my idea, which is more fleshed out than that rumour. I had planned this to feature Chao Gardens more in the story rather than how the other Adventure games dealt with them, which I described as "Oh look! A Chao Garden. Let's visit". This way, they can still remain optional, but it doesn't look as though they've been added in for the sake of it. Chao have been a major part of the story in two Sonic games - Adventure 1 and Rivals 2. This then would be the third, and as you read on, you'll see why. It's a long post, so settle in for some reading. Admit it. Playing Sonic the Hedgehog games competitively against others is fun. Both Adventure games, Heroes, and the 3DS version of Generations all feature local multiplayer, and in the case of the 3DS, online play.
I have been keen to booting up Adventure 2 and Heroes when mates are round, and all enjoy it. But modern Sonic games seem to have just become single player affairs. |
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