Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a franchise that's been mercilessly battered to death over the years, and the hedgehog's deformed and rotting carcass has been hooked to strings and forced to shamelessly dance for the sickened masses who are forced to witness this grotesque necropantomime. Sega knows damn well that this hasn't pleased fans, and Sega of America marketing boss Sean Ratcliffe admits it.
"Some of that criticism is probably warranted," Sean stated, before adding that Sega is planning to remedy the situation by taking the "first steps in making sure the quality is right"
"We definitely recognize that a franchise that has been going as long as Sonic, you really have to put a huge amount of effort in to make sure that you maintain that quality, and arguably a disproportionate amount of effort," Ratcliffe continued. "We're constantly looking at innovation. We can't just stand still with Sonic; we've got to be looking at different ways to develop the character, different genres, and so on."
Oh Sega, when will you learn? While it's good that Sega isn't completely blind to the fact that Sonic is a running (no pun intended) joke these days, it's clear that the company doesn't know how to fix it. Innovation is not what Sonic needs -- a good game is what Sonic needs. Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. -- these games are not particularly innovative, but they are loved. Mario hasn't had to throw a deluge of gimmicks around to enjoy its greatest successes, and it's about time Sega brought Sonic back to his roots. This senseless and desperate drive for "innovation" will lead many a game down the path of ruin.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
7:29 AM on 08.07.2008
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I LOVE YOU JIM <3
Pretty much, seeing as how the game wasn't innovative. It didn't do anything no one had done before but that didn't stop it from being fun.
Sega just needs to find a way to make Sonic fun like it used to be. Make a Sonic a goddamn platformer again because this hold right on the d-pad to win bullshit isn't platforming; it's lazy and awful design. Give me some awesome gameplay mechanics like time travel or racing Metal Sonic.
This guy is a real cut-up!
I agree. The core of Galaxy was 3D Mario like seen in M64 and Sunshine, but the gravity play made it something unique from the others. That was what I considered the big innovation of Galaxy. The thing is, I could see a Sonic game like that being great as well, but I just highly doubt that Sega could do it. Unfortunately.
What they should do is just take the old sonic games and copy EVERYTHING. Remake it even, but just get every bit of that game in there.
Enemies unique to the area your in, a very small amount of endless pits of doom and lots of running. Also a playable super sonic.
More or less a new sonic game should be more arcade like and have the same style of flow like the 3rd game that made it feel like it never stopped.
Though trouble with 3D games is that you can't always do a platformer without falls of death around the sides. Everyone seems to do that.
Though to make a Sonic platformer, I think a good idea would be to make a vast wide open area. Not so much as to make it a sandbox game, but enough to make it feel like you can run everywhere as fast as you can without any more worry than an enemy or spikes. Not to mention the occasional cliff if you get high enough up a mountain.
Be able to scale a factory building for instance and if you fall down you eventually hit the ground and have to start again. No death, just go up again. Also more enemies too, since without pits the game might seem easy. More enemies would make it hard for a good reason.
Also a reason to collect the emeralds and turn super sonic.
Ya would be nice to actually "collect" the emeralds and then use them when we want.
Oh and bonus stages at the checkpoints, also plenty of checkpoints.
Eh, the list could go on.
Bottom line is that Sonic is just a stale IP now and not a "Sonic" game anymore.
No more innovation, go back to the routes and remake what made the franchise good. Running really fast without the worry of insta death all over the place. The freedom to run without worry.
Now I have a mental image of Sonic on Ketimine.