5862925
story
Comments: 123 +- Games: New 2D, HD Sonic Game Coming In 2010 on Thursday September 10, @10:57PM
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicgamesclassic.gif); width:55px; height:43px;
classicgames
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicgames.gif); width:68px; height:77px;
games
Anonymouse writes "Sonic the Hedgehog is going back to his roots, but with a fresh coat of HD paint. 'An all-new 2D side-scrolling High Definition Sonic game is coming with a 2010 release date, according to a new teaser trailer from Sega.' Sega's Ken Ballough had this to say: 'Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots.'"
Related Stories
: by
One person's error is another person's data.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2010 Geeknet, Inc.
Sonic Cycle (Score:5, Funny)
Before you get your hopes up, I would like to direct your attention to what is called the Sonic Cycle [imageshack.us].
Re: (Score:3)
See the top of the Sonic Cycle. He gets put in the game along with new friends on step 2.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Nice! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Nice! (Score:5, Insightful)
Well mario made sense because he was a slower platformer to begin with and even in 2d had a reasonable amount of exploration already built in (mario3).
Sonic games... if you look at "maps" of the levels, they're ENORMOUS. Doing that in 3d would be almost impossible so they needed to both slow down sonic and find ways to make you feel like you were going faster and farther than you really were. Thus you get lots of grinding and levels that are basically roads floating in the middle of the air. Since Super Sonic basically went even faster still and was invincible except for crushing and falling into pits he had to go out the window too, it'd be impossible to control or map for and remove their carefully planned interruptions.
Going back to 2d and not on a handheld means there's a chance to get those looooong levels that aren't based on "haha didn't see that coming" tiny screen cheap shots and grinding/rocketing/whatevering level gimmicks back. Along with hopefully the old emerald system.
Parent
Re:Nice! (Score:4, Interesting)
I have to agree, although personally I don't think we need to throw 3D all the way out. Something along the lines of what Capcom did with Street Fighter IV would be pretty awesome. I've said it before, and will say it again. I wish these classic series would start sticking to their roots. When will companies realize it's not in their best interest to reinvent the wheel when it comes to classic series? I'm dying for modern remakes of several classic titles (Raiden, Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, etc.), and I'm confident that doing them 2D is not only the cheaper approach, but will lead to the superior product.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I would like to add Eternal Champions to that list, as well as agree with you completely. Some games just don't translate well to 3D, and Sonic was definitely one of them. I for one would be happy to pay for a new Eternal Champions done in the "new old" Street Fighter style.
I'd love to rip through some Eternal Champions, Shinobi,Phantasy Star and Strider, and with the larger storage space they could really make for some awesome 2D gaming. Which was what always pissed me off about buying the Sega CD(still
Re:Nice! (Score:5, Interesting)
Sonic's transition to 3D was the same as NBA Jam, confusing and everything that was fun about the game got lost in translation.
It's good to see it going back to 2D, heaps of 2D Xbox live games have proved to be a huge success with a HD touch up, this should be the same.
Now all we need is them to do NBA Jam TE in HD and I'll be a very happy person.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Many games went downhill when they went to 3D. Even HMM (a strategy game) became less playable, because stuff was harder to click on than in iso. People like 3D for the graphics, not for the ability to get lost, for the ability to lose "obvious" items behind ferns, and other annoyances.
FPS is the exception.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually I really liked Sonic and the secret rings except for the pointless story and music.
But the gameplay really was the 2d gameplay really well transitioned into the 3d realm. The trick simply was to push Sonic back on rails hence you could get the speed back.
Re: (Score:2)
But original sonic was written with emeralds not ruby?
(sorry)
Re: (Score:2)
Well I think it is not too different, the 2d games were like run as fast as possible and dont hit the obstacles in the way by jumping.
Secret rings was, run as fast as it gets and dont hit the obstacles in the way by jumping and getting sideways.
The reason why it feels like a racing game is, that burnout took a lesson from sonic and sonic in itself is a racing game sort of.
(well it has very similar mechanics)
But I think they got the formula defintively right in that game. I still wonder why this game got med
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The Sonic Team was showing off too much in Sonic Adventure. You had limited control over the camera, and it would zip around all over the place on its own. An unpredictable camera is horrible, no matter how much work went into the AI to predict what the player wants to see.
The proper way to use the camera for any high-paced 3D game is a fixed viewpoint, so when controlling the character, you don't fight with the camera. It's not a visibility issue, it's a control issue, so smarter camera AI isn't going t
Re: (Score:2)
I always thought Sonic's transition to 3d was much less graceful than say, Mario's. Maybe it was the high speed and the weird feel of the Dreamcast controller that made me feel like I was influencing Sonic's motions, not controlling them.
Sonic was never meant to be 3D. He's hard enough to control in only two dimensions. I could just about handle him on the Genesis but on the Dreamcast? Forget it. Uncontrollable.
The DS version is where they needed to go. 3D engine locked onto the traditional 2D track. Looked pretty, played well, no 3D track BS. Only problem is that I'm just not very good at it.
A list of what not to include (Score:5, Insightful)
-Every character except Sonic, Tales, and Knuckles
-Clumsy, overbearing storyline
-Rail grinding
-Furries
Re: (Score:2)
Don't forget Dr Robotnik.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
No furries? Who would star in the game, Chris Thorndyke and Princess Elise?
Hedgehogs are furry (and have actual fur on the belly), foxes and echidnas are too. And lizards, dragons, snakes and birds are included in the furry fandom even if they lack actual fur.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Screw what the fans want. Wait, isn't that what they've been doing for the past five years?
Bring on the old school gameplay! Mm, will he go back to his old Mega Drive appearance?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I think you are underestimating the ability of game companies to screw something simple up
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Doesn't Tails qualify as a furry?
He gets a pass because he's one of the original characters. Plus, if they do it like the original games where he tags along with you, you get to have fun watching him blunder into things, get himself "killed", and then helicopter back onscreen by spinning his two tails.
...
Ah, the simple pleasures of yesteryear
Yeah, right. (Score:5, Insightful)
This better be good (Score:2)
If they let fans down with this one, it'll be the end of the brand, for sure. Sega cannot afford that. After all the recent letdowns, this looks promising seeing as (they say) they're looking to emulate the "old skool" Sonic feel. Play control is a must, and creativity as well. True to the Sonic Cycle, my hopes are up, but I'm not going to pass solid judgment until I know a lot more.
Hopefully look as good as Trine (Score:2)
Trine is a "2d" side-scroller, but makes beautiful use of pixel & vertex shaders, along with fun gameplay.
I haven't remembered a SEGA game being fun in ages (aka Dreamcast days)
Re: (Score:2)
Not really trine is 3d but in 2d/3d look like Pandemonium was. Btw. as for Sega I really liked the Nintendo DS sonics and funnily I personally loved Sonic and the Secret Rings.
Re: (Score:2)
Sonic 2d (Score:2)
There has been a load of 2d sonics, but they were only released on the handheld consoles, needless to say they were quite good.
Ah, Retrogaming... (Score:2)
Sonic Rush (Score:2)
We'll see if it is actually faithful to the original Sonic or if it ends up being more like the crap, Sonic Rush on the DS. Excluding the frustrating boss fights, the game was completely 2D. The sense of speed was present, but the stages were poorly designed with all sorts of traps, obstacles and falls to constantly trip up a player. The game was constant trial and error trying to figure how to get past sections. But even worse, pacing was awful. The game encouraged, even required high speeds but then would
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
GameCube or Dreamcast? I loved the Dreamcast version (the 1st one was bad) but the only Sonic game I player on the Cube was... weird.
I think that was a joke.
Sonic Adventure 2 was viewed as less fun than the original by many, and the GameCube's version of 2 suffered poor sales.
But I could be wrong.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
This gives me the opportunity to ask about something that I've always had trouble finding info about... cart pulls.
A cart pull is when you yank one cartridge out, put another one in, and hit reset, based on the fact that the Genesis does not wipe RAM when you hit reset, and some games did not initialize all variables properly. This aspect is well-known in that Sonic 1 lets you get the first chaos emerald, hit reset, play from the beginning of the game until getting a chaos emerald (which will be the second
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=38&title=Cart-Swapping%20Tricks:%20Cheating%20at%20Your%20Own%20Risk [sega-16.com]
i seen they do that trick with rambo III once, but never performed it myself.
Re: (Score:2)
My favorite part of Reset not clearing variables is in X-Men. The game actually required you to press RESET on the console in order to finish it. Talk about exploiting a quirk and turning it into a unique game enhancement. With console operating systems and system-land and user-land distinctions, those days are gone, man.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Sonic 3D Cheats menu: B,A, Right,Right, A, C, Up, Down Down, A (It spells Barracuda) one of the more memorable cheats :)
Re: (Score:2)
Sonic 3D Cheats menu: B,A, Right,Right, A, C, Up, Down Down, A (It spells Barracudda) one of the more memorable cheats :)
Fixed that for you :)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
curse my lakc fo Englihs Spelling
The Adventure Curse. (Score:2)
I doubt it.
One of the interesting factors I've found with Sonic is any time Sega uses the word "Adventure" in any sonic game, the quality goes towards the crapper.
For example, Sonic Rush was pretty good. although it added another friend, but Sonic Rush Adventure was a useless grindfest that made you play stages over and over and over. nowhere near the first Rush.
Also in original games, the word Adventure is almost never found. It's nowhere on Sonic 1 or 2 either on the box art of the manuals. It's on Sonic
Re: (Score:2)
Most of the 2D Xbox live/PSN HD remake games have been about $9.99-$19.99 which is fairly reasonable.
If this came out for PC I would be happy.
Re:Let me guess (Score:4, Insightful)
$60 for a good game. Who cares if it's 2D or 3D? Or if it takes 12 hours or 120 hours?
If your definition of a good game is being 3D and taking forever to complete, then I have a copy of Superman 64 I'd like to sell you.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The real issue is that there hasn't been a good SONIC game for over a decade. And by that it isn't allegiance to the character but the playstyle: large 2D maps with many many routes that are more fun to play when going fast but proportionately more perilous.
Let's face it, transitioning a classic non-RPG game to 3D requires supporting game mechanics to change dramatically. Compare games that jumped between 2D and 3D: Ninja Gaiden, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Prince of Persia. All of them keep familiar elements to
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
I could beat the original Super Mario Bros. in about 30 minutes, while others can apparently do it in about 5 minutes. I'd still buy a good remake or reworking of the game for $40-50 (ie New Super Mario Bros. on the Wii), because I still enjoyed the game after beating it several times.
That being said, I don't take much risk when it comes to games at $60. $50 is pretty much the upper limit of my willingness to assume any level of risk,and even then it's stretching things, since I can usually find games I kno
Re:About time! (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
They opened two in my area... that appears to be their plan: show the ads for years with no Sonic, open a drive in, and then wait while the drones turn up and actually disrupt highway traffic waiting on lines for this shit. There is an actual police presence at both Sonics near me, and I believe someone rammed a police officer for telling him he could not come in.
Even after they open one near you, be prepared to stay FAR away from it for awhile. Ours have been here more than 6 months and it's still a scene
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I think its an average calculation based on the beta testers.
Personally when playing a 40 hour RPG it usually becomes a 100+ game as I am one of those people that has to get 100% completion. But i know people who just rush through and beat the 40 hour game in 6-10.
But platformers, even if I'm going slow are usually no more than 6 hours. This game better be $20 or less with good replay value. I replayed Sonic 1,2,3 and S&K hundreds of times. But I know replay value is not big on programmers minds any
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Yesterday we were all freaking out over the announcement of Project Needlemouse, a codenamed game that promised to be a brand new 2D Sonic the Hedgehog due for release in 2010. Don't worry, the game itself and the trailer we posted is genuine. However, a Project Needlemouse site featuring Green Hill-esque artwork has been confirmed as false.
Re: (Score:2)