Lens of Truth

*Checks back in thread* Ah yeah, I think I know the spot. Luckily it's a fairly fun stage. I'll keep that in mind

I've had a bit of an up and down with this game. At first I loved it - the music, the graphics (wow, those colours pop), the retro nods, the relative precision of control vs previous 3D Sonics. By about world 4 though I started to feel some of the level design was weak. Frozen Factory 1 is pretty dreadful. The Mario-Galaxy-but-not elements don't provide a flattering comparison either, constantly reminding you of all you take for granted in a first party Nintendo title. The story scenes are ok and seem better if you turn the voices to Japanese, there's just too many of them. Bosses are also uniformly uninspired. The single most annoying flaw is that 100 rings no longer get you an extra life (what on earth were they thinking?) and you need them badly for the red coins! I'm getting back into it now and the levels seem to be picking up. When everything works in harmony it's a pretty fun ride. Also: Audio The section beginning at 0:53 with that downward sax crawl (which I'd have repeated for good measure) takes me right back to Sandopolis and Marble Zone. Pitch perfect Sonic music. Another two favs: Audio Audio They seem even better in tandem with the gameplay, really working their magic. Hope you enjoy it @Aneres11

Might get this after Christmas. Too skint to even consider it at the minute. So tough to resist clicking on all the spoilers!

I actually think the Vita was ahead of the curve when it launched and its time is now, or maybe in a year or so if they do promote it via cross-buy and off-tv play. Just how slow was the PSP's slow start?

I thought the freezing problem was sorted after the last update, but then it happened to me last week loading Miiverse

Skull Kid assist trophy!

A 3D-compatible Virtual MegaDrive: the Gigadrive Plan. http://www.siliconera.com/2013/12/03/emulating-megadrive-3ds-isnt-easy-enter-3d-sonic-hedgehog/#LzPyaEAowXYMBIv8.99 Fascinating read! So this truly is a 'virtual console' rather than the usual ad hoc emulation. That does bode well for future games as it seems most of the hard work is done. Might be a while before we get Nights or Daytona tho! Nintendo need to set about doing the same for the SNES

Woohoo! Bring on ALTERED BEAST!!

£17.99 is a bit steep for me. Nice that it's available though. I wonder if there'll be more. I barely even read the blurbs in galleries though - prefer to just soak it all in visually or to discuss with friends, then get all the info afterwards. Still this is great for a virtual visit. Impressed with the high res zoomable shots and 30 hours of commentary

The Wii U becoming the known as "the little console that could" amidst all the sound and fury of the new console launches is somewhat heart-warming and I think Zechs summed up the reasons why, but I can't help feeling uneasy about the blatant media group-think. Or is it just that I'm so used to it in its opposite form that when it turns positive I get creeped out? Luckily that hasn't affected our own dear forum

This is being discussed on GAF as well. I find it really astonishing. The Wii U has a good lineup now and a lot of great games on the horizon, but this smacks of the contrariness of games journalism as much as anything else. Why must everything be Night and Day? Is it down to 3D World? Price drops? Bundles (I confess I haven't been keeping up with all that)? Or a gradual accumulation and acceptance? Anyway, good to see a bit of a turnaround in the media slant. Whether it will filter through to popular opinion is another matter. A small sample - I'm sure there are others:

The PS4 fully deserves its great sales. They did everything right; the spec, the price, the message. I'm sure I'll get one as soon as there are games that interest me. Hard to believe just how much Nintendo botched the Wii U's launch! It's frankly quite worrying that they left the thing to die, practically without marketing for months, no liaising with supermarkets, not enough unique gamepad-centric experiences. Playing it so "safe" with titles like NSMBU etc and emphasising continuity with the Wii really backfired. I think Nintendo's conservatism will be their undoing. Still, I'm hopeful that sales will improve as the software lineup gets going.

The only slight concern I'd have over hefty compression is the quality of the recorded music. But there are plenty of lossless or virtually lossless compression techniques that could have the whole soundtrack down to less than 200MB. Probably be less still if it's at all like Galaxy, with the big band stuff alternating with sequenced music. Looking absolutely sumptuous!

It does beg the question of whether this sort of viewpoint will work as well without stereoscopic 3D. 3D Land benefited from that enormously - in fact it was its calling card. Just not sure multiplayer vids from gaming sites where they're dicking around are the best way to gauge it.

Yup. Can't decide which to get (can only afford one at the minute anyway). Might go with Zelda as the Wii U has maxed me out on platformers recently. The guy even says he was looking at the wrong character. The way he casually walks off the wrong side surely makes it obvious it wasn't down to depth perception? They're all over the place.

So it's used as a map display only. No inventory, weapons, progress, upgrades, character bios. To set waypoints or summon the Batwing you have to go to the pause screen. That's a pretty big step back for me.

From what I gather via Gaf the map is still there, but that's about it. I assume the inventory is still accessible.. otherwise that's really disappointing. Things like the decryption have to be done the standard way now.

The are some very positive player impressions of this going around; some even claiming it's the best in the series, which I'm trying to weigh against the middling press reviews. It also seems the Wii U version is the most polished on consoles, with no framerate trouble or screen tearing. Shame the gamepad functionality from Armoured Edition has been scaled back though.

Yeah, really wish this had a custom soundtrack option (do the other versions have it?). I'm pretty sick of that playlist. Glad you're enjoying it Zechs!

Gamepad features look fantastic.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! And I trust your judgement Everything I've seen looks spot on - gameplay, art style, powerups. Music seems pretty decent too. Looking forward to the review!

The use of different planes and 3D elements look stunning. Can't wait to see it on the 3DS.

Finally, after owning the thing for nearly a year, I can send good old fashioned stereo to my amp!

The music in that trailer was a huge improvement on the previous theme. Sounds like they've got a real jazz band playing it

I found the handling to be like treacle at first too (especially unhelpful using the motion controls) but you do get used to it. What really annoys me is during a race when "road block avoided" messages and such are flashed right in the middle of your horizon line - CRASHHH.