SimonM7

Yeah, "End of the world" is so fucking lame, especially the Knuckles and Rouge parts. Argggrhrh! Anyway, since you've done the Soleanna's Hero achievement, Jordan, do you remember the Three Musketeers mission? What the hell am I supposed to do as Sonic? I see some rings and Tails, and then I'm totally lost.

@ ThatGuy Well, it looked jerky, spazzy and weird when I last saw it, but it's been pushed back pretty far from being the launch title it was originally targeted as, so at this point it's really anyone's guess. Considering how simple it supposedly is, they should have plenty of time to get the core gameplay right though. Fingers crossed!

I've said repeatedly that at its core it's the best playing 3D Sonic and I stick by that statement. The demo is, even, just play it until you get to proper grips with it and you'll see what I mean. It's just that the game has all these issues on top that make it soooo difficult to appreciate what works about it sometimes. Especially the load times means that if.. for instance like I am right now.. you're trying to get S rank and you die - hence making an S rank nigh on impossible - and you wanna restart the stage alltogether (not just quick restart which sacrifices a life) it takes such a discouraging amount of time to load the stage again. The fact that the stages themselves don't have "acts" per se, but rather have joints with load times means that a stage takes ages to get through. That means that if you screw up on the very last bit, you'll be spending an age replaying the level to that point again. The problems with this game is in 9/10 cases not really the gameplay. I think everyone here can testify to that, but core gameplay only gets you so far when the flaws keep slapping your face everywhere else.

I wonder if there's a trick to managing the last bit of Sonic's Crisis City without getting a car thrown in your head or if it's really just totally random. I do a perfect run on the actual stage, then I'm demoted to A or B rank because I catch too many cars with my face.

Well, I'm not one to call you a mentalist, that's your wording. I see how you can prefer 2, since for all intents and purposes it plays better. For me, the adventure fields were a nice change of pace, and they were incredibly brief, never really obstructing progress at all.. The same can be said for the alternate stories with the supporting cast since they were sort of optional. SA2 forces the other, rather severely lacking gameplay mechanics on you, which I thought tainted the experience a lot. Also, every stage in SA1 had such distinct personality, whereas 2 really only has two that you remember proper.

Yeah, what's not to like about a broken up game where you barely get to spend time with the stuff that works, and emphasis is put almost exclusively on huge, exciting hunts for emeralds in giant, samey looking caves and other places, aswell as awkward mech combat?

I think SA1 is vastly superior to SA2 too, I guess it's all down to how much shit mech and treasure hunts spoil the fun for you. Oh yeah and the missing adventure fields. This game does have drop ins from other cast members but nothing even remotely as head splittingly annoying as treasure hunting in samey looking space with Rouge. It also has FAR more Shadow and Sonic levels than anything else, and Silver is genuinely fun to play. So there. SA2 still has charm on its side compared to this one though, even if - in my opinion - significantly less than SA1. As for S-rank, I asked about it earlier because I can't figure it out either. I think points play a huge part, so you want to take out "the leader" in packs and stuff like that for "RADICAL!" up in the right corner. How many rings you have when its over also seems significant, because I beat Cerberus REALLY fast (using the blue shoes and everything to not give him a fighting chance) but I still ended up with B. I think I grabbed too few rings.

Do you people pay attention at all to the messages that display when you run through the question mark thingymabobs? "When all of these orb thingies are alit - the door will open!" or some such it exclaims. Just clobber those orb thingies in succession and ye shall be free!

It's definitely a problem, and one I can't really imagine having because I didn't grow up with that at all. It's not that I'm too young, clocking in at 23, but I was residing in the nintendo camp back then. It's unfair and wrong that I've gotten sort of fed up with these 30 year olds who crave one dimensional characters with simple good/evil plots back, because all they're doing is the same as I'm doing right now - wishing to keep the universe that's established itself in my heart. Even though I fully realise this, that doesn't change the fact that me and probably a lot of other, erhm, kids, have seen the Sonic X stuff, played the Sonic Adventures and sort of take it for granted, all the now-established lore and stories behind Knuckles, the origins of Sonic and Shadow, and the logic behind the chaos emeralds/chaos control. Therefore they can't really withdraw from all that without REALLY cutting into its current fans, subsequently it will keep all the popular characters like Shadow for traditionalist fans to keep spewing hate over in reviews. But I do understand. I really do. I read Spiderman for six years and now Eddie Brock is his childhood friend and Rhino is a robot, or something. There's just no taking to it.

Well, I don't mind the new characters and in fact I embrace them. Much more so than the squeakyness of Amy and the worthlessness of every gameplay device they can come up with starring Tails. Flying around bombing things with rings isn't exactly the pinnacle of meaningful activities. I also like the feeble attempts at a story. I dunno if something is wrong with me, but I am genuinely enthusiastic about seeing these characters interact with eachother and the vague intrigue that ensues. I like that Shadow has a "dark past" and gets to speak in a moody voice and I like that Silver comes from the future trying to stop Sonic from ending the world. I like the design of most of these characters, and I appreciate what little depth Sega decide to give them. I'll just never join in with the marching SONIC BY HIMSELF RUNNING LIKE A NUT IS ALL WE NEED band, but I'll admit that up until now the extra characters have all been unbearably dull to have forced on you. Sonic The Hedgehog redeems this to an extent by getting rid of a lot of the less developed ones, using some sparingly and really making some of them - notably Blaze - worthwhile. I just can't agree with the notion that getting rid of them all, thus killing the *universe* they have going right now, is what's best for the series. They do however need to think further about how to incorporate them into gameplay that'll allow for the kind of pace change they're theoretically perfect for. Shadow using vehicles isn't a moronic idea on its own, but having you do stuff - whatever it may be - that's not fun, IS. If made really fun and cool I don't think anyone would mind hopping on a motorcycle to chase Eggman down on Radical Train. As it is, it's a crazy twitch fest and that's why it's bad. Oh and for what it's worth, the voice work is considerably better in this game than it has been in all the voiced Sonic games in the past.

Sounds like my 6.7 was pretty much right on the money then. Nice to hear. It's ironic though because I could almost buy 2/10 off EG if the reasons weren't cut/pasted from the Book Of The Never Ending 3D Sonic Criticisms, because they are quite frankly overstated by now. I even played some Sonic Adventure DX earlier today, and even that game is still fine as long as you "get" them. A lot of games require you to "get" them but somehow 3D Sonics don't get that kind of attention. Instead of that they could've quoted the load times and the scarceness of the adventure field world as inexcusable flaws - I would have to agree - and concur that they shouldn't exist in a game this day and age. It's evident however that they raise the same old points again and slap a score of I Don't Give A Fuck/10 on it. Ho well.

Playing the acts trying to get S, it strikes me once again how fucking awe-mazing the soundtrack is. Simply superb! Flame Core has a bit where you start hopping on floating bits of rock in the lava, and the music and everything comes together so beautifully. White Acropolis (the non-snowboard bit) also has some moments of greatness where the game gets to be WHAT IT IS and the music complements it perfectly. Has someone figured out just what you get an S rank for? I've gotten plenty and been baffled by the fact, while I just beat the Cerberus at insane-demonic speed and got a B for it.

Hold the A button for a while, then just release semi-near the very end.

I dunno, I mean there's different types of "other shit". I loved Sonic Adventure 1's adventure fields because they were really well done and gave the world a light sense of cohesion, aswell as broke the game up a bit with a good change of pace. It padded the experience and made it more epic, aswell as provided some really cool distractions like the NiGHTS pinball table and the Chao Garden/contests. I think we can all happily agree that the whole Chao thing was more ham-fistedly handled in 2, and it really turned you off the concept pretty much alltogether. The adventure fields in Sonic The Hedgehog are just.. really big and empty. There's none of the cute interaction and none of it is particularly memorable at all, apart from maybe....... hmm.. I forgot. Keeping just the action stages would just shorten the experience and *dumb it down* in a sense. It'd be like removing the city bits from an RPG if you will, and just have you constantly fighting monsters. You can argue that Sonic isn't an RPG and you'd be right, but Sonic also has - to your excitement or dismay - some character and story stuff going on these days that some actually find engaging. I don't think the adventure fields does STH any good, but not because they're by definition a bad idea, but rather because they're simply poorly executed. Possibly to a point where they're the primary reason the game never really takes off in fact. For STH2 I'd love it if they kept side missions but they made the city area different from the "battle" areas you end up in when you accept a mission to destroy X amounts of enemies. The city bits need to feel homely and likeable and they should have more casually appealing activities to participate in. Sega have a huge library of titles that are worthy cameo material. Give us a dance club with some basic Space Channel 5 stuff going on, or maybe a beach/kite/hangglider NiGHTS-style mini game. Just.. Don't give us a big, empty nothing next time.

Always talk to people with red icons above their heads, and if that fails, find some blue ones that don't give you the option to say yes or no. That usually puts you on the right track.

IT'S NO USE! apparently.

Apart from the score being perhaps a little high, I won't argue with that review at all. That's exactly how I feel - for every fault there's something about it that makes you wanna forgive it. And likewise, for every burst of joy, there's a reminder that it's got a long way to go to be great. I miss the goofier Eggman though, and it's prolly a bad idea to make the humans so human, because it makes Sonic look like a midget in a costume. Oh well, maybe next time. Actually, in regards to Gamespot, I find that the reliability obviously differs from reviewer to reviewer, but by and large they're usually pretty accurate. There are two things to consider here though. 3D Sonic games - evident by some comments in this thread even - have fallen so greatly in stock with people, you see those without even having played any of them complain about camera and controls and how we'd be better off with a new 2D game. It's just fallen off the radar, and it's been out since the 16th and nobody's even reviewing it. They just don't care, because so few people do. So when you read a review of it it's like reading a review of a dumb action movie - Blade or whatever - by some revered movie critic. You just know he won't score it highly, but that's beside the point because it's so much about what you want from it. These games have long ways to go before they're likely to win any awards for game design, so what we can ask for is that they're fun and give us that nice Sonic vibe of coolness. Some bits of Sonic The Hedgehog do, and when it works it's fun. That's not gonna cut it for one Jeff "I just reviewed Gears of War" Gerstmann, but it might be just enough for normal, human punters with a keen eye for Sonic games.

Well, getting almost entirely into nerd territory, while the games themselves might not tap the potential of the character, the story in this one reflects the sensibilities in the Sonic X anime (blasphemily dubbed in the west) of running as a concept of freedom more than any of the past Sonic games. In fact, the relationship between Sonic and Elise here is pretty similar to the one with Chris in the series, although her femaleness puts sexual associations further within reach, unfortunately. Strip away all the filler episodes and there's quite a touching connection made in the series that doesn't fully - but partially - translate to the story here. Of course that's all part of my sometimes disturbing obsession with Sonic, and something I don't really use when I judge the games at all. It is sort of why I bother with them sometimes though. Let's not forget that I gave it 6.7, which is hardly unreasonable, and has gotten the PERFECT 10!1! people to smear my name with 3/7 recommendations for the review.

Well, if you could stomach either of Heroes or Shadow you're prolly fine. Though I suppose Heroes did have vastly more likeable presentation. :/

ftp://evozero.w00ty.com/SONIC%20the%20Hedgehog%20-%20Music/ Scroll down a bit and you'll find the complete (and pretty awesome if I may say) soundtrack to the game. Enjoy!

Yes, a lot of 360 games are region free because the publishers decide so. I think both Sega's and Ubi's games are, fairly consistently.

I thought Riders was pretty good actually, apart from its insane learning curve. Didn't think Heroes was too hot though.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/sonicthehedgehog/player_review.html?id=386507 It's up. Writing reviews reminds me why I never really do: I suck at it. Anyway, I think I managed to include most of my concerns and likings.

That's the spirit! And yeah, there's a lot to get here.. with like.. three difficulty settings for levels and stuff. I've only gotten the Silver and Sonic "cleared" awards so far, and there are some for "completed" and "mastered". Miles to run before I sleep! And also, Gears is pulling my sleeve some.. only on act 2 in that so far.

Yeah, they definitely need to fix it, and even when I say this game plays well, I say that mostly in relation to the 3D Sonics in the past. The concept here of bouncing around on enemies and sort of.. doing everything in a succession and pulling everything off is so fun, but it's executed with certain.. wobblyness still. This game helps matters by not having as linear and dangerous levels though. You mostly have a lot of footing to stand on at all times, and it's way more focused on combat.