The Visual Style of Sonic

[SuperStingray]

Another issue with it is that it doen't do a very good job at existing in 3D. I found this out when I was making a classic styled model. It was looking pretty good from most sides, but then I turned it around and discovered that there's no way to make the gaps between the quills look cool. Apparently, the point of making them larger is to hide the roots.

That's sort of the reason Sonic was redesigned. If you recall that GameTap special, they said that they wanted Uekawa to redesign him to appear better in 3D.

[Sega DogTagz]

And are you talking about the glasses that are too small to cover his eyes!?

Functionality is irrelevant. It all about being fast and looking good while doing it.

I’ve always been fascinated by Sonic’s trademark shoes. The few times SonicTeam went out on a limb to change them up were great successes IMO with both the Soap Shoes and the Riders kicks actually rivaling the epic classic. Both alternatives need to be unlockable extras in future Sonic games.

As for the blue dude himself, He’s always struck me as an athletic phenom, so I was delighted with his 06 iteration. Knowing that I’ll never see that look again, my next choice wouldn’t be too far off from the Unleashed model, perhaps with a bit longer legs. I’d love to see a fusion of the Riders and Unleashed hedgehogs; that would be sweet.

The Cobalt Sonic was sporting in Unleashed also suited him well. Either that or the Hedgehog engine just makes every color look good.

[ovarloard]

As for the blue dude himself, He’s always struck me as an athletic phenom, so I was delighted with his 06 iteration. Knowing that I’ll never see that look again, my next choice wouldn’t be too far off from the Unleashed model, perhaps with a bit longer legs. I’d love to see a fusion of the Riders and Unleashed hedgehogs; that would be sweet.

Sweet would be an understatement. IMO, the result would be Sonic with the hip looks that have eluded him for a while. I know Sonic was intended to be "hip" instead of, well, whatever it is that Mario was, but he never looked hip to me. His attitude, sure, but never his looks. This combination of designs might just do it.

The Cobalt Sonic was sporting in Unleashed also suited him well. Either that or the Hedgehog engine just makes every color look good.

The latter. Definitely the latter. XP

[Hero of Legend]

I today remember one other game that I thought is what the style Sonic's Genesis games had, but in 3D:

Banana Blitz.

Seriously, it's a very cute Japanese look, and the game has loads of checkered markings that should remind anyone of Green Hill. It has what IGN called "pseudo cel-shading", looks like it works brilliantly for Sonic!

What could work VERY well is this (pretty much a small game idea here):

Have Sonic run along a semi-narrow pathway, like the Monkies in Banana Blitz, but the camera will fix onto the direction he's going; forward or if he goes back, it'll focus behind him with ease. And there'll be junctions that could lead to shortcuts and such.

Rings will be lined-up in single file, no more two rows of rings.

You'll see point markers, maybe even colored like in the Genesis-era, but will look like the Adventure ones since it's in 3D.

Bosses will be like in BB as well.

No Homing Attack or Light Dash, classic, simple gameplay is the key.

Classic Badniks, end stage Capsules, etc.

Choose from all three basic controls, Wiimote + Nunchuk, Classic, and GameCube controllers supported.

Adventure 2-style character movement, with even recycled animations, polished up for the Wii.

The obsticles will be similar to Banana Blitz.

Special Stages can return, as a modern version of 3D Blast Saturn's, those Special Stages were the best ones weren't they? I never played it.

Only Sonic and Tails are playable, or just Sonic with Tails tagging along. Up againt Dr. Ivo Robotnik!

How's that so far?

Edit: Also:

Can't forget the Chao Garden, enhanced from Adventure 2, complete with Wi-Fi trading and DS connectivity support! It may not be "classic", but it's damn fun and adds tremendous gameplay value. Only Sonic will be playable, but maybe Tails and Robotnik too.

Also the game's stages will all be able to be registered in online leaderboards.

No multiplayer or mini-game modes. Focus on making the 1P mode as good as possible! MAYBE have Adventure 1-esc co-op support for Tails. If people had fun with that!

That could make for one HELL of an awesome 3D Sonic game!

Edited May 20, 2009 by Hero of Legend

[redmenace]

I don't know if anyone said this before, but I quite like the Unleashed model.

[The-Master-Board]

What visual style eh?

For me Sonic was always about surrealism, trippy awesome visuals, so for me its the classic style, or to be more "modern", the heroes style...thats basicaly embodies the classic style of Sonic in the new era, so I am all for it and against super realism.

[SuperLink]

Sonic Unleashed. No two ways about it. The world is beautiful and vivid, and if we ever saw more "Sonic-like" worlds again, I think Unleashed's visual style would be equally perfect, and really bring it to life. Sonic's mouth is also well done, unlike in every other 3D Sonic (which the mouths usually look awful in)

Unleashed was an excellent balance between realistic and cartoony, at least for the characters themselves. The humans looked a little too cartoony at times.

[The-Master-Board]

Unleashed was an excellent balance between realistic and cartoony, at least for the characters themselves. The humans looked a little too cartoony at times.

I found the humans to be too cartoony, but the levels themselves to be too realistic. Didn't really like anything about unleashed's style, I did like Sonic's unleashed model though.

[SuperLink]

The thing is, the humans and Sonic didn't look strangely out of place at all. I think it's because the world was so colourful, it's not like a cheerful cartoon character in a dark gloomy world, it was a cheerful cartoon character in a bright vivid world, and that worked great for me.

[Phos]

Unleashed was an excellent balance between realistic and cartoony, at least for the characters themselves. The humans looked a little too cartoony at times.

I don't think it was a case of "too cartoony", I think it was a case of making no attempt to follow Sonic's visual style. This isn't me calling out for more surrealism or something, it's a case of them not depicting details in the same way between the furries and the humans. They're methods are also different again from both Robotnik's classic appearance and his new one. They just copied Pixar's style, it's as simple as that.

And Unleashed's world was too realistic for my tastes. Needs a nudge or two towards surrealism, particularly the flora.

[Gamenerd]

I was just pointing out an interesting facet of the classic design. It only comes into play if his body is level with the direction he's moving in, which is hasn't been since they dropped the wheel o feet, or during the Super Peel Out.

Another issue with it is that it doen't do a very good job at existing in 3D. I found this out when I was making a classic styled model. It was looking pretty good from most sides, but then I turned it around and discovered that there's no way to make the gaps between the quills look cool. Apparently, the point of making them larger is to hide the roots.

Also, rigging his hips would be far from easy. I still think the tan ares should be part of a sphere, though.

Can't make the short spikes look good in 3D? I dunno, I thought Sonic Jam/Sonic R did a pretty good job of that. Sonic had spikes that were short, proportionate to his body (they don't look like they're heavy enough to weigh him down), and more importantly, the spikes look sharp and static - how good of a weapon can curling up into a ball be if the spikes you use as a weapon are blunt-ended and floppy like sacks of flour?

Plus the Sonic R/Sonic Jam character models looked nice and chibi. You know, small and cuddly yet able to symbolise attitude without voice actors (although I do like voice acting).

[redmenace]

Sonic was seen from behind, loads of times in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, while he was standing in those spinning platforms in Hidrocity and Hidden Palace. He doesn't look half bad, and I agree that Sonic Jam also looked cool but yeah, bring more polished games to the equation and he doesn't look that good. I liked his SA model though (SA2 not really, but it's fine), and I love his SU model as well. Sonic 06 model I never want tosee again.

Edited May 21, 2009 by redmenace

[SuperLink]

Can't disagree with surrealism. As beautiful as Unleashed was, crazy fantasy games are easily the best looking ones. Eggmanland? That was the most Sonic-y location in the game, except maybe Holoska, which just perfectly echoed the old Ice Cap Zones IMO.

Oh, and that reminds me of tha "Sonic styled Elise" that people kept posting a little while back. A little tweaking and they could be onto something with Sonic styled humans. Besides, humans are animals too! If anything, humans should live amongst the "furries" of Sonic's world, obviously a bit taller. Look at Vanilla and Vector. Despite Rouge being basically an adult, they're twice her size!

[RainbowLizard]

I reckon that Sonic should get a next gen, possibly hedgehog engine update version of his Sonic riders model, get rid of the glasses and un-necessary features, and then the backgrounds should range from a very techno-style futuristic city (such as the first stage of Riders 1) to bright forest/hill/grassland areas while keeping away from looking like Sonic Heroes' first stage (too cartoony and chequered hills) but still being very bright with a good contrast between the green of the grass and the blue of the sky, and there should definitely be sea as well for the purpose of adding more bright colours.

Key thing: Avoid grey or brown drab areas such as Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06. Stick to brightness.

Sonic has always had great colours, as you can see in 'OMGTHECLASSICS' as I like to call them to take the piss out of ignorant fanboys, in other words; the mega drive game. It is very important that there be very bright colours in Sonic games, at least, until the last stages when everything always seems to have a darker tone.

[SuperStingray]

And Unleashed's world was too realistic for my tastes. Needs a nudge or two towards surrealism, particularly the flora.

Hardly seemed realistic to me. I mean, it had extremely vibrant colors and almost everything had round edges.

[Gabz Girl]

Hardly seemed realistic to me. I mean, it had extremely vibrant colors and almost everything had round edges.

Sonic 06 was far, FAR more realistic than Sonic Unleashed. I loved Unleashed stages. They were like a mixture between the realistic and the imaginative.

[Ryan Brown]

I'd like a balance as well. Uber-realism is nice one in a while, but not all the time, especially if there's no imagination. On the other hand, I'd rather not have a world that's so nuts and out there I get a headache.

Edited May 21, 2009 by Ryan Brown

[Phos]

Hardly seemed realistic to me. I mean, it had extremely vibrant colors and almost everything had round edges.

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/de...ite_houses.html

They barely had to alter Mykonos at all. If you ignore floating stuff, Spagonia is "realistic with some random crap thrown in", making Sonic look a bit out of place. The only thing really strange about Mazuri are are the Baobab trees, they only have leaves for a few days out of the year. Most of Adabat is pretty normal. Empire City just sucks visually. Cool Edge is just a bunch of ice flows. Ice will often from in strange ways on their own. You're underestimating the real world.

[The-Master-Board]

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/de...ite_houses.html

They barely had to alter Mykonos at all. If you ignore floating stuff, Spagonia is "realistic with some random crap thrown in", making Sonic look a bit out of place. The only thing really strange about Mazuri are are the Baobab trees, they only have leaves for a few days out of the year. Most of Adabat is pretty normal. Empire City just sucks visually. Cool Edge is just a bunch of ice flows. Ice will often from in strange ways on their own. You're underestimating the real world.

100% agree with this.

Sonic Unleashed was only a splash (and a mild one at that) of surrealism, what there was you had to squint to see through the mass doses of realism. Apotos while maybe looking a little odd, really isn't all that different from actual Greek coastal towns, Adabat whilst nice visually, was really just south east asia with barely any difference, Empire City was by far the most boring level, and felt to me like GTA or something, and Cool Edge was just iceburgs...odd formed iceburgs but nothing different from what nature does to those in our own world, not surreal at all.

Mazuri and Spagonia I will admit I felt had somewhat of a flair, but still think more surreal Sonic Team!

I always figured (post classics) that those human cities that were popping up were cities between all the surreal land of Sonic's world, so I didn't mind them being more realistic....but when you show the whole of Sonic's world to highly resemble ours, well then the style (and subsequently everything I loved about Sonic) just fails for me.

Also, I don't get how people think Sth'06 was more realistic than Sonic Unleashed!?!?

Sonic Unleashed was praticaly a mirror image of our world, where Sth'06 felt like it could be part of Sonic's established world. Kingdom Valley anyone? Big castle palaces jutting out of a deep canyon with huuuuge waterfalls on either side? Thats way more surreal than cheap-knock-off-of insert continent here.

Even Soleanna (which was obviously based on Venice) didn't go so far as to make everyone there highly resemble Italians, or Italian culture/flags/food.

At least with Sonic '06 I could beleive that this place could exist inside Sonic's own independant world. Sonic Unleashed made me feel like they were forcing Sonic into our world and down our throats to like it that way, so I don't consider this a Sonic game at all, and really hate realism in Sonic games style.

Edited May 22, 2009 by The-Master-Board

[midori]

That's interesting... So the real Mykonos really has houses that look like made out of paper? What's up with education? It's no wonder people aren't interested enough in other countries when geography lessons concern the most boring theory rather than such little aesthetic wonders.

Isn't it awfully ironic, the more surreal-looking areas on second thought are more realistic than ones that are made to resemble real world Now immagine what one could create with knowledge of interesting places and a bit of creativity. *¬* Mix Soleanna with nice photos of Venice and here comes wonderland. /w\

[Sean]

Just as long as it's not dark and "real is brown" gritty, I wouldn't have a problem with whatever Sonic Team puts forth.

Unleashed levels are too realistic? Shit, I was more focused on "WHOAAAAAA COLORS ABOUND" than anything. I was too busy admiring how beautiful the levels were and how colorful they were, and how well they were designed.

Edited May 22, 2009 by Jake

[Ryan Brown]

Just as long as it's not dark and "real is brown" gritty, I wouldn't have a problem with whatever Sonic Team puts forth.

Unleashed levels are too realistic? Shit, I was more focused on "WHOAAAAAA COLORS ABOUND" than anything. I was too busy admiring how beautiful the levels were and how colorful they were, and how well they were designed.

Ditto. As long as it looks wonderful, there's no need to compare or nitpick. Damn...

[Viku]

I don't think in "realism bad in sonic games" when talking about the real cities the stages of unleashed were based in. That was actually the POINT of Unleashed, aslo known as Sonic WORLD ADVENTURE.

The thing some fans hate about realism in sonic game is not the fact cities or places resembles things from real life. What bother them is the STYLE of them, in Sonic 06 you can say that besides Soleanna, none of the stages where based on real cities of pleaces, but the dark and bownish style was the realisim most of people hated.

Unleashed, in the other hand, present a civilization that mimics some of the real world's , but the colorful enviroments and the not-too-realt-style of the streets, the loops, and everything else made the stages blend with Sonic's World.

I really love how Sonic's World in shown in Unleashed beyond just how beutiful the places look. In Sonic Adventure game, the only culture we were shown (or at least focused on) was the classic USA-like culture that we can also see in Empire City (Yes I know some middle east people are shown at some point in SA2 but we must agree most of the humans were focused in the north american city. The game even focuses at the president as the president of all nations for crying out loud!). Unleashed, in the other hand, shows us more than just USA, but Chinese, European, African, South American (or tropical), Arabian and Eskimal-like cultures giving such personality to the whole world. The World-theme of the game really gave the chance to focus in more than one place when talking about the setting.

Also, I would even don't mind if we see a Unleashed-styled Soleanna...after all, the whole city was based on Venice just like all the other Unleashed places were based on pother places. Still, I would NOT like to see a Unleashed-styled Elise...I dunno why, maybe the drastic change between over-realism and cartoonism would kind of a shocker to me (like the GUN Commander in Sonic Chronicles...still, they did a good job in that one)

[SuperStingray]

(like the GUN Commander in Sonic Chronicles...still, they did a good job in that one)

That guy felt cartoony from the start. Not in design, but he felt like a spoof of the overly eccentric general or drill sergeant. I mean, this is supposed to have a parody of him, yet he feels so much like he's portrayed in the game it's mind blowing. Edited May 22, 2009 by A Ham Sandwich

[edge.]

I would have to say that the desaturated color on the last two main Sonic games were the best 3D renders they made to date. They should stick with that visual style IMO. I also love the color they used for the blue on his fur or skin (your call) on the Sonic Channel profiles.