Realism in Sonic Games

[Kuzu]

How is this realistic?

http://youtu.be/6_anGgrpOkI?t=4m52s

:V

Edited October 17, 2011 by Shadic93

[Marcello]

Because they have the same exact proportions as actual humans with the exception of those Muslims.

[Kuzu]

They're still clearly cartoony.

[Blue Blood]

How is this realistic?

http://youtu.be/6_anGgrpOkI?t=4m52s

:V

Edited October 17, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Marcello]

I think the president has a cartoony face and his head shape is a bit too. It's just that these ones didn't take it as far as Unleashed, which is why I like them more.

[Blue Blood]

I think the president has a cartoony face and his head shape is a bit too. It's just that these ones didn't take it as far as Unleashed, which is why I like them more.

[Kuzu]

I think the president has a cartoony face and his head shape is a bit too. It's just that these ones didn't take it as far as Unleashed, which is why I like them more.

[Marcello]

I wouldn't say it's due to technology. A number of games on DC had more realistic looking humans, for example Shenmue, while not totally realistic, even came out 2 years earlier.

[Kuzu]

I wouldn't say it's due to technology. A number of games on DC had more realistic looking humans, for example Shenmue, while not totally realistic, even came out 2 years earlier.

[Marcello]

No, they don't.

[Kuzu]

No, they don't.

[Marcello]

Again: They don't. The body and face proportions are different. The faces themselves have more cartoony features in SA2. It's clear that the humans in SA2 were supposed to be more cartoony than Shenmue's.

[Scar]

This is a really subjetive issue.

I love Unleashed's art style through and through. The humans are full of life and are unique. Fantastic stuff.

However, not everyone agrees and as such Sonic Team will never win with regards to this issue.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The funny thing about that is that when Sonic team tries to mix things up, people on either side will complain that they're not getting more of want they want. To put it bluntly, when they try to go 50-50, someone will complain they're not getting 60-40 or at the extreme end 100-0, disregarding that there are other fans besides them.

Then again, I'm just stating the obvious.

[Blue Blood]

So how bout the realism of the actual world then, folks?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

So how bout the realism of the actual world then, folks?

The real world can be awesome. Heck you can take the things you can do in real life, mash it with something that isn't physically possible, put it in Sonic and bam! Instant awesome!

[Soniman]

Real world is fine at times, but I mostly see Sonic as escapism form the real world. Traveling through crazy worlds that most likely would never exist in the real world. It give the world around Sonic much more personality and charm

[batson]

The real world can be awesome. Heck you can take the things you can do in real life, mash it with something that isn't physically possible, put it in Sonic and bam! Instant awesome!

I do very much enjoy video games where you get to control a character that can do far-out, physically impossible things in a setting that is very close to our own universe, but i dont feel that the Sonic series in particular should be that kind of series. Sonic is such an extremely fantastical character that i feel he can only truly fit in a similarly fantastical world.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I do very much enjoy video games where you get to control a character that can do far-out, physically impossible things in a setting that is very close to our own universe, but i dont feel that the Sonic series in particular should be that kind of series. Sonic is such an extremely fantastical character that i feel he can only truly fit in a similarly fantastical world.

Why one and not both? Sonic is far to diverse to be limited to either/or here, and has done equally good and bad in realism and fantasy to the point that he's already found his boundaries on both ends of the spectrum.

No one bats much of an eye when Sonic is in a city in SA1 or surfing the asphalt in San Francisco or military base, but when he goes to China or New York all of a sudden he doesn't fit? Or he speeds through checkered landscapes and city-large casinos, but the moment he starts racing on top hamburgers and alien worlds and suddenly he becomes too kiddy for the other audience? I'm not going to buy that one bit.

[Blue Blood]

Why one and not both? Sonic is far to diverse to be limited to either/or here, and has done equally good and bad in realism and fantasy to the point that he's already found his boundaries on both ends of the spectrum.

No one bats much of an eye when Sonic is in a city in SA1 or surfing the asphalt in San Francisco or military base, but when he goes to China or New York all of a sudden he doesn't fit? Or he speeds through checkered landscapes and city-large casinos, but the moment he starts racing on top hamburgers and alien worlds and suddenly he becomes too kiddy for the other audience? I'm not going to buy that one bit.

Sweet Mountain is the most extreme example a fantasy in any Sonic game, closely followed by Toy Kingdom and Music Plant. It's arguably too much for a series where everything else is at least slightly rooted in reality.

[Phos]

So how bout the realism of the actual world then, folks?

I made a post about that in this thread, the gist of it is that I'm not a fan of the art style in Unleashed because it doesn't actually have anything to call its own.

Sonic Colors... I dunno. I think Sonic Colors fell into the trap of the for ground and background having so little to do with each other that I can't bring myself to care. I guess I'd describe it as regular.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles did some environmental stuff I don't think I've seen anywhere else. Launch Base Zone had that effect where going under water allowed you to see the surface from below. I still don't think I've seen another game that did that and have it actually look good. Angel Island Zone had those, for lack of a better word, fractal trees that had those tiny waterfalls running down them. I just haven't seen this kind of imagination out of the environments since.

[Indigo Rush]

Re: realistic humans vs. cartoony humans

I present...

The Eggman test!

Will he make sense next to a realistic human, or next to a cartoony human?

Notice as you look below the row that Eggman is in, they look a little less fitting, while the characters next to him look more like they come from the same stylized universe!

That's the kind of standard I like to set when it comes to the aesthetic design of humans in the Sonic series. If it doesn't mesh, then forget it.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Kuzu]

Re: realistic humans vs. cartoony humans

I present...

The Eggman test!

Will he make sense next to a realistic human, or next to a cartoony human?

That's the kind of standard I like to set when it comes to the aesthetic design of humans in the Sonic series. If it doesn't mesh, then forget it.

...I just noticed how different his Unleashed render is from the ones used in Colors and Generations.

[lounge]

I always thought that made Eggman look more unique. How he looks different from the other humans. Even though Sonic X isn't canon, the first ep. showed that Eggman and sonic were from a different world and were transported here along with other landmarks with chaos control. I think that was Sonic Teams way of explaining why Adventure had a more realistic world.

[Marcello]

Re: realistic humans vs. cartoony humans

I present...

The Eggman test!

Will he make sense next to a realistic human, or next to a cartoony human?

Notice as you look below the row that Eggman is in, they look a little less fitting, while the characters next to him look more like they come from the same stylized universe!

That's the kind of standard I like to set when it comes to the aesthetic design of humans in the Sonic series. If it doesn't mesh, then forget it.

While I do think Eggman looks odd next to the '06 (Or, well, would with his normal design)humans, I think he looks OK next to the Commander(Who I just noticed has quite a big torso and small legs xD). I like him looking a bit wackier than the normal people.

Edited October 18, 2011 by MarcelloF