Popular and unpopular Sonic opinions you agree and disagree with!

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

On the unpopular side of things, I honestly actually kinda like Sonic Blast for the Game Gear, mostly due to nostalgia. On the popular side, I have to agree that it really isn't a good game - quite possibly the worst 2D Sonic platformer ever, though admittedly I haven't played all of them. The way the characters control is very lackluster and the huge sprites are pretty annoying. There are also a few annoying hiccups in the level design, if I recall correctly. On the plus side, I think the bosses were generally pretty good, I like the graphics, it copied the special-stage-accessing method from Sonic 3 & Knuckles instead of doing something more annoying like other GG games, and it's the only 8-bit game in which Knuckles is actually red instead of pink

[E-122-Psi]

16 hours ago, Monkey Destruction Switch said:

On the unpopular side of things, I honestly actually kinda like Sonic Blast for the Game Gear, mostly due to nostalgia. On the popular side, I have to agree that it really isn't a good game - quite possibly the worst 2D Sonic platformer ever, though admittedly I haven't played all of them. The way the characters control is very lackluster and the huge sprites are pretty annoying. There are also a few annoying hiccups in the level design, if I recall correctly. On the plus side, I think the bosses were generally pretty good, I like the graphics, it copied the special-stage-accessing method from Sonic 3 & Knuckles instead of doing something more annoying like other GG games, and it's the only 8-bit game in which Knuckles is actually red instead of pink

I mostly agree. It wasn't a good platformer, but it was playable. It had some appeal from being an 8 bit title with Knuckles' gameplay fully implemented. It's just a shame the level layout was usually bland and the obstacle sprites were ridiculously small compared to the players themselves.

[Enesephus]

Unpopular opinion incoming: I like Elise from Sonic '06. I think the concept for her character is pretty interesting, she's got a nice voice that fits her character, and, while I've seen so many people say she has a creepy design straight out of the uncanny valley (which is a problem I'd hardly say was exclusive to her in that game), I think she looks great in the special pre-rendered CGI cutscenes, and I don't think it would take much tweaking to make her design look better in-game, too. Like everyone else in the game, I feel she was just mishandled. However, unlike Silver, who also had the misfortune of having his very first appearance be in that game, Elise never got a second chance to make a better impression.

Now, I don't remember if I've ever posted this opinion on this thread before, and, in any case, it's one thing to say you actually like Elise. So, I'm gonna take this a step further: I never got what the big freakin' deal was that she had a crush on Sonic. People seem unable to get over the fact that she fell in love with a hedgehog (an animal, OMG!), despite the fact that, not only is Sonic clearly not that kind of animal, any more than we're like other great apes (and most people in this fandom don't seem to have a problem with interspecies romances otherwise), but anthropomorphic animals are apparently common enough in Sonic's world that no humans are surprised to see a big, blue, talking hedgehog walking (er, running) around (at the speed of sound). 

Not to mention, people seem to be unable to wrap their minds around the idea that she probably wasn't sexually attracted to him, if all the bestiality comments are any indication. It is possible to be attracted to someone for other reasons, and Sonic does have an attractive personality: he's kind, confident, heroic, and never gives up. Add that to the fact that he was Elise's first real friend, and it's easy to see why she'd develop a crush on him. As for that kiss at the end, with the way everyone was going on about it, I half expected to see Elise tongue-kissing Sonic's corpse when I finally got to play the game myself. Instead, their lips barely connect before a light shines for a second and Sonic's revived as Super Sonic, so I can't get worked up about that, either.

So, yeah, just my two cents on Elise and why I feel she's a way overhated character.

[Dee Dude]

1 hour ago, Hyper Enesephus said:

Unpopular opinion incoming: I like Elise from Sonic '06. I think the concept for her character is pretty interesting, she's got a nice voice that fits her character, and, while I've seen so many people say she has a creepy design straight out of the uncanny valley (which is a problem I'd hardly say was exclusive to her in that game), I think she looks great in the special pre-rendered CGI cutscenes, and I don't think it would take much tweaking to make her design look better in-game, too. Like everyone else in the game, I feel she was just mishandled. However, unlike Silver, who also had the misfortune of having his very first appearance be in that game, Elise never got a second chance to make a better impression.

Now, I don't remember if I've ever posted this opinion on this thread before, and, in any case, it's one thing to say you actually like Elise. So, I'm gonna take this a step further: I never got what the big freakin' deal was that she had a crush on Sonic. People seem unable to get over the fact that she fell in love with a hedgehog (an animal, OMG!), despite the fact that, not only is Sonic clearly not that kind of animal, any more than we're like other great apes (and most people in this fandom don't seem to have a problem with interspecies romances otherwise), but anthropomorphic animals are apparently common enough in Sonic's world that no humans are surprised to see a big, blue, talking hedgehog walking (er, running) around (at the speed of sound). 

Not to mention, people seem to be unable to wrap their minds around the idea that she probably wasn't sexually attracted to him, if all the bestiality comments are any indication. It is possible to be attracted to someone for other reasons, and Sonic does have an attractive personality: he's kind, confident, heroic, and never gives up. Add that to the fact that he was Elise's first real friend, and it's easy to see why she'd develop a crush on him. As for that kiss at the end, with the way everyone was going on about it, I half expected to see Elise tongue-kissing Sonic's corpse when I finally got to play the game myself. Instead, their lips barely connect before a light shines for a second and Sonic's revived as Super Sonic, so I can't get worked up about that, either.

So, yeah, just my two cents on Elise and why I feel she's a way overhated character.

*sigh* I'll admit, I used to hate Elise back when I first saw her because I saw her relationship with Sonic as a threat to SonAmy. 

I still kind of dislike her due to her being a uber-realistic human who looks like she belongs in Final Fanasty. The point is, Elise isn't necessarily a terrible character, sure she didn't feel like a Sonic character, was boring and bland and always got kidnapped. But she's not a witch or anything, she's still a good person who cares for others and wants to protect her people. I don't really pay much attention to 06's story but I know she's a very important character to the plot but I don't think that really means anything. No comment on the kiss.

I dunno, it just feels weird to constantly see her and Sonic together with clashing designs and species. 

[Enesephus]

11 minutes ago, Detective-Dude said:

*sigh* I'll admit, I used to hate Elise back when I first saw her because I saw her relationship with Sonic as a threat to SonAmy. 

 That's pretty funny. I actually remember hating Chip for similar reasons; when I first played Sonic Unleashed (PS2 version), I had played Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Heroes and Shadow, and Tails followed Sonic around in most of those games. When they brought in Chip, I felt like they were trying to replace Tails with this strange little derp.  Of course, having played the game to the end now, I love the little guy (also, now that I have access to more of the Sonic games, I can see Unleashed isn't the only game where Tails isn't really in his sidekick role).

11 minutes ago, Detective-Dude said:

I still kind of dislike her due to her being a uber-realistic human who looks like she belongs in Final Fanasty. The point is, Elise isn't  necessarily a terrible character, sure she didn't feel like a Sonic character, was boring and bland and always got kidnapped. But she's not a witch or anything, she's still a good person who cares for others and wants to protect her people. I don't really pay much to 06's story but I know she's a very important character to the plot but I don't think that really means anything. No comment on the kiss.

I dunno, it just feels weird to constantly see her and Sonic together with clashing designs and species. 

Yeah, the constant kidnapping thing is bs, and it ties into the whole character-mishandling thing.

As for how their designs clash, I feel Sonic Team could have easily made her design look more appropriate. I mean, you don't see a ton of Sonic X fans constantly complaining that Chris and the other humans look out of place (just that the former gets too much screen time). I'm not saying no one does, but it's not everywhere, as far as I can tell.

[E-122-Psi]

I think Sonic X got a free pass for that because it was story influenced. It revolved around Sonic and co being stuck in a world different from theirs'. This never got an explanation in the games, where the two casts were supposed to be of the same world. I do remember Naka saying something about '06 supposed to represent 'What if Sonic was in the real world?', though it felt kinda redundant since they'd been dabbling in that for ages anyway.

It's not like other medias don't get flak however, the DiC cartoons and early comics were criticised for the design contrast of the SEGA characters with the original characters and concepts, especially STC and Underground which were plain out weird at times.

Concerning Chip with Tails, the only thing that bugged me was that it resembled how I wanted the two to have their dynamic. Tails was so boring during that era and had almost zero chemistry with Sonic even when they were together. I almost wanted Chip to stay instead. Thankfully they seem to be rectifying this now.

[shdowhunt60]

Hmm. Going off tangent, I feel like one of the broader failures of Sonic X was that it failed to establish what Sonic's World was before dumping them into our world. It's an interesting premise, don't get me wrong, but it's an inherently subversive one. In order to get the full appreciation of the effect we have to know whatever it is that we're subverting.

But of course, the cynical part of me believes that the Japanese directors were far more interested in pushing audience surrogate Chris Thorndyke to the front than they were at the prospect of exploring a fantasy world full of surreal landscapes and colorful anthropomorphic animals. Because, god forbid, that the main character is anything but a 1:1 physical and psychological representation of the target audience.

[Your Vest Friend]

...Thinking about it, I can't recall that much anime that dabbles in surreal landscapes and colourful anthropomorphic animals period. Would make sense for Sonic X because the first two seasons were very much overdosing on Anime stereotypes, then season 3 had more American audience influence because they were basically the only ones who cared for it at that point and no amount of Anime stereotypes could pull native audiences in. 

[E-122-Psi]

Part of me wonders if it was because the more surreal concepts were rarely seen in the current era of games during that time. Heroes had surreal landscapes at the time but that was about it. They were perhaps unwilling to develop aspects of the earlier games that even today seem to be a bit of a taboo in areas.

That said there was that pilot with anthro civilians.

I will say that, out of all the different attempts at 'civilian' characters, I liked early STC the best. The new games have brought back the small animals, but they are clearly of a lower sapience than the main cast, so still make them stand out somewhat. In STC, they talked, had anthropomorphic towns and qualities and were more the main cast's height, and even joined Sonic and co in missions at times. Then they started to overdo it and give them humanoid features and things slowly took a nosedive from there....

[shdowhunt60]

1 minute ago, Detective Reptiles said:

...Thinking about it, I can't recall that much anime that dabbles in surreal landscapes and colourful anthropomorphic animals period. Would make sense for Sonic X because the first two seasons were very much overdosing on Anime stereotypes, then season 3 had more American audience influence because they were basically the only ones who cared for it at that point and no amount of Anime stereotypes could pull native audiences in. 

That's because there isn't. The cultural attitude towards anthropomorphic animals and fantasy in general in Japan are substantially different than they are in the west. The fact that Sonic is even a thing is an anomaly.

Roger van der Weide speculated on this, and deduced that Japanese audiences are more likely to feel alienated by characters and settings that don't closely resemble themselves, hence the monotony of anime that share the same basic premises of a high-school audience surrogate in a mundane setting that's plummeted into a bizarre and surreal experience. The exceptions tend to either be directed towards children or also tend to be much more popular in the West than they are in Japan (sound familiar?).

I've noticed a rather interesting contrast between how the Japanese tend to write Sonic and how Sonic is written in the West. Aside from constantly bringing in human or human-esque surrogates in the games and in Sonic X, I noticed that a lot of Sonic Manga tends to just relegate Sonic to be slapstick. Meanwhile, even the most comedic and slapstick of Sonic shows, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, tries to paint Sonic as a sympathetic character every once in a while.

In addition, I noticed that even fan perspectives from the two regions tend to be different as well. While I certainly can't claim to know the Japanese fanbase's perspective on everything (I DO only speak English...), I have noticed that of the select few I've met that they're substantially more tolerant, if not full on accepting, of characters like Chris Thorndyke and Elise.

I do think that a lot of the series narrative problems though, occur due to the fact that the trying to market and shape Sonic's being towards the Japanese market was ultimately a big mistake. The Japanese just simply is never going to be accepting of his character, and it runs the risk of further alienating the Western audience that more likely is going to.

[Idon'tcare]

12 hours ago, shdowhunt60 said:

I do think that a lot of the series narrative problems though, occur due to the fact that the trying to market and shape Sonic's being towards the Japanese market was ultimately a big mistake. The Japanese just simply is never going to be accepting of his character, and it runs the risk of further alienating the Western audience that more likely is going to.

I disagree with that statement.

I vastly preferred Sonic as he was written by the Japanese writing team from Sonic adventure until Sonic Unleashed as he was the perfect mix between seriousness and laid back funny guy; unlike the one we have now who is written not for all the western audiences, but for an US audience solely and it shows a lot both in execution and reception from the audience.

For me, the US written versions of Sonic has and will always be the worst versions of Sonic, all the way from his version in AOSTH to his latest game incarnation US Sonics has always been defined by a mix of jerk jock and amateur comedian with little to no redeeming moments. Chief among the worst versions so far is the version of Sonic found in Generations where he literally seemed to give fuck all about the fate of his friends or the world around him and only cared about having fun.

[shdowhunt60]

I think there's certain nuances to the Japanese writing, that I certainly prefer. Sonic's personality is much... Softer and less rough-around-the-edges like Westerners like to write him as. And don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer Maekawa over... Certain Western writers, I'll say. But I won't deny that there ARE things I do notice about the Japanese approach to things that I don't particularly care for.

For one, it's pretty clear that they don't view Sonic as a character who could ever really be sympathetic. You might not LIKE Sonic in certain Western continuities, because he can be abrasive and a bit of a jerk, but he's at the least more sympathetic.

For example:

Right, so highlight of this episode is that Eggman kidnapped Tails and a bunch of (really stupid) sheep, and forces Sonic to race against Grounder. If he wins the race, then the sheep go free, but Robotnik claims that he'll never see Tails again.

... And Sonic's first reaction is to throw the race.

So, yeah, this setup is pretty cliche (Spiderman did it), and Sonic cheeses the whole thing when he sees an opening to save both Tails and the Sheep. But I do find the 'choice' that Sonic initially chose actually interesting. It's not the ethical or the heroic decision to throw away the lives of many for the life of one (we all know what Spiderman chose...), but... It's a very human one. (also notice that when he notices Tails is missing, he gets angry and threatens a Mobian shark)

Bad presentation and poorly made show aside, AoStH has a handful of rare moments like this where Sonic as a person is fully exposed. It's clear with times like these that the writers want us to look at Sonic and say "Yeah, I can understand where this character is coming from, and why I might do the same thing".

The thing is, you never ever see stuff like this coming out of the Japanese stuff. Compare Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog to something equivalent like Dash and Spin. Whenever I think of E-122 Psi complaining about the cast being flat and boring, I think primarily of the mangas like Dash and Spin. It's all just non-stop slapstick, even when it makes absolutely zero sense in or out of context. The writers  clearly aren't wanting us to think of these characters as nothing more as caricatures to make funny facial expressions and act out what hilarious gag they've come up with. That's why I find them (the mangas in general) rather obnoxious myself.

I've already went into depth about things like Chris Thorndyke, and I won't retread that territory, but I think it's incredibly apparent that elements like that were introduced as an attempt to appeal TO a Japanese audience.

Granted, now, there are exceptions to this. A lot of the side-cast were portrayed sympathetic at SOME point, but usually only at their debut. I can't think of a longstanding anthro character in either the games franchise or Sonic X that gave them sympathetic portrayals longer than a single game. Meanwhile, we've had Thorndyke, Elise, Shahra, and Merlina (I must stress too, that the latter two were good characters and I have nothing against them). Not to mention OTHER characters like Maria and that wheelchaired girl in Sonic X...

Admittedly, this as a thing by itself doesn't really bother me. And it didn't bother me until... Well.

Okay, so like I said, other than anthros, the Japanese seem unwilling to explore surreal fantasy worlds. So here's something to think about: how many cohesively built worlds have we had in West? Well, let's see, we have SatAM/Archie, Underground, Fleetway, Boom, the unused North American continuity, and we could arguably count Archie twice because of the reboot.

We've had a lot. Westerners seem VERY willing to explore Sonic's world and all the fantasticalness and all that. So, how many full developed worlds have we have we had out of Japan?

...

None. I've heard hints that there might be one that SEGA uses internally, but we have never seen anything come out of that.

...

Except Unleashed.

So, Sonic Unleashed is the first Sonic game where we get to properly explore this world that Sonic is in.

... And we come to find that Sonic entirely doesn't fit in at all.

I know that criticizing this seems to be verboten... Because Unleashed is amazing, and the "it's a cartoon" excuse, but I find it baffling that there's all this careful attention to world building, and making you explore all around it.... With having you meet people, and getting to know them.

... And absolutely no thought at all has been put into just how Sonic himself supposedly FITS into this world.

I wouldn't mind it and all, because everything is well crafted, and there's all this attention to detail... Except there's this Sonic-shaped splinter jutting STRAIGHT out of it. It's glaring.

Even elements of previous games go COMPLETELY unmentioned in Unleashed. Like, for example, in the Metroid Prime games there were always bits of scattered lore that not only informed you of the current events, but also what happened in previous games just in case you missed them. I can believe that Planet Elysia is somehow related to Tallon IV just by sheer osmosis of the architecture and what information I gleam from datapods.

My point is this... Where's South Island in Sonic Unleashed? Where's Westside? Where's Christmas Island or Cocoa Island? Where's Station Square or Central City? Where's Metropolis? Where are factions like G.U.N.? 

Instead, what do we get? Cartoon caricatures of real life locations that have absolutely NOTHING to do with the Sonic cast, or hell, even in events in prior games. It's a pretty damn severe oversight in my opinion.

Like I said, there's certain nuances to the Japanese writing I like, for example I do generally prefer the templates they lay out for character personalities, but the problem is, is that they never do ANYTHING with them. Instead, they seem keen on tooling the franchise towards their fellow Japanese... And it just doesn't work. And this seems to come at the additional expense at alienating the Westerners who would be more accepting of Sonic's self.

...

Christ, this got rambly and I'm tired. I'm sure I got incoherent somewhere, but I can't care right now.

[Semi-colon e]

Yeah that's the one thing that bothers me about Unleashed. Everyone is all like "but the world building and atmosphere" yet that stuff is just real world stuff but slightly more cartoony. Sure, it fits the style more than say 06, but it's still just real places with less of the weirdness that Sonic games tend to have. Sonic himself is still a bit out of place. They pretty much did 06 again in Unleashed, but better.

While Colours and Generations don't have the world building, I feel like their aesthetics mix the real and surreal better and feel more Sonic. Even in Generations Crisis City, which thankfully kept mostly dark and realistic to fit the doomed future, had weird details like the slightly purple sky and vibrant oranges. Or levels like Speed Highway which are very realistic in style but cartoony in the detail.

Unfortunately, each game keeps doing it's own thing, which makes aesthetics and world building difficult. Another reason I appreciate Generations is because it takes levels from a variety of styles, and makes them all believably fit together.

I think Rush Adventure, while it was in Blaze's dimension, did the world building right, by having animal NPCs, fairly cartoony characters, that slightly surreal theme, and generally is a place I can see Sonic and Blaze running around in more than Unleashed. Just take games like the GBA and DS games, or Adventure 1, or the Classics, or Generations, and world build around that style. That would be great.

[E-122-Psi]

I think a recurring problem with most of the Japanese material is how idealised Sonic is. Even compared to a lot of standard shonen heroes, he rarely breaks or shows emotion. This is designed to make him looks strong for others, but given how often he has his friends put in danger or outright loses them, it can sometimes make him look rather cold, like they aren't really that vital an aspect of his life. He'll try to save them at all costs, sure, but if it fails, he'll live.

The same problem mentioned with Generations I can make with X or Unleashed. His reaction to Chip being gone forever is VERY underwhelming to say the least and of course the infamous scene with Tails' breakdown following Cosmo's death, with Sonic unable to show any emotion or compassion. He must remain stoic and strong, even if it makes him look rather inhuman.

I will admit I often feel mirror Idontcare's opinions about the Western incarnations, especially the whole jerk jock attitude (STC and Satam were plain out insufferable with this) but I often appreciate that extra emotional level (so long as they don't elevate it into an over the top angsty or callous manner). Many say one of the best things about AoSth was the brotherly chemistry between Sonic and Tails that, for a long while at least, the games never neared replicating.

For all the execution problems with Lost World and Boom, they do show one thing, Sonic cares if something happens to Tails, A LOT. It's understated given he's still a mellow guy personality wise, but still, he can only take it so far. If anything I think this is something that actually makes the villains, though more comical, seem more effective against Sonic. They know a weakness and how to wind him up. Boom Eggman despite being a lower key villain can actually get under Sonic's skin WAY more often than X Eggman.

[Enesephus]

13 minutes ago, E-122-Psi said:

I think a recurring problem with most of the Japanese material is how idealised Sonic is. Even compared to a lot of standard shonen heroes, he rarely breaks or shows emotion. This is designed to make him looks strong for others, but given how often he has his friends put in danger or outright loses them, it can sometimes make him look rather cold, like they aren't really that vital an aspect of his life. He'll try to save them at all costs, sure, but if it fails, he'll live.

The same problem mentioned with Generations I can make with X or Unleashed. His reaction to Chip being gone forever is VERY underwhelming to say the least and of course the infamous scene with Tails' breakdown following Cosmo's death, with Sonic unable to show any emotion or compassion. He must remain stoic and strong, even if it makes him look rather inhuman.

I will admit I often feel mirror Idontcare's opinions about the Western incarnations, especially the whole jerk jock attitude (STC and Satam were plain out insufferable with this) but I often appreciate that extra emotional level (so long as they don't elevate it into an over the top angsty or callous manner). Many say one of the best things about AoSth was the brotherly chemistry between Sonic and Tails that, for a long while at least, the games never neared replicating.

For all the execution problems with Lost World and Boom, they do show one thing, Sonic cares if something happens to Tails, A LOT. It's understated given he's still a mellow guy personality wise, but still, he can only take it so far. If anything I think this is something that actually makes the villains, though more comical, seem more effective against Sonic. They know a weakness and how to wind him up. Boom Eggman despite being a lower key villain can actually get under Sonic's skin WAY more often than X Eggman.

I agree with most of what you're saying, but I really didn't find Sonic's reaction to Chip's loss to be underwhelming at all. It felt like the perfect way to end the game and very in character. I say this as someone who really doesn't like his portrayal in Sonic X.

[E-122-Psi]

It wasn't really downplayed to the point of making him look outright heartless, but even then I felt like we should have gotten a little more from it, even just a more blatantly sad expression after he sees Chip vanish.

[Idon'tcare]

8 hours ago, shdowhunt60 said:

Okay, so like I said, other than anthros, the Japanese seem unwilling to explore surreal fantasy worlds. So here's something to think about: how many cohesively built worlds have we had in West? Well, let's see, we have SatAM/Archie, Underground, Fleetway, Boom, the unused North American continuity, and we could arguably count Archie twice because of the reboot.

I feel that I should point that your surreal fantasy worlds also came with the rather insulting price tag of throwing away up to 98 percert of everything from the games in order to build their worlds, despite the games clearly having a lot of cartoony elements that could be easily used for surreal fantasy worlds.

AOSTH: Only Sonic and Tails can be said to be related to the origin material, namely the games, nothing else is from the games, not even Robotnik looks like his game counterpart.
Satam: Only Sonic and Tails again. Robotnik/Eggman was butchered into a walking mountain of fat that spent 90 percent of his time sitting in a chair talking smack and Tails was ditched in favor of original American stereotypes. The ´brainy cheerleader, the southern belle, the tech savvy nerd and the cowardly foreign exchange student.
Underground: Only Sonic and Knuckles can be said to have any trace to the games, everything else was made from scratch.
Archie: Modeled after Satam, Archie spent up to over 15 years blissfully ignoring most of the game material and characters in order to sell their own fantasy world which had very limited actual Sonic content.
Fleetway: Stayed truer to the games but still altered a lot of the material to suit their needs.
Boom: Is a cartoon/comic based on an alternate game series or is it vice versa? Point is, this was made by westerners from scratch with limited input and material from the main series as it targeted goal.  

Sonic X for all it did wrong, at least stayed truer to the characters and origin material than anything the US and UK has chucked out. Call me crazy but if you need to throw away over 90 percent of the source material in order to produce your comic/cartoon then you are really only insulting the medium you're basing it on.

[shdowhunt60]

I didn't say that they necessarily did it well, did I? I said that they were willing to explore Sonic as a person and the world he resides in. And I frankly don't consider being "true to the source material" a fair criteria of judgement considering that, especially in the time-span a lot of this stuff came out, was barebones to pretty much non-existant at the time, and also too that SEGA intended at the beginning to let different regions tailor Sonic to their specific needs.

Don't get me wrong: there's a lot of things I prefer the games for. And nowadays, there is no excuse when  you're making something based off of Sonic to not try and base it off them as much as possible. There IS enough source material nowadays to build a proper functioning universe out of without going on a wild tangent. But back in the day that certainly wasn't the case.

I also don't think that being "more close to the game" is a saving grace for Sonic X for any form or fashion. that show fucked itself so irreversibly that I will honestly take a marathon of AoStH over it.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

It should also not go without saying that just because the games do it l, it doesn't mean it's the ideal path to follow if the source itself jumps off the shark. I'd rather a work heavily deviate itself if it were to adapt or use material from games like ShTh and Sonic 06 than stay true to the source given what they were. 

All in all, deviation from the source isn't by default insulting it, especially if it was given full permission to do so. Claiming it as such is borderline purism over what a work should be allow or disallowed from doing.

[Ducktor Naldush]

Corny as it was, I still like Season 3 of Sonic X. I tried to rewatch some of its episodes lately, and I still enjoy them. Heck, Chris is even bearable in those episodes. Favourite episodes are Shadow's attack on the Typhoon, the fight between Knuckles and Yellow Zelkova, and the Eggman-centric episode. The Chaotix playing match-maker was funny too.

 

[Yoko/葉子]

Not sure if unpopular, but I think Dreams of an Absolution can be a very comforting song.

I do agree that the frequent changes in tone cause an imbalance, but at the same time, it allows SEGA to reach more audiences in terms of story. I have seen worse tone shifts, in terms of throwing off the audience. *cough* CLAMP universe *cough*

Not sure if unpopular, but I feel that the use if religious references helps make it more understandable for non-gamers. Heck, when I first played 06, my therapist at the time explained to me the origin of Mephiles' name. After learning of Faust it made Jay Snyder's acting as Mephiles sound more intimidating and manipulative. Sure, the script needed work, but I think he was still scary as Mephi(stophe)les. And I'm not just saying that because he's one of my coaches.

Popular opinion: The "Sonic autism" troll meme is of poor intelligence. I have autism, I'm almost nothing like the stereotypes. I don't make OC's, read fan fics or draw gross images. I grew up on the blue blur, it's in my psyche.

The stereotype of the fan base says we pick one "faction" of games. I disagree,  I am proof that you can like all of them in different ways without starting a war. I like Boost, Classic and Adventure.

I think part of the minority appeal of Shadow is that he almost broke a promise and made up for it in time in SA2. That is the part of him I admire most, loyalty to his word. Not "angst," rude wording or arrogance.

I don't see the point of dub vs. sub Sonic wars. The series always looked like a more cool Disney to me, thus an American vibe. Sonic is supposed to have western appeal, hence why I feel the dubs actually feel more natural in sound (with very few questionable castings) than the Japanese versions. Along the lines, Mike Pollock said it himself, he used Boris Badenov as influence for Eggman. They usually capture one aspect of the character better than the other cast. I did not like 4Kids Vector, but that is it.

Speaking of dubs, I think all the wars between the best dub teams are rude. If Laura Bailey and Erica Schroeder were to have a Blaze panel or if Rebecca Honig and Michelle Ruff had a panel on Cream and people spent the whole time arguing and insulting, I'm sure the guests would be insulted at such opinionated behavior.

 

[E-122-Psi]

The dubbing isn't a huge problem to me. The only key problems at times are translation errors and the occasional times the acting is unenthusiastic by comparison. Adventure 1 suffered a fair bit from bad lines, though I don't know if the Japanese version is actually good by comparison, the cutscenes were poor anyway (and usually all the variations had at least have one good counterpart to interpret a decent version of the story with).

The problem was mostly more prominent with the 4Kids dub of Sonic X, which had a lot of blind idiot translations, stiffer acting and heavily altering the dialogue to be more corny and juvenile (did we need a pun in nearly EVERY sentence?), and even then it was exacerbated a lot more by them actually editing the show itself. It was essentially what they did to Pokemon, but with less of the whimsy and enthusiasm that made it cross over into actually being fun at times (that and Pokemon's anime was actually helping MAKE a new franchise's mythos rather than bastardising ones already there).

[Muscles Maximum]

I don't like the music in Sonic Lost World at all. It feels out of place in the series, I can't stand the main theme, Windy Hill theme got old real fast. And idk, I struggle to think of a single track in the game that I actively enjoy listening to. The music for the Rails levels are alright. Aside from that, yeah there's nothing. 

I hope the 25th anniversary game's soundtrack goes in a completely different direction than Lost World's.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Unpopular opinion: I really do not like Sonic Rush.

I mean, the game has great music, cool special stages and it has a nice trick system.... but that's all I like about the game. 

The gameplay is rather automated and redundant. They give you the spindash but who needs it when you got the boost and boost panels? Speaking of that, let's talk about the boost. The boost is one of the most shallow mechanics to ever grace 2D Sonic games. It literally requires the player to have little to no skill when handling it. Though there are many cheap deaths and bottomless pits, the platforming is build around the "boost to win" formula. It pretty much takes the fun out of earning your speed through rolling. Oh and without the boost, Sonic is pretty slow and the spindash doesn't do much. The physics pretty much are centered around the boost mechanic. The rolling is pretty much non-existent but not as bad as in later titles.

What really bothers me about this game is that it is being used as the standard to make 2D Sonic games (Sonic 4, Sonic Colors DS etc).

[Semi-colon e]

Oh please, the in thing is to dislike the boost round here.

I don't mind Rush. I used to like it a lot when it came out but when I'm playing it I am just thinking "why am I not playing Rush Adventure" instead? It's kind of a different kind of game, and it does lose a lot of the intricate level design, but sometimes it's fun to just blast through levels, and the levels, particularly in Rush Adventure, do at least have a lot of interesting level gimmicks and devices to interact with. The Spin Dash is also there for when you run out of boost.

I have more of a problem with Unleashed because the levels are so oppressively linear (apart from the last three, actually) and there are almost no level gimmicks to set each stage apart. While I'm not the biggest fan of Rush, I do feel it at least has two routes through every level, if not more sometimes, and each stage has it's own objects, like the water cannons in Water Palace, or the hooks in Huge Crisis, or all the weird shit Dead Line has. Rush Adventure is even better for level gimmicks, especially as it's levels are really creative and unique.

I guess my unpopular opinion then is that I like the boost in the Rush games, because I like the mechanics of the tricking system and going through enemies, and it eliminates a lot of the bullshit enemy placement that the Advance games (yes, all three of them, people act like Advance 3 is the only one but it's really not) had. When using the style but without the boost for Sonic 4 though, you only get the worst of both worlds: no fast paced goodness leads to clunky level design, but you also don't get the intricacy of the older games or the Advance games. I think Colours DS is a good game too, with the wisps and the formula, but I feel like they should have stuck closer to the Rush games in moveset rather than adding all these moves from the Wii version that just clogged up the game.

I think something closer to the Classic standard is better for the series, but I feel like people just shit on the Rush games because they're more linear when they're not the classic games. I also think that people act like Advance is "the real Sonic 4" because it has rolling physics, when the item and object placement is ass in all three and the controls, especially in the first one, are really stiff.