Popular and unpopular Sonic opinions you agree and disagree with!

[Kuzu]

So you'd rather watch Shadow try so hard to be cool and edgy and look ridiculous and juvenile doing it, instead of Sonic being actually not-boring and have some personality?.

I think he means that Shadow's game actually had progression and action, which even though was executed in a shitty way was more than Colors has in that same department. Frankly, they're both crappy executed stories to me, they're just bad for different reasons.

[Nepenthe]

He's technically never been a silent protagonist though...I mean, the adverts, the fact the Genesis couldn't have him saying things even if they wanted to and the reason why he's silent in Generations was because they didn't want to piss off fans.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Genesis had the power to make Sonic talk. If they could've replicated small sayings on the NES with just distorted sound effects (play some Code Name: Viper and you'll clearly hear the hostages saying "Thank you!" when you rescue them), and if Awesome Possum and the two Bubsy titles existed with full-blown talking on the Genny just fine, I don't believe such a thing was out of the Sonic Team's hands because the tech wasn't good enough. This also doesn't take into account the option of text bubbles, nor does this conversation ever take into account arcade and PC releases. You're saying we can have a whole lyrical soundtrack for Sonic R, but still, cocky banter between the characters was just completely impossible until the Dreamcast came along?

I find the whole limited tech excuse unconvincing. Sonic fell into the realm of silent protagonist willingly by Sega, just as Mario and Link continue to, and this is despite the fact that even they have talked in their games and other media before as well. Being considered a "silent protagonist" doesn't preclude you from ever talking a la Gordon Freeman either; there's different interpretations of it, and many different characters can and do happily carry the moniker without any cognitive dissonance in terms of some minor speaking appearances, so I've got no idea why this is particularly controversial in Sonic's case.

Overall, the idea that Sonic was, once upon a time, a silent protagonist, isn't some delusion suddenly conjured up by classic fans in recent years that Sega couldn't risk pissing off when Generations rolled around. Another unpopular opinion.

[Kuzu]

I have to say that i suspect that this is true, yeah.

Personally though, i've grown fond of the decidedly non-jerkish guy that we got to know in Sonic Adventure and have been seeing in the games ever since (disregrading Chronicles), and i wouldnt want to see him becoming (or, depending on what you believe about the original Sonic, reverting back to) a morally flawed jerk at this point.

I think a problem with a non-jerkish Sonic is that, well he has no discernible character flaws or quirks; I mean he's a nice guy loved by all of the characters, who never gives up the fight..that sounds incredibly boring and generic and not especially interesting for a character. At least with Colors, he at least gets called out for his idiocy in one cutscene by Tails, which almost never happened in the prior games. I think the reason people prefer the "Mascot with Attitude" era personality for Sonic, because it gives him a more rounded & dynamic character than if we just a nice guy loved by everyone.

[Vertekins]

I think a problem with a non-jerkish Sonic is that, well he has no discernible character flaws or quirks; I mean he's a nice guy loved by all of the characters, who never gives up the fight..that sounds incredibly boring and generic and not especially interesting for a character. At least with Colors, he at least gets called out for his idiocy in one cutscene by Tails, which almost never happened in the prior games. I think the reason people prefer the "Mascot with Attitude" era personality for Sonic, because it gives him a more rounded & dynamic character than if we just a nice guy loved by everyone.

If my memory is correct, quite a few Unleashed NPC's don't kiss Sonic's ass. You have Irma (Ippolita's grandmother) who tells him to stay away from Ippolita after she sees him delivering presents to her from Boss, Gwek who rudely ignores him in Mazuri first time 'round, Raimondo who at one point accuses Sonic of butting into his business in a fairly turse manner and that Shamar bloke who's the singer's father disliking Sonic because he encouraged his son to go out and sing rather than stay at home and make carpets.

And Sonic does have a few quirks. Such as obviously valuing literature despite his fast-paced lifestyle, clearly loving food to the point of not giving up a morsel without a fight showing that he's at least a bit greedy (See the "Sonic and Chip in Chun-Nan" video), has an apparent habit of dozing-off temporarily in idle animations and holding conversations with mute robots which is odd yet quirky.

Those are just a handful of Sonic's quirks.

He's also ashamed of his swimming inability, proven by his answer to one of Brenda's questions.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Vertekins

[Wraith]

This was a good game that probably had the best soundtrack of the 2D games and you are all in denial.

[StaticMania]

He was supposed to be 'American cool' which is essentially being a bit of a jerk while being cocky and boastful but also a friendly guy.

He's technically never been a silent protagonist though...I mean, the adverts, the fact the Genesis couldn't have him saying things even if they wanted to and the reason why he's silent in Generations was because they didn't want to piss off fans.

Even though its just from what I remember, Sonic was supposed to be a just get the job done type of hero and that added into him being really impatient about things. But that's just what I remember hearing.

[Diogenes]

Those are just a handful of Sonic's quirks.

Those are some pretty low-grade quirks, invoked only rarely. And the rare few people who do dislike him, it's not ever because Sonic is in the wrong.

Unless you're going to run on pure charm and whimsy like Mario (which is not the direction I think Sonic should take), interesting things require friction. But Sonic just does not make friction; he's too good, too just, too friendly. How many times in, like, the entire series, can you say that maybe Sonic didn't do the right thing? And I'm not talking about life-or-death choices, or requiring him to be a huge asshole, just something that was not ideal heroism, something selfish or something said in anger, something that made things a little more difficult.

[Vertekins]

Unless you're going to run on pure charm and whimsy like Mario (which is not the direction I think Sonic should take), interesting things require friction. But Sonic just does not make friction; he's too good, too just, too friendly. How many times in, like, the entire series, can you say that maybe Sonic didn't do the right thing? And I'm not talking about life-or-death choices, or requiring him to be a huge asshole, just something that was not ideal heroism, something selfish or something said in anger, something that made things a little more difficult.

The Unleashed opening. Sonic was more fixated on showing-off and not taking Eggman as seriously as he ought to have done that not only did it lead to the world being split apart but it also led to his body-violating, speed-leeching transformations upon nightfall. That was Sonic's fault. He complicated his journey to reunite the pieces of the world with the planet by talking-down to Eggman in arrogance and allowing him the perfect window of opportunity to pull-off his aims and intentionally or not intentionally inflict the Werehog transformation upon Sonic.

Rider's also provides another example in which he lays into Eggman whilst he has Amy, clearly not acknowledging that he could have hurt Amy in the process. Amy even has him over it, asking how he could attack Eggman knowing she was there.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Vertekins

[Kuzu]

If my memory is correct, quite a few Unleashed NPC's don't kiss Sonic's ass. You have Irma (Ippolita's grandmother) who tells him to stay away from Ippolita after she sees him delivering presents to her from Boss, Gwek who rudely ignores him in Mazuri first time 'round, Raimondo who at one point accuses Sonic of butting into his business in a fairly turse manner and that Shamar bloke who's the singer's father disliking Sonic because he encouraged his son to go out and sing rather than stay at home and make carpets.

And Sonic does have a few quirks. Such as obviously valuing literature despite his fast-paced lifestyle, clearly loving food to the point of not giving up a morsel without a fight showing that he's at least a bit greedy (See the "Sonic and Chip in Chun-Nan" video), has an apparent habit of dozing-off temporarily in idle animations and holding conversations with mute robots which is odd yet quirky.

Those are just a handful of Sonic's quirks.

He's also ashamed of his swimming inability, proven by his answer to one of Brenda's questions.

Ok, considering those are NPC's who aren't at all connected to the main plot, nor have any personal relevance to Sonic at all, it kinda loses it's impact. The Tails example I listed works because Tails is usually seen as someone who looks up and admires Sonic greatly, so to have him call Sonic out on on odd behavior makes it stand out that much more than the irrelevant NPC's you listed. A better example would be from a game you love, Black Knight. Caliburn makes it a point to berate and insult Sonic throughout their journey on both his inexperience and foolhardiness, which creates friction between him and Sonic, ya know...CONFLICT, Sonic is annoyed and retaliates with insults of his own, showing he's sensitive to insults.

It's not that Sonic has NO quirks at all, it's that they're hardly, if ever brought up at all in the games, and are usually buried beneath heaps of "Purity, and goodness". I didn't really have much of a problem in the Adventure games, because Sonic is shown as a very flawed and fallible individual there, by both the characters and the plot itself and makes decisions that aren't always seen as morally right. But afterwards, his character just degenerated into the whitebread hero we saw from Heroes to Colors.

[Vertekins]

It irritates me too that not enough is really done to exploit Sonic's downsides to make him more interesting. It's a great amount of unrealized potential that could be exploited to make Sonic more dimensional and interesting and not the overwhelmingly goody two-shoes that he's frequently characterized as being.

[Diogenes]

The Unleashed opening. Sonic was more fixated on showing-off and not taking Eggman as seriously as he ought to have done that not only did it lead to the world being split apart but it also led to his body-violating, speed-leeching transformations upon nightfall. That was Sonic's fault. He complicated his journey to reunite the pieces of the world with the planet by talking-down to Eggman in arrogance and allowing him the perfect window of opportunity to pull-off his aims and intentionally or not intentionally inflict the Werehog transformation upon Sonic.

Sonic's really not responsible for creating the friction here, though, at least not by anything but his long career in heroism. Yeah, it's true that his cockiness is what let him get captured, but the conflict exists because he's always put a stop to Eggman's evil plans. I'd call it a half-point at most.

Rider's also provides another example in which he lays into Eggman whilst he has Amy, clearly not acknowledging that he could have hurt Amy in the process. Amy even has him over it, asking how he could attack Eggman knowing she was there.

And y'know, he was right! Amy was perfectly fine. It was done to end on a joke.

[Alice Twilight]

So you'd rather watch Shadow try so hard to be cool and edgy and look ridiculous and juvenile doing it, instead of Sonic being actually not-boring and have some personality?

I would actually.

Since colors was the first time I've ever decided to skip the rest of the cutscenes in a game.

Edited November 13, 2012 by NISA

[Mr. Taxi]

Unpopular opinion: Sonic Battle is the answer to everyone's prayers when it comes to characteriaztion, flow of a story, broad and edifying interactions and storytelling.

...Not that it's Okami, but I do think it has the base for something on that level, yes.

[Tornado]

Storytelling in Battle is... sketchy. The broad concepts of the story are great, as are some of the set pieces and tone. But much of the time the main players (especially Amy) act like caricatures of themselves.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Storytelling in Battle is... sketchy. The broad concepts of the story are great, as are some of the set pieces and tone. But much of the time the main players (especially Amy) act like caricatures of themselves.

It seems like every game has at least one person becoming a caricature of themselves.

[Mr. Taxi]

...Well, to be fair, you're right. She and Shadow could both be replaced by huge "Sonikku!" and "Maria!" disembodied T-shirts, respectively. But, on the other hand, I think Gamma got an unexpected depth.

[Anti Alias]

I kinda liked how Cream and Amy's friendship was portraied in that game.

[Komodin]

Unpopular opinion: Sonic Battle is the answer to everyone's prayers when it comes to characteriaztion, flow of a story, broad and edifying interactions and storytelling.

I don't know about you, Palsy, but my prayers for a decently characterized Amy sure as hell weren't answered with this game.

Speaking of, here's my Unpopular Opinion of the Day: I don't find Sonic Battle's story to be all that, overall.

[Mr. Taxi]

I don't know about you, Palsy, but my prayers for a decently characterized Amy sure as hell weren't answered with this game.

But while we're at it, when did she get enough of a characterization? I mean, the situation is so dire for her that I think her best appearance was Sonic Advance (and it was a great one, in fact).

[Tornado]

She was fine in Adventure. Kinda obnoxiously stupid in Adventure 2, but not offensive.

After that she basically just became a two word anime stereotype for half a decade.

[Diogenes]

Battle did some interesting stuff, but I wouldn't call it my go-to example for how most of the cast should be portrayed. I do appreciate that they were actually able to have the characters do things and not just sort of exist and be vaguely heroic.

[Alice Twilight]

I like that robot guy and how he looks in battle.

wonder if he has a cool personality.

[Kuzu]

Battle is something of a double-edged sword; on one end like Dio said, it has the cast actually doing things and all equally participating in the story by having their own adventures with Emerl, and having some interesting character interactions as well. But then you see Amy, and to an extent, Knuckles and Shadow and just ask "What the hell went wrong?"

I really hate that about this series, for everything good about it, there's something equally as bad to subvert it. I understand the series is going to have it's problems, but is it too much to ask for the flaws to not be so fucking glaring for a change.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Popo

[Anti Alias]

well, the series always had awesome soundtrack...

it's just the writting that has always been shit.

[Kuzu]

it's just the writting that has always been shit.

Here's the thing, Sonic Team have proven they're at least capable of writing competently numerous times, it's just that they never bother to clean up the lose ends here and there. It's like washing dishes, and leaving one giant shit stain on it. It's half assed.