The "What the HECK Is A 2016 Sonic" Prophecy Thread (two topics from the pre-server wipe in one!)

[Tani Coyote]

I made a status a while ago and it said this:

 

"Essentially, the Sonic series hinges on the success of the 25th anniversary game. If that game's good, the series might get back to being good again. If not... well, the series will probably still go on, but I doubt it will ever recover."

 

What do you guys think?

Pretty much true, I think.

Unleashed Day rekindled some hope in the wider population, because of the success of the Day gameplay. Colors and Generations capitalized. While this was going on, the two All Stars Racing games received enormous praise as well as sales. Sonic was growing again as a brand, having two hit main titles and two hit side titles. The subpar performances of 06, Black Knight, etc. were washed away for those precious years from 2010 to 2012...

And then Lost World happened. Then Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal. And right now, Sonic Runners, what's probably to be the flagship of their new mobile direction... is being plagued with tons of issues despite months of not being available in most countries.

Sonic's renaissance was very brief. If they don't change something REALLY soon, I don't think he's ever going to attain the same status he used to have.

Well no, that's not true. I believe it was the Irate Gamer who said he's perfectly confident another good Sonic game will exist.

...it just won't be under SEGA.

The low install base of the Wii U aside, I can't help but feel that even the established fanbase are tiring of the brand. Sonic Boom was supposed to be a huge hit that would draw in tons of new fans, and while it's done okay enough, it doesn't look to have been on the scales anticipated. The brand is in a really desperate position now.

[Clewis]

Quite frankly all the classic nostalgia in recent games comes off as a little insulting to me, like SEGA is telling me I have bad taste for liking the Adventures.

 

It's less that and more so the fact that the classic era is really one of the few chunks of the franchise that is still held in relatively high regard by the general public. It makes sense for Sonic Team to try and revive elements from those games when not a lot of people feel the same way about the Adventure titles, or Heroes, or Shadow, etc..

Personally I don't mind the nostalgia pandering that much, but I am definitely growing tired of how references to the classic games are handled in general.

[Diogenes]

My only problem is that it's been just pandering, and not actually making good games that build on the classics. Throw all the badniks and checkered hills at me that you want (and it's not like I don't appreciate them), but without the gameplay it's just a surface-level imitation.

[Milo]

Honestly I'm sick and tired of the Classic Sonic nostalgia pandering. Now I don't deny that the classics are great games but you have to understand that I didn't play them growing up, my childhood Sonic games were the Adventure 1, Adventure 2, Heroes, Shadow, Riders, and so on. For me a nostalgic Sonic experience revolves around things like Angel Island, Chaos, Space Colony ARK, G.U.N., Gizoids, or hell, even Babylon Garden and Black Arms. Black eyes, Moto-bugs, and Green Hill expies though? Not so much. Quite frankly all the classic nostalgia in recent games comes off as a little insulting to me, like SEGA is telling me I have bad taste for liking the Adventures.

 

"Oh, you weren't born it the late 80's or early 90's? Well then fuck you, you don't matter." -SEGA

 

Funny you should say that. I'm sick and tired of the classic Sonic nostalgia pandering too, but because I feel that's all it amounts to these days-nostalgia pandering and little else. They keep using lots of nods, winks, and aesthetic references to the Genesis games, but actual use of the material from those games and what made them great (actual artstyle/designs, gameplay mechanics, level design, etc.) has practically been non-existent in the current line of games. Which wouldn't be too bad if the classic series in general was even still alive in the first place.

 

Their attempted revival to the Genesis gameplay through Sonic 4 was a case of applying the right design brief to the wrong project and giving it to the wrong people on their first attempt (Episode I) and then salvaging what they wanted into a new game completely on their own terms through the second attempt (Episode II). And when fans refused to play ball the second time, they decided to just ice the classic series completely. Which rendered the promise brought by classic Sonic's portion of Generations (which though still missing the bullseye many people felt hit the target a lot better in many areas) and Taxman's Sonic CD remake (which was well-received across the board) entirely pointless. Even though Taxman and Stealth got to work on remasters for other Genesis Sonic remasters, it's hard to be optimistic about them when they have effectively been promoted and released under the lowest-key priorities possible. Not helped at all by Sega passing them on an request to remaster what was not only the last remaining Genesis Sonic title, but also the fan-favorite (legal issues or no legal issues).

 

With all that in mind, I think that makes all of the waving of the classic Sonic flag even worse from my perspective; despite their constant use, it largely amounts to jack when you're not looking at things from a superficial level.

[Komodin]

The "Sonic 25th Anniversary" logo has been spotted:

 

[Bowbowis]

I think I should clarify my meaning a bit. I'm sick of nostalgia pandering as a whole. I don't want an endless stream of G.U.N. Hunters and City Escape clones any more than I want Green Hill expies and Moto-Bugs. When I said it feels somewhat insulting what I didn't mean that it's insulting that there's no Adventure pandering, what I meant is that it's insulting that SEGA keeps force-feeding me classic nostalgia and expecting me to worship the Genesis/Mega Drive games as though they were the only worthwhile part of the franchise before Colors rolled around and completely ignoring anything from 1998 to 2009. I find it to be both baffling and frustrating, not simply because I grew up on games from that time period but also because '98 to '09 accounts for half of Sonic's lifespan. Not only that it's also the only part of the franchise which had no significant gaps between releases, meaning that there's a good chance, if not a statistical probability that any given fan grew up on games from that period, so outright ignoring those games is going to alienate a lot of your fans, which isn't smart no matter how you slice it.

[Diogenes]

Well there are good reasons for it, I think.

Like Clewis said, the classic era is about the only part of the series that's still generally respected. There certainly are fans who grew up with later games and still have fond memories of them, but general opinion is a lot more mixed, and trends strongly negative for some games. Some people might enjoy seeing GUN or the Black Arms or whatever again, but I'd wager a lot more would rather let most of that stuff stay buried.

There's also the issue that...you just can't have all these things going at once. Barring something like Generations, you can't have a game simultaneously being like Sonic 1, SA2, Heroes, '06, Unleashed, etc, because of how wildly different they all are. And trying to maintain them all in separate games...is one of the biggest reasons this series is so fucked up right now. Sonic can't be everything to everyone, so if he's going to survive at all, some people's preferred interpretations have to be thrown under the bus.

[Bowbowis]

There's also the issue that...you just can't have all these things going at once. Barring something like Generations, you can't have a game simultaneously being like Sonic 1, SA2, Heroes, '06, Unleashed, etc, because of how wildly different they all are. And trying to maintain them all in separate games...is one of the biggest reasons this series is so fucked up right now. Sonic can't be everything to everyone, so if he's going to survive at all, some people's preferred interpretations have to be thrown under the bus.

[Badnik Mechanic]

From First 4 Figures.

 

So… About that 25th anniversary of Sonic.

 

The F4F ‘veterans’ amongst you will remember that SEGA commissioned us to produce a run of limited figurines for the 20th anniversary nearly 5 years ago, and now our creative cogs are turning once again for next year.

What would your ideal 25th anniversary statue look like? Throw your ideas/wish lists our way! There’s only a few things you need to keep in mind:

-Classic Sonic is to be the main focus, but don't let that stop you from including other things from his history such as classic items.

-The statue needs to be as all-encompassing as possible

Unlike last time, SEGA will allow us to sell these to Sonic fans the world over, so let’s hear you!

[PickleBrows]

I'm not too sure there's any connection there. A re-done Classic Sonic from F4F has been on the cards - or at least requested - for a while now. It makes sense that they'd use the 25th as the opportunity to finally do that.

 

Having said that, given the relevance that the 20th's statue had, I can see where you're coming from.

 

I honestly wouldn't mind them bringing Classic back again in the anniversary game and I could see them doing it given Generations' success. If he does show up I still want them to be on a new adventure rather than another nostalgia trip.

 

Alternatively, something entirely separate from the main anniversary game with Classic would be pretty great too.

[Jango]

The reason why it has to have classic Sonic is maybe because it would sell more? Maybe that's why SEGA want to sell it, to get a few extras bucks

 

A part from that, I don't know the reason.

[Scar]

I have no idea what Sega want here. Maybe they want to focus on classic sonic because of the train wreck that wads Sonic Boom...?

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

[DarkRula]

Maybe the 25th game is Sonic 1, 2, and 3 remade in Generation's engines. In full 3D!

Jokes, of course. That wouldn't be nearly as fun as a true new game.

[Tenko]

I'm liking that they are focusing on Classic Sonic for the 25th statue, it is Sonic's roots and what he looked like 25 years ago. Plus as has been said their original Classic Sonic statue was made quite a while ago now, and considering the quality and dynamic nature of the newer statues it looks out of place >.<

[Alienrun]

Good gosh, I can't beleive I read ALL the comments here! Everyone needs to remember that this is JUST A RUMOR!

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY THO is that even if the rumor is true, "Sega Digital 25" may not be the anniversary title! It could just be a spin-off thing and we can still have our "Prophecy" game!

[Milo]

Good gosh, I can't beleive I read ALL the comments here! Everyone needs to remember that this is JUST A RUMOR!

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY THO is that even if the rumor is true, "Sega Digital 25" may not be the anniversary title! It could just be a spin-off thing and we can still have our "Prophecy" game!

 

...the rumor hasn't been mentioned for six pages. And even when people were talking about, nobody was speaking under the pretense that the rumor was true.

 

Don't really see the point of this outburst.

 

On the former discussion about which aspect of era of Sonic the series should follow in contemporary times, I actually wouldn't mind a game inspired by the Storybook series. The gameplay and controls were crap, but the actual narrative and locales (Secret Rings, anyway) is one of the series' higher points, so I wouldn't mind a new Sonic game that followed on those type of games. Can't say the same for the Adventure-06 era though; outside of the first Adventure, I think that era should stay buried, to be honest.

[LindseyWalker]

My only problem is that it's been just pandering, and not actually making good games that build on the classics. Throw all the badniks and checkered hills at me that you want (and it's not like I don't appreciate them), but without the gameplay it's just a surface-level imitation.

[Clewis]

Honestly, the series has been much better for the 'pandering' and ditching the realism aesthetic in the middle era. It's not at the level it should be, I agree with you there, but I wouldn't say the gameplay is just 'surface-level' imitation, especially not with Generations. 

[Scar]

Movement has always been key. They TRIED to focus on that with Lost World, but it was too stiff, too mechanical. There was no fluidity to it.

They did address movement moving from Unleashed to Colours to Generations, but again not ENOUGH. The movement in the boost games is fluid at high speeds, but at low speeds it always left something to be desired.

 

Sonic Team NEED to sort their shit out in this respect.

Do I believe they can do it? Yes, think they can IF they have the right leadership and thinking coming from higher up, and if they're given enough fucking time to refine it till its as close to perfect as possible. They spend so much energy changing the mechanics and gameplay around so frequently that they don't have enough time to work on the level design and make that good.

 

Do I think they WILL do it? Well, probably not. I just don't think the higher ups see what the problem is, and are focused far too much on the Sonic brand and stuff like Sonic Boom (TV) to care about what the games are like.

[spoe]

SEGA sharing details about Sonic’s 25th anniversary early next year

 

 

Sonic is celebrating his 25th anniversary/birthday next year. With that in mind, fans are starting to wonder about what SEGA could have in store for the Blur Blur’s big year.

We won’t be hearing about anything this year, but Sonic the Hedgehog’s PR and social media manager Aaron Webber told SEGAbits that “there’s definitely stuff in the works”. Information will be shared early next year.

 

Source I :http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1075931

Source II :http://nintendoeverything.com/sega-sharing-details-about-sonics-25th-anniversary-early-next-year/

[shdowhunt60]

From First 4 Figures.

 

 

 

 

F4F are indeed doing a 25th anniversary anniversary statue, and Sega have said they can sell them... and it HAS to have classic Sonic as the main focus.

 

*strokes my tiny beard*

 

Paging detective SSMB... 

 

 

Christ almighty, please don't be a Generations 2. I'd really hate every 5 year anniversary being a great "Hey, remember when we didn't suck?"-fest.

[Johnny Boy]

Sonic Boom 3. Please Understand.

Is it wrong that I won't be surprised if this happens?

[Bowbowis]

Is it wrong that I won't be surprised if this happens?

At this point? It would be wrong if you were.

[Indigo Rush]

Unsurprising or not, that would rustle so many jimmies that national news would be reporting on all of the simultaneous fires and earthquakes across the developed countries.

[Tenko]

Its nice to see that on the pages this is being reported on, in their comments sections there is still hope from the general populace. Not too many negative comments. People seem aware that it wasn't Sonic Team who plagued them with Sonic Boom which is interesting.

There is still the obligatory "Sonic Adventure 3 plz" comments tho. Quite a few requests for a Generations 2 but with more content and less friends and story too. Geez even a game where the friends were a minor story point with a few interesting mini-games including them and they still get bashed lol.