Your thoughts on Trip the Sungazer?

[MetalSkulkBane]

I might be wrong, but my guts tell me that Sega hopes to make a 5th member of Classic Cast. But of course it all will depend on audience reaction to her.

So, dear audience, what's your reaction?

 

 

Mine?
Mixed, some thing work, some don't.
Basic idea is cute. A nervous newbie, constantly tripping due to almost literal too large shoes to fill. She works better without the helmet, but still find comfort in hiding under it. And both her designs are pretty good, although I find Armored Design with more personality.
But her backstory... too similar too Knuckles, at least I think so, everything is so vague with her. Is she last of her kind? Was she protecting magic gem? Was she tricked into working with Eggman? Is her power just climbing? Umm, definite maybe. If they kept her as such a big mystery I would expect satisfying answers.
And her reformation doesn't grab me, since 1) Fang is mean to her, true, but not unfairly, she kept failing at every step 2) and due to that she never does anything for bad guys which makes me question why even make her "evil" in the first place?
(And while I'm talking about Fang, I don't feel he accomplishes anything in the story that Eggman couldn't done himself, promotional material aside. He really should do less in his vehicle, because that's Eggman's thing).

[castell-neath]

I like the idea of trip, but will they keep her? Cream seems to have failed, sticks (and boom in general)has failed. Rouge in Prime is sort of working but is not a great fit. I just hope they look to develop her a bit further beyond as has been said a "female knuckles". Her design and dragon form is a winner, and she has the potential to link / unlock more stories with her race and origins...in maybe a "Superstars 2"?.?

Edited October 25, 2023 by castell-neath

[MetalSkulkBane]

1 hour ago, castell-neath said:

I like the idea of trip, but will they keep her? Cream seems to have failed, sticks (and boom in general)has failed. Rouge in Prime is sort of working but is not a great fit.

Sticks didn't failed, Boom failed, she's casualty.

And Modern Cast is large, so everyone fight for spot. (And frankly Cream never was real 5th member. Even Prime Rouge is clearly getting least focus.)

Edited October 25, 2023 by MetalSkulkBane

[castell-neath]

2 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Sticks didn't failed, Boom failed, she's caustically.

And Modern Cast is large, so everyone fight for spot. (And frankly Cream never was real 5th member. Even Prime Rouge is clearly getting least focus.)

I agree, modern has a huge cast. 

I think Trip can work as a 5th member for new "classic era" / style games

[Salamander]

I'm of a different opinion.  I don't think Trip was intended as a recurring cast member; just a sort of guest star for the purposes of this game, like, say, Chip in Unleashed.  She could come back, sure, anytime Sonic Team (or perhaps more importantly the audience) wants, but I don't see a pressing need for it.  She'll be fine even if she's only ever in Superstars.

[Indigo Rush]

The fact that they went and included a new playable "classic" Sonic character at all (a non-mammalian one at that) and gave her a move that actually affects traversal in an interesting way is great, and I wouldn't mind seeing Trip again. I'd like to see her fleshed out beyond "shy" though, and I don't really expect her to be a new main character or anything. 

Superstars story spoiler:

Spoiler

I like that her super form is an actual dragon, but in practice it really doesn't work with the level design. Interesting idea, at least.

So, yeah. I like Trip a lot. Needs some fleshing out, but otherwise a great add to the larger cast, in my opinion.

[Palas]

Yeah, I didn't get the impression that he would be a mainstay at all. But I would like that.

[Ratchet25tx]

amazing character and a definitely different species than what we've been getting for some time

[MetalSkulkBane]

Reasons I think she's planned to be a mainstay
- Very fact she's a new playable character. Not like Chip or even Sage, actually playable. The last one was Silver in 2006. (Don't count Avatar or minor spin-offs).
- With her own campaign and story deeply focused on her, unlike Mighty & Ray, who were just a DLC
- A simple fact that Sega might want a 2nd female in the classic core cast.
- Her backstory doesn't feel fully told. It's either sloppy writing or leaving stuff for a sequel.
- And lastly, unique Super Form. Like, the most unique Super Form we have ever seen (that still is super form, not Perfect Chaos).  That's faaaar too generous for a one-time character. And don't say "Chip", Gaia Colossus wasn't playable... in stages.

[Diogenes]

35 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- With her own campaign and story deeply focused on her, unlike Mighty & Ray, who were just a DLC
- Her backstory doesn't feel fully told. It's either sloppy writing or leaving stuff for a sequel.

Feels a bit contradictory to me. Like yeah she has a story, compared to Mighty and Ray, but it's pretty threadbare.

35 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- And lastly, unique Super Form. Like, the most unique Super Form we have ever seen (that still is super form, not Perfect Chaos).  That's faaaar too generous for a one-time character. And don't say "Chip", Gaia Colossus wasn't playable... in stages.

I see this more as a reason not to expect her to come back. Any time she would be able to go Super, that's extra work compared to other characters. Once is one thing, but are they willing to commit to that cost going forward?

Anyway she's...fine, I guess. Mechanically she doesn't offer anything super unique but what she's got works well enough, her story's underdeveloped but her personality's cute. I'm increasingly disappointed in her design though, it just nags at me.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

I like her. Her gameplay was fun and I wasn't offended by it at all. She made the levels fun as well. Her final boss was frustrating but It didn't take me too long to figure it out and beat it.

What she really need was more story as to why she was going through the island again. I feel like they wanted to show more about the backstory of the island during her story and about the dragon if the purple haze in the background of some of the boss fights were any hints but it wasn't conveyed well enough. Was it because of fang still at large and causing trouble on the island? Does eggman deploy the egg robo units ad a backup everytime his plans fail? Did the weird purple haze control some of the bosses?

It would've made more since to have her final stage be golden capital zone.

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by A super No.1 washedupgamer

[Shiny Gems]

I like her as well. I liked her gameplay. Her rolling on walls and ceilings reminds me of Espio walking on such surfaces in Knuckles' Chaotix, and her jump and spin dash reminded me of Vector's jump and spin dash, which was also from Knuckles' Chaotix. Her gameplay was fun, and so was her story. She is such a fun character, and a cute one at that. I would love to see her appear in future Sonic games.

I just think she is a really good character. Her story was hard, especially the final boss, but it was worth it in the end.

[Blue Blood]

4 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

But her backstory... too similar too Knuckles, at least I think so, everything is so vague with her. Is she last of her kind? Was she protecting magic gem? Was she tricked into working with Eggman? Is her power just climbing? Umm, definite maybe. If they kept her as such a big mystery I would expect satisfying answers.

And her reformation doesn't grab me, since 1) Fang is mean to her, true, but not unfairly, she kept failing at every step 2) and due to that she never does anything for bad guys which makes me question why even make her "evil" in the first place?

Trip was never a bad guy. She was forced by Fang into working for him and Eggman, and lacked the courage to fight back until she snapped after Fang pushed her too far following the Golden Capital boss fight. She wasn't tricked like Knuckles was. It's not portrayed very clearly in-game, but the prequel comic gets the point across. 

Either way, I like her. It's a bit of a shame that she isn't a new villain and never really was one either, because that prospect was interesting. I've heard others say that they'd have liked her to be a "villain that isn't very good at being a villain", and I tend to agree. But she's very likeable regardless. Her unmasked design is great and her arc is the only part of Superstars story that really gets any emotional response from me. She's clearly nervous all of the time and gets beaten and bashed by Fang. When he doesn't do shit to help her in Lagoon City, a chance encounter with Amy leads to an insanely adorable moment when we see just how harmless and frightened she is. 

In terms of her abilities, I feel like Superstars leaves a lot to be desired. The game is clearly designed for the original 4 only, and therefore Trip only gets an minor play on what everyone else is capable of. She's a Jack of All Trades, and kind of a master of some too.

• She's got the same universal moveset as everyone else. 
• She doesn't have Sonic's drop dash, but Sonic is the only character without any unique traversal abilities. 
• She has Amy's double jump and extended spin attack radius. 
• She has a buffed version of Knuckles' wall climbing ability, making her faster, able to cling to slopes and ceilings and able to damage enemies as she climbs. 
• She can't fly like Tails can (unless Super), but between her double jump and superior wall/ceiling-climbing abilities, she can usually match Tails' vertical movement when it counts.

She's not exactly OP (again, unless Super), but you can see how they weren't comfortable with giving Trip any unique mechanics that would either break the game or risk being so niche that they didn't get used. She doesn't really bring anything new and different the table, except being a better climber than Knuckles if that even counts. 

I hope she makes a comeback in future Classic games. But even more, I hope she eventually makes her grand return in the modern games. I wonder if she's just never North Star Island? Regardless, however she comes back I'd like it if she was given a new and unique moveset to take advantage of her potential abilities. Keep the ability to cling to ceilings, but get rid of wall climbing and the double jump. Other characters can already do both of those moves, so she really ought to do different actions instead. 

[Salamander]

I think people worry a little too much about explaining Trip's Story; same with a Knuckles playthrough of S3&K.  The "plot" is just a conceit to make you go through all the levels again but harder and fight a new final boss.  The story doesn't really matter.

[DaBigJ]

Meh.

She's just another character in the laundry list of Sonic characters. I don't have any strong feelings for her either way.

[King of Fanta]

She's fine, I guess? I don't have a strong opinion about her, but her design is nice, and I liked her very different super form.

 

[Palas]

4 hours ago, Salamander said:

I think people worry a little too much about explaining Trip's Story; same with a Knuckles playthrough of S3&K.  The "plot" is just a conceit to make you go through all the levels again but harder and fight a new final boss.  The story doesn't really matter.

This isn't really a valid carte blanche to tell whatever story it does have in the incredibly lackadaisical way Superstars did. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, almost 30 years ago, was more coherent in its storytelling and does explain why we're playing with Knuckles, and why only at that point. Nothing abut Trip is properly explained, so it's hard to know what we are even against as her.

It's not engaging at all, and it's not so much a matter of explaining as much as it's a matter of not raising questions that need explaining in the first place. The story matters because, by pointing towards something about her species and super form, something about her newfound rivalry with Fang, something about Eggrobo and something about her home, but never looking twice in any direction, it's actively distracting.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Palas

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I think she's a fine enough addition that suffers a bit from how barebones Superstars' story is. I think it's pretty interesting that they distinguish her from Knuckles by basically having her forced into the villainous acts that she helps partake in throughout the story, but it does also ultimately suffer from the fact that the story is so barebones that you need to read into a lot of it to kind of get it. I'd argue even S3&K is a bit more clear about Knuckles' heel-face turn, compared to Trip's.

It also doesn't help that - as mentioned - while Trip does have her own story campaign, it basically means nothing because the game plays out exactly as it did before. They don't explain where her story takes place after the main game, if it's meant to be a alternative take or something that's going on after Eggman is taken down, why Egg Robo fills in, compared to S3&K where obviously, Knuckles was meant to believe Eggman was working with him, so therefore Egg Robo makes more sense, etc. I think it would've been nice to at least have a new animated intro to establish things, like where this takes place in relation to the main story, what causes her to set out. Right now, it feels like a half-hearted attempt to ape Knuckles' storyline in S3&K without much of the effort.

I'm interested to see if they'll have the sense to strike when the iron is hot, so to speak. There was a real bad habit, even up to Infinite that new characters in this franchise get locked out of extra material. Trip could be expanded upon pretty well if they allow her to immediately join the classic cast within the comics, especially now when Nack's getting a miniseries, or hell - even add her to Dash/Speed Battle as a special promotional character. But it'll suck if we just have nothing new with her for years on end until SEGA arbitrarily decides it's time to allow her to appear.

[MetalSkulkBane]

I thought both stories take place shortly after the main one?

After Sonic defeats Eggman, both Egg Robo and Mecha Sonic try to take Knuckles down on their own.
Similarly in Super Star after Eggman lost, Fang tries take over by himself, using Egg Robo for support.

For me the "meat" of the story happens in Sonic playthrough, not Knuckles/Trip. Except Knuckles actually causes you a lot of problems, so his reformation carries some weight (and if you read the manual, you know everything you need to know about him). Trips is more empathetic, but it never feels like she worked with bad guys in the first place, her reformation feels like an inevitability.

Edited January 5 by MetalSkulkBane

[Salamander]

9 hours ago, Palas said:

This isn't really a valid carte blanche to tell whatever story it does have in the incredibly lackadaisical way Superstars did. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, almost 30 years ago, was more coherent in its storytelling and does explain why we're playing with Knuckles, and why only at that point. Nothing abut Trip is properly explained, so it's hard to know what we are even against as her.

It's not engaging at all, and it's not so much a matter of explaining as much as it's a matter of not raising questions that need explaining in the first place. The story matters because, by pointing towards something about her species and super form, something about her newfound rivalry with Fang, something about Eggrobo and something about her home, but never looking twice in any direction, it's actively distracting.

Trip's Story doesn't point to most of those though.  It's literally just a carbon copy of a Knuckles playthrough.  X is chilling with their animal friends, suddenly Eggrobo, badniks are everywhere and destroyed Robotnik bases are back and carbon copies of the bosses but harder have appeared, and there's a surprise alternative final boss at the last second.  It didn't make sense in 1994 and it doesn't make sense now, but it's not there to make sense.  It's there to be an alternative harder campaign, and in that respect the only real misstep in Trip's Story is calling it Trip's Story and not Hard Mode.

Trip's story lower-case, the plot of Story Mode and Last Story as a whole, have issues towards the end which could use clearing up.  But Trip's Story with a capital S is there just for fun.  (At which it also fails, but that's a whole other topic of discussion.)

[StaticMania]

Knuckles didn't go through "every" level and had alternative paths that led to different areas where you fought bosses, 2 of the bosses were entirely original...technically 3.

The backgrounds changed to reflect that things were happening after Sonic's story, certain set pieces didn't happen the same since you were playing 'as' Knuckles, and it's not too much of a stretch for a random Egg-Robo to gain sentience and rebuild all the bosses.

The only thing that didn't really make sense is Flying Battery being one of the levels that came back.

[sonicclaasic]

I thought Trip was a very Interesting character to play as she Is very similar to Knuckles everyone saying on here. When I played her Story It had a very similar settings to Knuckles that replace Dr Eggman with the Eggrobo as a boss. 

When you do the boss fights that reminds me of the Sonic & Knuckles game. Overall I enjoyed playing her Story campaign.

[Amalgamous]

As someone with mixed feelings on Superstars overall, Trip was the highlight for me. She has two really cool designs, a very impressive and unique super form and again: she's already playable. There's also the whole "designed by Oshima" thing. I wouldn't be surprised if this was meant to be her origin story and she'll be a mainstay going forward, just so Amy isn't the only girl character in the Classic Era. I'd like to see her make the jump to the Modern games too, if only so we can get more out of her than just "adorable and shy", but I suppose we'll have to see where that goes (e.g. if that tease in TailsTube pays off).

[Ratchet25tx]

I hope trip will return as a playable character in future Classic Sonic games.

[regularmilo]

Trip is a pretty neat, cute character. I think her looks are bordering on almoooooost over-designed, at least for a classic Sonic game, but she's no more flashy than Vector, really.

 

Her gimmick is super fun and I've been having a blast going through Trip's story. I've been having fun with Superstars as just a Sonic game, but it's really a pretty good platformer and Trip's story really lets the level design shine and makes for some unique platforming challenges.