New interview video: Iizuka

[Diogenes]

Man this is the lamest, most linear "boost-boost-boost" 3D Sonic I have ever had the misfortune to witness. It's as bad as Colors' 3D sections, except now it's half the game (well, half of half the game).

edit: You only downvote me because you know I'm right!

Edited April 25, 2011 by Diogenes

[Dark Qiviut]

I can do a translation if you want...

But yeah, he did confirm that the other characters will not be playable.

As I suck at reading other languages, please do. I can't understand a word on it.

But if the latter is true as you say it is, it doesn't come as a surprise; he confirmed it in his last interview not long ago.

This video is unavailable?

Don't worry, it's being processed.

EDIT:

@AF, Dio: Oh, relax, you two. Green Hill's the very first level, and it's possible there will be more interesting, more complex level design later on.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Attitude Adjustment

[Indigo Rush]

Oh, nice!

Goal ring confirmed for Modern Sonic's level ending, though that was kind of expected.

[Barry the Nomad]

Yay! Bumper button quick step returns!

Not sure if we saw it before in a Generations video, but I was worried they'd go with the Colors style of quick step.

[Sephy]

That would be good, but Core just said that Iizuka says in the video that only Sonic is playable :-/

I know, that's why I'm whining xDDD.

[Nepenthe]

He said only modern and classic sonic will be playable

Iizuka, you con go straight to...

These things take baby steps. After the character backlash we went through, I'm just perfectly happy that we're even getting the chance to see Knuckles and Shadow's faces now. Seriously, that's enough of a bone for me in that department. There's more pressing fan service to deliver on...like Hydrocity.

Also, when M.Sonic slid under the cliff and came out breaking through the GHZ rocks at the end, I thought, "Hey, it's those annoying, square-shaped, purple rocks!.... I remember those annoying, square-shaped, purple rocks." Nostalgia happens in the weirdest of instances.

[DC111]

By the way:

Yeah, "of death that kills" is a French colloquial, non-serious expression which means something like great or awesome.

Ahh, thanks. Figured I must have been missing something there.

And by the way, guys, Green Hill Zone IS the first level. I can't think of any 'first level' in this gameplay style that wasn't linear. Tropical Resort Act 1 was linear and Windmill Isle was linear. But that progressed, not even by the end, but by the MIDDLE of the games (I'm looking at Empire City, Chun-nan, Adabat, Eggmanland, Planet Wisp, Aquarium Park, and Asteroid Coaster... in fact, pretty much everything in Sonic Colors aside from the first level). Give it a chance.

Edited April 25, 2011 by DC111

[Eternal EX]

Only sonic(s) is playable? I'm pretty sure we all saw that coming. I really want Shadow to return to the gaming world outside spin offs.

[Indigo Rush]

Man this is the lamest, most linear "boost-boost-boost" 3D Sonic I have ever had the misfortune to witness. It's as bad as Colors' 3D sections, except now it's half the game (well, half of half the game).

And Green Hill Zone for classic Sonic is the most linear "hold-right hold-right hold-right" 2D Sonic I have ever had the misfortune to witness. It's as bad as all the first levels in the classic Sonic games.

...wait, it's the first level.

EDIT: Before people think I'm trying to come across as a jack-wipe, I admit that the Unleashed formula is linear in design, but I fail to see how you can happily marry high-speed antics with exploration, which is what I'm assuming the issue is. If it really is a matter of platforming, it is the first level, after all. The later levels in Unleashed had some platforming in it, and Colors had platforms-a-plenty as well. Either way, the gameplay is far less shallow than people seem to stereo-type it these days.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Octarine]

Goal ring confirmed for Modern Sonic's level ending, though that was kind of expected.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Octarine

[Detective Shadzter]

The level looks beautiful indeed though it's linear as f#*k and that bothers me a lot. Even colors had more variety..Hell, even unleashed HD!

[ArtFenix]

@AF, Dio: Oh, relax, you two. Green Hill's the very first level, and it's possible there will be more interesting, more complex level design later on.

Edited April 25, 2011 by ArtFenix

[Diogenes]

And Green Hill Zone for classic Sonic is the most linear "hold-right hold-right hold-right" 2D Sonic I have ever had the misfortune to witness.

[sonfan1984]

Man this is the lamest, most linear "boost-boost-boost" 3D Sonic I have ever had the misfortune to witness. It's as bad as Colors' 3D sections, except now it's half the game (well, half of half the game).

Edited April 25, 2011 by sonfan1984

[ChikaBoing]

The Level abruptly ending reminded me of SA2 Levels. Also agree with ArtFenix.

[Scar]

Looking at Windmill Isle and Green Hill (modern) back to back, I'd day that they are exactly the same in terms of linearity.

Most of the alternate paths are in the 2D sections, which we really don't get to see, just like in Windmill Isle. No difference in linearity whatsoever guys. Its also as linear as Green Forest if you want to throw some blasphemy into the mix. Less patforming (well, we don't know, the guy was just boosting the whole time), but just as linear.

[Diogenes]

@AF, Dio: Oh, relax, you two. Green Hill's the very first level, and it's possible there will be more interesting, more complex level design later on.

[Indigo Rush]

Bullshit, man. No one's going to point to GHZ Original Version as the epitome of platforming, but you at least have to do more than hold one button/direction. The 3D sections we've seen are literally nothing more than poorly-disguised QTEs and every boost-centric complaint made flesh. This is inexcusable, even for a first level.

I mean seriously, the last 40 seconds of that video, literally all you have to do besides hold forward and boost is slide twice!

[DC111]

Hm, though I have faith that not all the levels will be as linear as Green Hill, I just thought of something a little concerning: all the classic levels are 'linear,' in a sense. Bear with me; what I mean is, although there are multiple paths, you can't turn left or right, you can only turn forward or backward. In that sense, they are linear, because they are limited by the fact that they are 2D.

That poses a question for modern iterations of classic levels: will they maintain that linear, straight direction even if there are multiple upper/lower paths, since that is what the original level did (due to limitations)? I don't think they should, but if they're trying to stay true to the old levels, it could turn out that way.

[ChikaBoing]

Looking at Windmill Isle and Green Hill (modern) back to back, I'd day that they are exactly the same in terms of linearity.

Most of the alternate paths are in the 2D sections, which we really don't get to see, just like in Windmill Isle. No difference in linearity whatsoever guys. Its also as linear as Green Forest if you want to throw some blasphemy into the mix. but just as linear.

[Indigo Rush]

Sonic games have always been linear. You get from point A to point B. This has, and always will be, the case with Sonic. Yeah, there are multiple ways to get from point A to point B, but that isn't exactly exploration, now is it? Sonic Unleashed/Colors had alternate paths to get to the goal, too. It wasn't as fleshed out as the classics due to the focus of the gameplay, but for some reason it gets smashed around for being a speed-fest.

I fail to see the "flaws" with this particular 3D mechanic. People prefer different things, and that's cool, but Sonic's momentum-based gameplay philosophy encourages forward movement and timing your jumps, not exploring the level like it's Mario freaking 64.

Calling Sonic games a shallow speed-fest is right along the alley of calling Mario games a jump-fest. No friggin' derp.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Octarine]

Again, I think it all comes down to how many acts there are per zone. If this is Modern Sonic's only Green Hill level and the total number of Modern Sonic acts is roughly equal to what was in Unleashed, then I think the linearity is a bit too much. But if there are, say, three acts per Sonic per zone (or if there are a ton of zones, I guess), I'm sure we can afford an act that really much only exists to look pretty and show the player which buttons to press.

I'm hoping for the latter, since it seems like a lot of time was put into this game, but it's really impossible to tell. I hope we can eventually get some official word on just how much content there's going to be.

[Scar]

Are people just going to ignore me now?

I compared Windmill Isle and Green Hill, and they're basically the same in terms of linearity. Most of the branching paths happen in 2D, and because the player was just boosting the whole time, we don't actually get to see those alternate paths.

[Indigo Rush]

Are people just going to ignore me now?

I compared Windmill Isle and Green Hill, and they're basically the same in terms of linearity. Most of the branching paths happen in 2D, and because the player was just boosting the whole time, we don't actually get to see those alternate paths.

[Rusty Spy]

I'd prefer it if stuff happened in the 3D sections....... kinda like Unleashed.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Black Spy