Should we finally cross the goal post for green hill?

[KHCast]

Over the years Sonic the hedgehog has had many games. While i enjoy lots of them one thing bothers me and that is the stage rehashes. Not all but one theme, and those are the green hill remakes. I was fine with a few but this is out of hand:

Yeah you get what I'm saying there are lots of green hills. I think it's time for Sega to get Original With their beginning stages.(And that doesn't mean using other stages from the games.) SA1, 2, unleashed and even Colors to a extent gave us a breath of fresh air. Nostalgia is great, but we need some originality every now and then.

[Tobbii]

Be careful, when I said I wanted less checkered GHZ-wannabe stages I got a lot of hate.

Edit: SA2 was GHZ though, so I was fine with that.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tobbii

[KHCast]

Be careful, when I said I wanted less checkered GHZ-wannabe stages I got a lot of hate.

Edit: SA2 was GHZ though, so I was fine with that.

Well I don't hate them, a lot of them look gorgeous! I'm just saying Sega shouldn't only rely on GHZ all the time for a good level idea.

[Tobbii]

I didn't say I hated them either, I said I was tired of them redoing it all the time.

Also:

Neo South Island:

Neo Green Hill:

Turquoise Hill:

Sunset Forest Zone:

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tobbii

[Djawed]

I never minded them so much, though generations should be the last time if you ask me.

I also would like to note(probably a bit offtopic) that I think sonic adventure 2's green hill zone music remix is better than both classic and modern tracks in generations

[Carbo]

Green Hill is synonymous with Sonic. It's a trademark level, and it's arguably even a trademark trope.

I quite like the various variations on it since they feel fresh, interesting and colorful. It brings out the beauty of how creative people can be when designing nature. There's always a twist of design in most of the levels that ride on that trope. Even Sonic Generations looks like a fantastic re-haul of the classic Green Hill, I can hardly tell it's supposed to be based on the same level.

But even then Sonic doesn't always start up with a simple Green Hill trope, there's the beach trope that's at least as much of a standard, more fitting for the likes of Angel Island, Emerald Coast, Wave Ocean etc.

So yeah I can't say I want the beach/forest/meadow trope to go away, just heavily shift the designs up. Green Hill Zone to Seaside Hill to Wave Ocean were all great variations, it's all good.

[Diogenes]

I don't expect or ask for them to ever forget GHZ entirely, but I'd like them to slow down on the references. We've been oversaturated in it, it no longer holds any appeal but through nostalgia (if even that). It's been quite thoroughly beaten into the ground, and it needs some time off to dig itself out.

[Glenn]

I think Sonic is all about certain traditions. Heck, every franchise is. Certain key icons that are instantly related to Sonic, that help accompany him in raising awareness and creating excitement for upcoming adventures. You've got the golden rings, red and white sneakers, the seven Chaos Emeralds and I'd include Green Hill Zone (and any various incarnation, more generically referred to as "tropical paradise stage" to be directly applied to other Sonic videogames) in that list.

Look at the top banner of SSMB for a second and tell me, what else comes to mind when you see palm trees rendered in 2D, eh? There's a reason the front cover of Sonic Generations, recently released during E3, is a huge picture of Sonic running through Green Hill Zone. And, in fact, several other front covers have made use of that iconic status. Sonic Rivals, for example, and many of the classics on the SEGA MegaDrive, including Sonic the Hedgehog 3, in America at least (somewhere got Carnival Night Zone on their altered cover... might have been right here in Europe, bless us for being different). Even the main crest of Sonic 3D: Flickes' Island, promoted as Sonic's first major step into 3D, is sprouting palm trees. And you listed the opening stage of Sonic Colours, Tropical Resort, as one that breaks tradition? Tropical Resort... made entirely of chequered brown/orange floors and palm trees. Gets everywhere, doesn't it?

I'm not saying every single Sonic adventure should visit, or revisit, Green Hill Zone. My favourite Sonic videogame (thusfar) is the HD incarnation of Sonic Unleashed, and that doesn't go anywhere near any of the older locations. It really does depend on the videogame in question. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode One, for example, simply had to reinvent the classic, if only for the first stage (criticism of the three other zones being complete rehashes on postcards to the usual address, please) and Sonic Generations, by definition, is a reinvention of classic zones. If it didn't start in Green Hill Zone, there'd be riots.

But should Sonic stride out on new and original adventures in the future, I think I'd be happy with a few nods towards the inspiration of Green Hill Zone, without the need to actually travel there. Ultimately, I respect originality and diversity, but I also respect Sonic. No matter where he winds up, as long as he's having fun and looking cool, does it really matter?

[Diogenes]

Look at the top banner of SSMB for a second and tell me, what else comes to mind when you see palm trees rendered in 2D, eh?

"Uugh, again?"

[azoo]

Sure, I'll agree with the GHZ replicas getting kind of old, but I feel that geometrically-patterned greenery stages are pretty much here to stay. I love seeing how many variations and different styles of the same stage-trope can be done, and I always sort of look forward to it in every Sonic game. Like said, they don't even have to be checkered either; they could be triangles again, or harlequin diamonds, or hexagons, or those weird ovals from Mushroom Hill!

Of course, I don't mind a change every now and then to make it more exciting; like making a more realistic tropical stage like Angel Island or Emerald Coast. Just as long as this traditionally held trope can hold it's ground and keep coming back again and again. It's really one of those tropes that Sonic can't drop forever.

[Speederino]

^ Pretty much what Azukara said. It's not that you guys don't have a point, but to me it's just kind of become a tradition to start off a Sonic game with a GHZ style stage. I wouldn't object if they did it less frequently, but I would still like to see it every now and then.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Speederino

[Tobbii]

^ Pretty much what Azukara said. It's not that you guys don't have a point, but to me it's just kind of become a tradition to start off a Sonic game with a GHZ style stage. I wouldn't object if they did it less frequently, but I would still like to see it every now and then.

But that's EXACTLY what I've been trying to say. It's getting stale since we get it so often, I also want variation and then get back to the GHZ every now and then (like now for Gen).

[SuperClassic]

To be honest, when I first saw Apotos in Unleashed, I was a lot more excited for that than I am for Sonic Generations' Green Hill, sure, it's actually the first Green Hill level we've seen in the later part of the modern Sonic era, but I still had a hard time being excited for the stage simply because I've seen it so many damn times.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Schismatist

[Silverfang]

I can agree that they have put too many variations of green hill zone. Now I have no problem with this, heck sometimes I look foward to it, but I can see how it gets tiring after a while. I do love the occasional twist like tropical resort or route 99, I wish they would do that more often.

[Tobbii]

Too much synth for my liking.

Personally, I would like to see more checkered stages, but not Green Hill. How 'bout they use a much darker shade of green, or even checkered shades of charcoal and black? That would look fucking cool!

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tobbii

[Detective Shadzter]

Sonic Battle:

Super Smash Bros Brawl (Doesn't really count, but it's going in this post anyway ):

Sonic Jam's Sonic World:

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood:

Sonic Generations:

Got to admit that they have made too many Green Hill type stages, but I really don't mind them, as I enjoy these kinds of stages. I would like to see some more variety though. We definitely need more ice stages.

[Tobbii]

True, but what about the charcoal variety?

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tobbii

[ChikaBoing]

As Glenn said, every Franchise is about Traditions, but if anything compared to some other Franchises, Sonic tends to break it's traditions way more.

[Tobbii]

As Glenn said, every Franchise is about Traditions, but if anything compared to some other Franchises, Sonic tends to break it's traditions way more.

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

To be fair though, the tradition of checkers everywhere is quite new. Emerald Hill did variations on it and it wasn't until Sonic Pccket Adventure we got it back, since then it's been everywhere.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Shaddix Leto Croft

[Tobbii]

What we had Green Grove in 1996 Sonic 3D Flickies Island having checkers in that level...ALL OVER THE FLOOR!

I'm all for Green Hill type levels I love them as long they look original and fresh from each other like Tropical Resort does

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tobbii

[Nepenthe]

While getting rid of Green Hill Zone-inspired levels or tropes completely would break my heart, I'm nonetheless tired of seeing them all the time; in fact, looking at those pictures, I didn't know it was reused even that much. As I say, nothing ruins nostalgia like the constant regurgitation of something in the present because then it's like it never left. If they slowed down on those levels and were more prone to doing a City Escape or Westopolis or Apotos more often, I'd be perfectly fine with that.

Generations is the exception mostly because it looks pretty. And giant fish.

[Chooch]

I'm not tired of Green Hill. I never will be tired of Green Hill.

It's fucking Green Hill.

[DarkLight]

I'm not tired of Green Hill. I never will be tired of Green Hill.

It's fucking Green Hill.

Edited June 13, 2011 by DragonSoul

[Scar]

Generations' Green Hill, is hands down the best Green Hill has ever looked. Not just because its in HD, but because they went and put in the effort of making it look like an actual place.

That having been said, move away from the square checkers seriously. Come up with some other unique tesselated soil pattern. Try hexagons, octagons, triangles, or wavy stripes.....anything new really. And why not try some bat-shit insane foliage. Why not have purple leaves or something? Something completely out of the left feild. Make the first stage a little more unique than just Green ____ Zone.