Iizuka: Sonic Generations Not A Blueprint For Sonic Superstars Gameplay

Don't do that, Iizuka-san... don't give me hope.

Interesting

That should have been obvious from the jump. Superstars is just regular ol classic gameplay.

It's actually really cool to get some insight into how they designed classic Sonic gameplay in Gens.

Quote

For Sonic Generations, the 3D world and 3D gameplay [for Modern Sonic] were created first. What we did in [that] game was to lock the camera so that we can show the players the sideview of this 3D adventure. So the game focuses on Modern Sonic gameplay with a classic element on the sideview.

So basically classic Sonic in Gens was designed in a 3d environment with the camera locked to give that 2.5d perspective. At least we now know they never had any intention to make Sonic play/move/control like he does in the classics.

I've never been a fan of how classic Sonic plays in Gens due to not having the momentum physics of the classic games and never liked that they called it "classic" Sonic when it plays/feels nothing like the classic games.

IMO Superstars feels and looks like what the 2.5d gameplay should have been in Gens classic Sonic stages.

Maybe it should be the template

16 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

It's actually really cool to get some insight into how they designed classic Sonic gameplay in Gens.

So basically classic Sonic in Gens was designed in a 3d environment with the camera locked to give that 2.5d perspective. At least we now know they never had any intention to make Sonic play/move/control like he does in the classics.

I've never been a fan of how classic Sonic plays in Gens due to not having the momentum physics of the classic games and never liked that they called it "classic" Sonic when it plays/feels nothing like the classic games.

IMO Superstars feels and looks like what the 2.5d gameplay should have been in Gens classic Sonic stages.

Very interesting information, I didn't know that (I'm referring to the quotation).
I wonder whether they could reverse the process and allow 3D modern levels to have different paths, in a different, creative way. This is something which was always kind of "sketched" in some of the modern levels, but it was never a consolidated approach.

Let's see what happens in the future :)

Well...good, because I identified quite a few things about the way they implemented classic Sonic alongside modern Sonic that never felt right, particularly in Forces.

20 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

It's actually really cool to get some insight into how they designed classic Sonic gameplay in Gens.

So basically classic Sonic in Gens was designed in a 3d environment with the camera locked to give that 2.5d perspective. At least we now know they never had any intention to make Sonic play/move/control like he does in the classics.

I've never been a fan of how classic Sonic plays in Gens due to not having the momentum physics of the classic games and never liked that they called it "classic" Sonic when it plays/feels nothing like the classic games.

IMO Superstars feels and looks like what the 2.5d gameplay should have been in Gens classic Sonic stages.

Between S4, Generations, S4 again and finally Forces, I think it's pretty clear now that SEGA and Sonic Team woefully misunderstood what Classic Sonic was all about. They seemed to think that Classic gameplay was 2D only excessive nostalgia-bait. Mania was something of a eye-opener for them. Having Mania and Forces released back-to-back can only fans made it more obvious them.

10 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Between S4, Generations, S4 again and finally Forces, I think it's pretty clear now that SEGA and Sonic Team woefully misunderstood what Classic Sonic was all about. They seemed to think that Classic gameplay was 2D only excessive nostalgia-bait. Mania was something of a eye-opener for them. Having Mania and Forces released back-to-back can only fans made it more obvious them.

IIRC, and I'm not going to try to find the magazine interview I remember reading a decade and a half ago so we'll just have to trust my memory here, before Unleashed came out Sonic Team (Iizuka?) talked about how all of the 2D bits in the game were in part meant to appeal to older fans who wanted Sonic to get back to his roots. So, yeah, Sonic Team never understood that they were deviating from what made the classic games what they were, even when they were deliberately trying to recapture that appeal.

And while Superstars looks like a good game, it's pretty clearly got that design philosophy that prioritizes IP management more than anything else. It feels like they're now aware that they don't really know where the boundary between Classic Sonic and Not Classic Sonic is, so they're being especially careful to color within the lines this time.

On 8/29/2023 at 9:19 PM, Dreadknux said:

One of the easiest ways to explain this is the following: When you play the classic courses in Sonic Generations, you are given a main route to follow. Maybe on the top and the bottom of the screen, there will be a few additional paths, but you mainly continue on the main route until the end of the level. That is a representation of the modern Sonic gameplay style.

When you play Sonic Superstars or another of the classic games, there is not really a main route to follow. You will have all these branches and paths opening up and you will find numerous ways to complete a level. These massive maps are really a core element of the classic games and they do not exist in the same way in the modern Sonic formula.

 

I'm extremely happy he didn't reuse the old, and incorrect, statement that was prevalent in the early 10s, and when Sonic 4 was released (I distinctly remember Ken Balough talking about it) -- the one about "upper routes" being more rewarding, but harder to stay on, and "bottom routes" being more barren but easier to stay on. Very promising.