Sonic and the Quest for Phallic Compensation

[Zeta]

No, Mario sells while Sonic rides on his coattails.

[Ngangbius]

^^That's about right.

I doubt that a Sonic-only Olympics would sell as much as a Mario-only one. The crossover gimmick seems more beneficial for SEGA(as it seems to be their most successful title in the company's history) than Nintendo despite being a system-seller.

[Kogen]

And yet Mario & Sonic Buttfuck at the Olympics is the best-selling game in the Sonic franchise.

No. Think about how many times the Genesis games were released again. They cannot release this again in the future for much profit.

[Ngangbius]

They could, however, release M&S @ the London Olympics two years from now, followed by the next Winter Olympics cash-in two years from that and so on and so on...

[Wombatwarlord777]

Ugh... I know SEGA needs the sales, but I don't want Sonic to become predominantly known for his roles in Olympic titles.

[Kogen]

I do not see the problem, really. Has nothing to do with the actual games.

[Isuka]

Neither do his other stuff... :'(

Also, the Death Spiral™ is selective. I mean, just look at the Dreamcast.
"Financial pressure"? Sure.
"Less time"? Most probably.
"Poorer quality"? HELLS NAW!
"Poorer sales"? You tell me.

[Ngangbius]

Ugh... I know SEGA needs the sales, but I don't want Sonic to become predominantly known for his roles in Olympic titles.

As opposed to be predominantly known for his shitty and gimmicky platformers?

[P.P.A.]

platformers?

[gr4yJ4Y]

It's a mystery I'll never understand - why Sega's quality shifted so hard, so fast and why they can't don't bring it back.


Just work the way you were during the Dreamcast era, Sega. Is that so hard to ask?

Oh, you want sales huh? Well umm...

[Shadow Hog]

Ugh... I know SEGA needs the sales, but I don't want Sonic to become predominantly known for his roles in Olympic titles.

As opposed to be predominantly known for his shitty and gimmicky platformers?

As opposed to be predominantly known for his incredible, well-thought out platformers (ie: the usual suspects). The shitty, gimmicky ones we've been getting lately can go jump off a cliff... at least, they could if we had any more incredible, well-thought platformers to point at that weren't 15+ years old.

[Wombatwarlord777]

As opposed to be predominantly known for his incredible, well-thought out platformers (ie: the usual suspects). The shitty, gimmicky ones we've been getting lately can go jump off a cliff... at least, they could if we had any more incredible, well-thought platformers to point at that weren't 15+ years old.

Well... That would be the ideal scenario... For me, anyways.

I'm glad that Sonic Unleashed, despite its numerous problems, still demonstrates that whoever the hell is in charge of Sonic anymore can still make a decent, fun game if they try (refering of course to the Daytime Stages). Just out of curiosity, how much development time was given to either version of that game, compared to Sonic 2006?

[FlashTHD]

Just out of curiosity, how much development time was given to either version of that game, compared to Sonic 2006?

I know that Hashimoto claims he and his underlings were slaving away at the Hedgehog Engine for about 5 years. Which when you think about all the numerous (known) projects that studio has had to carry in that time, the figure begins to sound like a bit of a crock.

[Ngangbius]

As opposed to be predominantly known for his incredible, well-thought out platformers (ie: the usual suspects). The shitty, gimmicky ones we've been getting lately can go jump off a cliff... at least, they could if we had any more incredible, well-thought platformers to point at that weren't 15+ years old.

The franchise had more years of duds than gold in the spotlight that Sonic is synonymous with crap in gaming communities and mass media. It's so terrible that it makes Sega as a whole look bad seeing that for many people Sonic is analogous with Sega despite the wealth of their other quality titles. It's so bad that an average title such as Sonic Unleashed is considered a highlight by fans who got burned so much that they significantly lowered their expatations, whereas if Sonic was a still constant stream of high quality that could go head to head with the best of the best games in the 16-bit era like it would have today, it would have been look at as a black sheep of an entry.

[Shadow Hog]

I'm aware of how it is, but the question wasn't how it is, it's how I'd want it to be. And honestly, I'd want people to remember that, though the series is complete BS now, it once produced some of the finest games in existence.

But of course, it's more "cool" to just write off the entire series now, including the Genesis ones, because it all sucks so hard nowadays, so I guess it's a moot point.

[Kogen]

They seem to keep creeping in closer to the first one. First Sonic Adventure 2 was universally great, then it sucked, then Sonic Adventure sucked, now some are going at Sonic 3/K, next they will say Sonic 2 sucked. Then after that, no hope!

To be fair, though, Unleashed has you rapping as the Werehog with an obese black guy.

[j-man]

If you had told me that in 1994 I would've shit myself.

[P.P.A.]

now some are going at Sonic 3/K, next they will say Sonic 2 sucked.

YOU'RE TOO SLOW

[Kogen]

If you had told me that in 1994 I would've shit myself.

Toejam~

BIG EARL

[Crowbar]

Yeah, there are already those claiming Sonic 2 sucks. I won't link to the blog in question because it sparks controversy wherever it's mentioned, but it's been posted here before.
To be honest, though, I recently realised that I don't actually like Sonic 2 that much. Every single level past Chemical Plant just pisses me off.

[Rob-Bert]

The only one that ever really pissed me off was Oil Ocean, but I actually prefer Sonic 1 to all the other Genesis games. I must be crazy.

[G.Silver]

I like it best too. It's certainly the one I keep going back to.

[Wombatwarlord777]

I guess that I should have some sort of sweet spot for Sonic 2, it being the first Sonic game I've ever played and all. But honestly, I see it as the weakest link in main series of the early days. I mean, it's a good, fun time, but everything surrounding it just takes every aspect (art, music, depth, fun, ect.) to a higher level. If I ever decide to play one of the early games, it's inevitable that Sonic 2 will be my last pick.

I wonder if the Museum pages haven't influenced my out-look... I used to never think about what game I played or why I played it. I just sat down and played whatever. But now it's hard to do that without being at least slightly more objective.

If there's one thing going for Sonic 2, it's that the Wing Fortress is epic. I just didn't get the same sense that I had infiltrated a giant flying fortress with Flying Battery.

[Isuka]

Yeah, there are already those claiming Sonic 2 sucks. I won't link to the blog in question because it sparks controversy wherever it's mentioned, but it's been posted here before.

Oh yeah, you're talking about this one, right?

Actually I already linked the Insomnia one back on the Genesis collection thread. The only thing I didn't like was that its "score" was the same as 2K6's, which "feels" just plain wrong, but other than that I think I can't really argue his points... then again, the dude bashed the Japanese version of Hard Corps for actually having hit points.

[Crowbar]

Well I was trying to avoid the inevitable shitstorm that insomnia-related articles cause but whatevs. Yes that's the article. I'd already started getting the nagging "Man, I really don't like Sonic 2 that much" feeling long before, but it was only after I read that that I admitted to it.

I think Sonic 1's safe from the "Sonic sucks" crowd, though. I've seen people bashing the whole series for years but at worst it's "Everything past the first game sucks".