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The trailer for the long-rumored Sonic Generations has finally been revealed, and while the trailer is short, it may hold many answers for what the game is about. The rumor was that Sonic Generations would take classic Sonic stages from all of the best Sonic games, redesign them, and put them all in one game. Being the Sonic fan that I am, I had a definite problem with that rumor. After all, I want something new in my Sonic games, that is close to, but not outright copying of the originals.
Sonic 4 did nothing but copy, and I gave it a review score that it deserved. Now it appears that the new Sonic game will again do nothing new, adding to the anger and fury that Sonic fans have had for many, many years. In the trailer we see the new model of Sonic running, only to be joined by a Sonic that is clearly inspired from this original design. People are taking this trailer a few different ways. Some believe that there will be two Sonics in the next game, but that’s not what I believe.
As of right now, I’m sticking with the original rumor. If this trailer shows us anything, it’s that we can expect things that went with classic Sonic to be in the new games. After all, the stage that the two Sonics are running through is clearly Green Hill Zone. I don’t care if it is in 3D now or not, if I wanted to play through Green Hill Zone again, I would just play Sonic 1. I could be totally wrong, and I hope I am, since nothing has been officially revealed yet at this point, but enough is enough. If Sonic Generations is nothing but a mash up of old ideas, they might as well quit. To make things even worse, it looks as though the game may not come to Wii or 3DS, as they are absent from the end of the video while the Xbox 360 and PS3 logos aren’t.
That said, by now I think that Nintendo can make a better Sonic game than Sega can, and I’ve got a great idea to go with it. Retro Studios has already perfected Donkey Kong and Metroid, so why not fix Sonic next? It could be a joint-venture between Nintendo and Sega, and Retro could return Sonic to the glory days of old. Playing through Metroid Prime would give anyone absolute faith in Retro, but after playing Donkey Kong Country Returns, I somehow have even more.
Unlike Sega with Sonic 4, Retro created brand new enemies in DKCR. Imagine that. They didn’t re-use a single enemy from a previous Donkey Kong Country game. Oh wait, every enemy in Sonic 4 was from previous Sonic games. That’s so original. Retro knows how to take any game series and make it great. I’m sure that Sonic would be no exception.
It’s time for a change and Retro should make the next Sonic game. Nintendo has come out and acknowledged that Retro doesn’t need help anymore, that by now Retro knows and thinks like Nintendo. There is a quality to all Retro games, the same quality that all big Nintendo games have, a quality that Sonic games haven’t had for quite some time. Will it ever happen? Probably not. But if it did, I’d probably cry. I’m doing my best to help an old friend out. I’m sure Sega knows of the quality of Retro Studios, and it’s about time they gave the people what they want. If Sega can’t create a good Sonic game themselves, it’s about time it finds someone who can, and there is no company better than Retro for the job.
Interesting write-up James, though it does only reinforce my nagging feeling that Sonic is a has-been. Oh if only they went back to the likes of Sonic Advance, that game was rather faultless.
On the Retro front, it’s a clever idea but are they really the easy remedy for every franchise requiring a revamp? Nintendo notably gave Zelda to Retro Studios for a considerable length of time and then Miyamoto decided to bring the project back in-house (although that could be less about Retro and more about his ego) so can they do no wrong? I’m not so sure.
I think the only way to resurrect Sonic is to go underground for a while and figure out what has and hasn’t worked for Sonic in the last ten years. Sega can’t keep milking Sonic as a cash cow if they want to start making amazing games again.
Sonic has been in an identity crisis for years, and I hate that Sega refuses to bite the bullet and completely go back to his roots.
All these crappy gimmick games really make me peeved.
I think there is a curse on sonic. Not even bioware could make a great game for him
I finally broke down and got Sonic Colors this weekend, and let me tell you that was the biggest waste of $30 in my life. The game is absolutely horrible. I don’t know where the positive review scores were coming from. Destructoid was dead-on when they gave the game a 45.
Retro would be ideal to fix Sonic, but the game would then have to be a Nintendo exclusive. If anything, Sonic should be 2.5D, since all of his 3D efforts have failed miserably except the first Adventure. I’ve given up hope on Sonic and have made a vow never to purchase a Sonic game again. I mean, Sonic 4 was a joke… did they even test that game? What was with that physics engine? AWFUL. Farming it out to Retro, though, would be admitting failure, which is probably just what they ought to do.