Yet appealing to go back to a game from 1998 shows how little progress the fanbase has made on this front. This is probably the argument with the most substance behind it. So some people will call for Sonic games to go back to Sonic Adventure, for example. The only real arguments ever offered up are appeals to precedents. Sonic Utopia and Sonic Infinity are impressive tech demos, but they fall far short of the 2D fangame scene. 3D fangames are almost always proof of concept engines with no real game design. You very rarely see these claims substantiated by 3D level design sketch maps for example. 'More open levels', 'more playable characters', 'a more serious story', all ideas which have no real substance behind them and could be said by anyone. They are good at picking problems in the bad design of the 3D games, such as automation and poor level design, but when it comes to actual solutions they just give vague answers. The truth is, Sonic fans have no idea how to make Sonic work in 3D and they change their mind about how the series should be handled after each main release.

Yet now, after the release of Forces, the vast majority of Sonic fans have completely changed their tune and are calling to throw away Boost and get a completely different gameplay style. The view is best expressed by Jim Sterling's video on Sonic and innovation, which I remember was extremely popular among the Sonic fanbase at the time and was shared widely in fan circles. This was especially prevalent after Lost World and Boom ruined the goodwill of Sonic Generations. Moreover, Sonic fans generally complain that they have to wait too long for Sonic games and see no difference in their quality.Īnother very popular fan request was for Sonic Team to stick to one Sonic gameplay formula and improve it over time.

Yet pacing out of releases hasn't done much to resolve the fundamental design problems facing all recent 3D Sonic games. We had Sonic Colors in 2010, Generations in 2011, Lost World in 2013, Rise of Lyric in 2014 (a separate company), Sonic Forces in 2017 and nothing as of yet. The release of annual Sonic games has now long gone. Even fans have no clue where to start.Īfter the release of many glitchy, buggy messes, and especially 06 and Boom, fans requested Sonic Team to release games less frequently and put more polish into their products. One thing that the 2010's have taught me about 3D Sonic is that no one knows how to fix it.

Jim sterling sonic colors