Errant Signal - Sonic and Speed

I apologize for the length of this video. Halfway through editing it I realized it didn't know if it wanted to be an essay on Sonic's signature speed as a mechanic or a retrospective of a majority of the Sonic games. Sometimes it honestly takes that long to decide what I'm doing, and this episode is weaker for it.
Still, I think it manages to capture the overall arc of the franchise nicely, and manages to at least convey my key point - that Sonic was never really about speed originally, but is very much so now.

[@LittleJimmy835]

How to make a good Sonic game: Don't make it about speed. Make it about *momentum*. Imagine a game like Mirrors Edge, Prince of Persia or Tony Hawk: Pro-Skater, but in third person and playing as Sonic. A game that isn't about going so blazingly fast that you lose all co-ordination and crash into everything, but is rather simply about _maintaining a stable, consistent speed_ while timing together jumps.

[@sloopval2302]

Assuming that you meant the MSDOS Prince of Persia, rather than Sands of Time... Holy shit is a cinematic platformer with Sonic an idea!

[@21kHzBANK21kHZ]

Honestly it was never good because of speed, it was because of how the game felt. It was about momentum,yes, but that's just a branch of what it was really about, something many Sonic fans have pointed out before: physics.

[@hognosemyan]

LittleJimmy835 Sonic's Pro Skater release when

[@ninetailedliligant1334]

+Carrotttt Hm kind of reminds me they did plan a sort of tony hawk sonic game once (not sonic riders, a more tony hawk like game) but that apparently never went anywhere...probably for the best really.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

But, you can already do that in 3D Mario games for Wii U and 3DS

[@MofOptics]

Rayman so edgy he don't even need limbs

[@isaacargesmith8217]

Full-time Penguin He was so edgy that he cut them off.

[@taekinuru2]

Full-time Penguin Pfft, ristar did rayman better.

[@papa_gordita5018]

Vectorman did it better.

[@Treyworld]

Not gonna lie. That footage of Marble Blast Ultra really made me wanna play it.

[@Treyworld]

More than I wanted to play Lost World. That game's okay I guess but I really do miss the feeling of natural momentum in Sonic games.

[@swr.nezumi]

have you seen patricia taxxon's video about marble blast

[@ihave2cows]

SA1 and 2 were still pretty good in concept. I like the idea of open exploration and momentum based platforming tied together on a 3D axis, and I didn't mind that it was hard or a little wonky, it was still really fun making all those sick jumps you could do/exploit. The main problem it had was the terrible camera angles that made the game needlessly hard, but I believe that a game like 1 and 2 could be amazing if it wasn't riddled with the bugs and bad design of 06.

[@NilkadNaquadaG]

On the subject of Sonic 06, it's actually worse than if it wasn't play tested. Quality Assurance's feedback was ignored in an attempt to get the game out the door faster. They knew damn well how awful the thing they made was, they didn't care.

[@FraserSouris]

The Devs Cared. Management did not

[@honeyham6788]

Here's an idea. Sonic's biggest issue it seems outside of mechanics and this confusion on how to mechanize speed, is that there are WAY too many characters that all feel the same. Sonic Heroes and Adventure defined a set up that seemed to box how each character would fit more or less. You were a Fast character like Sonic, a Strong character like Knuckles, or a Flying character like Tails. However, the characters themselves included ideas that tried to go beyond this, but really couldn't because of these constraints. Big could bounce on his belly to gain upward momentum, while Knuckles glided on wind. Sonic had his spin dash while Espio had invisibility. What Sonic needs is to jump to a new genre of games that emphasizes the idea of a sprawling cast of characters each with own unique play styles. I'm speaking of course, of the modern MOBA. Imagine a large Rollar Coster style environment, completely with ramps, roads, pits and cliffs. And the player can choose whichever character they want to play as. Each character could fight differently and allowed for prefered play styles. Sonic was fast and a bit strong, but he didn't have good upward mobility aside from ramps and wall jumping, while Knuckles had strength and both the ability to climb and glide through the air. As well as Tails being weak physically, but able to fly and stay airborn the easiest and most fluid, not as strong, but manuevorable. This takes the existing concept before of Strength/Speed/Flight and adds to it to create flexible character stats. Strength/Speed/Mobility. Sonic has a 60 Speed, a 30 Strength and a 10 mobility while Tails had a 40 Speed 10 Strength and 50 Mobility. Not only that, but characters would have abilities as well, such as Sonic having the Spin Dash for instant speed build up and Tails having ranged weapons he can use as the game progresses (This idea is still conceptual so I don't completely know how well to balance that just yet) The goal of the game wouldn't be to beat each other up or take down an enemy's base either, but more often, completing objectives.Sure there could be situations where players need to defend a base from invading robotnic robots, but other times it's about making it to the end of a location. a sprawling maze that requires a lot of memory adaption vs a long track filled with various choices in movement which allows for someone like Tails to compete with Sonic in a race without making them both be running on the land. Sonic is at the point where I feel it needs to take a chance and move in a different direction mechanically

[@knightoftheson]

Don't ever think that your videos are too long! I loved this one! the fact the you are both interesting and easy to listen to is the reason that i will forever watch all of your videos!! Keep it up!!!!!

[@VirtualMarmalade]

And then Lost World and Sonic Boom happened. Whoops.

[@Tetaes]

Whoops! XD

[@daSEGAfanatic]

Lost world was alright to be honest, just very odd that it tried having a story without making that story make sense, gameplay wasn't refined but interesting. Boom on the other hand, I'm sure gave anyone who actually purchased the game cancer upon playing it. Also, never touched upon here, Sonic's handheld titles were actually really solid and enjoyable platformers.

[@Metaknightkirby2]

Yup, Lost World was pretty decent. Not great, but decent.

[@Dennydo1]

daSEGAfanatic do you prefer the Sonic Advance titles of the Sonic Rush Games

[@Dennydo1]

***** At time of writing the game is worth $30 now so it's worth by now

[@stopfidgetting]

TF2 IS 100% ABOUT LUNCH CONFIRMED.

[@danatronics9039]

lunch and POOTIS

[@loplopthebird1860]

Sandwich of spycrab

[@DJHappySmiley]

this was a great video. a lot of analysis went into this and it never fell dull :) you just earned yourself a subscriber :) keep up the great work :)

[@mlo__]

You have another subscriber. I love the way you look at game design and give a new point of view at the essence of sonic: Flow. Very in depth show about not only the history of sonic, but about the history of the design.

[@SJmapler]

Wow, I just started watching your videos and discovering you were THIS GOOD FOUR YEARS AGO blows my mind. This video still holds up, you are awesome!

[@FunoVison]

Been watching your videos for about 6 or so months. I always look forward to another Errant Signal. You analyse the games you choose very well. Kudos dude !

[@pwing15]

If sonic games had a countdown timer equivalent to the ones in mario, you would be encouraged to go fast, but with the sonic games, youd miss all the cool stuff to explore. stuff you dont do in 2d mario games

[@Eternal_Blue_Sun]

This was an excellent video. Pretty much everything you said was 100% accurate! I found your channel through Bunnyhop and I am so glad I did... I always look forward to a new Errant Signal video! You have quite a backlog of videos, so I'm checking them out. Thanks for doing this, brother!

[@AndyGilleand]

Personally, I love unleashed. It has a great sense of speed in the daytime levels, and brings back the slower platforming and puzzles in the nighttime levels. I think for a Sonic game to be successful you need both aspects, and both unleashed and generations do that in different ways, but personally I think Unleashed was the best made Sonic game there is due to the great gameplay as well as a great talent in graphics, story, acting, and animation, factors which have been sorely lacking recently.

[@samcrane15]

The length was perfect. I could listen to you for hours, your points and views are very informative and interesting . Keep up the good work :)

[@luckyeddie44]

Don't apologise for the length, this is a very enjoyable video. I like listening to people who know what they are talking about and are able to express their views eloquently. +1 Sub, and I hope you continue to make videos of this caliber for a long time. :)

[@Tama-Hero]

Have you played Sonic Adventure 2 Battle? (serious question)

[@nefariou5]

That was a great video essay about the rise and fall of sonic. Thanks for making this.

[@xavierpaquin]

So much thought put into this, great job

[@GoldieTamamo]

The precision momentum-control of pinball, and the thrill of a rollercoaster's setpieces, to the tune of a diverse pop, funk, jazz, rock, and big-band'ish soundtrack. Amusing, expressive character designs, straight out of a voiceless golden-age cartoon, but with a layer of 90's skate-punk rebel attitude. A frustrating tendency to force backtracking against momentum, for the sake of bonus stages and that one super sonic power that you probably won't consistently get early enough to matter--and the constant anxiety that your forward momentum is making you miss hidden level features, so that you feel compelled to play over and over again for lack of anything better to do. This is what makes a Genesis-era 2d Sonic.

[@Mekose]

But what about the Ciaos from Sonic Adventure!? The true sonic experience is about collecting animals to feed to your perfect cute adorable elder god and then make it race against the others for dominance. Mine was named Melody and she was so good at racing @-@ I'll never forget you Melody~ ; - ;

[@KPater-mf4je]

+Mekose I spent altogether too much time carefully cultivating my Chaos when I was a kid XD Probably more time than I spent on the actual courses. I was kind of surprised that the Chao element faded away in later Sonic games.

[@SmileySuperSam]

+Mekose i think it says something about the rest of the game that all we ever did was play this awesome first level game

[@PS4sos21]

I loved that part of Sonic two.. I had it on the Dreamcast.. My fave Sonic is Sonic adventure two!

[@streak1burntrubber]

They should totally make it a standalone game. Though, I don't think they really use the character at all any more. I think the last time they used them in a main game was Generations.

[@Retog]

Sonic Adventure 1 is my favourite sonic but I never understood the appeal of the Ciao section

[@daseal1479]

I love coming back to this video every now and then.

[@Killtacboy]

Holy cow, this was well put together!

[@MadMadsGamer]

I loved this! It was well written, very well thought out and a super execution. Very good.

[@eltecnopata5627]

Sonic is about learning how to maintaing the momentum (or speed), with replability and trial and error to become better in the game and finishing it in the quickest way possible (encouraged with the ring system and level design). That's the Sonic experience. And I think you get it.

[@AdaptiveReasoning]

I really don't think Sonic Adventure was THAT bad. Well, save Bigs the Cat. That was pretty bad. It has issues, but I don't see it as "the beginning of the downfall". It had heart, it was treading new ground. It did some things pretty darn well. It just needed to be further developed, and it really wasn't until Unleashed until they started to try and fix their crap, and it was taking baby steps out of a sewer by that point. Before then they just threw out the good stuff from SA and SA2 and stopped refining it. SA2 had some pretty fun Sonic/Shadow levels, (even though the story was utter craaaaaap and Shadow is the fanficiest thing in the world). And I don't mind the extra characters as long as they are kept to a minimum and their gameplay can hold its own. I like Tails. I like Knuckles. Amy is alright when they're playing her for laughs, and I loved the way she played in SA flipping around with the hammer.

[@LiquidSquidd]

Really awesome that TotalBiscuit has given you a shout out, you deserve it!

[@jgordon707]

I really hope to hear more of your insight. This was well-written and informative.

[@hamman91]

Not a fan of sonic, but damn, the Genesis did have an amazing sound chip.

[@colonelsandwich641]

You're right.

[@retrosoul8770]

It definitely did, most notably in the hands of talented composers who were familiar with the hardware. (Just waiting for a Snes fanboy to show up because you know it's inevitable) lol...

[@Kiwi-hv8fg]

Retro Soul wat ar yu tulkyng about snez is betah adm you cant sey i'm a fanbuy

[@gamecreaterdude13]

Said no one ever

[@Mikewee777]

Retro Soul , Genesis has synth guitar sound ; but SNES had better music over-all.

[@GothWarriorGeek]

I must say, your videos are very informative and well made. I take my gaming seriously and you seem to do so as well. It's great.

[@ComatoseCraig]

Some really nice work, great job :)

[@AdmiralObviousAckbar]

I like this guy's videos. He puts a lot of thought into them and explains all of his reasonings very well. Hard to argue with this guy.

[@stevethepocket]

Kinda wonder what you think about that fanmade 3D Sonic level that popped up recently.

[@Avitymist]

Discovered you via TB and You're pretty good, Subscribed hard

[@jackhaystead]

Great video as always!

[@Volvagia1927]

Okay, the Animal Friends. The bad of them: They can be completely paper thin and uninteresting on that level, especially due to the general nature of game writing as weak, the mechanics introduced in Adventure/Adventure 2 were half-cooked and only really worked in context as variation points and, due to Sonic Team only, at best, half committing, we get the awkwardness of Generations having them around just as "history tokens." The good of them: Having them and being interested in them allows the possibility of the main Sonic games to have ACTUAL PLOTS, unlike Mario which comes off, especially these days, as a mush of play equal to Adventure/Adventure 2 but without the redeeming facet of a narrative to give a bit more cohesion. That, and I kind of feel that the other mechanical concepts (the treasure hunting and mini-mech combat) in Adventure 2 were, with some additional work, viable full games in their own right.

[@chimanruler15]

That's a fair point.

[@gumass4534]

yeah but the difference between modern mario and sonic adventure is that mario is actually fun to play and feels good

[@Sordel]

Great video: really nice to find someone articulate and thoughtful talking about videogames.

[@Topher2k8]

Although I haven't played a sonic game in a long time, I enjoyed this video and watched it through to the end. :)

[@UltimateUgabuga]

Great Vid one of the best if seen about the sonic franchise

[@GeneReyva]

I absolutely... ABSOLUTELY LOVE what you say after you bring up the emeralds.

[@Norgodir]

Great video, I much more preferred to see the 3d Sonic as 'the' Sonic myself, being exposed to only the tv-series. I also love how you used Sonic in this video to adress broader topics like marketing, and difference between 2d and 3d. Keep on rocking!

[@BlueBlaze20]

Thanks TB for liking this and letting me find this guy, subscribed!

[@Daniel__Nobre]

Man, by all means make your videos as long as you want! I love watching them! Sometimes I don't agree with what you state, but that is what makes humans interesting - the richness of different perspectives presented in a rational way, right? :) Great videos! I like them even more than Extra Credits videos, because I see potential for much more deep insight at a more personal level and not so much a personification of a specific gaming faction.

[@Kao108]

Thanks a lot for this video. I stumbled upon it randomly. Even as a kid, I always thought there was something jiffy about Sonic Adenture, behind all the shiny new specs of a 3d gaming. I never did enjoy it as fully as previous sonic games like sonic 2 or 3 or CD. Sonic generations did bring a bit of hope and I do hope myself they will continue to improve the series, either in that direction, or by tuning it in a different yet better way more ressembling the old sonic.

[@electratix]

That. was amaaaazing. Subscribed!

[@Badingading]

I like this retrospective, though I'd argue that Sonic Adventure 2 was more of the point where 3D Sonic started to really become awkwardly about speed. Sonic Adventure 1 felt much more like a hodge-podge of ideas about how to translate the Sonic formula into the third dimension, using the "friends" to cover various aspects of the exploration part of 2D Sonic (with the added incentive of the Chao Garden and its in-game connections with hidden eggs and animals to drive their development to encourage this) while having Sonic's route still be about generally building momentum to move throughout a stage to mixed and often awkward results. It felt much more like an experiment to see what worked and what didn't, while SA2 was where they decided to file down and polish the aspects they decided were the most successful in the previous (in the process making the exploration and shooter elements from SA1 arguably worse), and thus Sonic/Shadow's stages became a lot more about precision speedy 3D platforming with twitchy controls and increasingly harsh penalties for mistakes.

[@SkipperWing]

Pretty awesome! One bone of contention: Sonic Rush (2005) on the Nintendo DS did the "nitro boost" mechanics first (in the form of the trick system and tension gauge) with accommodating levels and music. In fact, I'd argue that the Sonic handheld series-es (Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush and Sonic Colors DS) are the precursors to the "Modern Sonic," more so than Sonic Unleashed. In fact I feel it is a disservice to both the retrospective and analysis to ignore the handheld offerings (when they worked/were incorporated) simply because they were portable/smaller offerings.

[@MastaGambit]

SkipperWing Why DO so many people ignore the handheld sonic games?! o_O

[@hankwen]

I love your videos :)

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Are you me? You must be me. This is the kind of video I've always wanted to make for myself, but since I'm a Sonic fan, I always expected it would make me look like a loser for thinking about things too hard. You say everything I've always thought about the Sonic franchise, even down to the comparisons to Marble Blast Ultra. Hats off to you, sir.

[@Mafia200100]

You played my second favourite and my favourite Sonic level themes in succession ^.^ On a more serious note - I agree with pretty much everything you say here, except that I kinda liked Sonic Adventure. Maybe it's just that it's a game from a while back, so I have fonder memories of it, but I still hold it as one of my all-time favourites. Sure, it's not a good Sonic game, but it does still (just) hold up as an adventure that just happens to be in the Sonic universe.

[@Demonskunk]

I actually liked being able to play as multiple characters in a sonic game, and didn't have any trouble with the adventure games, but I can see where you're coming from.

[@SearchAshPile]

That was pretty good. Thanks TB.

[@GOLDENOZZY]

I can't believe how well-though is this.

[@FwendlyMushwoom]

This was great, you perfectly captured why both the original Sonic and the current Sonic are great, but shouldn't be compared.

[@Perid0tStar]

this was very good ^.^

[@Avalon_PL]

Thanks for the video! You, good Sir, are what I'd imagine a PhD in Video Game should sound like!

[@ciconne]

I like it when Sonic games have mechanics that require you to go fast, some things Mario couldn't do. Some speed mechanics include: running though loops, up walls, controlling the tops in Marble Garden, time travel, grinding down Eggman's machine.

[@GTXDash]

16:24 Yes! Thank you! Finally someone understands what was lost in the new sonic games, momentum, weight, physics, control consistency. That's what Sonic really was. I am futilely waiting for Sega to release a 3D Sonic game that does this, but I'm not holding my breath.

[@KenichiShimerugi]

I haven't played it myself, but from what I've seen, Sonic Lost World might be up your alley. It's nothing life-changing, but it's a slower Sonic game that focuses on momentum and control of Sonic. Running is now mapped to a button for further control when there are tighter spots that you might want a slower Sonic for, but the parkour system helps with vertical movement. It's a 3D sonic done in a 2D styling and I believe that plenty of people wrote it off because it wasn't what they were expecting. Give it a shot if you have a Wii U or a 3DS/2DS. It's definitely something that I think you'd be interested in.

[@GTXDash]

Mark James Thanks for the suggestion, but I think Sonic Lost World's physics doesn't make any sense. The rules changes depending on what action sonic is doing. And I don't think a slower Sonic is a good thing. All we really need is something like Sonic Adventure 2 but with a more sophisticated physics engine.

[@Snieder5]

Super Bunnyhop really liked this video...

[@HarperSanchez]

Guess he knows when he's beat.

[@Uberphish]

Yeah, I'm not sure why you apologized for the length of this. There was never a point where I felt bored by rambling or disinterested in what you were saying. You followed point A to point B perfectly well and taught me more about Sonic than I ever would have bothered to look up on my own, having lost interest in the series after the third iteration. Thanks for this, and excellent work!

[@Axon193]

Awesome video, summed up all my thoughts perfectly. I kind of wish you would have gone over Sonic Colors a bit more, though, as it's one of my favorite Sonic games and only really got half a sentence of coverage.

[@YCCCm7]

Haha. That bit at 9:00ish mark with Tails getting carpetbombed. That moment was always classic.

[@Tazato]

This and Extra Credits are the best video game essay videos available on the web, and there are a ton of critical video game series available on the web.

[@ReavinBlue]

the "spark" is in the nostalgia. we were all kids in the 90's. therefore we want to feel the same way we did then, but now, and mechanics will only give your nostalgia tickles until a certain point.

[@TheWaffleFactory]

Unleashed was so fun. It’s world felt more fleshed out and polished too compared to forces or even generations with it held together by cutscenes in a white void.

[@tz64nk41]

Very interesting analysis. I'm inclined to agree with you about pretty much everything here.

[@dandypajamas]

DAT SOOTHING, AUTHORITATIVE VOICE + BEARD & FLANNELS.

[@CatCoffe]

Great Video !!

[@ArturoStojanoff]

This video fits very well with Innuendo Studios' "It's Not Easy Being Blue". Almost like a response.

[@jamiebrayshaw3601]

Please update this with the past 8 years of Sonic 🙏

[@PLMREP]

This video is a gem in my mind and should be translated into Japanese and viewed by everyone in Sonic Team. They were on the right track with the last major release, I can only hope it stays that way.

[@joel66666]

Really good video :)

[@HezJP]

Oh shit yes, a new video :D

[@sbjosepha]

I will elaborate further. An instance of this concept being used effectively- You are standing in a room that is filling rapidly with some sort of hazard,sonic-speed, which allows enhanced movement up walls, over water, and from certain highlighted jump points, according to which direction you move the control stick, for instance, you to go upwards through an inactive elevator shaft to safety, or jump fromlight fixtures, that swing and illuminate dynamically, to a high platform. Stuff like that.

[@MajorShepard]

Surprisingly I agree with you :P I actually liked Sonic Adventure but everything you said about it I agreed with. Good review/commentary/whatever this is called. I hope Sega can now use modern sonic like they did in Generations

[@malte3756]

I only ever played Sonic Generations and I have to say I really enjoyed it. As a seperate game, disconnected from the rest of the series since I only played that it had no expectations to live up to but rather just was a fun game on its own.

[@billyjack403]

The levels with just sonic is amazing

[@unclefeelyhands]

great video, im only mad about not finding this guy earlier

[@n00neimp0rtant]

As a lifetime Sonic fan who has suffered through far more garbage Sonic titles than even you had to put up with in making this video, you are spot-on in just about every regard. The only tiny, tiny thing I have to disagree with is the Adventure-style gameplay. Sonic's physics and level layouts were excellent and still fun to play today. Maybe it's just because I've got all the niggles of each and every stage mapped to muscle memory, but something about SA1/2 just keeps bringing me back.

[@thegrumptastic]

I'm probably bias because i didn't have a ton of games to play growing up, but i freaking loved Sonic Adventure, I played the hell out of it and really enjoyed it.

[@rowtow13]

"He had slick running shoes in an era where kids were getting shot over having the coolest sneakers," oh my god

[@Baleur]

You're intelligent. You make logical points. You pick up on marketing ideas and come up with ideas on why certain things were done. Well elaborated. Sub =)

[@DeadCamper]

Good reasoning, good video, good work.

[@21kHzBANK21kHZ]

What's important to note is that Sonic is an icon. If the era calls for it Sonic will abandon his roots completely and push forward into the future.

[@LiquidSquidd]

Somebody hire this man.

[@artman40]

Dustforce is a great example how being good makes the flow of the level great.

[@dragoncrashhero12]

Good video, but I have to disagree with you on the part where you reach Sonic Adventure. The linearity doesn't come up until Sonic Adventure 2, in the first game, the focus on speed is primarily in some levels like Emerald Coast and Speed Highway. However, the rest of the levels do present great 3D environments in which Sonic CAN go fast, but is allowed to explore in various directions if the player wants to. Also, the controls aren't hard, Sonic has a reasonable acceleration, he isn't hard to move left or right when hitting top speed, and stop at any moment. And while the momentum was no longer the focus, it could still be used with methods like the spin dash to navigate through the levels in so many ways. Also, I think it's kind of unfair to categorize the side characters as soulless. Despite inconsistency and the series not being well known for their story telling, the Adventure games gave each of these charm and personality (except perhaps for Big..) But more important, is that they don't occupy the other 5/6 of the game. Big, Gamma, and Amy's levels combined are less than what Sonic has. Same goes for pairing Tails and Knuckles. Plus, just like in Sonic 2 or Sonic 3K, playing as Tails or Knuckles isn't radically different from Sonic, asides their own abbilities. So the core gameplay can shine. Adventure isn't perfect, but it has many qualities that I think you're skipping by.

[@dragoncrashhero12]

dragoncrashhero12 It's weird you just classify 3d sonic as pure speed and no platforming. That's the trend that Unleashed does follow, but Generations only uses them rarely: Green Hill Zone, homage sections to speed highway and city scape, the beggining of Chemical plant, and nothing more. On the rest of the game, as 3d sonic, it's more than just trial and error. While your video focuses on mechanics, it really gives less value to the level design of the 3d games, which tend to vary. Adventure and Generations have more open spaces and layers you can explore, akin to the classic games, while Adventure 2 and Unleashed are about full speed with little platforming, but you claim this second is all what modern sonic is about.

[@Michaelwwest98]

The second he started talking about Sonic Adventure, I knew immediately that he was biased against 3D Sonic. Also, watching the footage is PAINFUL because whoever took it really sucked at these games...

[@keltuzad10]

u make me rember how much fun i had with crash how i loved the polar level

[@Volvagia1927]

As far as not about speed, though, you missed something. Sonic's timer is like a stop watch, like a runner, where Mario's is a simple count down. And another point I missed about the animal friends: A sizeable enough portion of Sonic fandom got into it from the comics and SatAM (which both had tons of animal friends and a slightly more conventional narrative structure) and the Adventure-Unleashed era was trying to cater to fans of the old games AND those tie-ins while also making their own mark. I've even seen a fair bit of the Archie Sonic stuff and it looks cool, well drawn and genuinely interestingly written, especially today such that I wish that the games could have as mechanically mature Sonic play as Generations, if not more, but with Ian Flynn working on a well structured game length narrative and one or two more characters with wildly different but enjoyable play styles.

[@TheRabidredpanda]

I always had the most fun in "Sonic Adventure" playing the Amy Rose sections. I thought the whole "unstoppable-enemy-chasing-you" avoidance mechanic was really unique for the time and created a very taut gameplay expierence. I think you are spot on about the rest of that game, though.

[@S-Nova0]

Wow that's awesome, TB liked one of your videos! Hopefully the top comments won't be "Cynical Fleet Incoming" though! Great video as usual, I could never really put the finger on why the early Sonic 3D games were so bad, but as you have demonstrated, Sonic Generations is the best blend of having speed without sacrificing tangible controls.

[@YohanBone]

I do like this video, lots of well made points BUT I still think Sonic, even in the megadrive days, was about speed. Surely the momentum based gameplay was designed for the soul purpose if being able to gain speed. Because the better you got at a level by learning how to exploit the ramps and hills etc. the FASTER you could complete it. Same with the clock, the clock counts in real seconds and counts upwards rather than downwards. While this gets rid of the tension Mario had to complete a level in a set amount of time, it means that you know exactly how long it took you to complete a level. This then makes it easy to time your self and see how fast you can complete it next time. In Mario they don't even use real seconds, so there is know way to accurately measure in game how fast you were. But Sonic is ALL about that. It's the same reason that racing games measure how fast you completed a lap, so that you can try and beat your last time. While I do think that the megadrive games are better in that you have to gain your speed rather than just press a button, Sonic Generations is the easily the best Sonic game in a long long time.

[@Phlebas99]

God I love the soundtracks in these games.

[@ProjectOccasus]

You are a smart man. Well said on everything!

[@haloboz]

I'm just waiting for Sonic Generations 2. Also, what do you think of the Rush series on the DS? I am probably mistaken, but isn't Rush when the boost first was introduced?

[@esteeNklome]

Excellent, excellent video, I agree with almost every point. There's just one thing I wish you would have touched up on, while Sonic 4 was misguided at best, I would have liked to see your opinions on the Sonic Advance and Rush series and how they handled the concepts of speed and momentum.

[@ValkenEX]

The thing is, I love the Unleashed/Colors/Generations boost gameplay soooo much The reason is because, yeah it's fun but mostly there's NOTHING like it. There's no game like a Sonic game anymore, really. Sonic has become so unique with the way they've designed it now. Lost World tried something different and it was alright, but I hope they return to the Generations style and expand on it.

[@magiciansapphire9278]

Agreed, I LOVE the Boost gameplay so much. I like Lost World it was decent but had problems but I think it was a mistake to release and do something different especially when Generations just perfected the Boost Gameplay and I think that needs to be the standard for future Sonic games and make Boost only Sonic games. I love Generations and I liked Unleashed but I would really love if future Sonic games was just about the Boost and no alternative gameplay styles and expand on it. I just wished Sonic Team and Izuka trust it more.

[@ValkenEX]

Boost gameplay was awesome, because it finally delivered on the speed fantasy while still remaining somewhat of a platformer as well. It felt good to hit the right moves at the right times. Sliding underneath a low wall, or short hopping over a little trip was fun, and required some timing. You could really get creative with the Air Boost too, since when used at the right time, you could skip huge sections of the stage. It challenged you to get through it faster and faster, because of all the alternate paths you could see, but couldn't react in time to take. "Next time I'll get that shortcut and shave even more seconds off the clock!" You always wanted the optimal run. It's a speedrunning game!

[@thesamuraispirit7686]

From all the games I played, I have to agree that boost gameplay is the best. The 2d gameplay is fun and so is the adventure style but boost is very exciting to play

[@Robert399]

What's the point of going 3D though if the gameplay's still going to be 2D?

[@SegaSky]

You have my approval.