How Sonic 06 Handles Multiple Characters

A brief history on how other playable characters have been used in the Sonic series leading up to 06, with a focus on how that game in particular may have the ideal formula going forward.

[@byg4299]

06 did have a good concept on how to tackle the multiple characters dilemma Sonic was having. But to quote TGC 06 review: "If they were properly executed, they might have avoided the disparity of the Adventure games efforts, while still delivering the variety afforded by the approach. But this is a game where the only thing that was properly executed was Sonic Team's reputation"

[@artistanthony1007]

I highly disagree, 06 executed alot of things properly and Shadow's growth and maturity after everything that happened prior to him such as the start of his game leading all the way to Last Story being one of them.

[@byg4299]

@@artistanthony1007 there's a lot of things you can discuss and appreciate about 06, the bright spots it has, and aspects where it does succeed as a follow-up to the Adventure series. But in the end, you really can't deny that its failure completely tanked the reputation of Sonic and Sega for the following years. And for better and for worse, Sega had to reinvent the series to get away from it.

[@Sonicfalcon16]

Yeah literally all speed levels but different characters

[@darthgamer9861]

ah, a fellow Geek Critique fan

[@AnAverageGoblin]

TCG is a fucking crybaby that thinks big words make his argument better. that quote is word soup for fucks sake.

[@calistusjay60]

In concept alone, Sonic 06 was the PERFECTION of the adventure formula.

[@cheezbiscuit4140]

honestly the only thing that motivated me to trudge through what I could. And then Elise's character arc started to unravel.

[@CADH0G]

Ding Dong Your Opinion's wrong

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@cheezbiscuit4140 Her character arc is fantastic.

[@machina5]

@@bunsmasterbunny lol

[@DLxxx]

@@cheezbiscuit4140 Unravel into... what? Learning to be a happier person who can more healthily cope with her trauma? Learning to take action WHEN she can (cause you can't criticize for her getting captured by forces out of her control, lol)?

[@axelwoni.m.8940]

My god, I swear that this guy is an absolute master of comedic timing and line delivery. It's perfect and funny every single time 👌

[@seamistseamist]

Honestly, Sonic's twilight princess is a really good way of describing what '06 was going for.

[@sezunemizuhana3870]

Which is interesting, since I consider TP to be my favourite Zelda game ever and yet while I happily defend 06 I would have a hard time saying I "love" it. Really goes to show it's all about execution. (and not rushing the game out for Christmas)

[@seamistseamist]

@@sezunemizuhana3870 Sega just forgets what playtesting is and only asks the developers to make the levels beatable, it happens sometimes.

[@cardemis7637]

​@@seamistseamist06 is more the product of a team being horribly time-crunched.

[@TronicSSJ07]

@@sezunemizuhana3870If I was the one in charge of 06’s time management, I would have released it towards Summer or Christmas of 2007, and while that’s being developed, we can release Secret Rings, and all those other games at the time.

[@juubi249]

​@@cardemis7637time crunched and stretched extremely thin. Sega cut the team in half during development to have them work on Secret Rings at the same time

[@Kingnorm04]

I think this video really highlights an issue plaguing the series. Sonic Team/SEGA seems to always learn the wrong lessons from their mistakes. The way multiple playable characters were structured and the idea of returning to the Adventure gameplay and story formula were brilliant, but because 06 failed, they thought it was because of the Adventure gameplay and the characters and not, yknow, the fact that the game was incredibly buggy and not only completely abandoned the Adventure formula, but also having anyone but Sonic as playable. Another example is Sonic Free Riders. Just because the game was terrible and barely even playable, they completely abandoned the Riders series for kart racers, which was really unfortunate because Racing on hoverboards and doing tricks suits Sonic way more than a generic kart racing game. The playable characters is a damn shame too because I feel like this game had the most balanced version of multiple playable characters like you said. Although I prefer having characters with their own dedicated stages like Adventure 2, this is a good compromise because not everyone likes those stages and I understand that it feels forced compared to Adventure 1 and the classic games.

[@GraveUypo]

that may be true, but that generic kart game is genuinely good, unlike riders. so i consider it a net win.

[@Kingnorm04]

@@GraveUypo Hard disagree. Riders has a learning curve but it’s very fun once you’re over it. Zero gravity is prob even more so because there is no learning curve, although I do think the first game was better because of the trick system. This is coming from someone played the hell out of Sonic & Sega All Stars racing as a kid but Riders and Riders ZG only recently, so it isn’t nostalgia blocking my view either.

[@TotalWannabe]

@@Kingnorm04I always hated All stars racings and loved Riders

[@diamonshade7484]

@@GraveUypo and then they ditched the All-stars

[@WaterKirby1994]

Well said & really this learning the wrong lessons hurt the series & is why Sonic peaked 20 Years Ago. The series has been so mismanaged over the past 12 Years that you have to wonder just how mistakes like this were allowed to happen. No other game series in history has screwed up as badly.

[@DesignDoc]

Multiple Characters is kind of a pillar of Sonic's design that sadly got pushed to the wayside as kind of a scapegoat for a lot of Sonic's design problems in the mid 2000s. While it was good to reset and refocus in the late 2000s with just Sonic at the time, having other characters is probably the thing I miss the most in modern Sonic games. Having multiple playable characters with slightly different abilities can do wonders for the replayability and variety when done right. 06 had many issues but I think the plan for how to implement other the characters without designing the whole campaign to work with them was quite solid, good even. Though they were definitely biting off more than they could chew with 9 characters on top of that dumb 15th anniversary deadline and split dev team. If I was re-planning this game, I would probably drop Knuckles, Amy and maybe Rouge (tougher cut I know as both she and Omega serve a larger role) as playable characters. This way, you don't lose too much while reducing the work load.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

No, Rouge is awesome in 06.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Rouge is pretty necessary to shadow's story. Amy is useless tho

[@DesignDoc]

@@thatitalianlameguy2235 As a playable character I mean, she'd still be present but her role would change. But in my mind, this hypothetical change would be made during pre-production of the original game.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@DesignDoc Again, I disagree. Rouge's multi bomb attack is a load of fun to use.

[@MegaGlassguy]

I'm curious, I agree with Knuckles and Amy but what reason made you choose to cut Rouge as a playable character in this hypothetical situation? Personally as much as I love Omega, I would have chosen him instead due to having a gameplay style straying a bit further from the norm compared to Rouge's climbing and gliding (not that the shooting was never seen prior in this series with Gamma, but still).

[@potofsteak4877]

I found your channel from the Lost World video, and I just gotta say, the editing here is on point and the jokes are quite good. Looking forward to more videos!

[@Hydropacer]

I know right?! I found his channel back when his other P-06 Video was up and I've been obsessed. This man got talent, and I get especially extremely excited when it's a new video about sonic lmao.

[@hehe42069-k]

+1 started at his first 06 video and i'm blown away on every front.

[@Hydropacer]

@@hehe42069-k If I had to choose a representative for the Sonic fanbase, I'd pick Haze in a heartbeat, he's legit the only person that even if I don't agree with some points he makes, he says it so well(?) That I just understand and laugh. Plus his scripts/editing are just chefs kiss.

[@amurilloreno]

11:05 Actually, for the side characters, SEGA did release "Team Amigo" DLC where you'll get through stages that mostly as Sonic, Shadow, or Sliver only as Tails, Knuckles, Rogue, Omega, Amy, and Blaze. Of course, the chosen stage still based on their own skills, so you won't play as Blaze in a stage that involved lots of flying.

[@islandboy9381]

The hate for Sonic's friends in the community was truly huge at the time 06 dropped, to a very toxic level and were used as scapegoats as to why the games became bad, which is probably why Sonic Team only focused on Sonic's gameplay for the next title Unleashed with the introduction of the boost gameplay from Sonic Rush as the main gameplay style from then on. However what you said about Sonic burning through detailed assets plus setpieces and making a 60 dollar 3D game very short in it's content became a real consideration for Sonic Team when they introduced the boost. Hence why from that point on they added 2D setpieces to the 3D gameplay and introduced a secondary gimmick just to lengthen the runtime without resorting to the friends in fear of another backlash. Wheter it be the unpopular Werehog, the popular Wisps or straight up nostalgia baiting with Classic Sonic. This is why I'm not surprised that Sonic Team has now chosen to do a open world type game for Sonic with Sonic Frontiers just so they can make a big budget 3D title that isn't short in content and doesn't need gimmicks or friends (although Tails and Knuckles would fit this) as a crutch to lengthen the runtime. I would be interested to know how a boost game could be done that isn't very short and doesn't rely on secondary gimmicks though because I do like that style a lot.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@cyan57 You spend an equal amount of the game on the speed stages. 06's story has a lot to do with Sonic since his death is needed to happen for the final story to happen. He's never been the one the meat of the story happens around in any of the games (SA1 being more about Tikal and SA2 about Shadow.) They were handled fine in everything except Heroes for the repetitiveness, and 06 just because of how badly they all play (but the ideas were great.)

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@cyan57 They are what the series embraced on its first transition to 3D so it's clearly the creators' vision. They're also just inherently cool which fits Sonic. They don't need to be optional. And there's nothing wrong with them being of equal measure to Sonic. You're flat out wrong there.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@cyan57 Not really. Serious and epic is inherently cooler. The people who didn’t like those things don’t like Sonic being true to himself.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

All 3d sonic games had multiple characters to feel bigger however, and You forgot a fundamental problem with all open world games. They clash with Sonic's design philosophy. Sonic levels are short but focused and filled with paths and goodies. They are made to replayed over and over, playing once casually makes any sonic game pretty short. A sonic level is as beefy as several mario levels with all the alternate paths. An open world game has to sacrifice quality over quantity, which means sonic would travel through basic uninspired terrain and the replayability of the best most challenging of sonic would be lacking

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

@@cyan57 16%? Why would someone not enjoy shadow when he's a sonic clone

[@jonatanp.1976]

Ok, not gonna lie, but the '06 version of Shadow is probably my favorite one, I genuinelly think that his story mode is great, cuz the characters and story per se are really good imo. Actually, Sonic 06 has a really interesting Story and the multiple characters would be more memorable and loved, if it didn't had the other problems to hold it back, cuz it's (unfortunately) one of the few Sonic games that has so many playable characters, and it's really ambicious about it. I would LOVE to see more of what '06 did in some other Sonic games in the future.

[@asher079]

I liked shadows character arc in 06, but the rest of the story I disliked as a whole, sonics being by far the worst (Elise getting kidnapped more times then I’m bothered to count), silvers is alright not terrible, not great either. Also it honestly feels like certain characters don’t need to be in the game, if you took Knuckles and Amy out of it, it would change nothing.

[@sonjokugaming5115]

Wordddd Sonic 06 had madddd potential I would've loved that 06 is my favorite game tho hate to say it😭🙏

[@OminousBlast]

Sonic 07 would have been the best sonic game ever

[@OminousBlast]

@@asher079 sonic sucked I agree but shadow and silver were great. Shadow being top tier(06 his best portrayal, built off of heroes and sa2) and silver being good but still having some issues. As a kid I loved the story but now as an adult I realise it’s flaws. Characters are kind of idiots being the biggest problem and some time travel discrepancies.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

The same can’t be said about Shadow’s Run Animation in 06 it looks so stiff, I think his own game which released a year before did him better, the squash and stretch animation is also neat too.

[@soulsparx]

honestly the best part of 06's structure to me isn't just the gameplay/mechanical aspect of it, it's the story implications. it makes it so that you can have this huge story surrounding a bunch of characters who have all become iconic fan favorites in their own right, without ever losing focus the way i feel adventure 1 and heroes do-- adventure 2 is better about it from this perspective, but i feel the constant shifting in play styles can be jarring so ehh, but like. execution aside, 06's approach to it really is the best of both worlds

[@BiriBiri925]

06 has another important element. The plot of this game is not about Sonic. He is only a part of global events, an important element, but the world does not revolve around him. Which immediately makes this world more elaborate and interesting.

[@Crow_Rising]

Project 06 for some time now has been shining a light into what could have been, and it's becoming more and more apparent how great of a game 06 could have been if it wasn't rushed. In it's time, 06 was like a natural disaster onto the franchise, fracturing the fanbase and casting doubt onto the franchise's future. It was like a meteor crashing into the ocean. The franchise would pick itself back up in the coming years, only to stumble in the resulting ripples not too far into the following decade. We've once again reached the point where the fanbase can't stop bickering about whether each new entry is worse than 06 or just merely mediocre, while SEGA themselves remain terrified of making anything that might venture to close to 06's crash site, even though the waves have finally calmed down. While SEGA tries to play it safe, fans continue to grow discontent by the constant nostalgia pandering and the general lack of original new content and Sonic taking up all the spotlight. I think what SEGA really needs for the Sonic franchise right now is to get over their phobia of Sonic 06 and give it a proper analysis like so many others have done before them. Stop listening to what all the fans bickering amongst themselves are saying, and well and truly learn from what happened with Sonic 06. Why it was a failure, what ideas were actually pretty decent from the project, and how it could have been great. It's about time Sonic got over it's identity crisis, and that isn't going to happen until SEGA grows the backbone to reignite their creative spark instead of dwelling in the past.

[@lpfan4491]

Ironically, the reason why people argue now is specifically because they want to stay away from 06 as far as possible. Forces is the exact opposite of it in many ways.

[@thedailysonic4278]

This is exactly what we need to talk to SEGA about. Preach, man, preach!

[@Fall-oo6mt]

I'd argue that, with Frontiers and all the recent projects (except for Origins and maybe Superstars) they have finally gotten their minds straight

[@akagi3939]

This is EXACTLY what I like about 06. It just feels refreshing after playing from SA2 to P'06.

[@hedgehogsonic11]

I've been saying for years that 06 nailed the multicharacter system. Unique stories with minor overlap, and every character having similar base gameplay but unique enough to feel like each of these characters have their own identity and stages that can at least partially accommodate their interests without taking away the spotlight from the main cast- and even allowing you to play as the other characters in Kingdom Valley, which feels incredibly rewarding if you're playing Sonic's story first, being given control of the mysterious new rival in the penultimate level. I need it back, so much.

[@rickyronny4019]

I appreciate Sonic games where the characters are relatively unique and play different from others instead of all the characters being more or less clones of Sonic. And I appreciate what 06 did with this idea

[@Rokku-D]

2:34 The delivery of Knuckles saying: "Yo that sucks, i'm going home." got me good.

[@Chill227]

Multiple stories are my favorite in sonic games, I love playing a lot of characters and seeing the overarching story from everyone's point of view

[@MementoDespair]

I understand why Sega always had to add a gimmick or alternate gameplay styles, especially in the BOOST era. Sonic Unleashed had the Werehog Stages. Sonic Colors had a lot of 2D Sections and Wisps. Sonic Generations had Classic Sonic Gameplay Sonic Lost World was just built different Sonic Forces had not only Classic Sonic Again but OC Character gameplay as well! As much as we'd love a pure boost sonic game, its just not enough to simply add more stages, the game would have felt too short, heck Generations is so short and it still had classic stages Forces is the second shortest and had 3. Still to this day Unleashed is the best 3D Sonic Game and my number one, but I personally also love Sonic 06

[@featherguardian6023]

I love Sonic 06 and one of the Best Part of it is the Multiple Characters,it feels Perfectly Balanced and as much as I love Sonic to Play with,the Character Roster is so Large that they deserve either a Large or Small Spotlight,that's one of the Biggest Wasted Potential with Forces I don't want to talk about,I Hope and Pray Sega do this Multiple Character Playstyle Again.

[@artistanthony1007]

Personally, I'm up for seeing older unused abilities characters had return because there's so many that have only appeared once and never again, Sonic has had so many different abilities that have been neglected and Sonic Wind from Adventure 2 & Adventure 2 Battle is one I do want to see return, Flame Step and the Crests of Dark, Wind & Fire from Secret Rings would be cool to see return in a future game but ofc the Flame of Judgement curse is the primary source of them so dont think it would be that easy, would still like to see those abilities return in the future.

[@featherguardian6023]

@@artistanthony1007 I 100% Agree with You.

[@artistanthony1007]

@@featherguardian6023 Plus it's just been the Unleashed Moveset, this needs to change because SEGA seriously needs to take advantage of abilities in the past, they've only appeared in like 1 game and never again.

[@featherguardian6023]

@@artistanthony1007 I'm with You on this.

[@artistanthony1007]

@@featherguardian6023 Sonic has like a hundred different abilities and skills, if we count every game that has existed.

[@trumoo2058]

your ability to drop actual good jokes while still making an informative interesting video is awesome, keep it up.

[@StelmoShow]

MAN. I can not stress enough how much I love that you have the silkiest voice ever juxtaposed with chaotic wit and little gags. These videos are great man keep it up! :)

[@bickuribox12]

Your words are glorious and appreciated

[@sackydzNG]

06 probably had the best idea for implementing different playstyles imo, even if it was executed a bit poorly. SA2, however, had the best execution of its different playstyles (again, imo), because all the stages are pretty amazing (except for Death Chamber and Mad Space, fuck them).

[@traviscunningham7062]

I like Sonic 06 in terms of concept, but I like Sonic Adventure 2 more as a game.

[@sambridgers9543]

​@@traviscunningham7062And what are your thoughts on P-06?

[@rayvenkman2087]

After playing Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and it’s Timeline levels featuring other playable characters besides Crash and Coco, it makes me appreciate 2006’s way of implementing multiple characters in a level because the timeline levels are just rehashes of existing with a new beginning section, harder obstacles and using a character with a completely different play style. Then you get levels where it mixes both and they’re actually the worst levels in the game. Two of Snack Dimension’s levels just suuuck because one’s too long that could easily be made into two separate levels where you start with Dingodile who’s slower airblower style makes it feel slow and end with Not Original Tawna who’s got a bigger hitbox, a grappling hook that’s finicky to line up shots with because there’s no aim assist or lock-on, her spin kicks are slower than Crash’s and feels awkward to move with. The other has you starting with Cortex who is the worst character to use (Stiff movements, Single jumps, Blaster bolts that’ll hit even a nail sticking out of a wall before it would hit the intended target and has a Dash move that’s hard to properly control) on a level that really exposes the limitations of his playstyle (Bottomless pits, hazards that’ll kill you in a few seconds if you’re not quick, moving enemies that can be hard to hit and being in a constant precarious spot with the level layout) before it throws you into a frustrating Crash section where you’re hopping through moving platforms in mid-air that moves quickly as you move which can lead to failed runs while chasing after the escaping ship with an awkward camera perspective which only adds to the frustration of that whole section. I want people who says the multiple character playstyles of the Sonic Adventure games suck to play that and try playing through a Cortex level including getting 100% completion on them without getting frustrated. Especially if you’re doing the Time Trials and going for Platinum Relics which goes towards the game’s total 106% completion. You’ll come back to appreciate Big’s gameplay style and Retail 2006 Silver a lot more after you spend a few minutes using Cortex.

[@iblobliboo8501]

For me 06 had the the best structure of any Sonic game, it felt epic, varied and it gave the supporting cast the right amount of time in the spotlight, it's a shame that they were really unpolished.

[@VirtuaVirtue]

"really unpolished" is kind of an understatement here

[@superlombax1561]

@@VirtuaVirtue Uh huh

[@argo9721]

I like how you guys talk about 06 like it was just kind of buggy when the game and multiple problems like the writing, The outrageous bugs, level structure, etc.

[@hamstersandwich9917]

@@argo9721 what a decade of mediocrity will do to a mf

[@viktoryc]

@@argo9721 The writing really only needed to be reworked for most of Sonic's story and Amy, other than that everything else was pretty dang good. Level design in this game was actually really good (imo) it just suffers from the AWFUL running speed and controls (which Sonic P-06 fixed). And we all know how bad the bugs are so I agree 100 percent w you there.

[@Dalopy]

Sonic Advance 3 had a really fun system where there’s 5 different characters, you choose 1 to play as & then 1 partner to bring, and each combo is unique and changes your abilities. Playing as Amy & bringing Knuckles makes her hammer super huge. Playing as Cream & bringing Sonic makes you super speed whenever you boost. Etc, etc. Lots of replay value, just to test out the abilities and have fun & also certain team combos can give you access to different areas.

[@Pogbirb]

Your style of videos are like documentaries, but they feature humor and sarcasm that most channels lack, and you often catches me off guard with the jokes and keeps me engaged, 10/10 channel, keep up the good work!

[@DoctorMinjinx]

These Sonic 06 videos are top notch. Great job!

[@WindyNight114]

This was sooo good. Really cool analysis. Can’t wait for the next one

[@emotion_deluxe]

I've dug around and researched the entire original vision of 06. It easily would have been the best sonic game. There was so much cut content that would have easily made it the best game in the series. There was gonna be an unlockable metal sonic and cream (they would have acted like metal sonic in SADX, purely a cosmetic bonus for 100%ing the game and nothing more), the ost would have been customizable by letting the player play any track from the past 4 3d games, amy had her own story line that was ultimately cut completely to save time (this is why her rescuing elise is never explained or justified among other things), the same can be said about knuckles (though amy was the only extra story mode that i could find evidence of, i assume knuckles had a similar vision) blaze was supposed to be a much more important character (this is seen through her unused dialog), and all characters were going to have a customizable move pool (blaze had a spinning claw combo attack similar to shadow that went unused and amy had a hammer jump). The 2 player mode was stripped back almost 100% down to what was planned, and there is also plenty of evidence that a chao garden was meant to be in the game as well. Had the game been delayed another year or 2, it would have EASILY been the most fun sonic game with the most replay value. And it looks like frontiers might be sonic 06 2.0 in every sense of the term. I just hope it's a glitch-less complete version and an ambitious vision that goes full circle.

[@fishly1016]

Bit of an old comment, but in the interests of correcting some misconceptions.... Metal Sonic was planned, Cream was not. There are no leftovers whatsoever for how Metal Sonic would've played, just a PLC entry and some strings mentioning his name. It's unclear whether the OST would've been customizable. At one point you could purchase tracks from almost every past game in the series (including spin offs), but odds are those would've just been selectable in the Extras menu rather than actually replacing stage music. The amigo characters were going to receive "stories" in the form of DLC (this applies for all of them, including the Super hedgehogs iirc). Based on Team Attack Amigo, it's likely that these were just going to be a collection of SET edits rather than an actual additional story. Blaze has a bit of unused dialogue, and she was meant to be used in a tag team attack in the Iblis fights, but it's unclear how much was actually scrapped. Characters were not going to have customizable abilities, aside from Sonic's gems. The gems were meant to be leveled up in gameplay, increasing the potency of their effects or granting additional ones, but full on customizable movesets weren't planned. There are a couple unused moves leftover for characters but nothing as complex as what you've mentioned (Shadow has a scrapped White Gem equivalent tied to the A button, Blaze has a close range melee attack like Sonic or Shadow's kicks). Multiplayer was gutted, yeah. It was meant to support online play, 4 player co-op, a tag story with Sonic and Shadow and a loooot of customization. There's 0 evidence for a Chao Garden, the closest thing is an easter egg on one or two of the signs in Crisis City.

[@emotion_deluxe]

@@fishly1016 it was stated that cream was planned, but never implemented. Unlike metal sonic, cream's development never touched the game's data, and yes blaze did have a homing attack combo. I'm not talking about gems. I believe rouge had some upgrades as well, but i am 100% certain amy and blaze had upgrades. Also it was stated in an online interview before the game came out that there was going to be customizable audio. I don't recall which one, so I'll go hunt for it and then edit this post with the title once i do.

[@fishly1016]

@@emotion_deluxe If you have sources for that, please do share. I mod the game extensively and have done a lotta digging into its development but haven't seen anything about upgrades for Blaze or Amy or homing combos for Blaze. Rouge does have a scrapped attack (still partially exists in the XBLA build) called the Bat Cracker Mine, though it wasn't an upgrade

[@emotion_deluxe]

@@fishly1016 yes!!! That's the rouge thing i was thinking of. I KNEW there was something, sorry for being vague, i just forgot what the attack was called. And the amy hammer jump (like cream) was stated in a promo webmagazine but i think it was completely cut and never actually implemented into the game since there was really no purpose to give her more than one attack due to amy's arc being entirely scrapped (but I'm just assuming that). I saw a video of the blaze homing attack combo on twitter, let me see if it's on youtube somewhere. And I know for sure that it's not a mod, too. Let me see if i can find the articles

[@brandonwilliams6119]

I really love this video and how it analyzes how the games evolved the multiple playable characters. I myself miss having multiple playable characters, only if done and executed the right way. I never played 06 but I can agree it does strike a perfect middle ground of rotating or switching between the characters. Sucks that 06 was so bad it scared Sega from ever trying it again, now everyone is relegated to “background cutscene character”

[@thelastgogeta]

Sonic and the Black Knight had a different solution, but it is similar enough since you can play as Sonic for the whole game but Not-Blaze, Not-Knuckles and Not-Shadow are optional and encouraged lightly by the narrative for a few missions (GameShark allows them on all missions I think). I guess they do play similarly more like Heroes or 2D games, but we still get climbing for Not-Knux besides having unique weapons/styles. As far as older/2D games, I'm perfectly content with a game that doesn't force excessive playthroughs for a true ending/final boss. Heroes and Advance 2 were too much and could have gated something else like Sound Test or something.

[@Sydney_Angelyt]

it sucks that lancelot, gawain and percival isn’t avaliable for half the game’s missions

[@vibezonegaming]

@@Sydney_Angelyt While I understand for boss missions, tutorial levels, and the missions Gawain can’t complete because you need the homing attack, the regular levels outside of that should allow for us to play the other characters.

[@Sydney_Angelyt]

@@vibezonegaming Nah, I’d love to fight King Arthur as Lancelot.

[@icemanworldnetwork5533]

I love how this video is really informative and interesting, but also the jokes are really funny and always catch me off guard. I just kept rewinding that “Try to keep up Tails” joke because it made me laugh every time. Amazing content!

[@cornycob]

I am so happy that you found something that isnt ROTMG do really well for you! perhaps a new age of bickuribox12???? literally grew up watching you

[@flybid301]

i aint know corny watched bickuribox12

[@gadlites8841]

I didn’t know Corny was a Sonic fan

[@ya7ioo]

what is the unfunny pf youtuber doing here

[@dabluepittoo-aqua4213]

Personally I prefer either being able to tackle the entire level with one guy only or being able to swap between two or more guys with the press of a button (akin to Heroes). With characters that are really fun to play as (a highlight being Blaze), I don't want to go back to one of the hedgehogs after only playing a short piece of a level. What if players liked Knuckles but were saddened that all he got was a brief section in three levels of the entire game? It's SA1's inconsistent proportions all over again but to an even bigger extreme. Honestly tho. . .I just wanna play as Sonic's friends again. I'm sick of ONLY being able to play as him for FIVE games in a row (excluding the Avatar who isn't even an already established character. Also Shadow's just a reskin in Forces), so why can't I play as Tails or Amy? Unlike Knuckles, they don't have any guardian duties so they can tag along! JUST LEMME PLAY AS SOMEONE ELSE SEGA PLEASE-

[@lpfan4491]

Sega:"Here, take Classic Sonic." You:*Screams of rage*

[@doomsdayrabbit4398]

No playable Knuckles from 06 until MANIA. That's 11 whole years.

[@christopherford39]

Your wish has been granted(I think)

[@hamstersandwich9917]

A good solution would be to add a free play mode where one can replay levels with any characters, perhaps with added challenges. That way, people who prefer certain characters can play to their hearts content and those who prefer the hedgehogs can just move on with the regular missions.

[@da_pikmin_coder8367]

15:42 I love how you showed a clip of Raiden and even though we can't hear anything, we all collectively knew "what is your source for that information?" "Source? My source is I made it THE F*CK up!!"

[@megasoniczxx]

I like 06's method in concept which, as you mentioned, is only really let down by the execution of it's characters but I think overall it would've been better for them to stick with the Adventure method or try to adapt the 2D games' philosophy into the 3D ones. Being able to just blaze through the game as one character of your choice with no interruptions just feels like it flows better and has less of a chance of driving people away from the game. One of the reasons why I still prefer DMC3SE over 4 & 5 is that in those games you get round robin'd through the entire cast regardless of your preference over just having a character you unlock at the end (Vergil) that you can choose to play the whole game over again as without having to do a part of the game you already don't like as a character that you don't like.

[@SlyestFoxOwO]

I love these sonic videos Haze. Your analysis and just topical videos are so fun to watch. Your interest in the topics show and it's infectious. I love it man keep it up 😄

[@DynoSkrimisher]

"Alright Tails, try and keep up-" _Breaks sound barrier_

[@icarusgaming6269]

You're just forgetting one thing: They made Blaze too well. She's faster than Sonic, more deadly than Shadow, flies better than Rouge. Speed, flow, agility, control, she has it all! Blaze is the most polished character and could carry the whole game on her back. The fact you only play as her like, three times is a tragedy

[@bunsmasterbunny]

She's not faster than Sonic. She's the same speed.

[@nexizimas4060]

@@bunsmasterbunny she feels faster but it could be her animation

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@nexizimas4060 It's because you play as Silver for the majority of the playthrough.

[@mazkeraid4039]

Seems like it could have been more of a Sonic Rush-type game.

[@sixteenminusten]

I loved playing sonic 06 when i was a kid. I used to wake up and run to my living room to get on that game first thing in the morning. Although there are many MANY flaws it will always be my favorite because of the memories i hold dear to me regarding the game.

[@greatwavefan397]

I might check more of your content out sometime. I like your perfectly cut humor.

[@viperneongaming4314]

Big's story should have been just a mini game.

[@doctortomato9520]

I dont even like sonic but you still make it entertaining, your the type of guy who could make a kniting tutorial hilarious

[@descartesthehedgehog6064]

I really like these sonic videos of yours. Keep up the great work!

[@imnphil4474]

“Alright Tails, try and keep up!” Got me dying rn

[@AYTM1200]

Honestly, if Frontiers leaks are real I think that will be a great way to include multiple playable characters. Let the open world include multiple playable characters then cyberspace levels specifically tailored for Sonic.

[@Lill0fD]

I played the original Sonic Adventure recently. One thing I noticed was not only was Amy the short end of the stick on the number of levels... but the way her levels were designed too. The best thing about Amy's gameplay is her hammer jump. You need momentum to get it going, but once you do, you get to do some fun tricks and maneuvers that feel similar but different to the usual Sonic style. I know a lot of people say it's Amy's speed that was the problem... which is also true... but I noticed that most of the levels are tight corridors where you need to stop and lose momentum to keep going. Like, the intro of Twinkle Park had this barrel section that showcased the hammer perfectly, and even there were a few skips that felt really satisfying when you pulled them off... but that was a minority. You didn't get to really use her kit too much, and it felt like a slow mess because there was barely room for her to move in.

[@General_Cap]

I think that being able to swap between team members throughout the mission would be much appreciated as well, not just for certain sections of the map so you'd have the option to play as who you want when you want, and then when you need to swap for something, you can.

[@beanieweenie1349]

Just for the record, I really enjoy Big the Cats campaign! I went into Sonic Adventure dreading it and expecting to hate it like everyone else, but I was pleasantly surprised, his levels are so relaxing, especially Emerald cost, and catching all the different fish is pretty satisfying.

[@sneakysileny]

"That's a nice argument Mephiles but why don't you back it up with a source?" "My source is that I made it the **ring sound** up" Made me burst out laughing lmao

[@hageshii4286]

Your analysis of the entire Sonic franchise actually gave me a brain blast. I couldn't fathom to do a breakdown of a single movie on such a level. You are an extremely tallented man and i hope your channel blows up more.

[@krisgardner4885]

YESSS I'VE BEEN WAITING PATIENTLY FOR YOUR NEXT 06 VIDEO 😭😭😭

[@Hynotama]

I really miss treasure hunting. It was always cool. Had mysterious secrets, good, original levels and nice beats.

[@guilhermefernandes9094]

Dude I swear I clicked as fast as I could when I saw your video. You’re super funny and entertaining while taking an in depth look at these games.

[@burninggelatin7081]

i always love how chill your videos are and the jokes are very nice too they dont overstay their welcome, nice and bite sized.

[@relicsplace9218]

Finally someone talks about this! I'm waiting for a sonic game like this, for years! Sonic 06 handling the multiple characters so well (I like Adventure 1 the most tho, seeing story from other characters perspective and playing them was amazing! Also the feeling of a dots connecting when you play all of them was so good)

[@Joelmamalovesit]

i love how you nailed the facts to the wall i sure enough didn't know what an echidna was let alone a tazmania tiger XD

[@pepsicola4575]

i will never forget that ray mighty and metal sonic could have been a team in heroes

[@JmrUltra]

Nice video as always. Also, liked the reference to Jimothy Ross’s Metal Gear Rising Revengance Video at the end there.

[@ty.8464]

Searching for some Sonic videos to fuel my return to Sonic games brought me a genuinely funny reviewer and commentary person somehow. Thank you Sonic lol

[@bigfanofsb653]

7:12 Actually you can play as them. It is like playing as tails following sonic in sonic 2. Most of them only do what shadow can do minus the guns.

[@SweaterPuppys]

Another example of perfect iterations of multiple playable characters is the sonic advance series. I miss cream

[@reeebvc]

Really loved this video!!! Always thought this but this was a better breakdown of it that I could put together and you show a lot of personality!!!

[@Officialencode]

i think you're right. the small minigame sections of other characters probably serves the franchise better. AND letting you play any of the levels as any character as post-game content on top of that would be dope. Personally i like the multiple character stories, and I wouldn't mind a 6, 9 or even 12 character Adventure style sonic game. But i get that that's just me.

[@TheEmeraldSword04]

0:46 I lost track of how many times I replayed this scene!

[@Supernashbro]

The style of these videos is great. The jokes are done so smoothly and the editing is fantastic

[@JinjoJinjoJinjo]

I just found your channel by watching your sonic mania review and I was surprised at how funny this video was!

[@mechajay3358]

In concept, you can say 06 was the build up to all what came before in the Adventure Era.

[@2highbruh]

dam, I want a voice like yours. That's deep and good to hear. Thought you would have millions of subscribers, because just the way you introduced your video, seemed that you were already a pro at this youtube thing. It exuded confidence and had a nice flow of words. Well, keep on crushing and you'd have millions of subscribers soon.

[@safurahh.8093]

I’ve been binging some of your videos and I adore your style of content! The analysis, the editing, the humor, it’s all really well done! You’ve got my subscription :D

[@maximumcrystal3562]

YES! i've been waiting for this! i love your content, keep it up!!

[@nyukjustacommenter857]

"Yo that sucks I'm going home." - Knuckles the Echidna

[@tricky4463]

0:00 - Intro 0:33 - Sonic 2 0:49 - Sonic 3&K 1:15 - Sonic Adventure 1 4:04 - Sonic Adventure 2 5:10 - Sonic Heroes 6:56 - Shadow the Hedgehog 7:26 - Sonic 06 13:42 - How the perception of multiple playable characters changed over time. 17:41 - Outro

[@DustBunnyDHCP]

Great Video as always bickuribox! Been a subscriber for a long time from my ROTMG days and you really did this game justice and I overall loved it. You actually made me exited to try out more sonic games. Keep up the great work!

[@JomasterTheSecond]

"It also introduced us to the Echidna, because who the heck knew what that was?" As an Australian I'm fucking *fucking* rn

[@polar6066]

dont fuck animals please

[@izamanaick]

shadow had multiple characters via coop iirc plug in a 2nd controller and you could play as sonic or whichever of his friends show up in the level

[@hollywoodBen23]

Dude i found you when learning RotMG and loved your attention to detail in the dungeon guides. Seems like the video essay format is super fitting for your style, love the in depth sonic discussion and can’t wait to see where you go!

[@boltstrike2787]

I would like to see them revisit some of the things that 06 did right to make a better game instead of just pretending like it didn't exist just because it was bugged to hell. Like, one thing I think is really clever about 06 is how they handle revisiting the same levels with different characters. If you really pay attention to the level design, you'll notice some characters play different sections of the level backwards, making it feel like new content when in fact it's just recycled content. That's a really smart way to solve the issue of Sonic blazing through levels too fast and making the game too short, if they remix the levels they can get more content out of them for minimal effort without having to bog the game down with slow, mini game-esque gameplay styles that don't feel like Sonic.

[@_Tzer]

0:37 actually tails does play differently in sonic 2 but only in really specific circumstances he has a smaller hitbox that is it.

[@3lipalm3r]

I love these Sonic videos, it takes me back man

[@st.6413]

Personally, I always loved multiple campaigns in Sonic. While I like multiple playable characters (more content is almost always better), I never saw the appeal of playing through the same game just as a slightly different character. It just seemed repetitive and boring. It’s why I didn’t bother playing through Super Mario Galaxy again as Luigi until years after I beat it. So the Adventure style of distinct gameplay and tailored stages appealed to me immensely. And I think the different campaigns were almost always great, even the low points of Big the Cat not turning me off the system. I can defiantly see why many people DIDN’T like that style, but you’re right that Sonic ‘06 is probably the closest at appeasing both sides of the community. A great game for comparison would be Battle for Bikini Bottom, a game where you primarily play as SpongeBob, but switch off in levels to either Sandy or Patrick for their own small custom segments with different gameplay styles, that for the most part was optional.

[@druhu4590]

15:42 I appreciate the inference here: Raiden: "Nice argument you got there! How about you back it up with a source?" (unseen) Senator: "My source is I made it the fuck up"

[@druhu4590]

oh and hey you fully quoted the meme at the end

[@AndrewAce.]

06 Definitely deserves another chance, and it's great that it's getting one. The whole thing about Sonic having a higher metabolism, so to speak, than someone like Mario in terms of level design, and the need to adapt to games like SM64 in terms of content was a very interesting point that I never thought of. Good shit!

[@baigelbite]

started following you like 8 years ago for rotmg and don't even play sonic but watched this to hear your voice again 😭 well made stuff boss

[@BradenBest]

9:10 "the one complaint that always surfaces when discussing the gameplay of non-sonic characters is that they just aren't as fun to play as the blue man himself" so they fixed it by making sonic himself not fun to play. Clever!

[@Iheartdrumzz]

Personally I wish we could go back to the sonic advance style of multiple characters. I miss playing stages as Amy and Tails just like I can with Sonic. Obviously sonic and other speed characters are the fastest but it's still FUN to play as the other characters in the same stages

[@KraziShadowbear]

Man, first video I've seen on this channel and I LOVE it. You've got your accurate points and reason and even really good jokes along the way without trying too hard, or oversaturating the video with them. You stayed on point with the topic and explained the general creation and background development of the other Sonic games without going to far to degrade them or put personal opinions on them, and only talking about what they meant to fans and everyone else at the time to explain a point and what they had in the overall gaming scheme of things and how they raised or lowered the standard of the gameplay styles and methods. Masterful work! Definitely going to check out your stuff! :)

[@Vanessa_exe]

i think that the main issue with the "i dont like playing with sonics friends" crowd is they just, dislike fun. they are also the crowd that hates things like the chao garden, the kart racing, the adventure hubs and such. but variety is the spice of life. i truly think the middle ground would be to use the 06 method of playing sonic, then swapping to tails for a bit, then back to sonic- with the heroes team style, but also bring back chao garden, adventure hubs, mission modes, etc better yet use the routing feature from shadow, if sonic blasts through the level ignoring the objectives you go to a sonic level- because clearly you are here to play a sonic game. whenever sonic boosts he goes into runner mode, whenever not boosting he is in that nice free movement mode we got in sonic adventure. in free move mode you can do objectives to unlock paths to play as other characters, if you are in free mode and find a metal door they requires a key, you can enter knuckles mode to go find it. you find tails mech and can go into the shooter mode, etc and if you do not wish to go do that, thats fine, run on the runners path and you will still be sonic. would that be difficult? no not really because it was done in sonic 06, there is times where you can glitch past the swap trigger and sometimes even continue playing the level as your hedgehog. just drop knuckles next to a door and if the player chooses they can interact and knuckles will be like "hey sonic, im looking for an emerald piece, want me to keep an eye out for the key? this could be a shortcut"

[@bunsmasterbunny]

Exactly. These people were never good faith to begin with.

[@milkmatcha3698]

god yes i remember being there when it happened, that everyone just gets pissy over playing as sonic's friends and want sonic to be just sonic. ironic that now many demands sonic's friends to be in action again and not just cheerleaders for the blue blur. and honestly i want that too.

[@obama_man9933]

Isn’t being fast literally part of Sonics character, if so, why does he need a vehicle, Mario kart already exists anyways and it’s a lot better

[@Vanessa_exe]

@PhantomLee there have been 3 polished sonic game since SA2 and they are rush, rush 2 and mania. i have put down unleashed, colours, forces, generations and lost world by the 3rd-5th zones because they are boring and too linear and the 3d sections play like im on rails- i want to run AROUND not in one singular direction in three lanes.

[@Vanessa_exe]

@PhantomLee im only talking about myself in my comment? it is hard to put into comments, but when i move left in an adventure game, i move left, when i move left in a boost game, i veer left, its less like im running around an area and more like im playing as a motorbike. that and i genuinely found chao garden and sped stage gameplay more engaging than any boost formula game.

[@Espionage813]

the reference to max0r’s video on mgrr with the source meme made me happy :)

[@AAAlpherior]

It's weird to me that Sonic 06 is *16 years old* at this point. It's still "the new Sonic game with better grafix" in my head.

[@elbowpunch1317]

Man, you make great videos, thank you so much for putting out great content like this.

[@carlosfromearth]

Silver just released!! Can’t wait to see what improves!!

[@JMotion]

I thoroughly enjoy your takes on 06.

[@PhillipOnTakos]

Silver is the outlier but he does have Blaze... who is super under used despite being one of the most fun characters in the game.

[@eurolex2446]

Emerald hunting was so fun… i remember in Sonic Adventure 2 you could multiplayer emerald hunt, and it was the best

[@teadroplets3314]

I love your editing. It makes me laugh! Edit: Spelling

[@shlokwaghela9560]

Subbed man, you are underrated

[@thebigbean8783]

I'm gonna play this one some day. I watched a couple let's plays, but I can't wait to get my hands on 06

[@dr.koupop880]

I use to HATE the Chaotix levels in heroes but on my A rank run, and I enjoyed them, it's not a traditional sonic play style but I enjoyed it for some reason.

[@mothwhomightnotbetrustworthy]

Ay bickuri! Idk if youll read this or if u already know, but The silver release is out!

[@yummynubs3646]

Even if it's not done as well as the adventure era games, i hope that the game devs will find a good way to implement other characters in the new style of sonic games going forwards (i know we technically have classic sonic and shadow in forces but let's be honest classic's not really that much of a character, especially in forces, and shadow plays the exact same way as sonic)