Reasonable Assessment: SEGA Doubling-Down on Classic Sonic
The first Sonic game I ever played was Sonic Adventure 2. The second was Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
My first experience with Sonic involved a healthy dose of both Classic and Modern Sonic. Both black eyes and green eyes. I say this because I want to be clear that I am not a raging fan boy of either incarnation of Sonic. I love them both, and don’t hate the other.
But something ain’t quite right.
During the 25th anniversary party, I was beyond hyped to see a true return to form with Sonic Mania. Heck, I’ve raved about it already on this site. A new, pure Classic Sonic experience looks absolutely amazing.
Then Project 2017’s teaser came on. We saw Modern Sonic standing in a post-apocalyptic world. My body was ready.
Then Classic Sonic jumped out. If I’m being honest with you, I was actually disappointed.
So what’s up? I’m a man who loves Classic Sonic and loved Sonic Generations. Why wouldn’t I be happy to see Classic Sonic return in 2017?
Well, things aren’t always that black-and-white. My thoughts on Sonic 2017 are a little deeper. (Spoiler alert: My thoughts are mostly positive and I’m hyped for the game, so no need for pitchforks). Let’s explore my opinion, both the good and bad.
What I’m hyped for: The Tone
There’s a lot of hubbub and discussion regarding what tone Sonic the Hedgehog’s stories should take. Let me start off with this: Sonic stories don’t have to always be serious or always be funny. I think a Sonic story can have moments of both. When Sonic Colors first came out, I actually quite liked the game’s writing and tone (don’t kill me, yet. Hang in there). After Sonic 06 and Unleashed (parts of it), it felt good to have a simple, goofy story. The scale had been tipped too far in the other direction for so long, it was refreshing to tip it the other way for once. It was the first game with the new American writers, Ken Pontac and Warren Gaff; the character interactions felt like they had more personality than they had in a long time. They didn’t feel like second hand translations. But over time, Pontac and Gaff’s style began to feel off to me. I started to miss the days when Sonic games actually had high stakes. I missed when the games weren’t Saturday morning cartoons. I missed when the games weren’t afraid of having some serious moments. The scale was tipped too far to one side again. I want balance. Give me both sides.
If Sonic 2017’s teaser is any indication, the next Sonic Team game won’t be afraid to raise the stakes again. Eggman will actually be a threat again, not just a Snidley Whiplash. While many will scoff at the thought of Sonic having any ounce of “seriousness” (please open an Archie comic sometime), I am very excited to learn more about Sonic 2017‘s story. The tagline of “Join the Resistance” has me intrigued as it nods back to the Freedom Fighters of Sonic SatAm. As long as it doesn’t feel misplaced and overdone, I welcome this tone. Looking at the ruined post-apocalyptic city in the teaser, two complimentary conclusions can be drawn.
- “Seriousness” is returning to Sonic.
- But that doesn’t necessarily mean the entire game will be constant “edgy” cringing.
The burning city is only one location in this game. Don’t worry people, you’ll still have your grassy-forest level. As long as there is balance, my body is ready.
What I’m concerned about: Classic Sonic
If I’m being honest with you good people, I was actually disappointed when Classic Sonic was revealed in the teaser. I love Classic Sonic. Let me say that again for people who are preemptively writing angry comments: I. Love. Classic. Sonic.
But I don’t love Classic Sonic being in Project 2017. Or at least, I’m having a hard time loving it.
When Classic Sonic was included in 2011’s Sonic Generations, it was awesome! It was the first time we’d seen Classic Sonic return since the 1990’s. It was hype! Sonic Generations served as a celebration of the Sonic franchise/history as a whole, so it was perfect for Classic Sonic to be included.
But when Classic showed up in this new teaser, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of, “What? Again? Why are we doing this again?”
It doesn’t feel genuine anymore. Classic Sonic teaming up with Modern Sonic has lost its novelty. You can’t do it twice (at least not this soon). We’ve had our celebration; now, let’s get back to business. Furthermore, it feels especially weird, when we have a fully-fledged Classic-Sonic-only game coming out in a few months. Why do we need Classic Sonic in Project 2017 when we have Sonic Mania?
I think SEGA is doubling-down on Classic Sonic. It’s almost as if they aren’t confident in Modern Sonic enough for him to stand on his own. They think we need Classic Sonic there to hold him up.
They saw that we really liked Generations, which has Classic Sonic in it. Perhaps now they think we always need to have Classic Sonic in their games. Not true.
I didn’t like Generations just because it had Classic Sonic in it. I liked it because it is a great game. Classic Sonic’s inclusion felt like a one-time novelty as a tribute to the fans, and I didn’t expect him to return. In fact, Classic Sonic’s stages weren’t even a highlight for me. They’re not bad by any means, but they’re not as fun as the Modern stages. If anything, I assumed we could afford to lose Classic Sonic. Apparently, Sonic Team has different plans.
So I don’t know quite what to think of Project 2017 as of right now, but I’m excited to learn more. My thoughts are generally positive and I am definitely looking forward to the game. (The fact that they skipped a 25th anniversary release date in favor of more development is already a great sign). But I feel odd about SEGA’s inclusion of Classic Sonic. We know very little about the game right now, so I can’t make too many assessments. But there’s one assessment I can make: SEGA seems to be doubling-down on Classic Sonic. And I think that is a reasonable assessment.
What do you think? Are you as iffy about Classic Sonic’s 2017 appearance as me? Or am I insane? Are you HYPED for Classic Sonic? Let us know in the comment section, my good friends.
Noah Copeland is a somewhat-interesting human. He makes music, makes films, and stands at exactly average height. You can find him on his TSSZ author page, or on Twitter @NoahCopeland, where he posts his creative works and slightly less-thought-out essays of 140 characters. He is currently working on a comedy film about nerds, and you should totally donate to its crowdfunder.
I was introduced to Sonic on both fronts too: My cousin showed me Sonic 3 on his Genesis 2, and my sister’s friend Peter showed me the multiplayer from SA2: Battle. When I actually got Sonic games, the first was Mega Collection, and after getting frustrated with them, I went to Adventure DX.
I 100% agree with this article. Classic Sonic is great, but Mania demonstrated he doesn’t need to be always be brought back: he can have his own thing. I know Sega’s trying to win over those people who won’t accept anything less than Classic gameplay for more sales of their undoubtedly more expensive game, but it won’r work, especially when those people are getting Mania. And always diving into the Classic well is very reminiscent of Mario’s current path: an endless wave of nostalgia built experiences that do nothing but say “HEY REMEMBER THAT THING WE DID? WELL HERE IT IS AGAIN!” I hate that Mario has become that (and that nobody seems to care or welcome it), and I don’t want Sonic to become that.
Funny you mentioned that. I, too, was not as awed when I saw Classic Sonic jump into the frame for the reveal teaser. What about the other cool characters besides the Sonics who offer a different flavor for each player? With that tag line “Join the Resistance”, I thought, if this is a resistance, why not give us a Sonic Heroes like band of unique freedom fighters dotting the desolate landscape. Two or three Sonics (if Boom Sonic or some other Sonic is in there) make it a monotonously blue binge. The trailer, though good in its own right, has still nothing on Sonic Adventure’s hair raising CGI intro video with the six star characters and Open Your Heart pouring soul into it.
You raise some good points about Classic Sonic not being all that for us Sonic fans. It is about a quality, not necessarily quantity-filled, game which has been said over and over again throughout the forums. Double or Triple Sonic does not mean double or triple sales. Sonic 4 would still be just as terrible in the physics and level design department if they addees classic models, badniks, and backdrops. Sonic Runners flopped! In this case, less is more; classic Sonic and modern Sonic teaming up is old hat. If the fans have a say, make Sonic Project ’17 the spiritual successor to Sonic Adventure!
#MakeSonicProject17theSpiritualSuccessorToSonicAdventure
I like it. Let’s get it trending.
Really, for me it’s not so much weither the tone will be serious or silly, but if the writing itself will be any good. If we can have a legit reasoning for Classic being here and have a story that gives us much more than just them and doesn’t try too hard to be melodromatic and silly at the same time that it becomes out of character (see Sonic Lost World), then I’ll be cool with it.
Another thing would be if the game tries to do what Colors did and give us the stale flat 2D platforming with practically no good 3D sections. Colors felt so confined and compacted with most of it’s stages resorting to either hall-way style 3D sections or the aformentioned flat boring 2D segments that rely too much on the rather sparatic Wisps.
If the tagline is any indication, then we can hope that maybe, juussstt maybe, more than Sonics will the playable and finally give the rest of the cast the respect they deserve.
I actually had the idea that maybe Silver would be key in here by sending you back to before Eggman royally messes everything up and this could lead to a scenario where you have to achive the “Good Future”.
(Idea partially taken from Ben 10 Vilgax Attacks since I think the scenerio would be perfect here)
lol You pretty much hit the nail on the head with Colors. I still like the game, but boy, you are absolutely right about its problems.
Though I’ll say that you also hit the nail on the head about Colours’ story, Noah. I see so much hate for it now, but it’s easy to forget that at the time, its story (and in fact, a number of other aspects about the game) was a breath of fresh air; a welcome break from the norm. I also liked the story when it first came out, but I think the cheesy, Saturday morning cartoon style has long overstayed its welcome.
Totally agree with this article. Kinda weirded out by the inclusion of Classic Sonic AGAIN. I am very excited for the tone. I believe that it will be like a kind of dark but still fun(ny) Sonic game. My first Sonic game was Sonic Colors and I’m pretty sure that was a good one to start with. My next I’m pretty sure was Sonic 2 for I phone I believe (because I’m 14 and need something to occupy myself). Honestly, I love the tag line “Join the Resistance.” I’m thinking of the music deals SEGA could get done with this game. I think MUSE would be great. A theme song for the game like Uprising or Revolt would be AMAZING and would return Sonic to his rock roots. So yea. Overall Sonic 2017 hype.
Oh dude, a MUSE song on the soundtrack would be so cool.
I agree with this article. I don’t dislike Classic Sonic on its own… but I feels like the 25th anniversary celebration as been mainly just classic Sonic. Compared to the fact that we should celebrate Sonic’s series as a whole. It is like Classic gets his own light with Mania. But Modern can’t have his own focus.
In addition, I was irked. I am a Tails fan, not going to lie. So when I haven’t seen Modern Tails in action as a character in 10 years, it makes me frustrated a bit. Like I want Tails to be more directly involved. In fact in the comics and stuff, they let Classic Tails do more than they let Modern Tails. In general though, even it it wasn’t Tails, I wanted some character. ANYBODY but Classic. To show that, “Hey, you other characters are significant enough”. Having classic Sonic seems so petty to me, like the only one good enough anymore to give help to a hero is Classic Sonic (mind you back in the early modern days Tails, Amy, Knuckles etc, were ALL considered heroes and not separate from that status to Sonic ).
Another aspect is that it makes some people feel entitled to have Classic Sonic for every game now. Is every 5 years to be nostalgia fest? Because of the game comes out winter 2017, then that means we can expect to see Classic again in 3 years and some months. That is too soon. Every 5 years should not be a anniversary game.
Finally I agree about the tone. So many people are scared just because of the tone. We can have darkness and seriousness in kids games. Look at Ni No Kuni, or Kingdom Hearts. It doesn’t mean it has to be cringe worthy or inappropriate for children with swear words. It just means there are threats in the world. People can die in children video games or in superhero cartoons. Again, I want to cite Avatar, the Last Airbender show. My point is, no, 100% of Sonic doesn’t need to be dark. But just because a city is burning down is no reason to think they jumped the ship. If that is the case the only stories we can get are those where there isn’t much at stake besides Sonic being defeated. Evil has to happen in order for Good to have significance. I just think it is time for the fanbase to calm down at the sight of anything controversial like guns (which are used in children’s shows, and in games before Shadow’s game) or a swear word on its own very rarely.
Pretty much agree with ya, captain. I’d love to see more Tails.
I am glad you agree 😀 Maybe one day hopefully. Or who knows, there is a small chance this came could feature a resistance with other characters. But that is my optimist side xD….
i think i see the reason why people wanted to see modern and classic tails because i know tails is gonna be in the game because he appear in every sonic game alongside with sonic and going on adventures with him side by side.
remember back in 2014 SEGA said they are planning a new sidekick for sonic right? well they said something that a new sidekick for sonic will be in a new sonic game i think this is a new anniversary character so don’t worry they mention that they won’t replace tails because people love tails and so do i. if you look at the link below in the comment you will see what i mean.
sidekick https://www.sonicstadium.org/tag/the-search-for-sonics-sidekick/
Careful, Noah. You are triggering Classic Sonic fanboys.
LOL!
When I first saw Sonic Mania, I was so excited. Classic Sonic was back and he was getting a game all to himself. This also gave me the idea that Modern Sonic would have his own game too.
When Classic Sonic showed up in Project 2017, I was…..not so much disappointing as I was…..well yeah, disappointing. I saw Classic Sonic appear and I was like “Oh. Of course.” Sega has been REALLY doubling down on Classic Sonic, so I was hoping that Project 2017 would help to rebalance things, but no. Classic Sonic’s gotta be there too.
One thing I do find really annoying is that while Classic and Modern are fighting for attention, Dreamcast is getting the middle finger. Everything brought up about the Dreamcast era has been a joke, a jab, a stab. “Big the cat, lol. We promise no edgy damns and chaos emeralds because Knuckles raps lol fuck them.” We haven’t gotten a SINGLE THING that actually, legitimately celebrates the Dreamcast era. It’s just a hate sink for self-deprecating humor. God forbid anyone bring up how Lost World is going home in a box while eating black hearts and longing for death’s cold embrace. God forbid anyone brings up that damn Green Flicky.
It’s frustrating. I went through the games more-or-less in generational order, but I’ve always had the most affinity for the Dreamcast era, so it’s like a slap in the face to see what I’d consider my place in the Sonic world dragged through the mud with not a shred of dignity.
Yeah. I hear ya. It’s kind of a blurry line, though. Some consider Modern Sonic to include the Dreamcast era as well. It can kinda go both ways. For some people the 1998 green-eye redesign is when Modern Sonic started, for others it’s with Unleashed (ish).
I’d love to see the Adventure era got more rep as well. Odd thing, Sonic Runners actually did that, which was cool, but sucks cause it’s a mobile game. Would like to see that love in a console game.
Regarding the jokes, I don’t there’s actually any ill-will towards the Dreamcast era coming from the Sonic social media team. They make jokes about everything and there just happen to be a lot of funny stuff that happened in that era.
I have a soft spot for that era as well. SA2 is my bae.
I love both modern and classic sonic, But to be honnest, for me classic is the original sonic, so he has a bigger part in my heart, and will always be my first memory of the franchise ^^. don’t know what to think about seeing classic in the next modern game. It was cool in generations, but as the game is not announced as a sequel to anything, maybe that means the gameplay will be different from what we had in generations. would be funny if classic sonic was to be played as the modern one this time ^^ Not 2D, but 3D levels, but slower gameplay, more exploration, 3d plateforming ^^. Might be a good idea, what do you think? modern sonic for fast speedruns like in unleashed/generations, and classic sonic for slower 3D plateforming/exploration levels. it would make sense^^
I’d love to see Classic Sonic in a 3D gameplay style. Would be cool and trippy.
Well..I’m sonic fan since 1993, so classic sonic is mah boy.
BUT..even I, as a classic fanboy, dont see much sense in his inclusion for project 2017. Tails as Sidekick would have been perfectly fine.
We classic fans get mania, and thank god we do. But 2017 should have just focused on modern Sonic in my opinion. As much as I love classic Sonic, but this is a little bit overkill.
Part of me is maybe thinking that Classic Sonic is going to become a seperate timeline from Modern Sonic as a big part of the story in this game.
Dude, I think the reason that Classic Sonic is even in Project 17 is because both games are connected somehow.
I mean look at Generations, it’s all about time traveling and the two Sonics teaming up. So Mania must take place after the events of Generations when Classic Sonic and Tails returned to their time and it shows the new adventures they had afterwards.
Project 17, which takes place after Lost World obviously, however has Classic returning to team up with Modern. Plus Classic also learned how to master the Sonic Boost, which was seen in the Mania trailer (the after-images, which may likely be an early version of the Boost) and in Project 17.
This shows that the two games are linked somehow storywise.
I feel exactly the same way, nice writing man.
And now that Stealth and Whitehead are still working on Sonic Mania I hope Sega takes the chance to Spin-off Classic Sonic into its own line of games, keep the sequels of Mania coming with bigger budgets, make Classic Sonic come back with new games and comics, from my point of view that’s a way better decision than making more Sonic Boom games, but please keep Classic and Modern Sonic separated now, it was cool in Generations as you said but now it feels awkward and forced, I’m seriously hoping he isn’t as important to the game as the teaser makes him look like.
I started with Sonic 2 on the Genesis, the rest is history.
I get your concerns, I do. I just think it’s way too early to make to a conclusion. I think they did this to please all of us, to get back in our good graces, to earn our goodwill, it’s a sign of them knowing how much a lot of fans miss the glory days, it’s just kind of redundant now with Mania on the way. Like I said, it’s way too early to come up with a conclusion, but we’ll see. It’ll be very interesting to see what direction they go with him.
Indeed, it is pretty early. I’m still waiting to learn more about this game.
How…how old are you? Your first sonic game was SA2, did you just not grow up with sonic or am i old???
My thoughts Exactly! I love Classic, and I’m super hyped for Mania, but my dream coming into the party was for BOTH a new “Classic” and “Modern” game to be announced. instead, we get escentially 1.5 “Classic” Sonic. I know It’s too early to judge Proj-17, so I won’t yet, but my initial feelings from the trailer, is that Sonic Team might still be stepping forward with an uneasy step, and they’ve been doing that for 6 years or so now. It’s goten tiring and it makes me worried the series has lost it’s ambition. But I’m probably over-reacting, I hope anyways.
i think i know what he meant about this. people are very excited to see the return of classic during the 25th anniversary event. so, i think thats the reason why SEGA announce sonic mania as part of there plan to bring the old school fans back to the love of the classic sonic games. so i think SEGA can manage to bring sonic to greatness again if they try to work hard on making both project sonic 2017 and sonic mania games even more exciting. and another thing, its a shame that they are skipping the anniversary release date this year because i was disappointed about that story a month ago. so, i’m not happy about the 25th anniversary game being skipped this year. i’m happy that SEGA can manage to make a new element of a new sonic game.
I’m actually pretty hyped for Classic Sonic’s inclusion for Project 2017.
While I admit it does feel a bit overwhelming for him to be in not just one, but two headlining Sonic titles for the anniversary year (technically isn’t over till June 21 2017…and you could argue that it will spiritually carry over into winter 2017 with this game if you want), my experience with the little retro guy has been so positive up to this point that I honestly don’t mind having this much of him.
I mean if you really think about it we haven’t really been overexposed to Classic Sonic since Generations. What we HAVE been overexposed to since then was Classic style throwbacks. Sonic Lost World was literally trying to turn Modern Sonic into a more “Classic-y” style, in both art style, tone (trying to at least), and level length and gameplay. Sonic Runners meanwhile was trying to look as much like Lost World as possible in style, only sticking consistently at a 2D perspective, which in turn made it even “Classic-ier” (which makes sense for a mobile phone game if you think about it). After Generations, Sega has gotten the impression that fans want more Classic influence (not entirely wrong there), so they interpret that as making everything look more Classic styled in an attempt to achieve that effect.
But now that they are fully aware of how diverse the fan base has gotten, between the newly reinvigorated Classic fans, the still strong Modern fans, and the newly wrought Boom fans, they see an opportunity to try and please everyone with a tried and true method that they’ve gotten mostly positive feedback on before. Now granted, what most people praise from Generations was Modern’s gameplay style, but from the looks of the trailer’s cinematic, it looks as though Modern Sonic might finally have his Boost style gameplay back, so at the very least it seems that they brought that in too. They just probably wanted to bring Classic in to further hype up the anniversary aspect of the game.
And the thing is, we still don’t know too much about this title yet. For one thing, it might not just be Classic Sonic who’s along for the ride. For all we know, Boom Sonic might be included as well. If anything, I am seriously suspecting that as we get more info and details on this game closer to it’s release, we might get a new cinematic trailer that reveals Boom Sonic as a 3rd playable character with his own unique and fun gameplay style (which at this point might have to mostly be made from the ground up considering how his only console debut isn’t exactly that well regarded). It only seems logical given all the promotional artwork we’ve been receiving with all three Sonic’s running alongside each other. If there was ever a way to try and excite all three crowds with just one title, this would be it.
So if you’re concerned with an over-exposure of Classic Sonic, maybe just try and hold your breath a bit until we’re absolutely sure that he’s the only support that Modern is getting in this title this time around. I feel that if Boom is featured as well, it will all even out. Hopefully. I’m sure Modern will still get the spotlight he deserves in this title, considering we’ve been without him for nearly 5 years now.
Plus, I’ve always liked having Classic’s stages mixed in there, as they offered a different perspective and idea of how to go through those stages from games beyond his era. I’m really interested to see how they’ll experiment with entirely new stages in 2-3 different gameplay styles this time around.
Though personally, I’m just happy to have city stages back again, even if they are once again covered in fire and brimstone. Sonic has been away from concrete skyscrapers and distorted suspended highways for too long!
That’s why I assure that this game will be mediocre to bad
Sega. stop being obsessed to Sonic and just GIVE UP and sell to the other company!!!
…why are you here?
I disagree with the article.
I’m sorry. I feel your pain, but I could really care less.
Modern Sonic may be a standard to most people, but for me and fellow classic fans, he should have never left.
Back in Sonic 4 nobody bat an eye about Modern Sonic in OUR Classic sequel, and we, who were extremely vocal about it, were pretty much bullied and labled with the whole “green eyes” generalization. It was SONIC 4, the “Sonic Adventure 3” of us classic fans. And next to nobody could understand why we were so upset. They called us “unpleasable”.
After all that, Generations came around, and it was god-sent.
Greatest game since Adventure 1 (or Advance 1 for those of us who prefer 2D games). I was sure Classic Sonic was here to stay. Then Sonic 4: Episode II came around which fixed some things, but ruined so many others, and was still pretty much “Sonic 2, Modern Demake.
And then Lost World came around, I didn’t think much of it. Standard Modern Sonic game, experimenting as usual… Maybe next time it´s our cue.
Except it wasn´t. The abomination known as SONIC BOOM was born instead. Yeah… Right when I thought SEGA was going to give us the Classic Sonic branch us fans have been pretty much savoring, especially after the SUCCESS of Generations… they only make the designs and gameplay style even more ridiculous.
And Modern Sonic fans were worried that Boom Sonic was going to nudge Modern Sonic out of the picture a bit? By then I was convinced Classic Sonic would be phased out of existance.
Then it was a painful couple of years of Boom, Boom, and more Boom popping up everywhere, until Mania was announced.
Getting a game OF HIS OWN is a big deal. To you guys, Modern Sonic getting another game is… tuesday. But for US, Classic Sonic being in one is a HUGE deal.
And then Classic Sonic pops up in 2017. And I honestly couldn´t be happier. I mean, I felt guilty at first, of course. But then I remembered it all. Sonic 4, Sonic Boom,.. and then I felt guilty no more.
So no, I don’t really care if people think Classic Sonic will water down your Modern Sonic experience because the majority of gamers will still see it the other way around anyway. And hey, you JUST got Lost World… And you think it’s unreasonable to have Classic Sonic in a 25th anniversary? I’m sorry, but last celebration we had Modern Sonic in 2 games, and Classic in 1. So there’s nothing unreasonable about this.
People who think Classic Sonic is all about bright and colorful have obviously not played Sonic CD, Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic 2 (8-bit), watched SatAM, the OVA, or played Spinball in all its grittyness (although I don’t reccommended, it aged… really bad).
Your having Classic Sonic included in 2017 pales in comparison to the pain of having to go through a deceitful Sonic 4 project and campaign, to seeing yet another version of Modern Sonic pop up and get a spinoff branch of its own.
I hope this puts a little perspective in the topic.
TL;DR:
20th anniversary: 2 modern Sonics + 1 classic Sonic = good!
25th anniversary: 2 classic Sonics + 1 modern Sonic = bad!?
Let’s be REASONABLE here, since the word is in the headline, shall we?
Sorry for double posting.
I hope I didn’t come off too strong there.
Re-reading it, it’s definitely how it seems. Sorry. 🙁
But it’s way too early to judge. And we’ve been shown a trailer that definitely seems to imply the direction in which the story will go. Having Classic Sonic there clearly changed nothing. And it’s impossible to predict how a story will turn out.
Getting in the way of gameplay? Then I totally get your concern. Heck, I’ve been waiting YEARS to play as Knuckles again.
But still, we know next to nothing about the game.. or this “resistance”.
Can I just say that in “our” defense (can’t we just all call ourselves “SONIC” fans here? “YOU Modern fans” this, “YOU Classic fans” that, “YOU Boom freaks are ruining things for the rest of us”, etc. It gets pretty divisive after a while), Sonic Lost World wasn’t exactly what most of us would call a “proper” Modern experience? Because yeah, it was an experimentation, but it was such a radical departure from what we identified as “Modern” for 5 years, gave no callbacks to it whatsoever, and was trying it’s darnedest to be a Classic Sonic game without actually being a Classic Sonic game. They even made Modern’s spikes shorter. I honestly would have felt much more comfortable with the whole thing if they just made Classic Sonic in it, at least he’d fit in with the atmosphere and animations slightly better. As far as “we” are concerned, Sonic Generations was the last “true Modern Sonic experience” before this 5 year gap of other agendas (fulfilling the Nintendo agreement, introducing Sonic Boom, expanding to mobile phones, etc.).
Let’s face it, everybody kind of got screwed over in the past 5 years. Modern fans got a crumby experiment that just didn’t work as well as it should have AND NOTHING SINCE THEN, Classic fans basically got nothing (despite the fact that they were making every other game LOOK like a classic game in appearance), and the poor Boom fans have nothing but one terrible launch game and mediocre to decently average games to defend against literally everyone else in the Sonic community and entire world (yeah actually, I sympathize more with the Boom fans than with you at this point, they got it rougher, even with more games), and of course, Sonic Runners screwed all of us over. EVERYONE needs this anniversary right now. Fire and Ice might finally get the Boom franchise to a steady ground to try and climb to better achievements in the future, Mania is of course going to be loved by mostly everyone for how fresh it is, and 2017 looks like it might return to what was convincing everyone that Sonic was truly back in the first place.
I can agree that I’m a little disappointed that Modern might not get as much of the limelight as I was hoping, I’m still pleased enough to have a Classic experience included when it’s already such a rarity on it’s own these days. Really I feel that this argument would be entirely moot if it turns out that Boom Sonic is also going to be in Project 2017 like so many people are speculating (as I’ve said before, the signs were there from the beginning). I think what they are trying to go for here is the same as they did with Generations, unite the whole fan base on one game. Instead of just Modern and Classic though, they might even bring in the Boom crowd as well, which honestly I feel is really needed, even if they would have to entirely remake Boom Sonic’s gameplay from the ground up.
The real way to be “reasonable” here isn’t to criticize the presence of multiple Sonics within an anniversary game again, and it isn’t to praise it in spite of one faction or the other, it’s to be as inclusive as possible and pray that this game will do a good job in representing all sides of Sonic as needed. Whether we get a game with 2 Sonics, 1 Sonic, or even 3 Sonics, we should just hope that this game will meet the hype that they have been fueling it with and that we will all (mostly) walk away satisfied with it.
Seriously though, the poor Boom fans right now.
As somebody who is a Boom fan, I agree wholeheartedly with Hero. I really hate how Sonic fans take out their frustrations with the franchise on Boom fans. We didn’t choose to continue development on Fire and Ice, we didn’t decide that RoL should suck– heck, many of us don’t have much interest in the games (I personally prefer the TV show). Yet we’re chastised for causing those very things, and daring to support any part of Boom, because apparently supporting some aspects of the subfranchise is the exact same as supporting all aspects of the subfranchise. And even fans who do like the games and express it reasonably (emphasis on the latter) deserve basic respect, because they’re not doing anything but express an unpopular opinion. Then those same fans, the ones that have absolutely zero issue crapping all over Boom and its fandom, have the gall to turn around and talk about how they’re mistreated, how unfair people are to them, and how people need to be more open-minded towards their favorite gameplay style of Sonic. Talk about hypocrisy.
No, I’m not talking about one specific faction. That mentality towards Boom fans has permeated most of the fandom and even more outside of it. I even see it within the Boom fandom sometimes– fans of only the TV show might claim that the TV show isn’t *really* Boom and thus its safe to say that Boom and its fandom as whole are bad while still being a fan of the show.
Ordinarily I’d talk about how good the Classic fans really have it, but honestly, I’m sick of that talk. Its just more jealousy, more spite, and more things nobody really needs in their life. I think, instead of blaming Sega and other fans for our actions, fans need to start taking a good look at themselves. Bad quality games don’t justify bad quality behavior on the part of fans, and the more we use Sega and other fans as an excuse, the more entitled we feel to act disrespectfully and be spiteful. I’ve been analyzing my actions and words, I’ve screwed up too, and I understand that its not easy to own up to bad behavior. But I expect fans to at least try.
As for Classic Sonic– I think we know so little about the game that its hard to judge. So as of now, I could take or leave him. He could be nostalgia pandering or a sign of Sega being overly reliant on him, or he could be used in a way that’s meaningful and enjoyable in the game proper. And if the latter is true, well, then this whole conversation, nay, this whole controversy, was for nothing because Classic didn’t get in the way of anything, people will be happy anyway, and Sonic will be back on track. Theoretically, the same could be true for Sonic 4’s use of Modern Sonic too.
Your thoughts regarding Sonic Generations, especially about why people love it, is spot on.
The Sonic ’17 trailer pretty much confirmed to me that despite their desperate posturing lately, SEGA still hasn’t figured out its arse from its elbow. The insistant, DC-Comics-grade “edgy” tone (DARK TIMES, APOCALYPSE, ANGRY HEDGEHOGS, FIRE, RESISTANCE, MORE DARK), throwing Li’l Sonic in again for no legitimate reason aside from “gotta keep Sonic Retro happy” and the lazy reusing of assets (yes I’m still salty about the Death Egg robots fight me), and even Sonic Mania itself, just screams to me that SEGA is just as incompetent as ever.
Even though Sonic Mania is guaranteed to be awesome with the manpower behind it, I cannot see ’17 to be anything but a massive two steps back from Mania’s one accidental slip forward. Regardless of how good Mania will be, ’17 is the game everyone will be focusing on and all signs show it to be yet another complete disaster.
I would be immensely happy to be proven wrong.
you know there’s a difference between having low expectations. and expecting a low point.
I get that you don’t want to get your hopes up but jeez dude we know absolutely NOTHING about this game so far and you’re already acting like it didn’t live up to your expectations. like yeah the game looks to have a darker story……and? yes shadow the hedgehog had dark story and it sucked but Shadow the hedgehog was trying to be dark for the sake of being dark. I am more focused on the gameplay (you know the thing that your controllers used for) wich is done by the same people who made sonic generations and sonic colors the only two sonic games that where considered good in the past 15 years or so.
also Its coming out in FALL of 2017 and keep in mind this has been in development for 4 YEARS (or so I’ve herd) so I dont think we have to worry too much.
we can’t be too optimistic yes, but we can’t be too cynical either.
what ever happens, happens its all in SEGA and sonic teams hands now.
Why don’t they just ditch modern Sonic? Why are they so damn stubborn? It’s clear that the fans want classic Sonic (except the few that grew up in the green eyes era)
And the modern design honestly looks like crap. The proportions, the creepy sidemouth, the eyes with the puffy deviantart eyebrows, the stretched legs…
Do you see one Mario with a scarf, another chibi Mario and a taller Mario in the Mario franchise? No. Why? Because Nintendo has established a decent universe around a single Mario design that saw fit and didn’t differ much from the past ones, but rather truly improved/cleaned/refined the design all these years. Some games look same-y but there wasn’t a game that made you go “Oh God I hope this is a spinoff”.
A few days ago, the Sonic twitter posted a 3D render of a classic Sonic based on Mania that looked perfect.
If the 3D Sonic game just had that classic model in, it’d have my interest. But now that 3D preview looks just meh-another-generic-generations-game.
“Do you see one Mario with a scarf, another chibi Mario and a taller Mario in the Mario franchise?”
Um, you do know Mario is much smaller without a Super Mushroom right? And there’s also that lanky Mario from Mario Maker sooooo….
And pretty sure the “puffy eyebrows and creepy side-mouth” were prevalent on Classic Sonic as well.
Yes Boom Sonic’s design still very much looks bleh, but I really don’t see how someone would have a huge problem with Modern when he’s basicly the same with just the slightest design changes.
Ya know Mario didn’t start out the way he looks today, back then he was basicly “Not Popeye” in his Donkey Kong days.
Besides, gonna be honest, you want ugly, look at the American design for Classic Sonic. That mohawk is just terrible.
Maybe in AoSth and SatAM but not in the games. His design was pretty cool. As was
The Japanese version based on it (based on an earlier Japanese version XD)
“It’s clear that the fans want classic Sonic (except the few that grew up in the green eyes era)”
This is simply not true. The fans of Modern “green-eyed” Sonic are muuuuuuuch more than a few. They make up a HUGE portion of the Sonic’s fanbase (possibly even the majority). If you really like Classic Sonic, that’s fine, but your claim about “clear what the fans want” is off-base.
I’m a much bigger fan of Modern Sonic than I am Classic… but I didn’t “Grow up in the green-eyed era”
I rocked my Genesis with Sonic 2 throughout the early 90s, and then lugged my nomad everywhere with Sonic 3 & Knuckles sticking out the top for the rest of the 90s.
Then I got my Dreamcast in 2000 with Sonic Adventure.
I want Sonic Mania for Classic.
But I also just want a modern Sonic game that appeals to the grown-up I am.
Actually, you are wrong there. There is baby Mario (my favorite character in Mario Kart!) and paper Mario and there might be other ones as well since I am not all that well-versed in the Mario Bros. franchise. Having different flavors of the same character isn’t bad at all. Baby Mario is to grown-up Mario what Classic Sonic is to Modern Sonic and it works well, too!
A man with a guitar (probably a fanboy of Crush Stupid 40), who can’t understand about Adventure/Modern (Adveture/Modern are shadows of Classic Sonic and your quality).
The ausense of LOGIC is about HYPE foi “edgy” trailer with a fucking CG. Sonic Mania had gameplay since the first time. Nowadays, I have my study of real Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic Mania just put the QUALITY of Sonic in the glory by the fangamers showing GAMEPLAY!
The main problem of fanbase: HYPE and CG trailer over gameplay and technic about the value of redeem when the player uses speed.
Look my video about this: https://www.facebook.com/lucas.hinz.545/videos/1767982803413742/
You do know he wasn’t praising 2017, he said he was on the fence about it.
Besides, aside from “OOOH CLASSIC GAMEPLAY” what else is there for Sonic Mania? It still feels like fan-game turned offical game that will be download only. We also can tell by how this game coming out NEXT year and this being just a teaser means it’s still in somewhat a early state, and the CG could very well be showing some gameplay. Remember Tekken 7’s trailer? How it wasn’t just a cutscene but it actually meshed itself into the fight? (Also no matter what Tekken’s trailer pretty much blew most everything out of the water in regards to interesting games next year)
Just ignore him… This guy is a Brazilian member of a group called EAJS (“Eu Adoro Jogar Sonic”, or in plain English, “I Love Playing Sonic”) where most of its members are guys who don’t really like to play Sonic’s games, only the Classics, and this guy in particular has some kind of boner for the formula of the Classic games, or should I say, the “essence” of the Classic games. Believe me, it’s just better to ignore him.
Don’t waste your time with this nostalgic pandering kid.
Modern Sonic does what Classic Sonican’t. ;P
Classic Sonic fans are as angry as wet hornets now. 🙂
Choro modernista :v
Meh, I feel you. It’s not that I dislike Classic Sonic, he is and will always be my favorite incarnation of Sonic, but… does he really need to appear in Project 2017? Why not have Mania as the 2D Classic Sonic game and Project 2017 as the 3D Modern Sonic game with multiple playable characters and stuff?
Part of me feels that even after Sonic 2017 is over and even if it does receive a good reception from the fans and the gaming community, Sega will fail again sometime down the line in the future like they did with Sonic Boom which we thought nothing would be as bad as Sonic 06, but we were wrong and Sega can’t afford to make another mistake!
Sega has shown a vast amount of inconsistency these past 5 years… didn’t Takashi Izuka say Classic Sonic wouldn’t return in another Sonic game after Generations in an interview?
This worries me greatly!
I can’t wait for Project 2017 and I hope we get to play as both Modern and Classic versions of Tails and Knuckles… and maybe Amy too although I wouldn’t bet on any Modern characters who have no Classic counterparts like Shadow, but I just want multiple playable characters again in a 3D Sonic game!
Going from Sonic Mania with 3 playable characters all the way to Project 2017 with just 2 versions of the same character would feel quite underwhelming!
Boy howdy! You are right. SEGA did indeed say back in 2011 that they didn’t have any plans to bring back Classic Sonic.
https://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/10/sega-has-no-plans-to-bring-classic-sonic-back-after-sonic-generations/
So much for consistency. Look now! We have Sonic Mania and an appearance by Classic Sonic in Sonic Project ’17. They really are all over the place.
Well thanks to the link of the article I realized they actually said “they had no plans at the moment”, but that was only a short while around the time of Generations. They likely made those plans sometime after Lost World, so that answers some of my concerns!
I know Sega though and there’s always the chance they could make the wrong move again if not with Project 2017 it could be something else… always stay on guard Sonic fans!
Personally, I’m rather interested in his appearance as it makes me wonder what purpose there is. Is Generations just spawning a new gameplay presentation standard? Is he there for the story? I’m curious. I was a tad disappointed it wasn’t another pal because the inclusion of playable friends would’ve been as much hype now as Classic Sonic was in 2011, but I was still excited with Classic Sonic there. I was also kinda “Aha! I knew it!” Since I was anticipating his inclusion. I also anticipate a third or more Sonics. Maybe Classic is only in part of the game and we see different versions of Sonic throughout? Maybe he changed throughout the game. Maybe he used other Sonic’s like wisps. WHO KNOWS??? XD
Oh I bet we’ll see a 3rd Sonic at some point. Since this teaser is long before the game comes out,the next time we see/hear of this game, we’ll get an extended teaser with (hopefully) Dreamcast Sonic joining in!
@Jelly Lord
Dreamcast Sonic is considered the same as Modern, though. If there’s a 3rd Sonic, it’ll probably be Boom/Toon Sonic. I imagine if Boom/Toon Sonic gets in, there will be a lot of backlash. I’d probably avoid buying the game at launch if Boom gets representation in the game. I’m already bummed enough that Classic Sonic is in; as the article said, him being in Project Sonic 2017 feels redundant when Mania is coming out the same year.
Personally, I do feel a little odd about Classic Sonic being in Project 2017. Up until he was revealed to be in Project 2017, I was pretty much dead set on the idea that they finally have gone into a full split. Classic games made by Taxman, Boom games with a goofy tone, and Modern games with a darker/Adventure-like tone.
I’m probably in the majority who thought another character would jump up and save Sonic, but I wasn’t disappointed when Classic was the one to save Sonic, I just let out a big “OH? Whaaat?”
It was something that blurred the line between the even split I mentioned earlier. I’m glad that I can rest assured that the game will have the Generations gameplay (which is very good), it’s just odd having Classic again when he is getting his own game. The only thing I could see that would make Classic’s appearance make real sense would be to have Dreamcast Era Sonic also appear.
Either way, I’m pretty sure that the game will be as good, if not better, than Generations despite the fact that Classic is in it again. I know for a fact that it’ll be the best looking Sonic game ever, so that’s an automatic plus. I’m very excited to see some gameplay and get some more info, but I doubt we will until after Mania comes out.
I admit I was scared. Very scared and saddened at the same time by the time 2014 was closing out and 2015 came in. It was a year where I saw everything around me completely falling apart and in Sonic’s case I thought his time had come. July 22nd 2016 changed that completely. This year, New Years eve I felt something. I magnetic change in everything and I knew this year was gonna be a wild yet one MEGA WEIRD YEAR. I was right too cause it was weird as hell on the political front but in Sonic’s world it was one wild 360 turnaround and man the out-pour of love for Sonic this year from the majority of the Sonic crowd…I SAW LOVE! I SAW SMILES…I SAW HAPPINESS. A real refreshing change from what I haven’t felt for so so long. Sonic Mania so far is looking to be what Sonic 4 wasn’t. What fans wanted along. I may be wrong but I’m not seeing a lot of negativity towards it so something must be right here. As for Project 2017 seemed like there also was more of that love. Fans needing spatulas on scraping their jaws off the floor on that trailer. I admit. Its been a long while since I felt the emotion called “EXCITEMENT!” Its rare and I mean very rare I get excited cause yes I live a dull life XD A story for another time but I hope I’m not wrong on this cause everything is still in its early stages of what we just saw last month. What I’ve seen so far has not one ounce of disappointment. I’m okay with any and all of the Sonics out there. So lets hope in the end this story ends up as something we see in the stars above where everyone in the world chants the name of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG once more all across this tiny little planet that’s cool and blue as Sonic. 😎
That’s why I love these articles! Noah does an awesome job bringing out the good in the community, like your comment, even when he’s critiquing!
So here are my 2 cents on why Classic Sonic is in project 2017. I think the game has been in development for a good while before Sega greenlighted Sonic Mania, especially since almost 3 years has past since Sonic Lost World was released. So maybe Sonic Team was already far in development before Sonic Mania was a thing and they couldn’t just scrap Classic Sonic from their game. That’s how I think we got to Classic in 2 games, don’t forget that Sega went through many changes in the past few years which led to delays in releases (a good thing for Sonic).
It’s true I don’t understand why that concept keeps flying over people’s heads, I highly doubt that Mania wasn’t greenlit until sometime in 2015 because of Taxman and Stealth’s 3&K Remaster pitch during the end of 2014, stepping on Sega’s toes like that is obviously a bad idea if Mania was greenlit beforehand and keep in mind that Stealth called for the end of the social media campaign for undisclosed reasons around March 2015 which in hindsight heavily points to Mania being that reason.
Meanwhile Sonic Team’s game would have started early development after Lost World shipped and possibly even during it’s development.
Nice post
“clássic” Sonic not have to apear only in Gens…
He had to take control of 3D and 2D games and put Roger(modern) in The same limbo were he was sealed for 15 years :p
Just to give this comment better visibility: SEGA is on record in 2011 of saying they are no plans of bringing Classic Sonic back into the picture in any game.
https://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/10/sega-has-no-plans-to-bring-classic-sonic-back-after-sonic-generations/
They said that in 2011 when plans for Mania and this other game didn’t even exist. They could be “consistent” like other moronic companies in this industry or actually be willing to rethink their statements and attitudes.
I like the Modern Sonic better because classic Sonic didn’t have a voice. Are they ditching Modern Sonic?
I don’t think they are ditching Modern Sonic.
Ok.
I could NOT agree more.
Every last bit of this was SPOT ON.
For all this talk of a “Third Sonic”…
How has no one entertained the idea that the third one… IS ARCHIE SONIC!?
Certainly fit’s more than the non-existant category of “Dreamcast Sonic” (That IS modern sonic…)
or the much hated conclusion of BOOM Sonic.
If you think about it, Archie sonic is a universe a huge section of the fanbase have been wanting a game of for decades.
We almost got one back on genesis… then all we got was Spinball (awesome for other reasons)
Well, that’d be either weird or just unneeded.
If it’s Post Genesis Wave, then it’s really just watered down Modern Sonic with the SatAM cast.
If it’s Pre-Genesis, then we bring in ALLLLLL that rather….*ahem* questionable content from the late 90’s to the 2000s Archie Sonic which quite honestly manages to be even worse than anything Shad’s game for me.
I mean, the last thing I want is another “Play on Playa” or Scourge the Recolor that makes the current Goku Black arc in DB Super actually look good.
http://static8.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/9496/204170-11074-115207-1-sonic-the-hedgehog.jpg
Classic Sonic is annoying me lately.
I don’t say Mania will be horrid, because it looks good. The overspamming of classic Sonic is really turning off my mood of buying both games.
He’s already in mania, why put him on the 3D Sonic game?
(PS: You know classic sonic and modern sonic are the same character? WAW, did i surprise you? Playing with the same character in two forms seems like a nice bullsh*t.
+1
Great article.
I just want to add that I don’t think that “to balance things” there needs to be literally a “grassy-forest level”. Yeah, makes sense for a Sonic game, but you can do without it. You can still be “lighthearted and fun” without it I think.
Have some beach levels, some urban area levels, city levels… Las Vegas levels…
I think that even if we think in terms of what a Classic Sonic game is, we haven’t nearly had enough of “Chemical Plant Zone” or “Scrap Brain Zone” levels.