The Tangent: Is Average Enough?

16 November, 2008 30 March, 2021

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Let’s be truthful. On a news site so focused on the Sonic series, it’s difficult to avoid writing about the next major Sonic title on the verge of release, even though it was the focus of the very first Tangent. This time, instead of a focus on a specific feature of the product, there’s an overall question to ask: Is average enough?

There is a lot riding on this new Sonic. Even if you’ve found enjoyment in the more recent 3D titles, a feat shockingly possible, popular opinion has been that the games have missed the point of what fans want, and the ideas they implement are too often buggy and unpolished. Instead of perfecting one team of three’s mechanics, they spread their efforts over four different teams. Instead of a focus on good platforming gameplay, or good weapons-based combat, or good physics-based puzzles, they throw them all in at once and don’t dedicate enough time to any of them. Shadow The Hedgehog‘s levels vary in concept and structure so wildly, you wouldn’t be alone to wonder if they were lifted from another project. Even if the ideas themselves aren’t terrible, it’s been the execution that too many people find problems with.

All eyes are now looking to Sonic Unleashed. Gloating far too much in the leading days to the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega has learned their lessons about claims of Sonic going “back to his roots”. Mostly. They’ve been far more humbled in their promotion, and beating it into people’s heads that it will not fit the mould of prior Sonic games, conveniently forgetting Secret Rings of course. They’re fighting a war against people’s expectations, and want to disarm them with something new.

Expectations play a key part in the success or failure of all things. Or perhaps you could say that it’s the fulfilling or failing those expectations. That sounds obvious, but think about what it means in the gaming market, and to a series with a 17 year, varied history. This is a game not only trying to appeal to new customers, but to a collected audience of approaching 2 decades, each having different experiences and opinions of what would make a good Sonic title. Some of these people have been there since the first note of Green Hill Zone. Others weren’t as interested until the more color-saturated Sonic 2, with the addition of the first “s_____ friend” and the physics-breaking Spin Dash. Others may have taken their first strides through Emerald Coast, or found their entertainment in a dark Sonic duplicate. Maybe the first riffs of “Team Chaotix” made them want those detectives on their side. Even with the perceptions of the 2006 Sonic, which once again proves why you should never title a later game after the main character or first instalment and particularly not both, some gamers came to associate their fondness of the series with a green-glowing psychic that can beat you down provided someone’s carelessly left boxes around. These people all see different values in the Sonic games released so far, and some have strongly-conflicting concepts of how to make the next title good.

So Sega’s thrown their chips in, opting to take a sharp turn from titles prior and trying to disarm people’s expectations. To some degree they’ve succeeded, and the sentiment of many is that they’re willing to give this game a fresh chance. How true they are to their word remains to be seen, but it’s very likely that this is a significant decision point for the series. It may regain many of the avid Sega nerds it lost before, or it may push them, and others, further away for years to come. As they say, after all: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me- you can’t get fooled again.

Now on the eve of Sonic Unleashed’s American release, this is the strange situation that Sega is facing: Have people been hyped into believing this will be a brilliant, perfect return to all things classic and new, or are people’s expectations of the latest Sonic so low that even a modest showing will be seen as a success? To use another political parallel, think back to the American Vice-Presidential debate a month prior. I know you may have walled off that part of your mind, but dig a hole into the mortar, there’s a point to be made. Going into that intellectual and social sparring match, it is not unfair to say that expectations of the Republican vice-presidential candidate were so low, that simply by not failing miserably, her performance was seen as a success. Her opponent may have pulled most of his punches out of concern of being labelled a bully or misogynist, but that didn’t matter. This was lampooned by many cartoonists and comedians, but the result was confidence in the Republican brand, even if only temporarily.

There are people waiting for this game to fail. There are some people that will be convinced it’s failed no matter what the final product, but there are others who expect this game to fall flat on its face. Its strange, half-mutated face. If this game doesn’t make any major mistakes, if the gameplay is even and not that glitchy, if the voice work is listenable without cringing, if the music fits the scenes well enough, if the graphics are tightened up on level 3, even if the result is an average, unremarkable, but certainly playable game, could that in itself be remarkable for some?

Now how about the other end of the spectrum? Those that are convinced this title is something different, something that defies the infamous Sonic Cycle. Let’s say Sonic Unleashed turns out to be just a good game. Not fantastic, not unbelievably well-crafted, not wholly unique, but a solid B-. To those people, has Sonic Unleashed failed miserably? In their eyes, in generating a decent title, they’ve failed to create an Editor’s Choice, so is the series somehow worse for it? Their standards may not be that brazenly extreme, but the requirement of a stroke of genius before the game can be considered good may be a bar so high that not even stretchy werehog arms can reach.

That is the situation that faces us as the spiny fellow races to store shelves. I don’t have an answer, only a question, and maybe a little cause for self-reflection. In this time where games are either considered triple-A titles or absolute failures, is there room for such a highly-anticipated game to just be… decent?

This post was originally written by the author for TSSZ News.

10 Comments

Apart from the political referance which I choose to avoid since it would lead to an entirely seperate disscussion of a political nature(due to my rather strong disagreements with the idea Joe Biden is even competent). I’ll let that lie. But Bravo! Well wriiten column.

I’ll give more of a response later…the effort deserves one. And yeah, it will be Sonic related. Don’t worry. haha

IMO, SEGA tried their BEST to make the game as good as it could be, but the company is in deep because of Sonic 06′.

The game is good. Period. But CANNOT be considered REALLY GOOD because of standards and stuff.

All I know is, the game is going to sell out, whether the game gets a B+ or F-.

(or F— lol)

I love this article. Although the politacal view wasn’t needed – I liked it. Heres my two cents.

Sonic was an advancement in technology. It was made to sell Mega Drives, and you know what? It did both. Based on the adds they where producing, it was the fastest game ever. and you know what, it was the coolest thing some of us had ever seen.

Now we are in 2008. SEGA no longer makes consoles. They are third party now, and don’t have as much money at there disposal as they used to. And, the things Sonic did back then are’nt seen as cool today, because people who get interested in the series today see Sonic differently than we do now.

So now, theres a problem. they are trying to stasfy different groops of people at once. You know what? You can never staisfy everyone. There’s always gonna be someone who things it’s never good enough.

So my point being, SEGA Is trying to do what they can. but theres such a mix of fans that theres never gonna be a Sonic game that everyone likes.

anyhow, whatever. I think I might just be talking my head off…. 😛

My view: Just enough is not.

In fact, for me, mediocre is probably the worst case, because then they won’t be as motivated to change what doesn’t work, or continue to gimp the game in some obscure fashion.

And what’s the significance of that Japanese blog?

hmmm, dodgy, but the column made some good points.
Are we really getting excited over this game, only because the comparison between this and a certain game in 2006 easily shows SU to be superior. Is it because of Sonics past….problems…. that we are just starving for a half-decent game and are really getting excited over a game that isn’t even that good to the un-biased eye?
hell no
I certainly hope not, I’m sure this is a step up, even ignoring 06, Sonics getting better. Rush, rush adventure, secret rings, I’m gaining more trust towards Sega, and I really do think this is more than just ‘decent’ or ‘modest’. Of course I can’t really tell as I haven’t played it myself, I guess were just gonna have to wait that one labourous week ahead of us (or for some us the 2 labourous weeks) and we can make the decision for ourselves.

I’m gonna make this short.
I expect Unleashed to be good. Will it have flaws? Hell yes it will. The whole hedgehog engine thing is new. I don’t really expect them to get it right 100% on the first try. But it should be good, and any problems will be solved next time.

Cant wait to play and have a good time enjoying it.

Did I write this in my sleep under a pseudonym when I didn’t realize it?

Or are you a psychic?

You’ve nailed everything I’ve been thinking about Sonic Unleashed to the point where you sometimes write my thoughts practically word-for-word.

You’re just trying to get in better with the bosses. “And I wrote Solus’ article as well!”

Phos, it’s an awful pun. There isn’t much English on that page, so you should find what brazenly refers to once you know to look for it.

The political reference was a little out there, but a very good Tangent nonetheless.

I believe that if Sonic’s ever gonna be considered “cool” again, he’d need a slew of exceptionally fantastic games under his belt, games which are too good to be simply labelled “fun” and “average”. Remember, you always get excited when you get something new, games or otherwise, but over time, it’ll grow old and you’ll figure out that it isn’t what you hoped for. In most cases, anyway. This is what I thought when I read AAUK’s impressions on Unleashed just now. He loves it now, but wait until the end of the week. His tune will change…

I’ve been hung, drawn and quartered for thinking that Unleashed, no, Modern Sonic sucks and my attempts to argue with those who have done so have only succeeded in making both sides look so much like n00bs, that we both end up in the wrong and seen as pathetic circus acts to those in the sidelines. And then the day is saved by Soap, who’s probably one of the better interwebbers I’ve seen in my lifetime…

Anyway, I think we all understand that Sonic will never be as good as he used to, partly because SEGA has lost what was left of their talent and sanity over the past couple of years and partly because the fans will never get over the shocks that were Shadow and Sonic 06.

I personally reckon that Sonic needs a complete Spyro-style revamp. And no, I don’t another “Ultimate Sonic Experience” or “Return-to-da-Roots” game like the past few shitpiles were. I mean a complete do-over. Scrap everything and work from the ground up again and treat the development like the start of a new franchise. Whether that worked for Spyro or not, I’m not entirely sure, but I’m almost certain that it’ll give Sonic a breath of fresh air, even if we do lose some of our favourite elements (I know that I’ll miss Blaze the Cat if they ever got rid of her, but that’s irrelevant) ‘long the way.

Is the return of his former glory possible? No, it’s highly unlikely. Is average good enough? Maybe to some, but it’s not the right answer. What IS the right answer? Since a complete grounds-up reinvention and a fantastic main console game are out of the question, I’d say “God Knows”.

I know one thing, though. Even if I never buy the games again, even if I’ll always see him with a bitter and cynical eye from now on, I, for one, will never stop being a Sonic fan. That’s for certain.