A brand new format for Sonic games, and one that I genuinely hope gets more than just one entry. Despite its shortcomings, I still had a decent time with this one.
The "open zone" format makes a lot of sense for Sonic. I had a blast zipping through open fields, discovering the numerous small challenges scattered about. Combat is extremely simple and easy to master, but overall satisfying and rarely overstays its welcome. The boss fights are actually some of the best in the series, with thrilling music fitting the epic fight on screen.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most Sonic games, this one has some severe shortcomings and things that I would consider to be extremely questionable game design. First, the cyberspace levels needed a lot more polish. I thought the reuse of levels from previous games was smart and probably cut development time considerably, but the controls of this game simply do not match up with these older levels, causing some awkward turns or unexpected loss of momentum.
Speaking of controls, there were some very odd choices made with this game regarding Sonic's moveset. For example, homing attacks actually send Sonic slightly backwards, and pretty much ruin any sense of speed or forward movement. There is also a mechanic in the overworld where you can get a massive speed boost for maximizing your ring count, but I almost always found this burdensome, since the various platforming challenges were not created with this speed in mind.
My final critique has to do with the overworld challenges. a majority of the platforming sections in this game consist of grinding on rails (no input required), bouncing on springs (using a single homing attack), or climbing/running on walls (also rarely requiring much input). This results in a game that a lot of the time seems to run on auto pilot, where I'm watching Sonic zip around in the air as I occasionally press square. Future games need to give the player much more agency in the average platforming challenge.
I also think the overall art direction was fine for this game as an experiment with open world design, but future games will need to push for more color and unique looking zones. Enough with green hill zone and chemical plant! There are other fantastic themes to draw from, or maybe even create some new ones!
If Sonic Team listens to feedback for this game and are given enough time to create a proper sequel, I think we could have a genuinely fantastic 3D Sonic game for the first time in what has seemed like an eternity.
The "open zone" format makes a lot of sense for Sonic. I had a blast zipping through open fields, discovering the numerous small challenges scattered about. Combat is extremely simple and easy to master, but overall satisfying and rarely overstays its welcome. The boss fights are actually some of the best in the series, with thrilling music fitting the epic fight on screen.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most Sonic games, this one has some severe shortcomings and things that I would consider to be extremely questionable game design. First, the cyberspace levels needed a lot more polish. I thought the reuse of levels from previous games was smart and probably cut development time considerably, but the controls of this game simply do not match up with these older levels, causing some awkward turns or unexpected loss of momentum.
Speaking of controls, there were some very odd choices made with this game regarding Sonic's moveset. For example, homing attacks actually send Sonic slightly backwards, and pretty much ruin any sense of speed or forward movement. There is also a mechanic in the overworld where you can get a massive speed boost for maximizing your ring count, but I almost always found this burdensome, since the various platforming challenges were not created with this speed in mind.
My final critique has to do with the overworld challenges. a majority of the platforming sections in this game consist of grinding on rails (no input required), bouncing on springs (using a single homing attack), or climbing/running on walls (also rarely requiring much input). This results in a game that a lot of the time seems to run on auto pilot, where I'm watching Sonic zip around in the air as I occasionally press square. Future games need to give the player much more agency in the average platforming challenge.
I also think the overall art direction was fine for this game as an experiment with open world design, but future games will need to push for more color and unique looking zones. Enough with green hill zone and chemical plant! There are other fantastic themes to draw from, or maybe even create some new ones!
If Sonic Team listens to feedback for this game and are given enough time to create a proper sequel, I think we could have a genuinely fantastic 3D Sonic game for the first time in what has seemed like an eternity.