EverydayOtter
2023
This review contains spoilers
Immediately following the Sonic Frontiers DLC, I wasn't expecting this game to confuse my opinions even more on what this franchise is doing. I absolutely expected this game to be a rock solid 8/10. I feel like the best way to talk about my feelings while playing this game are chronologically, so here goes.
For the first 7 zones, I was really feeling this game. The opening zone is really strong with a great soundtrack, and the co-op is really fun. The design of these zones feel true to the classics and are pretty solid, and the feel of the characters and the look of the environments are pretty spot on. The cracks start to show a bit more as the game goes on, some of the zone themes are rather generic and don't do much to expand on the versions of those areas in the classic games, and some of the soundtrack has drastically lower quality than other parts. Once I finished the Press Factory Zone, I figured the game was winding down, which felt really good. Sure, it was a bit short, but the 'evil factory' area is naturally one of the last few and maybe would be followed by one last fortress or outerspace level.
What instead happened was a large drop in quality, the zone themes felt not fleshed out or repetitive, and the bosses got harder and more frustrating, many having ways of instantly killing the player and making them play through a 3+ minute boss fight all over again (this game has a MASSIVE boss design problem of making the player wait for an opportunity to hit after 30+ seconds of boss invulnerability). This all culminated with a pretty lame final boss that doesn't checkpoint you between the two phases, just to waste the player's time I guess.
Once beating the game, I unlocked Trip's Story, a new campaign starring this game's new playable character. This campaign is where I went from liking this game overall to dreading playing any more of it. Cheap, spike and enemy coated level design, bosses that take twice the length to beat as the already slow main story bosses, all capped off with one of the most time wasting, annoying bosses to ever come from this series (it took me roughly 6 hours to beat this boss, even though it only takes about 8 minutes to beat). Trip's story isn't worth your time unless you're a completionist, but it does unlock a perfectly fine Super Sonic final boss fight.
I hate to ramble so long, because I fear nobody will read this, but every time I play this game I think about how easy it would have been for this to be a smash hit. The bosses didn't have to be so long and cheap, Trip's story could have brought more to the table, the battle mode could be more interesting. There's so many areas where this game falls below expectations. The first half of the main story is truly a great time though. My main conclusion is to just play through that if you aren't a Sonic megafan.
For the first 7 zones, I was really feeling this game. The opening zone is really strong with a great soundtrack, and the co-op is really fun. The design of these zones feel true to the classics and are pretty solid, and the feel of the characters and the look of the environments are pretty spot on. The cracks start to show a bit more as the game goes on, some of the zone themes are rather generic and don't do much to expand on the versions of those areas in the classic games, and some of the soundtrack has drastically lower quality than other parts. Once I finished the Press Factory Zone, I figured the game was winding down, which felt really good. Sure, it was a bit short, but the 'evil factory' area is naturally one of the last few and maybe would be followed by one last fortress or outerspace level.
What instead happened was a large drop in quality, the zone themes felt not fleshed out or repetitive, and the bosses got harder and more frustrating, many having ways of instantly killing the player and making them play through a 3+ minute boss fight all over again (this game has a MASSIVE boss design problem of making the player wait for an opportunity to hit after 30+ seconds of boss invulnerability). This all culminated with a pretty lame final boss that doesn't checkpoint you between the two phases, just to waste the player's time I guess.
Once beating the game, I unlocked Trip's Story, a new campaign starring this game's new playable character. This campaign is where I went from liking this game overall to dreading playing any more of it. Cheap, spike and enemy coated level design, bosses that take twice the length to beat as the already slow main story bosses, all capped off with one of the most time wasting, annoying bosses to ever come from this series (it took me roughly 6 hours to beat this boss, even though it only takes about 8 minutes to beat). Trip's story isn't worth your time unless you're a completionist, but it does unlock a perfectly fine Super Sonic final boss fight.
I hate to ramble so long, because I fear nobody will read this, but every time I play this game I think about how easy it would have been for this to be a smash hit. The bosses didn't have to be so long and cheap, Trip's story could have brought more to the table, the battle mode could be more interesting. There's so many areas where this game falls below expectations. The first half of the main story is truly a great time though. My main conclusion is to just play through that if you aren't a Sonic megafan.
Whatever the opposite of rock solid is, that's how I would describe this game. The structure is perfectly fine, and the concept of a Sonic pinball game is a S-tier idea, but the execution is about as clunky as humanly possible.
The controls are near unplayable, jumps are impossible to make with how inconsistent the physics are, as is running for any specific distance. Some situations allow you to move Sonic in one way, but then when you enter a similar situation he behaves entirely differently. The game also performs terribly, at least in the Sonic Origins Plus emulation, which makes the game simultaneously look worse and also play more inconsistently.
Honestly, the only thing saving this game from a status as a complete train wreck is the admittedly impressive visuals for the Game Gear and the passable soundtrack. Just play anything else
The controls are near unplayable, jumps are impossible to make with how inconsistent the physics are, as is running for any specific distance. Some situations allow you to move Sonic in one way, but then when you enter a similar situation he behaves entirely differently. The game also performs terribly, at least in the Sonic Origins Plus emulation, which makes the game simultaneously look worse and also play more inconsistently.
Honestly, the only thing saving this game from a status as a complete train wreck is the admittedly impressive visuals for the Game Gear and the passable soundtrack. Just play anything else
2004
As the predecessor to Plants Vs. Zombies, this game lays a lot of the foundation for what makes that game fun, while also having its own unique identity. The premise, art, and overall tone are very fun and lighthearted, but the design of the levels can make even that feel very intense. The most frustrating part of this game is definitely some of the aliens, it feels nearly impossible to fend off certain types (psychosquids...), but the game does give you many resources to protect yourself with, and it's all about the choice in what resources you use that determines your play-style.
Past the main mode, the challenge mode to get the gold trophy is very tedious to complete unfortunately. Playing each level 8 times just wears on me personally. On the other hand, the included virtual tank option is a fantastic feature, giving the game life beyond its actual levels.
Overall, this is a very fun game, and I would recommend it, even despite its few flaws. (Also the playtime is from me leaving the virtual tank running, actually completing it doesn't take that long).
Past the main mode, the challenge mode to get the gold trophy is very tedious to complete unfortunately. Playing each level 8 times just wears on me personally. On the other hand, the included virtual tank option is a fantastic feature, giving the game life beyond its actual levels.
Overall, this is a very fun game, and I would recommend it, even despite its few flaws. (Also the playtime is from me leaving the virtual tank running, actually completing it doesn't take that long).
I genuinely don't think I've ever been as polarized about something that's come from this franchise. The fact that this update exists is a testament to the effort and good-will that Sonic Team is building with the community, and the final product is certainly quality if nothing else. The spectacle and expansion on the game's narrative and theming (and the soundtrack) are very much appreciated, and being able to play as these characters is a welcome return, especially considering that they're all relatively well fleshed out. The design though is just not something I can get behind. Difficulty, in its own right, can be a fun gameplay element, but it must be handled extremely delicately. This expansion, unfortunately, does not do this. While this game's controls are fun, they aren't precise or responsive enough to ask of the player what this game's challenges do. The massive difficulty spikes of the 5 towers that Sonic has to climb are unforgiving and defeating, and the additional cyberspace levels (particularly their optional objectives) teeter the line between being fun exploration and extremely tedious. Not to mention that both lack any checkpoints whatsoever. Overall, I'm very glad that we got this expansion (once again, especially for its soundtrack), but I hope that this level of difficulty isn't an indication for what is to come in this series' next title. It's just not fun.
The first game that I ever 100% completed! An absolute classic title. Rock solid level design, theming, and concepts. This is the game that 2D Mario needed to get back into everybody's minds.
2005
This game absolutely lived up to the things that I've heard about it. The art style is perfectly of-its-time while still feeling stylized enough to hold up quite well today. The characters, premise, and story are all very well done. The level design isn't absolutely perfect, but it's quite good and inventive. This is an absolutely fantastic game!
The base game of Scarlet/Violet felt very barebones in a lot of ways, something this DLC had a huge opportunity to correct for. Unfortunately, it is weaved from much the same cloth as the base game, but without any of the novelty. The design of the Kitikami region is painfully boring, and the only thing that drove my adventure forward was finding new pokemon to complete the Dex. The narrative is lacking much substance, but the new pokemon are cool for the most part. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of the Ogre Oustin' minigame, it's a fun diversion from the rest of the DLC. I hope that the second half of the DLC will carry a little more weight to make up for this one's overall lack of anything interesting going on.
1995
To be positive first, this game has surprisingly nice visuals for what it is, and a solid enough soundtrack. It does a surprisingly good job pulling off isometric 3D, and I'd argue that it's a better companion to the Genesis' 'Sonic 3D Blast' than the tie in 'Sonic Blast'. Obviously, this game is really slow, and trying to correct for that with the spindash maneuver makes you unruly to control in most circumstances. There's really just no purpose behind this game. The level design is fine, mostly too easy, the bosses are fine, it runs fine (although the jittering while moving can be a little rough), overall it's just fine. A very mediocre, fine game, with a short runtime.
1996
Yeah, that average score really does say it all here. This game is not entirely unplayable, although it certainly tries its best to make it seem as though it is. Screen crunch is amplified from other titles by having even larger character sprites, and the slowdown is larger presumably due to this as well. Level design becomes labyrinthine towards the end, and anything past the first two areas is painfully slow. This not mentioning that this game only has 10 levels to begin with. This game's biggest saving grace in my opinion is the boss right before the final boss, which I think had a fun mechanic. That's all that saved this game from half a star. Unless you are morbidly curious, just don't play this game.
2011
This game is a fantastic example of what a platformer can be. The controls are fast and fluid, while the animations that accompany your character's actions are responsive and appealing. The overall artistry shown in this game is outstanding, with a unique and catchy soundtrack (I will never forget the song that plays when you collect a King Lum), and gorgeous, crisp visuals courtesy the UbiArt framework. The level design is challenging yet fair, and the content is nothing to sneeze at, especially if going for 100%. There is still room for growth here, and I feel as though this game doesn't reach the absolute highs that are possible with this engine, but it gets really close. If you were unsure about picking this one up, it is absolutely worth your time.
1992
For a GameBoy title, this game is very technically impressive. Appealing visuals, great animations, and a still to-this-day iconic soundtrack easily allow this game to stand out amongst the GameBoy's library. What truly holds this game back from the best it could do on this platform is the simplistic level design, in addition to some clunky movement mechanics that can make certain boss fights (especially the new game + variants) a large spike in difficulty. Ultimately, this game lays a solid foundation for the many sequels it would receive, and is a standout in the GameBoy library that is so easy to pick up and play it's an easy recommendation to anybody.
Just Dance is always a fun formula to me, and it's hard not to have fun with any of these games. This game in particular brings impressive visual improvements over recent games however, continued from 2022 edition. The switch to a new engine is ultimately what defines this game though, much more than the maps themselves. Said new engine has issues to work through, like consistent freezing in-game and crashes, as well as lacking some established features from previous titles (sweat mode, custom playlists, world dance floor, etc.). Those issues are ultimately what knocks a star off of the best Just Dance game track-wise in my opinion. I feel like it's only uphill from here with this series, and I'm excited to see what 2024 edition has in store.
This is absolutely the best of these handheld Sonic games, in a way that very much impressed me. The art design and presentation is top notch for a system like this, with impressive animations and cutscenes, and the set pieces on certain levels (such as the train segment in Sunset Park Zone) demonstrate a mastery of development on this hardware that the previous games did not. The level design may not be outstanding, but the unique and varied special stages were a pleasant surprise. It still struggles with framerate issues and screen crunch, but overall this is a truly great game, especially for the hardware.
This game fills a very strange role in the franchise's Game Gear outings. It seems that the effort put into this title is much lower than the two before it, in terms of scope and art direction at least. The game improves on many aspects of its predecessors though, having shorter levels with less challenging level design overall to accommodate for the system's screen and battery limitations, making the game a lot more playable. The change to the Chaos Emeralds is also welcome, as well as a playable Tails. While this game is by no means perfect, it is a fun, short romp that I can absolutely say is more fun than Game Gear Sonic 2.
1992
It's difficult not to see this game as a downgrade from the Game Gear port of Sonic 1 in every way. All of that game's issues are maintained (with the exception of the game running a little better), but the level design and personality have taken a massive hit. Levels feel designed to punish you with the screen crunch, and force you to replay the game multiple times. Much of this game's level design feels pulled from a precision platformer, but without the tight controls to make it fun. The art, however, is still very nicely done, and having an entirely original set of stages this time around is a welcome addition (even if they are all less interesting than Genesis Sonic 2).