It took thirty years, but between Ariem and Lanolin, I'm glad SEGA finally realise that sheep are the peak of the animal kingdom.
Oh, and the game centered around Ariem is pretty neat, too!
Perhaps this is a bold statement, but this game feels like an attempt at classic Snoc in 3D. It's obviously streamlined in plenty of manners, but I can't help but appreciate what they were going for anyways.
The controls in particular give me the impression. Every character has the same base moveset: running, jumping, homing attacking, and boosting. There are no complex techniques to pull off such as stomping or wall jumping. However, Snoc/Amy can light dash, Tails/Cream can fly, and Knuckles/Rogue can scale walls.
These abilities are utilised for specific paths in levels. However, there were times I was able to surpass the barriers with other characters; such as flying with Cream to reach the top of a wall the treasure hunters would have to climb. It was fun getting to experiment with the level design like that. Even if that level of experimentation wasn't possible though, being able to switch between the playable characters at any point meant I was never screwed out of exploring the levels to their fullest. ...Well, once I unlocked them all, of course.
On that note, the level design reminds me of Classic Snoc as well, albeit much simpler. There aren't many instances of completely different routes to the finish. However, exploration is heavily encouraged. The levels feel very open, with multiple path to reach the next checkpoints. The five red rings and thirty blue coins to collect also tie into the appeal. The levels still have a linear goal in mind, but how to reach the end can be drastically different.
I still have my gripes with the game, of course. I can tolerate most of the mobile gameisms like the design of the menus or the DS style cutscenes, but locking progression behind collecting orbs certainly feels arbitrary. I was willing to put up with the touch controls, but they certainly aren't ideal. Moving the camera in particular felt inadequate. I'm sure the game would be far more enjoyable with a controller.
There are a plethora of Snoc games I still prefer, but I had a lot of fun with this. A sonic game that encourages fucking around and finding out has been my dream since I got into the series, and Dream Team delivered those wishes quite well! I'd love to see more 3D Snoc games like this. Preferably more fleshed out, of course.
Oh, and the game centered around Ariem is pretty neat, too!
Perhaps this is a bold statement, but this game feels like an attempt at classic Snoc in 3D. It's obviously streamlined in plenty of manners, but I can't help but appreciate what they were going for anyways.
The controls in particular give me the impression. Every character has the same base moveset: running, jumping, homing attacking, and boosting. There are no complex techniques to pull off such as stomping or wall jumping. However, Snoc/Amy can light dash, Tails/Cream can fly, and Knuckles/Rogue can scale walls.
These abilities are utilised for specific paths in levels. However, there were times I was able to surpass the barriers with other characters; such as flying with Cream to reach the top of a wall the treasure hunters would have to climb. It was fun getting to experiment with the level design like that. Even if that level of experimentation wasn't possible though, being able to switch between the playable characters at any point meant I was never screwed out of exploring the levels to their fullest. ...Well, once I unlocked them all, of course.
On that note, the level design reminds me of Classic Snoc as well, albeit much simpler. There aren't many instances of completely different routes to the finish. However, exploration is heavily encouraged. The levels feel very open, with multiple path to reach the next checkpoints. The five red rings and thirty blue coins to collect also tie into the appeal. The levels still have a linear goal in mind, but how to reach the end can be drastically different.
I still have my gripes with the game, of course. I can tolerate most of the mobile gameisms like the design of the menus or the DS style cutscenes, but locking progression behind collecting orbs certainly feels arbitrary. I was willing to put up with the touch controls, but they certainly aren't ideal. Moving the camera in particular felt inadequate. I'm sure the game would be far more enjoyable with a controller.
There are a plethora of Snoc games I still prefer, but I had a lot of fun with this. A sonic game that encourages fucking around and finding out has been my dream since I got into the series, and Dream Team delivered those wishes quite well! I'd love to see more 3D Snoc games like this. Preferably more fleshed out, of course.