SuperheckDX
2000
The Bouncer is a schlocky action movie in the form of a 3D Beat Em' Up, wrapped lovingly in the peak of turn-of-the-century Squaresoft goodness.
I think If you meet this game where it is and understand what it's going for, you can have a really fun time playing and replaying it. I played through this on a PS2 with a couple friends watching, and we were continually impressed by the level of effort and craft that was poured into this otherwise simple game. Please give it a shot if you have a Dualshock 2 or other way of handling pressure-sensitive buttons.
I think If you meet this game where it is and understand what it's going for, you can have a really fun time playing and replaying it. I played through this on a PS2 with a couple friends watching, and we were continually impressed by the level of effort and craft that was poured into this otherwise simple game. Please give it a shot if you have a Dualshock 2 or other way of handling pressure-sensitive buttons.
2022
This review contains spoilers
From top to bottom, Frontiers is fantastic. The open zone gameplay is addicting and only begins to get old in the final hours. The Cyberspace levels are perfect little chunks of gameplay that beg you to master Sonic's moveset to achieve the fastest times you can. The 3D gameplay is genuinely so strong that I think Sonic Team should just drop 2D entirely in the next game.
The story is a bit of a slow burn, but its executed so well and the character writing is so spot-on that I was engaged and theorizing the whole way. My only gripe is that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax if you aren't good at Shoot Em' Ups. I got 95% of the way through and dropped the game down to Normal because I knew grinding through the last chunk would probably kill me otherwise. I only wish there was an actual final boss in its place.
I can't believe it took me this long to get to the soundtrack. Good god there's nothing but bangers here! Putting aside the fantastic Super Sonic themes, the Cyberspace and Open Zones all have great tracks that perfectly fit the tone. It should definitely be winning some awards.
I'm giving Frontiers a 4.5 because I truly believe that SEGA giving Sonic Team another four years and a bigger staff could produce something even better than this. I have only a few small factors that bring the game down a bit. I hope they can keep this going, I really want Sonic to stay Back for the foreseeable future, he deserves the spotlight!
The story is a bit of a slow burn, but its executed so well and the character writing is so spot-on that I was engaged and theorizing the whole way. My only gripe is that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax if you aren't good at Shoot Em' Ups. I got 95% of the way through and dropped the game down to Normal because I knew grinding through the last chunk would probably kill me otherwise. I only wish there was an actual final boss in its place.
I can't believe it took me this long to get to the soundtrack. Good god there's nothing but bangers here! Putting aside the fantastic Super Sonic themes, the Cyberspace and Open Zones all have great tracks that perfectly fit the tone. It should definitely be winning some awards.
I'm giving Frontiers a 4.5 because I truly believe that SEGA giving Sonic Team another four years and a bigger staff could produce something even better than this. I have only a few small factors that bring the game down a bit. I hope they can keep this going, I really want Sonic to stay Back for the foreseeable future, he deserves the spotlight!
2011
This was a delightful ride from start to finish. The story was basically nonexistent, but it came together with the excellently designed stages to make this a breezy romp through Sonic's history.
Basically every stage owns. It's pretty easy to get S Ranks for the most part (saying this as someone that was not very good at SA1 and 2), but the difficulty kicks up well enough in the last few stages to balance it out. It never really feels unfair like SA2 could be at points. The only stage that sticks out as being the least good is Planet Wisp, I didn't like most of Act 1 and the 2D portion in Act 2 is...fine.
Still, just excellent overall. The bosses are all great too.
Basically every stage owns. It's pretty easy to get S Ranks for the most part (saying this as someone that was not very good at SA1 and 2), but the difficulty kicks up well enough in the last few stages to balance it out. It never really feels unfair like SA2 could be at points. The only stage that sticks out as being the least good is Planet Wisp, I didn't like most of Act 1 and the 2D portion in Act 2 is...fine.
Still, just excellent overall. The bosses are all great too.
I like SA2 about as much as SA1. Higher highs and lower lows for sure. The Sonic and Shadow stages owned really hard, but the Knuckles and Rouge stages are just not fun imo. The production value goes crazy and I can tell the skill ceiling is crazy high. I really appreciate Sonic Team's ambition here, they tried to top SA1 in every regard and they mostly nailed it.
One thing I really liked was just randomly noticing Big hanging out in parts of the stages, it almost makes me wish for him to have had his own campaign, I think it would have been a fun time.
One thing I really liked was just randomly noticing Big hanging out in parts of the stages, it almost makes me wish for him to have had his own campaign, I think it would have been a fun time.
[Note: I used the BetterSADX patch.]
As my first Sonic game I was surprised by how immediately Sonic Adventure charmed me. By the end I felt I could call myself a Sonic fan. A rough transition to 3D this was not!
I'll cover some more general thoughts for now, character-specific thoughts will come later. I'm really impressed by how they managed to use the whole animal to this degree, they mined everything they could to keep the gameplay fresh across the 6 characters. I'm excited to see how adventure 2 refines this formula. As is here, the way the stories are spread across 6 characters means that some barely interact with the main plot. It's not strictly a bad thing though, the way Adventure is structured makes the game feel big in a way that's charming today and would have been incredible when it came out. The ending was well too. Really triumphant finale with some fun buttrock to sell the moment.
[Sonic]: Some jank started cropping up in the last couple levels (Egg Viper 🙃), but all around a great time. I whooped and hollered a bunch of times at all the setpiece moments, Twinkle Park and City Speedway especially.
[Tails]: Tails' story was fun as like, a catharsis after how the Sonic levels were paced. A totally breezy and fun experience using his flight and speed to skip huge parts of the stages.
[Knuckles]: Knuckles was pretty fun too! I liked the scavenger hunt aspect of his gameplay too. The open-endedness of his wall-climbing and gliding really gets to shine in these stages.
[Amy]: Amy's story was like, a tier below the first three, mostly because she's slow enough that the games momentum kinda acts against her (mainly on slopes). Her hammer is fun to mess around with though, and the stuff her levels ask you to do are interesting and unique.
[Big]: Big just sort of bumbling into and out of the actual story of the game was pretty funny. His fishing minigame is pretty janky, but it functions? Not much to say here.
[Gamma]: Gamma's is probably one of my favorites in the game, I really like his gameplay and the story hits its beats well. Just really well done.
As my first Sonic game I was surprised by how immediately Sonic Adventure charmed me. By the end I felt I could call myself a Sonic fan. A rough transition to 3D this was not!
I'll cover some more general thoughts for now, character-specific thoughts will come later. I'm really impressed by how they managed to use the whole animal to this degree, they mined everything they could to keep the gameplay fresh across the 6 characters. I'm excited to see how adventure 2 refines this formula. As is here, the way the stories are spread across 6 characters means that some barely interact with the main plot. It's not strictly a bad thing though, the way Adventure is structured makes the game feel big in a way that's charming today and would have been incredible when it came out. The ending was well too. Really triumphant finale with some fun buttrock to sell the moment.
[Sonic]: Some jank started cropping up in the last couple levels (Egg Viper 🙃), but all around a great time. I whooped and hollered a bunch of times at all the setpiece moments, Twinkle Park and City Speedway especially.
[Tails]: Tails' story was fun as like, a catharsis after how the Sonic levels were paced. A totally breezy and fun experience using his flight and speed to skip huge parts of the stages.
[Knuckles]: Knuckles was pretty fun too! I liked the scavenger hunt aspect of his gameplay too. The open-endedness of his wall-climbing and gliding really gets to shine in these stages.
[Amy]: Amy's story was like, a tier below the first three, mostly because she's slow enough that the games momentum kinda acts against her (mainly on slopes). Her hammer is fun to mess around with though, and the stuff her levels ask you to do are interesting and unique.
[Big]: Big just sort of bumbling into and out of the actual story of the game was pretty funny. His fishing minigame is pretty janky, but it functions? Not much to say here.
[Gamma]: Gamma's is probably one of my favorites in the game, I really like his gameplay and the story hits its beats well. Just really well done.
This was a fantastic introduction to mainline SMT. Demon fusion is like crack, the press turn system is immaculate, and the setting and soundtrack are among my favorites in all of gaming. The ending was a little eh, but the rest was great.
There's a few bits I like more from the previous games (the villain factions and environments are standouts in this regard), but as a complete package, XBC3 is immaculate. The quality of side content towers over the rest of the series, approaching Witcher 3 levels of "optional main story content." I'm really looking forward to the story expansion DLC, as well as whatever Monolithsoft makes now that this saga is complete.