literature

What I want to see in future Sonic games

Deviation Actions

Published: Feb 14, 2014

912 Views

Literature Text

New types of levels/bring back certain level types

One thing Sonic games do well in is level design. With the series' style of platforming, the developers can go all out with the landscape and bring the most out of their concepts. Some level types have become staples in the Sonic series(as particular level types do for certain gaming franchises), the most notable being factory, ice and snow, and the level type I want to see brought back, space; the space levels in the Sonic series made for some of the most memorable events in the series(most if these events being thematic buildups) and provide so many cool sets and stage gimmicks, my personal favorite space level in Sonic by far being Crazy Gadget from Sonic Adventure 2, so Sonic Team really should use more space levels in their games. Then there are a lack of certain types of levels in the series, like digital, musical instruments, dream, maybe have a couple haunted levels every now and then; actually, I do have a couple of ideas for potential Sonic levels: a moving train level, an anatomy level(we can discuss the scenario later), and how about this one?--a level set inside a thundercloud! Do you know what level type I'm getting sick of seeing in Sonic games? Grassland levels. They're always as basic as Sonic levels get, it's boring and getting old, Sonic Team. Go cry yourselves an ocean, retro fanboys, not everyone likes seeing fucking Green Hills Zone in every new game!

Bring back vocal music

Another aspect of Sonic games that is often acclaimed is music. Now, any Sonic game can have your simple tunes, but what set the Sonic soundtracks from it's competitors were the vocal music. In 1998, the inclusion of vocal rock music probably seemed like a odd move for Sonic Adventure. Well, I for one applaud SEGA for taking the risk, and in all honesty, Crush 40 and the rest of them knew exactly what they were doing for Sonic's soundtracks. These songs fit the characters and events of these games very well in both lyrics and instrumentation, and Crush 40's works in the series is to be especially noted; being actually race track style rock(hmm...sure sounds appropriate enough for a speedster character archetype) Crush 40's songs and instrumentation have all the edge of any epic rock music while at the same not being that brutal sounding and having that kind of charm to give that sense of going on an adventure. These songs not only lasted to as recent as Sonic Colors but made a huge impact on the fanbase and even the gaming community as a whole, and now, all of a sudden, Sonic Team just stopped. Why?? To the classic fans reading this right now, let's get something straight; no one is going to take away your instrumental music. No piece of visual fiction is ever without music--purely of instruments or otherwise--and they never will be without music. It's practically impossible. I just think no one should just drop a factor of a running franchise they kept at for so long that was legitimately something positive without a good reason.

Take advantage of characters

You know what I'm getting sick of hearing? How everyone thinks every character in this series that isn't Sonic shouldn't exist. Now, looking back, there have been some rather throwaway characters and don't contribute a lot to the games(Team Chaotix), some other characters like Amy Rose never really bothered me and may even be fun in gameplay, but some characters I've highly regarded and consider some of my favorite video game characters out there; Sonic just has so much personality to him and really showed confidence and the resolve to back himself up when I first saw him in my youth, Tails is a scientific genius while at the same time has some innocence to him that made him like the little brother we've all wished we had on some point in our childhoods, Knuckles is ever determined to protect his birthright and has great relevance to the Chaos Emerald mythos, the "E" series robots faced some great tragedies with their conflict with their common creator and having to fight among their own brethren, Blaze, despite being royalty in her own homeworld, was such a loner but then found real friends in people such as Cream, Marine, and our next contender, Silver, who's only determined to rewrite history to change the future and bring peace to his era, and my personal favorite(and I'm sure he's a lot of other peoples' favorite, too), Shadow, a powerful being ever haunted by the past and just a genuine badass. But I don't just like these characters for their ideas, they also showed some promise in terms of gameplay; sure, we have the recognizable speed running, spin dashing, homing attacking Sonic, but Tails has as many platforming capabilities as Sonic while also utilizing some of his technical prowess to separate him from Sonic, Amy has a neat mix of combat and acrobatics, the "E" robots deliver some chaotic combat, Shadow's design to play similarly to Sonic, but with more emphasis on power and some special Chaos powers as seen in his later appearances, and I don't care what anyone says, Silver's telekinetic gameplay in Sonic 06 was great and easily some of the most fun I've had in the game; if SEGA/Sonic Team could just make a few tweeks to the psychokinesis engine, they should consider a whole game around this mechanic. Actually, Sonic 06 is just about the whole excuse the fanbase has been using to discourage the use of multiple characters in a Sonic game. So when games from Adventure to Heroes use multiple playable characters get praise, but all that is completely thrown out the window because the latest use of this trend had a few of the characters were not up to snuff, but then a year later, we get a game with only Sonic to play with that's just unplayable all the way through and no one bats an eye? The point is too many Sonic characters don't get enough credit for what they've had to bring to these games, which is why I think Sonic Team should take more advantage of each characters' abilities attributes outside of what we've seen Sonic do in these games. We're already seeing SEGA letting BigRedButton take advantage of the different characters in Sonic Boom, Sonic's speed and all. So, can we cut the bullshit out and let Sonic games have more to offer than running and spin dashing?

Echidnas

Another thing everyone ignores and apparently SEGA and Sonic Team have forgotten is that the mobian echidna race may just be the most important characters in the Sonic mythology. In ancient times, they were tasked with protecting the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald, knew the secrets to these powerful gems, they were even in a war with other nations and even between their own individual lineages. Not to mention, the Knuckles Tribe were responsible for unleashing Chaos, one of the most powerful and dangerous enemies Sonic ever faced, and if Tikal never made the ultimate sacrifice when she did all those centuries ago, there wouldn't even be a Sonic, an Eggman, or even a world to save at all, let alone the number of times Sonic and his allies did up to that point in the series. Hell, Knuckles had a part in the very relevance of the emeralds all the way back to your precious SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, and now the poor guy is being pushed to the side(he has literally replaced Tails as the series throwaway character!) So, SEGA, if you at least want the Chaos Emeralds to remain relevant, than you need to work on the echidna mythos more, because otherwise(while we're still on the subject of the Chaos Emeralds) they're just as pointless as in the first two games: the emeralds in the original basically had practically no point at all, and while the one reward for getting all the emeralds in the second game may be a nice perk, good luck getting all of them with Miles "Deadweight" Prower holding you back! I think I've made my point clear enough, so let's move on.

Sonic's backstory

You're probably wondering what this one's about. Well, just look at some of Sonic's associates; Shadow was a genetic experiment designed to provide the biological map for immortality but was deemed to dangerous by the government and tries to resolves this by destroying him and killing everyone involved--"And you know the government always knows better", he said sarcastically, but I'm getting off topic--Silver travelled from the future to the present with the intent to change history and save everyone and everything deer to him in his own home time period(not exactly original, sure, but it works for the most part), even EGGMAN was relevant to the historical events on the Space Colony ARK, and I already mentioned how relevant Knuckles and his ancestors were. So that just begs the question: where does Sonic, the goddamn title character, fit into all this? How did Sonic ever get like he is? What influenced him to strive for a life of adventure? How did he really first cross Dr. Eggman? Where does his abilities come from? Why is there a painting of Super Sonic in a Knuckles Tribe temple? And for that matter, why was Shadow designed to Sonic's silhouette? Think about that.

Anime influences

Okay, this one's a stretch, but just let me give some perspective. I first discovered Sonic as early as the Adventure series, and what got me so interested in these games is how stylized these games were compared to franchises like Mario and Crash Bandicoot; the characters had so much more color to them, the stories of the Adventure games were so interesting and intense, and these games had the creative action platforming to back it all up. And the thing about anime is that Japan isn't afraid to be creative when it comes to animation, between the flashy art and music, the whimsical characters, and the over-the-top antics and action. So, don't you think Sonic could benefit from more of such stylization? Consider this: characters would more fleshed out in context and gameplay, bosses would be more fun, and even humor would definitely be a step up from that of Colors and Lost World. Again, this one's a stretch, but hey, I'm just trying to share an opinion here, like personally, I still wish for an in-your-face Gurren Lagann/Panty and Stocking-esque Sonic anime by Hiroyuki Imaishi, himself. Can you imagine? If so, would you see where I'm getting at? You be the judge.

Year of Sonic, huh? Well, I guess I better get this up. This is just a simple list of things I'd like to see in future Sonic games I made. I hope you'll understand my thoughts here and maybe you can share what you'd like to see in future Sonic games in the comments below. Either way, I just hope we can respect opinions here and remember; don't complain, compromise.

Comments12

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

MasterFusion

Oct 29, 2016

Those are some good ideas, SEGA should take notes of this.

But I think there should be games based around Sonic SatAM. Basically use it as the main foundation with some of the better elements from Archie and Fleetway mixed in, then build everything else on top of it, yes even the classics and the 2 Sonic Adventures. This I believe, will revitalize Sonic and give the entire franchise a rich and engaging storyline. That to me would be the ideal Sonic game series I would want: A group of Freedom Fighters fighting against an evil robotic empire, eventually fighting against malevolent wizards, ruthless mercenaries, mad scientists, invading aliens, monstrous gods, and evil cults as well. Imagine a Sonic game where you can fight for the ideals of freedom, hope, and justice against any villain that aims to conquer, enslave, and destroy; the potential in that premise is downright limitless. I don't care if the gameplay could be in 2D or in 3D as long as they can pull it off well.

But if it is a worse case scenario, then just make my ideas into a reboot.