Are Fans Setting Themselves Up for Disappointment Again?
It can’t be avoided.
Though the image you see here–and its various incarnations–have already been banned from one major Sonic message board, many fans are referencing the Sonic cycle as a reason not to get too excited about Project Needlemouse. Though the possibility exists that Sega’s new Sonic can break the trend that has tersely defined Sonic fandom of the past several years, we’ve heard that song and dance before…many times. In that, the cycle proves and sustains itself as a sort of curse, not just on the community but on the Sonic franchise itself. If it is a curse outright, its place in gaming mythology may be right up there with the tried and tested Madden curse. As each feature player keeps getting injured year after year, so too do the hopes of Sonic fans yearning for a game that unites, not divides, with each announcement.
The references are happening with good reason–so far, that first bubble has held true. At present, we only have an announcement and a vague trailer; one that lacks any of Sonic’s friends.
It sure has raised hopes, too. Since the news broke late Tuesday, discussion has been feverish. At the Sonic Stadium, the Needlemouse thread has hit 32 pages. At Sonic Retro, it’s at 55 pages–over 800 posts. And that “triumphant return” part is not only being touted by Sega, but in overwhelming numbers by veteran Sonic fans. Excitement is at a high not seen since the first bits of Sonic Unleashed were revealed.
But where Unleashed began to divide is the part where Needlemouse has yet to prove itself–the yellow bubble; the part where new friends are allegedly revealed, and “hopes hit the ground.” Because no further information is available, all eyes are now on the upcoming Tokyo Game Show to see if any new details will be disclosed. If this really is the retro revival that so many think it is, the cycle will be considered broken by most, leaving perhaps the new generation fans–those who are used to and embrace such robust expansion of the Sonic franchise and those within it–to tout a continuation.
But in this case, everything that’s the “same old” would be new. Even so much as the introduction of a new gimmick or a new character would cast tremendous doubt over Needlemouse’s success–just as something as simple as a sword did to Sonic and the Black Knight, and as the Werehog did to Sonic Unleashed.
And it would be that idea of something new that could again throw off the gaming press, which still has sizable influence in who buys what. That leads to the third bubble–where the game is released, the Sonic Cycle dictates reviewers slam Sonic’s latest incarnation, and a vocal group of fans–not always a majority of fans–are left bitter, broken, and full of vows to never again be fooled by broken promises…at least, until the next announcement comes along.
The wildly fluctuating verdicts on Unleashed helped to boost confidence in this bubble as fans divided on the Werehog execution, with SBK serving as a uniform icing on the cake.
This time, it’s supposed to be different. (There’s that first gear in the cycle turning again.) Both Sega and the fans realize the stakes Needlemouse carries. Expectations are high. Should it succeed, it will lay the groundwork for a series of new 2D Sonics, much to the celebration of veterans. If it doesn’t, there may never be talk of a Sonic cycle again solely on the basis that all future hopes for a respectful Sonic, in 2D or 3D, would be laughed out of consideration. Having casual and die-hards lose confidence in Sega’s top IP is not something the company needs right now, as the industry weathers its own delayed recession.
The first component of the cycle appears in full swing. Are we doomed to repeat our mistakes? The truth is…at this point, no one really knows. That’s the genius behind the Sonic cycle; it is a glorified domino effect, and its future motion is wholly dependent on the speed of today’s gears.
Still, it only takes the smallest element to push those gears. Seeing that Sega themselves are touting a 2D revival, most fans’ tolerance on Needlemouse will be quite low. What would set the cycle off in motion again? Would a new character have to be revealed, or could it be something as arguably asinine as a 2D homing attack? What’s your tolerance level? Tell us in the comments section–and let’s hope we’re not about to go around in circles again.
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*Any* not *all*… F***…
The people that bitch just want their classics back. Well, I have news for ya:
VIDEO GAMES CANNOT BE JUST ‘RUN AND COLLECT RINGS’ ANYMORE.
I have a little brother, turning 8. I got him into it, and needless to say, he loved unleashed. He loved Black Knight. He love Secret Rings, Rush, Adventure, Chronicles….And I bet that he’ll love Needlemouse too. Sonic games are for the kids, and that’s one reason at age 15, I still find them emjoable myself. Because it brings the kid in me. The classic bitchers don’t wanna take the new stuff, and want their 2D. I have news for em. If SEGA doesn’t add stuff, guess what’ll happen? They’ll run out of ideas! Least their adding on so they could expand on it later! Like say Sonic Riders. They added the Babylon Rouges and the whole ancient civilization thing and they added onto it, hence Zero Gravity. That’s even inspired a FANCHARACTER of mine! I love Sonic games, and I always will. But if the people who just want the same old shit keep this act up, they’ll be the ones to end the series. Not the ones that take the changes and add ons.
So I have a question.
Sonic dies due to no ideas? Or new stuff like him wheilding a sword?
You decide.
Wait….Aren’t we now in the 3D age of videogames? Why in the hell do a lot of people want sonic in a 2D game SOOO much and thinks that all of the 3D games sucks so hard that it’s burns their eyes till the core of the pupil is scarred?
It doesn’t make any sense anymore…..shoot most of the 2D games is boring…i mean it’s not as epic..and bright and colorful (Actually maybe i’m wrong about that) as the modern era of sonic games. it gets annoying hearing some dumb Arse pansys complaing about the game…If you don’t like it…move on to another game and stop complaing!
damn…for me…i’m looking forward to Needlemouse…So screw off with all the Bad reviews and stuff like that…i’m STILL buying it..
The 2D games are not boring! What the?
How can we compare this cycle to Project Needlemouse now? This cycle matched Sonic ’06, but SEGA may finally be listening to their fans. They want the classic Sonic they grew up with, not a hedgehog saving a princess. Some characters were abandoned, like Ray the Squirrel, Bean the Duck, Bark the Polar Bear, and a few others. But Sonic ’06 has done a huge damage to the Sonic franchise. If Project Needlemouse fails, the Sonic franchise might.
Oh…Except Sonic 2,3 /w knuckles and Sonic advances and rushs of course…My bad..
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/Kyranik/TheSonicCycleCycle.png
That is all.
That would be the Sonic Cycle Cycle my friends. A great rebuttal, no?
lol!!
this is so funny!=D
is any one having fun!!! ;]
lol!
A quick search through this entire page for either “Yuji Naka”, “Naoto Ohshima” or “Hirokazu Yasuhara” nets me zero results… Sonic “fans” have forgotten who were the three wheels in Sonic’s tricycle.
Serves them good, I say.
*Sigh* You’re still failing, guys. I give you all an F-.
I haven’t forgotten. >_>
I was mocking the article for having the shitty Sonic Cycle by rebutting with the Sonic Cycle Cycle.
Failing at what Soul?
Personally, not trying to start a flame war or anything, but that cycle shown is the flipping truth. I admit to going through the ropes of that cycle countless times. It happened to me, no better example, other than Sonic 06 and we all know that was a piece of garbage among garbage.
Needless to say, Needlemouse seems promising. However, we have yet to see game play of the game, so I’m not holding my breath. I’ll keep playing the GOOD 3D Sonic games to hold me off till then (such as Adventure 1 & 2), or hey here’s a novel idea! Play the classics on the Genesis, which is hooked up to my TV in my room with Sonic 3 & Knuckles sitting in the console! Call me a classi-fag if you will, but those are the gems of Sonic’s career and you know it as well as I do. We haven’t had excellence since the days of the Genesis, although the Adventure games were very fun!….as long as you played as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles.
You write so much and I can’t read everything, but I saw something about that 2D games are old and we need the new ideas. And I say: Yes, that’s true. But if they just do one classic game, then I see no problems and think it’s just good.
Yeah, the cycle is true. When the trailer came out, I was all excited, but just remembered how flawed and crappy 06 was, which snapped me out of it. Hopefully, this game will do better, but I’m still keeping my guard up.
Also, I don’t get why so many people slam the supporting cast of characters. If a character is created for that game to serve some purpose than who cares! It’s when the characters keep recurring long past the point they should be dead, that they become extremly annoying (Yeah I’m looking at you Silver!) Mario and Zelda both introduce new characters in almost EVERY single game, but the only difference is that they aren’t playable (usually) and they often disappear right after that games over. GET OVER THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS PEOPLE!!!
Tristan Oliver, I think you picked the wrong community to post “Sonic cycle” news. This isn’t any criticism from my part, but when you post this by a group of people who actually “enjoy” the so-called terrible games (such as Sonic 06, and Black Knight), this topic just comes off as “biased Sonic hate.”
It’s only my observation, so yeah. While it’s true that many see the recent 3d Sonic games as not-so-good, in many Sonic communities, the recent 3d Sonic games are grade A quality… and many fans complain about player-haters. And Tristan, I’m very sorry… but I’ve seen negative posts about this article on other Sonic communities by people who think you are a “Player Hater” for posting this.
But Tristan, no matter how many angry people are out there, believe in yourself. Do not let anger scare you, because I think you do a good job at posting news.
Keydown: Failing to realise what the fanbase actually wants. You’re all just assuming that the fanbase wants daytime-esque Sonic Unleashed game. NO. That is NOT what we want. I don’t feel like typing what exactly it is that the majority of the fanbase wants, but just, just look around. And fully read. Don’t jump to conclusions.
Honestly, I would love to see that Cycle vanish. It just further helps many try to avoid Sonic altogether instead of wanting Sonic to reach gaming popularity again. There should be no shame to that, just keep your anxiousness to a minimum or keep your hopes to a neutral and have the Sonic games be given a more casual approach. Not only that, but if the game by any chance reaches outstanding approval and scores, those people who “approve” the cycle will try with all efforts to try and find a flaw in the game to further help the cycle, and if its found will try to keep that cycle going. It’s a mindset that while it unfortunately has been truthful with many of the recent games, it really shouldn’t be the verdict of any future game seeing as how the future is never set.
Hey guys I Know this is werid but check this link.
http://www.mikmuk.com/rss/article.php?title=True%20Secret%20Behind%20Sonics%20Project%20Needlemouse%20Revealed
Its really weird.
@Sonicman: Haha! Yeah, but the old Sonic 1 logo fits perfect too and I think it’s a bigger chance that it’s Sonic and not Pikachu.
Here is my opinion. Regardless as to what the internet sonic fan scene think, sonic games sell. Sega probably doesn’t give two shits what the sonic fans think because at the end of the day, sega is a company. And what do company’s what more that anything in the world? No not the respect of it’s fans, try again. That’s right timmy, they want money. This game is just sega looking at market research, seeing that quite a large number of people want a new 2D sonic game and thinking “mo money =)”. Now sega have said it themselves that sonic games are aimed at kids because that’s where the money is for the sonic seires and i’m not saying that this game is gunna suck but don’t expect this game to please 100% of the sonic fans from the 90′s because it’s gunna be aimed at children as well.
Anyway that’s my rant over. Have a good un peeps.
Oh and before anyone calles me a hater, i have played and enjoyed almost every sonic game since the first mega drive game (except the wii games as only my girlfriend has a wii and i don’t wanna buy games for a console that doesn’t belong to me) and only found sonic riders to be the one that truly sucks.
@ChaosAngelZero: YES! Someone who gives credit to Oshima and Yasuhara!
@Werehog
Lol True
It’s indeed a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Tristan suggests. When everyone expects the worst from every new Sonic game, they’ll find something to complain about.
Case and point: the new school 3D Sonic fans complain about “ugly” 2D graphics or why Silver or Shadow won’t be in the new 2D Sonic.
Good god, there’s too much fragmentation and bickering about Sonic from within and without, and I’m beginning to accept the possibility that SEGA or anyone else will do anything about it. Between the historical and/or self-fulfilling Sonic cycle curse, the rift between old-school gamers and the younger generation who like the 3D Sonic games a lot (for whatever reason), and the other rift between the seemingly fragmented Sonic community and many other gaming and/or critic communities on and off the internet, it doesn’t seem at all likely that SEGA could ever restore their mascot’s reputation or their own.
2D-HD Sonic-Needlemouse most likely won’t be the mythical silver bullet that will turn almost everyone around. Not 2D alone, anyways, or even just one game. SEGA will have to do a lot more than that to gain more respect for themselves and their IPs, and then learn to execute the principles of properly managing assets and financing with quality management enhanced for expect long-term game. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, and given the current global economic repercussions of the last 8 years SEGA can’t bring themselves to change the status quo, but something’s gotta give sometime. I’m not looking forward to supporting a company that has a history of a few brilliant successes amid consistent failures and mismanagement.
I’ll keep an eye on this “Needlemouse” project, though, but I’m not expecting any miracles.
hey, I wasn’t disapointed with unleash, I was actually impressed.
even with his design flaws, I thought the werehog was actually pretty fun.
and the sonic stages blew my mind.
dlc content actually satified me.
it was a respectable game. may not be what fans wanted, but I was fine with it. same goes for black knight. not what fans had in mind, (me niether in this case) but it was a fun and decently designed game. not enough reply value on black knight though, not enough to justify $50, but it’s all good.
Blackgenma is right.
2D Sonic is SPOCIOUS. 3D Sonic is SPOCIOUS. Sonic’s 2D debut was SPOCIOUS. Sonic’s 3D debut was SPOCIOUS. Upon them, they were wellreceived. And any review that came after the last wellreceived Sonic Game can’t touch that. Cause that goes to show that Sonic Games can still be SPOCIOUS. The last critically wellreceived Sonic Game was 3D… so SEGA SHOULD STILL MAKE 3DSONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The debuts were SPOCIOUS, so they should stick to it! Sonic Unleashed was met with unfair bias, and the main complaint was just the WereHog (WereHog is SPOCIOUS) and not the DayTime Stages, so why couldn’t they make a Game entirely like the DayTime Stages! Project NeedleMouse could be SPOCIOUS and I wanna play it, but it better not be the style for Future MainStream Sonic Games.
My tolerance level is VERY low. I used to be a hardcore Sonic fan, so much that my nickname in high school was “SEGA”. I played Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles. Awesome games. I used to be able, in Sonic 2, to face the first boss as Super Sonic already, having gathered the 7 emeralds in the game’s first zones.
For me, new friends SPOIL THE WHOLE FRANCHISE. I will even state that Knuckles was already pushing it too far. They should just bury Knuckles. That character, unfortunately, was the beginning of the end. Of the trend of introducing a new friend in each fucking game.
Look, the Sonic mythology was genius from the beginning. Sonic was the force of nature, and Robotnik represented mad progress and technology. The game was about the triumph of nature when faced with man trying to destroy it. Simple, powerful. It’s notable how, from the beginning, Sonic was ALWAYS pissed. He looked pissed, and his mission was to FUCK SHIT UP. He only smiled in the end, when he managed to RUIN ROBOTNIK’S SHIT.
Sonic does not need any friends. He is the HERO. Robotnik is the only necessary villain. There’s no need for other humans in Sonic’s mythology. Friends weaken Sonic’s hero strength, other humans weaken Robotnik’s symbolic villany.
So what I expect from Needlemouse is this: SONIC VERSUS ROBOTNIK. I expect they reset the entire franchise, in order to fix all the major suckage that cursed Sonic.
Sonic DESERVES THIS COMEBACK. He DESERVES to be the star again. Here’s to hoping Project Needlemouse pretends all the friends never existed in the first place, without giving the smallest explanation of what happened to them. Let them all fade into oblivion and obscurity. And let Sonic, once again, SHINE.
My tolerance level is VERY low. I used to be a hardcore Sonic fan, so much that my nickname in high school was “SEGA”. I played Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles. Awesome games. I used to be able, in Sonic 2, to face the first boss as Super Sonic already, having gathered the 7 emeralds in the game’s first zones.
For me, new friends SPOIL THE WHOLE FRANCHISE. I will even state that Knuckles was already pushing it too far. They should just bury Knuckles. That character, unfortunately, was the beginning of the end. Of the trend of introducing a new friend in each freaking game.
Look, the Sonic mythology was genius from the beginning. Sonic was the force of nature, and Robotnik represented mad progress and technology. The game was about the triumph of nature when faced with man trying to destroy it. Simple, powerful. It’s notable how, from the beginning, Sonic was ALWAYS pissed. He looked pissed, and his mission was to DESTROY STUFF. He only smiled in the end, when he managed to RUIN ROBOTNIK’S DAY.
Sonic does not need any friends. He is the HERO. Robotnik is the only necessary villain. There’s no need for other humans in Sonic’s mythology. Friends weaken Sonic’s hero strength, other humans weaken Robotnik’s symbolic villany.
So what I expect from Needlemouse is this: SONIC VERSUS ROBOTNIK. I expect they reset the entire franchise, in order to fix all the major suckage that cursed Sonic.
Sonic DESERVES THIS COMEBACK. He DESERVES to be the star again. Here’s to hoping Project Needlemouse pretends all the friends never existed in the first place, without giving the smallest explanation of what happened to them. Let them all fade into oblivion and obscurity. And let Sonic, once again, SHINE.
Ahh LightSpeedBlast you are here too I see. Well the new 2D Sonic game guys has me excited, but until it comes out I will get games like Assassin’s Creed, Halo, and Resident Evil… perhaps I will get Quantum, um… Final Fantasy looks great. Crackdown 2 looks amazing, but this game sounds pretty as you all say it SPOCIOUS!