Swedish Magazine May be Top of Slippery Slope
…Uh oh.
The latest issue of Swedish magazine Level, as transcribed by SSMB forumer Carbo, claims a tidbit coming for Sonic Generations that, for most would be insignificant, but for some would signal trouble not just for what it is, but what it means: hub worlds.
That did not come out of Takashi Iizuka’s mouth; he even admitted in the piece that “Sonic is not perfect.” The tidbit comes from a screenshot annotation that accompanies the piece. There is no scan but we assume it to be under the so-called interactive menu for Green Hill Zone, and translated, it says this:
The Adventure elements that have been around the later Sonic games haven’t disappeared completely. In between levels Sonic goes around in an open world looking for the next challenge.
When done right, hub worlds can add replay value and depth to a game. But many fans, especially the veteran crowd, still have the bad taste from the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog and, to a lesser extent, Sonic Unleashed in their mouths. Both, amid a myriad of other problems, included cumbersome hub world layouts.
We’re not saying this is bad, but if it’s means past mistakes haven’t been learned, it could be the sign of something bad. Or, something may have been lost in translation. To be clear, the full preview, which you can read at the link cited above, is glowing. But if not, the little things matter to some fans. Does this matter to you? Tell us below.
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So long as I’m not forced to do any stupid missions, I’m peachy.
I don’t mind a hub world as long as they are not like 06 and disrupt the flow of the game. i don’t care if there are town missions or not, just so long as they are optional. i don’t want to have to do pointless missions to get to the next level. however if they are done like SA and Unleashed but improved, then i’m all for them.
Well, look on the bright side, at least, you can go back to those stages to do a retry like Sonic Unleashed.
Please quit asking for trouble with the way you word things, TSSZ. It’s going to get you in trouble someday, and I speak from painful personal experience. The Sonic fandom is volatile enough to blow up on this piece of news without your (hopefully unintentional) help.
The bulk of the article was fine, but the “slippery slope” and “Uh-oh” portions at the very beginning seemed to suggest that the article was the beginning of a long rant that jumped to dark, abyssmal conclusions, which it definitely wasn’t. In fact, the article surprised me by going in the most rational direction possible.
Thank you for a well-written article, but in the future, please grant your well-written articles more well-written headlines. (Unless, of course, you’re TRYING to grab the attention of mindless complainers, in which case, if it works, it works — I’m no statistician OR psychologist when it comes to the Sonic fanbase, or anything else, really.)
i love the hub worlds in all sonic games, but i would call it better if they were optional for exploration. 2006 forces you to do missions, and unleashed does too, but unleashed missions are super quick. I enjoyed them regardless, more play time that way, but for the sake of others, let the player choose to explore or zoom to the next level like adventure did.
I don’t mind Hub Worlds…sometimes I actually like them if they’re done right….Sonic Adventure’s was ok….I like being able to screw around for 5 minutes just running around…they were ok…
Sonic 06′s is the one that everyone hates…the pointlessness of it all, the boring barren life it lacks, and of course those stupid load times which seal the game to it’s death…if a some one showcased a video game “How to” guides….they should show one about hub worlds and then show those hub world saying, “This is how you do NOT do a hub world”.
Unleashed’s were just….there…I cant remember one thing about them except that they existed….if we could go full speed and even use the boost that would’ve been freaking awesome…but alas…they didn’t..so it makes it a very bleh hub world…
I honestly remember the freaking map menus from the Wii version more than those hub worlds….and that’s ok….map menus are ok…Colors did an excellent job at it, but I do think I prefer hub worlds…
If this game has hub worlds…do it more to the style of Adventure’s hub world…and let us go full speed and even use the boost because that would be fun…for those of us who like to screw around…but that’s just me…
I’d like to see a hub like Sonic Jam’s “Sonic World”. Not sure if this source is correct though…
hub worlds make great places to store secrets! like metal sonic in that glass tube for adventure, or just a place to make a sonic sandbox like 2006. Unleashed had some fun secrets hidden around them, and was a nice place to chill. i agree with Kate Vunza about this article starting off unsettling. Kinda wraps up how the writer of the article feels about the hub world right away huh? Giving a chance for everyone to relate and start up junk. I think hub worlds kick ass but thats just me. Heck it might be just 1 huge hub world set up like a timeline from past to future. I still think its a good way to have some characters that didnt make it into the story make their way at least into a hub world to say h”Hey howya doin?” Like cream the rabbit in sonic dx, again, adventure does the best example of hub worlds, Just give us explorers something to hunt down in them as an optional choice!
@Manic the Hedgehog
Firstly, nothing in 06 was done right, apart from the music, least of all the hubs. They were empty, bland and served no purpose what so ever. In Unleashed, the same thing applied, only they just looked better. Clearly ST realized that these games would be too short and decided they needed some pointless, tedious filler to extend the games length past the two hours it would take had they not been there, instead of being creative in any way.
@ Manic the Hedgehog
Like I said, I wouldn’t really mind if there’s going to be hub world in Sonic Generations, I’d be thrilled! 8D Happy like hell! I liked exploring places in SA DX.
…I must check out what kind of hub world Sonic Jam has, I haven’t played not watched any videos of that game!
*played nor watched…
I should check my messages bit better
To a lesser extent, Sonic Unleashed? Tristan, are you serious? Sonic 2006 was a better game than Unleashed. At least it attempted to follow a system that worked; the Sonic Adventure system. And at least it wasn’t freaking Sesame Street. I’m a veteran fan who finds this new Sonic Team crap to be God awful. I’m not saying Sonic 2006 was a good game, but it certainly didn’t insult my intelligence the way Unleashed did.
^ Okay…?
So long as I don’t have to find the real captain. Seriously, FUCK THAT DUDE.
they should have a hub for each era. one for modern,classic and classic and in each hub you can select the stage from that era.
@Ceejus
How did Sonic 06 try to follow the Adventure system? I see a few similar traits but last I checked, Tails’ ring bombs and Rouge’s bat bombs were from Sonic Heroes. Amy’s invisibility… well I have no idea where the hell that came from. lol I believe the emblems in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 all unlocked something. Does anybody know what collecting all the Solleana coins unlock? And considering we’re talking about hub worlds, I recall Sonic 06 forcing you to do missions in order to progress while having the OPTION to go and “buy” level up items that you switch between chaning shoe colors giving you hack-like abilities that are never needed. But I seem to remember Sonic Adventure doing the exact opposite: Having missions you could do by choice, mostly dealing with exploration while forcing you to get the level ups that were lying around, not at a store and that WERE NECESSARY for updated gameplay which were all open for use at the same time.
I also recall the levels entrances being in places of the Adventure field that led to the stage rather than coming to merely a similar themed spot that was a dead-end with a portal mirror. (Example: Emerald Coast’s enterance is through the entrance to the beach in Sonic Adventure. You know what they did in Sonic 06? They make you go behind these mountains to a small pond with a dead end and a portal mirror that takes you to a JUNGLE! wtf? lol)
@Ceejus: Your logic in a nutshell: “AHL TEH NOO SAWNEEK GAEMS SUK BECAUZ TEHY R AHL SAYSAHMEE STREET HURR DURR.” You’re seriously saying that for a Sonic game too be good they need to have dark edgy storylines? Bullcrap.
HUB worlds are awesome!
If the hub worlds are like Sonic Adventure, that would be great.
I agree, the sour taste that has been left from the previous outings is still there. Give people what they want. Old school Sonic the Hedgehog, old school layouts, old school game play!
SORT IT OUT!
When I think of HUB worlds, I think of Sonic Advance 3. I’m surprised no one has made mention of that yet. In SA3, you jump around a zone-specific level select screen, decide which act or boss to tackle, and off you go. It doesn’t really add very much, but it is a neat area to test different partnerships. Who knew Knuckles and Amy would ever get along?
@IceHedge
See previous page. You and I were the only ones to comment on Sonic advance 3
@Norwich Retro Gaming
I’m a person, and what I want is classic gameplay mixed with a buncha other gameplay styles for the anniversay of 20 years of the franchise. So I think SEGA IS giving the people what they want. IF they give us hub worlds too, even if you don’t like it, just looking at how many people DO should tell you SEGA is still giving the majority of fans what they want. XD
@IceHedge
Maybe some people didn’t picture SA3 like that and so they didn’t mention it. SA2 didn’t have hub worlds so SA3 doesn’t necessarily NEED them.
And Knuckles and Amy getting along? Where did that come from? Don’t they already get along in the Adventure series? I thought their disputes started through Sonic X and the modern games. (Tho in the games it’s much less shown)
Trying to one-up Sankaku in news sensationalism with that “uh-oh”, hmmmm?
Yes! I loved the hub worlds in sonic adventure 1 and 2, and sonic unleashed. Now, let’s see all the classic fans who complain about every bit of detail complain about this. Hopefully sega won’t feel pity on them again.
I love hub world’s it makes me want to skip around in an opened field ketching butterflies and riding unicorns wwweeeee.
Allright I guess. Just make it like SA’s only less confusing. I would find them easier now because I’m older, but as a child, I got stuck alot because it was not clear what you had to do.
AS long as their Done right, I don’t mind Hub Worlds.
@superskeetospro You weren’t forced in Unleashed, they were optional.
Ceezus….. I…… I don’t even know where to begin with that…. -_-