City Escape, Green Hill Zone feature
We said we would be live from London’s Eurogamer Expo this weekend and the result is we have a trio of videos showing off Sonic Generations footage coming directly from the event.
There are plenty of videos showing off full stages which have been seen by everyone, so I wanted to focus on more specific aspects of the game where player have questions. In my opinion these were elements such as rolling momentum, potential changes in level design and how the 2D sections of Modern Sonic handle (which we have not see as much of). You can find these videos below.
First, level design has changed in City Escape. Springs have been added that cause you to automatically travel through sections and, in areas where you would usually have to jump, such as over the platform when skateboarding, springs feature. Sometimes this reduces the user’s input as they watch Sonic move, but these situations are not littered throughout as they were in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. Green Hill Zone seemed largely identical to the Q2 demo.
Rolling momentum seems to be largely unchanged since the demo, though I am still not convinced it increases speed as it should. Levels have been designed in such as a way that rolling isn’t necessary, with speed pads on loops meaning the issue is avoided. Of course, as with the rumoured homing attack being in the 3DS version, replicating the Genesis/Megadrive era should be 1:1 given how the game is being pitched. The truth is however is that levels are fun to play so, while not desirable, the impact of not picking up speed while rolling is minimal.
Finally, Modern Sonic’s platforming: it feels solid. The chief complaint about Sonic Colours was that platforming felt too light, and when combined with the double jump meant that deaths happened unwillingly because you overshot jumps. In Generations, Sonic feels heavier and players certainly have more control. Of course, if you hold the jump button down Sonic will still jump higher.
We also have video for you, which will keep you appeased (for now).
Classic City Escape:
Modern City Escape:
Classic Green Hill:
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i see a couple minor differences in green hill since the demo… namely, the slope at 0:12 seems like it doesn’t ramp up as much as it did in the demo, and that bridge in the background is new. minor stuff though.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
o god i can hear omochao
My thoughts:
For the classic City Escape, still looks like fun but with the automatic springs forcing you to travel in sections you usually have no problem with, it makes the level too easy. But since its not as bad as Sonic 4, I’ll let it pass but I hope the game will include somewhat of a difficulty rank.
Now for the modern sections, the platforming does look more tight than it was in Colors. Sonic still looks as solid as he did from last time and the “Mad Convoy Race” with the G.U.N truck still sends a chill to my spine every time I see it.
Last for classic Green Hill, with the momentum bring tweaked, it certainly improved from the demo (which was still fun). I’m hopeful that they’ve toned down the Spin-Dash abit.
Final thought: Generations continues shaping up to be as successful as Colors was.
Aren’t hard modes confirmed after the avatar rewards were revealed?
[In Modern CE] That “Are you sure you want to know?” billboard was a Chaotix advertisement, wasn’t it? xD
I really don’t see the point of adding the dash pad to that one loop in City Escape. Hell, even with flawed physics, classic Sonic can run through loops in Green Hill Zone, and if he couldn’t, that’s where the SPIN DASH comes in.
Iizuka really needs to learn that badaids don’t heal broken legs.
Sonic seems to have perfected his breakdancing! Lol
Wait. You actually have to dodge the truck in the convoy race in generations?…………………………………………………………….Im so screwed
@ShadiNeko
Options are your friend.
Why can’t we see some Classic Seaside Hill or Rooftop Run or something?
They showed off the EASY mode of the game with Classic City Escape, people! Of course there would be springs where platforms to jump on would be!!!
So I guess we can get it in our heads that the E3 Demo that a lot of people, including IGN played was possibly Hard Mode.
The biggest giveaway is the part in the Modern version where your homing onto the robots in the steel platforms. In the old City Escape there was a deadly chasm underneath so if you fell, your dead, but here, it’s covered by more platforms. In the E3 demo, it was not, so I’m guessing the E3 demo was the hard mode version.
I hate that Classic stops dead when he has to spin dash. I remember on the Genesis when you were running and pressed down, you turned into a ball and rolled… instead than stopping on the spot and doing the spin dash…. It seems off.
Haha, I love how you can see exactly how Hard Mode is gonna be laid out with Classic City Escape. There’s a lot of platforms that cover up the death pits, I can see those easily being removed.
@ SonicJAM on a certain planet, You still can! I did that all the time in the demo!
Also, I went to best buy today and they had a generations demo. It was the classic one and when I played it it felt a lot different than the 30 trail I played before. Classic Sonic’s spinball was amped to go a loooot faster when used. I got such a rush on that big tv! His jump was also a lot higher and less floaty feeling. So go to a best bbuy and see if its the same for you!
Man people ask me why I dont like colors and it was for his floaty jump, lack of camera controls, and super short levels. I dont hate it but found it frustrating to me. It was odd considering I was expecting the physics to be like unleashed’s style of jumping, but From what I see in the modern play I am excited very much!
@thewafflefactory
Did you even NEED camera control for Colors???
Sega Fixing the problems people complained about ???
Whats going on, are they Listening? Honey Call the Kids!!! We’re going to have Dinner tonight!!
@Stephan
It just felt like I was so limited to what I could do. There wasn’t any camera controls in Secret Rings or Black Knight either and I didnt care for those titles. Colors also limited control use, like you can only drift in THIS spot, and boosting is not enabled. Can’t all the controls be usable at any time so that I can use them to my advantage? Whats the point of drifting if you arnt even going to be going neck breaking speeds while doing so?
When I say colors controls bothered me it was a lot of things like the slow jump and adding a double jump to make up for it, as well as slipping on soap when I land on areas. Also I would have liked the levels to have been longer instead of splicing them up into 6 acts, with some being only 30 seconds. I understand the Wii mote option to play only has so many buttons which might explain why the controls were locked out in some areas. If anything its nintendo for not keeping up with the HD times. Call me a sonic hater if you want but I still like to play unleashed, shadow and even 2006. “YOU LIKE THAT GAME WITH GLITCHES OVER COLORS?!” I dont hate colors, just the mechanics of it tht throw me off to not play it as much as others. I can avoid 2006 glitches and choose to just blast through loops and levels in shadow because I have the control to.
@thewafflefactory
Well, I can’t really call someone a sonic hater if they like 2006 and Shadow, but…it’s VERY odd to me that you like those more than Colors…
lol @ Sega making changes where they’re not needed and completely ignoring the parts of the game where they are.
I’m with everyone else crossing my fingers that this is just some kind of “easy mode”.
Roll continue with problems ):
So sad…
Man the boost is so broken. It’s especially clear in that second video when the player boosts in midair during a platforming sequence. Is way too fast and way too squirrely. The spin dash has a much more balanced increase of speed by comparison. In the 3d segments the boost is even harder to control. You might as well call this game “boosting sloppily into walls.” The distortion effect that occurs when you activate the boost looks awesome but kind of impedes the player’s vision too much.
If they could just fix the boost, make it about half as slow as it is now, we’d be in business. Just so, you know, people don’t go careening off every which where.
@thewafflefactory
Yeah… you’re right, I forgot that if we press down it still reacts the same as in the genesis games. I forgot because of the dedicated button you can use to spindash.
Good to see that the game is shaping up the way it is!
The only thing that saddens me is that, if it’s true that this is the only time we will get to play classic Sonic in HD…. well, it’s just a damn shame! Hope SEGA realise that they can split Sonic into two categories, just like Mario. (Paper Mario, Regular Mario. I know it’s not the same… but hey this is the only comparison I could think of!)
@Blues
Or you can use the boost like a smart person and not spam it when you can’t control it?
Lol, wasn’t it shown that there was a hard mode in the game a while back? I’m pretty sure that the levels will be a lot more challenging in hard mode…ya know…cuz it’s hard mode.
@Blues:
LOL you got told.
@ X
It’s not about what I would do, It’s about what people naturally do when in certain situations. The person in the second video wasn’t spamming anything. When he missed the jump and dropped to the lower level he boosted on reflex, which is more than like to throw you into a pit.
Plus, WHEN you use it has nothing to do with slamming into objects in 3d segmenets. That’s just poor design. It’s true that you could probably just never use the boost. But you shouldn’t have to put restrictions on yourself like that.
The boost bar is almost always never empty. Hell it’s never even half empty. The game encourages frequent boosting, which leads to a whole host of problems.
well, he did empty the boost bar actually! Just noticed that. But still, it would be nice if the boost were toned down. Both in application and in availability. In colors it was very easy to run out since it wasn’t tied to rings. The result was that you had to be a little more frugal with it. That’s exactly what this game needs. Players need to be encouraged to conserve.
@Blues: Yeah, the Boost actually is being controlled. If you look closely at the gameplay footage for Green Hill Zone, Sonic actually loses his boost frequently. And he can’t recover as quickly like in Unleashed because there aren’t as many Rings and enemies in the field. And to think: Green Hill Zone is pretty much Boost-City in comparison to the other levels. That and the fact that Modern Sonic actually handles better here than in Unleashed proves that this game will be a lot more enjoyable than Unleashed, and maybe control and feel even better than Colors. (Of which people have complained for its platforming; felt too Mario-ish.)
@Blues ….It’s a boost. It has to be fast. That’s the thing. If you wanna shoot across a large area fast, use boost. If you just need some extra air to make a jump, use the homing dash (the dash sonic makes with the homing attack without targeting on anything.) Using these abilities to your advantage is the point of every sonic game.
yeah but whats the point of the boost again? to jump and boost-spam over the level?
@Blues It’s to finish the level as fast as possible. Knowing how to use the boost and when to use it is dire for speed running. And if sonic has ever done something right, its speed running
@sonic jam: agreed, it s a bit strange that pushing a button can stoP sonic immediately and turn him into a spin dash form :s reminds me more of the adventure era games.
Ring boosting is way better for the environment than wisp boosting
@Thewafflefactory
Because you can never run out of boost energy?
@Blues
this is the contradicting viewpoint I don’t understand. “boost-spam over the level” implies that one can just hold boost and blaze through the level without effort right?
But in your first comment you stated that the boost was too much to control and ended up getting you into trouble if you just spam it like you say you are encouraged to.
So which is it? Does the boost make the game too easy or too hard to manage? I’m really a bit confused on this viewpoint and it seems to be pretty common.
You can generally boost as much as you want, but you can also jump all you want too. Doing either of these in an inappropriate situation will likely land you in trouble. Just because you /can/ boost all the time doesn’t mean you necessarily /should/ be boosting if you find you can’t control it.
“Boost to Win” MY ASS!
@X
The problem isn’t that you can hold to boost to win, it’s that the game encourages you to do so. Boosting is actually rarely a good idea on your first play through a level but people use it as often as possible anyway, leading to some unfortunate situations. Also, when in a platforming situation, a player can always opt to just jump and boost over the trial, thereby negating the design entirely. It’s sloppy and serves no purpose other than to look cool and go really fast.
@darkgomu
shouldnt just playing the game well earn you good times? The boost feels like an artificial way to get through the level as fast as possible. The spin dash is great because you have to stop to use it, and hence aren’t encouraged to use it seeing as how you want to keep the flow going.
@Blues
There’s never been a time where I could just jump and boost over a platforming section. And how is the boost artificial? Have you just kept using it during moments where you WILL die by using it like in the platforming sections during Chun-Nan? All the boost is is a glorified Spin Dash that didn’t require you to stop. That’s all it is.
@Blues
Playing the game well includes learning to use the boost well. Maximizing the use of your given abilities. Like you said, boosting at the wrong time will get you killed. By your logic, spin-dash is just as evil and “artificial”, and let’s not even get STARTED on the homing attack!
I don’t know what games you’re playing where you can boost over every platforming section, but that is rarely the case. Most of the time that’ll get you dead. There’s also the factor of boost conservation to consider… play well enough to conserve your boost for a certain section, and you’re rewarded with the opportunity to skip it (rare as they may be). That’s not much different than the high-path, low-path mentality. A couple of well-timed jumps in the right places in most Sonic games will allow you skip a great deal of the more arduous and challenging platforming sections. Risk and reward, and all that. That’s been the Sonic gameplay philosophy since day one.
The controls of the boost (and of modern Sonic in general, to be honest) are kind of sloppy… but that’s more the fault of the programmers than the boosting ability itself.
IF that easier version of Classic City Escape is just the actual level and there’s no difficulty setting, it won’t bother me. But it’d definately be better if it IS just an Easy Mode. So if it’s not, I will be disappointed, but it won’t ruin it for me. I’d just be like “They should’ve done this. Oh well” and move on. lol Still a good looking level. =p
@Blues
I’m going to have to take this sentence by sentence..
“The problem isn’t that you can hold to boost to win, it’s that the game encourages you to do so.”
Does it? I don’t recall the game ever telling me to do so. The only time it actually encourages me to boost is to plow through an obstacle. Other than that, it is completely up to the discretion of the player. The only way it encourages you is by being a satisfying action. In which case, it does not serve “no purpose”.
“Boosting is actually rarely a good idea on your first play through a level but people use it as often as possible anyway, leading to some unfortunate situations”
Okay… and using a game function all willy nilly like a child is the games fault? When I play games with my little nephews and they start to freak out when something exciting happens they start mashing the jump button as a gut response and will generally end up getting themselves killed for taking the wrong response to a game event. It it the games fault for letting them jump whenever they want?
You are NEVER forced to boost, except for very few stage sections. Using it any other time is up to the discretion of the player. The game never /forces/ or /encourages/ you to just boost for the hell of it. You are the one that is making that decision.
“Also, when in a platforming situation, a player can always opt to just jump and boost over the trial, thereby negating the design entirely.”
Boy would I like to know what games you have been playing. Climbing up the tower in Spagonia? Yeah, try boosting and see how much easier it makes it. Jumping through the spinning platforms in Chun-nan? Just jump and boost right? Spiraling around the tree in Mazuri? Enjoying jumping and boosting all the way to the bottom of the tree again. etc. etc. Anyway, just because you say something doesn’t make it so. And you are just kind of making up stuff right here.
“It’s sloppy and serves no purpose other than to look cool and go really fast.”
Then don’t do it. Unless you like it when it looks cool and goes really fast. In which case… there’s your purpose.
Take a look at City Escape. Except for the GUN truck, you can’t go 3 seconds of boosting without running into something.
You know, this is just a nitpick, but the way Sonic looks going through the level with the Camera not showing the full screen looks better than if it did. You know, cuz the screen is zoomed out and Classic Sonic is tiny in the stage. Well if it were like this on the actual gameplay screen it’d look a bit more comfy for me. A bit more up close where Classic Sonic doesn’t look like he’s smaller than a mouse. lol
Like I said, just a nitpick. =P
@Foxboy
I had that problem with Colors for a while, before I got used to it. Did you play the Generations demo though? Camera seemed to be at a nice reasonable distance to me. It zooms out for certain sections, but on the whole it seemed close enough. Classic Sonic IS unusually tiny compared to some of the badniks and level objects,, but that’s not really the camera so much as art design.
I like the zoomed in view too, artistically, but not being able to see what’s coming from a reasonable distance seems like it’d be more annoying than a tiny character. Maybe that’s just me.
@X
“Boy would I like to know what games you have been playing. Climbing up the tower in Spagonia? Yeah, try boosting and see how much easier it makes it. Jumping through the spinning platforms in Chun-nan? Just jump and boost right? Spiraling around the tree in Mazuri? Enjoying jumping and boosting all the way to the bottom of the tree again. etc. etc. Anyway, just because you say something doesn’t make it so. And you are just kind of making up stuff right here.”
thanks for listing some example for where boosting will kill you. That’s great. Too bad it doesn’t discount all the times boosting can be used to skip chunks of level. Take 19 seconds into the first video for example. Guy just boosted over a whole platforming part. There are plenty of segments like this in Unleashed that can be skipped. No need to be a jerk, especially when your opinion has no more weight than mine.
@Blues
Wait, why am I being a jerk?
Anyway, you said this: “a player can always opt to just jump and boost over the trial”.
My point is that you can not always do that and listed a few examples. It is not “opinion” of whether something can be done or not.
Your example above, where he boosted over three pillars? Well… what a trial that was.
“thanks for listing some example for where boosting will kill you. That’s great”
Thanks for pretending like my other paragraphs didn’t exist. That’s great.
@Blues
Give me a break. You could JUST as easily JUMP over that whole “platforming” part in the CE video. Or spin dash and jump, if it were a classic game. That 2-second “platforming section” is NOT there to challenge you or obstruct your progress… it’s just there to provide you with a way back up to the proper path in case you suck and fall down.
Yes, the air boost can be used to boost through the air. That’s kind of the point. Knowing when and where to use it is just as much a part of playing the game as is knowing what paths to take or knowing how to bounce of badniks to get to those paths.
OH GOD, THE BOUNCING PHYSICS IN SONIC 2 ALLOW YOU TO SKIP MOST OF THE LEVEL IF YOU USE THEM RIGHT! QUICK, SOMEBODY TAKE AWAY SONIC’S ABILITY TO BOUNCE OFF ENEMIES BEFORE IT RUINS THE GAME!
Sonic games have always been about knowing how to skip portions of the levels to get better times. Now you have an additional ability to help you do so. I fail to see what the problem with this is, beyond what appears to be a desire for Sonic to be incapable of doing anything other than a simple jump. Good ol’ bare bones platforming, eh?
@blues in that modern city escape video sonic only boosted over about 3 pillars, that’s not even a huge platforming section. And most of the time in Unleashed air boosting during the platform sections almost guarantees dying; boosting is awesome anyway and you only have to really use it if your blasting through an obstacle or if your being chased by an enemy