Author Topic: I hope "Secret Rings" doesn't suck... (Read 89462 times)

Crimm · « **Reply #125 on:** January 09, 2007, 04:08:52 PM »

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Originally posted by: SixthAngel
Anyway, how about Sonic. I hear he runs pretty fast.

Yeah, but then you have to play as one of his friends either collecting some rocks or in a big ugly mech.

Adrock · « **Reply #126 on:** January 09, 2007, 08:34:35 PM »

I think Sonic can work in 3D, but they have to change the mechanics. Sonic was fun because he was kind of the anti-Mario, in more ways than one, though more specifically gameplay wise. That was fine in the Gensis days. One of the problem with Sonic's 3D outings is that Sonic Team basically decided that Sonic was great because he was fast. Sonic the Hedgehog on 360 sucks because it's, ironically, too fast. Sega can't reduce Sonic gameplay to "you're fast, now run."

Super Mario 64 worked so well because it wasn't just Super Mario Bros. in the third dimension. Nintendo found a way for the game to feel like a part of the Mario universe while also making a highly original title. Mario levels were never objective based, but I almost feel like that made the game better. It exists as a Mario title yet it is like no Mario game before. I suppose that's my major issue with Sunshine, but that's a different topic.

Perhaps, as others have suggested, the problem is Sonic Team. You can blame it on a lot of things. I believe that they never excelled at making 3D games. Furthermore, they haven't made much of an effort to improve in that area. Most teams outside of Sonic have fared slightly worse or failed miserably while working on Sonic (i.e. Traveller's Tales, I'll let you decide how they've done). The answer could be as easy as "give Sonic to someone else." Focusing one making one great title instead of 5 bad ones wouldn't hurt either.

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SixthAngel wrote:
They shouldn't train a new Miyamoto, they will never measure up, but instead let the new blood use their own style and bring something new to the table.

Or they could just "steal" talent. Imagine Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Naka, or Shinji Mikami working at Nintendo. That would basically solve both issues of buying a struggling team and grooming young directors/producers. Of crouse, I'm not serious, but if you're looking for an easy out, there's nothing easier than employing proven talent.

IceCold · « **Reply #127 on:** January 13, 2007, 02:30:20 PM »

Heh, this is really funny.. Apparently, SEGA wrote a letter to YTMND asking them to remove all Sonic-related contact. Here is an excerpt.

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The Sonic the Hedgehog series is one of the world's most popular game series and continues to be exploited and distributed.

Oh the irony..

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #128 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:06:22 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Terranigma Freak Sega has been badly weakend during the 16 bits wars. Around the time DKC came out for the SNES, Sega was roughly 300 million in the red. My numbers could be off, but you can go check a book called "The Ultimate History of Video Games" for the full story. Despite their popularity in America, Sega wasn't doing as well as you think. If Sega weren't in such bad shape, they wouldn't be finished off by Sony so easily. They barely put up much of a fight against the PS/PS2.

I had heard that the 16-bit wars were Sega's best times and that the Sega sandwich competing with the Saturn was what really did them in.

Sega put themselves in that position, but Sony was what truly finished them off.

Terranigma Freak · « **Reply #129 on:** January 14, 2007, 03:35:32 AM »

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I had heard that the 16-bit wars were Sega's best times and that the Sega sandwich competing with the Saturn was what really did them in.

Yes and no. On the surface, yes, they had their best time during the 16 bit days, but internally, things started to go wrong during that time.

Ages · « **Reply #130 on:** January 15, 2007, 04:24:35 AM »

Sega wouldnt have done nearly as bad as they did if they werent so obsessed with releasing hardware every 6 months. Did the Genesis need to be redesigned twice? (three times if you count the Nomad) Were the Sega CD AND 32X necessary? How about the CDX? (Genesis & Sega CD all-in-one) Or the unreleased Neptune, which was a Genesis & 32X all-in-one. It was foolish of the company to develop two 32-bit systems at once, and they should've seen it would be suicidal to their market. Sega wasnt worried about splitting their market with the 32-bit cartridge and 32-bit disc systems they were developing at the same time. Unfortunately, with so many add-on's being "the next big thing" Sega fans felt (and were) ripped off, as none of the additions were supported nearly as much as the Genesis itself. Plus, it didn't help that the games were spread across multiple Sega add-on's as well as the Genesis itself, pretty much nulifying any advantage the add-on had over the Genesis

deathstar45 · « **Reply #131 on:** January 15, 2007, 09:18:24 AM »

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I think Sonic will work in 3D if they simply bring the same formula from the 2D games into 3D: multiple branching speed paths with a light focus on exploration and puzzles.

The SONIC levels of the SA games were generally very good. If they would just make an entire game of THOSE, I have a feeling the game itself would be excellent.

I been seeing a lot of complaints about the sonic franchise similar to that, and I wholeheartedly agree. I just started playing this sonic fangame called Sonic Robo Blast 2, and I have to admit that this FANGAME is a much better 3-D sonic game than any of Sonic Teams recent excuses for a Sonic game.
I really encourage every Sonic fan to at least try this game once. You can find the game and some info at the SRB2 website at: http://www.srb2.org/
Don't worry, this is not a ROM.

This game has a lot of elements of the 2-D games in a 3-D environment. Unlike most of the 3-D sonic games, Sonic RB2 actually has alternate paths. It still has a great sense and encourages exploration like Sonic Adventure did in terms of the finding the emblems hidden in the Adventure fields. There were times where I actually got lost in the levels, something I never experience in a 3-D sonic game (except for Knuckles/Rouge's levels). I just felt I needed to posted this since no one in this topic mentioned this fangame; a sonic fangame I believe captures the essence of the classic Sonic games more than any game by "professionals" has so far.

NWR_pap64 · « **Reply #132 on:** January 19, 2007, 03:01:31 PM »

IGN's impressions of the latest Secret rings demo.

They also have brand new videos and screens.

They seem very ecstatic and enjoyed the demo greatly. But I am still dubious of the game's overall quality...

Crimm · « **Reply #133 on:** January 19, 2007, 03:11:51 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: pap64
IGN's impressions of the latest Secret rings demo.

They also have brand new videos and screens.

They seem very ecstatic and enjoyed the demo greatly. But I am still dubious of the game's overall quality...

I spoke with someone who played it at E3, and while that was a long while ago I think it may hold here.

Me: "How was the Sonic Wildfire?"
Him: "It was eh."
Me: "Just eh?"
Him: "Look 'eh' makes it better than any Sonic game in 10 years."
Me: "Uh..."
Him: "So by that standard it's great."

I fear that kind of reverse beer gogles may come into play in any preview.

BlkPaladin · « **Reply #134 on:** January 19, 2007, 03:15:30 PM »

I got the impression that they are very impressed with the game also. I downloading some of the high quality videos they have. They still say it is coming out Q1 on the run down, but it sounds like its been pushed to Q2. (They say spring which starts in March but goes into Q2 with April May and June)

Mode7 · « **Reply #135 on:** January 19, 2007, 03:47:39 PM »

The great thing about this all is:

IF SONIC AND THE SECRET RINGS FAILS -- we can blame it on Sega for not utilizing the remote properly AND we can chalk it up to Sega's generally weak output during these past years.

IF SONIC AND THE SECRET RINGS WINS -- we can herald Sega for bringing it back AND Nintendo gets kudos for providing the means for Sega to reach it (the remote)

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #136 on:** January 19, 2007, 04:57:34 PM »

JUST YOU WAIT, THE PS3 SIXAXIS PORT WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN FEB-YU-ARY

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #137 on:** January 19, 2007, 06:46:48 PM »

I am hoping that Secret Rings is a stellar or at the very least, above average game. Personally Sonic Adventure for DC is one of my favorite games of all time, not to mention EASILY my favorite Sonic game (I never cared much for the 2D versions). Though I will say after playing a demo of the Xbox 360 version, I'm not going to hold my breath. When a game is so bad that you can die right at the beginning of a freaken demo due to TERRIBLE controls, then I don't have much faith in that developer!

WuTangTurtle · « **Reply #138 on:** January 19, 2007, 07:17:49 PM »

heads up IGN has a handful of videos up. unfortunately its still the same level they've shown before.

ShyGuy · « **Reply #139 on:** January 19, 2007, 07:19:38 PM »

Well, the game looks pretty at least. It reminds me a bit too much of Sonic Heroes though, and I couldn't stand that game.

MaryJane · « **Reply #140 on:** January 21, 2007, 11:57:16 AM »

I'm a wii-bit late to the party but the graphics do look very good, and i'm all for speed play, although i didn't like that annoyingly high pitched voice giving you hints like "the red spirits breathe fire". NO SH*T!

Nick DiMola · « **Reply #141 on:** January 22, 2007, 01:51:20 AM »

Well I must say I am significantly more interested in this game due to the IGN preview. It seems like the game has some depth and the graphics are pretty nice, and I think that is of some significance for a Sonic game. I am trying not to get my hopes up becuase chances are the game will be subpar. But, I will reserve judgement until I try the game and some impressions from you guys are posted.

Terranigma Freak · « **Reply #142 on:** January 22, 2007, 02:07:12 AM »

Someone from another site seems to disagree with IGN.

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A portion of a CVG preview…

Sonic and the Secret Rings is a unique Sonic experience that tries to take the mascot back to his simplistic, high-speed platforming roots. Our major concerns are that the controls, although simplified in principle, don’t feel as comfortable and immediately intuitive as you would imagine. Sonic’s movement is still uncontrollably sporadic like his other 3D games, and we found ourselves fighting with the controls to get Sonic to do the simplest of actions.

This, in some cases made the game unplayable, to the point where we had died at the same part so much we considered giving up altogether. Hopefully, some polishing touches with be made to the final game before launch in a few months. If not, we could be seeing another potentially cool Sonic game turn out to be a massive disappointment.

http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=155871

Hmm... very interesting. Seems like the game is either a love it or hate it kind of game. Well, we're getting closer to release with each passing day, so we'll know by then. Best of luck, guys.

Ceric · « **Reply #143 on:** January 22, 2007, 02:14:39 AM »

It seems most Wii games are turning out Black and White this time around.

Caterkiller · « **Reply #144 on:** January 22, 2007, 03:18:23 AM »

The way the videos looked to me, who ever was playing it had a very easy time steering Sonic Left to right (which was very difficult in past games) and jumping from platform to platform.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #145 on:** January 22, 2007, 04:11:00 AM »

The IGN preview gives me hope as well.

Though, I'm hoping Sega didn't preview-punk IGN by giving them the best 5 minutes of gameplay in the entire game (like many companies do for previews).

SixthAngel · « **Reply #146 on:** January 22, 2007, 04:14:07 AM »

With the control on the remote how it is I don't really see how it could be hard to control so I'm going to go with IGN's impressions.

NWR_pap64 · « **Reply #147 on:** January 22, 2007, 06:17:20 AM »

I found yet another preview, this time by CVG.

They too have a positive preview, but notice how the end it:
"Sonic and the Secret Rings is a unique Sonic experience that tries to take the mascot back to his simplistic, high-speed platforming roots. Our major concerns are that the controls, although simplified in principle, don't feel as comfortable and immediately intuitive as you would imagine. Sonic's movement is still uncontrollably sporadic like his other 3D games, and we found ourselves fighting with the controls to get Sonic to do the simplest of actions.

This, in some cases made the game unplayable, to the point where we had died at the same part so much we considered giving up altogether. Hopefully, some polishing touches with be made to the final game before launch in a few months. If not, we could be seeing another potentially cool Sonic game turn out to be a massive disappointment."

I believe the IGN preview made no mention of potential control issues. To be fair, though, similar complaints were made against some games that didn't have much of a problem, but this is a Sega game we are talking about.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #148 on:** January 22, 2007, 06:25:10 AM »

You're late.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #149 on:** January 22, 2007, 07:16:41 AM »

I'm going to have to go with IGN because they're usually harsher on games and this time they're actually pleased.

I'm starting to get excited for this game...or maybe that's just the coffee I've started on...

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Author Topic: I hope "Secret Rings" doesn't suck... (Read 89462 times)