Sonic Forces Review (PC)- Oh a new Mario came out?

This is the best year of Sonic games I’ve had since colors came out for both wii and 3ds. Sonic Mania is a special game but I have little interest in always revisiting vintage Sonic. Sonic Forces is the new 3D Sonic game. As always, it is getting lambasted in reviews and polarizing the fan base.

This game is the Sonic Colors sequel I have been waiting for for years. I love Sonic. I love 3D Sonic. This game is everything I like about Colors with a character creation gimmick that works very well. It’s fascinating in a year where Mario is playing dress up, Sega figured out how to get me to change outfits on my created character between every level for fun.

STORY- Real talk, story was dark. Robotnik won. Sonic got captured. A rookie came in to help the resistance force. Robotnik has a new bad guy called infinite manipulating time and space with the wild sound effect from Sonic Mania when you teleport between zones. The resistance fights slowly taking over the world. There are a lot of cut scenes but they work. I really liked the themes of the story. Be brave, and trust your friends. It’s corny but it’s so engrained in this tale, it’s hard not to be inspired. The story works well enough, and ends how you would expect (nobody dead…).

MUSIC- This soundtrack is a call back to Sonic Adventure in the best way! It’s so good.

CONTROLS- The physics are Ok. Momentum on jumps for your avatar take some getting used to. It all works. I never felt like I died due to the controls. Classic sonic does not feel as good as Mania sonic and that’s a shame. Boost sonic, current 3d sonic still boosts and moves fast. I felt like they refined the controls where you press the bumpers to have Sonic shift left or right and it felt good. Not a ton of endless drops to punish you either. Classic Sonic feels slow. Avatar has an awesome move set with the grappling hook and they have an amazing animation where you use the hook to turn when your running fast. New Sonic feels great but he is used in 2D segments too many times for my liking. I think they learned a lot from previous games on the controls. The level design never leaves you wondering why the he’ll they had a 90degree turn when Sonic can’t make those turns boosting. The levels compliment the controls.

LEVEL DESIGN- There are lots of amazing set pieces and gorgeous backgrounds. This game does my favorite gimmick of having you run and the floor builds under you as you move. The level design has taken a lot of criticism mainly due to the length of the stages. Most stages can be cleared in a couple minutes and there are fewer alternate paths to explore. I took the time to play Sonic 1 and 2 on my phone as well as revisiting Sonic Generations on PC and Lost World on PC to compare. The best sonic levels are short. I remembered why I never play Sonic 1 anymore and it’s because of Marble Zone Act 3. It’s too fucking long and it’s needlessly hard and railroads you into a crappy boss fight. Levels like this show the faults in Sonic games immediately. Every level in Sonic Lost Worlds is too long. Play Mario Galaxy and relish in the bite sized levels for a minute then go slog through a marathon 5 minute Sonic Lost World level. Sonic Levels are a balance much like a carnival ride, a roller coaster that lasts too long is just torture and long Sonic levels in my experience leave me feeling tortured just waiting for the end. Sonic Mania hits the perfect balance and Forces leans a little too much on the short side but I think it’s for the better.

GRAPHICS- Hedgehog engine looks so good.

GAMEPLAY- The game essentially breaks down into 4 types of levels, classic sonic, avatar, 3d sonic, buddy levels (think sonic heroes). Each level is a 2-3 minute chunk, made to be repeated. There are around 30 levels in the base game, with many secret levels, shadow DLC, and daily missions and challenges. There seems to be a sense that levels are too short but honestly my biggest complaint with Mania and other games are most Sonic levels overstay their welcome. I have never liked a Sonic stage that was lunching near the 10minute limit. 3minutes gives you a chance to see the level, hit a challenge and move on. My complaint was sometimes for story purposes they tell you enter an area and a 60 second level is you running into the front door. That’s lame but rare. If you like modern Sonic, you will like this game. If you’re coming in still high off of Sonic Mania be warned that the classic Sonic stages don’t feel as good as the Sonic Generations classic stages and nowhere near as solid as Mania. 

WHERE DOES THIS RANK IN SONIC HISTORY? Better than Unleashed and 06, almost better than Colors…..The best Sonic is still Sonic the Hedgehog 2 followed closely by Sonic’s Neo Geo Pocket Color outing.

FINAL THOUGHTS – This is a solid game. The boss fights are fun and the final boss doesn’t shit the bed like in Generations. This game feels like a clear, consistent vision.

It’s amazing in 2017 a tentpole Mario and Sonic come out. Sonic Mania will probably be getting GOTY nods, Forces isn’t that refined but it’s a solid game.

The Sonic Myth or Requiem for a Hedgehog (Sonic Rivals 1 & 2)

Everything you know about Sonic is a lie. Sonic is not about speed or going fast. If you play Sonic 1 after you blow through Green Hill Zone you hit Marble Zone. Marble zone is a slow plodding platforming level that grinds Sonic down to Mario speeds. For a game about speed they slow you down very quickly. The Sega Advertising had a lot to do with this myth (show commercial) but reality shows that Sonic has always been about platforming as well as speed. From this frame, a lot of Sonic outings make more sense (see: Sonic 3D blast, Sonic Unleashed, etc).

What if there was a Sonic game that ACTUALLY about nothing but speed? I have for you that very game series…SONIC RIVALS 1 and 2 for the PSP!

Before I go on about Sonic Rivals 1 and 2, I want to touch on a problem that Sonic has that few other series have to deal with. People are obsessed with the narrative that Sega hasn’t made a good Sonic game since Sonic 3, and frankly that’s a lie. The main Sonic twitter account threw some shade at Mighty No. 9 and immediately everybody was like, “glass house!” “all Sonic games suck!” and no. For one, having one good Sonic game puts them in a better place than Comcept and the dumpster fire they released (it’s not awful but it’s not perfect). There are great Sonic games, there are not great Mighty No. 9 game so Sonic can throw all the shade he wants. Beyond that, people pick and choose which Sonic games count towards the “good game” count. Sonic has had consistently solid handheld outings for decades. The Sonic Advance games are amazing, the Sonic rush series was great, hell even the Sonic Boom handheld game was solid. The Neo Geo Pocket Sonic is one of my favorites but these games don’t support the “Sonic sucks” narrative so they don’t get brought up. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark brotherhood was a really solid RPG (from Bioware!). Sonic Runners for IOS was great and made a lot of thematic sense.

With that rant out of the way, I just want to extol the values of the Sonic Rivals series. They have speed, they have fun boss fights, great level design, and for some reason added battles to the second game but whatever nothings perfect.

What is Sonic Rivals? They are racing platformers where Sonic is pitted in a one on one race through a 2D level. First to the end wins. Each level has loops and moving platforms. There are enemies scattered around, mostly to force you to jump or attack. You can pick up items to attack your rival. You race through 2 acts and on act 3 you reach a boss. Bosses are fun fights where you race in a circle around the boss itself figure out where you can hit it and hit it until it blows up.

How do they look? For a PSP game (pause, take that in…) they look good. Vibrant colors. The stages colors are reminiscent original games with the same themes (casinos, hill zone, caves) and it looks awesome.

What makes these games matter? They are Sonic distilled to the 90’s marketing campaign. You get speed in spades. The levels are made to make you go. Weirdly, the games are made to speed run as if Twitch was a big thing when these games came out. There are little traps and things to slow you down but rarely will they cause you to lose a race. Even with all the different characters, they all basically just run.

I am not trying to say Sonic Rivals is the best Sonic game ever, nor are they the greatest games of all time. BUT they are really fun, and I think they were a good direction for Sonic to take. I would love to see a console version of these games (not Sonic R, or All-Stars Racing). The Rivals games have a fun trading card system rewarding you for completing levels and it adds a nice “gotta catch em’ all” gimmick.

Watching Sonic 4 morph into Colors, then Generations, and Lost World (Sonic Boom was some outsourced trash) it seems like Sonic won’t commit to a direction. I liked all of those game mentioned. I love Colors and think that Lost World is underrated. That said, I think a Sonic Rivals style console game at $19.99 would fill the needs of people clamoring for a fast Sonic, and a 2D Sonic without having to worry about gimmicks. It’s easy to sequel out, just make more stages. Multiplayer is built in. To me it makes sense. Which all but guarantees the next Sonic game will go off the fucking rails and I will be forced to cope by defending Sonic’s past and finding the gems that people forget and then cry myself to sleep while Sonic get trashed on all my favorite podcasts. I really love this fuckin hedgehog.  Peace.

 

Black Characters in Gaming: Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Megadrive) Music

I have jokingly talked about Knuckles the Echidna being black, and I stand by that joke. An angry red person with dreads and brass knuckles who is constantly duped by the white antagonist….can’t be black 🙂 I AM NOT JOKING WHEN I SAY THE FUNK IS BLACK (it has transcended race)! and that original Sonic music on the Genesis is funky!

(CLICK THE LINKS, HEAR THE MUSIC ON YOUTUBE!)

This is inspired by a VGMpire podcast I heard recently (Link Here) that showcased old Sonic music.

Let’s start by hearing some real funk! I am talking Parliament Funkadelic. George Clinton.

“Maggot Brain”

“Groovallegiance”

“Motor Booty Affair”

“Flash Light”

“Atomic Dog”

“Mothership Connection”

“Stretchin’ Out”

“One Nation Under a Groove”

Normally, I do a lot of research for these but not this time. I was raised funk, I have lived funk, funk is life. I spent years of my life listening to and watching bootleg Parliament tapes and VHS. My childhood was littered with long road trips colored with maggot brain in the background. I played Bass from 5th grade through college.

The closest I have ever come to swimming was listening to Motor Booty Affair. I don’t like flying but I take flight on the Mothership regularly. I played bass growing up, and funk bass lines give us life on “the 1”. When I compare Sonic music to the funk, it comes down to the bass lines for me.

Is funk black? Yes, but the funk transcends race as much music does. Justin Timberlake can be as funky as Sly on a good day.

Funk and Sonic? I thought all these games were made by Japanese people. Fair question, the Japanese are funky, but lots of people worked on the music of Sonic. Sonic CD, and the soundtrack of Sonic 3 have very interesting developments. The most interesting one being Michael Jackson’s involvement with Sega on Sonic 3. (Off the Wall is one of the funkiest albums of my life!).

*Side note* Sonic was working with Michael Jackson on the soundtrack for Sonic 3 then his scandal with…the children went public. Sega wanted to distance themselves from that scandal. People from Jackson’s team are in the credits and people are on record saying MJ was working on music. The credit theme is supposed to have laid the ground work for “Strangers in Moscow”.  

Sonic in Moscow- Sonic MJ MashUP

Sonic 1 “Spring Yard Zone”- This track is amazing. That heavy bass line drives the what should be a light jaunt through a star lit night into what feels like a casino night.

Sonic 1 “Labyrinth Zone”-

Sonic 1 “Scrap Brain Zone”-

Sonic 1 “Staff Credits (medley)- All the songs are so good, and the bass drives the album. 

Sonic 2 “Emerald Hill Zone”- This bass line almost sounds like blue grass and if you look for the roots of funk it meanders from Jazz, Rock, and even bluegrass and country.

Sonic 2 “Chemical Plant Zone”– Smooth McGroove kills this song! All his voice! Amazing.

Sonic 2 “Aquatic Ruin Zone”–

Sonic 2 “Oil Ocean Zone”– This song is almost middle Eastern in theme. Makes sense…Oil…war….nevermind…Great song!

Sonic 3 “Character Select”

Sonic 3 “Hydrocity Zone Act 1 & 2”

Sonic 3 “Marble Garden Zone”–

Sonic 3 & Knuckles “Mushroom Hill Zone”–

Those were the funkiest Sonic jams in my humble opinion.

What I think is interesting about music in games is that original music doesn’t get the attention or credibility that licensed music gets. If Grand Theft Auto has a Funkadelic song in it, then it’s funky and a great sound track. While Toe Jam and Earl might blow the speakers out on Funktron nobody really appreciates it.

I think one of the reasons I was always drawn to Sonic more than Mario is the music. I play Sonic music all the time. Mario music didn’t appeal to me until Koopa Beach from Mario Kart was played. That shit is dope. The Genesis was very good at replicating guitar sounds and thumping bass. Good composer made the most out of that and I think Sonic is a sterling example of Genesis era music.

Random Thoughts on 4/23/15- Ahead of it’s Time: More Musings on the Neo Geo Pocket Color

Futuristic. State of the Art. Advanced. Thesaurus definitions of “ahead of it’s time”. Every time I play a game on my Neo Geo Pocket Color I think to myself “how was this not a hit?”. Then I immediately think about what I was playing with in 1999 (the Gameboy Color…Pokemon) and realize how advanced the NGPC is in comparison.

In the dictionary next to the word Advanced should be a Neo Geo Pocket Color

advanced

[ad-vanst, –vahnst]

adjective

1.

placed ahead or forward:

with one foot advanced.

2.

ahead or far or further along in progress, complexity, knowledge, skill, etc.:

an advanced class in Spanish; to take a course in advanced mathematics; Our plans are too advanced to make the change now.

3.

pertaining to or embodying ideas, practices, attitudes, etc., taken as being more enlightened or liberal than the standardized, established, or traditional:

advanced theories of child care; the more advanced members of the artistic community.

4.

far along in time:

the advanced age of most senators.

Battery Life- 40 hours on 2AA!!! That is incredible battery life from ’99-2015. It’s amazing!

Sonic Pocket Adventure- Could use a link cable and interact with another “ahead of it’s time” console the Dreamcast!

Sleep Mode- This varies game to game but on SNK Card Clash and on some of the sports titles, you can turn the system off and it will resume right where you left off. PS4 just patched in this functionality to their box.

On-Line Retail- The only way to get a Neo Geo Pocket in the US when it first launched was via online distributors. This is well before Amazon became a staple in our shopping habits.

Clicky Stick- The D-pad/arcade stick is the greatest piece of hardware ever created to control a fighting game character on a handheld system. The stick that clicks makes the tradition D-pad look like a Model T Ford that’s parked next to Ferrari Testarossa.

Cost effectiveness- The system was price competitive, the games were cheap, and the Neo Geo was a premium system with an everyday man’s price tag. This was not a PS Vita fiasco where a premium piece of hardware cast every cent of it’s parts. The screens used in the Neo Geo were effective but cheap. The system is the Kia Optima of gaming consoles.

It Failed Miserably and basically bankrupt SNK- You know you are doing something right, when people can’t appreciate it.

Freedom Planet- It’s what Sonic the Hedgehog would be if the series never went 3D

A motorcycle!?!?! SHE HAS A MOTORCYCLE!

Freedom Planet is a masterpiece. I love this game so much. I preface this entire review with the fact that I love this game.

My back story is that I am a die hard Sonic fan. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 were paradigm shifts for me. They are the games that defined my childhood and got me into gaming. I have bought and re-bought those games on every platform available.

My childhood.

Sonic 3 was good, and Sonic 4 was a disappointment (but I will replay both episodes soon, to make sure). Now fast forward to this Kickstarter project. Sonicretro.org forum member Stephen “Strife” Diduro made this game with a little help from some friends. This went from fan game, to kickstarter funding success, to masterpiece.

 

What is Freedom Planet? Freedom planet is a dream come true to fans of Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis games that never thought they would get a new game. It is a 16-bit 2D platformer with diverging paths to the end of each level. Every level is broken up with mini-boss fights and each level culminates in a challenging boss battle. This game incorporates Rocket Knight Adventure, Gunstar Heroes, Pulseman, and many other classics. Somehow the game still manages to feel unique. There are 3 playable characters as of now, and each character feels like a different game.

Carol plays like a Tails and Mega Man X character, while Lilac plays more like Sonic. Milla plays like….. Mario 2? I don’t know… The goal of the game is to make to the end of each level and beat the boss. There are trinkets to find along the way and multiple paths that only certain characters can access.

How does it play? I used a wired Xbox controller for PC (Steam). Utilizing the d-pad on that controller the game played very smoothly and precise. There is a great physics engine in the game that feels like a Sonic game (weighty, can’t quite stop on a dime) but some liberties were taken. You can walk up walls even when you don’t have enough momentum to really climb up. It’s a nice decision that keeps the game flowing well. You have an attack button, and a special attack button, as well as a jump button. There is a nice focus on attacking in this game. You can dispatch enemies in many different ways. Each special attack has invincibility frames within them that are crucial to learn and utilize if you want to beat bosses. The only weird thing about the controls are that you can’t just press down and roll with all of the characters like in Sonic. It’s a small thing but I kept finding myself trying to use momentum and be in a ball rolling but couldn’t.

How is the story? Weirdly dark tone but fully voice acted. There are 2 modes to play the game in; Adventure mode with the story cut scenes between levels and then Classic mode where you just play levels in order with no story. I enjoyed the story and the voice acting. It’s cheesy and overly dramatic but in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way and I liked that. It’s violent and get’s a little….weird at the end. I won’t spoil things though.

The music? It’s incredible. Here. Listen, thank me later.

Is it just a lazy Sonic knock-off? Not in my opinion. It might look like Sonic but it so much more than a knock off. It’s a fun unique take on a genre that is in decline. 8-bit games and NES style games seem to get remade a lot but 16 bit mascot platformers have seemingly died out. This is a great revival.

Why do you like it so much? Because I have a soul.

Are there black people in it? Maybe, the Japanese Panda sounded black to me…..

Also, the game features 3 strong female protagonist.

In conclusion, Buy it. Right now. This game seems to have been released without much fanfare, and I hop it doesn’t get lost in the fray. It’s on Steam for $14.99. Worth it.