@mrcraggle said:
@nicksmi56: Can you tell me what's so different about this game that Sega haven't done in the last several 3D Sonic games? At least each mainline Mario game looks and feels unique, this just looks like more of the same. Safe for fans, boring for everyone else.
You say that like most 3D Sonic games are the same 0_o
Since Sonic went into 3D, he's gone through at least 4 different gameplay styles (not counting the different gameplay styles within the games themselves).
Adventure, Adventure 2, and 06 had a formula where you could move fast at will, had a spin dash, and collected upgrades/new moves like the Light Dash and Bounce Bracelet scattered throughout the stages or hub worlds, though you just bought them from shops in 06. That's just for Sonic though. You also had shooting gameplay where the point wasn't so much to make it to the end as it was to get off the biggest combos off enemies to rack up a ton of points, treasure hunt gameplay where you had to use hints in conjunction with a radar to find three gems hidden in sandbox levels, and fishing gameplay in Adventure 1 where you had to catch a specific fish but could also catch larger and larger fish for more points and snapping the line meant a lost life.
Heroes was its own beast. Each team's characters were split up into 3 characters: speed, flight, and power. Speed characters were the fastest, could make tornadoes, were the only ones able to jump from wall to wall, and could use the signature Homing Attack on chains of enemies. Flight characters were used to reach higher elevation and were the best suited to take down flying enemies. Power characters destroyed obstructions, were best suited for combat with some enemies only they could take down efficiently, could glide, and were the slowest. Each type of character would grow in strength and efficiency when you leveled them up through items you got from defeating enemies or breaking certain capsules. Each team also had a Team Blast that you could fill up by using certain skills, gathering rings or killing enemies. It was basically a screen nuke, though some had after effects like invincibility or freezing time that you could use to your advantage. And to fight the final boss, you had to find a key within the second stage of each zone and complete a Special Stage to get one of the Chaos Emeralds, in contrast with other 3D games where you just get them from the plot.
1/2 of Unleashed, Colors, and 1/2 of Generations had the Boost formula, where they ratcheted up the pace and gave Sonic a boost. The game became more about reflexes and dealing with obstacles and tricky jumps while still blazing through the level fast enough to get a good time/rank. In Unleashed, the boost was given to you by rings, meaning you were pretty much boosting all the time, but in Colors, the boost was given to you by a specific power-up and the focus was more on standard platforming. Generations did the best of both worlds where you got boost from tricks and destroying enemies as well as rings, but you didn't get nearly as much and the levels weren't designed for you to go boosting all over the place like Unleashed.
The second half of Unleashed had the Werehog, which was basically God of War, and the second half of Generations had Classic Sonic which was, you know, Genesis Sonic.
Lost World became its own beast as well. Sonic was changed to be much slower, even needing a run button to run and a spin dash button to spin dash, and the game became more Mario-esque with less emphasis on speed and more emphasis on platforming and level-specific gimmicks. The homing attack became automated with a charge feature, and a parkour feature was added where Sonic could bound up or run on sheer walls.
TLDR: The Sonic franchise is the very opposite of safe. If anything, one of the biggest complaints from fans is how the series refuses to stick to one particular style of gameplay, instead changing it up every 2 games or so.
To answer your original question, the reason people are excited about this one is because Generations is the game that perfected the boost formula and also brought back the Genesis gameplay, pleasing both camps of fans. Plus this new gadget based gameplay for the customizable character has the potential to be different from anything we've had before.
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