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Sonic Generations Previews and Interview With Iizuka

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Author Shadzter
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With the official announcement of Sonic Generations comes the first batch of hands-on previews and an interview with Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka from the internets top gaming websites revealing more details about the game. We’ve dissected a few of the features below if you just want the main points.

IGN
– Classic Sonic plays as you remember him from the 16 bit days
– “On the other there’s the dynamic 3D acrobatics of modern Sonic, complete with homing jump, dash attack, and an added sense of speed.”
– IGN give the impression that this game embraces the classic Sonic games better than Sonic 4: Episode 1 did.
– Takashi Iizuka responds to IGN’s criticism of Sonic 4: Episode 1 and says this game will have different physics to that game: “In [Sonic the Hedgehog 4] Episode I, we didn’t actually return to the old physics, and nor did we try to create something totally new,” Iizuka says, “What we tried to do was respond to the voices we heard in the fans, and create something based on the feedback we were receiving from fans. On this occasion, with Sonic Generations, we’ve created a game with a totally different game and with completely different physics.”
– Momentum gameplay returns in Sonic Generations.
– IGN says this game’s levels are all from the series’ 20 year history.
– “It’s not a pixel-for-pixel remake”
– “There have also been a few concessions to the modern generation”
– Speed runs are encouraged
– Checkpoints throw up a split time, letting the player know how far down they are on their personal best time, making online leaderboards very likely to be featured in the final game.
– In reference to Modern Sonic: “Thankfully, Sonic Generations seems to be taking many of its cues for the 3D sections from Colours, and it shares the Wii games hyperactive imagination. In a handful of short minutes Sonic is spun and sped through the chequered hills with breathless pace, at one point taking a detour through a dank cave which he’s chased out of by a giant chomping robot fish.”
– All levels are playable by both Sonic’s.

Gamespot
– Current playable demo has the game’s first two levels
– “The game will encompass the 20 years of Sonic’s history and will be set across three defining eras: the 2D Mega Drive/Genesis era, the introduction of 3D in the Dreamcast era, and the modern-day HD graphics era.”
– “Instead of creating new levels, the developers have re-vamped a bunch of iconic stages throughout these eras in HD and have given players the choice of playing each stage in either classic side-scrolling 2D or in modern-era 3D”
– Classic Sonic’s gameplay style and move set is from the classic era, while modern Sonic plays as he does in his respective era, “meaning the spin dash and spin attack for classic Sonic and the homing attack and sonic boost for modern Sonic.”
– Green Hill Zone was played in both classic and modern
– “Our head spun as we watched Sonic get back into old form in the classic mode, zipping around the various springs, slopes, and loops, jumping for rings, avoiding spikes and generally becoming reacquainted with all his old abilities (the spin dash is a favourite). It’s fast, but it’s nothing compared to what comes next.” From this we can assume that the spin-dash hasn’t been nerfed like in Sonic 4: Episode 1.
– Modern Sonic has the camera follow closely behind him, as shown in the trailer and screenshots.
– Modern Sonic can use homing attack
– “This incarnation of the level also introduced zip lines, which Sonic glides across to avoid pits and large bodies of water. We also saw an underground part that has Sonic sliding across a zip line through a cave while being pursued by a giant mechanical fish. Things got crazy when Sonic decided to use his boost while zipping: it took the game from supersonic to hypersonic with no remorse for the poor sod watching (us).”
– Multiple paths return for modern Sonic.
– “Our demo was over before we knew it, but it left us feeling giddy with excitement. Or maybe just giddy.”

Gamespot also has an interview with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka.

– Sonic Generations uses the Hedgehog Engine used in Sonic Unleashed
– A “playable menu” lets you pick between classic Sonic and modern Sonic and their respective levels.
– “Moving forward we would like to continue creating, and ensure Sonic is enjoyed by as many people as possible, not just in games but in other media as well.”
– Iizuka says the team is trying to bring everything from Sonic’s 20 year history for all kinds of Sonic fans to enjoy in this new game.

Other previews can be found at Joystiq and Kotaku.

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39 Comments

  5. Sounds like this is going to be a winner!

    But hold on… When they say everything, does that include Sonic 06?

    1. Well they say there will be the classic era, the Dreamcast era and the modern era. So anything after Sonic Adventure 2 could be in the game, yes.

  6. Have I died? ‘Cause I think I’ve died of excitement while reading this 🙂 🙂 🙂

  8. In reference to Modern Sonic: “Thankfully, Sonic Generations seems to be taking many of its cues for the 3D sections from Colours, and it shares the Wii games hyperactive imagination. In a handful of short minutes Sonic is spun and sped through the chequered hills with breathless pace, at one point taking a detour through a dank cave which he’s chased out of by a giant chomping robot fish.”

    All I need to know. If they’re following from Colours, this is going to be great. :3

  10. If this means that we’ll get to see Adventure/Heroes/06/Unleashed/Colours stages in classic 2D form, then HELL YES. I’d love to see what City Escape and Radical Highway would have looked like in 1991.

  11. this is incredible, i actually can’t wait =D
    heres hoping for some heroes levels, damn i loved that game lol
    also, am i the only one thinking that maybe sega could do DLC afterwards with more downloadable levels? That would be cool…
    Also, im praying for sky sanctuary to be in here, my favorite zone of all time lol

  13. OMG im sooo pumped, but what about classic tails, knuckles and amy? will they be playable?

      1. Classic Amy wouldn’t be too bad if mapped out the same way she was in Sonic Advance. Even though she was noticeably slower, somehow I enjoyed playing as her. I’ve got my money on the fact that it’s only going to be the two Sonics though. They mentioned that the two Sonics would be selectable from a menu. Granted, this is an open-ended answer, looking at how Sega has taken heed to the fanbas’ outcries for fewer characters and “having the game be just about Sonic,” and seeing as how they’ve done just that for the past several titles, I don’t think it’s very likely that we’ll see the return of other characters in this game, though I would love to see them in it, even if it’s just DLC.

  14. City Escape is definitely in the works. Does anyone remember someone mentioning a remade City Escape music track being released some time this year? Is there a little similarity there? Ohhh…I think there is!

  15. City Escape and Radical Highay are no doubt the main 2 levels I wanna see in both 2d and 3d. But! Final Rush was my favorite stage of all time, I wanna see what it looks like in 2D

  16. lol, it’ll be kind of like the sonic adventure 3 people wanted with the “dreamcast era”, but what i dont get is, they have a classic sonic that plays like the classic games, a modern sonic that plays like the modern games, and a modern and classic era. they have a dreamcast era, but no dreamcast era that plays like the dreamcast game. they should!

    1. You sir, make a point that has been bothering me ever since Colours recieved such high praise. But because that style of gameplay has become so royally screwed after Adventure 2 (mostly in 06) and that Colours and Unleashed’s day engine did so well, I highly doubt we’ll ever get a chance to return to that form of gameplay done right. Which saddens me, because Sa2 is what really got me to love Sonic, and I’ve been hoping for a game that’s played like it does for almost a decade now.

      2. Well, they did a somewhat off Classic-styled gameplay before too and according to the ppl it’s just right in this game.

        I’m sure they can do Adventure series typle gameplay still. Remember, it’s basically classic gameplay IN 3D perspective merely with the addition of homing attack. =D

        They don’t need to use the exact same physics, just make the new phyiscs good enough. =)

  17. All these features sound great! But for the love of God SEGA, please if your going to add leader boards to the game find a way to get rid of those damn hackers! Even if they can’t it’ll still rock

  20. “ensure Sonic is enjoyed by as many people as possible, not just in games but in other media as well.”
    Except that Sonic is a video game character (so therefore, a video game icon), not a cartoon icon nor anything else.

    Now on topic, this game is going to rock.

    1. But he DOES have cartoons and animes, and CAN have another one in the future. He’s also the longest running video game comic series. He also has toys and items with his pictures on it.

      Just because he’s mainly a video game icon doesn’t mean we don’t and can’t enjoy him in other medias. XDDD

  21. “Our head spun as we watched Sonic get back into old form in the classic mode, zipping around the various springs, slopes, and loops, jumping for rings, avoiding spikes and generally becoming reacquainted with all his old abilities (the spin dash is a favourite). It’s fast, but it’s nothing compared to what comes next.”

    ….Oh, and Modern Sonic was there too….

  23. If he wants all Sonic fans to enjoy it…

    Why isn’t there a version for Wii? ;_;

    1. Well to be honest we got Sonic Colours/Colors so us Wii owners got some epic stuff to play
      (Although that doesent really compare does it, oh well.)
      Anyway the PS3/360 owners need a new game.

  24. I really doubted we’d be seeing any of the newer stages, but after this, it’s clear we will. It’s a bit of a waste, I think, having Colors and Unleashed represented in the game. But I’d appreciate playing some levels from Heroes, Sonic 06 (redemption?), and maybe even Secret Rings (I hate this game). Personally I’d love Hang Castle or Rail Canyon.

  26. I wonder if one of the levels will be a finished Hidden Palace Zone. That’d be fantastic.

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