January 15th - 2010Once again, there's nothing really interesting to blog about, so I'll post a rant instead. Oh goody goody gumdrops in a gastronomic gas gallery. Since this rant will deal with taste and opinions, nothing will be facts. My opinion isn't the right opinion, it's just my own opinion.
I just want to ask a question here... am I the only one who's sick of hating on the Sonic franchise? Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not defending the games here (Well, not most of them anyway). Shadow the Hedgehog was mediocre at it's best, and boring at it's worst, while Sonic 06 took away what Sonic is all about, namely speed, and replaced it with glitches.
But those two games are the only games I would classify as being bad games. Let's take a look at the history of main Sonic games here, people.
Sonic 1 - Started everything. Good game, but compared to the later ones it's slightly bland now. Still good fun to play.
Sonic 2 - An improvement over the first game overall, still fun to play.
Sonic CD - A game that, to be honest, I've not really played much of. It's supposedly a really good 2D Sonic game.
Sonic 3 - Again, even move improvements. Still fun to play.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles - Arguably the best game of the franchise. Also the only game to ever feature Hyper Sonic and the super emeralds.
Sonic Adventure - Sonic's first leap into 3D. Pretty good, and still quite a bit of fun today.
Sonic Adventure 2 - Sonic's second 3D entry. Better story, but too little Sonic/Shadow gameplay. Although, still an enjoyable experience. Also featured Shadow before he became an emo in his own game (Oh, we'll get back to Shadow later in the rant)
Sonic Heroes - A mediocre game, but severely underrated. Not nearly as horrible as people proclaim, and I can still play it today and have a good time, despite the absolutely horribly cheesy lines, and story. LETS SHOW THAT CREEP THE REAL SUPER POWER OF TEAMWORK! Subtle Sega. Subtle.
Shadow the Hedgehog - Took the speed out of shadow, and replaced it with guns. The game where Shadow was an emo bastard. Not much else to say really... kind of boring gameplay to be honest.
Sonic 06 - .....Ooooooh boy....
Sonic Unleashed - Gave Sonic back his speed, and introduced 2.5D sections. Great Sonic levels overall. Introduced the werehog, a brawler type character. Again, arguably too few Sonic levels. Again, I think it's underrated. The werehog is less fun than Sonic, but not as ungodly horrible as some people claim.
Lest we forget the Sonic Rush games, which have both been very good (the first more than the second though), and the Sonic Riders series (Which was.... less than good, but fun for a short while.) Also Sonic battle (A decent game).
Looking over the above list... sure, the series has gone downhill ever since entering 3D, and many of the later games are mediocre. The spinoffs (except for the story book games, which are medicore or above) are crap, but generally the series has done decently. Not good, but not "oh **** piece of **** crap" horribly. Just... decently.
And yet people are always calling the Sonic series dead... Always saying that the games are horrible, even before they come out... always whining, always complaining, always bitching... and I, for one, am sick of it. Yes, the franchise has gone dowhill. We know that, everyone knows that. You don't have to whine about it. I think this is basically Final Fantasy VII syndrome all over again. People who have never even played the game says that it sucks, because... well, the internet says it sucks. It's fun to say it sucks. Same with the Sonic series. The internet just proclaims it dead, so therefore I'm not allowed to think on my own. I just have to nod and agree that it's dead. Then after I've done that, I can go out in the shower, drop the soap and get man raped by a giant **** Zangief motherfucker. Raped hard.
In the ass.
Seriously... You're ruining it, people. Your "love" for the franchise which causes you to **** and moan, is ruining it more than anything Sega does. Case in point: Sonic Unleashed. This game did it right. For the first time in many years, comes a game that does it right. There's a lot of story in the beginning of the game, then during the middle of the game, you're just running around through "zones" to do stuff, and then at the end you get a lot more story. That's how it should be done in a Sonic game. Furthermore, the cutscenes are more cartoony and fun, which suits the series. The less said about Sonic 06's "epic" story, the better. The sonic levels are ultra fast, and exhilerating. They're really fun to play, and they've got a slight nostalgic feel with the 2.5D sections. This is how Sonic is supposed to play in 3D.
But wait... Sega included a werehog. Which is slower, and a brawler. It's fun, but is ultimately a gimmick. And people **** hate this game because of it. Because of one, ****, thing. All the other things that was good about unleashed? **** that, the werehog sucks so the entire game sucks.
But how is that ruining it, you say? Well, by saying the game sucks balls, you're basically telling Sega that everything they did (mostly good, and a bit of bad) is wrong. Which means that they WON'T DO IT AGAIN. Are you retards? Have you no brains? Is there a vacuum inside your heads? I agree, the werehog was a gimmick (though Im' one of the few people who enjoyed playing as the werehog), but EVERYTHING ELSE WAS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. But your whining could mean that they'll take 6 steps backwards. Thanks a lot guys. You're truly the greatest fans ever.
One thing that I do agree on, is the fact that the series has too many unnecessary characters. The most controversial of which being Shadow the Hedgehog. Now let me get one thing straight: I like Shadow. When he's done right, I really like him, and when he's done wrong, he's crap.
Now, in Sonic adventure 2, Shadows first game, Shadow was done right. He mourned Maria, but didn't whine about her. He was cool/badass, without being too cheesy. And he was fast. That, is Shadow done right. Ironically, Shadow was done wrong in his own game, Shadow the Hedgehog. He was constantly whining about his past and Maria, and he was emo.
Yes, I mean emo, as in he wished he was never born. Don't believe me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lxgtpr4dKU&feature=relatedYes. Yes indeed.
Then, in Sonic 06, it was kind of weird... since he alternates between being done right, and being done.. meh.
The only game where I found him to be truly cringe worthy, was in his own game. In all other games he's been in, he's usually remained on the good scale of things. I think that he's a character who deserves more credit than he gets... but not too much. He's not THAT good of a character. Should he have stayed dead at the end of SA2? ...Possibly. The ending was really sad, and a fitting end to him in the game. Do I mind that he was brought back? Nope, can't say I do. There are worse characters... much worse than him. Just keep that in mind before flaming Shadow for being a bad character. He actually has some sort of personality.
I think that might do it... I'll probably think of more I could have written, but I think this is enough. ABRUPT END
this rant is pretty much invalid, I was capable of enjoying Shadow the Hedgehog in some sections
