Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Trisque I think pieces filled with complaining are fine. I actually reviewed Gurumin 3D when I was halfway through. It was unusual for me, as I beat almost everything these days, and sometimes even 100% games, but I really wasn't having a good time with it and felt like I'd played enough of it to be able to intelligently discuss it.

@Kidfried Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. I'm glad people are actually finding it useful.

RE: The Godfather... with pretty much any popular thing, you'll have a small crowd of weirdos who look at it and say: "I don't get it." That's me half of the time.

@RogerRoger Another great Sonic piece! It might not be a true 3D title, but combining the isometric perspective (which has long been used to flesh out otherwise shallow 2D worlds) with what I assume are digitized sprites like those found in Donkey Kong Country is certainly an effective way of creating an illusion of 3D. And, looking at some of the earliest full 3D games, maybe that wasn't a bad approach. I know most of the games that have held up best on PS1 were either side-scrollers or 2.5D games like Klonoa. The Saturn might not have been a success, but I do think there is something to be said for it having a library of gorgeous 2D games.

The description of the gameplay, and how easy it is to lose those birds, does sound quite frustrating, though.

And yeah, I actually don't mind the idea of a Sonic game dedicated to exploration, considering the uneasy balance between speed and platforming that exists in a number of his other games.

Out of interest, have you tried playing games you've struggled playing on a keyboard with a controller instead? The DS4 is actually natively supported on Steam.

Oh, and I remember reading that Sega eventually made Robotnik the canon name for the villain, with "Eggman" being a sort of nickname or insult. It may have been the result of intrusive localization, but, to be honest, I think it probably worked out for the best.

PS: I actually really like Sonic Spinball. The two areas I've managed to actually see of it, anyway. 😂

@RogerRoger excellent write up on sonic 3d. I largely agree with your thoughts. It's actually an awesome game when you get over the fact that it's nothing like any other sonic game. I'd probably bump the score to an 7.5/8 but that's without adding anything to or changing anything about your review. It was pretty spot on! I had it on mega drive but played through it properly on the GameCube mega collection. That might seem like a high score I guess but I'd say sonic 3+Knuckles is a 10 and sonic 1+2 are around the 8.5/9 mark.

I used to love sonic the comic too! I have a lot of issues in the loft (including one I made a terribly drawn cover for because the original one went missing somewhere!). Either I'd get it or I'd just read it in the magazine aisle of co op while mum did the shopping. It was an innocent time, before the word boomer was used as an insult haha. I actually didn't get why the mag called readers boomers until recentishly when I realised it was a pun on sonic boom. 🤦🏻‍♂️

@Thrillho I think I always called them flickies, probably because of sonic 3d though. Also I called the robots badniks, maybe it was something that was drilled home by the comic but I'm sure it was in the game manuals too. I kind of thought the animals from the first 3 games were flickies too until I realised/re-remembered that different animals jump out of the badniks/prison pump thing. Including rabbits, which I always liked to think one of them was Johnny Lightfoot which is a name I'm sure @RogerRoger will remember! I believe Flicky (the game) was included on sonic mega collection too.

Anyway, not to be controversial but I actually quite like sonic spinball...😅

@Ralizah @ralphdibny #teamspinball

...I like Sonic Spinball too 😅

@RogerRoger haha you don't have to defend your dislike for sonic spinball, I don't think your in the minority 😂

Yeah the numbers are kind of arbitrary but I always read reviews as somebodys opinion never as gospel, helps to know a reviewers background with games of the same ilk too. I'd never poopoo somebodies opinion on something, just seems like a lame thing to do. As I was saying earlier in the thread, there's loads of popular stuff I don't get along with and loads of absolute trash that I just adore! I might disagree though for the sake of discussion but I'd never poopoo!

I think that fella was called Porker Lewis if I remember correctly and do you remember there was a green bird (actual bird, not slang, though I think she was female) who I think was called Tekno, maybe she was a canary or something!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy travellers tales used to be all over games in the old days and actually made good games. Not to say Lego: Insert Licensed Property games aren't good, they're just kind of like, play one and you've played them all (in my opinion, I know lots of people like them and I still attempt a few if it's a license I'm already into).

They made toy story for mega drive, toy story 2 on PlayStation (which is actually one of my favourite games!) and A bug's life amongst other bits and bobs

@mookysam Thanks. I would say the lack of map is less of a problem than it would be in Hollow Knight given that games size but enough to make you go grrr a fair few times.

@RogerRoger I will defend the Sonic Unleashed day levels but those night levels are utter garbage. I bloody hated Chip too, he sounded like a choirboy being burned at the stake. One of the most flawed but not completely unplayable games I’ve played and I’d honestly rather play Shadow the Hedgehog again.

Being able to screencap PSP and PS1 games on Vita is part of why I downloaded custom firmware! Very useful along with overclocking.

@RogerRoger Review it if you want but half the game is proper terrible 😂😂

@RogerRoger yep that's the one, with the Dennis the menace jumper! I never got around to sonic 06. I probably only had a Wii at the time in terms of the then-current gen. Not sure how I'd get on with it but maybe I'll get around to it in the distant future!

@ralphdibny I’d excuse Sonic 06 for being barely playable, awful loading times, inexplicable NPCs and being on-rails for 90% of the time if the plot was at least interesting. It has Sonic copping off with a human woman. Enough said.

@RogerRoger I’ve played the game, it’s bloody weird. While yes, she kisses him because plot, it’s still an anthropomorphic hedgehog and a human(ish, it’s 2006 graphics) woman. Just an uncomfortable watch.

@RogerRoger @nessisonett I heard sonic was a bit of a prick when she kissed him...

@RogerRoger haha bros before princesses, got ya! I was just being punny about him being a prick because he's a y'know hedgehog...sorry terrible pun lol

@RogerRoger Also, today I learned that the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed I played when I was younger is apparently different from the Xbox/PS3 versions. Perhaps I should play that version.

@RogerRoger 😁 great stuff, glad I could get a laugh at one in the morning! I don't really know much about it, I've seen the avgn episode but it was a while back so not a lot of it springs to mind!

@mookysam The puzzle combat seems to be the sticking point for a lot of people. Primarily because of the timer. I thought it added a nice sense of urgency to proceedings, though.

RE: Gurumin, I think Falcom was going for something different than what they're used to musically, and it... didn't turn out well. At all.

Ys music has apparently always been pretty good.

@RogerRoger I've played a friend's Saturn, but never owned one myself, unfortunately.

Anyway, the games aren't a HUGE upgrade over the Genesis, but they don't need to be. As you point out, some of the effects in those videos would have slowed the older consoles down to a crawl. Not to mention some of them feature very prominent and heavy integration of 3D elements. What you ended up with were VERY attractive 2D games versus polygonal nightmares for the fully 3D stuff.

Which is actually one reason I never got on too well with the N64, I think: pretty much everything on that console was fully embracing 3D space and graphics. To the point where it's the only console from that generation to launch with an analog stick as the primary control method for games.

Forward-thinking and revolutionary? Absolutely. But almost every game on that console (except for some of the late-gen stuff) is hard to look at today.

@Ralizah I’ve had some great results with upscaling N64 games with an emulator. Ocarina of Time is still alright to look at but games like SM64 definitely are rough.

@RogerRoger Underworld is certainly less consistent than Legend, but I feel that it’s high points are good enough that they elevate it over the earlier game. I guess at the time it was quite a big graphical leap too. Yes, the cover for 3D Blast was Sonic sort of coming out the frame. I was only 11 when it came out here so young enough to be susceptible to cover art. It was Sonic and I had to have it!

I’d actually be really interested to read a Sonic 2006 review/retrospective from you. Although it’s reputation is quite notorious, I’ve never played it and so can’t really comment on it personally. I do really like Silver the Hedgehog though (there’s even a Silver plush in my living room) and have heard some great music from it via Smash Bros.. It’s always great to read other people’s views on games even if they differ from the consensus, and given how passionate you are about Sonic I’m confident it would be a fascinating and well-thought-out piece if you do choose to post something.

@Ralizah It certainly sounds more interesting than using stickers. I don’t mind timers as it keeps the player on their toes; even in full JRPGs, my favourite battle systems have tended to be those with real-time elements instead of just hammering the attack command.

Ys I & II Chronicles has some great tunes. I found myself walking around an area just to hear the music, which is rare for me to do in a game. The Chronicles version also allows you to switch to the original soundtracks from the ‘80’s, which are excellent for the era.

@nessisonett Ocarina's ugly backdrops just kill me, honestly. Like that super blurry room you wake up in at the beginning of the game, which meshes poorly with Link's sharp polygonal 3D model.

Thankfully, the 3DS remake happened, and it demonstrated that a small facelift and some gyro aiming is all the game needed to work well in the modern era.