sonic... really? haven't we seen this before? and the "oh, it's 2d" argument means nothing. it's still possible to make a crappy 2d sonic game... if anyone can do it, sega can. and their track record speaks to that more so than them making a good game.
I did take the time to go through Chaotix fully, time I'll never get back again. It had some good ideas but very poor execution all round. But you're right Sonic CD was superior in every way to it.
I thought Sonic Heroes was alright. And Shadow the Hedgehog was fun once you got past the fact it was guns. But then, I don't have a most recent generation console, so that's where my expertise ends.
Have you played any of the older games though? I'm curious as to what the "newer" fans (those who only played 3D games or came in post-90's) think of the new game.
Oh yeah, I've had a spin on the old ones. Had Sonic Mega Collection too. Though shouldn't this be Sonic the Hedgehog 5, or doesn't Sonic and Knuckles count?
Sonic 3 was originally going to be much larger, but the development overran and the game was going to miss its release date, so the data was split and made into 2 games released a few months apart. But Sonic and Knuckles came with a "lock on" ability to allow Sonic 3 to by plugged into it restoring the game to "Sonic 3 and Knuckles" which should be considered 'the' Sonic 3 full version.
Well originally Sonic 2 was to have all of Sonic CD's features, many more zones, time travel etc. Deadlines and coding problems prevented it, the left over became a full blown Sonic CD a year later. It was a common thing.
I've always wished they could have just pushed the release date back (Nintendo-style ) and release their enormous originally-planned game. Of course, what we got was awesome nonetheless---I LOVE Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but it's still a little weird having the difficulty slowly ramp up to the launch base level, then you beat a marginally difficult boss and immediately you're back to an easy "intro" style green-hills thing. The sense of progression that worked so great in the first 2 Sonic games is kind of gutted by the double-game thing. Oh well.
I recently picked up a collection of Sonic games second hand, and had an absolute blast playing Sonic 1,2, and 3 again - they were among my favourite games back in the day. Also played Sonic and Knuckles for the first time, and that was great too. Also, it's only loosely related, but Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is addictive as hell! That was the first time in forever I'd played a Sonic game - the newer ones really did not appeal to me, and it's sad to see a gaming icon make such diminishing returns for as long a time as he was actually good. The "expanded universe" of new characters is totally lame-o. This trailer almost made me cry. WELCOME BACK SONIC!!! Or at least let's hope. Don't screw this one up, Sega!
Ooh yes, I played Sonic Advance. That was very, very good. Very much like the originals, and I got a kick out of that last Robotnik battle where he did the classic first bosses from Sonic 1 and 2, with the music as well. I also had that ruddy awful battle one. There was one move you could teach the robot weirdo that would knock anyone out in one. Which on the one hand meant it was over more quickly at least.
Sonic Advance 1 was close to being Sonic 4, and Sonic Rush was great, but being handheld it felt too limited, I can't wait for a full sized 2D game again. And yeah Sonic 3 and Knuckles feels to disjointed the way they put it together, some of the fan community are trying to create a "proper" Sonic 3 ROM but its not very far along.
Sonic Advance is brilliant, but 2 is irritating as hell (all bosses are the same for a start) and 3 is massively overcomplicated. Mean Bean Machine made me see beans in my sleep for a bit once I got to the last two or three levels, where everything was hyper-fast and difficult. No beans in Sonic 4 please Sega!
I've never actually played the Mean Bean Machine game, my Mum seems to love playing it though, on the Mega Collection. I played through all of Sonic Advance but as for 2 I never bothered past the first Zone and I don't think I've ever played 3.
I envy you - I gave up on the very last level after it was clear the beans were affecting my state of mind!
This thread has motivated me to buy the Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3. I'm gonna play Sonic tonight!