the_JediDragon

I actually began working on this shortly after Christmas last year. I don't consider this a complete list, but since the question came up, I leave it open to addition. It is entitled "How to Fix Sonic".
Since those idiots at Sega seem incapable of taking a step forward without taking a step back, someone needs to give them a swift kick in the tail down the path to actually making a good Sonic game. Since unlike most other reviewers, I wasn t completely repulsed by Sonic Unleashed, I ve had time to think about the subject. I have come up with the following suggestions for how Sonic can be good again.

1. They re called Sonic games. The massive cast of barnyard friends that Sonic has acquired over the years have got to go. Sonic is the reason we play these games- Tails came along while the games were still good, so he can stay.
2. 3D is overrated. The very thing that makes Sonic, Sonic- his speed, makes 3D a dicey proposition. That being said, the 2 1/2 D levels in Unleashed are an excellent compromise.
3. Your audience is older then you think. Many Sonic fans grew up with the Hedgehog- on the Genesis, yes that Genesis. That means we can handle complex themes, and intelligent dialogue. I m not saying that we need blood and guts and the rust and grey color palette of many M rated games, but we don t need stories that are simple to a five year old.
4. Hubs break game-play. Sonic games are about running fast through levels, collecting stuff, and platforming. Hubs slow this process down, and making us talk to people to find the one person that actually has something intelligent to say and then wander around aimlessly trying to find where the actual game level is- then being told we don t have enough whatever to get in is aggravating in the extreme.
5. My console doesn t run on quarters. Lives are a hold over from arcades, trying to get another quarter from me. Every other game in the world has unlimited lives- why the hell don t you?
6. Let me save when I want to. Seriously. I can understand that in a game based on speed might be broken by letting me save anywhere, but for the love of God, why can t I save at the beginning of a level? Seeing point #3, I have other stuff to do in my life and my average play session is a lot shorter then a ten year old dodging chores on a Saturday afternoon.
7. Fix the damn controls! The controls are too loose. I don t to go sliding off a cliff because the analog stick won t go any farther in whatever direction. Also, I can appreciate simple control schemes but the X button in Unleashed does too much. Dash, attack, dash in the air, wall jump, order more liquor- that s too many things! I can t tell you the number of times I went careening off into oblivion because Sonic dashed when I was trying to wall jump. I m not even going to dog you about the camera- as any platformer player knows making a good camera is a black art that requires sacrifice to secretive demon gods.
8. Minimize the Were-hog. I actually kind of liked the were-hog game-play for a while. I also realize that I was in the minority on that, some reviewers felt that it destroys the very nature of a Sonic game. You didn t get the full potential from the Were-hog: in relation to #3, you tried to suggest that the were-hog was Sonic s dark side (as were creatures are in Western mythology), but still tried to play to a younger audience- and failed at both. Also, the ratio of were-hog levels to regular Sonic levels- especially in the early game, where seriously out of balance. More Sonic, less Were-hog.