WFW's Blog of Randomly Assorted Proportions

Video Games & My POV change on Sonic games.

Video games are cool, right? There can be all sorts of adventures just from popping in a little CD, inserting a game cartridge, downloading a game online, wherever, however, there's something to play. It's no secret that games are fun to play. Though, with the way things are in the world right now, this little hobby is slowly economically inflating to be something that can be hard to reach. That's not to say there isn't a whole slew of games out there that you can still play! I'm gonna split this into two parts; first part is about my own gaming tastes. Second part is about where and how you can play games, even if you may be kind of unlucky in this day and age.

First half: My game tastes. Things have been a bit different lately ever since the new year rung in. One thing that's left behind was Sonic Robo Blast 2. This little fangame was built using some modified DOOM engine, plus it's one of the oldest fangames out there that still has a community. Although despite how old this game is, this game, despite new coats of paint, is stale. A while ago I watched two videos that talked about someone not really resonating with SRB2, & if people really liked it for what it is. There's a good example that made me re-look at the game as whole; do you like the pie? Or do you like what you added to the pie to make it taste good? The modding scene for it may be grand, but the vanilla game is lackluster, even if passion does ooze outta this old geezer. No matter how many updates SRB2 goes through, no matter how many pointless in-community banters there are, it's ultimately there, but it's boring. And this is coming from someone who used to play SRB2 for years ever since the 2.1 days. You can only really thok and bounce around so long before you get tired of the same thing. Lemme switch from a fangame to mainline Sonic now. Case (or rather cases) in point: Sonic Adventure 2 & Sonic Unleashed. Both games who've had great significance in the Sonic series, only for me to actually play them and realize that these games.... kinda suck. Let me start with Sonic Unleashed.

It's another one of those boost-to-win games (so it's boring already) but with the twist that at night, Sonic becomes a werewolf hedgehog, or werehog for short. I've played a bit of the PlayStation 2 version, and I can say for certain that this game is garbage. Sure I could've tried to play the superior recompiled version, but ever since I've played through even the first daytime stage, this game has been nothing but a slog. Ironic considering that Sonic is supposed to be the fastest thing alive, huh? Only thing I've found with Unleashed are the Werehog stages. At least with the Werehog stages there's a bit more environment to them, plus it's not a blind boost to the finish. There's also combat, and you can get upgrades as you progress through the story. Though that's pretty much where everything positive ends. Chip is an annoying little worm who's trying to be the comic relief but my god, he's failing miserably. Not only that but crimson fairy Bubsy over here hasn't been relevant to this day, much like that old chipmunk gal who shares the same name as the bandit shopkeeper in Atlyss (but unlike Atlyss Sally, Sonic Sally is just as irrelevant as Chip.). The daytime stages don't really feel like TRUE 3D, despite how everything is 3D and how you can move around. The game still has linear stages, even with its alternating paths.

The TLDR format: Sonic Unleashed is boring, regardless if it's the superior recompiled version or lackluster Wii/PS2 version. Chip is literally just Sonic's version of Bubsy but as this weird little fairy thing and is as irrelevant as SATAM Sally. This game feels more like a glorified 2.5D game and the environment certainly doesn't help with that. Only plus is the Werehog stages actually making the game feel alive despite this junk having zero soul. Across A to F? This game gets E. If the Werehog stages weren't there I'd absolutely fire this game down to F tier. No amount of Werehog stages can remedy this disaster. Any ambition to play the recompiled version? Tossed into the incinerator. PS, boost-to-win games are boring.

Now it's time for Sonic Adventure 2 (note i'll be using SADX/SA1 & SA2/SA2B here and there, it's the same game so it doesn't matter), a game that I had some high hopes for but honestly what's the point in playing make-believe? Sonic Adventure 2 has a drastically different tone and approach compared to it's older brother, SA1. In this, instead of a giant water monster flooding Station Square, it's instead centered around Eggman going despicable and blowing up the moon and almost causing the world to end so now Sonic and Shadow team up to stop some lizard thing. Going into SA2, I was thinking the game would control as okay as SA1 (which SADX felt kinda rocks to control with how weird the guys' physics are (And no, Adventure Sonic in SRB2 suffers from his controls being rocks too, he's not exempt.). For example, Tails and Eggman are mech characters in this game, which means... They control like even more rocks! They can barely turn and it takes them eons just to steer left or right. I remember playing SA2 for the first time through Steam, and dear god it was not fun to play. Mad Space literally drove me mad, and Death Chamber made me want to fuckin blacklist this game from my laptop's SSD. The only redeemable characters would be the linear ones, the ones that feel like basic white bread to play, Sonic & Shadow.

also can i just say real quick i prefer the trial's version of city escape over the final one, i kinda like the guitar lead more tbh

Anyways, the hedgehogs are your standard "go to point b from point a, it's linear the game" sctick. Knux & Rouge have you finding three shiny things (but that stage with the timer and playing as Rogue? Peppino did it better man), and Tails & Eggman? Hahah I hate their stages. Plus the stages where you have to drive to reach the president is also rocks! Suffers the same problems as the mech characters. I never made it to the final story, this game was just awful. Plus I don't know how the hell Chaos work. Even with cheats and cheating regular Tails into the game in Dolphin doesn't help my case. I'd rather have this super laser piss blow up this game instead of the moon.

TLDR: Sonic Movie 3 did SA2 better. Across A to F? E minus. Guess you could really say Sonic did have a rough transition after all.

So what Sonic games do I even like at this point? There's the classics, like Sonics 1 & 2, although Sonic 3 is a funny case considering it's two but can be merged into one if you have that old lock-on tech thingy. So it's both Sonic 3 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which is just S&K added to S3, so I'll just be saying Sonic 3 as if I'm talking about S3&K. It's the same game. Honestly, I'd rather have a cheat code that just gives me all 14 emeralds instead of going through Blue Spheres over and over again. I don't really like Blue Spheres, nor do I really like the half-pipe in Sonic 2. Though unlike Sonic 3 I have some tolerance for the half-pipe. Getting all those chaos emeralds (they're not even emeralds, they're just diamonds) just feels like a chore and takes away from the main platforming and zooming across. So cheat code me up, please!

That and/or also just downloading AIR and downloading a 100% save to save myself from having to do so many blue sphere stages.

As for more modern games, I like SADX, as mentioned earlier. It feels more open than SA2, though can also be rocks at times. Sonic Rush was also pretty neat. tho why the fuck is colors ds sonic rush 3, like why, literally blaze and silver and the chaotix and cream are irrelevant to sonic colors so what's the point in shoehorning them in Contrary to a lot of people's thoughts, I also like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. Sonic Lost World looked fun and was fun to play, even if the adventure was a little lackluster I still had my enjoyment. Plus even the 3DS version was okay. The music in Lost World is a bop to listen to. Rise of Lyric was actually really enjoyable. Even if Game Grumps and other people absolutely trashed on this game a lot. The environments were beautiful, Bygone Island's music made me wish I was there, plus Amy and Tails's character design were pretty neat. Not only that but it also felt really nice to control. Sonic and co. actually could turn (unlike SA2) and move around, it felt like I found quality in the mines even if other people said to turn back. (Plus I have a DVD of Sonic Boom so I can watch some episodes whenever I'm offline in VLC, so that's an unrelated brownie point.)

TLDR: I have a soft spot for Sonic 1, Sonic 2 is tolerable, but Sonic 3 is tedious. SADX is still tolerable despite being rocks here and there, Sonic Rush is neat. Sonic Boom is underrated!

Alright, now the second half: There's tons of games out there! Just because you don't have the latest and greatest tech doesn't mean you're locked out of future titles! There's plenty of video games online that you can play. For example, CoolmathGames has tons of games to play! From stuff like the Run series and Johnny Upgrade, to stuff like the Papa's series and even that weird little IQ game where you have to get a blue critter to a target and even Fire Boy and Water Girl! Plus, Newgrounds has tons of games too. You got Ultimate Flash Sonic, GTTTATINT, Ninja Painter, even some more newer stuff like Ballies, ChefWare, Bimsy Dreams, Booliards, millions more games that I can't even begin to list! Plus there's tons of games in the mobile scene too. Though personally I'd look elsewhere for actual mobile games to play. F-Droid anyone?

Anyways I've already lost train of thought from all this, so in a nutshell if you just scrolled down to here:

dats all for this one :p