Sonic Forces - Review

Ah, Sonic. One of the first games I ever played was Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Master System, it was tough at the time but really fun.  I have continued to play Sonic games over the years some good and others...well not so much.  I recently saw a trailer for Sonic Forces which gave me pause, seemed a little darker than normal, an interesting villain and though maybe it would be worth a play. Recently I saw it second-hand and thought to myself why not pick it up?


I like soup, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Not sure what to eat?  Have some soup. Feeling a little sick and not sure what your stomach can handle?  Have some soup.  Have next to no money but need to fill your stomach? Have some soup.  I have tried quite a lot of soup, some has been really enjoyable and some have not.  I recently tried apple and herb celeriac soup, what does that look like you ask?  Imagine if an apple could poop, that's the start of it and they pour hot wallpaper paste over it.  It doesn't look great, but as my dad always said to us growing up 'don't turn your nose up until you have tried it'.  So, I tried it. Since then I have done my best to put that horrible experience behind.  Playing Sonic Forces I found myself asking was this my apple and herb celeriac soup or did I need to try it before turning my nose up?

Story 


The nefarious Dr. Robotnik has a new scheme cooked up. Okay, yeah I know technically he was and always has been called Dr. Eggman, it is the West who created the name Dr. Robotnik but it what I grew up with. He has created Infinite a being who can change reality, which to be fair is pretty nifty ability.  Defeating Infinite and Dr. Robotnik will be tough but don't worry he will have plenty of friends including the original Sonic (the real Sonic in my eyes).  There is also a new character which you can create, the story focuses a lot around them, yay.


The story is a pretty cool idea but never quite manages to reach its full potential.  The addition of a new character feels unneeded especially as there are already some fairly meh ones in the Sonic Universe without adding another.  The game likes to subtly jackhammer home points like 'we can do anything if we just work together' and 'you can't defeat because you are evil and don't have any friends'.  Of course, my favorite line is said by Tails at the end of the game where he says 'true dat'. True Dat?  True Dat!?  What?!  Did they want to make him sound like a dad trying to sound cool? Well done you did it.


Overall the story could be worse but it could also have been better. TRUE! DAT!

Visuals


Onto the visuals.  They were pretty good, using some classic looking levels Sonic fans will be familiar with like Green Hill and Chemical Plant Zone.  There are new zones like the Mystic Jungle and the Eggman Empire Fortress, which are quite colorful.  Sonic has always been good at keeping the levels colorful even when you are somewhere dark like an evil fortress where almost everything can kill you.


Overall the visuals are probably one of the stronger elements of the game and managed to keep me entertained during my time playing.




Music


The soundtrack is upbeat, a little too much so and feel like listening to One Direction or another boyband from the West.  This is surprising as Japanese composer Tomoya Ohtani composed it and has done so for many over the Sonic games for over ten years including; Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations to name but a few.


The soundtrack is over three hours longs which for a game this short feels overly long.  I wasn't a huge fan of the soundtrack and perhaps that because the aim was to attract newer younger fans rather than long-standing Sonic fans.  Even if that was the goal it still felt a little too upbeat, imagine a hyperactive child bouncing off the walls - it is fun for a few minutes but gets old fast.

Gameplay


The gameplay is a mixed bag.  The newer version of Sonic has a lock-on attack as we have got used to over the last few games.  The original Sonic focuses on his dash attack ability used in the classic games.  I bet you want to play as all the cool characters from the series, no?  You want to create your own avatar which is nowhere near as cool?   The game focuses a lot on your homemade character, initially, I was like okay this might be okay but really that's not who I want to spend my time using.


Customization has become massive in games over the last number of years.  I don't understand it for the most part.  There is so much focus on it that it waters down the overall content.  If you have a car in a game it makes sense to customize it but having accessories for your characters that provide no benefit seems pointless.  Sonic Forces focuses a lot on this and I was not a fan of it.


We have all got used to ranking systems in games, normally you go from D or E ranking all the way to S ranking.  It makes sense and helps you focus on getting better.  If I died nine times on a level you would think, damn you are getting an E ranking for sure, no I got an S ranking.  The most basic of systems is broken this badly, how, why?  This was not my first experience of this happening.


Remember collecting rings, hitting one hundred and getting an extra life?  I do, Sonic Forces does not.  Once you hit one hundred rings they are no longer counted, there are no lives, there are no continues.  There is no sense of achievement in completing levels at all.  The boss on occasion over a mild challenge but nothing crazy.


Overall the gameplay can be fun but Team Sonic seemed to have forgotten what made Sonic so great. They have added in new things that don't work or are unneeded and overall ruined the experience.  The gameplay panders to the Fortnite generation where more time is spent on what you are wearing than the actual gameplay itself.






Final Thoughts

So, after six hours how did I feel?  Hollow, and like a small part of me died.  The story was so so, the visuals were pretty good, the music was...next, and the gameplay just wasn't that fun.  Perhaps in another dimension, I like the game but not in this one.  Overall this gets an underwhelming 2 out of 5

Sonic CD - Review

Back in 1993 Sonic CD was released. I didn't own the Mega-CD console so I was unable to play it, that is until my downstairs neighbour bought one.  She was a nice old lady, who smoked too much and often ate cooked mince out of a plastic bowl, which even as a child I thought was weird.  Anyway, I digress; thanks to her I got to play a new console and a new Sonic game.  It was really cool, and it was on a CD, who knew console games would end up being on discs!  Sorry, I'm easily excitable.  Unfortunately, I only got to play a little bit each time I visited her, so alas I never got to play it all the way through.  Many years later I contemplated picking up a Mega-CD, but unfortunately, they were/are quite expensive for a good quality one.  Sonic CD left my head again for a few more years that was until recently when I remembered it and decided to settle for downloading it on the XBOX 360.


When I was younger I loved drinking banana flavored Yazoo, it is a flavored milk-like substance that was a low-cost version of a real milkshake.  When I was in my early twenties I still loved drinking it, but the last few years I don't like it all, in fact, it sometimes gives me headaches.  Every now again I buy one, maybe for nostalgia or because I am hoping I will like it again, but the outcome is almost always the same.  Playing Sonic CD I found myself asking, did I still like banana flavored Yazoo, or was I just trying to relive the past?

Story

Dr. Robotnik is once again up to his evil schemes, and this time he has his eyes on Time Stones that are able to control the passage of time.  He manages to chain down a planet called Little Planet, where they are located and is slowly turning it into his new home.  This time he also has a new creation Metal Sonic, a badass metal version of Sonic.  

Sonic's task is a little tougher than normal, in each act (with the exception of boss ones) you have to travel to the past and destroy the robot production capsules.  Once this is done it will help create a good future, fail to do this and you will get a bad future.  Alternatively, if you collect all the Time Stones you can unlock the good future.  In theory, it sounds interesting, but makes things a little bit more awkward than they need to be, the biggest issue I had is that if you fail to go to the past and destroy all the robot production capsules in every act then you get the bad ending.  This to me was a bad feature, and while I understand the need to branch out, and try sometime new this just did not do it for me, especially as there is not standardly an act select menu.

Visuals

When you start the game you get a really cool animated introduction which is done by Toei Animation, they have worked on Dragon Ball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, and Digimon, to name but a few.  I felt this to be a nice touch and reminded me of when I was younger watching Sonic The Hedgehog animated series.


There were some interesting level designs, my favorite being Collision Zone, a mixture of the Chemical Pant Zone and Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2, industrial meets casino, a strange combination but it works.  The enemies were not very standout with the exception of Metal Sonic, and Sasori who is basically a scorpion crossed with a tank, a scorpion tank!  Overall the visuals weren't bad but as a whole nothing hugely exciting.


Music

The soundtrack is quite different to a lot of other Sonic games, it dips in and out of a pop sound that features heavy use of piano, to a more industrial sound.  The pop sound features in the present or good future, while the industrial sound features in the past, and bad future.  There were two versions of the soundtrack created, the original was for the Japanese and PAL regions and the other was for North America. I listened to both, but the one featured in the version I played was the Japanese/PAL version that was created by:

Naofumi Hataya, a Japanese composer, and performer, who has worked on a host of Sega Classics including, Golden Axe, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sega Rally Championship, Night's Into Dreams, Daytona USA, Sonic Generations, and Rub Rabbits (if you haven't played this Nintendo DS gem go play it now).

Masafumi Ogata, a Japanese composer, who has worked on a number of games including; Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic 4 Episode 2, and Death Crimson 2.

The music rolls on for little over ninety minutes, and contains more than forty tracks, one of the strongest parts of the game for me was the music, my favorite pieces included:

Sonic CD Intro
Quartz Quadrant  - Present
Collision Chaos - Present
Collision Chaos - Bad Future
Stardust Speedway - Bad Future
Metallic Madness - Present
Metallic Madness - Bad Future
Boss!!

I listened to the shorter Northern American version of the soundtrack and I was massively underwhelmed.  They went for a funkier sound which I felt really didn't suit that game, in fact, the only piece that I thought may surpass its Japanese counterpart was the boss music.

Overall the Japanese/PAL version of the soundtrack was really good, and the only issue I had was the sound effect used when collecting TV's and finishing an act which was an annoying kid saying 'yes' which just sounded very out of place.

Gameplay

Onto the meat! The game plays for the most part like a standard Sonic game, you have your spin attack, TV boxes with power-ups, and special stages.  What sets Sonic CD apart from a lot of the other games in the series is the ability to go into the past or future.  This can be done by hitting a signpost with either 'past' or 'future' on it, you then need to build up enough speed to go to the desired point in time.  Going into the future does not really have any benefits, as it is the past you need to change to affect present/future.  It sounds good, but the issue is that if you go to the past, fail to locate the robotic capsule and destroy even one you will get the bad ending.  There isn't a level select so if you miss one then you have to start from the beginning again.  Some could argue as the game can be completed in about an hour it's not that big of a deal to start from scratch, apart from it really is a big deal.  Being honest there was no need to have a good and bad ending, Sonic has never been about that, and it felt really unnecessary.  But why I am complaining, I could just use the bonus stages to collect all the Time Crystals?  Because they are really badly designed, feel clunky, awkward, and unless you use an exploit then the only way to do is to collect enough rings before the end of each act to enter the bonus level, and even then if you mess up you only have a limited number of tries to collect all Time Stones.

Stardust Speedway Act 3 requires you to race Metal Sonic, and win the race if you are too slow Dr. Robotnik will kill you, if you get too close to Metal Sonic he uses cheap moves to either make you lose your rings or kill you.  Collision Zone Act 3 seemed fun, that is until I felt like I was in a pinball machine that I had little control over.  My favorite act was Tidal Zone Act 3, I liked chasing Dr. Robotnik, then you fight him underwater, he uses protectives bubbles that you have to grab to not only survive but also defeat him.

Overall pretty underwhelmed by the gameplay and the inclusion of good and bad endings.

Final Thoughts

So after a few hours of playing how did I feel?  Disappointed, the story was only okay, the visuals were interesting enough, but one level had a tendency to blend into another.  The music was really good, the standard Sonic gameplay was good, but the rest of it felt awkward and unneeded.  Overall I have I am going to have to give this one 2 out of 5

Sonic Mania - Review

Ah, Sonic just saying the name makes me smile.  One of the first games I played and owned was Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Master System.  That's right, for most people they played it first on the Sega Megadrive but not me.  In fact, I played Sonic 1 and 2 on the Sega Master System and Sonic on the Sega Game Gear before playing it on the Sega Megadrive.  Each console offers a very different experience but I enjoyed them all.


It is the 25th Anniversary of Sonic and to celebrate Sega in association with Christian Whitehead,
Headcanon and Pagodawest Games released Sonic Mania which I was very giddy to play.  Lucky enough I have an awesome girlfriend (shoutout to the Starfish) who bought it for me as an early Christmas present, not only that but she got the special edition which comes with a Sonic statue mounted on a replica Sega Megadrive.  When you power it on it says 'Sssssssseeegggggaaaa (currently grinning like a Cheshire cat).  Anyhoo onwards to the food analogy followed by a review.


I grew up on Kinder Surprise Eggs (don't worry my parents also gave me real food too), low in cost, containing both milk and white chocolate with a little container inside featuring a toy you had to put together.  When I used to get my pocket money I would buy a Buster comic and a Kinder Surprise, if I was really lucky the comic would come with free sweets too.  Every now again I revisit my childhood to see what they are like now and while the chocolate is pretty similar the toys for the most part really suck and are often assembled.  Playing Sonic Mania I found myself asking was this something that looked good and had something great inside or was it filled with disappointment?

Story

The story for Sonic Mania is quite interesting, it turns out buried beneath Angel Island (Knuckle's Home) is the Phantom Ruby.  It has the power to disrupt time and has endless power, this attracts the attention of both Sonic, Tails and Knuckles along with Dr. Eggman.  Their mission is to retrieve the Phantom Gem and thwart Dr. Eggman's plans.

Since Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles Dr. Eggman has been feeling a little bored and created the Hard Boiled Heavies robots that all look like him (maybe for a little company).  Either due to boredom or the Phantom Gem, they have gone a little mad and gained their own personalities.  You will get to battle them along the way, some are annoying and some are not so much so.  That is pretty much the story in an eggshell (see what I did there...forget it).

Graphics

Sonic Mania while looking retro did not go for the classic Sonic 8-Bit or 16-Bit look of the Sega Master System and Megadrive.  Instead, they have gone for a mixture between those consoles and the MegaCD which still gives it a nice retro look and feel.  I like that they updated the look but did it without destroying the overall design of Sonic, unlike Sonic Boom (shaking my head at this moment).

The game includes many of the classic zones like Green Hill, Flying Battery, and Chemical Plant all with a little twist along with the newer zones like Titanic Monarch, Oil Ocean and Mirage Saloon.  My favorites zones had to be; Green Hill, Flying Battery, Studipolis and Oil Ocean.  Green Hill is the classic first act in most Sonic games and just reminds me of my childhood along being terrified of robotic crabs that walk deep inland like it's no big deal.  Chemical Plant has a very industrial look and there are chemicals everywhere, some of them can make you bounce and others kill you (just like real life).  I really like the look of Oil Ocean as it reminded me a little of Sonic CD and just looked like a polluted mess.  It was also a subtle way for the designers to show kids the devastation of what oil can do to the ocean in a similar way as they did in Sonic CD.  Also if you get the Fire Shield and go down the oil slide it sets on fire, it's the little things in life.

Music

The game was created by Sega along with big-time fans of the Sonic franchise and listening to the music the passion and love they have for it is clear.  There are the classic Sonic sounds blended seamlessly with something new that feels like the original.  The music is upbeat and moves between pop, electronic and a chiptune style sound well apart from the boss music which always has a slightly darker tone.  The composer behind this music is:

Tee Lopes, born in Portugal and move to the United States when he was a child.  For years he has been getting recognition for the remixes of Sonic he has posted on YouTube.  He now works for Pagodawest Games helping create music for indie game, some of his works include; Major Magnet,

Circle Frenzy and Fling all available on Andriod and iOS.

 Additionally, Hyper Potions created the opening animation music for Sonic Mania along with the tracks 'Checkpoint', 'Time Trails' and 'Friends'.  Hyper Potions are Ian 'Sushi Killer' Tsuchiura and Kevin Villeco, who have an awesome logo - go check it out.  They are an American band who produce Electronic Dance Music.  They have created many tracks and remixed a number of songs, their works include; Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice, Gotta Go Fast - Sonic Tribute, League of Legends 

and Mischief Makers Remixed.

The score runs at just under two hours and has many great pieces of music, I can see myself in the near future buying the record from Data Discs (check it out below).  There were quite a few pieces I really enjoyed including:

Green Hill Zone Act 1

Chemical Plant Zone Act 1

Studiopolis Act 1

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 and 2

Hydrocity Zone Act 1

Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1

Lava Reef Zone Act 1

Titanic Monarch Act 1

Blue Spheres Bonus Stage

Hi Spec Robo Go!

Final Boss Theme

Gameplay

The gameplay is classic Sonic, most of the techniques and items are the same with a few additions, the classic TVs are all there including; lightning, fire and bubble shields along with the new Hyper Ring.  The Hyper Ring collects all your rings together meaning if you get hit it's easier for you to catch them all.

There are multiple games modes that can be unlocked by playing the game and by completing bonus stages successfully.  There is a Debug (cheat mode), Time Attack and Competition Mode.  Like Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles you can play as Sonic, Tails or Knuckles and later Super versions if you collect all the Chaos Emeralds. 

Sega and associates put a lot of nostalgic moments from the series into Sonic Mania including; Mean Bean Machine Boss, Metal Sonic from Sonic CD, original Sonic Bosses from the Megadrive along with Heavy Shinobi who is basically Shinobi from the series but in robot egg form (I know that it's not technically from the series but is still cool).

There are some great zones throughout the game and some not so great ones.  My favorite zones to play were; Metallic, Mirage Saloon and Studiopolis.    Metallic was really great as Sonic is already cool and cute, how do you make him cooler and cuter?  Use a shrink ray on him, then get him to take on miniature versions of bosses.  Mirage Saloon had an interesting desert cowboy feel along with some weird enemies plus you get to stand on top of a plane for Act 1 looking badass.   I was slow to warm to Studiopolis as it had too much of this Hollywood feel but after a while, I got into it and I really liked the silhouette effect that occurs when you go behind glass.  There were two zones that chapped my hide, Oil Ocean Zone and Titanic Monarch.  Oil Ocean Zone looked good for the most part but later on, there is black smoke that builds and you have to pull chains to clear it if you don't you lose rings and die.  Was not a fan of this and is it was very out of synch with the classic Sonic gameplay.  Titanic Monarch Zone, the acts were quite long but became longer with those damn gravity balls.  Purplely, pinky orbs that you have to almost break the analogs sticks to get yourself pointing in the right direction to reach higher locations.  Of course, I could deal with one or two but both acts are littered with them and they are super annoying.

Final Thoughts

After six hours of play, how did I feel?  Happy.  While I felt Sonic Mania was not as good as the original games it does do a fantastic job of paying homage to them along with creating something new and special.  In recent years few Sonic games released have really felt up to the mark but this one felt just right and I look forward to tackling it again in the future and maybe collecting all the chaos emeralds.  This one gets a solid 4 out of 5

In The Beginning There Was Pong!

Let me start by saying I love Video Games!  To date I have played well in excess of 600 Video Games which have come in all shapes & sizes.  Growing up I was lucky enough to have a cool Dad who owned Pong (also known as Home Pong).  

While Pong was by no means the first video game ever made it was arguably the first one to become a household name. It also brought to attention to a yet unexplored territory that we know today as the Games industry.

The first console my parents bought me was the Sega Master System 2. It came with Alex the Kidd in Miracle World built into it.  Alex had a powerful fist he used to do everything from killing enemies, breaking blocks & of course playing jan-ken-pon (rock, paper, scissors).  The idea was simple battle through a number of levels & save your long lost brother Prince Egle.  Who is being held by the evil Janken the Great who has taken over the peaceful lands of Radaxian. A brilliant & challenging game!

Unlike a lot of kids my first introduction to Sonic the Hedgehog was on the Master System not the Mega Drive.  The game felt very different to the Mega Drive version & in some ways tougher (although to be fair it is a long time since I played it so in retrospect maybe it was just as tough).  Sonic was & is still a brilliant character; if you ignore some of the bad games & some of his not so cool friends - Vector the Crocodile? When you are trying that hard it's not cool yo!

I am just going to through out a few titles I really enjoyed before moving on; Double Dragon (played this alot with my Dad),Operation Wolf, Asterix, Bubble Bobble, Ghostbusters, Action Fighter & of course Paperboy!

Next up the Sega Mega Drive - 2! I love this console, so many great games, so many hours spent burning my eyes out my head staring at the screen!  

Where to begin.......I guess Streets of Rage!  You get to pick from three awesome characters; Axel, Blaze & Adam - all with there own set of skills.  The city has been taken over by Mr X & his Syndicate.  Unwilling to bend over & take it any more these ex-police officers take to the streets & clean up the city.  Of course it going to be tough as the city is littered with random building supplies, there are payphones which literally fall apart with the smallest touch & empty barrels of oil containing gold & collectible figures inside them - which strangely look like our hero's. To make things worse there are apples & turkeys left out everywhere which as we all know causes ants!  Some of the local entertainers have lost their shit! We have guys who are supposed to just juggle but now they throw axes & fire.  We have Dominatrix's roaming the streets whipping you any time they see you (there is a time & a place for this) & these punks who slide tackle you like your a damn ball! 

If you play only one game on this console then it has to be Streets of Rage I love the whole series & if you get the chance to play the Japanese version (Bare Knuckle) I highly recommend it.

Outside of that there are gems like; Sonic & Knuckles which was awesome for many reasons. One of the best reasons is that it had a slot in the top of the cartridge which allowed space for another Sonic Game to be added to it.  This then would completely change the game (check it out below).

Another great game was Micro Machines 2: Tournament Edition. You have 4 friends that want to play & you don't have the 4 player adapter - what will you do?  No need to worry Codemasters made it a J-Cart giving you two additional ports on the game itself.  A fun game, brilliant tracks, crazy characters & it even came with Game Invites to give to your friends & Certificates for the Winners.

I want to mention some other games that were just awesome as well before moving on: Stryder, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Mortal Kombat 3, ESwat, Desert Strike, Street Fighter 2, Bubba N' Stix, Earthworm Jim,  Aladdin, Tiny Toons Adventure: Busters Hidden Treasure. A big shout out to Andrea Agassi Tennis- why?  I am not a tennis fan - hell I am not a sports fan at all but this game is what got me & my dad playing Video Games together & I am thankful for it.