That central focus on a singular character (out of three playable) is part of what caused this problem in the first place.
Sure. Problem: Nerfing Sonic is still focusing on Sonic. I don't think a single person outside of the dev team would object to Knuckles or Tails getting buffs (see also: this thread), but even suggesting regression of a mechanic that's been set in stone for over a decade is a recipe for disaster AS YOU CAN SEE
Someone doesn't remember learning the levels for the first time. Every now and then I try to show a friend this game and they just have a horrible time figuring out the maps. The platforming is only fun once you've figured out what your supposed to do and where your supposed to go. Knux and Tails were great for finding your way around the stage for the first time.
Second part of this statement is tantamount to saying Mario isn't fun until after you've beaten the game, which is blatantly untrue, but nevermind- I suspect most of us don't remember how we struggled to get into this game, and I think that might be part of the problem here. We're saying Sonic is unbalanced without taking into consideration his learning curve, because we've all had a century to master him. The skill ceilings for each character are clearly disproportionate, but if every character is designed to represent a difficulty setting where the effort invested is appropriately rewarded, then what are we supposed to do about that?
Sorry if anyone wants to balk at me going on a tangent, but it seems like a good time to state my philosophy here: I think prioritizing Sonic was the right thing to do when Knuckles' and Tails' abilities are fundamentally at odds with the core appeal of the platforming genre. My understanding is that games are fun when they provide tension. "Tension", the strain of performing under threat of failure, is the basic unit of Fun. Every genre has its own means of generating tension- that "core appeal"- and in the case of the platformer, the agent of tension is
gravity. Every decision you make should revolve around counteracting gravity, every jump requires some degree of precision because there are consequences for missing that jump. Higher paths are traditionally more rewarding, both materially and in the player's head, because that vertical ascent makes you more and more susceptible to gravity. Stakes rise, tension rises, fun rises.
Climbing and flying negate gravity effortlessly, thereby negating tension and fun. Flying in Super Mario 64 is the ultimate reward- it's fun, partly because it's liberating to negate the challenge of climbing the mountain, which the player has already experienced before acquiring the wing cap. Flying around that space is only exhilarating because of the context of that initial climb. But here we have two characters that offer that same experience straight off, and we're telling players this is how they should experience these stages
first- I think having an easier alternative is totally appropriate for beginners in SRB2's case, but there's still something backwards about it. Knuckles does it right because we have several measures to keep him in check, so while he's a great introductory character at the start, his endgame is actually the hardest by far. Tails isn't sandboxed quite so easily. Anyway, liberation without the struggle is just empty calories, easily mistaken for fun, because exploring that space is still going to be fun to some degree no matter how you're doing it- but it'd be more fun if you weren't cheesing your way past all those jumps that were meticulously crafted for Sonic.
So I can make the case for gliding and climbing not being fun all day, but if there's any way of proving that, I'd ask: How many players that actually have the skill to handle Sonic competently still prefer using Tails or Knuckles? Furiousfox is the only player I knew that might suit that case (he used Sonic sometimes for races, didn't he?). If people bitching about Sonic being overpowered were doing so out of preference for a character's playstyle, and not out of necessity on account of sucking too hard to graduate to Sonic, I'd be a bit more sympathetic. Bottom line, I think Tails and Knuckles are mechanically unsound, and gimping the one character that unquestionably plays well isn't smart. You may not be able to make them more fun, but it wouldn't hurt to make them more powerful, because you're really not making things any worse. Hopefully this post still makes sense to me when it's not 2AM.
