http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ICZWdDWsgIn Sonic 3's Multiplayer, despite the fact that both Sonic, Tails and Knuckles had the same attributes(not counting that Tails could fly since it was never useful anyway), the gamers could pick their favorite character out of the 3.
This is completely and utterly wrong. In fact, SRB2's character statistics are mostly based on the differences between the characters in Sonic 3's multiplayer. Sonic is faster than Knuckles, who is faster than Tails. Tails has the highest acceleration; Sonic has the worst. Also, Tails's flight is HIGHLY useful in that mode to players who make mistakes on Balloon Park and Chrome Gadget. I used Tails pretty much exclusively as a kid until I got much better at the mode because of that ability.
I honestly think it's silly that Knuckles can't climb in multiplayer but can in single player.
Remember, in Sonic 3 alone, you couldn't play as Knuckles, so he didn't have those abilities yet. This always irked me as a child, though. You aren't alone.
Well then, we're in agreement: Tails and Knuckles have no place in Race.
Yes, in general. On the other hand, they are pretty good in a few stages, even beating Sonic in a few single player stages, so why not keep them? If someone wants to play with a handicap, they're good for that, too.
Hey, ever heard of the latest Mario Kart, Mario Kart Wii? I heard that there are 24 characters of the Mario saga plus your own Mii, and they all play the same!
Again, completely wrong. The characters are sorted into different weight groups and all have individual statistics based on their character and what car they end up using. Character choice makes quite a significant difference in Mario Kart and it always has.
The reality is that we here at Sonic Team Jr. consider characters to be statistics blocks and gameplay variations, while you consider them to be characters. We do not have characters in the game just to have different skins; we have differences in the characters so we can have major differences in the gameplay. Surely you've played enough SRB2 to notice how dramatically different single player feels as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles. You'll also notice similar differences in match and CTF if you play those modes a lot.
When racing on the single player stages, Sonic is the risky but best choice, while Tails and Knuckles frequently are a much safer bet in dangerous areas like ERZ, but are slower. We don't really care much about the balance of characters in race mode, but if you want to use the other two, they're available choices should there happen to be some kind of gameplay benefit you can get out of them. Otherwise, choose Sonic. He's the fastest by design and we're not changing that.
