time gear
Eternity in an hour
The same rules that apply to Knuckles and Tails apply to the Homing Attack. One does not need to use it. It is a tool that serves as an optional crutch for new players, which is ideal for the starting character.
Sonic is not the starting character however. Tails is. I can understand the appeal to making Sonic the beginner character, but then this would also imply making Tails more difficult than Sonic, something much harder to do. Tails is the easy mode character, the sooner the player comes to accept this the better.
The ability to reset your lateral momentum in any direction you want has no further practical application? The untargeted homing attack is a less frantic Thok, and the targeted homing attack is still a traversal tool. The only move in the game that is 'pure instant gratification without any further practical application than destroying a badnik' is Fang's gun.
Homing attack does not allow you to reset lateral momentum in any direction you want. It requires a target, usually a badnik. You cannot home in on that which isn't there, or isn't within range. It is incredibly limited, and does not help the player to navigate anywhere they can't walk or jump to in about a second anyway. This is why it is pure instant gratification. You are moved quickly to an enemy that is already within your range, and then your forward momentum is halted entirely as you bounce straight up.
Have you ever seen a new player use the Thok to destroy a grounded badnik? None of these applications are logical for a character designed for new players, whereas they make perfect sense for an unlockable character like Metal Sonic.
Not only have I seen it, I make use of it quite frequently. Sonic is the single best character to do badnik bouncing chains with for this reason alone. Once you get to the point that you are bouncing really high, a well timed thok during your decent aimed at a badnik causes you to rocket off at high speeds, rewarding you with a height and distance combination not usually possible for Sonic. This is, again, impossible with homing attack.
Even new players are encouraged to toy around with this by the mechanics handed to them, it's just not flashing on a neon sign anywhere or anything.
I do think there was a bit of a misunderstanding; I very much enjoy playing Tails and Knuckles in their current states, though I think Tails's flight duration could be cut down slightly and climbable walls may make more sense as an exception rather than the norm. I just fail to see how their ability to trivialize the game is somehow less dramatic than the Homing Attack's ability to trivialize badniks, particularly given that destructible badniks are generally much less of a threat in SRB2 than level gimmicks and pits.
The reason is because Tails and Knuckles actually cover distance not possible on foot with their abilities, reaching places otherwise out of reach. The homing attack does not, with the sole exception of when a homing attack chain allows for it. This would require the game to be designed around homing chains for Sonic to make use of, which is not at all the devs intentions. When these chains do not exist, Sonic is only able to use it to move to where he can already reach on foot or via jump, due to the limited range of the attack. Thok simply works much better as a tool to propel Sonic forward in situations in which otherwise getting that speed would be difficult, and thus certain jumps become more possible as him.
Unfortunately, that's neither feasible nor desirable. Communicating no-climb walls in a way that doesn't hurt the visual design of levels has already proven difficult, and in many cases the inclusion of no-climb walls at all has made gameplay more frustrating.
I think it would be more meaningful to simply accept the prevalance of climbable walls and to instead design levels and enemies in a way which makes Knuckles' gameplay feel more engaging and provocative.
I feel as though it depends on the specific zone, or even act. It's much easier to convey in a level like Techno Hill Act 2 that certain surfaces use a texture that can't be climbed on while others use a texture that can. Something akin to the portalability logic from the Portal series, in which dark walls can't have a portal on them but white walls can. More natural environments on the other hand it is more difficult to create this visual distinction.
It makes sense that levels further into the campaign would be more inclined to limit Knuckles in which walls he can and can't grab onto. However, what you are talking about also makes sense for specific zones too, overall the freedom Knuckles is given from zone to zone and even act to act is something that can be toyed with to give each zone it's own "personality" while playing as Knuckles. In my opinion, despite the late nature of it's positioning into the campaign, I imagine Arid Canyon as being the best level for freedom, with lots of wide open areas to make the most use of the glide and climb ability, though at the occasional risk of being smacked by a flying badnik and falling into the bottomless pits below.
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