The thing is that there's already an easy mode character: Tails. He's not as fast as Modern Sonic, but he's far more mobile and can skip a majority of platforming segments.
Regardless of the fact that Modern's gameplay feels so right in SRB2 (Indeed as you said, perhaps moreso than Classic Sonic),
Before we get into where we disagree, let's linger here for a moment on this point of agreement... the Modern mod feels SO INSANELY right. Right?
I don't even have fickle's camera mod and other improvements made since 2.2.0 (on mac), but Modern either breaks or fixes the game, depending on your point of view. I take the view that it's a bit of both, and that his overpoweredness is actually a better form of training wheels than Sonic & Tails.
The best evidence for why that's right is this:
The courses aren't truly open world. Tails flying straight up doesn't show you everything; it cuts off at the wall, the linedef (i think?). As such it can become easy for a player to go up, look around, and then be confused about where they're supposed to go next, and not realize they're backtracking until too late.
Modern's homing attack & light-speed dash guide the player through the course, in an almost hand-holding way, but also in a way that feels really good. This makes the player feel like they are good at the game, even though they actually aren't yet... and when people feel like they're good at a game, they will enjoy replaying it. As they move on from Modern, they'd realize the precision needed when you are stripped of the recovery double-jump, homing, or wallkick. (Walkick has saved me from a few bottomless pits)
Modern in Greenflower alone... I would bet anything, if you did a test and gave a new player S&T and then Modern (and others Modern and then S&T), regardless of which one they start with, they're going to prefer to go forward with Modern for their first campaign.
Btw, this is coming from someone who has never liked the Modern abilities, thought Generations was bad, and basically Sonic Mania was the only proper game in the series since 1994. I am more surprised than anyone to be campaigning for Modern's moves, because I have never ever ever ever liked them before this.
I played the 3D games, usually much later after they'd be heavily discounted, and thought the series basically became a QTE rollercoaster... 3D seemed like a fun possibility from Sonic World in Sonic Jam, but was content to assume the dream was dead outside of level demos like Sonic Utopia.
Then I found SRB2 2.2.0 and my head hasn't really stopped spinning.
it doesn't change the fact that he should be an unlockable for the exact reason I stated before. The developer's intentions for this game are that it's specifically not a Modern Sonic game. You see, first impressions mean a lot when it comes to things like this, and by having Modern Sonic unlocked from the start, or otherwise too early on will give new players the impression that this is a Modern Sonic fangame and as such treat it with the expectation of it being a Modern Sonic fangame. When they transition from playing as Modern Sonic to any other character, they will feel as though something is missing and the character will likely feel rather unsatisfactory. Most new players would heavily main Modern Sonic and as such judge the game as a Modern Sonic game.
The level design was made with Classic Sonic and friends in mind, and as such players should learn to appreciate the game with these characters first before they experience them with Modern Sonic.
I don't think that would be the case because the love SRB2 has for recreating the spirit of the 2D games in proper 3D is... palpable. It's clear as day in the art style, level direction, everything.
Modern moveset doesn't change that, and IMO in no way does it make seem anything like a Sonic Adventure fangame. The game plays nothing like SA or Unleashed or Generations or whatever.
But in a twist of fate, the Modern moveset specifically in SRB2 gives Sonic a range of jump moves that feels comparable to Mario in SM64.
As such, the intention behind making him the final unlockable isn't strictly about restricting him to veteran players. It's about making it so you have to have done everything in order to make the game play like a game that isn't a Classic Sonic game. It also falls into the same kind of "Overpowered reward" type category that Super Sonic falls into.
We both agree we want the player to explore as much of the gameplay as possible! I'm suggesting that you get more flies with honey, and you will lead players better with a carrot than a stick.
I didn't play Modern Sonic until after clearing 7 emeralds with S&T and Knuckles, and then getting the other characters up to around AC1 or RV1... as I mentioned in my "Newbie" thread, my interest in the game was fading (since Mac OS lacks access to online play). Then, after finding Modern and level packs, my interest was reignited. It was immediately more fun to replay the levels, and then more fun as well to go back to the vanilla ones. I wish it had been available from the start. I would've beaten as Modern, then Knux, then Classic, then Tails, Amy, Fang, Metal.
SRB2 is difficult for new players, right? There's no question there's a learning curve. It could be made easier, and thus, lessen the learning curve substantially and allow for a more natural progression of ability from a player besides a lot of death.
And of course it's all optional! It's about accessibility, imo.
If he were to be available from the start, the only way to really balance the unlockables would be to disable him from earning any emblems or saving record attack ghost data entirely, aside from perhaps NiGHTS mode. This would mostly force players to play the game as intended to earn unlockables, but doesn't solve the issue of players gravitating towards the Modern playstyle and then expecting everything to be developed under the mentality of a Modern Sonic game, and perhaps being disappointed when they find out it's not.
I don't think that would be the case. That's just about presentation, and nothing about SRB2 suggests anything but "this is classic Sonic in 3D" regardless of Modern's inclusion or not (or Shadow even or anything like that). I really don't think there would be confusion to that degree.
Modern's abilities could just as easily be mapped to the vanilla sprites (in fact i believe the mod started as just being "Modern Abilities" no?), as well.
I understand the devs don't want to overload a player with too many options, or have too many things be toggle-able. At the same time I believe the devs want the game to be as accessible as possible.
I see SRB2 as the bridge between all worlds of Sonic. It is better than the 2D games by virtue of the extra dimension and the new freedom. It is better than the 3D games, not as polished or expensive or cinematic, but the freedom and consistency of the physics and the way momentum is used in platforming challenges... it's the best Sonic game ever produced. And it's not even finished! ahhh.
What makes SRB2 special is... well its everything its the whole package, but most of all it's the level design; the Doom DNA, and the creative ways it's been adapted to Sonic. There's no official 3D Sonic level that comes close to doing what even just Greenflower does in the first few minutes.
The levels were built with the hardest character in mind, and maybe that's the exact right way it should've been. And now there's a mod that, imo, fixes every frustration I had and makes Sonic "easy" in a way that makes the game soothing instead of irritating.
When I get bored of kicking the game's ass as Modern, then I reverse fortune and test myself as Vanilla. It's awesome. I want everyone to be having this much fun with this game.
---------- Post added at 04:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 AM ----------
Again, it's not really about being a veteran or a beginner, hard mode or easy mode, etc. This is already accounted for in game via Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Tails is easy mode, Knuckles is well rounded, and Sonic is hard.
Yes, but there are some ways in which this set-up is not as ideal as possible. Mostly it's that while having Tails allows for certain platforming segments to be skipped, it also can lead the player to losing track of where they need to go. Skipping via flying also feels a bit deflating to the player, and is a bit of a waste of a lovely room that would otherwise be fun to bop around with homing attack.
Modern allows the player to enjoy the title character without needing to be an expert at the game.
The point of locking him behind being the final unlockable is about the game not being a Modern Sonic game. It's a Classic Sonic game, and was specifically built around not being a Modern Sonic game. This is why the homing attack on the attraction shield keeps forward momentum and can't be chained to attack multiple enemies unless you specifically aim your momentum to do so, for example.
The game was entirely designed around being a Classic game, and playing it like one is the intended playstyle the developers are going for. To then go and throw Modern Sonic in as a character unlocked from the start or really early on flies in the face of the entire point they were going for.
This is why Modern Sonic should be locked behind collecting all the emblems. It isn't about how difficult he is (or isn't) to play, it's about restricting him to only being playable by those who have experienced the game the way the developers intended to begin with, so that he can be a neat completion bonus.
In my previous post, I made the case for accessibility as the reason I don't think being an unlockable makes sense as a reward.
I want to address two different things here that I think are interesting points of disagreement, and I'll see if I can't be persuasive.
(1) I personally dislike the distinction between "Classic" and "Modern" Sonic as two separate individuals.
The only reason it's come about is because Official Sonic Team has so badly lost the thread of what made Sonic's gameplay appealing in the first place and replaced it with basically the Sonic Dash mobile game and some scripted roller coaster QTEs.
In my opinion, SRB2 revolutionizes this whole view. It proves that classic Sonic can work in 3D... and the modern Sonic mod proves that "modern Sonic" can work in 3D games that aren't "sonic dash mobile games scripted roller coaster QTEs"
Mario can alternate between being 8-bit and full 3D, but there's no idea that they're two different characters. It's just one is 2D, and the other is 3D, so of course the latter will have more options for movement. And so it ought to be with Sonic.
In my extremely personal opinion, I would hybridize the Modern abilities with Classic (take modern's moves on vanilla's sprites, replace boost with spin dash, jump+dash is thokk, keep stomp but remove slide; stomp is like a hard emergency brake), but I don't expect others to necessarily agree with that... hence why I think it should just be given as an option as to what feels more natural to the individual.
(2) I can see exactly what you're saying. Sonic with multiple abilities was never the devs intent. This is part of why I'm going on about it, though, because maybe it takes a sort of different perspective, a fresher set of eyes, on it. I'm not an expert (though I am quickly getting pretty good at the game), but I'm a new player and a new fan, and I want to encourage every Sonic or video game fan to give it a try.
And like -- objectively! -- like we both agree that the Modern mod's movement feels fantastic. So why withhold that from a new player who would benefit from it more than anyone?
The devs created a set of physics and levels that work for a variety of characters that offer a range of challenges. That's the ultimate intent, I would think -- to make a great classic 3D Sonic game... and if you ask me, that's exactly what STJR has done, and that isn't diminished by including Modern's moves! It only goes to show just how much better SRB2 is than Generations / Adventure at showing how to justify multiple playstyles in a Sonic gmae.
