Elements of your ideal Sonic game?

[time gear]

Everyone has their own tastes as to what their ideal games would be like. In regards to the Sonic franchise, what elements would you bring together to make up your ideal experience? It doesn't necessarily need to be feasible, this is all just for fun.

For my ideal Sonic game, I would like the following elements:
-Multiple playable characters, each with their own formula. Same formula characters are identical playable options within the same levels similar to Crash and Coco in Crash 4 and N-Sane Trilogy. You are never forced to play as one over the other within the same formula.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Sonic/Blaze: Boost formula, but entirely in 3D. Plays similarly to Generations, but with some levels featuring wisps Colors style. Can eventually unlock Super Sonic/Burning Blaze. Finishing the story unlocks Metal Sonic without a super form, playing identically to Sonic/Blaze.
• Tails/Cream: Adventure formula, but get to the goal style levels instead of races.
• Knuckles/Rouge: Adventure formula, but inspired by the original Ape Escape with special badniks that you need to hunt down and destroy to collect maguffins such as Emerald Shards or Flickies with interesting level design. Can be more than 3 in each level. The special badniks will attempt to flee/fight back when found, and provide more of a challenge than regular badniks.
• Amy: Adventure formula, but she controls better and can do more with her hammer.
• Shadow: Adventure 2 formula, but inspired by Lost World with it's Spindash and Multi-homing attack. Access to Sonic's bounce attack from SA2 as well as the triangle jump from Heroes. Destroying badniks builds up a meter, which can be spent to fire Chaos Spears or slow time with Chaos Control. Can eventually unlock Super Shadow, which has an infinite meter for the duration of the transformation.
• Avatar: Forces formula, but with better physics. Both 3D and 2D sections. More in-depth customization options, ability to recolor/retexture outfits instead of just getting a few different colored variants. Wispons return. Can eventually unlock a customizable super form.
• 5 Red Star Rings in every non-boss level. Can be collected multiple times, but are hidden better. More on that later.
• Special Stages: Blue Spheres from Sonic 3, each one rewards both a Chaos Emerald and Sol Emerald. Accessed through giant hidden rings Sonic 3 style. Emerald collection is shared between all stories.
• Chao Garden: SA2 style, but with some additional improvements. Can visit as all characters.
• SA1 style hub world. Additional collectables and minigames can be found here but aren't important for story completion. Features a shop where you spend rings to unlock outfits and Wispons for the Avatar, cosmetics for other characters (Boost aura's, etc.), Chao Garden items, etc. Red Star Rings collected in stages add 200 rings to your shop currency each (That's up to 1000 rings per level). Fitting room used to apply cosmetics or equip Wispons.
• Each formula has their own story SA1 style, but covers their own unique levels SA2 style. There's also a final story in which you play through a single long level switching between each gameplay formula as you progress (think Cannons Core from SA2). Then, the final level is a boss fight in which you play as Super Sonic, Burning Blaze, Super Shadow, and your Avatar's super form. Must have all emeralds collected and all the other main stories finished to unlock the final story.
• Multiple save slots. Sometimes you want to play through the game again but don't want to delete your progress, or have a sibling/friend who wants do their own separate playthrough.
• Game should average around an hour to an hour and a half per playthrough of each gameplay formula, with additional bonus missions on top of that which are fully optional for those who want more gameplay content.
• Ranking system tied to Crash Bandicoot style timer item you can grab at the start of the stage which also disables your ability to turn Super until you finish/leave/restart the stage. Deaths reset you to your most recent checkpoint but don't reset the timer. Ranks are based on your completion time and number of deaths, but don't actually do anything otherwise. It's just bragging rights with an online leaderboard. S ranks are an actual challenge to obtain, but are very doable. E ranks have intentionally bad renditions of the rank theme similar to in Unleashed.

-Good story. Drift away from the edgy style of Forces and lean more into the level of storytelling in Secret Rings and Black Knight.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Aim for teenagers as the target demographic, but still friendly to children.
• Player characters in the same formula travel together in the story as a team.
• Lore that takes itself seriously enough to attempt for self consistency and not overdo the humor, but not so seriously as to get gritty and/or outright neglect the humor.
• Attempt for consistency with the lore between Sonic 1 and Colors, but with more recent character personalities (Except for Shadow, make him a bit less edgy and more heroic. Tails should be a blend of his confidence and independence gained from the Adventure games and his more recent snark).
• Don't overdo the storytelling. Start the first level straight off into the gameplay (Except for the Avatar, which should start with the character creator and then do the first level) and then don't overdo the exposition in each story scene. Don't overdo the "show don't tell", but don't shy away from it either. There should be a happy medium between exposition and just showing the player what's going on.
• Cutscenes should have smooth, fluid, and lifelike character expressions and animations. It should simultaneously feel cartoony and yet grounded in it's own sense of reality. Camera work should be cinematic but suit the theming of the individual scenes.
• Try not to go too deep into time travel or alternate dimensions or anything like that in the plot. They can be brought up in passing, but shouldn't be what the main plot is centered around as this has been done too much lately.
• Additional non-playables such as the Chaotix can appear, but character interactions and contributions should be meaningful. Don't shoehorn characters into the story if they are going to basically just be cameos or comic relief.
• Silver and Omochao act as radio guides throughout the game providing both tutorial information and plot details, chattering back and forth with the player character. Toggleable on and off in the options menu. Silver is more serious and plot focused in his dialogue while Omochao is more tutorial focused, but both occasionally have comic relief interactions. Silver has special dialogue interactions with Blaze.

-Different musical styles for each gameplay formula.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Sonic/Blaze: Inspired by Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure. Slightly different versions of the tracks within levels depending on if you are Sonic or Blaze. Guitars for Sonic and light vocals for Blaze.
• Tails/Cream: Inspired by Adventure 1. Lighthearted and nostalgic.
• Knuckles/Rouge: Inspired by Adventure 2. Slightly different versions of the tracks within levels depending on if you are Knuckles or Rouge. Rap for Knuckles, more retro-spy themed for Rouge.
• Amy: Inspired by Adventure 1. More actiony than Tails/Cream's music.
• Shadow: Inspired by Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Intense action music within the rock, epic, and techno genres.
• Avatar: Inspired by the Avatar stages in Forces. Electronic music with vocal tracks.

 

[Chezi]

Everyone has their own tastes as to what their ideal games would be like. In regards to the Sonic franchise, what elements would you bring together to make up your ideal experience? It doesn't necessarily need to be feasible, this is all just for fun.

For my ideal Sonic game, I would like the following elements:
-Multiple playable characters, each with their own formula. Same formula characters are identical playable options within the same levels similar to Crash and Coco in Crash 4 and N-Sane Trilogy. You are never forced to play as one over the other within the same formula.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Sonic/Blaze: Boost formula, but entirely in 3D. Plays similarly to Generations, but with some levels featuring wisps Colors style. Can eventually unlock Super Sonic/Burning Blaze. Finishing the story unlocks Metal Sonic without a super form, playing identically to Sonic/Blaze.
• Tails/Cream: Adventure formula, but get to the goal style levels instead of races.
• Knuckles/Rouge: Adventure formula, but inspired by the original Ape Escape with special badniks that you need to hunt down and destroy to collect maguffins such as Emerald Shards or Flickies with interesting level design. Can be more than 3 in each level. The special badniks will attempt to flee/fight back when found, and provide more of a challenge than regular badniks.
• Amy: Adventure formula, but she controls better and can do more with her hammer.
• Shadow: Adventure 2 formula, but inspired by Lost World with it's Spindash and Multi-homing attack. Access to Sonic's bounce attack from SA2 as well as the triangle jump from Heroes. Destroying badniks builds up a meter, which can be spent to fire Chaos Spears or slow time with Chaos Control. Can eventually unlock Super Shadow, which has an infinite meter for the duration of the transformation.
• Avatar: Forces formula, but with better physics. Both 3D and 2D sections. More in-depth customization options, ability to recolor/retexture outfits instead of just getting a few different colored variants. Wispons return. Can eventually unlock a customizable super form.
• 5 Red Star Rings in every non-boss level. Can be collected multiple times, but are hidden better. More on that later.
• Special Stages: Blue Spheres from Sonic 3, each one rewards both a Chaos Emerald and Sol Emerald. Accessed through giant hidden rings Sonic 3 style. Emerald collection is shared between all stories.
• Chao Garden: SA2 style, but with some additional improvements. Can visit as all characters.
• SA1 style hub world. Additional collectables and minigames can be found here but aren't important for story completion. Features a shop where you spend rings to unlock outfits and Wispons for the Avatar, cosmetics for other characters (Boost aura's, etc.), Chao Garden items, etc. Red Star Rings collected in stages add 200 rings to your shop currency each (That's up to 1000 rings per level). Fitting room used to apply cosmetics or equip Wispons.
• Each formula has their own story SA1 style, but covers their own unique levels SA2 style. There's also a final story in which you play through a single long level switching between each gameplay formula as you progress (think Cannons Core from SA2). Then, the final level is a boss fight in which you play as Super Sonic, Burning Blaze, Super Shadow, and your Avatar's super form. Must have all emeralds collected and all the other main stories finished to unlock the final story.
• Multiple save slots. Sometimes you want to play through the game again but don't want to delete your progress, or have a sibling/friend who wants do their own separate playthrough.
• Game should average around an hour to an hour and a half per playthrough of each gameplay formula, with additional bonus missions on top of that which are fully optional for those who want more gameplay content.
• Ranking system tied to Crash Bandicoot style timer item you can grab at the start of the stage which also disables your ability to turn Super until you finish/leave/restart the stage. Deaths reset you to your most recent checkpoint but don't reset the timer. Ranks are based on your completion time and number of deaths, but don't actually do anything otherwise. It's just bragging rights with an online leaderboard. S ranks are an actual challenge to obtain, but are very doable. E ranks have intentionally bad renditions of the rank theme similar to in Unleashed.

-Good story. Drift away from the edgy style of Forces and lean more into the level of storytelling in Secret Rings and Black Knight.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Aim for teenagers as the target demographic, but still friendly to children.
• Player characters in the same formula travel together in the story as a team.
• Lore that takes itself seriously enough to attempt for self consistency and not overdo the humor, but not so seriously as to get gritty and/or outright neglect the humor.
• Attempt for consistency with the lore between Sonic 1 and Colors, but with more recent character personalities (Except for Shadow, make him a bit less edgy and more heroic. Tails should be a blend of his confidence and independence gained from the Adventure games and his more recent snark).
• Don't overdo the storytelling. Start the first level straight off into the gameplay (Except for the Avatar, which should start with the character creator and then do the first level) and then don't overdo the exposition in each story scene. Don't overdo the "show don't tell", but don't shy away from it either. There should be a happy medium between exposition and just showing the player what's going on.
• Cutscenes should have smooth, fluid, and lifelike character expressions and animations. It should simultaneously feel cartoony and yet grounded in it's own sense of reality. Camera work should be cinematic but suit the theming of the individual scenes.
• Try not to go too deep into time travel or alternate dimensions or anything like that in the plot. They can be brought up in passing, but shouldn't be what the main plot is centered around as this has been done too much lately.
• Additional non-playables such as the Chaotix can appear, but character interactions and contributions should be meaningful. Don't shoehorn characters into the story if they are going to basically just be cameos or comic relief.
• Silver and Omochao act as radio guides throughout the game providing both tutorial information and plot details, chattering back and forth with the player character. Toggleable on and off in the options menu. Silver is more serious and plot focused in his dialogue while Omochao is more tutorial focused, but both occasionally have comic relief interactions. Silver has special dialogue interactions with Blaze.

-Different musical styles for each gameplay formula.

Spoiler: Hidden in spoiler to shrink post

• Sonic/Blaze: Inspired by Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure. Slightly different versions of the tracks within levels depending on if you are Sonic or Blaze. Guitars for Sonic and light vocals for Blaze.
• Tails/Cream: Inspired by Adventure 1. Lighthearted and nostalgic.
• Knuckles/Rouge: Inspired by Adventure 2. Slightly different versions of the tracks within levels depending on if you are Knuckles or Rouge. Rap for Knuckles, more retro-spy themed for Rouge.
• Amy: Inspired by Adventure 1. More actiony than Tails/Cream's music.
• Shadow: Inspired by Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Intense action music within the rock, epic, and techno genres.
• Avatar: Inspired by the Avatar stages in Forces. Electronic music with vocal tracks.

There is a distinct lack of Classic Sonic



In all seriousness, my ideal Sonic game would actually be a proper crossover with Mario. It'd be formatted similar to Forces in that there is specific levels for specific characters, but it's just Mario and Sonic (maybe Luigi and Tails as a side story). Mario would play like he does in Super Mario 3D World and Sonic would play like he does in the Boost games in order to differentiate their playstyles as much as possible whilst keeping it 3D. There will also be team up levels where both styles are mixed. Now here's where things get juicy: Mario can have his regular platforming in Sonic areas like Green Hill and Sonic can speed through Mario areas like Bowser's Castle. Aesthetically, this would just boil down to restructuring the environments to fit gameplay like making floating platforms and not as much open area to run in Green Hill and making Bowser's Castle full of hallways. Now here's where things get juicier: Mario can use shields and Sonic can use Mario power ups. This would allow Mario to use a fire flower while also using the bubble shield to run in water and have bouncy ground pounds while also allowing Sonic to use the Flame Shield and make use of the Boomerang Flower to homing attack off of. Story wise, it'd revolve around Bowser and Eggman teaming up after Eggman finds a dimensional portal leading to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Sonic meet up during the chaos and reluctantly team up with each other. Throughout the story, they're constantly trying to one up each other and prove themselves as the better hero (to harken back to the Console Wars of the 1990s). Meanwhile, Bowser is making plans to defeat Sonic and Eggman is making plans to defeat Mario. Bowser would have a boss fight at some point that involves Sonic chasing him in his Koopa Clown Car or Airship. Eggman would also develop a Metal Counterpart for Mario to combat his jump strength, similar to how he constructed Metal Sonic to combat Sonic's speed. The final boss would be one giant MechaBowser wearing Eggman's clothes and mustache (The story would show that they had disagreements on the design and came to this conclusion)

Not really sure what else to type about this, but that's my dream game right there

 

[time gear]

There is a distinct lack of Classic Sonic

While I'm aware you are kidding, I don't actually have anything against Classic Sonic but he has crossed over with Modern Sonic plenty and I can't really think of a way to make him fit in among the other playable characters. Ideally he would play in 3D for once, but that would make him play similarly to Adventure Sonic which is already a gameplay formula covered by Shadow in my post. As such, he'd probably be better off being in a different game entirely.

 

[Chezi]

While I'm aware you are kidding, I don't actually have anything against Classic Sonic but he has crossed over with Modern Sonic plenty and I can't really think of a way to make him fit in among the other playable characters. Ideally he would play in 3D for once, but that would make him play similarly to Adventure Sonic which is already a gameplay formula covered by Shadow in my post. As such, he'd probably be better off being in a different game entirely.

The only real gripe I had with Classic in Forces was the fact that he brought nothing to the story and, therefore, felt shoehorned. Had he actually contributed to the story, he likely would have been more accepted. Honestly, going off your idea, I would implement Classic Sonic or a character to take his place like Mighty for a 2D formula and design his levels like Mania and 3&K levels. It'd be 2.5D like Generations and Forces, but with physics that are actually accurate to the Genesis titles much like this video

 

[time gear]

The only real gripe I had with Classic in Forces was the fact that he brought nothing to the story and, therefore, felt shoehorned. Had he actually contributed to the story, he likely would have been more accepted. Honestly, going off your idea, I would implement Classic Sonic or a character to take his place like Mighty for a 2D formula and design his levels like Mania and 3&K levels. It'd be 2.5D like Generations and Forces, but with physics that are actually accurate to the Genesis titles much like this video

An alternative idea could be to dedicate an optional minigame to him in the hub world in which you get a bunch of Gameland style stages (Not actually Gameland aesthetics, but having a similar menu and etc.) that you play through as Classic Sonic, with a multiplayer option including Classic Metal Sonic playing identically.

 

[Linlam]

I think my ideal Sonic game would be a 3d platformer expanding on the Adventure playstyle and bringing things from Srb2. The first thing I would want to put in is a fast-paced gameplay with complex and inticrate level design. It would be somewhat similar so Srb2, but the main thing is that the controls would feel like a flow. I personally find Srb2 controls marvelous, but they're kind of too precise, the characters still have the first person shooter level of precision. That is a good thing for Srb2, but I'd like not to follow the same control feeling for my ideal Sonic game.
The feeling I want to get in my ideal Sonic game is of a flow. It's a sensation of reward for being able to chain actions intuitively without being told to. It's a sensation of freedom and understanding of how the movement works. I think the best example of what I mean is Jet Set Radio, once you get the controls, you can do whatever you want without the game teaching you how to.
Still talking about the gameplay, the more Srb2 part comes with different paths to take and hidden rewards, that's something that I appreciate a lot in the classic games and I 100% would follow this path of level design if I ever created a game.

I would also want a better story than just an excuse to begin the game. Not something edgy or technological, I think the path of SA1's story is my favorite. The most important thing for the story in my opinion would be character development, like in SA1, the plot wouldn't really matter (that's usually how I view stories in general, just a means for character development and sending a message).

The game would have multiple playable characters, with they're own motives (mainly tails, I'm tired of him just following Sonic). Something like Knuckles' campaign in S3&K, still part of the big picture but taking place after the main events. The gameplay of the characters (besides Sonic) would be as close as the classic gameplay as possible, Sonic would have the homing attack and the spin dash, Tails would fly and have the spin dash, Knuckles would glide, climb on walls and have the spin dash, and Amy would have the same abillities she has in SA1. Each new character would have their own alternative paths and some new stages to fit with their stories.

Special Stages would also be there, they would be accessed by finding giant rings hidden on the stages, once the 7 emeralds were acquired there would be a Super form for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles and the true ending would be unlocked.

The music would be pretty much the same as the Adventure series, some rock, pop, things like that.

 

[Restless Dipstick]

Gameplay: I'd want to see a game closer to the Adventure games or SRB2. A 3D game that's much more open in it's stage design and take a bit more skill and knowledge on the stage to be able to maintain speed rather than mostly relying on boost to instantly go up to top speed, and has multiple playable characters who don't play like a slightly different Sonic. I'd also love some sorta team mechanic where you can pair up two characters who compliment each other, sorta like a combination of Heroes and Advance 3's team mechanics.

Spoiler: Going a little more in depth with my thoughts for gameplay.

Lets say there's a total of 12 playable characters. 4 Speed types (Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, and Espio), 4 Fly types (Tails, Ray, Silver, and Charmy) and 4 Power types (Knux, Vector, Mighty, and Omega). Characters are selected in pairs of two, and while it's not unallowed, it's encouraged to use pairs of two different types of characters. Each character has their own unique abilities outside of their universal Type abilities, as well as unique partner abilities they have specifically for when they aren't the active player (For example, say you have a team of Sonic and Mighty. When Sonic isn't the active character/the character being controlled, he can give Mighty a boost in speed, and when you switch active characters, Mighty can take a few hits for Sonic.) Players should be encouraged to really learn the ins and outs of the individual characters, as well as explore all the ways different characters work with one another, and thus, have very unique ways to play through the games' stages.

Story: I'd want to see a story closer to the ones before Sonic Colors. Y'know, there's actual character development and stakes, the characters who aren't playable are actually contributing somehow instead of just kinda being there, all that good stuff. I'd also love to see more characters from the Pre-Adventure era actually be brought to the modern day, like Mighty, Ray, Team Hooligan, maybe even Honey the Cat, Tiara, or Rocket Metal. I just find it odd that even now with more of these characters being officially reintroduced with Mania, the official animations and comics, even the artwork for the 30th anniversary symphony, they just refuse to let them come into the modern era. They don't even need to be vital to the plot, just confirming that they exist in the same era as Shadow, Blaze, Cream, and so on is enough for me.

Spoiler: Miscellaneous Stuffs

Music: I'm kinda up for whatever as long as it's not like Forces' tracks. Most of them just don't really have that same Sonic energy from just about any other entry. I would mostly prefer the style of tracks from Adventure 1 & 2, Heroes, TSR, or Sonic CD.

Unlockables: Literally anything other than a simple congratulations for finding the game's collectables like Red Star Rings. From things like music from previous games like in Generations, to outfits for the playable characters, like the soap shoes for Sonic, or the OVA Hat and shoes for Knuckles. Maybe even unlockable challenge stages or playable characters outside of the main campaign.

Extra modes: Time attack of course, but also a Marathon mode where y'try to go through all the stages in a row with just one life. I'd also want some multiplayer modes, such as a race mode, a battle mode, or even a co-op mode/campaign.

 

[Why_bother]

There is a distinct lack of Classic Sonic



In all seriousness, my ideal Sonic game would actually be a proper crossover with Mario. It'd be formatted similar to Forces in that there is specific levels for specific characters, but it's just Mario and Sonic (maybe Luigi and Tails as a side story). Mario would play like he does in Super Mario 3D World and Sonic would play like he does in the Boost games in order to differentiate their playstyles as much as possible whilst keeping it 3D. There will also be team up levels where both styles are mixed. Now here's where things get juicy: Mario can have his regular platforming in Sonic areas like Green Hill and Sonic can speed through Mario areas like Bowser's Castle. Aesthetically, this would just boil down to restructuring the environments to fit gameplay like making floating platforms and not as much open area to run in Green Hill and making Bowser's Castle full of hallways. Now here's where things get juicier: Mario can use shields and Sonic can use Mario power ups. This would allow Mario to use a fire flower while also using the bubble shield to run in water and have bouncy ground pounds while also allowing Sonic to use the Flame Shield and make use of the Boomerang Flower to homing attack off of. Story wise, it'd revolve around Bowser and Eggman teaming up after Eggman finds a dimensional portal leading to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Sonic meet up during the chaos and reluctantly team up with each other. Throughout the story, they're constantly trying to one up each other and prove themselves as the better hero (to harken back to the Console Wars of the 1990s). Meanwhile, Bowser is making plans to defeat Sonic and Eggman is making plans to defeat Mario. Bowser would have a boss fight at some point that involves Sonic chasing him in his Koopa Clown Car or Airship. Eggman would also develop a Metal Counterpart for Mario to combat his jump strength, similar to how he constructed Metal Sonic to combat Sonic's speed. The final boss would be one giant MechaBowser wearing Eggman's clothes and mustache (The story would show that they had disagreements on the design and came to this conclusion)

Not really sure what else to type about this, but that's my dream game right there

In my opinion, I think Sonic should play like adventure sonic with a hint of lost world Sonic's parkour system.

 

[Sonic_the_hedgehog]

I would combine the formula of the classic games and mix it with the formula of the modern games.
Basically, I want games more like Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 again.