cookiefonster
Wiki Admin
Alright, here's my thoughts on this mod. I haven't played around with the super forms so I won't give thoughts on those.
[spoiler="Things I don't like]
- Everything about your changes to the spin dash. The sound effect is a good compromise between its 2.1 and 2.2 sound and suits its considerably increased charge speed well, and it sounds a lot more like how the spin dash sounds when I use it in the classic games. The increased charge speed makes the spin dash feel like a LOT less of a pace breaker.
- Sonic's recurl ability. Perhaps my biggest issue with Sonic's vanilla moveset is that he doesn't have a unique advantage compared to the other spin characters, and this recurl ability fixes it beautifully. It's a fun implementation of the drop dash that works surprisingly well in 3D.
- Although I'm not entirely sure what I think about the comet dash, I like that since it doesn't give you instant speed, Sonic now has far more reason to spin dash. It feels incredibly wrong that Sonic is probably the spin character in vanilla with the least reason to spin dash, when the Adventure games restrict that ability to him.
- The difference between Sonic and Knuckles' jump height is much more pronounced, and feels more faithful to the classic games.
- The fact that Knuckles was kept nearly unchanged. His moveset is delightfully smooth and polished already, and after his 2.2.5 changes I really don't see much room for improvement.
- Metal Sonic's new moveset is both challenging and fun, much more than his vanilla moveset. I like that it has the same general concepts, but considerably reworked. The rocket boost feels like a hybrid between the thok and hover, with the wall bounce functioning as a hazard unless you know how to use it. I also like that the rocket boost can smash breakable walls.
- More about Metal Sonic, I don't think boost mode is a fitting reward for going out of your way to charge a spin dash all the way and then some, because it's so easy to lose. Overdrive fits so much better with a fully charged spin dash and gives a massive risk/reward system. The punishment for losing your speed feels fair and well thought out, and fits well with Metal Sonic.
- The force shield's momentum redirection ability is still by far the best alternative force shield ability I've ever seen, and I hope it's been considered to be put in the next major update.
- The removal of Fang's tail bounce momentum, the changed slope physics, and the other momentum changes that have become staples of character/physics rework mods.
- Sonic's comet dash is probably the best implementation of a thok-like move that can scale walls that I've seen yet, but I'm still not sure how I feel about giving him slight wall climbing abilities. He's not Knuckles, he's Sonic. That said, the climb height scaling with momentum is nice, as is the scaling with the spin dash.
- Amy and Fang's revamps, aside from the tail bounce momentum change I mentioned earlier. Both their movesets are inarguably much more versatile than before, but come off as very bloated and cluttered, with the same button doing different things depending on timing. Fang's changes feel like he can now just stomp through any enemies in his path, and Amy's changes feel like they'd be at home in a modern Sonic game with three or four button gameplay.
- The elemental shield's new ability is a neat concept but really feels like it does two separate things, depending how long you hold spin. Considering how radically the force shield was changed, I think its ability should just be the drop dash part.
- The thorn shield is a cool concept with a neat ability but its sprites considerably drag it down. Just a pity shield with rotating spikes around it, and the monitor sprites are just the pity shield monitor sprites. The enemy damage part of the ability feels rather superfluous, though I get that it's meant as a replacement for the armageddon shield which is entirely combat oriented.
- The buff to slope jumps, though that's the levels' fault for accommodating the slope jump system as it stands (think the ramp in GFZ2, for instance).
[spoiler="Things I don't like]
- Tails suffers from the opposite problem as Amy and Fang: his moveset is now much too simplistic and bare-bones. Pressing jump and spin while flying don't do anything, and neither does releasing jump, unlike Knuckles, which makes his changes feel underwhelming. I don't see much point in significantly changing Tails in mods like this aside from statistical nerfs like flight time, because he's an implementation of a beginner-oriented character who can fly around obstacles that's well suited to 3D.
- Amy and Fang's shield ability controls. Both require you to press a sequence of three buttons with specific timing. I think it would be better to forgo shield active abilities for those two entirely, which would considerably streamline things. I suggest you just stick to the passive abilities like Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 3. Maybe with the whirlwind shield their jump height could be increased, or something?
- Metal Sonic's overdrive sound effects aren't pleasant to the ears. The sound effect of losing overdrive is also a bit drawn out.
- I'm not a big fan of the changes to the attraction shield. I get that the intention is to gain height from enemies, but I've become quite fond of dashing through enemies with momentum so long as the shield is chainable. In your mod, it's the only shield ability that feels like a pacebreaker, and I don't like when shield abilities feel like pacebreakers. I do like that the attraction shield's ability makes you momentarily invincible, which makes it not completely useless against such enemies as those pesky green snappers or spincushions.
- The fact that the elemental shield's drop dash doesn't happen underwater. The way I see it, if a shield protects you from drowning, its active ability should also be well-suited to water, because it's going to be highly desirable here. The elemental shield already suffers in this regard with the fire abilities not working underwater, but I guess it *is* a combination of the old liquid and inferno shields whose abilities and usage had no overlap whatsoever... whatever. The elemental shield is weird.