R2TRRFF: High-speed Hedgehog Monogatari

[Steven]

I got curious and decided to see what happens to Tails when I jump at the beginning of Spring Yard Act 3 and never let go of the jump button. I plugged my arcade controller into my PC, turned on the recording software, and put my beloved Sega Nomad on the jump button to hold it down while I went to the store to buy some food. This is the result.

https://youtu.be/871enbIuedc

I am not sure exactly what the fuck happened, but it looks to be... nothing? Just a sudden fade out and then back to the starting location. I guess I made Tails jump outside of the game... or something. I didn't die or time out or anything at all. I don't get it, but this is what happens.

Can someone who hasn't patched check something for me? I remember Amy being able to break the rocks in Angel Island Act 1 and go to the Knuckles route before this patch. Maybe I'm wrong, but I do seem to remember Amy being able to do that, but it can't be done on 2.0.1.

[cfx]

According to some information in this Digital Foundry video, Sonic Superstars will use the physics engine from Sonic Mania: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxdiA8QMY18&t=4110s

[XoPachi]

That was all but officially confirmed. A fan put up a quick stage demo that was in line with a piece of Superstars and the comparison of movement was 1:1. Christian Whitehead then approved of the demonstration.

[WarpZone]

Huh, that's promising but also contradicts Iizuka's comments in this interview:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/fea ... ing-party/

Does Superstars share any technology?

No, it’s completely built from scratch. The team at Arzest are really, really good at making 2D games. They’ve previously made 2D games for Nintendo, so that’s where their core competencies lie. When Ohshima-san took on the classic Sonic game idea, their team started looking at the classic games side-by-side to nail the exact movement of the characters from scratch in their own development environment.

Either way, I'm more worried about Arzest being the dev of the game than I am worried about the physics.

[XoPachi]

https://twitter.com/Jackbotnik/status/1 ... 5733521418

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wzSw2iuk_8

[Steven]

Sonic Frontiers final update is out. Knuckles, Tails, and Amy are fun. Not finished with all of the new stuff yet, but it's good so far. I still say this game is better than pretty much every other 3D Sonic game aside from R, Generations, Colors, and half of Unleashed.

[Steven]

Steam is really weird sometimes



I guess it is true that you gotta go fast in both games to an extent, but...

[XoPachi]

LMAO!
I have no idea how they get some of the recommendations they do.

[Lander]

The strand-type genre reaches far and wide.

You may have played it without even knowing

[XoPachi]

And because it's Sonic, the game leaked early for Switch (which means it also leaked for PC lol). But Zelda leaked a week early, so these days, I guess nothing should be of any surprise.

if you're not trying to see anything about it until you legally buy it, there's your warning to be mindful of anywhere that might post Sonic content.

[cfx]

And if you would like to see new and more footage of the game, GameXplain has an early review of Sonic Superstars.

Review is pretty postive, but I know nothing of their reviews in general. I just wanted to see, and hear, some bits of the game. (For me, what the soundtrack is like will determine whether or not I buy the game. If there's any rap, I won't get it. So far I haven't heard any.)

If you're someone that doesn't want to see anything, stay away from this video, but if you like seeing a bit, I didn't see anything I'd consider any kind of major spoiler for the game. Really it just confirms it has various things everyone expects it to have. And a lot of it is things we've already seen.

[Sima Tuna]

It looks okay but I really wish they had gone with pixels instead of 3d.

[XoPachi]

If there's any rap, I won't get it. So far I haven't heard any.

Thats...oddly specific.

[Sumez]

Not sure I'd really ever be interested in a sonic game without any rap in it

[XoPachi]

I can't even think of any other than Adventure 2 and those songs were bangers despite really corny lyrics.

[XoPachi]

t o m o r r o w...

[XoPachi]

Hooo boy. They fumbled this a bit.
I'm having a lot of fun with it, but it is NOT without problems that are absolutely not going to be addressed. Forcing you to use Epic to play online which is why it has an Epic prompt when you start the game.
Graphics take an immediate nosedive after Speed Jungle and the music is half hearted. Single player plays fine and the new ideas definitely buffer the bad ones. It's not like the game is broken or anything. But I don't get the missteps.

[cfx]

Epic on consoles or just PC?

Not that it matters since I will never ever play online, but just curious as that would indeed be bizarre for console wouldn't it?

[Steven]

Please don't have Denuvo... it will, but please don't. PS5 to the rescue...?

PS5 to the rescue. My copy will arrive eventually™. They took so long to not announce if it has Denuvo or not that I said fuck it and preordered it on PS5 yesterday, which meant no launch day delivery. Not sure when it will arrive, but it should be here within two days. Knowing how fast Amazon Japan's regular shipping is, that means tomorrow.

I am most curious about the Switch version. Apparently it runs flawlessly or something like that.

[cfx]

am most curious about the Switch version. Apparently it runs flawlessly or something like that.

Switch is missing graphical effects like depth of field and there are a lot of texture downgrades compared to PS5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgN2UnFpUc

No idea what performance is like. I'm curious if the PS4 version looks like Switch or PS5 since that's what I'm getting. I won't have it for a few weeks since it will be shipped to me along with Star Ocean Second Story R after that is out.

[Steven]

am most curious about the Switch version. Apparently it runs flawlessly or something like that.

Switch is missing graphical effects like depth of field and there are a lot of texture downgrades compared to PS5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgN2UnFpUc

No idea what performance is like. I'm curious if the PS4 version looks like Switch or PS5 since that's what I'm getting. I won't have it for a few weeks since it will be shipped to me along with Star Ocean Second Story R after that is out.

Yeah, Switch does look much worse, but they probably sacrificed visuals for performance. More devs really should do this, but they typically focus on graphics instead of performance when possible, it seems.

PS4 is pretty much guaranteed to look way closer to PS5 than it is to Switch. I'd be surprised if there was actually any difference between PS4 and PS5 at all aside from loading times and maybe resolution.

[cfx]

PS4 is pretty much guaranteed to look way closer to PS5 than it is to Switch. I'd be surprised if there was actually any difference between PS4 and PS5 at all aside from loading times and maybe resolution.

This is what I'd expect assuming Sega didn't just be stupid.

I didn't find a similar comparison video other than one of those that sounds like it's narrated by a robot AI saying really stupid things that I couldn't stand to watch. It did at least appear the PS4 had the same or similar texture quality of PS5. Close enough I won't know any difference if there is one I imagine. I didn't link it here as they don't deserve the hits; it's bad enough that I clicked on it.

[Steven]

I am officially disowning the Switch version of Sonic Origins. After the new screen filter (or lack thereof, more precisely) was added, it seems the PC and PS5 versions now look the way they should, but I played the Switch version in docked mode for the first time since then and what do I see on the Sonic 3&K title screen? Improper scaling of the artwork. Fuck this shitty Switch version. 0 out of 10, never buy it, and never play it in docked mode if you already have it. Do not accept mangled artwork. Don't do it.

This is what I'd expect assuming Sega didn't just be stupid.

You mean assuming Sega isn't Sega, right? Lol Sega always manages to do something wrong with everything.

I think the last Sega game I was 100% impressed with was the Switch version of Valkyria Chronicles 4, which performs identically to the PS4 version (supposedly; I only got it on Switch and PC, but I have heard performance on Switch and PS4 are basically identical) and only has minor downgrades to the visuals, although I forget what the exact details are. I think the texture quality is slightly lower on Switch, but other than that, it's 100% completely identical to the PS4 version, so far as I have heard, and I'd actually consider that tradeoff to be in the favour of the Switch due to handheld mode, and I'll call that the better of those two versions. Someone at Sega (probably) still cares, but whoever it is certainly isn't whoever is working on Sonic.

[cfx]

I am officially disowning the Switch version of Sonic Origins. After the new screen filter (or lack thereof, more precisely) was added, it seems the PC and PS5 versions now look the way they should, but I played the Switch version in docked mode for the first time since then and what do I see on the Sonic 3&K title screen? Improper scaling of the artwork. Fuck this shitty Switch version. 0 out of 10, never buy it, and never play it in docked mode if you already have it. Do not accept mangled artwork. Don't do it.

Is the new screen filter like the one on Sonic Mania? I finally took a look at that game recently, and I really like that screen filter and wish Hamster and M2 were doing something like that. It's the only screen filter as part of a game I've ever seen that is something like the filters in the Retrotink 5X.

If that is what Sonic Origins has I may have to get it. I had avoided the game specifically because of the graphics issues.

I think the last Sega game I was 100% impressed with was the Switch version of Valkyria Chronicles 4, which performs identically to the PS4 version (supposedly; I only got it on Switch and PC, but I have heard performance on Switch and PS4 are basically identical) and only has minor downgrades to the visuals, although I forget what the exact details are. I think the texture quality is slightly lower on Switch, but other than that, it's 100% completely identical to the PS4 version, so far as I have heard, and I'd actually consider that tradeoff to be in the favour of the Switch due to handheld mode, and I'll call that the better of those two versions. Someone at Sega (probably) still cares, but whoever it is certainly isn't whoever is working on Sonic.

I don't know if this is actually the case, but maybe Valkyria Chronicles 4 is essentially a PS3-level game, which would make it easier to run on Switch without even putting in much effort? Since the first game was originally on PS3, and while it looks a little nicer on PS4 as I think it has antialiasing that I don't think exists on PS3, I'm not sure if textures or anything else are different though I'm no expert so I don't know and I've never tried to compare them directly anyway.

[Steven]

I am officially disowning the Switch version of Sonic Origins. After the new screen filter (or lack thereof, more precisely) was added, it seems the PC and PS5 versions now look the way they should, but I played the Switch version in docked mode for the first time since then and what do I see on the Sonic 3&K title screen? Improper scaling of the artwork. Fuck this shitty Switch version. 0 out of 10, never buy it, and never play it in docked mode if you already have it. Do not accept mangled artwork. Don't do it.

Is the new screen filter like the one on Sonic Mania? I finally took a look at that game recently, and I really like that screen filter and wish Hamster and M2 were doing something like that. It's the only screen filter as part of a game I've ever seen that is something like the filters in the Retrotink 5X.

If that is what Sonic Origins has I may have to get it. I had avoided the game specifically because of the graphics issues.

The only options are the Sonic Mania "none" filter and a super blurry filter that looks terrible. Technically the Sonic Mania none filter does actually use interpolation in Sonic Mania; the game's internal resolution appears to be 424 x 240 and it uses very good interpolation to fill the screen. This is how it's supposed to be done, and I really wish Hamster would figure it out for ACA, but nope. I imagine Sonic Origins is the same as Mania now with the slight interpolation on the none filter, provided you don't play the Switch version.

Basically you have a choice between this

Spoiler

and this nastiness

Spoiler

There are no other options. This is on PC. PS4 is probably the same thing. It looks good now on PS5 and PC, but it has a lot of weirdness going on, what with Tails crashing the game or floating up to heaven, random oddities like Knuckles stopping when sliding through those weird things in Carnival Night (doesn't happen on the real version of the game; I tested!), ramps in Hydrocity not shooting you high enough, bad new music that sounds terrible, and other stuff being glitchy or not implemented properly.

I'll give it hesitant approval on PS5 and probably the same on PS4 with a note that there are better ways to play, like just playing on the Mega Drive. PC has Denuvo (this is why I bought a physical PS5 copy) and Switch has fucked graphics, so I'd pass on those unless Denuvo is removed or the Switch version's graphics get unruined or you only play Switch in handheld mode. Both cases are unlikely. Hopefully Sega at least manages to do the bare minimum and make Sonic 1 actually playable as Tails without the game crashing.

There are mods on PC to use all of the Mania screen filters and get rid of the bad music, though (or, my personal favourite, to play with AtGames Genesis music! lol yeah, someone actually made this), so there is that.

I think the last Sega game I was 100% impressed with was the Switch version of Valkyria Chronicles 4, which performs identically to the PS4 version (supposedly; I only got it on Switch and PC, but I have heard performance on Switch and PS4 are basically identical) and only has minor downgrades to the visuals, although I forget what the exact details are. I think the texture quality is slightly lower on Switch, but other than that, it's 100% completely identical to the PS4 version, so far as I have heard, and I'd actually consider that tradeoff to be in the favour of the Switch due to handheld mode, and I'll call that the better of those two versions. Someone at Sega (probably) still cares, but whoever it is certainly isn't whoever is working on Sonic.

I don't know if this is actually the case, but maybe Valkyria Chronicles 4 is essentially a PS3-level game, which would make it easier to run on Switch without even putting in much effort? Since the first game was originally on PS3, and while it looks a little nicer on PS4 as I think it has antialiasing that I don't think exists on PS3, I'm not sure if textures or anything else are different though I'm no expert so I don't know and I've never tried to compare them directly anyway.

Switch VC4 is kind of amazing in its execution. It actually looks and runs better than the Switch version of VC1, so I'm not really sure what's going on with it. It's one of the best ports on the Switch. It sold terribly, too, sadly. I know these games are terrible as actual strategy games due to how they are designed, but damn if I don't enjoy them a lot anyway.

[XoPachi]

Yeah, just finished it.

It has some cute ideas and nifty concepts but the level design and style is just not there. Most of the stage gimmicks consist of "thing that moves you fast" with no distinguishing feature beyond that.
The bosses are the worst of the 2D games. The special stages are infuriating and inconsistent with expectations. The music is horrible (and also audio balanced poorly). The new powerups are all useless except for one. The rest are things you use to cheese the nonsense bosses and get them the fuck over with.
It's a shame because it does have positives. Big positives.
But an equal amount of negatives come with that.

I still enjoyed it but I like Sonic 4-2 a bit more than this despite the length of that game. And definitely enjoyed Mania more.

[Sumez]

Yeah, Switch does look much worse, but they probably sacrificed visuals for performance. More devs really should do this, but they typically focus on graphics instead of performance when possible, it seems.

You honestly really shouldn't have to make sacrifices on Switch at all, for a game that looks like this



I think it's pretty, but it's not exactly advanced.

[Steven]

I decided to play Mania for some reason. This ended up being an interesting experience because Superstars got delivered just as I got to Titanic Monarch, so I finished Mania and then played Superstars. Immediately I noticed that the physics in Superstars are absolutely not identical to Mania, and unfortunately Superstars feels sluggish and awkward in comparison.

This game is glitchy. I got crushed by nothing, had incorrect sound effects play at the wrong times, and clipped out of the boundary of the game twice. The abilities are useless (except Super, of course, but you can't get that until you're almost done with the game), there are a decent amount of single-Act Zones, there are practically no areas where Tails/Knuckles/Amy can use their unique abilities (perhaps why there are some Acts that are exclusive to each character), the drop dash is ultra pitiful (still better than it is in Origins 1/2/CD), there are occasional performance problems for no reason, and, perhaps worst of all


the music sounds like Sonic 4


How irredeemably hideous! Sonic 4's only positive aspect is that it's not as bad as the game.com version of Sonic Jam, so I try to avoid thinking about the fact that it exists as much as possible. This game made me remember that Sonic 4 exists and I am disgusted now. Fuck! Now I need to go get brainwashed so I can forget about that awful and irredeemable pile of excrement!

Other than that, my initial impression is...

スルメゲー???

Yep. Play it more and you might like it more. I can't imagine that the game is especially good in multiplayer, though, so I don't think I'd bother inviting my friends to play it with me. I will anyway when I get a chance, but I don't have any positive expectations.

This game also has some cool references, like that Splats is here! You remember Splats, right? Well, you should!

Also, this thing is here!

Spoiler

Yay, it's this thing! You remember this thing too, right? RIGHT???

Oh yeah, and the Sonic 1 special stage is here for some reason. Everyone likes the Sonic 1 special stages, don't they?

Yeah, Switch does look much worse, but they probably sacrificed visuals for performance. More devs really should do this, but they typically focus on graphics instead of performance when possible, it seems.

You honestly really shouldn't have to make sacrifices on Switch at all, for a game that looks like this



I think it's pretty, but it's not exactly advanced.

Given how Metroid Prime looks on the Switch, there really is no excuse. I am not sure if I'll get it on Switch or not. I'll need to spend more time with it to decide if I want a portable version of it, but I have a feeling that it's not a game I will go back to often like I do with Mania.

[Sima Tuna]

Everyone likes the Sonic 1 special stages, don't they?

I wish we could all collectively agree to flush that turd for good. Fucking hate that special stage. It gives me a headache in the eyes to look at it for too long.

Also wondering which genius came up with the idea of 4+ special stages for each normal stage of gameplay. Flow state? What is that? Medals are completely worthless too.

[cfx]

Medals are completely worthless too.

I won't have the game for a while, but 100% agree on this based on what was explained in one of the review videos I looked at. They only get you stuff for use in the battle mode, right? A mode that I will never ever play.