Late to the Sonic Party

Eggplant Wizard

So, I was exclusively a Nintendo guy until last year when I finally got a Playstation 2. I've never owned a Sega console, and I've never played a Sonic game. I feel bad about it. Would the Sonic Mega Collection for Gamecube be a good purchase? Are there any other Sonic games for Gamecube or PS2 that are worth playing?

Blitz Rawket

Make sure to get Mega Collection Plus, or whatever the one is with Sonic CD. Just for more bang for your buck.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is probably dirt-cheap on GC by now, and certainly enough fun to warrant playing through.

Backlash

I think we're at the part of the Sonic Party where all the hot girls have gone home and you're left staring at the drunk guy hitting on the coat rack.

jclast

I don't know if you're getting a Wii, but Sonic and the Secret Ring or whatever they're calling it sounds great. All speed and jumping. No humans, no story, no crap.

Einhander

The Mega Collection is a great buy, but get it on the PS2, it has more games (mainly Game Gear games, but odds are it'll be cheaper on the PS2 anyway).

The Cube got decent ports of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (and there is a two pack as well), so you might want to hunt around for those. If you had a choice between the two, I'd go for the first game, since it has the exploration modes and more actual Sonic.

Sonic CD is on a different Sonic collection on the Cube, and I think TSR said the port wasn't that hot. Cheap enough to still be worth it, though.

LupintheThird

Best possible games combination for maximum Sonic acquisition:

Somic Mega Collection PLUS (PS2/Xbox): Sonic 1/2/3/KiS2/3+K/S+K/Blue Sphere, Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis ver), Sonic Spinball (Genesis), the "first" 6 Game Gear Sonic games, Comix Zone, Ristar, Flicky, and The Ooze.

Sonic Gems Collection (GameCube exclusive except outside USA): Sonic CD, Sonic R (Saturn racing game), Sonic the Fighters (limited-release Arcade game aka Sonic Championship), and "the back" 6 Game Gear Sonic games.

Modern (less good) Sonic:
Sonic Adventure DX (GameCube only)
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube only)
Sonic Heroes (PS2/Xbox/GameCube)
Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2/Xbox/GameCube)
Sonic the Hedgehog "2006" (Xbox 360/soon PS3)

Kaosu Reido

Oh, and Sonic Heroes and Shadow The Hedgehog are both playable and multiplatform'd, if not of a great quality.

But run from Sonic 360 as fast as you fucking can. The game is incredibly broken.

Krunch XP

I have the Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PS2 and I find the emulation to be sluggish and visually poor. Especially compared to the Sonic 1 and 2 that are emulated on the PSP via the Sega Genesis Collection. So I'd recommend getting that.

And stay far away from the GBA Sonic. I have it and it plays like Hank Hill's kidney stone. Missing music and stuttering frame rate. I've heard that it's a perfect emulation/port, but I don't believe it since I've compared both the original on the Genesis and the GBA port. I am however playing it on a DS Lite, but that shouldn't influence performance.

Renzo

Krunch XP wrote:

I have the Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PS2 and I find the emulation to be sluggish and visually poor. Especially compared to the Sonic 1 and 2 that are emulated on the PSP via the Sega Genesis Collection. So I'd recommend getting that.

And stay far away from the GBA Sonic. I have it and it plays like Hank Hill's kidney stone. Missing music and stuttering frame rate. I've heard that it's a perfect emulation/port, but I don't believe it since I've compared both the original on the Genesis and the GBA port. I am however playing it on a DS Lite, but that shouldn't influence performance.

MC+ is good on the XBox.

slash000

The GBA "Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis" is a complete piece of shit.


Also, the original Sonic the Hedgehog isn't nearly as good as 2, 3, or Knuckles.




Get the Sonic Mega Collection or whatever, it's gold. And/or get the Genesis Collection, which has Sonic 1 and 2 on it.


The GBA 2D sonic games are great as well, and Sonic Rush on the DS is a great game worth having too.




But bang/buck, get Mega Collection.

Vanilla Coke

Both adventures for Gamecube. Maybe Heroes.

Kor

Sonic 1 is available on the Wii Virtual Console. Don't get the GBA version... somehow Sega actually messed up a port...

Sonic 2, probably the most played, and is excellent, and made of win and fairies.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Don't play Sonic 3 by itself, same with S&K. The games were made to go together, really. Also, pretty much the peak of the series.

Sonic CD, great game, seems more cult based though.

Sonic 3d-blast... meh...

Now, after you've played all those, I actually recommend you play SA1 and SA2, just so you can appeciate the 2d games even more, and then despise Sega with the rest of us.

Dareth Ram

jclast wrote:

I don't know if you're getting a Wii, but Sonic and the Secret Ring or whatever they're calling it sounds great. All speed and jumping. No humans, no story, no crap.

I bet they'll add the crap and disapoint you.

Renzo

Geh, I dunno. I suffered through Sonic Adventure on the DC. I can't stomach anything past the first stage of SA2.

Elendil

Dareth Ram wrote:

jclast wrote:

I don't know if you're getting a Wii, but Sonic and the Secret Ring or whatever they're calling it sounds great. All speed and jumping. No humans, no story, no crap.

I bet they'll add the crap and disapoint you.

Five minutes in, you start playing as a furry Raiden.

Dareth Ram

Elendil wrote:

Dareth Ram wrote:

jclast wrote:

I don't know if you're getting a Wii, but Sonic and the Secret Ring or whatever they're calling it sounds great. All speed and jumping. No humans, no story, no crap.

I bet they'll add the crap and disapoint you.

Five minutes in, you start playing as a furry Raiden.

I wouldn't put it past them.

Blitz Rawket

slash000 wrote:

Also, the original Sonic the Hedgehog isn't nearly as good as 2, 3, or Knuckles.

I am objecting so hard right now. The first Sonic is my favorite in the whole series. The platforming elements just seem more clever.

cloudeagle

Sonic Adventures 1 & 2 are entertaining if flawed (at least the parts where you play as Sonic), Heroes is just okay.

But Shadow the Hedgehog and the new "Sonic the Hedgehog" are utter shit.

Hell yes, pick up one of the Genny collections.

Sixfortyfive

Get Mega Collection Plus if you're not a stickler for ultra-accurate emulation. I also second the recommendation of playing Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles together rather than separate; they are more or less two halves of the same game anyway.

Everything besides STH1, STH2, and S3&K is strictly optional.

Blitz Rawket wrote:

slash000 wrote:

Also, the original Sonic the Hedgehog isn't nearly as good as 2, 3, or Knuckles.

I am objecting so hard right now. The first Sonic is my favorite in the whole series. The platforming elements just seem more clever.

I've also come to appreciate the first game as of late. I view the second as the weak link in the series, but all of the main Genesis games are definitely worth playing.

slash000

Blitz Rawket wrote:

slash000 wrote:

Also, the original Sonic the Hedgehog isn't nearly as good as 2, 3, or Knuckles.

I am objecting so hard right now. The first Sonic is my favorite in the whole series. The platforming elements just seem more clever.

Ok, well, let me rephrase:


Sonic 1 plays a lot differently than Sonic 2 or 3. Personal preference will determine which style of Sonic someone prefers.


I feel as though the design of Sonic 1 actually discourages speed. There are more unpredictable objects and deaths in the game, and there are often parts of the level with moving platforms that cause you to pause and wait by design. There are also slow-moving water levels...


It's still fun, but just don't expect to be blazing through Sonic 1 at high speeds until you're extremely familiar with the levels. And I don't see how the 'slow' levels like Marble Zone or the water areas can even be played at high speeds, considering all the waiting you have to do for platforms and such to move into position.

jclast

Sixfortyfive wrote:

Get Mega Collection Plus if you're not a stickler for ultra-accurate emulation. I also second the recommendation of playing Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles together rather than separate; they are more or less two halves of the same game anyway.

Everything besides STH1, STH2, and S3&K is strictly optional.

Blitz Rawket wrote:

slash000 wrote:

Also, the original Sonic the Hedgehog isn't nearly as good as 2, 3, or Knuckles.

I am objecting so hard right now. The first Sonic is my favorite in the whole series. The platforming elements just seem more clever.

I've also come to appreciate the first game as of late. I view the second as the weak link in the series, but all of the main Genesis games are definitely worth playing yourself.

Sonic CD shouldn't be optional.

Also, it's not a traditional Sonic game in any way, but I loved the hell out of Sonic Spinball when I had a Genesis. If you like pinball, it's worth checking out.

Blitz Rawket

slash000 wrote:

I feel as though the design of Sonic 1 actually discourages speed. There are more unpredictable objects and deaths in the game, and there are often parts of the level with moving platforms that cause you to pause and wait by design.

And you're recommending the GBA games? :P Even Sonic Rush is a billion times more trial-and-error than the first game.

I respect the slower levels for diversity. And I wouldn't say the actually fast stages "discourage speed" so much as encourage reflex. I mean, the game itself doesn't really move as quickly as the later ones, so the more abundant obstacles aren't a big deal; you have more time to react than you would in the later ones.

Elendil

Sonic 2 is my favorite. I also love Sonic and Knuckles, up until Sandopolis Act 2. Then it can go fuck itself.

slash000

Blitz Rawket wrote:

slash000 wrote:

I feel as though the design of Sonic 1 actually discourages speed. There are more unpredictable objects and deaths in the game, and there are often parts of the level with moving platforms that cause you to pause and wait by design.

And you're recommending the GBA games? :P Even Sonic Rush is a billion times more trial-and-error than the first game.

I respect the slower levels for diversity. And I wouldn't say the actually fast stages "discourage speed" so much as encourage reflex. I mean, the game itself doesn't really move as quickly as the later ones, so the more abundant obstacles aren't a big deal; you have more time to react than you would in the later ones.

Yeah, I preferred the GBA games to Sonic 1, and while Sonic Rush had plenty of cheap deaths, it still had plenty of high-speed areas and encouraged, rather than hindered it.


Also for Sonic 1, I'm talking about stuff like Marble Zone, where you literally have to wait for a platform to raise for you to walk under it, then immediately have to wait for another to lower back down to jump on top of it, so you can then sit and wait for a platform to float slowly across the lava for you to hop onto, then wait as it slowly makes its way across so you can get to the other side.

Stuff like that.



But anyway, it's a preference thing, like I said.

Kaosu Reido

slash000 wrote:

Blitz Rawket wrote:

slash000 wrote:

I feel as though the design of Sonic 1 actually discourages speed. There are more unpredictable objects and deaths in the game, and there are often parts of the level with moving platforms that cause you to pause and wait by design.

And you're recommending the GBA games? :P Even Sonic Rush is a billion times more trial-and-error than the first game.

I respect the slower levels for diversity. And I wouldn't say the actually fast stages "discourage speed" so much as encourage reflex. I mean, the game itself doesn't really move as quickly as the later ones, so the more abundant obstacles aren't a big deal; you have more time to react than you would in the later ones.

Yeah, I preferred the GBA games to Sonic 1, and while Sonic Rush had plenty of cheap deaths, it still had plenty of high-speed areas and encouraged, rather than hindered it.


Also, I'm talking about stuff like Marble Zone, where you literally have to wait for a platform to raise for you to walk under it, then immediately have to wait for another to lower back down to jump on top of it, so you can then sit and wait for a platform to float slowly across the lava for you to hop onto, then wait as it slowly makes its way across so you can get to the other side.

Stuff like that.



But anyway, it's a preference thing, like I said.

Thing is, as long as you utilize Rings and Hit Flashes, you can still speed through every part of that level. A better player might do it without being hit.

But the second game was where Speed became the main gameplay element.

DarkHawke

Elendil wrote:

Sonic 2 is my favorite. I also love Sonic and Knuckles, up until Sandopolis Act 2. Then it can go fuck itself.

Yeah Sandopolis sucks and had me cursing the designers. And then Sky Sanctuary made me want to give them all blowjobs. Holy fuck, that was a thing of beauty.

Einhander

I'm surprised at all of the hate for the Adventure games. I thought that the original was awesome, and the sequel had some good moments but all the extra characters that you had to play as just sort of bogged down the game, especially considering that Shadow, Rougue, and Robotnik were pretty much the exact same as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

I hated Tails' missions since I liked playing as him without the suit a lot better, and I thought that the mixup in the first game's characters kept the game dynamic instead of the second, where it's "Damn it, I have to play as Rouge again". But while most of the levels were just "rails suspended in midair" a lot of them were pretty cool, and the game looked and moved very slick.

I consider Sonic Adventure to be the last great game in the series, with SA2 being ok/starting the "Sonic Decline", and Heroes/Shadow being utter shit. Especially Shadow. (Also, if you get heroes for some godforsaken reason, stick with the Cube version, the PS2 version has a jumpy framerate, which makes a bad game even worse). I haven't played the 360 Sonic, but I've heard it's terrible.

Portable-wise, I think the best Sonic game so far has been Sonic Pocket Adventure on the NGPC, since it's pretty much the best parts of Sonic 2, only portable. Here's hoping the PSP Sonic doesn't blow.

Eggplant Wizard

Okay, it sounds like the key games are 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Sonic CD. All those are all available for Gamecube via the Mega Collection and Gems Collection. Alternatively, the PS2 version of Mega Collection has more games, but apparently the Gamecube version has more precise emulation?

Blitz Rawket

I'll say that Sonic 2 is probably the best "Sonic" game, but I still enjoy the first one most overall for its merits as a platformer. But like slash said, it's all preference. With all the bundles out right now, there's no reason to get less than both and decide for yourself.

Target Practice

All of the Genesis Sonic games are good, except maybe 3D Blast. (I don't think 3D Blast is bad, but a lot of people do.)

Sonic CD is also worth getting. It's on the Sonic Gems Collection (along with all the Game Gear games, some of which are still worth playing).

I haven't played any of the 3D Sonic games, but my impression is that they range from mediocre to horrible (though there's high hopes for the upcoming Wii game).

Many people speak highly of the DS' Sonic Rush, though I personally didn't think it was that great.

Edit: SMC and Sonic Gems together have pretty much everything SMC+ for the PS2 has and more.

slash000

I played very, very little of Sonic Heroes. Very little. I thought it seemed okay. Why do people hate it so much, again?

Xagarath

Eggplant Wizard wrote:

Okay, it sounds like the key games are 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Sonic CD. All those are all available for Gamecube via the Mega Collection and Gems Collection. Alternatively, the PS2 version of Mega Collection has more games, but apparently the Gamecube version has more precise emulation?

The emulation on the PS2 version is still pretty good, and perfectly playable.
More to the point, Ristar is unlockable on it, which I don't think it is on GCN- and Ristar is a great game.

Elendil

Ristar is on the GC version.

Xagarath

Elendil wrote:

Ristar is on the GC version.

Then consider the latter bit of my junk withdrawn.
PS2 emulation is still playable enough, though.

Elendil

The PS2 has something the GC version doesn't, but I don't remember what it is.

slash000

The way you people are talking makes it sound like the PS2 emulations of the Sonic Mega Collection has jumpity framerates and graphical/sound glitches or something.

I mean, when you say it's "playable," what do you mean?

Does it run and sound smooth? Are all the levels and everything the exact same?


What makes it 'less well emulated' than the GCN version?



I ask because I'm either getting the PS2 version for the Dpad control or the GCN version for the 'better' emulation.

Xagarath

slash000 wrote:

The way you people are talking makes it sound like the PS2 emulations of the Sonic Mega Collection has jumpity framerates and graphical/sound glitches or something.

I mean, when you say it's "playable," what do you mean?

Does it run and sound smooth? Are all the levels and everything the exact same?


What makes it 'less well emulated' than the GCN version?



I ask because I'm either getting the PS2 version for the Dpad control or the GCN version for the 'better' emulation.

The PS2 version is slightly less responsive and slightly slower occasionally.
That's really it. It's barely noticeable, and I;ve played various different forms of the games a lot.

StriderEdge

slash000 wrote:

I played very, very little of Sonic Heroes. Very little. I thought it seemed okay. Why do people hate it so much, again?

Sonic Heroes is by no means a bad game. It did however have some failings like at the end of the game they forced your party to fight alot and the fighting was kinda clunky and slow.

The new Sonic the Hedgehog on 360 though... its horrible. In the first level it switches you from Sonic to Tails, which I thought was gonna be great as Tails is my favorite Sonic character, but then I found out that Tails has no physical attacks and must defeat enemies by throwing bombs at them. With the camera issues and control issues it hard to figure out how this got out the door.

The Mega Collection Plus has the Game Gear games. The reason the GC version does not have these titles is they were unlockables on Sonic Adventure DX which was only on GC. Otherwise I think Mega Collection Plus had Vectorman 1 and 2... I remember people were pissed as the Japanese version had all the Streets of Rage games instead of vectorman.

Xagarath

StriderEdge wrote:

slash000 wrote:

I played very, very little of Sonic Heroes. Very little. I thought it seemed okay. Why do people hate it so much, again?

Sonic Heroes is by no means a bad game. It did however have some failings like at the end of the game they forced your party to fight alot and the fighting was kinda clunky and slow.

The new Sonic the Hedgehog on 360 though... its horrible. In the first level it switches you from Sonic to Tails, which I thought was gonna be great as Tails is my favorite Sonic character, but then I found out that Tails has no physical attacks and must defeat enemies by throwing bombs at them. With the camera issues and control issues it hard to figure out how this got out the door.

The Mega Collection Plus has the Game Gear games. The reason the GC version does not have these titles is they were unlockables on Sonic Adventure DX which was only on GC. Otherwise I think Mega Collection Plus had Vectorman 1 and 2... I remember people were pissed as the Japanese version had all the Streets of Rage games instead of vectorman.

And pc.

StriderEdge

Ah yes... I forgot about that. I tend to forget about the Sonic PC releases as they come out way after the console versions. Did it have unlockable Game Gear titles on the PC version?

Renzo

StriderEdge wrote:

Otherwise I think Mega Collection Plus had Vectorman 1 and 2... I remember people were pissed as the Japanese version had all the Streets of Rage games instead of vectorman.

That's the Sega Genesis Collection, not the Sonic Mega Collection Plus.