Fun fact about the Wisps being on Sonic's world: In the Comics, the Wisps went to Sonic's world to help out in the war in Forces to repay Sonic. Some of them stuck around afterwards, as they liked this world. You even see some Wisps as pets, similar Chao, and other Wisps help with the defense of some places. So there is an explanation, just not where it is needed the most.
@@dmann2116 Yeah I've heard about that before. I just don't know why the Wisps ever went to Sonic's world in that game. If you know, could you fill me in?
To be honest, I like the boost GAMEPLAY, but not the formula. The problem I have with the formula is that 90% of the boost games have the boost sharing a spotlight with some other gameplay style and IMO that works to the detriment of the games themselves. I haven't played Unleashed (I do hope to play it someday), so I can't tell if that's an exception or not, but I really didn't like Classic Sonic in Generations (the physics and level design are subpar compared to the actual 2D games), and I didn't like his return in Forces either. The Act 2 stages were IMO the only good thing about Generations, meanwhile I felt the boost gameplay was botched in Forces due to horrible physics. The only one that doesn't do this is Colors, and I haven't played it yet, but I anticipate the day that I do.
Blame folks who can't tell the difference between multiple playable characters and multiple different play-styles (Sega too I guess?). At least the Advance and Classic games they're treated right.
@@lynxfresh5214 I wouldn't even care if they weren't playable, just at least have them do *something* that contributes to the plot. The closest Forces got was *telling* us that they were doing something, and even then apparently every plan backfired because Sonic wasn't there to be the big hero and save the day (Oh no, Chaos! Sonic, help me!). Then all of a sudden, because Sonic is there they can now fight the hundreds of clones created by Infinite in the very epik ending battle.
@@greg4587 Protagonist power in a nutshell my dude. They had to nerf Silver, Knuckles as well as Tails, write Shadow out of the plot for six months and forget about the existence of the Chaos emeralds, Master Emerald, Blaze (Sol emeralds), G.U.N, etc. And all just to nail the point the world falls to pieces without Sonic on top of propping up our OC (in a meta way it literally sounds like those awful Sonic fanfics that Sonic Paradox mocks). Long story short, when you mix tell but don't show (we literally got a time-skip blackscreen after Sonic "dies") with minimum respect to the narrative in game (you need to read a prequel comic just to see a pre-PR Infinite which in itself is a prequel to the DLC; episode Shadow lol) it leads to a plot full of wasted potential. On the brightside IDW (comics), Paramount (movies) and seemly Prime (TV show) are treating the cast with the respect and importance they deserve unlike any mainline 3D game has for well over a decade (it's kinda embarrassing that 2nd/3rd party producers know these characters better than Sonic team and Sega).
It's probably because of critics and nostalgia tards bitching about "Sonic's lame and unnecessary friends." just wanting it to be Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman all the time. So now Sega is probably too worried use anyone else and just keeps everything on Sonic.
A lot of people don't realize just how experimental Sonic is as a series. And I honestly like it more like that. A lot of the games are so different and offer new and fresh takes on a simple idea. Not all of it is GOOD, but hey, that's the risk you take.
@Joshua Suh The keyword here is "spin-off." Kirby can be expeirmental because they're not waging the entirety of the franchise. If kirby's avalanche was marketed as a mainline kirby game then people would have lost their shit in a very similar way to sonic fans. Similiarly, no one bashes the mobile sonic games for existing because those are obviously spin-offs. I wish there was a way they could mostly experiment in spin-offs, but I can't see that being possible for some reason. Maybe it's the type of experimentation?
@@orlandofurioso7329 I don't know if "completing every single Sonic boost era game and getting 100% on all of them" counts as running out of ideas... This video is still incredibly well made and well informed.
@@SabeNo-rh7mb How is it biased to bash Unleashed because of the Werehog. Werehog is a part of the game you have to play when you're going through Unleashed, it's part of the intended experience of the game and it's not very good. The general sentiment I only heard people say about Unleashed was "Half of it is good Sonic gameplay, the other is uninteresting and bad beatem up gameplay" I rarely hear anyone bash the entire game. It bogs down an otherwise pretty good game and is probably a peak example of "You had a really good game here but you had to tack someone else on and make it worse." I like the Daytime stages of Unleashed quite a bit. I just wish the game was just those and more of them.
@@SammyDrz Dude, nearly EVERYONE back then gave Unleashed a hard time because of the werehog. I’m one of the few people who didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, I can’t even fully enjoy the Unleashed Project because it’s not the full package.
@@RyderMK have you seen the other comments and how they have a self promoter? If so, have you ever considered that I might be referring to the self promoter?
@@IamaPERSON …his other comments don’t even remotely seem bot like at all dude, and self-promoting? What is he even trying to promote??! He just left a comment and has a checkmark. I’ve seen his stuff ages ago and he is in fact real.
"Infinite has the potential to be one of the series' greatest villain" *This guy gets it. God Infinite could've been the greatest of all time with how the Phantom Ruby has so much lore potential, only for him to....eugh*
@TheLarkaanimation That's the only thing I liked about Infinite is that he could've betrayed Eggman but couldn't since Eggman learned from his mistakes. Though execution is still kinda meh though I wish Infinite used his illusion powers to make Shadow relieve his past with Maria and Black Doom and not just trap him in Green Hill "looking a lot like Sand Hill" Zone
I feel like there could've been a ton of potential with the boss fights thanks to Phantom Ruby shenanigans Like, maybe having to fight a small squad of Metals rather than just the one like normal or Zavok gaining a massive speed boost to compliment his brute strength This was the PERFECT situation to do some off-the-wall stuff
@@Lexicon865 When I replayed the Shadow """campaign""" a year and a half after I first played it, I had completely forgotten that this was the premise of the level in green hill. In fact I'm not even sure I knew he had a stage in green hill. I re-experienced the level's story and dialogue as if it was the first time because it was so forgettable and insignificant that my brain just decided it wasn't worth keeping. And I'm an ADHD autistic motherfucker who usually remembers *ALL* of this stuff for fucking anything. I don't always remember details when something is forgettable, but I can still summarize it. Shadow being trapped in an illusion is something I wouldn't forget at all. But forces is so bad I did.
No he wouldn't. It's laughable how, the game advertised Infinite as lame edgelord character, and fans got exactly what was advertised and yet they still complain that he sucks? Fans wanted him to also win and never let you win like a typical mary sue as well?
I haven't played Forces (Sonic games don't really interest me in gameplay or characters really) but from what I've seen and heard of Infinite, he dies have a lot of potential to be a great character, but having the potential to be one doesn't make you one. Chaozu from Dragon Ball had potential to be a great character, but he isn't.
Technically the rush series should be classified as a part of the boost era. When doing tricks you fill up your dash meter just like unleashed colors and generations and when the DS port of sonic colors of course they selected the rush style sence it's so close to the boost games except it's in 2d
They feel so different though. I think they're comparable but one isn't really better than the other, 2d is a little easier to design levels and see what's coming at you.
@@funwithakthechannelwherean4510 still fun lmao. Bad level design with bottomless pits is still better than hallways that you just press x to win through.
It’s so interesting how everyone has such different opinions on Sonic. Like Johnny said he doesn’t like when Super Sonic is a final boss event only and Anthony said he likes that more
I personally don't like it as an end of game unlockable. I liked how in the Genesis games, it was a reward for your hard work thus far. It was like they were saying, alright, here's a little something to make the later levels in the game less frustrating and make you feel like you are becoming more powerful on your way to victory. Now it's like, okay the game is finished, you've conquered everything already and the climax of the story is over, not much incentive to use him.
@@rapidloaf The solution? Have Super Sonic be both an unlockable in the main campaign and the key to the true final boss. You still have access to him before the end, but it also gives you a more substantial reward beyond a glorified instant win button.
The day time levels in Unleashed are the high point of Sonic IMHO, an absolutely thrilling rush and so replayable. Generations overall the best Sonic game though.
I like the speed for Sonic unleashed but the levels weren’t 100% optimized for Daytime sonic. I use to say polished when I was younger, but I realized it was optimization. I honest feel like Generations was better in terms of modern sonic stages(in terms of overall quality). However unleashed had that fun factor since the boost was much faster
Blasphemer, The Adventure Games as Sonic & Shadow were way better than Daytime Unleashed & Generations. You could find such replayability hunting for rings & items for Chao as the Treasure Hunters & those things offered the most replayability & Adventure 2 on GameCube went even further with 2P Battle Mode. You really need to play the best games in the series sometime & most of the replayability from Generations is thanks to its modding community. The series shot itself in the foot by abandoning the Chao Gardens.
"the extra and secret levels are basically just bad Mario maker levels... But with Sonic" This is the best way anyone has described those levels and sums up how I feel about them perfectly
When it comes to the stories, i’m very thankful Ian Flynn is coming to write Frontiers story. With his years of writing for the comics and seeing how he was able to improve Infinite and the Custom Character for the Forces comic and make Zavok a decent villain in the main comic, especially with the bad guys side series, gives me hope for frontiers when it comes to its story.
Ugh... Firstly, Ian still works with Japanese so it's another Sonic Forces that was originally written by Makoto Goya, edited and localised by Pontaff and then edited again by Eitaro Toyoda. Now Pontaff are replaced with Ian "Trust me, SEGA forces me to write Shadow poorly" Flynn and Toyoda is replaced by Morio Kishimoto. Secondly, prequel comics for Sonic Forces had stories from Sonic Team themselves, Ian only made the script. The only based thing he's done is IDW Zavok.
I'm just glad SEGA hired a writer with actual experience. Pontaff have no idea about Sonic and they are the reason why Sonic has been reduced to just looking cool and saying corny jokes.
I wish we got another game like Unleashed. That game really felt like an adventure across the world. I’ll always have love with the “boost era” games though. Also to add I’m sick of the 2D sections in 3D Sonic games. I play modern Sonic for 3D and larger gameplay. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Classic Sonic gameplay in Generations. I'm hoping Frontiers is fully 3D
This was a joy to watch In my opinion Unleashed - Awesome but completing it it's torture Colors - Fine playing it normally, pretty sweet 100% it, also the Egg Shuttle is great Generations - Amazing but needed more Forces - Sonic Forces
Ironically, I grew up with the boost era more than the others, and Unleashed is my favorite game, so no matter what people say about it, it will hold a special place in my heart
Unleashed made the boost system feel both fast and rewarding Colors made the boost system feel both thrilling and fun Generations made the boost system feel both controllable yet chaotic Forces....exists
You don't actually need to beat the game for Classic Sonic to get the homing attack in Sonic Generations. You just need to get all of the red rings in Planet Wisp Act 1.
Here's a dumb fact: Ken Pontac, one of the writers of Colors and onwards, DID work in Saturday morning cartoons. Namely, the stop-motion ABC show, Bump in the Night. It's actually pretty good and very much insane. Whether or not that kind of humor works with Sonic is up for debate, though.
I thought Colours was fine, if a bit undercooked in places. It was a nice palate cleanser after having so many more contentious games before it. I get that it wasn't to everyone's preference though, gameplay and story/humour-wise.
These sonic games are really good. I love unleashed and colors especially and I’m glad to see that unleashed is cherished a lot more now. I played it all the time as a kid
I think "Boost to win" is an oversimplification. It would be more accurate to say that some Sonic games suffer from the problem of having a low skill ceiling. In Sonic Forces, not only can you beat levels very easily, but that's always the best way to do it. That's an example of the skill ceiling being too low. In Sonic Generations, you can get from point A to B quite easily, but there's all kinds of tech you can learn to do it faster and better. That's an example of a low skill floor and high skill ceiling, which allows people who are bad at the game the satisfaction of completing it, without alienating more advanced players
Opposite. The skill ceiling for Sonic Gens and Unleashed is actually absurdly high. But simply clearing the levels is something anyone can do. Low barrier to entry and it basically stays that way the entire time. If Sonic Games had a difficulty curve then, it would be much better.
@@thedead073 i wouldn't say the last couple of stages are something "anyone can do" lol. eggmanland (and to a lesser extent, jungle joyride) is fucking brutal
I would like to say the thing about the wisps being on the main planet is explained in the IDW comics (that actually start soon after Forces ends which is fun) And I know how much we all love having to read separate material to gain context on the story of a game
Getting every achievement in Unleashed sounds stressful, so good on you for doing that. I made it a goal of mine to get every 3D Sonic achievement on Steam which I did do a while ago, but I'm gonna start sweating if Unleashed is ever put on Steam.
I always appreciate an unbiased and positive Sonic Review. I feel a lot of critics get lost in the discourse or have a vague understanding of the games which they allow to get in the way as they start their playthroughs. Thank you for giving a positive overview to these games that have a lot to appreciate.
That's always been my problem with people's hatred of Colors: it was a game that was made to combat actual criticisms that people had with Sonic at the time, but people insist that "What are you talking about, we always *loved* those problems! What dumb dumb told you we didn't?!"
And yeah this is my exact issue with alot of anti-colors and beyond critics, they often completely ignore criticism of the dark age games for reasons that amount to "well i LIKED these things" while criticising things that people like. They paint this narrative that sega just changed things for no real reason ruining what sonic "truly was" when that couldn't be farther form the truth.
Here's the thing, Colors had a lot of hype surrounding it when it released because it was the first mainline Sonic game since, like Shadow The Hedgehog that didn't shoehorn in alternate gameplay styles or characters and was just focused on pure Sonic gameplay. It was Sonic Team delivering on everyone's desire for a Sonic game that was just the boost levels from Unleashed. And the result was one of the first mainline games that wasn't plagued by some glaring issue and was a generally decent game, and that was enough for people to declare it the best 3D Sonic game since SA2. Nowadays though removed from the time of it's release, people naturally start looking at the game with a more critical lense, and even then Colors is FAR from being unpopular. The game just wasn't all that ground breaking or ambitious compared to what came before it, so while it didn't have the same lows as before it also didn't have the same highs and it's much easier for people to focus on the games flaws when it didn't have anything especially great about it to distract from them.
you realise that the people that complained about the stuff colors addressed and the people who said they love that stuff are different people... right?
Haven’t played any of these, but I super appreciate ya for doing all this work there Ant Dude! Acting like the Completionist over here! Was going to say you deserve a nice chili dog for all your hard work, but considering the Unleashed hot dog thing, maybe not oof. Great in depth vid!
Finally, someone recognize how great the red rings are in Colors. Going for them without a guide really flesh out the levels, if you skip them they feel too short.
it never occurred to me that the reason 06 black knight and so on feel nostalgic now is because they were made with confidence. you're absolutely right. i could never pinpoint what made the past few games feel more boring than paint until now.
You did a great job wow, one of the most level headed “hey I just completed everything so you don’t have to” reviews, and really helped us move past the boost era. Merci
6:49 - 7:02 Most of us including myself were kids and pre-teens back when those games were recent. To put it simply, we grew up. Most of us are just turning 18 or in our 20s. It's the same thing for games like Black Knight, Lost World, Forces and 06. So even if there's understandable flaws/negative viewpoints on these games. We'll still hold them into high regard cause they brought us joy and comfort when we were younger or was in a bad part of our lives despite the negative reception they had.
Yeah, I think most people can agree that all of these games have at least a few flaws (especially 06) but they also have unique things that make them compelling and can still be fun with the right mindset (not going in and immediately saying "this game is garbage" before you've even tried it yourself".
Which is funny because Sonic already started being pretty dark in CD and 3K. And that's excluding SatAM and the comics. If I may be so blunt, those kinds of classic fans are a little too nostalgia blind
@Casswury and then they made the Adventure Era fans feel that way and even mocked them all the while using 06 as a bludgeon to stop any attempt at going back for a decade, so yea, they're no room for sympathy when you had to bully your way to get what you want, but then again, everyone associated with Sonic has an agenda one way or another
Black Knight really was the end of an era of awesome Sonic Games & I'm saying this as an Adventure Fan. Unleashed I have to admit I didn't like because the humans were such ugly & unfitting trolls especially that Hot Dog Guy & I missed the playable characters. Kind of strange for a world adventure to only have 4 returning characters in its story.
Been watching you since your first vids, back when you were nervous and dunked on yourself a lot. Wonderful to see one of your best videos ever; a real meaty essay with many layered opinions. As with Unleashed, it's made with confidence. Cheers to you :)
38:41 Actually, these codes were given away...sort of. A Sonic Generations statue in real life came with a set of codes for the Statue Room. I believe SEGA's intention was that people would have different statues in the game, but then with the Internet everyone just had all the codes and that was it.
21:13 Funny, since Blaze the Cat actually *was* in Sonic and the Black Knight. In fact, most of the characters in that game were based on existing characters, with the only new ones being the antagonist and the sword. 45:37 And the majority of them are playable, with their own dedicated stages/challenges as well.
Interesting fact about the Time Eater from Generations: Apparently it was originally supposed to be a fragment of Mephiles and is how we have Crisis City despite '06 not being canon. Supposedly Mephiles was supposed to be a much more reoccurring villain, for example, the evil Shadows we see in Forces were supposed to be Mephiles which is probably why Shadow's eyes look like he's part lizard. However due to the fact that Sega didn't want to acknowledge '06 ever again, these ideas never saw the light of day Note: I don't have a source to back these claims up, this is merely stuff that travels by word of mouth from friends who know way more than I do about Sonic stuff when it comes to development, so do take it with a grain of salt
Um hope you guys know that 06 IS canon I mean why else would it be mentioned and referenced in Generations and I think your friends heard this cause Ian Flynn believes that Time Eater is a fragment of Mephiles You just kinda telephoned the whole thing 😂
I applaud you for this video Antdude! A completionist deep-dive on all the major boost games isn't something I've seen before, so it was an interesting (and very entertaining) way to approach them. Great work as always =D
Ok Ant, the wisps in Forces was at least explained in the IDW comics. After Colors, many wisps opted to stay on Sonic’s home world and when Eggman attacked in Sonic Forces, they volunteered their powers for the wispon weapons in Forces. I know comics aren’t games but I wanted to share that.
Colours does something very clever with its boost system. If you just boost willy nilly, you'll run out quickly and miss some shortcuts or paths to red rings. By saving your boosts for ideal points of the level, for example to dash through the air down a large hill, or to get more height off a jump ramp, you access new areas ala the other Wisps!
@@thedead073 Being someone who (casually) speedruns the game, I don’t really use it like this. Like the original comment said, I have to pick and choose carefully where I boost to get the most mileage out of the speed. And on top of that at times I’d intentionally run the boost gauge empty to have the air dash for 2d sections.
I just gotta say: thank you. You just summed up *EVERY* reason why I don't like one-hundred-percenting a game. It's more trouble than it's worth. I only ever make a exception for certain ones, and only when they give me enough incentive. All the horror stories I've heard about Crash 4 has only amplified this feeling.
As someone who watched a lot of The Completionist, I must say the problem is the reward is often cannot worth it because it's often something that would be useful if you aren't done with everything in the game and when it's not, it's often just one picture with a "thank you for playing"
@@ZenoDLC Poor Johnny found that out the hard way when he finally completed super Mario sunshine. And for me personally, before legends Arceus, I had never completed a Pokédex before in my life. And unless the next Gen gives me proper incentive as well, *I’m never going to repeat that process ever again either.* Because that was three long weeks of hell. The only reason why toughed it out in the first place was because I really wanted to catch Arceus that bad.
@@SabeNo-rh7mb Poketips has a video where he showcases what happens when you complete the pokedex in each region, it's mostly a congratulations from the region's professor, a certificate from the game devs that you can sometimes print if the game allows it, and in the later games, the shiny charm
Bro same. I never 100% complete a game because nowadays with so many games to choose from, I just play the game until I am satisfied, I don't mind not completing 100%. Unless for some reason it is worth it. For example I remember catching the Pokemon just to get a shiny charm because I love finding shiny Pokemon that are my favorites.
@@luckypaolastudio8476 And they're all so *LONG.* Even when you're just focusing on the main campaigns, the minimum completion time for some of these games is around 8-10 hours. *And people still say THAT'S SHORT.* What kind of age are we living in where 10 hours is considered *SHORT?*
The bug at 5:00 is most likely because a portion of the game logic is still tied to the FPS. Same issue was had in Spyro Reignited. One of the magic crafter worlds had a wizard that would raise and drop a wall but if you had your framerate at 60 or above he wouldn't lower it until you hardcap it to 30fps.
Nice message at the end there Ant. I just wish I could apply it to myself more often, but the sunken cost fallacy is one that my mind just can't easily ignore. I picked up Xenoblade Chronicles when it launched on Switch and was excited because of all the love it gets here on RUclips but after a dozen hours I found it nothing but tedious and frustrating, and I still proceeded to put another 200 hours into it for full completion. Despite me catching myself wanting to put it down several times I just kept telling myself "I've come this far, I might as well finish it". I can at least say that I didn't waste my time with the extra chapter. Out of sheer curiosity I did load it up, but after seeing that I lost all my equipment, gems, and 40 levels I said "NOPE!" and shut it off.....small steps I guess.
@Thélos Sensei If I learned anything it would be just to not so blindly trust that I will like a game just because others do. The idea of not finishing something I started, especially if I paid money for it, still bugs me to no end. Another example was Bayonetta. I picked up the bundle of the first 2 games when they dropped on Switch and played the first one and loved it, but after finishing the main campaign I discovered that the completion criteria is absolutely atrocious. I did eventually give up but it still bugs me to this day knowing that I didn't complete it, and because of how atrocious the completion criteria was for the first game I decided to not even bother playing Bayonetta 2 at all.
Very thoroughly well done, thank you for the time and dedication required in making this video, it gives me something to consider next time I swing through the digital store.
I rarely vibe with Sonic games, but I really enjoyed this video! It almost makes me want to open the sealed copy of Generations I picked up on sale once upon a time.
They said it was impossible, but there's a Sonic video on RUclips that doesn't start by addressing the texture of Sonic's transition to 3D. Seriously though, I agree that the "boost to win" argument is bullshit. The boost games aren't my cup of tea because fast-paced memorization and reaction is just not my preferred style of game. It's why I prefer his other 3D outings.
I'm probably one of the rare few that actually loves the Avatar sections in Forces and would love to have an entire game where we play as them. also for the hub worlds, I like SA1's approach to NPC's than Unleashed, but from what I've seen at any rate, I like how there's more to do in them, not sure if they're bigger than the SA1s Hubs, but that's my take.
I suppose we can now start calling him "Boost Sonic" as the new games that are to come will take over the mantle of Modern Sonic. "Uncle Boost, what was your game repertoire like?" "Sit down kid, it's interesting but it's not really *that* big of a deal, no need to stand up when I tell you how it went."
Loving this vid so far!! (can't finish it rn due to exam prep but its making the experience so much better) Laughed a little at the comment about playing Forces while drunk since I first finished it in the hospital since it was the only game I could play one handed. Thanks for all your hard work!
I feel that the boost formula could make timing jumps and quick steps tricky, but I still enjoyed it because I felt that I actually was moving at the speed of sound, whereas in other games, I was moving only somewhat quickly!
considerin sonic forcez iz one of my fav games, & i got a big attatchment to it, itz kinda sad seein another person beatin it into the ground, but i appreciate the good comments ya did make abt it! ^^ awesome video!
19:20 Funny thing about that: It was mentioned that the wisps liked the planet that sonic is from so much, that the majority of them decided to stay which is why they show up in games after colors. This was brought up in the IDW comics and even earlier in a sonic runner game that has long since been out of service.
Watching this video make reminisced of good times I have with the Sonic series that change me of a man I am today. Easily one of the best retrospective of this era of Sonic.
I think the time eater should’ve done the same concept as forces final boss,a section for classic,a section for modern,and then super sonic chasing it through different zones from sonics past could’ve been awesome
Great video man, you really brought a solid perspective to the boost formula the games' legacy and what all of them brought to the table especially as we move into a new era for Sonic, why you also decided to complete them I won't understand but do you man 👍
As someone who hasn't played much Sonic other than Generations in about a decade, I feel like I've heard much of this before... Fans defending obviously poor games, dividing the series into eras (and arguing about what the start and end of an era is), debating which gameplay style the series should take in the comments, the series itself not being able to have focus, feeling like there's multiple groups of fans under one series, and releasing an awful title in 2017... Sonic as a series draws a lot of parallels to the Need for Speed series. People defend obviously poor titles (Undercover and Payback), the series is put into eras (Classic/Hot Pursuit, Black Box/Underground, Weird/Criterion era, and Ghost era), people debate which gameplay style the game should have (brake to drift vs grip handling, cops vs. no cops, legal vs. illegal racing, having car customization vs. not having it), having weird, one-time games that bring a few people in (Lost World and SHIFT)... both even have very passionate modding communities. So strange. No one would think that these series are similiar, but in terms of controversy, series changing direction, fans defending poor titles... much of the discussion around both series are very similar.
Most games and franchises that go on as long as Sonic tend to have their own Sonic-styled arguments. It's now becoming a meme for video games to have their own "Sonic Cycles", first as ironical referential humor then to unironic criticism/satire the moment the fans get tired of fighting/want to control the narrative of it. It's honestly not that surprising for games to grow them and sort of just an inevitability of fandom and internet culture. I know I've personally witness Fire Emblem, Touhou, King of Fighters, and yes, Need for Speed (though I was late to that party, only really getting it looking at Criterion's Hot Pursuit). Sonic is just notable because its a colorful scrimblo blimbo platformer that was predicated on being a counterculture icon against Mario and his style of platforming, so it drew in a lot of...interesting fans...compared to other franchises. When combined with the VERY wide margins of quality for the games, the odd style of Sonic as a platformer and mascot (you can honestly describe the boost games more closer to F-Zero than Mario...), and SEGA honestly being a terribly mismanaged publishing company since INCEPTION, Sonic and its fans just get a lot of flak from just about everything, even the games itself. That's why it Sonic discussion is so notorious, despite it honestly being pretty common among video game franchises.
From what I’ve seen, I think the ds Sonic colors is a bit better. It trades the three extra stages for two bonus stages with sonics extra cast, and a secret super Sonic boss fight that I love. It also gives you different ways to decimate the bosses, either by fighting normally or beating them in 25 seconds.
This video made me want to play Sonic Unleashed and to a lesser extent, Colors. I've never actually played those games. Only boost era game I played was Generations (and a little bit of Forces before I washed my hands of it). I'm much more of a classic 2d Sonic guy, the Genesis trilogy & Sonic Mania are my favorite games in the series.
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Yo
we all know that we are now in the "post modern" sonic era now
How about a future video focusing on LEGO videogames, Ant? I imagine it will be a popular video.
@@Cliffordlonghead so you just admitted you’re not first.
Where's ur shirt from
"Classic, Adventure, and Modern" is the same energy as "80's, 90's, and NOW"
It's been NOW for 20 years.
I… think that’s his point.
It's been now since 2008 which is 14 years
What happened to Then?
@@litjman21 technically 2005 because shadow the hedgehog art for the game has a modern sonic
@@totallynotditto1573 17 years still isn't modern
Fun fact about the Wisps being on Sonic's world:
In the Comics, the Wisps went to Sonic's world to help out in the war in Forces to repay Sonic. Some of them stuck around afterwards, as they liked this world. You even see some Wisps as pets, similar Chao, and other Wisps help with the defense of some places. So there is an explanation, just not where it is needed the most.
This was a boring fact not a fun one
@@murderonthemind678 I'm very sorry.
@@J.R.Unbound It was interesting to me. Thanks.
The fact that some Wisps stayed behind was done earlier....in Sonic Runners....a dead mobile game
@@dmann2116 Yeah I've heard about that before. I just don't know why the Wisps ever went to Sonic's world in that game. If you know, could you fill me in?
Ah, the boost mechanic. Something the fans loved, then wanted to get rid of, then wanted it back, and now want it gone again.
Hopefully it stays gone this time i would love it like 06 having it in parts of the game but a entire game boosting ? I’m good
@@apathy2454 You know Frontiers has the boost right?
Sonic fans are impossible to satisfy with anything. I just want a fully 3D adventure like game again. Cause I’m sick of the 2D sections
Sonic fans are schizophrenic. I bet in a few years people will be saying Sonic Forces is a hidden gem. It's already happening with 06
To be honest, I like the boost GAMEPLAY, but not the formula. The problem I have with the formula is that 90% of the boost games have the boost sharing a spotlight with some other gameplay style and IMO that works to the detriment of the games themselves. I haven't played Unleashed (I do hope to play it someday), so I can't tell if that's an exception or not, but I really didn't like Classic Sonic in Generations (the physics and level design are subpar compared to the actual 2D games), and I didn't like his return in Forces either. The Act 2 stages were IMO the only good thing about Generations, meanwhile I felt the boost gameplay was botched in Forces due to horrible physics. The only one that doesn't do this is Colors, and I haven't played it yet, but I anticipate the day that I do.
22:15 I just want Sonic's friends to contribute more to the story than "You got this, Sonic!"
Blame folks who can't tell the difference between multiple playable characters and multiple different play-styles (Sega too I guess?). At least the Advance and Classic games they're treated right.
@@lynxfresh5214 I wouldn't even care if they weren't playable, just at least have them do *something* that contributes to the plot. The closest Forces got was *telling* us that they were doing something, and even then apparently every plan backfired because Sonic wasn't there to be the big hero and save the day (Oh no, Chaos! Sonic, help me!). Then all of a sudden, because Sonic is there they can now fight the hundreds of clones created by Infinite in the very epik ending battle.
@@greg4587 Protagonist power in a nutshell my dude. They had to nerf Silver, Knuckles as well as Tails, write Shadow out of the plot for six months and forget about the existence of the Chaos emeralds, Master Emerald, Blaze (Sol emeralds), G.U.N, etc.
And all just to nail the point the world falls to pieces without Sonic on top of propping up our OC (in a meta way it literally sounds like those awful Sonic fanfics that Sonic Paradox mocks).
Long story short, when you mix tell but don't show (we literally got a time-skip blackscreen after Sonic "dies") with minimum respect to the narrative in game (you need to read a prequel comic just to see a pre-PR Infinite which in itself is a prequel to the DLC; episode Shadow lol) it leads to a plot full of wasted potential.
On the brightside IDW (comics), Paramount (movies) and seemly Prime (TV show) are treating the cast with the respect and importance they deserve unlike any mainline 3D game has for well over a decade (it's kinda embarrassing that 2nd/3rd party producers know these characters better than Sonic team and Sega).
It's probably because of critics and nostalgia tards bitching about "Sonic's lame and unnecessary friends." just wanting it to be Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman all the time. So now Sega is probably too worried use anyone else and just keeps everything on Sonic.
Hell the others characters and how they were represented in Generations is a million times better than what we got in Sonic 06 or Forces 💀
It’s actually kind of impressive that sega has managed to release so many games this divisive over such a long period of time within the same series.
A lot of people don't realize just how experimental Sonic is as a series. And I honestly like it more like that. A lot of the games are so different and offer new and fresh takes on a simple idea. Not all of it is GOOD, but hey, that's the risk you take.
@Joshua Suh Kirby was literally 2d until like 2 month ago
@Joshua Suh it looks like Kirby’s adventure but done 80 times
@Joshua Suh The keyword here is "spin-off." Kirby can be expeirmental because they're not waging the entirety of the franchise. If kirby's avalanche was marketed as a mainline kirby game then people would have lost their shit in a very similar way to sonic fans. Similiarly, no one bashes the mobile sonic games for existing because those are obviously spin-offs. I wish there was a way they could mostly experiment in spin-offs, but I can't see that being possible for some reason. Maybe it's the type of experimentation?
@@moosesues8887 And Sonic has been a roller coaster since Adventure.
I respect Antdude for making a whole new video for games he's already beaten and reviewed, thank you for your time!
Antdude Ultimate
Now with mental trauma DLC
It's called running out of ideas
@@orlandofurioso7329 I don't know if "completing every single Sonic boost era game and getting 100% on all of them" counts as running out of ideas... This video is still incredibly well made and well informed.
I hope that he reviews the Phineas and Ferb Movie Game one day.
Really appreciate the message you delivered here with this video. It’s probably the most respectable take on the series I have watched in ages.
Yeah, finally someone who won't biasedly bash Unleashed just because of the Werehog.
Absolutely
@@SabeNo-rh7mb watch J’s reviews, he didn’t bash the Werehog either.
@@SabeNo-rh7mb How is it biased to bash Unleashed because of the Werehog. Werehog is a part of the game you have to play when you're going through Unleashed, it's part of the intended experience of the game and it's not very good. The general sentiment I only heard people say about Unleashed was "Half of it is good Sonic gameplay, the other is uninteresting and bad beatem up gameplay"
I rarely hear anyone bash the entire game.
It bogs down an otherwise pretty good game and is probably a peak example of "You had a really good game here but you had to tack someone else on and make it worse."
I like the Daytime stages of Unleashed quite a bit. I just wish the game was just those and more of them.
@@SammyDrz Dude, nearly EVERYONE back then gave Unleashed a hard time because of the werehog. I’m one of the few people who didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, I can’t even fully enjoy the Unleashed Project because it’s not the full package.
You're a LEGEND for suffering through all these games. You are the real Sonic Hero.
BEGONE BOTS
Ok, no more bots should appear
@@IamaPERSON dude this person is real did you even try looking at the profile
@@RyderMK have you seen the other comments and how they have a self promoter? If so, have you ever considered that I might be referring to the self promoter?
@@IamaPERSON …his other comments don’t even remotely seem bot like at all dude, and self-promoting? What is he even trying to promote??! He just left a comment and has a checkmark. I’ve seen his stuff ages ago and he is in fact real.
"Infinite has the potential to be one of the series' greatest villain"
*This guy gets it. God Infinite could've been the greatest of all time with how the Phantom Ruby has so much lore potential, only for him to....eugh*
@TheLarkaanimation That's the only thing I liked about Infinite is that he could've betrayed Eggman but couldn't since Eggman learned from his mistakes. Though execution is still kinda meh though
I wish Infinite used his illusion powers to make Shadow relieve his past with Maria and Black Doom and not just trap him in Green Hill "looking a lot like Sand Hill" Zone
I feel like there could've been a ton of potential with the boss fights thanks to Phantom Ruby shenanigans
Like, maybe having to fight a small squad of Metals rather than just the one like normal or Zavok gaining a massive speed boost to compliment his brute strength
This was the PERFECT situation to do some off-the-wall stuff
@@Lexicon865 When I replayed the Shadow """campaign""" a year and a half after I first played it, I had completely forgotten that this was the premise of the level in green hill. In fact I'm not even sure I knew he had a stage in green hill. I re-experienced the level's story and dialogue as if it was the first time because it was so forgettable and insignificant that my brain just decided it wasn't worth keeping. And I'm an ADHD autistic motherfucker who usually remembers *ALL* of this stuff for fucking anything. I don't always remember details when something is forgettable, but I can still summarize it. Shadow being trapped in an illusion is something I wouldn't forget at all. But forces is so bad I did.
No he wouldn't.
It's laughable how, the game advertised Infinite as lame edgelord character, and fans got exactly what was advertised and yet they still complain that he sucks? Fans wanted him to also win and never let you win like a typical mary sue as well?
I haven't played Forces (Sonic games don't really interest me in gameplay or characters really) but from what I've seen and heard of Infinite, he dies have a lot of potential to be a great character, but having the potential to be one doesn't make you one. Chaozu from Dragon Ball had potential to be a great character, but he isn't.
I love Sonic unleashed! It has the best speed stages in the entire franchise, Muscle memory kicks instant in even after years of not playing it.
Technically the rush series should be classified as a part of the boost era. When doing tricks you fill up your dash meter just like unleashed colors and generations and when the DS port of sonic colors of course they selected the rush style sence it's so close to the boost games except it's in 2d
They feel so different though. I think they're comparable but one isn't really better than the other, 2d is a little easier to design levels and see what's coming at you.
nah those games are actually good lol
Well, he did say "main" not "only".
@@SonplaysMinEcraft not particularly LMAO. A lot of the level design in the rush games is absolute ass.
@@funwithakthechannelwherean4510 still fun lmao. Bad level design with bottomless pits is still better than hallways that you just press x to win through.
It’s so interesting how everyone has such different opinions on Sonic. Like Johnny said he doesn’t like when Super Sonic is a final boss event only and Anthony said he likes that more
I personally don't like it as an end of game unlockable. I liked how in the Genesis games, it was a reward for your hard work thus far. It was like they were saying, alright, here's a little something to make the later levels in the game less frustrating and make you feel like you are becoming more powerful on your way to victory. Now it's like, okay the game is finished, you've conquered everything already and the climax of the story is over, not much incentive to use him.
@@rapidloaf The solution? Have Super Sonic be both an unlockable in the main campaign and the key to the true final boss. You still have access to him before the end, but it also gives you a more substantial reward beyond a glorified instant win button.
SomeCallsMeJohnny is better at Sonic even if Super Sonic is a glorified post-game bonus.
The day time levels in Unleashed are the high point of Sonic IMHO, an absolutely thrilling rush and so replayable. Generations overall the best Sonic game though.
What is IMHO?
@@Faresxjr in my humble opinion
I like the speed for Sonic unleashed but the levels weren’t 100% optimized for Daytime sonic. I use to say polished when I was younger, but I realized it was optimization. I honest feel like Generations was better in terms of modern sonic stages(in terms of overall quality). However unleashed had that fun factor since the boost was much faster
Blasphemer, The Adventure Games as Sonic & Shadow were way better than Daytime Unleashed & Generations. You could find such replayability hunting for rings & items for Chao as the Treasure Hunters & those things offered the most replayability & Adventure 2 on GameCube went even further with 2P Battle Mode. You really need to play the best games in the series sometime & most of the replayability from Generations is thanks to its modding community. The series shot itself in the foot by abandoning the Chao Gardens.
@@WaterKirby1994 Adventure is straight up awful jank.
"the extra and secret levels are basically just bad Mario maker levels... But with Sonic"
This is the best way anyone has described those levels and sums up how I feel about them perfectly
When it comes to the stories, i’m very thankful Ian Flynn is coming to write Frontiers story. With his years of writing for the comics and seeing how he was able to improve Infinite and the Custom Character for the Forces comic and make Zavok a decent villain in the main comic, especially with the bad guys side series, gives me hope for frontiers when it comes to its story.
He also wrote Sonic Boom and the Sonic Encyclopedia.
@@traviscunningham7062 given how funny Boom can be, well-
It's in good hands.
Ugh... Firstly, Ian still works with Japanese so it's another Sonic Forces that was originally written by Makoto Goya, edited and localised by Pontaff and then edited again by Eitaro Toyoda. Now Pontaff are replaced with Ian "Trust me, SEGA forces me to write Shadow poorly" Flynn and Toyoda is replaced by Morio Kishimoto. Secondly, prequel comics for Sonic Forces had stories from Sonic Team themselves, Ian only made the script. The only based thing he's done is IDW Zavok.
I'm just glad SEGA hired a writer with actual experience. Pontaff have no idea about Sonic and they are the reason why Sonic has been reduced to just looking cool and saying corny jokes.
@@spongeman3090 agreed SpongeBob!
I wish we got another game like Unleashed. That game really felt like an adventure across the world. I’ll always have love with the “boost era” games though. Also to add I’m sick of the 2D sections in 3D Sonic games. I play modern Sonic for 3D and larger gameplay. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Classic Sonic gameplay in Generations. I'm hoping Frontiers is fully 3D
Another like unleashed just without the hack and slash parts
@@lobstergod8993 the werehog isn't as bad as people say.
@@somerandomdude2085 not gona bash your tastes but there is a reason why it's hated so much
@@lobstergod8993 What is that reason.
@@Im_Not_Here57
people say it’s too repetitive (not helped by there being one battle theme), and drags on like crazy.
This was a joy to watch
In my opinion
Unleashed - Awesome but completing it it's torture
Colors - Fine playing it normally, pretty sweet 100% it, also the Egg Shuttle is great
Generations - Amazing but needed more
Forces - Sonic Forces
“NoNe oF tHiS iS gOoD, VeCtOr, ThAt’S wHy It’S cAlLeD *W A R.* “
"None of this is good" Literally every sonic game ever
@@onyxtheowl24 "Neither are you Charmy, but I still found a use for your pointy but"
Ahh forces is a gift@@onyxtheowl24
7:38 Bring him in to feel your pain and suffering.
- Love that Mighty and Ray T-shirt!
Damn. Really appreciate all the work that went into this one. Heart goes out to you for doing all that Dude.
Ironically, I grew up with the boost era more than the others, and Unleashed is my favorite game, so no matter what people say about it, it will hold a special place in my heart
Same, except i grew up with colors and generations is still my favorite sonic game
@@SumRndmPenguin Yooo same
@@SumRndmPenguin Yeah, too
Same here
Unleashed made the boost system feel both fast and rewarding
Colors made the boost system feel
both thrilling and fun
Generations made the boost system feel both controllable yet chaotic
Forces....exists
Forces made the boost system feel bland and predictable
Well said
@@evdestroy5304 Forces was a disappointment.
Honestly I don’t know why Forces didn’t continue Lost World’s gameplay but more polished and refined but nope, let’s go back to boost
@@robraze I think Forces should have sticked to Lost Worlds gameplay.
You don't actually need to beat the game for Classic Sonic to get the homing attack in Sonic Generations. You just need to get all of the red rings in Planet Wisp Act 1.
That's still right at the end though, so it doesn't change much.
@@braydengraves4655 I know, but it is something I hear a lot, so I feel the need to correct it.
Doing that was a pain, but worth it
Here's a dumb fact: Ken Pontac, one of the writers of Colors and onwards, DID work in Saturday morning cartoons. Namely, the stop-motion ABC show, Bump in the Night. It's actually pretty good and very much insane. Whether or not that kind of humor works with Sonic is up for debate, though.
There's also his work on Happy Tree Friends but most Sonic fans (understandably) would rather want to forget about it.
The answer: It doesn't.
Sonic Boom humor worked well.
I thought Colours was fine, if a bit undercooked in places. It was a nice palate cleanser after having so many more contentious games before it. I get that it wasn't to everyone's preference though, gameplay and story/humour-wise.
works better in bits or animation
The "I never want to see a hotdog again for the rest of my life" joke got me so much.
These sonic games are really good. I love unleashed and colors especially and I’m glad to see that unleashed is cherished a lot more now. I played it all the time as a kid
its actually called the "meta era"
No the 2000's was the dark age, the 2010's was the Meta Era.
@@bennettvids more like the shit era
Colors isn't considered dark age
@@sweet_sukeban4022 better games than dark age
thank you for all the sonic content man, you're helping me get through the wait for frontiers lol
The legend himself
I think "Boost to win" is an oversimplification. It would be more accurate to say that some Sonic games suffer from the problem of having a low skill ceiling. In Sonic Forces, not only can you beat levels very easily, but that's always the best way to do it. That's an example of the skill ceiling being too low. In Sonic Generations, you can get from point A to B quite easily, but there's all kinds of tech you can learn to do it faster and better. That's an example of a low skill floor and high skill ceiling, which allows people who are bad at the game the satisfaction of completing it, without alienating more advanced players
Opposite. The skill ceiling for Sonic Gens and Unleashed is actually absurdly high. But simply clearing the levels is something anyone can do. Low barrier to entry and it basically stays that way the entire time. If Sonic Games had a difficulty curve then, it would be much better.
@@thedead073 isn’t that what they said?
@@thedead073 i wouldn't say the last couple of stages are something "anyone can do" lol. eggmanland (and to a lesser extent, jungle joyride) is fucking brutal
Yeah, but tbf Forces is the only boost game that does that, so it isn't really fair to use it to criticize all sonic games.
@@ghengiroo4143 Oof
I loved Unleashed back then and I still love it today. Those 3D models still look great to me.
I would like to say the thing about the wisps being on the main planet is explained in the IDW comics (that actually start soon after Forces ends which is fun)
And I know how much we all love having to read separate material to gain context on the story of a game
Getting every achievement in Unleashed sounds stressful, so good on you for doing that. I made it a goal of mine to get every 3D Sonic achievement on Steam which I did do a while ago, but I'm gonna start sweating if Unleashed is ever put on Steam.
Honestly I think the only trophy that is hard is just doing eggmanland without dying for the hot dog trophy
It’s funny because I want Unleashed to be on Steam so bad
@@alysssabear I do too, it's 100% just the achievement hunter in me who's afraid.
It is stressful but I did it.
I always appreciate an unbiased and positive Sonic Review. I feel a lot of critics get lost in the discourse or have a vague understanding of the games which they allow to get in the way as they start their playthroughs. Thank you for giving a positive overview to these games that have a lot to appreciate.
@@gregoryford2532 poopsitive
@@gregoryford2532 God you just love to comment under any reply and be absolutely annoying, huh?
Ngl I almost cried when I was done with unleashed. One of the best endings to a game I have ever experienced
What about Mario Galaxy’s ending?
To be honest this is one of the best sonic review videos I've ever seen in my life 10 out of 10 would watch again
That's always been my problem with people's hatred of Colors: it was a game that was made to combat actual criticisms that people had with Sonic at the time, but people insist that "What are you talking about, we always *loved* those problems! What dumb dumb told you we didn't?!"
Wait Colors is an unpopular game? I thought it was one of the most liked Sonic games.
@@PaperBanjo64 it _was_
And yeah this is my exact issue with alot of anti-colors and beyond critics, they often completely ignore criticism of the dark age games for reasons that amount to "well i LIKED these things" while criticising things that people like. They paint this narrative that sega just changed things for no real reason ruining what sonic "truly was" when that couldn't be farther form the truth.
Here's the thing, Colors had a lot of hype surrounding it when it released because it was the first mainline Sonic game since, like Shadow The Hedgehog that didn't shoehorn in alternate gameplay styles or characters and was just focused on pure Sonic gameplay. It was Sonic Team delivering on everyone's desire for a Sonic game that was just the boost levels from Unleashed. And the result was one of the first mainline games that wasn't plagued by some glaring issue and was a generally decent game, and that was enough for people to declare it the best 3D Sonic game since SA2.
Nowadays though removed from the time of it's release, people naturally start looking at the game with a more critical lense, and even then Colors is FAR from being unpopular. The game just wasn't all that ground breaking or ambitious compared to what came before it, so while it didn't have the same lows as before it also didn't have the same highs and it's much easier for people to focus on the games flaws when it didn't have anything especially great about it to distract from them.
you realise that the people that complained about the stuff colors addressed and the people who said they love that stuff are different people... right?
Moral of the story: Sonic Forces is one of the Sonic games of all time
It truly had some of the gameplay in the series.
It definally had a plot
It certainly was developed
It certainly came out.
It
Haven’t played any of these, but I super appreciate ya for doing all this work there Ant Dude! Acting like the Completionist over here! Was going to say you deserve a nice chili dog for all your hard work, but considering the Unleashed hot dog thing, maybe not oof. Great in depth vid!
Finally, someone recognize how great the red rings are in Colors. Going for them without a guide really flesh out the levels, if you skip them they feel too short.
it never occurred to me that the reason 06 black knight and so on feel nostalgic now is because they were made with confidence. you're absolutely right. i could never pinpoint what made the past few games feel more boring than paint until now.
Confidence when you lack talent is bad.
@@ikagura they didn’t lack talent
@@ikagura Dumb comment
Maybe not "confidence" but "earnestness"
@@ikaguragoofy ah comment
You did a great job wow, one of the most level headed “hey I just completed everything so you don’t have to” reviews, and really helped us move past the boost era. Merci
6:49 - 7:02 Most of us including myself were kids and pre-teens back when those games were recent. To put it simply, we grew up. Most of us are just turning 18 or in our 20s. It's the same thing for games like Black Knight, Lost World, Forces and 06. So even if there's understandable flaws/negative viewpoints on these games. We'll still hold them into high regard cause they brought us joy and comfort when we were younger or was in a bad part of our lives despite the negative reception they had.
Yeah, I think most people can agree that all of these games have at least a few flaws (especially 06) but they also have unique things that make them compelling and can still be fun with the right mindset (not going in and immediately saying "this game is garbage" before you've even tried it yourself".
Which is funny because Sonic already started being pretty dark in CD and 3K. And that's excluding SatAM and the comics.
If I may be so blunt, those kinds of classic fans are a little too nostalgia blind
@Casswury and then they made the Adventure Era fans feel that way and even mocked them all the while using 06 as a bludgeon to stop any attempt at going back for a decade, so yea, they're no room for sympathy when you had to bully your way to get what you want, but then again, everyone associated with Sonic has an agenda one way or another
Black Knight really was the end of an era of awesome Sonic Games & I'm saying this as an Adventure Fan. Unleashed I have to admit I didn't like because the humans were such ugly & unfitting trolls especially that Hot Dog Guy & I missed the playable characters. Kind of strange for a world adventure to only have 4 returning characters in its story.
What a wonderful 29th birthday gift!
More AntDude!
Been watching you since your first vids, back when you were nervous and dunked on yourself a lot. Wonderful to see one of your best videos ever; a real meaty essay with many layered opinions.
As with Unleashed, it's made with confidence. Cheers to you :)
1:08:41 is the sound of a happy man that "clearly" didn't take hours upon hours to make a video about completing four sonic games.
I have never played a Sonic game in my life but AntDude is so nice I‘ll still watch the whole video and am entertained.
this is so nice
you are the NiceDude
38:41 Actually, these codes were given away...sort of. A Sonic Generations statue in real life came with a set of codes for the Statue Room. I believe SEGA's intention was that people would have different statues in the game, but then with the Internet everyone just had all the codes and that was it.
21:13 Funny, since Blaze the Cat actually *was* in Sonic and the Black Knight. In fact, most of the characters in that game were based on existing characters, with the only new ones being the antagonist and the sword.
45:37 And the majority of them are playable, with their own dedicated stages/challenges as well.
I agree with Ant, Blaze deserves more screen time
Interesting fact about the Time Eater from Generations: Apparently it was originally supposed to be a fragment of Mephiles and is how we have Crisis City despite '06 not being canon. Supposedly Mephiles was supposed to be a much more reoccurring villain, for example, the evil Shadows we see in Forces were supposed to be Mephiles which is probably why Shadow's eyes look like he's part lizard. However due to the fact that Sega didn't want to acknowledge '06 ever again, these ideas never saw the light of day
Note: I don't have a source to back these claims up, this is merely stuff that travels by word of mouth from friends who know way more than I do about Sonic stuff when it comes to development, so do take it with a grain of salt
That still would’ve been a amazing idea story wise.
I’ve always wanted to see more continuity between Sonic games, this could’ve been wonderful
Um hope you guys know that 06 IS canon I mean why else would it be mentioned and referenced in Generations and I think your friends heard this cause Ian Flynn believes that Time Eater is a fragment of Mephiles
You just kinda telephoned the whole thing 😂
Me when I present speculation and rumors as “fact”:
I applaud you for this video Antdude! A completionist deep-dive on all the major boost games isn't something I've seen before, so it was an interesting (and very entertaining) way to approach them. Great work as always =D
Ok Ant, the wisps in Forces was at least explained in the IDW comics. After Colors, many wisps opted to stay on Sonic’s home world and when Eggman attacked in Sonic Forces, they volunteered their powers for the wispon weapons in Forces. I know comics aren’t games but I wanted to share that.
Colours does something very clever with its boost system.
If you just boost willy nilly, you'll run out quickly and miss some shortcuts or paths to red rings. By saving your boosts for ideal points of the level, for example to dash through the air down a large hill, or to get more height off a jump ramp, you access new areas ala the other Wisps!
I don't really think that's the case because when you pick up the white wisp, you're usually just boosting right then and there
@@thedead073 Being someone who (casually) speedruns the game, I don’t really use it like this.
Like the original comment said, I have to pick and choose carefully where I boost to get the most mileage out of the speed. And on top of that at times I’d intentionally run the boost gauge empty to have the air dash for 2d sections.
Umm well duh, it's literally Sonic's NOS.
I just gotta say: thank you. You just summed up *EVERY* reason why I don't like one-hundred-percenting a game. It's more trouble than it's worth. I only ever make a exception for certain ones, and only when they give me enough incentive. All the horror stories I've heard about Crash 4 has only amplified this feeling.
As someone who watched a lot of The Completionist, I must say the problem is the reward is often cannot worth it because it's often something that would be useful if you aren't done with everything in the game and when it's not, it's often just one picture with a "thank you for playing"
@@ZenoDLC Poor Johnny found that out the hard way when he finally completed super Mario sunshine. And for me personally, before legends Arceus, I had never completed a Pokédex before in my life. And unless the next Gen gives me proper incentive as well, *I’m never going to repeat that process ever again either.* Because that was three long weeks of hell. The only reason why toughed it out in the first place was because I really wanted to catch Arceus that bad.
@@SabeNo-rh7mb Poketips has a video where he showcases what happens when you complete the pokedex in each region, it's mostly a congratulations from the region's professor, a certificate from the game devs that you can sometimes print if the game allows it, and in the later games, the shiny charm
Bro same. I never 100% complete a game because nowadays with so many games to choose from, I just play the game until I am satisfied, I don't mind not completing 100%. Unless for some reason it is worth it. For example I remember catching the Pokemon just to get a shiny charm because I love finding shiny Pokemon that are my favorites.
@@luckypaolastudio8476 And they're all so *LONG.* Even when you're just focusing on the main campaigns, the minimum completion time for some of these games is around 8-10 hours. *And people still say THAT'S SHORT.* What kind of age are we living in where 10 hours is considered *SHORT?*
Generations and Unleashed are both in my top 3 Sonic games, Generations being my favorite in the entire series.
Well structured and engaging video with great jokes about a topic I love hearing about. You're really hitting your stride man, great video!
The bug at 5:00 is most likely because a portion of the game logic is still tied to the FPS. Same issue was had in Spyro Reignited. One of the magic crafter worlds had a wizard that would raise and drop a wall but if you had your framerate at 60 or above he wouldn't lower it until you hardcap it to 30fps.
Hey, hey Anthony, I have a secret for you…
That kind of looks like something….
LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT
Antdude literally said everything i wanted to say about these 4 games! Thank you!
Nice message at the end there Ant. I just wish I could apply it to myself more often, but the sunken cost fallacy is one that my mind just can't easily ignore. I picked up Xenoblade Chronicles when it launched on Switch and was excited because of all the love it gets here on RUclips but after a dozen hours I found it nothing but tedious and frustrating, and I still proceeded to put another 200 hours into it for full completion. Despite me catching myself wanting to put it down several times I just kept telling myself "I've come this far, I might as well finish it". I can at least say that I didn't waste my time with the extra chapter. Out of sheer curiosity I did load it up, but after seeing that I lost all my equipment, gems, and 40 levels I said "NOPE!" and shut it off.....small steps I guess.
@Thélos Sensei If I learned anything it would be just to not so blindly trust that I will like a game just because others do. The idea of not finishing something I started, especially if I paid money for it, still bugs me to no end. Another example was Bayonetta. I picked up the bundle of the first 2 games when they dropped on Switch and played the first one and loved it, but after finishing the main campaign I discovered that the completion criteria is absolutely atrocious. I did eventually give up but it still bugs me to this day knowing that I didn't complete it, and because of how atrocious the completion criteria was for the first game I decided to not even bother playing Bayonetta 2 at all.
Very thoroughly well done, thank you for the time and dedication required in making this video, it gives me something to consider next time I swing through the digital store.
I rarely vibe with Sonic games, but I really enjoyed this video! It almost makes me want to open the sealed copy of Generations I picked up on sale once upon a time.
They said it was impossible, but there's a Sonic video on RUclips that doesn't start by addressing the texture of Sonic's transition to 3D.
Seriously though, I agree that the "boost to win" argument is bullshit. The boost games aren't my cup of tea because fast-paced memorization and reaction is just not my preferred style of game. It's why I prefer his other 3D outings.
Sonic had a rocky transition to 3D.
My thoughts on each boost game's plot and gameplay:
Unleashed - decent plot, good-to-decent gameplay
Colours - dumb plot, mostly decent gameplay
Generations - dumb plot, fantastic gameplay
Forces - REALLY dumb plot, mediocre gameplay
Hard to call the Gens plot "dumb" when it doesn't even exist but I overall I mostly agree with your takes.
I'm probably one of the rare few that actually loves the Avatar sections in Forces and would love to have an entire game where we play as them. also for the hub worlds, I like SA1's approach to NPC's than Unleashed, but from what I've seen at any rate, I like how there's more to do in them, not sure if they're bigger than the SA1s Hubs, but that's my take.
I honestly had fun with avatars in Forces, that's one of the positives of that game, love that they can be customizable, plus so many outfits.
Boosting in unleashed and generations actually makes you feel like your going really fast...but forces..makes you feel like your slow
Ur videos hit different after 11pm in a good way
I always thought the Classic and Modern divide was by character design, not by era or game style
project 06 is a neat thing to exist
I suppose we can now start calling him "Boost Sonic" as the new games that are to come will take over the mantle of Modern Sonic.
"Uncle Boost, what was your game repertoire like?"
"Sit down kid, it's interesting but it's not really *that* big of a deal, no need to stand up when I tell you how it went."
Loving this vid so far!! (can't finish it rn due to exam prep but its making the experience so much better) Laughed a little at the comment about playing Forces while drunk since I first finished it in the hospital since it was the only game I could play one handed. Thanks for all your hard work!
Thank God I'm not the only one who can't get on that crane in chemical plant anymore
Such a great retrospective man! I love sonic unleashed I don’t care what anyone says lol
"Did you know that you can unlock Sonic 1 in Generations and it has incredibly botched audio?" Still better than AtGames.
I feel that the boost formula could make timing jumps and quick steps tricky, but I still enjoyed it because I felt that I actually was moving at the speed of sound, whereas in other games, I was moving only somewhat quickly!
considerin sonic forcez iz one of my fav games, & i got a big attatchment to it, itz kinda sad seein another person beatin it into the ground, but i appreciate the good comments ya did make abt it! ^^ awesome video!
To this day when I see the word laser, I still hear the Sonic Colors guy yelling “LAY-ZURR!!!” in my head lol.
Who doesn't love a new AntDude video?
Me
@@soceity5818 oh no
Not society???
@Morbius 🅥 stop doxxing people
I liked the boost formula it was very good, instead of finding momentum and speed you control it.
"Thanks to unleashed upgrade system, you can improve the hedgehogs in a variety of ways!"
*proceeds to dump every last XP gem in strength*
“I hope there aren’t any Jazz Bands near by…”
29:56
“God damn it!”
Forces fans have to defend it because their Sonic OC is in it
Unleashed did it right ngl and tbh we need quality animated shorts like night of the werehog again like fr
I never knew there was a secret trophy room in Generations. HOW am I just finding out about this now? 🤯
Only Antdude would suffer through 100% 4 games then edit an hour long video just to give us content
19:20
Funny thing about that: It was mentioned that the wisps liked the planet that sonic is from so much, that the majority of them decided to stay which is why they show up in games after colors.
This was brought up in the IDW comics and even earlier in a sonic runner game that has long since been out of service.
Must've been lonely back on the homeworld.
Watching this video make reminisced of good times I have with the Sonic series that change me of a man I am today. Easily one of the best retrospective of this era of Sonic.
Colours, Generations, and Unleashed (Day) are good to great games
SEGA actually gave out the Sonic Generations Statue codes in promotional figures.
I think the time eater should’ve done the same concept as forces final boss,a section for classic,a section for modern,and then super sonic chasing it through different zones from sonics past could’ve been awesome
Great video man, you really brought a solid perspective to the boost formula the games' legacy and what all of them brought to the table especially as we move into a new era for Sonic, why you also decided to complete them I won't understand but do you man 👍
“Hey look!i got the screen to say a$$” is the best line is the whole video
As someone who hasn't played much Sonic other than Generations in about a decade, I feel like I've heard much of this before...
Fans defending obviously poor games, dividing the series into eras (and arguing about what the start and end of an era is), debating which gameplay style the series should take in the comments, the series itself not being able to have focus, feeling like there's multiple groups of fans under one series, and releasing an awful title in 2017... Sonic as a series draws a lot of parallels to the Need for Speed series.
People defend obviously poor titles (Undercover and Payback), the series is put into eras (Classic/Hot Pursuit, Black Box/Underground, Weird/Criterion era, and Ghost era), people debate which gameplay style the game should have (brake to drift vs grip handling, cops vs. no cops, legal vs. illegal racing, having car customization vs. not having it), having weird, one-time games that bring a few people in (Lost World and SHIFT)... both even have very passionate modding communities.
So strange. No one would think that these series are similiar, but in terms of controversy, series changing direction, fans defending poor titles... much of the discussion around both series are very similar.
Most games and franchises that go on as long as Sonic tend to have their own Sonic-styled arguments. It's now becoming a meme for video games to have their own "Sonic Cycles", first as ironical referential humor then to unironic criticism/satire the moment the fans get tired of fighting/want to control the narrative of it. It's honestly not that surprising for games to grow them and sort of just an inevitability of fandom and internet culture. I know I've personally witness Fire Emblem, Touhou, King of Fighters, and yes, Need for Speed (though I was late to that party, only really getting it looking at Criterion's Hot Pursuit).
Sonic is just notable because its a colorful scrimblo blimbo platformer that was predicated on being a counterculture icon against Mario and his style of platforming, so it drew in a lot of...interesting fans...compared to other franchises. When combined with the VERY wide margins of quality for the games, the odd style of Sonic as a platformer and mascot (you can honestly describe the boost games more closer to F-Zero than Mario...), and SEGA honestly being a terribly mismanaged publishing company since INCEPTION, Sonic and its fans just get a lot of flak from just about everything, even the games itself. That's why it Sonic discussion is so notorious, despite it honestly being pretty common among video game franchises.
Absolutely loved this video. But oh my god he actually 100% completed all the games God bless his soul I could never put myself through that.
Unleashed is such a good game Even if you don’t like the Werehog Stages it is worth playing for those Amazing Daytime Stages!
Respectfully disagree.
It's still a flawed game(like, QUITE flawed), but its enjoyable
I would rank it 6/10
Oh Hello Hyp3r. What’s your opinion on Sonic Rush
@@QuardupapGamingI have never played Sonic Rush, actually. I would love to play it tho!
21:15)
The funniest part of this complaint is that Blaze was, in fact, in Black Knight as Sir Percival
Managed to watch this all the way through while working. Quite enjoyable
From what I’ve seen, I think the ds Sonic colors is a bit better. It trades the three extra stages for two bonus stages with sonics extra cast, and a secret super Sonic boss fight that I love. It also gives you different ways to decimate the bosses, either by fighting normally or beating them in 25 seconds.
This video made me want to play Sonic Unleashed and to a lesser extent, Colors. I've never actually played those games. Only boost era game I played was Generations (and a little bit of Forces before I washed my hands of it).
I'm much more of a classic 2d Sonic guy, the Genesis trilogy & Sonic Mania are my favorite games in the series.
35:29 was my favorite part! 🤣
“ALRIGHT I GET IT!!!!!”
With the Werehog you can hold the grab button and Sonic will usually grab the ledge for those tightrope walking segments, but well done either way!
I love the hour long videos, it means more to binge!