The blue blur is back – but is he starting to show his age?
Sonic the Hedgehog is 20 years old. Doesn’t look bad, does he? I mean, the average lifespan of a hedgehog is about 4-5 years, and he isn’t even showing a hint of grey. Mind you, he’s been through his fair share of re-incarnations – followers of the series will notice how quite a rotund, bouncy little pygmy has morphed into a lithe, gangly thing with numerous tricks up his sleeve (including transforming into a ‘were-hog’ when the sun goes down), but we won’t talk about that.
Actually, maybe we should. Because that it the exact selling point of Sonic’s latest iteration – themelding together of the new and the old in one bizarre package. A promise of going back to Sonic’s full-2D roots, blended with the newer 3D platform-come-racing approach of the more recent games certainly intrigues, particularly after the commercial and semi-critical success of ‘Sonic 4 – Episode1’, a return to the original series and to true 2D platform action.
Having said that, it seems a deliberate step backwards in the overall Sonic ‘masterplan’. For years, Sega have slogged on creating new gimmicks and ways of play to try to make Sonic work in 3D. Examples are too many to list, and successes too brief. So why even court this 3D Sonic back into play? Why not stick to what’s good, (and what the fans like), and create a brand new 2D Sonic game that works?
A brief beta demo of ‘Sonic Generations’ was released to the Playstation Network and Xbox Live last Thursday, and the results look pretty good. The opening level is pretty much a gorgeous remake of Green Hill Zone from the original ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ on Genesis. It has all the sheen you would come to expect from a modern release. The animations are fluid and work well in the environment,the textures and colour pop nicely and the whole thing looks smooth. It looks as if they’ve stuckwith the physics and weight of the most recent game, and there are still a few problems concerning that. Sonic feels a bit too heavy, and is tough to get going again when he comes to a stop. Sonic has always been about the speed, and if it’s a struggle to maintain that the game becomes a lot less fun to play.
However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel – the release of this demo might prompt Sega to listen to what needs to be done from the perspective of the people who play Sonic. The reason he’s stuck around for 20 years is because, despite his flaws, people love the little guy. We don’t want to see him fail, we want him to be as fun to play as he was when we were all kids. We don’t want our kids to think he’s lame because his games aren’t up to scratch.
So here’s hoping he can turn the corner, for the good of our children. I for one like the idea of a grey-haired hedgehog.
Words by James Gearing
To see Sonic in action, visit the SEGA website by clicking here
