#tails is one of the boss fights when you play as eggman in sa2 he literally said KILL THAT 8 YEAR OLD !!!!!!!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

local-void-creature-izzy · 3 months

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ReWrite AU; SA2 Basis:

Last Story

>>> Inside the ARK: Cannon Countdown: 0 Hours and 0 Minutes

The alarm is blaring loudly throughout the ARK, as Eggman entered the central control room, extremely confused why the cannon wasn't working despite the timer being at zero. "Argh! What the... What's going on?! Why doesn't the Cannon fire?!" Eggman exasperated, trying to get into the system to see what was going on.

In his attempts, a red light came on. "What?! What's happening here?!" He questioned, had he accidentally triggered a failsafe system? Had the system kicked him out? The doctor had a thousand questions running through his mind, especially as a recording became visible on the computer screen.

It was his grandfather. "It's... it's my grandfather! Gerald Robotnik!"

>>> ARK: RF room

Amy and Knuckles had just entered the room where Tails was waiting, and had a clear view of the planet, when the entirety of the ARK began to shake. "What's that...that vibration?!" Knuckles said, trying to keep his balance before the trembling started to slow down.

"Hey, wait... somebody's coming!" Amy said, looking up. Knuckles and Tails followed suit, as Rouge appeared from above, Knuckles was hoping to not see her again this soon.

"You...? You haven't given up yet?!" He asked.

Rouge had a downcast look on her face. "It's all over for us…" She grimaced.

"What do you mean by that?" Tails asked this time.

"I just received a message from my boss... The Space Colony ARK, is currently approaching earth at an incredible velocity. It, probably... will impact earth…" She explained, despite their effort to stop the cannon, the planet was still on a one way ticket to doom.

Before anyone could do anything, a computer screen that was nearby came alive, with the same recording of Gerald Robotnik that Eggman was witnessing. "Who is that?" Amy asked.

Similar to the announcement Eggman made that he would overtake the world in 24 hours, Gerald's recording plays not just all throughout the ARK but, on earth on every single television. In it, Gerald is looking at the floor and is bound to a chair by metal chains, it looked like he was in a prison cell. The professor began speaking in the recording.

"This is a death sentence for every human being on earth. If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the earth in twenty-seven minutes and fifty-three seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with your beloved planet earth." The Professor spat. The ARK began to hurtles towards the earth. Upon entering into the atmosphere of the planet, it becomes encased in a ball of fire.

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge, once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me... will feel my loss, and despair!" The Professor lamented, soon another voice in the background could be heard, it must have been the soldiers that arrested him.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" The soldier behind the camera asked, any life left in the Professor simply faded away in those final moments.

"No…" Were the Professors final words, as the sounds of guns being loaded, soldiers at the ready, before the footage cut off, yet it was clear what the fate of the Professor was…

"Okay seriously, who was tHaT-?!" Amy had started to reiterate her question before the trembling picked up again.

"Hey, the vibration's getting worse." Knuckles said.

As the four in the room were trying to figure out what to do, the door behind them swung open, Eggman walking into the facility now. "Professor Gerald Robotnik! One of the greatest scientific minds in the world, and my grandfather!" Eggman answered the question.

Knuckles quickly got into a fighting stance. "What?! I knew you were behind all this! Stop it right now, or else--" The echidna got cut off by Eggman.

"--I'd have done this a long time ago if I had the chance." Eggman countered.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, on the defensive if Eggman tried anything. Eggman surprised yet also not really to see she survived that trap of his.

"You're pretty persistent for a hedgehog, aren't you? You're still alive, huh?" Eggman taunted, as Amy got her hammer at the ready.

"Heh, just letting Knuckles pilot the shuttle all the way over here, was more dangerous than you could ever be!" She retorted.

"HEY!" Knuckles interjected, not liking the sly comment from Amy.

Eggman paid them no mind, as he walked over to Rouge and handed her a disk drive. Rouge was confused by this. "What is this?" She asked the doctor.

"This is my grandfather's diary." Eggman concluded.

Rouge didn't question it, as she walked over to the computer terminal that played the recording, placing the disk into the terminal by the wall and text starts scrolling up on the monitor. She began to read its contexts to everyone in the room. "I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the Ultimate Life Form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind... But then the military guards landed on the Colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project that I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe." Was how it started.

"The colony was completely shut down, probably to prevent the prototype from falling into the wrong hands.The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me! And I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything! I had nothing more to live for! I went insane!! All I could think about, was to avenge her! Somehow, someway, I got scared as I no longer was able to control my thoughts. All I could think about, was that I wanted it all to end. Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project; Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure... I will leave everything, to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world.." Rouge continued to scroll through the contents of the diary.

"..if you wish to fill the world with destruction-" She turned to look back at Eggman. "-So that's why you released Shadow from the military base!" She concluded.

"It is strange none of the contents spoke of Sonic…" Tails added on.

"The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive and explosive. This is because of the energy of the Chaos Emeralds is overpowering it. If the colony collides with earth, it will shatter into pieces like my grandfather predicted!" Eggman was kind of ecstatic hearing just what his grandfather was capable of. "That mad scientist!"

"Are you talking about him or yourself?" Amy sarcastically answered.

"We have to stop the Space Colony, now!" Tails exclaimed.

"The Space Colony ARK's position may have shifted due to the amount of energy given off by the Emeralds. We have to stop the energy!" Eggman explained to the others.

"How do we do that?" Tails asked, still confused.

Rouge caught one to what the plan was though. "Hmm, that's it. There is a way to stop the energy!" She pointed to Knuckles. "We have to use your Emerald! You're the one who told me that the Master Emerald has the power to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Of course, how could they forget that. "That's right." Knuckles confirmed, pulling out the Master Emerald. "If I use this, I just might be able to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

"But the Chaos Emeralds is already moving toward the Cannon's Core! It may be too late!" Tails interjected.

"There still may be time left. If we pull together, we might be able to get to the shortcut that leads to the core!" Eggman added on.

"I got it!" Amy exclaimed, before running towards the door. "I'll get those two to help! Just leave it to me!" Before the other's could offer any argument, Amy was out the door to go find Sonic and Shadow.

>>> Another Room on the ARK

"Guess this is it…" Sonic grimaced, looking down at the planet as it was getting closer and closer by the second with the faster the ARK descended. He was leaning against the edge of the window, his head resting on Shadow's shoulder as the other silently stared out the window. "At least, we're going out together. I couldn't ask for any better in the end." Sonic had a sad smile on his face.

Shadow stayed silent, his arm wrapped around Sonic's shoulders, his hand gently rubbing his shoulder in comfort. "If things were different, what would you have done?" Shadow asked.

"Honestly, I would have been happy exploring the planet, learning all its secrets, seeing what it had to offer. Running through the vast jungles, mountains, forests, and so much more. You by my side through it all." Sonic replied, getting closer to Shadow, who simply pulled him in.

"I like the sound of that, maybe it fate is kinder, then maybe in a next life, we can have that." Shadow concluded, part of him felt…regret. He was fulfilling the final wish of Maria, but he destroying Sonic's wish. He remembered, that…that was a wish Sonic had even back then.

"When we finally get down there, I want to explore all of it, but only if you come with me!" The memory of a more happier Sonic came back to his mind.

"I would be honored to accompany you, my love." Shadow remembered his response.

Could he be selfish and indulge in what could have been? Imagining what could have been if things were different, would he and Sonic have a place to call home on that planet?

"Going to be honest here Shads, I'm kinda scared. We're made to be immortal essentially but I don't see us coming back from this…so it's kinda scary knowing death is quickly approaching." Sonic admitted, trying to hide his face in Shadow's neck.

For all the carefree and nonchalant air Sonic carried, being faced with such an inevitable outcome, brought out a side Shadow only saw a handful of times. The darker hedgehog pulled Sonic into a hug, letting his body fall to the ground, his back against the metal wall of the window's ledge. He let Sonic bury his face in his chest, running his hand through Sonic's quills as he rested own head on top of Sonic's. "It's okay, I promised you a long time ago that I wouldn't let you suffer any pain alone. I intend to keep that promise until the very end, yeah, it's terrifying…but you're not going down alone. Like I said, if we go down then we go together."

Death was quickly becoming more apparent, and Shadow intended to keep it from Sonic as long as he could. He couldn't protect his sister, but he will protect his lover.

Suddenly the door burst open, startling the two, it was Amy, who was panting after knocking down the door with her hammer. "There you two are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" She exclaimed.

"What do you want faker?" Shadow asked, his grip on Sonic tightening.

"We need your help! Please! We need you!" She pleaded.

"Why should I?" Shadow retorted. "It's all going according to plan. There's no reason for me to help them. Besides, there's no way to save anyone." He elaborated, his glare ice cold as he stared at Amy.

"There has to be! I know that people fight over the most trivial things. Some people may be selfish, like the professor said... but they're basically good, if they try their best and never give up on their wishes. They always have a reason to be happy; that's why you should help them out! Saving them is a good thing! Shadow, I beg you, please do it for them! Give them a chance! If not for me, or them, do it for Sonic!" Amy was panting after yelling all that in one breath.

Shadow stared wide eyed at her, before looking down at Sonic. The blue and white hedgehog was looking up at his significant other. "Do you finally remember now?" Sonic asked.

It all finally came back to Shadow, his final memory of Maria.

"Shadow... I beg of you... please, do it for me... for a better future…" The dying blonde girl spoke to the scared and panicked Shadow.

"Maria!" Shadow had called out. "Let me out! Please! I can't leave you and Sonic here! Maria please!"

The girl gave a soft smile. "…for all the people who live on that planet... give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams .Don't worry about Sonic, he's okay. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason that you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow, the Hedgehog."

The memory faded away, as tears came down Shadow's face. "That's what I've promised her... I must keep that promise... That's what Maria wished for…" He whispered.

"Shadow?" Amy questioned.

Sonic reached up and wiped the tears away, gently kissing the other. "There's the Shadow I know and love." He said softly.

Shadow hugged Sonic tightly. "Thank you…for waiting this long for me to remember." Shadow said.

Sonic smiled. "For you, I'll gladly wait an eternity for you."

Shadow quickly stood up, helping Sonic up in the process. "gotta go now. I have to keep my promise to Maria - and you." Shadow said full of determination.

"Lead the way then." Sonic encouraged, a smirk on his face. "I'm not going to sit back while you guys have all the fun, so what's the plan?"

>>> ARK's Inner Workings

It was a collaborative effort on everyone's part to reach the core of the Eclipse cannon's energy supply.

Because it was so heavily sealed, Tails and Eggman had to work together on separate ends of the ARK to reach the locking mechanisms for the door that lead to where the Chaos Emeralds would be.

The deeper they went, the more robots aboard the ARK attacked them, but they were no match for the Tornado or Eggman's Egg-Mobile, their energy source must be solely directed to the cannon, so they didn't function as they were meant to, just firing at random.

Once the two unlocked the sealed mechanisms, it then fell onto Rouge and Knuckles to handle the second step. Rouge had to flood the system with water so it could drop in temperature, this would activate one of the final mechanisms halfway, while Knuckles would have to swim through the water and activate the mechanism once more in order to drain it, only then would the door open.

Now at the core, Amy walked in with Sonic who helped her get through the final set of obstacles. Upon entering the core, Amy saw how scarily familiar the set up was.

"Are you okay Rose?" Sonic asked her, noticing how she needed a minute.

"Wha- I'm sorry" She apologized, continuing to walk forward. "Its just, this set up is just like on Angel Island, where Knuckles guards the Master Emerald. He better get here soon with that Emerald." She explained.

"They probably designed the core like the shrine to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic gave his input as they walked towards the platform.

"I'm here!" Knuckles yelled, running in and quickly catching up behind the two. Good, they could do this easily now. Just as the three ran up the platform, suddenly a recording of Gerald Robotnik appeared in front of them, causing them to jump back away from the platform.

"What?" Amy questioned, hammer at the ready.

"The Professor?" Sonic was confused.

"All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss and despair!" The recording of the professor spoke, the whole room began to violently rumble.

"What now?!" Knuckles yelled, the three of them struggling to maintain their balance. The recording just kept repeating itself as the room shook.

The recording gave its message one final time before a bright light engulfed the entire room, causing the three to shield their eyes. When the light faded away, stood in front of them was a giant lizard that was half robotic, its eyes completely obscured by wires that connected to its mouth and it its back. It let out a horrific roar now that it was free.

"What is that?!" Amy yelled.

"Its…It’s the prototype." Sonic answered, in complete shock. "This was the prototype of the ultimate life form, this is Shadow's prototype."

"You mean the one that was supposed to be encapsulated?!" Knuckles retorted, all three prepared for a fight, when suddenly Shadow walked past them, offering his hand to Sonic.

"Leave this one to us." Shadow spoke. Sonic wordlessly nodded towards Shadow, standing by his side.

"Shadow, what're you doing?!" Knuckles asked.

Shadow walked up below the Biolizard, facing his prototype intently, Sonic at his side who was outputting his energy to try to weaken the creature. "We'll take care of this, while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!!"

The creature let out a horrible scream, as Amy and Knuckles split from the other two hedgehogs, the mechanical lizard swung its tail in retaliation to prevent them from going forward, but was made disoriented by Sonic's screech, allowing Amy and Knuckles to sneak past and head towards the makeshift temple.

"Gotta say Shadow, I hope I don't have a prototype out there, if this thing is anything to go off of." Sonic said, running circles around the lizard, making it dizzy whenever it tried to attack.

"A pathetic attempt, I almost feel sorry for it. Let's put it out of it misery." Shadow added, climbing up the metal pipes that stuck out of the creature and attacking the weak point on its back, the creature howling in pain as he did so.

Sonic let out another screech, the bio lizard howling from the pain it caused. "Impenetrable skin but a giant self destruct button on it back, how innovative." He sarcastically remarked, Shadow chuckling in response.

This game of cat and mouse continued on, the creature trying to slay its targets but it proved no match against the living speed and the true ultimate life form. It took one final hit from Shadow before it collasped. .

As that was happening, Amy and Knuckles reach the platform and see a hole in the center for the Master Emerald to be inserted. "It looks like the Master Emerald fits here, Knuckles do the honors will you?" Amy said.

Knuckles nodded, taking out the Master Emerald from the sealed space he created to keep it in, placing it down on the spot in the temple's center. Once it was in place, Knuckles closed his eyes.

He put his focus on the Master Emerald, kneeling down before it and saying the ancient words passed down from his ancestor Tikal, from the time Perfect Chaos attacked Station Square. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos. Only you can do this; stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

The Master Emerald spins rapidly and emits a green aura. Several mixed energies dash around, and the Biolizard screeches. After shrieking again, it uses Chaos Control to warp away.

"What the-? Is it gone?" Sonic asked, confused to where that giant monster disappeared to, walking up the makeshift temple stairs to join Amy and Knuckles, Shadow not that far behind.

"Is that what Chaos Control is truly capable of?" Shadow questioned, reaching the top of the temple steps.

Once all four were present, the entire space station began to violently shake once more. "Since we stopped the Chaos Emeralds, why is the Space Colony still on a crash course to earth?!" Knuckles exclaimed, as the loud speaker suddenly came on.

"The Prototype is still alive! He's controlling the Space Colony as it is falling to earth! He has become one with the Space Colony, and is determined to keep it on its collision course!!" Eggman yelled from the loud speaker before it cut off.

Amy looked at Knuckles, who nodded silently in response. Using his abilities, he summoned forth the chaos emeralds, and they began to swirl around Amy. "Just leave it to me, Super Amy will have that thing taken care of in no time!"

"We'll-"

"I'll go with you."

Sonic was caught off guard by Shadow suddenly cutting him off, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was the final battle, it was now or never, and Shadow wanted Sonic to stay behind?

Shadow could feel Sonic's eyes digging into the side of his head. "Can you two give us a moment?" Shadow asked.

"Sure why not, it's only the fate of the world at stake." Knuckles responded sarcastically as Shadow pulled Sonic to the side.

"Shadow, you can't be serious about going in alone on this." Sonic said, feeling Shadow's tail under his chin as the other got closer. "This isn't what we planned, this isn't-" Sonic didn't get to finish his sentence. But what Shadow had to say wasn't any better.

"Mi Amor, I need you here if something goes wron-"

"Don't." Sonic cut him off before he could even finish that thought, grabbing Shadow by his shoulders. "Don't say that, nothing is going to go wrong, you're coming back fine." He had to come back fine, Sonic would never forgive himself if Shadow burned out when he could have done something to stop it.

It hurt Shadow to see the other like this, but it was true what he was saying. Anything could happen and the world couldn't lose both of them like this. And if the world had to lose one of them, Shadow prefer it be him, the living weapon. But not Sonic, Sonic was a pure embodiment of all that was good and beautiful on that planet, he won't let them lose that.

Shadow grabbed Sonic's chin, lifting his head up to face him, and kissed the other. Sonic melting into the kiss, not wanting to let the other go. The two pulling away when the need for air arose. "Promise me you'll come back." Sonic asked, a begging, pleading look in his eyes.

"...."

"Promise me, Shads...please..." Sonic begged him, he needed to hear those two words from Shadow even if it wasn't true.

"....I promise." Shadow agreed, yet deep down, he knew he would end up breaking that promise. He gave Sonic one final kiss on the forehead, before joining up with Amy.

She offered him her hand. "Let's go out there and save the world, you ready?"

"Hmph, what kind of question is that?" Shadow responded, taking her hand and a bright light enveloped them, before it flew out of the ARK.

Knuckles and Sonic watched as the two flew off, Knuckles looked towards Sonic, seeing how tightly he was gripping himself. "Are you okay Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"I'd be lying if I said yes, let's just go back up to everyone else." Sonic said, avoiding the conversation.

>>> ARK: RF Room

The two joined back with Tails, Rouge, and Eggman, all of them watching in silence as the battle progressed outside the ARK.

It was clear the creature of putting up one hell of a final fight. "If those two are planning something then they need to do it now! There's no time!" Eggman yelled.

Sonic watched in silence, worry across his face, praying to whoever was listening that they succeed. Things couldn't end here, not like this. "Amy hurry, there's five minutes left!" Tails exclaimed into the comms.

Meanwhile on the outside, Shadow and Amy had just finished off the creature but the ARK was plunging down to earth, wrapped in fire. Amy and Shadow speed to it, enveloped in a golden light.

"Now Shadow!" Amy exclaimed, the two flying at high speeds towards the ARK.

"CHAOS CONTROL!!" The two yelled in unison, using all the strength they had to teleport the ARK back into orbit, the plan was risky but it was a success. The world and the ARK were safe now.

"WE DID IT SHADOW! Shadow?" Amy had begun to cheer when she turned to face Shadow and saw he didn't look so good. "Hey what's wrong?" She asked flying towards him.

He overdid it, his body couldn't maintain stability anymore. Is this what they called your final moments? As Shadow swore he could hear Maria's voice faintly speaking to him. Through his blurred vision, he could see Amy approaching but held his hand in front of him to stop her. "Don't, you'll fall too…" He spoke.

"Shadow I don't-" Amy was going to say she didn't understand until she saw Shadow flickering in and out of existence, beginning to fall down towards the planet. "SHADOW!" She tried to reach him but he pushed her away.

"Take care…of Sonic…" Was the last thing he said before he completely disappeared into the atmosphere of the planet, leaving behind a single cracked inhibitor.

Amy silently grabbed it, wiping away tears for the one she barely knew but could already call a friend. "Goodbye, Shadow the Hedgehog." She whispered into space, before flying back to the ARK!

Inside the ARK, everyone feeling relief and celebrating. But Sonic? Sonic was still watching from the window, a shaky smile on his face. They had did it, now all that was needed for them to come back onto the ARK-

That's when he saw it happen ,Shadow's super form flickering in and out. "No...." His voice giving out on himself. Dread, horror, fear, panic, engulfed the entirety of Sonic's body and mind, as the scene before him began slowly playing out.

How Amy tried to reach for Shadow who was passing out now, how Shadow sent her away. He couldn't make out what they were saying. All he knew was- "NO! Shadow- NO no no no-!" Sonic yelled, he tried to go after Shadow, Chaos knew he was fully prepared to break the window to go after him.

It took three in the room, Rouge, Tails, and Knuckles to hold him back, and not actually break through the window. "Let me go- I need to- SHADOW! SHADOW PLEASE! LET ME GO DAMN IT! SHADOW-"

Shadow was there one second, flickering in and out of existence, the next, Sonic saw him turn into dust as he descended to the planet. Only a cracked inhibitor left behind, Amy carefully grabbing it with a sad look on her face.

Sonic felt his whole world shatter, as he stopped fighting against the others and fell to his knees. "S-Shadow...." He stared with wide eyes at the spot where his lover had been, tears welling up in his eyes. This was a bad dream, this had to be a bad dream.

Yet he knew this wasn't a dream. This was reality, and reality….just ripped away the most important person in his life away, the one he was made to protect, to prevent this exact situation from happening. He failed his one mission from the professor, he failed Maria, he failed Shadow….

"No...SHADOW!!" The dam burst, when the others tried to comfort him, he pushed them away.

When Amy entered the ARK again, inhibitor in hand, she walked towards Rouge, handing it to her silently. "Do you really think... that the professor created him, Shadow, to carry out the revenge on all those who live here, on earth?" She asked Amy, to see what she thought Shadow was, who he really was meant to be.

"He was what he was. A brave and heroic hedgehog, who gave his life to save this planet. Shadow the Hedgehog…" Amy answered, looking out towards the window.

Rouge was satisfied with that answer. "I guess you're right." She looked down on the inhibitor ring. "This should be enough to convince them that Shadow is no longer a threat." She began, pulling Amy's attention back to her. "I hope this will be enough to at least give Sonic the freedom he deserves down there. It looked like…Shadow told you something, what was it?"

Amy gave a soft yet sad smile. "To take care of Sonic, I don't know if I can live up to his expectations, but I will do my best to keep that promise to Shadow. Until the very end, Sonic was his priority." Amy answered, as Rouge began to walk away, a smile on her face as well.

In another part of the room, Eggman and Tails were having a conversation. "As a child, I looked up to my grandfather because of all the great things he accomplished in his life. He was my hero, and I wanted to be a great scientist like him. But... did he really mean to destroy us?" Eggman questioned.

"I don't know. But what I do know is, we all did it together!" Tails exclaimed, because it's true. No one could know what was going through Gerald's distraught and grieving mind, but they worked together to make sure that possible final wish of Gerald couldn't come true.

"So what's next for you, Rouge? Off again to find those jewels you love so much?" Knuckles asked Rouge who was about halfway out the door.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna give up this line of work. Too much work, for too little pay. Anyway... I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now... ...It'll all work out, you'll see." She told him but he didn't trust a word she said, simply agreeing with her for now, hoping that it was just that and he wouldn't wake up to the Master Emerald gone or in pieces because of her.

It was a somber, bittersweet moment for everyone, all seemed satisfied and relieved in some way. But Sonic saw red through his tears. Oh how he burned with heartbreak and rage, as he heard the conversations. Within a second, he had grabbed Amy by her neck. "YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM YOU WERE RIGHT THERE WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM?!?!?!" He yelled through the tears.

The others were trying to get him to let go of Amy. "He- He told me not to. To- Protect you.." Amy said, to the best of her ability.

Sonic let go of her, staring as Amy coughed, struggling to catch her breath. "What a load of crap, I don't need protection."

"I'm not lying...Sonic." Amy tried to reason, with the angry hedgehog. "He asked me to take care of you. We have had a rough beginning, but we can start over. Join us on our adventures Sonic, you deserve a second chance, and I believe you're a great person, and maybe we can be friends?" Ever the optimist Amy was, once again holding her hand out towards Sonic.

Sonic just stared. It was an awkward few minutes, before he smacked her hand away, turning away from her and making his way towards Rouge, snatching the cracked inhibitor. "You have some fucking nerve. You really think I want to team up with the person that sent my partner to his demise?!" *Sonic spat, shoving Knuckles and Rouge away and walking towards the exit.

"Sonic wait-" It was Rouge this time, trying to talk some sense into Sonic.

"Don't follow me. None of you. Right now, I can't stand the sight of any of you. So do me a favor and just leave me the fuck alone. You've done enough." And with that, Sonic left for the planet, and none of them knew if he was going to be okay or if they would ever see him again.

It truly was a bittersweet ending to this adventure.

-The End-

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crusherthedoctor · 6 months

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What are you favorite Eggman mechs? Like the Death Egg Robo, for example :3

This will be a rapid fire one, because with the sheer number that come to mind, and the urge to resist listing every single one of them, even the laughable ones like Egg Dealer (I'm a diehard Eggfan, what do you expect?), I'd be here all day if I went into extensive detail for each of them, and it would also be pointless because most of them amount to "it cool :3". This will include mechs piloted by other characters that were nonetheless very likely to have been made by the good doctor.

Egg Pistons - For the first final boss in the series, the idea is very creative despite its simplicity. I like the concept of the room itself being the danger, an idea that's shared by the final bosses of Sonic 1 and 2 on the MS/GG.

Catcher Eggman - I like how neon it is, and it's a surprisingly tricky boss for so early on in Sonic 2. Not super tricky granted, but moreso than any other up until Metropolis.

Brass Eggman - He's good with the instruments. My favourite part is when Eggman starts playing tennis with Sonic and then transforms into a giant boar monster.

Death Egg Robot - It's a classic for a reason. I'm so happy its iteration in the second movie was as faithful as it was. And of course, I love all of the spiritual successors that we've seen over the course of the series. The Super Egg Robo in Advance 1, the Super Egg Robo Z in Advance 2, the Eggrobo in Lost World, Black Eggman/Metal Robotnik in the OVA...

Screw Mobile - Bouncing off the water gushers to hit him is fun.

Drill Mobile - Why do people say Marble Garden is forgettable when it has a highlight moment for Tails?

Big Arm - This is one of the Egg Mobile attachments that everyone loves, and rightly so. It's so simple, yet so badass.

Hang Mobile - Gee S3&K, how come SEGA gave you TWO bosses that resemble a penis?

Egg Golem (S3&K) - I like it when Eggman incorporates his tech into natural structures or ancient monuments and weaponizes them. It's a nice spin on his usual schtick, and it's for similar reasons that I like the SA2 Egg Golem, as well as the Rusty Ruin boss from 3D Blast.

Hot Mobile - It looks cool, and the lead-up to it is one of S3&K's many iconic moments. Shame the boss itself amounts to waiting for it to unalive itself.

Great Eggman Robo and the Final Weapon - They both contribute to why S3&K has one of the best finales in the series.

Speed Slider Boss - The boss itself is perhaps not very good (the bosses in Chaotix are not what I'd call a tour de force), but a carousel-themed boss is delightful and on-point for Eggman's character, so whatever.

E-Mech - tfw it's only pathetically easy because if it had access to the moves you can use when you hack Fighters to play as him, you would stand no chance against him. He was too OP for his own good. A testament to his genius.

Egg Viper - The design is top class. The fight is top class. The meme is top class. But my favourite part of the whole thing is the sui-dive at the end, and how the music goes completely silent from the moment you land the last hit, all the way until it finally crashes into the pit in a glorious inferno. Would a half-hearted villain have gotten such a cool not-death scene? I think not.

Egg Walker (SA1) - "You fool. Away... before I make suggestive art of the new character in less than 24 hours after they were revealed."

Egg Walker (SA2) - Yeah, it's weird how he doesn't use any other mechs in the whole game when you put the gameplay justification aside, but as a portable version of the aforementioned walker, it's just as effective as its bigger brother, and packed equally to the brim.

Egg Spider - One of the trickier water zone bosses in the series... unless you're playing as certain characters I guess.

Egg Hammertank II - As Advance 2 was my first Sonic game, this was my first Eggman boss, so there's a nostalgic soft spot present for it.

Egg Bomber - It's Eggman in a tank. That's it, that's the reason.

Egg Totem - This has always been one of my favourite bosses in Advance 2 due to the balancing act you have to pull for it, and it caps off the already excellent Music Plant.

Egg Saucer - I love it when the fandom suffers for its sins. Even if that includes me.

Egg Shrimp - "Don't worry lads, there's a very important reason why I'm building this." *captures little kid's mother just to spite them*

Egg Emperor - Another instant badass. Metal Sonic may have been the one piloting it, but he wouldn't have used it for his ruse cruise if it wasn't Eggmanny, and it probably was the real Eggman who piloted it in Generations 3DS, so there.

Egg Mobile (Battle) - I don't know if this counts since it's just the Egg Mobile on its lonesome with red armor. But it's a boss, so I guess that's all that's required. He only has two attacks, yet he's still one of the harder opponents in the whole game regardless, and it's followed shortly after by him driving Emerl insane and forcing Sonic to Old Yeller him. Well done, Ivo, that's the kind of wholesome content I'm sure the fandom has in mind when they talk about you.

The Advance 3 bosses in general - Just for how hilariously checked out G-Merl looks when he's crammed into random places on said mechs. Special mention for the Egg Cube in Toy Kingdom for being a unique ring out boss.

Egg Breaker - This is basically just Egg Emperor Jr. (even has the same face lol), but it's still cool with its morning star arm and its YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, THE MORE THE MERRIER, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, THE MORE THE MERRIER, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY- I know this only happens in the Mad Matrix version, don't ruin the joke

Egg King - Running on the mech itself, even if only briefly, is the hypest shit.

Egg Salamander - The one with the funny song about coffee.

Ghost Titan - Whisker was the pilot, but he himself is an Eggman robot, so... I just enjoy how chunky and tank-like it is for something that can float.

Egg Wizard - This is one of the most underrated final Eggman mechs, and one of the most underrated final bosses in the series period. Its design sets itself apart from others in the doctor's catalogue, as do the magic-based attacks gifted by its theft of the Jeweled Scepter. Only downside is that Nega's there.

Egg Dragoon - You knew this one was coming. Iconic design, iconic battle, better than Dark Gaia and its ridiculous number of back-to-back QTEs without question. Then it returned in Generations with some Egg-Wyvern wings and a nice Egg Viper tail. Good stuff.

Nega-Wisp Armor - Eggman finally got to be the true final boss of a 3D game. Only took over a decade. Bowser never had to wait that long. The fight itself, while easy, is still memorable with how he uses the Wisps' abilities against you. Even the announcer is on his side.

Time Eater - He finally got one of them under his control, and gave it a sick clockwork aesthetic. I will always sing the praises for this achievement, especially when later material has regressed back to square one for no good reason. I like to imagine that its jittery movements is the creature itself trying and failing to fight back against Eggman's control. Gives the whole thing an extra layer of cruelty, and remains consistent with the doctor's modus operandi of shoving sentient beings in steel coffins when they never asked for it.

Weather Mobile - The gimmick is both fun and funny. As is the infamous buzzing at the end.

Gachapandora - Gotta catch 'em all.

Phantom Egg - Despite looking like a ronper suit, the fight itself and how it incorporates the non-King Heavies makes it a winner. And the music, obviously.

Klepto Mobile - How is a hastily cobbled together piece of shit able to keep up with Phantom King to a standstill? Because that's the magic of Eggman when he's used properly.

Mega Death Egg Robot - Storing a second mech inside the first one is the most Eggman thing ever, and a final example of how cunning he was throughout all of Forces.

Bridge Island Boss - It's already a good spin on the Death Egg Robot archetype, but then it summons the Big Arm claws. It's still the first boss when all is said and done, but it's one of the best first bosses, and considering how the later bosses in Superstars have gained a reputation for being challenging, starting off with something like this is some good foreshadowing.

Sky Temple Boss - The Wacky Workbench boss, but actually a threat for reasons beyond forgetting which platforms you shouldn't bother with.

Egg Diablo - What do you get when you cross a villain that takes pride in his evil, and a fandom that insists on making him a good father and demanding he retire from villainy altogether? I'll tell you what you get: you get what you fuckin' deserve. The shogun influence is interesting, kind of like the classic equivalent of the Egg Emperor's knight motif. And I like the rewind gimmick, which I'm still convinced is a reference to the unused Final Fever from Taxman CD. (Seeing how the Black Dragon was likely inspired by the unused dragon boss concept in S3&K, it doesn't seem too farfetched.)

Fang's Mech - Yes, Fang has an engineering side, but it's got Metal Sonic eyes, he was already working for Eggman in this game, and there's no way he could have given players a concussion without some assistance from the man who gave us the Egg Diablo.

#Crusher's Asks #Opinion #Dr. Eggman

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400terahertz · 1 year

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thoughts about frontiers after beating it obvs this will b spoilery so read at ur own risk bcus BOY i need to ramble

GOT DAM WHAT A GAME.....WOW JUST WOOOOOO omg ok

first the islands were very fun to play through. i 100 percent mapped them bcus i was obsessed with running around finding things, doing the side story bits and challenges. enjoyed the platforming a lot 2 around the world! my first sonic game was forces so tbh playing frontiers was a bit of a learning curve bcus its a lot more involved i think. like with the bars u swing round i fucked up so much at first but they r very fun once u get used 2 them. i like how some of the platforming was tied together so u could go from one 2 the other when u get it right!! also with doing the challenges unlocking more ride rails around the islands if u wanted a quick get around

enjoyed the guardians a lot 2!! faves were that of ares island tbh i enjoyed the strider and shark ones. fuck the tank tho. the last island guardians made me want to explode bcus i cannot parry. so i just kill with sonic boom instead

also just the general layout of the islands was good as well. amen for the marker placing but i like that they did make u work 2 get 2 some places. like getting the sixth chaos emerald

general gameplay was good 2!! i got the whole skill tree for fun bcus i wanted to see how everything worked. sonic boom was by far my fave. killing and maiming

cyberspace was also fun 2! ik they reused level design but i actually found it fun recognising level layout like from sa2, generation and unleashed. also having different routes and the missions did make me replay a few levels a couple time bcus i liked the satisfaction of clearing all four of them (tho i got lazy towards the end bcus i was buzzing 2 see the final boss). one gripe about it tho my god the cameraaaa. maybe it was just me but the fixed camera honestly fucked me over for some of levels. in open world it was mostly ok like when u got it 4 the 2d esque platforming but for cyberspace it made things a bit harder. but i still enjoyed it anyway but fuck you sky sanctuary all my homies hate sky sanctuary

boss fights i will take about later but uhh characters!! IM SO HAPPYYYYYY sonic characters when they r actually done right my beloved. i love how amy is becoming more independent (which eggman literally mentions in his memos) and not that 2d chasing sonic girl. its nice to see her get actual character depth and have her b more insightful. it was nice to see i adore amy so it made me smile. also loved her interactions with the koco honestly they were besties. and i love how sonic cares and doesn't brush her Off. ik he gets a little mad but its more just not like hes fr mad at her more like i really want to help you like i dunno how 2 describe it but yknow. it was nice to see how much he cared about her. and i think its nice 2 see that shes grown up a little and is more independent, excited to see where she'll go in the future.

knuckles and sonic my god fruity as FUCKING ANYTHING. genuinely made me giggle they were very funny together which i missed bcus they jest!! theyre silly guys who know how 2 be serious. also knuckles and his autism about all the history of the islands was so lovely it made me happy 2 see him b like yknow!! not b made fun of or what not. yknow hes still got that degree of 'grew up alone and away from most modern things' but they don't make him seem stupid for it yknow. also the moments between him and sonic that r more serious r done well and not like twisted into a joke or anything. if they do tease each other they play fair. they both respect each other even if they get on eahc others nerves. they gay yknow?

AND TAILS. HAND IN MY FUCKING MOUTH MILES TAILS PROWER. god his interactions with sonic really brought back the big brother little bro dynamic ive been missing rather than just guy and his sidekick. its nice to see tails have hangups about stuff and sonic not just teasing and actually sincerely talking about it with him. also tails talking to sage about how he trusts sonic with his life her observation of them being a family even if not genetically so. it was just very nice 2 see the dynamic come back again. also excited 2 see how tails does in the future as well, believing in himself and all. also I LOVE that u can see sonic in tails between the mimicking expression. also tails technology autism straight from the beginning amen.

for sage and sonic it was kinda funny 2 see his expression like boy was tired of the vagueness but yknow he also tried to play nice when he gets knuckles to not attack her and just trying 2 get her to open up a little. in particular the one scene on chaos island where hes a bit snippy with her bcus hes tired and hurting honestly but once she leaves he kinda :[ bcus he does want to help her if she would just listen.

sage and eggman oh my god. rotates. the egg memo talking about what if sage was like maria. oh my god i read thru them and just seen the increasing affection from him 2 her really drove me nuts /pos. eggman may be evil but god that fatherly affection got me good. the scene at the end when hes watching the shooting stars and he knows shes gone but not for real. bcjs he clenches his fist and you knew he was gonna get her back. bcus thats his girl.

sonic himself was such a breath of fresh air honestly he wasn't a jerk or dismissive he was the sincere, respectfully teasing loyal as hell guy we know and loved and missed. his character in this game was so perfect 2 me. tails is right he is not perfect u see him get mad and snappy sometimes but its bcus he cares and hes doing everything he can to help his friend s. he is so dedicated while also keeping them company and talking things thru with them. i missed his serious side as well. he knows when not to fuck around and what he needs to do. god it was lovely.

animation. explodes A MOVE AWAY FROM THE MASCOT SYNDROME. they r using small blue anthropomorphic hedgehog anatomy 2 their advantage bcus he is not gonna move like a real person. the bounce of the animation, the use of eyebrows for expression, EAR WIGGLES. it was so nice and fluid. everytime i got into a fully animated cutscene i exploded everytime bcud UGHHHHHHH it just scarcthed my brain. also the changes in sonics idle pose as u progressed thru the story bcus of the cyber corruption. biting a pillow. i felt bad making him run around once i got 2 rhea island bcus HE WAS TIRED. HE WAS TIRED AND HURT!!! go take a nap for one week boy.

in terms of story i enjoyed mysf a lot. the ai vocie actually ending up being the enemy was not my expectation. honestly my major impression was sage being the villain and belonging 2 the islands when she is in fact eggmans creation. so that was a twisty bit for me. i liked the lore!!!! learning new stuff about old things like the emeralds was cool i love new info on things!! also the million callbacks to old games that gave that hint of continuity like name dropping old game events or bosses . god it made me pig everytime honestly considering the inconsistentcy of the timeline here. ESPECIALLY WITH REFERENCES TO OTHER CHARACTERS. LIKE TANGLE god that scratches my brain bcus it connects the idw comics to canon now and that is crazy. i would say one thing that disappointed me was the way that sonic cyber corruption was easily resolved after all the build up for the whole game. i am silly and i was hoping for some aspect of sonic final boss especially with the evil ai i was partially convinced he was gonna get taken over. which wouldve honestly been sick. even if not that i wouldve like to see what sonic was experiencing just standing there like that. tails mentioning he was between realities really has me thinking about what he mightve been doing in that brief amount of time. but yeah i wish there was smth more of it but i have stuff 2 draw out later so its ok. was convinced bcus of the shot where amy runs up to him the angle his head is at just makes him look ominous as hell.

boss FIGHTS.GOD I AM BAD AT GAMING BUT I WAS HYPED AS HELL THE WHOLE WAY THRU. wave was the knight one purely for the sword bit at the end my mouth was fucking on the floor watching it. hardest 4 me was the wyvern bcus i cannot fucking parry but thst one has my fave ost. i didnt get the true final boss so i felt the final boss i did get (just supreme and qte for the end) was kinda lacking. but i havent watched gameplay for the hard mode yet so yeah.

AND MUSIC WOOHOO!! jammed out in cyberspace and in the boss fights really hard. i like the tech synth they had for cyberspace but the contrast with metalcore for thr boss fights. i hope they stick with that theme in the future bcus sonic really does sound best with rock.

nd yeah!! that's all i can think of rn but i enjoyed myself a lot!! new fave sonic game :]

#.chat #extremely long post have fun

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dizzyhslightlyvoided · 2 years

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So, everyone says "Sega should make Sonic Adventure 3". However, I believe they have already done so, in spirit if not in name.

What constitutes a "Sonic Adventure" game? Well, let's look at the commonalities between Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2:

Multiple freely-selectable storylines, each defined by a specific character or set of characters with their own idiosyncratic gameplay and set of moves and abilities, and which all take place at the same time.

As such, there are rival battles, in which the protagonist of one route fights the protagonist of another route -- and this fight is played out in both routes; in SA1, there's i.e. a point where Knuckles attacks Sonic, and you play it out as each of Sonic and Knuckles in their respective routes. Regardless, it's a clear case of "hero vs. hero".

Attempts to set a new standard for Sonic the Hedgehog games -- SA1 by being 3D and by having writing and dialogue, and SA2 by taking the story in a more serious direction with GUN and Shadow. It should be stressed, however, that this point refers to an attempt; it doesn't have to succeed, or even be very good.

Worldbuilding-first writing; the game's setting has its own history which is relevant to the plot. Indeed, this history might be the main reason why this plot happens in the first place. The plot is actually started off when Eggman barges in to try to steal or exploit some aspect of this history. Most or all of the individual levels are in halfway plot-relevant locations.

The Chaos Emeralds are the central MacGuffin. In both SA1 and SA2, Eggman is explicitly attempting to acquire all seven of them for his nefarious purposes.

Character upgrades; the protagonists start out with a limited set of abilities, and unlock more as they progress.

Notwithstanding him being the one to set things off, everything spirals out of Eggman's control, and the final boss is essentially Sonic doing damage-control on Eggman's already-failed plot.

So let's go down the checklist for some other games:

Sonic Heroes

Multiple freely-selectable storylines: Check; Team Hero (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles), Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge, and Omega), Team Amy (Amy, Cream, and Big), and Team Chaotix (Espio, Charmy, and Vector). Like SA2, each route is defined by a set of characters, each of which has the same general set of abilities as their counterpart(s) in the other route(s).

Rival battles: Check.

Attempts to set a new standard: Hm. It's built around a gimmick, but I think that this basically counts. Check, even if it fails.

The Chaos Emeralds are the central MacGuffin: Nope; while Sonic gets them in order to become Super Sonic, they aren't really a major part of the plot?

Worldbuilding-first writing: No. The plot is presented as "Eggman attacks", and the setting is never actually relevant.

Character upgrades: No.

Everything spirals out of Eggman's control: I wanna say half-check; if you know the endgame twist of Sonic Heroes, you know exactly why.

In conclusion, Sonic Heroes is not a Sonic Adventure game.

Sonic Unleashed

Multiple freely-selectable storylines: No, just Sonic, who transforms into the Werehog.

Attempts to set a new standard: Check; they redid 3D Sonic gameplay from the ground up.

Worldbuilding-first writing: Sonic travels the whole world, and each location has its own atmosphere and general character; however, the only really relevant history is that of Dark Gaia and the Chaos Emerald temples. Mmm ... eh, check.

Character upgrades: Check.

The Chaos Emeralds are the central MacGuffin: Soooort of? Eggman isn't looking for them here, he explicitly drains their power in a cutscene and tosses Sonic out of orbit. Sonic is traveling the world in order to restore their power.

Rival battles: No; the only other protagonist characters who show up are Tails and Amy, who they're both strictly plot-NPCs, with Amy only barely plot-relevant at all.

Things spiral out of Eggman's control: Check.

Sonic Unleashed hits a bunch of notes, but doesn't go for the rest.

That other game

And then, of course, there's one other game we have to examine.

Multiple freely-selectable storylines: Check. Sonic (who also has Tails, Knuckles, and Silver once or twice), Shadow (who has Rouge, Omega, and Silver once or twice), and Silver (Blaze, Amy, and Shadow once or twice).

Attempts to set a new standard: The title indicates that it's meant to be a soft-reboot. Check, and massive failure.

Worldbuilding-first writing: The history of the setting and of the local religion are basically where the plot comes from, at least in Silver and Shadow's storylines. The game even opens with Eggman trying to kidnap someone in order to exploit it. Check.

Character upgrades: Check; Sonic, Shadow, and Silver have them, but other characters don't.

The Chaos Emeralds are the central MacGuffin: Check. Both Eggman and the other villain are searching for them.

Rival battles: Check; Sonic vs Silver and Silver vs Shadow.

Everything spirals out of Eggman's control: Check!

Therefore, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is Sonic Adventure 3.

#shenanigans #sonic #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2 #sonic adventure 3 #sonic heroes #sonic unleashed #sonic 2006 #sonic the hedgehog 2006

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infizero-draws · 4 years

Photo

ok so i was going to wait until i finished the cover but WHATEVER!!! this is something i’ve been (slowly) working on since last summer. my own idea for a sonic game: Sonic & the Candy Cuties!!

i’ve got usual gameplay pretty much down along with some ideas for boss fights, but the actual plot is a bit spotty currently (which is ironic since usually i care much more about the story than the gameplay). anyways more info on the candy cuties and everything under the cut!!

WARNING: THIS GOT REALLY LONG vvvvv

THE CANDY CUTIES

Sugar and Spice make up the Candy Cuties, a duo working to destroy Sonic and conquer the world in the name of Eggman!

Sugar: Silly and lighthearted, Sugar is more carefree than her partner. She can be rather ditzy and cutesy, but don't let that fool you into a false sense of security! Sugar is extremely powerful and a worthy enemy.

Spice: Aggressive and hot-headed, Spice is more hostile than her partner. With her burning passion and determination, she's a force to be reckoned with, especially when working with Sugar.

Sugar and Spice were employed by Eggman to destroy Sonic after he heard about their reputation as small-time villains.

GAMEPLAY

In SatCC, you play as Sonic. By completing certain levels, you can unlock the following characters: Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge.

Sonic and Shadow are Speed Types.

Knuckles and Amy are Power Types.

Tails and Rouge are Flight Types.

You can only play as certain characters in certain levels - after completing the game, you can play all levels as the other character of the same type. (EX: Playing a Sonic level as Shadow.)

CHARACTERS

Speed Type Levels: SA2-Sonic/Shadow-style levels where the goal is to get to the end as fast as you can. Taking inspo from Colors, it switches from 3D to 2D.

Power Type Levels: Beat-em-up-style levels where the goal is to fight off waves of enemies and progress to the end. 2D.

Flight Type Levels: Air levels where the goal is to dodge obstacles and fight enemies to progress to the end. 2D side-scroller.

Sonic: High speed, medium damage. Special attack: Sonic Wind (propels him forward at high speed)

Shadow: High speed, medium damage. Special attack: Chaos Blast (destroys all nearby enemies)

Tails: Medium speed, medium damage. Special attack: Tornado Beam (clears screen of enemies)

Rouge: Medium speed, medium damage. Special attack: Night Flurry (makes her invincible to enemies and can go through obstacles for a short period of time)

Knuckles: Low speed, high damage. Special attack: Earthquake (stuns screen of enemies)

Amy: Low speed, high damage. Special attack: Rosy Rush (High damage attack that kills most enemies instantly within an average range around her)

DUO STAGES

Occasionally there will be stages that involve two characters. These are called Duo Stages. Duo Stages can have any pairing of two characters, whether they be the same type or a different type.

In Duo Stages, you can either play as one character and have the other one be the computer, but there is also the option for a second player to join in as the second character.

COMBINATIONS:

2 Speed Types: A race to see who can get to the end first, like SA2 2P Sonic/Shadow levels. If playing with a second player, it becomes split screen.

2 Power Types: A co-op battle. Characters work together to destroy enemies and advance to the end.

Power & Flight: A co-op battle. Characters work together to destroy enemies and advance to the end. Power type destroys enemies on the ground while Flight type destroys enemies in the sky. 2D.

2 Flight Types: A co-op mission. Characters work together to advance to the end.

Speed & Power: A co-op mission. Speed type runs through the level, while Power type destroys enemies and obstacles to aid them. 3D.

Speed & Flight: A co-op mission. Speed type runs through a 2D level and dodges obstacles while enemies shoot at them from the sky, which the Flight Type can destroy.

ZONES

There are 8 zones total. In order, they are:

Minty Field Zone

Dessert Desert Zone

Boba Sea Zone

Gingerbread Mountain Zone

Peppermint Tundra Zone

Cocoa Jungle Zone

Candy Castle Zone

Egg Base Zone

(pictured above: concept art for duo boss fight layout, “saucer” object, and alt. candy cutie form)

STORY

Again, surprisingly the least-fleshed out part of this so far. (and I call myself a writer lol) The main plot begins with Sonic chillin before the CC appear. They have a bit of back-and-forth with Sonic (he loves teasing them villains) before activating a mysterious machine (or something). Suddenly the landscape transforms into a bright candy land, and before Sonic can ask what they’ve done they run off cackling.

Sonic (and eventually the other characters - Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow & Rouge - I haven’t worked them into the story yet lololol) work to stop their sickly sweet plot~!

[insert the rest of the story here]

yeah............... ok so i dont have the middle stuff but here’s what happens at the END:

in what seems like the final boss fight, sonic fights both of the candy cuties together. after seemingly beating them however, they transform to another form (seen in the art above) and you have to beat another phase where they’re way harder. it’s their last ditch effort, and they nearly overpower sonic, but then the rest of the playable characters show up! with their help, sonic manages to beat them.

eggman shows up and the candy cuties, defeated and weak, call for help. but their pleas fall on deaf ears, as eggman cackles and reveals that he was going to betray them from the beginning. the defeated CC watch in horror as eggman abandons them and steals their candy machine thingy to power up his own big robot thing or whatever. eggman is about to strike them when suddenly they’re swept up by... sonic!

sonic yanks them out of harm’s way with his super speed, much to the surprise of both the CC and eggman. the candy cuties ask him why, confused, but sonic simply extends a hand to them. spice doesnt want to trust him, but sugar convinces her. sonic pulls them back up and asks if they can still fight. they nod, and in the REAL final boss fight, the candy cuties fight side by side with sonic and his friends, and manage to take down eggman.

the game ends with sonic and the gang celebrating, and the candy cuties being forgiven. after restoring the land back to normal, sugar and spice head off as sonic n friends wave them goodbye.

(this isn’t shown in the game, but they then retire to a little cottage together, being slightly evil and getting visits from sonic, whom they eventually become good friends with. oh also important note: im trying to stay somewhat realistic to what would actually be in a sega-approved sonic game, but the candy cuties are highly implied/coded (and are!!!) to be in a relationship.)

CONCLUSION

Uh yeah so that’s kinda what I have so far!! I’ve been thinking about this concept for a WHILE, and I can’t wait to flesh the story out more and figure out more of the game mechanics and boss fights. very glad to finally share it with you all ^_^

bonus: some old cursed art of the candy cuties. they were originally going to be mobians, but i really didnt like these designs and went for a more deadly six approach, where they’re not mobian but still look like sonic characters. i did one in the official style (by tracing some official art) and one as a quick doodle in my style (AT THE TIME) anyways i hate these:

cursed.

anyways peace out! <3

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smashingatsonicspeed · 6 years

Text

Smash Bros. Character Merit - Sonic the Hedgehog

Quick Disclaimer: I’m not very confident in any 3rd Party franchise getting a 2nd rep. But being the Sonic fan I am, I thought I’d give a specific section for this should it happen. I don’t think it’s the unlikeliest thing in the world as I’ll explain. But I doubt it comes anytime soon.

Miles "Tails" Prower

My Level of Want

If you didn't already know, Tails was who I voted for in the Smash Ballot. Perhaps it's a little greedy for me to suggest a 2nd Sonic rep over some Nintendo characters that could use some love. But when it comes to the one character I want most in Smash now that Sonic has already made it. Tails is it. Though a bit of a disclaimer, I won't be disappointed one way or another if Tails doesn't make the cut. Cause Sonic was already that dream inclusion fulfilled for me. Every new character that'd made it in Smash that I happen to like since Sonic got in is equivalent to whip cream on my glorious ice cream sundae. But Tails would be the sweet, sweet, sweet cherry on top. Tails is just my favorite Sonic character, and he just happens to be the franchise's equivalent of what Luigi is to Mario. Perhaps he's not treated or even portrayed as well as that nowadays but you'd be pretty hard pressed to suggest that someone else deserves the title of Sonic's Luigi. And what I mean by Luigi, as in the other character that often pops up in your head whenever you hear the franchise's name. The main character always pops in your head behind them, but not far behind them you usually imagine their sidekick, brother, or whichever role the player 2 character plays as right besides them running through the levels. When I think Sonic, I picture Sonic running through levels at a fast pace with his buddy Tails close behind. They're just one of the most iconic duos in gaming and despite being what would be another Sonic rep at face value, I count Tails as much of an icon of gaming as any. There would be naysayers if it were to happen, but Tails is absolutely the most iconic choice for another Sonic rep in Smash. It would absolutely make my entire life to see a Sonic & Tails Vs. Mario & Luigi battle be possible in Smash Bros. It's just one of those things I could die happy knowing that I got to see happen.

Estimated Chance

Sorry if that got a little gush-heavy over my most wanted character. But it's time to delve into a little reality. I'm not confident in it happening much at all, and I'm ok with that. As much as I said things about dying happy about it. Sonic being in Smash in general is also kind of already that. I don't think it's an impossibility, despite the ups and downs over the years the Sonic franchise is still one of the most popular franchises out there and as such the Sonic franchise would be the one to break the mold should they decide to break the only one character per 3rd Party franchise rule. For that to happen a character should have have to be arguably just as iconic to gaming as the main character and I think Tails fulfills that well enough. It might not be quite enough right now but should they look at it by the time Smash 6 (Or again 7, if you're like Sakurai) rolls around that he'll become an ever stronger possibility as Sonic would have a strong foothold in the series. I can keep my two fingers crossed for the two tailed fox. But I'm certainly not going to count on it. I understand that other companies' reps would probably provide more diversity and not everyone wants one of Sonic's "annoying friends" in Smash. So Tails isn't impossible but he's nowhere near a strong possibility. But if it ever happens, it'd be the one character that would probably put me in Etika-was-shown-Mewtwo-DLC kind of excitement

Main Game or DLC?

DLC is the only way this happens at all. It might also provide a little bit of a compromise that don't want any more Sonic characters in the game. If you wouldn't like Tails in Smash, then don't buy him.

Dr. Eggman

My Level of Want

If Tails can't make it, then Eggman would probably be the next best thing. And probably more neutrally accepted even amongst those that aren't big fans of the Sonic franchise if it were to happen since Eggman isn't one of Sonic's "annoying friends". I think the only problem might be a bit more difficulty on deciding how he'd fight. Best I could think of is something akin to Bowser Jr. only bigger, heavier. And in the Egg Mobile with obviously a different toolset. It'd be absolutely fun though to have Mike Pollock record lines for Smash as he's an absolute blast as Eggman. I do think it'd be more fitting if say they ever included a Sonic related Boss rather then as the 2nd Sonic character. But I certainly wouldn't complain.

Estimated Chance

3rd Party franchises getting 2nd reps are going to be quite low in chance. Once we hit the DLC period though anything goes. So who really knows. As for Eggman himself's chances of being the character to break that rule. Not to sound biased but I think Tails out prioritizes him for a few reasons. Maybe even Knuckles before Eggman too. Not that I think Tails is that much more likely (I'll be covering that next actually) But we did get Luigi in Smash before Bowser. You could say that was because Luigi was easier to make because he was more of a clone of Mario back in Smash 64. But you have to think that when it comes to 2nd reps, the iconic 2nd player and/or sidekick tends to get in over the main villain. Even if the Mario example isn't enough. Reminder that we still don't have K. Rool but we've had Diddy since Brawl. As I said earlier I'd rather Eggman represented as a boss should the Sonic series ever include one for any reason. It'd be fun to fight him with all the different characters that way.

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

Knuckles

My Level of Want

I do like Knuckles a lot and if there was room for 3 Sonic characters I might get behind him more. But as is when it’s doubtful if we even get more then just Sonic, Knuckles isn’t a priority to me personally like Tails is. Sonic & Tails is a really iconic duo of gaming. Knuckles is less so. Mainly people want Knuckles because they view him as a more “cooler” or more viable as a fighter despite Tails having been in Sonic fighting games before too. Still, I would feel it’d be like getting Wario before we got Luigi. Wario is more fit for fighting then the “coward” Luigi and is an iconic character of the Mario franchise in his own right. But he isn’t famous Player 2/Sidekick status like Tails is

Estimated Chance

Knuckles only gets chosen if Sakurai feels a character more well known for seeming like someone to fight over should be prioritized over someone that’s been in there longer whether it’s Tails or Eggman he would be picked over. And I don’t think Sakurai has ever gone that way with anyone. In my dreams, Sonic would get 5 reps to make all the Sonic fans happy. Get Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and Shadow in there to appease all the Sonic fan wishes. But I know that only happens if Sega was bought out by Nintendo. And understand that’d be incredibly greedy in a game that’s supposed to be mostly Nintendo

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

Shadow

My Level of Want

First I want to say, that Sonic Adventure 2 is still my favorite Sonic game in the franchise. It’s what introduced me to Sonic, I have a lot of fun whenever I go back to play the game and one of my biggest wants for Sonic is a game going back to the Adventure formula that is streamlined for modern audiences. I understand the big complaint with the Adventure games is they haven’t aged that well, but that’s why a modern game with the adventure-style that’s cleaned up to the expectations of modern game could be a good idea for the Sonic franchise to take. My biggest hope is a kind of Sonic Odyssey where like what that game did rediscovered the gameplay of Super Mario 64 and cleaned it up for a new game that most people enjoy a lot. However, despite my love for SA2 there’s one character that made his big debut that’s been a pretty controversial subject. I do first want to say that I did like Shadow a lot… but pretty much only in SA2. He was a perfectly fine character in that game and a good foil for Sonic with an interesting past. And it quickly made him one of the most popular Sonic characters. Unfortunately, Sega took that popularity the wrong way and they forced him back into as many games as possible. At first Shadow returning wasn’t so bad, Heroes implied the Shadow in that game wasn’t even the same Shadow from SA2. Simply a clone that Engman created. But the Shadow the Hedgehog game retcons that. The Shadow in games past SA2 is indeed the same Shadow who somehow got rescued by Engman’s robots on his plunge down to Earth. For the exception of Sonic Battle, every game that’s not Sonic Adventure 2 has him just as one of the most polarizing characters in all of gaming. He has diehard fans that have supported him since SA2 and won’t ever shake off their love for him. But he’s also somewhat become a bit of a scapegoat for hate on why the 3D Sonic games fell as hard as they did. His story bringing too much of the franchise trying to take itself seriously as well as basically the poster child for the edgy meme when it comes to video game characters. He has reasons why he’s very popular, but he also has just as many reasons if not more on why people would utterly despise his inclusion from both the Sonic fanbase and outside of it. Combine that with the fact there’d probably be similar disdain on the level Dark Pit got, and Shadow’s inclusion would be one day where every single Smash Bros. discussion is simply filled with anger.

Estimated Chance

Shadow’s popularity probably at least had him score among the highest out of Sonic characters in the ballot if not the highest. But I still think Sakurai would choose a more classic character anyway. Shadow’s done fine enough in the Assist Trophy role. Let him stay there.

Main Game or DLC?

DLC, per everyone in this post

#Super Smash Bros.#Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch #super smash bros. switch #Smash Bros. Character Merit #Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Tails #Miles Tails Prower #Dr. Eggman #Dr. Robotnik #Eggman #Robotnik #Knuckles #shadow #Tails the Fox #Knuckles the Echidna #Shadow the Hedgehog

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episodeshadow · 6 years

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ok im still letting a lot of the game sink in and while i had a genuinely good time playing forces theres a couple things i just gotta get off my chest as criticisms.

spoilers under the cut

ok so gameplay wise, i liked it! especially custom hero and tag team stages. modern sonics stages were almost as good, but there were times when reactions wouldn’t happen, or trying to turn was less responsive, he just felt a little too loose and slippery, but still pretty good. the classic stages were alright but after playing some of mania they just felt kinda eh :/

one thing that bothers me is how tails was written... he’s depicted as helpless and can’t fight back, completely ignoring how capable he is. in sa2 when he thinks sonic is dead his reaction is to fight eggman more determined than ever because sonics not there so he has to act alone. in forces.. well knuckles says that he lost it a little but its not really said what.. but he isnt helping the resistance. tails would have been at the forefront of the war effort with knuckles amy and the rest but instead hes off doing god knows what because?? and i know if he really thought sonic was dead it would be a lot for him to handle but i dont think the way they portray him accurately represents that. he only comes back when he finds classic. and anytime he is approached by an enemy he only ever cowers away even though its established he is very capable of defending himself in a fight. i dont feel like this game did any favors for tails. :/

also.. why is classic there? like story wise it just didnt feel like his presence was a big point in the plot, overall tails and classics little side story felt like just that - a side story that didnt quite gel w the rest of the story. he was added to appeal to the 2d sonic fans but i feel like that wasnt necessary.. we just got mania, and if they hadn’t tried to shoehorn him in the dev team couldve spent more time working on modern sonic and custom hero’s gameplay and really adding depth. instead, we get classic gameplay that feels just a bit too lackluster and modern gameplay that, while enjoyable, felt a little too shallow.

and thats another point i wanna make, is time. the whole game feels rushed, both plot-wise and game-play wise. the game itself is not long, i cant remember how many hours it took but it was not many, the stages were all. pretty short. it would have been cool to see a few more locations maybe? and more variety of boss fights or at least showing up in the stage. like why add chaos in the game and then not use them at all. shadow wasnt a boss fight but he got his dlc so. metal and zavoks fights were ok too. they just. couldve done more. theres only so much story/cutscenes, with the passage of time just shown as text. it doesnt really let the player feel the consequences. oh sonic spent six months in prison? its fine tho here he is again five seconds and one cuscene later. it wouldve been stronger if we got to see at least a little bit of what happened in those six months. how battles were lost. its implied a lot of people died, and while they likely wouldnt have shown that, they could have depicted the struggle. the heroes fighting against eggman but without sonic they find themselves outmatched and caught off guard for the first time, and they tell themselves its ok its just one battle. But slowly, over time, they win less and less, they see more and more people in terror realizing that this man who they saw as just a ridiculous scientist whos always defeated is suddenly a much more real threat. We are told that 99% of the world is conquered by Eggman, but I don’t know if it’s just me, but it’s kind of hard to see that. I just think it would be easier to get emotionally invested and really feel the sense of danger and urgency if we could actually get to see what led up to the point they were at. They were all inside one bunker. How did the whole planet become under an iron grip of Eggman that there were hardly any safe places to group? I also can’t help but feel like the world was “reclaimed” too quickly.. all you had to do was take out the base and the whole area was free again? was the base the only thing that eggman had there? sure you take out enemies in the area but somehow it doesnt feel quite so impactful. Although i will admit they do acknowledge this during the end, how the effort isn’t over and theres still a lot or work to be done.

likewise, theres just a lot of elements in the game that seem like they are supposed to be dramatic but don’t carry a lot of weight because they were not given time to stew... sonic was thought to be dead for six months but we don’t see them struggle without him and he seems just fine when he comes out of the prison; he’s ready to jump right back into action. you could have just said he went on a space vacation and the effect would be essentially the same.

then theres the episode shadow dlc, where infinites “backstory” comes up. we are told that infinte is a mercenary and was working for eggman, as a part of his army?? he was defending eggmans base, the rest of his squad had already been taken out by shadow. shadow beats up infinite, infinite gets pissy bc he lost and decides hes not gonna be weak anymore, wears a mask and has the ruby. Why did he react like this? He yells out that he’s not weak, almost like a mantra, even though Shadow never specifically called him that, just worthless and pathetic (damn, Shadow, chill). Had he been called weak before? A problem he was already dealing with and Shadow just drove him over the edge? We don’t know. Actually, there’s a lot of stuff we don’t know about Infinite. He’s a guy, he was weak but then he wasn’t, and ? That’s it, the game doesn’t divulge anything about the Jackal Squad, we don’t know where Infinite came from, and we don’t even get to see his face in-game. Although it could be argued that they left his story vague on purpose so that we could all apply our own theories, but.. there’s just so little to go on. It’s hard for me to come up with specific questions because there’s hardly anything there to ask about.

that was the main issue with me, everything was rushed. i think i was expecting the game to go a lot deeper than it did. Forces seemed to just gloss over a lot of the kind of details that would have made the story so much more gripping and worth getting emotional over. Instead it felt more like going over a bulleted list of events; the cover summary instead of the novel. Maybe I was expecting too much but I do think that they had a lot of potential that just wasn’t used to the best it could have been. The story was there, it just, needed to be fleshed out a lot more. I’m sure there’s some plot holes too but I can’t remember off the top of my head. Basically, I was hoping there would be... more.

ok thats what i wanted to say, i know im forgetting things and i dont know that any of that made sense but i just wanted to express the things i felt could have been done better/ be improved... i enjoyed the game despite all these things though and now that i typed up this lil mini essay im free to focus on the positives! :)

#sonic forces #sonic forces spoilers #yea...#my tag

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semi-sketchy · 6 years

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Alright, so I beat Sonic Forces and I’m going to go into opinions on the plot and characters like Infinite, so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read below.

Not gonna lie, I’m a little burned out after playing through the entire game in a few hours, so I’m going to give my opinion on the gameplay later when I get the chance to slow down and walk through it at my own pace. My opinions on the story could also change when I play through again without recording so I can hear all the details.

The story I liked, then it really slowed down to dialog before a stage. I like how each stage is very plot-driven and plays a purpose, but the ending. After 20 or so stages, “it’s the final fight!” 10 stages later “We won!” I felt that many stages with so little narrative slowed the plot to a halt. It lost the tension considering a third of the game was the ending.

While on topic of the ending, the ending was sweet, but...what about Infinite? He “flies” off after his boss battle, he loses his Ruby to Eggman, so what happened to him? Did the Ruby consume him? Did he vanish? I honestly thought it was going to be a cop-out like “SUCK IT I’M THE REAL FINAL BOSS” but no, he’s just...gone. I expected a lot more from Infinite. He had a really nice song that told so much about him.

“I was born in this pain, it only hurts if you let it.”

“I’ve been up against better, just take a look at my face”

“So look around you and tell me what you really see. You live a lie and that’s the difference in you and me”

Then...nothing. I felt he could have been an amazing character and I liked what I saw of him, but it’s almost like he wasn’t finished. I thought he was going to have a redemption arc or we’d at least know what happened to him, but we get nothing. Even the comic we got today doesn’t explain anything. We don’t ever see him unmasked in the game, even when Shadow beats him and he wants to hide his face. I get he’s scarred, but why? What turned him so bad? What made him want vengeance like this? What happened to him? I liked what I saw, but that’s only what I saw. His backstory is never told and I was under the impression that we’d get a lot more from him. I’m not sure but it almost felt like it was done so there would be room for a sequel later on. I feel he is completely capable of returning and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Heck, make it a 3DS game or something where we hear about him, I don’t care, I’ll buy it.

It also took me until just now to realize we never had a Shadow or Chaos boss fight. I know Shadow beat us to the punch of fighting...himself. But Chaos? I would have liked to see that. Chaos was very tacked on, a lot like Classic Sonic.

Eggman was great as a villain though. Very prepared, you could tell he had a backup plan and had learned from his mistakes, which honestly made it a little annoying because it was “we got him down!” “no” “oh shit he had a backup plan for that backup backup plan” and I felt it dragged on. But he wasn’t stupid in setting all his eggs in one basket. (Heh, eggs.)

And can we talk about Sonic’s snarkiness? I literally screamed “I can’t believe the Encaged AU is canon” when I heard what was going on, although I’m sad we never got to see anything from Sonic’s side until he busted out. We just hear that everyone thinks he’s dead until “oh, he’s been held in solitary confinement on the Death Egg for 6 months and is being tortured” but we never see him struggle with any of it. It’s just “come, time for you to be shot out into space like Eggman’s SA2 plan” and “lol nope”. People go mad when being left alone for a long time and I get it’s part of Sonic’s character to be happy-go-lucky, but...we get nothing from him. We just hear “oh yeah he’s not doing good” yet he seems just fine. Most of the game follows a “tell, don’t show” route and I’m not too sure how I feel about it, but for Sonic’s case, I felt it was really lacking. This might have also been a design decision to keep the game rated E10+.

Another thing that’s a lot like Infinite was Silver. He is never explained at all. If you didn’t read the comics, you wouldn’t understand a thing. If you haven’t gotten into Sonic and knew about him in ‘06, you would think “huh I guess he’s always been around and I never noticed” because they don’t bring any attention to him. It’s not like “this is a time traveler that has mind powers” it’s more so they treat him as if they’ve known him for years and he’s nothing special.

I’m not too sure what happened with Omega. He was shut down, but...why? It was explained in the comics, but again, very little detail. Was it an illusion like everything else? Why did he only show up in the end like “yo I’m here”? More importantly, who fixed him? Also Shadow. I get the Shadow fighting was a fake and wow, everyone was REALLY wrong about the mind control (just had to rub that in for everyone who was like “MIND CONTROL IT HAS TO BE” when I said “no”). But, if Sonic was held captive for 6 months, what was Shadow doing? Was he just chilling in his Hawaiian shirt like “meh, someone else is doing my job”? It’s clear he’s fighting for the resistance, so why didn’t he join them earlier?

Tails for me is both a great aspect and a bad one. He thinks his best friend is dead and basically has a meltdown. I liked how we saw “he’s great, but still just a kid caught in the middle of a war” (I’m a sucker for that trope) and it was a very interesting aspect. A nice perspective and how when he met Classic, he was so desperate to have his friend back, he just latched on even though that wasn’t the Sonic he knew. I thought it was so cute when he got to reunite with Sonic, despite it being short-lived. However, I feel they totally tossed aside any development he had beforehand. Sonic had to save him in the city and when Chaos came, he cowered in fear screaming for Sonic even though he wasn’t there. I understand he’s in denial about his friend and it’s a habit, but didn’t he learn independence back in SA1? He fought for Sonic in SA2 when he believed he was dead, so why not here? I understand Sonic’s “death” hitting him hard, but Tails was never one to stray from helping in the fight.

The avatar I actually thought was handled decently rather than being a statue like Xenoblade X (seriously, how do you screw something up THAT badly?) which was one of my biggest fears. They weren’t given a backstory, which is understandable, but the way they made it was so your character felt important, but wasn’t the whole show (something I wish fan fiction would catch onto). It never felt unnatural and I wasn’t ever faced with the “ugh this would be so much better without it.” The story was built around the avatar and made to work with it and I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do. While the avatar returning wouldn’t be something I’d jump for joy over, I also can say I wouldn’t mind it.

One more minor complaint: despite this world being so clearly full of life, it felt empty. I understand the cities were destroyed, but aside from the ending with the army of resistance members, we never saw any refugees. Not a big issue, but something that stuck out to me.

The tone was really set and let me say....the soundtrack was amazing. I loved every second of it. I look forward to playing through the story again without talking over it so I can hear more of the dialog and music because that voice acting was the best it has ever been. The voice actors were amazing and I applaud every one of them.

I did enjoy the plot and I’m very welcoming to seeing the old characters again along with this darker story line. I feel it’s a step in the right direction, although it could have been done better here. It almost feels like they didn’t have the time to put in all the details they wanted in or couldn’t find a place, so they stuck them in side comics or tossed them aside all together.

#sonic forces #sonic forces spoilers #sassy post

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mobianstrip · 5 years

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sonic forces me to analyze the game

this is by no means a full, in depth review of sonic forces. however, since im working on a Forces au i think its only fitting to talk about my personal gripes with the game. just to be clear, i dont hate sonic forces by any means! there are some really neat concepts about it that i enjoy, which ill include my thoughts on as well! though with that said, theres a lot about it that could have been dealt with better. this post is gonna be a bit long and messy, sorry!

now i cant speak for what the gameplay controls itself are like since i havent actually played it with my own hands, so my primary focus will be the story and general format of the game. everything under the cut!

ill start by saying that in hindsight, i think the general premise of the game is actually really neat (had the war framing of the plot not been so overly glorified and bland. more on that below). eggman taking over most of the world is very reminiscent to the initial circumstance of mobius in the early archie sonic publication. it seems especially reflective of the comic in the fact that sonic forces takes place on a planet setting more akin to that of Mobius than that of Sonic’s World/Earth, the difference being the lack of human beings aside from Eggman. while this does somewhat bother me for the fact that it paints an inconsistency with the setting, im also all for the planet being strictly Mobians + Eggman again tbh. the concept of sonic being on earth populated by humans, complete with a mock version of the united states, never really settled well with me. it always felt like just a means to make sonic more relatable, which is true, but not done because it made anything more interesting. a problem that then arises is that the origins of shadow and silver/blaze would be radically different or at least would need some retcon alterations to make sense...but thats a topic for another day

overall, looking past the inconsistency with the setting and its implications, i enjoy how the premise of the game feels like going back to the basics. but even the premise still has its problems...which is never a good sign, and this point practically sealed forces’s fate of inconsistency: the theme of war and how it frames the story is so, so poorly written

starting with whats presented at the beginning of the game, sonic is captured by eggman as a prisoner. if the writing had just left it at that, fine. however, the exposition goes on to say that sonic has been there for six months being tortured...and that tails has completely lost it. again id be fine with this - the theme of war is a darker one so these two events would make sense in this circumstance. however, that tension is just totally lost in a matter of a few episodes. you rescue sonic who is just as cheery and jokey as ever, somehow able to fight a boss despite being supposedly locked away and tortured for six months

of course i understand that its not like they could give sonic ptsd and make him look tortured and weak and so on - but why even mention the torture thing at all? the same problem is apparent with the first cutscene with tails. tails is hardly given enough time to seem like he has "lost it". i will say though that tails WAS given a bit more of an emotional response to work with than sonic overall. particularly when tails is about to be attacked by chaos, and he ducks his head in fear and calls for sonic to help him even though sonic isnt there - i actually enjoyed this small segment bc it does reflect some of what was said about how he reacted to sonics capture (aside from also being across the planet...for seemingly no reason except bc he "lost it" and to get him away from the main group so that classic sonic can appear)

frankly speaking from these two points alone, the games tone just feels kind of confused. its obvious the writers wanted some parts of the darker theme of war...and its also obvious that going all out wasnt gonna be an option bc of the nature of sonic as a character and franchise being about more lighthearted, easier to relate to stories about sonics heroism. which im fine with that being the case; sonic is a hero and more importantly a mascot that profits off of kids being able to relate and look up to. my issue is simply that the premise of this game makes consistent writing kind of doomed from the start if the writers are trying to appeal to both the kids AND older fans. they cant go to the lengths necessary to adequately build the narrative. cant go too dark, cant go too lighthearted, and not finding a balance between to two gives you a confused and bland story

on that note, i personally find the theme of war to be...uncomfortably glorified and unchecked (adding to the tone confusion and blandness). sonic forces is named so because...yknow. armed forces. armies. the whole point of the game is that theres a war going on and youre on the good guy side. i mean its not as if youre fighting against other living creatures, just infinite and eggmans robots, but still. i think what put me off the most is the first comic with the soldier cat. after they save the day, the last lines are "I'll do better. I'll be better. I'll become a real soldier and a real hero." now slap that as the tagline to a united states army corps commercial and suddenly its really...sour tasting

war is just one of those subjects that i think needs to be handled with a bit more care. i mean think about it: the primary gimmick of forces is that you get to make your own character, to be the sonic version of yourself in this world. the plot of the game is that theres a war, and your character joins the resistance to defeat eggman. this game is pretty blatantly glorifying the idea that joining in on a war can make you a REAL soldier, a REAL hero. to some kids, that might sound pretty cool. but theres no nuance to it whatsoever, nothing thought provoking on the subject. no one steps back to be like ‘its good to do good things but wars are tough and not fun, and being a hero isnt everything’. none-a that

now do i think a sonic game could get it into a childs head that they should join the army for real? no, not necessarily. i think its possible, but i think that would also be due to a larger issue of military glorification present in modern culture in general (especially in america). mostly i just find the implications at play with glorifying the theme of war in conjunction to the avatar gimmick to be in poor taste and also entirely avoidable because...

i dont think the war and army framing even had to be a thing. not only is it just so sloppily done in general, with that fact that the supposed soldier forces on the Resistance side are literally never seen on screen except for some dialogue boxes in one episode and the rest of the time only being mentioned through other characters, but i seriously think never saying the words “war” or “army” and not including literal soldiers would have worked just as well and even been the better route. they could have just been like yeah heres eggman taking over the world, heres the resistance fighters that have come together to stop him, they are opposing forces and you play as your avatar to stop eggman - and just leave it at that. it wouldve made the glorification of war less obvious and the handling of the topics at hand appear less confused, appealing to a more lighthearted tone rather than weighing it down with frankly out of place hints to a darker subject of war

finally i wanna talk about the story as it relates to how its told through the game. the plot itself is fairly standard - eggman starts war, captures sonic, takes over planet. you rescue sonic, and together you fight eggman and infinite and ultimately defeat them. thats all good and well even if its cheesy sometimes. the REAL problem is how its executed. a lot of the exposition is given not through cutscenes, but through spoken dialogue with text box subtitles over the episode select screen. and it just feels so...stiff. it doesnt feel like world building, it just feels like being forcefed information with no substance behind it

i get that fully rendered cutscenes throughout can be expensive and time consuming, but shoot id take in-game rendered cut scenes at least. (like in sa, sa2, shadow 2005...) anything that could have provided the world building with a bit more ground to stand on would have been great. sure, there are levels to traverse which look cool...but they dont provide any sense of scale, they dont tell us what the area is like, and more importantly, you never see the other characters who are supposedly on the battlefield "alongside" you in a couple episodes. the storyline from the exposition along sounds like it could be an epic journey - but the way its told with the given game mechanics (i.e.: stage-based gameplay with no open worlds to explore) leaves a lot to be desired

i feel like the stuff explained in the comics should have just been cutscenes or exposition or something to pad out the game a bit. the comics are so short anyways so why just put it in the game? maybe not the first comic about the rando soldier saving the day or w/e...but the comic with silver and knuckles fighting chaos? the comic about infinites origins? all of that could have easily been included. at LEAST the comic with shadow was part of the DLC...but even thats just so gimmicky. they provide important background to the main plot of this game so i really dont understand why it was sidelined to comics and not just included from the beginning

the tension that the exposition already fails to build up is brought down even worse when coupled with the confusing timing of the stage complete screens, where you get your completion rank and see what new character creation items you unlocked. listen, i know immediate gratification for completing the level is important and all...but i swear, having these screens between the end of a boss fight and the cutscene showing what happens to them after being defeated seriously impairs the flow of the game. maybe having it there allows for the cutscene to load up in the background to improve efficiency, but personally id prefer seeing a loading screen as the break between a boss fight and the following cutscene after it and THEN the stage complete screen to finish the sequence off. the boss fight end cutscenes arent that long anyways for the most part, so its just nonsensical to have the stage complete screen interrupt the action when theres only a two minute scene left to it

i cant stand how streamlined forces is to the point of the main plot. what happened to games that actually take the time to explain stuff, show us extra bits to the story and how they connect? and even when forces' does explain SOME stuff, its through audio/text only dialogue. nothing visually interesting, just...dialogue. and then its off to the next level. forces' feels very bare bones honestly. the story is supposed to feel big and epic but it just wasnt given enough to bring that feeling into fruition. this is probably the only thing that saves forces’ from the war glorification issue because the game simply fails so miserably at telling a compelling story due to poor writing and poor formatting that the war stuff gets lost in the mix - and thats just sad

all of this brings me to my conclusion. fuck i wish sonic forces was a better written and executed game, because i do think it could have been so cool. i really like infinite as a villain, in both his design and personality. yeah hes kind of a whiny, edgy bitch - but he had potential. and its really gonna suck if this game killed off all that potential in one fell swoop

(then again, thats why we have fan content and aus :3)

#text

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crusherthedoctor · 3 years

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Can you list anything you unironically like in the games (and cartoons and comics) that you don't like?

I won't bother mentioning music, since that goes without saying and is to be expected for a Sonic game... unless you're Chronicles.

Sonic Adventure 2 (mixed gameplay-wise, annoying story-wise) - While I prefer Sonic's SA1 levels for a number of reasons, I still think his and Shadow's gameplay in SA2 is fun on its own merit. I also don't mind the treasure hunting gameplay returning or how big the levels are this time around, since Knuckles and Rouge are still fast and not '06 levels of slow. It's mainly the gimped radar that creates the unfortunate domino effect of making them a problem.

- Introduced Rouge, one of my favourite characters for how playful she is and how she's a lot more nuanced and intelligent than you'd expect.

- Some genuinely good scenes, like Eggman's trap on the A.R.K and Sonic escaping from the G.U.N. helicopter.

- Had some good ideas going for it, like the Pyramid Base and the Biolizard as a scientific monster instead of an ancient one.

- Despite my thoughts on the backstory itself (or rather, its execution), Shadow has enough depth and subtle qualities and occasional unintended hilarity to stand out from the typical dark rival characters you see in media.

- The Last Scene's music in particular is one of my favourite cutscene tracks in the series.

Sonic Heroes (mixed gameplay-wise, loathed story-wise) - The gameplay is fun when you're not being screwed over by repetitive combat, overly long levels and/or ice physics.

- Boasts some of the most consistently Genesis-worthy environments in the 3D games, up there with SA1's and Colours'.

- The in-game dialogue that isn't the same tutorial drivel repeated ad nauseam can be interesting, funny, etc.

- Reintroduced the Chaotix, which provided me with another character I quite like in the form of Vector.

- Bringing Metal Sonic back in full force and front and center in the plot after a long absence (not counting cameos and the like) is a perfectly fine idea. Just... not like this.

Sonic Battle (decent yet repetitive gameplay, mixed story-wise) - Emerl's arc is compelling, and it earns the emotional weight of having to put him down at the end.

- While some characters are iffy (read: Amy), other characters are extremely well-handled. Shadow is probably the prime example.

- Gamma's belly dance healing animation is fucking hilarious.

- When I was young, and the game was first announced, I was really excited about being able to play as Chaos. This proved to be my downfall when it turned out he was arguably one of the worst characters in the game due to being slower than me during the writing process, but I still recall that excitement fondly.

Shadow the Hedgehog (comedy classic) - The sheer amount of legendary stupidity this game has going for it makes it practically impossible to actually hate. It helps that it's not quite as white-knighted on the same level as '06... usually. You know you're in for a unique experience when you hear a gunshot every time you click something in the menu.

- By extension, Black Doom never gained an unironic fanbase like Mephiles/Scourge/Eggman Nega did, which means I'm a lot more willing to take Doom's dumbass brand of villainy in stride. He even has a unique design... a terrible one that rips off Wizeman granted, but alas, even that is a step-up from Fridge Shadow and Bumblebee Eggman.

- Despite being... well, Shadow the Hedgehog, some of the environments would fit right in with any other Sonic game, like with Circus Park, Lava Shelter, and Digital Circuit. Even the Black Comet levels look pretty cool.

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

Sonic '06 (what do you think?) - The obvious one: Shadow's character was handled pretty well, even if it came at the cost of everyone else being a dummy and being forced to interact with Mephiles.

- Like SA2, there are some good moments, like the Last Story ending sequence with Sonic and Elise.

- In the greatest form of irony ever, I like Solaris as a concept and design(s), and its backstory has potential to serve as a parallel with Chaos without being a complete ripoff. Iblis sucks, Mephiles sucks, but I'm fine with Solaris.

- Introduced legendary characters like Sonic Man, Pele the Beloved Dog, Hatsun the Pigeon, and Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove.

The Rivals duology (apathetic outside of Nega-related grumbling) - There were some cool zone ideas in both games that were sadly let down by the restrictive and limiting gameplay. I particularly like Colosseum Highway for thus far being the only full-on Roman level in the series instead of merely having a couple minor hints of Roman, and Meteor Base for the unique scenario of the space station being built into an asteroid. These level concepts and others deserve a second chance IMO. (At least Frontier Canyon got a second chance in the form of Mirage Saloon, amirite?)

- Ifrit has a better design than Iblis. Not saying it's amazing, but the Firebird motif it has going on is a lot more interesting for a fire monster than the Not-Chaos schtick they had with Iblis.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (a very frustrating gaming experience) - Erazor Djinn, A.K.A. Qui-Gon Djinn, A.K.A. Dr. N. Djinn, A.K.A. I'll Take It On The Djinn, A.K.A. Not From The Hairs On My Djinny Djinn Djinn, is one of the best villains not associated with Eggman in the series. He's a Mephiles-type character done right, and there's actual weight and reason to his actions, however sinister or petty.

- I don't have strong opinions either way on Shahra as a character, but the Sonic/Shahra friendship is sweet and well-handled.

- The ending is one of Sonic's greatest moments. The sheer contrast between how ruthlessly he deals with Erazor and how comforting he is towards Shahra speaks volumes... Still gonna make fun of the mountain of handkerchiefs though. (Before anyone lectures me, I understand the significance of it and can even appreciate it from that angle... doesn't mean I'm not allowed to poke fun at it. :P)

- Another game with some redeeming environments. I love the aesthetic of Night Palace, and Sand Oasis looks gorgeous too.

Sonic Chronicles (my personal least favourite game in the series) - Uh...

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

Sonic Unleashed (overrated game and story IMO) - The obvious two: the opening sequence and the Egg Dragoon fight deserve all the praise they get.

- Seeing Eggmanland come to life was an impressive moment to be sure. While part of me does feel it didn't quite measure up to what I had in mind (ironically, the Interstellar Amusement Park ended up being closer to what I had in mind), it still looks badass and works well for what it is. I also don't mind the idea of it being a one-level gauntlet... key word being idea.

- Obviously, the game looks great. Not a fan of the real world focus (real world inspiration is fine, but copy-pasting the real world and shoving loops in it is just unimaginative), but it can't be denied that the environments look good.

- This game pulled off dialogue options a lot better than Chronicles did, since they didn't rely on making Sonic OoC.

Sonic and the Black Knight (just kind of boring all around) - Despite my gripes with the story (Merlina wasn't nearly as fleshed out as her unique anti-villain status deserved, which ends up severely undermining the ambition of the plot in more ways than one, and the other characters go from being useless yes men for King Arthur to being useless yes men for Sonic), I will admit it provides interesting insight into Sonic's character.

- Like '06 and Secret Rings, the ending is very nice... well, aside from Amy being an unreasonable bitch ala Sonic X at the very end.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (apathetic) - The admittedly few new concepts sprinkled within had promise. They may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, but level concepts like Sylvania Castle and White Park, bosses like Egg Serpentleaf and the Egg Heart, and story beats like the Death Egg mk.II being powered by Little Planet, all could have been brilliant had they been better executed.

SatAM (apathetic outside of SatAM Robotnik-related grumbling) - I'm not a fan of the environments on the whole due to them looking too bland or samey, but there are some exceptions that look pleasant or interesting, like the Void.

Sonic Underground (apathetic) - The character designs make me feel better about myself.

- Does "large quantities of unintentional meme material" count as a positive?

Sonic X (mostly apathetic outside of Eggman's handling) - Helen was a better human character and audience surrogate in her one focus episode than Chris was throughout his entire runtime.

- Actually, most of the human characters not named Chris were legitimately likable. Including everyone in Chris' own family not named Chris. Hilarious.

- Despite arguably having the most Chris in it, I actually don't mind the first season that much, partly due to slight nostalgia from seeing it on TV when it was new, but mostly because Eggman actually acted like a villain for the most part, and certain other characters weren't quite as flanderized yet. It's season 2 and onwards where things started going off the rails IMO. (Incidentally, Helen's episode was part of season 1...)

The Boom franchise (apathetic) - Along with Chronicles, the games provide yet more proof that just because someone isn't SEGA/Sonic Team, that doesn't mean they're automatically more qualified to handle the series.

- The show had some good episodes here and there, and Tails' characterization was probably the most consistently on-point out of the cast.

- Despite not exactly being favourite portrayals for either character, even I'll admit that many of Knuckles and Eggman's lines in the show on their own were genuinely funny.

Archie Sonic (pre-reboot is mostly terrible, post-reboot is mostly... bland) - Whenever I doubt myself as a writer, I think back to Ken Penders, and suddenly I'm filled with a lot more confidence.

Sonic the Comic (apathetic) - Fleetway isn't a comic I tend to recall much of aside from how much of a loathesome cunt Sonic is, but IIRC, Robotnik's portrayal is pretty good. Different, but good.

IDW Sonic (stop pissing me off, comic) - Putting their handling aside (and being too obviously "inspired" by MGS in the latter's case), Tangle and Whisper are good characters IMO.

- Same goes for Starline, before he was killed off-screen and replaced with Toothpaste Snively.

- Execution aside (noticing a pattern?), the zombot virus was a fine concept on its own and an interesting new scheme for Eggman.

- I get to remind myself that I've never drawn scat edits and posted them publicly on Twitter.

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