I smell something, and it's not chili dogs

A brief addendum.

Sega is the one gaming company that delivers what gamers want, at least on a surface level. Their brands work. It may take the better part of a decade for them, but another sequel is always coming. One reason traditional Sonic games, and by extension the 3D ones, is that they rely on a gaming principle that is less and less excusable in each generation.

It’s the difference between “Aha!” and “oops, you missed”. Put another way, it is the difference between rewarding gamers for pulling the trigger, and accurately aiming.

Let’s step back from Sega and even consoles and reminisce about good old Commander Keen. Good game, that. It was an epic platformer with a large following. Puzzles were about placing yourself and jumping at EXACTLY the right moment. But, there were also plenty of “Aha!” moments. You could be running across a level, and oops something hit you in the head! Aha. It wore thin, and the styling never adapted, and the series languished. As in real life, people don’t like to be blindsided. We like a reason.

Back to Sega, every mainstream Sonic game from the 1^st to … and the Secret Rings relies on Aha!. The exploration factor, a larger world, is largely given. Even in Sonic Adventures, the “best” 3-D game, they pulled back the camera for some truly beautiful runs, but all the danger was up close. When you factor in the lack of smoothly going back in the latest game, when 100% completion is an imperative… you fail. Aha!

Mario games created a different strategy, and one that’s arguably better. When you miss, it’s usually pretty clear why. Very little is hidden in the way of an unexpected obstacle. Does this make for an easier game? To an extent, but it also lends to replayability, immersion, and fun. The game you are dealing with, the obstacles that you are dealing iwht, are completely on the screen that is in front of you, and each frame, each bit of game distance holds both a challenge and the solution for that challenge. In the “Aha!” style, the obstacle may be just out of the field of view. This is actually a less realistic model, because generally we can see what’s in front of us and react. Immersion lessens because you are dealing more with a flawed, less human game design that is likely to punish anything but rote memorization and repeated trial and error. In a Mario game, you deal with what is on the screen, and only what is on the screen.

Now some may say that it is simply because Sonic moves so fast, it rewards quick thinking and instinct. This is false. The vantage point is too close to react quickly in the old games, and in the new games, where the technology and level breadth is less an issue, the cameras in dangerous encounters are still tightly pulled in., something hidden, something new Aha!

How can I prove this is really an intentional part of the game design of Sonic? By taking out the Sega element. If you think and look at Sonic Adventures 2 for the Game Boy Advance, one of the best platforming games in a decade, you may notice it has more in common with a Mario game than a Sonic title. Thank Capcom! First and foremost, the points where speed and gameplay meet (instead of the faster speed of moving from one location to another) is greatly reduced. You face obstacles at a slower velocity. And what’s more, a good deal of the game is slowed down. You must react to what’s on the screen, and there is no “Aha” some indeterminately close distance away. You deal with what is on the screen. The vantage point for everything also shows a slightly pulled back camera from the earlier Hedgehog titles, to almost Mario scale. This allows you to see what’s going on, but it is also an issue of space management, garnering frames of location their individual challenges, not testing on how deftly you barrel on to the next one. As games become more immersive, even the two dimensional ones, consistently punishing the player for the unseen is a flawed strategy. And it’s dying.

And if it wasn’t for branding, I’d argue that this style of gameplay would be relegated to only the most misguided and mediocre of games. But branding pays off, although usually not for the consumer if the product is inconsistent. And it is woefully inconsistent, and to be frank about it, always has been with this company. But we love our cuddly wuddly cartoons!