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WHY I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT SONIC THE HEDGEHOG - by MR  BIFFO

23/7/2016

21 Comments

 
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I appear to have made a terrible miscalculation.

​You see, there's a new Sonic The Hedgehog game in the works. You might've seen the trailer for it - Sonic Mania, they're calling it, rather insensitively; Sonic Mania is a genuine psychological condition suffered by trumpeters, whereupon they repeatedly fill up their bell (that's the end of a trumpet) with pecans, and blow them into their bandleader's face.

Still, Sonic Mania is defiantly retro, 2D with a 16-bit aesthetic; it even features the classic look for Sonic. He's round and dumpy, and there isn't a try-hard wrist/ankle bandage or bandana in sight. It's clear that Sega has listened, and will be delivering exactly what every Sonic fan has been asking for.

Which is this: an old-school, side-on, Sonic the Hedgehog game, that looks as if it could've been released for the Mega Drive. It appears to be everything, in fact, that I've demanded whenever I've written about Sonic and Sega's woeful mismanagement of the character.

Unfortunately, I watched the trailer and I just felt a bit sad, and disappointed... and then I felt a bit guilty. Because they appear to have finally done exactly what I thought I wanted from a Sonic the Hedgehog game... and actually... it's probably not what I want at all. What I want is something that I'm never going to get, no matter what Sega does.

I know, right? It's like a three year old who complains she's hungry, and then when you make her a sandwich she doesn't eat it, because "it tastes funny".
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HARD TO THINK
I find it very hard to think about the past with any sort of cold, clinical detachment. The past is a dinghy full of memories, floating on a sea of feelings. And if that sounds overly romantic or sentimental... well... let's say for the sake of argument that there's a load of dog poo in the dinghy too.
​
Some people whine that you shouldn't live in the past - indeed, in the 17th Century nostalgia was actually considered a mental disorder (Swiss doctors described it as a “neurological disease of essentially demonic cause")” - but psychological studies have shown since that it's healthy and beneficial to wade occasionally, in our memories.

Doctor Constantine Sedikedes - an actual person with that name - is a professor of social and personal psychology from the University of Southampton, who has spent years researching the power of nostalgia.

​His studies, he told the New York Times in 2013, were inspired by his own personal experience: “Nostalgia made me feel that my life had roots and continuity. It made me feel good about myself and my relationships. It provided a texture to my life and gave me strength to move forward.”

Sedikedes found that while nostalgia could be bittersweet, the overall net result was beneficial. He proposed that it works as a way to counterbalance anxiety, loneliness, even boredom. It can make people kinder to strangers, more tolerant of others. It brings couples, families and friends together, and can be used to make us quite literally warmer. In short, it can make us feel a bit better about where we're at, and strengthen our relationships.

DAVID ESSEXUALITY
Music can be a particularly powerful trigger for me. No song can make me feel the way the way David Essex's 'Gonna Make You a Star' does; I don't even have any specific memories associated with it. Just a sense of place and time, of cosiness, and safety. Its effect has dulled over the years, but I still remember being in my 20s, and hearing it for the first time since my childhood. It was like a form of emotional time travel, and it hit me like a ton of photo albums.

'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree' by The Brotherhood of Man, or 'Bye Bye Baby' by the Bay City Rollers, or Jimmy Osmond's 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool', all have a similar effect. Which should tell you that sound - for me - is probably my biggest nostalgic indulgence, irrespective of the terrible taste in music my family had.

When I get that fuzzy buzz off an old game, it's the sound which causes it - far more than the images or gameplay do. The screech of a ZX Spectrum loading screen, or the weird popping sound effects of Underwurlde. The first level music on Alex Kidd in Miracle World. "Rise from your grave!" in Mega Drive Altered Beast. F-Zero's Mute City theme. These are powerful drugs.

As are the spoken "Se-gaaaa" at the start of the first Sonic the Hedgehog, the Green Hill Zone music, and that sound when Sonic bounces on one of Robotnik's vehicles, or when he drowns. Going back to it, though, few of the sounds in Sonic give me a special trouser tingle. I don't know why. Admittedly, beyond that first stage, the music is pretty generic and forgettable. And yet... and yet... 

I really loved the first couple of Sonic games, but everything the character has done since has been a disappointment. Now that Sega has gone back to the source, I'm willing to argue that Sega did the only thing it could do by trying to diversify and move forward with a character who, unfortunately, only really works in 2D. Now that they've done a proper 2D Sonic, I'm realising that maybe what I've been pining after all these years wasn't a new Sonic game, but something deeper.

I wanted a Sonic game that could work as a gateway drug to my memories.

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ORIGINAL SOURCE
There's only one way I'm going to get close to the feelings I got from playing the first Sonic the Hedgehog... and that's to play the original, on a Mega Drive.

I need to open up that plastic packaging, and shove the cartridge in the console's slot, and hold a Mega Drive joypad in my hands. I need to hear that hollow rattle of the Mega Drive's plastic casing. 

And then I need to let that Green Hill Zone theme, and Sonic's desperate breaths, as his lungs fill with water, wash over me.

Potentially, the only thing I wanted from a new Sonic the Hedgehog game was the feeling I got from the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. And that feeling was wrapped up in whole bunch of other stuff; where I was living, who my friends were, who I was at the time...

There's no way any game is ever going to be able to replicate that. The best it can manage is being a reasonable facsimile, or being a decent game in its own right. And 25 years of trying - and failing - to make a decent Sonic game, that is worthy of the character's iconic status, might suggest that it is never going to happen.

Where does this leave me and Sonic Mania? If I can, I'll try and separate my nostalgic attachment to the original Sonic games from whatever this new incarnation offers. I'll try to take the game as I find it, and judge it on its own merits. However, stripping the nostalgia out of the equation leaves me wondering how good Sonic The Hedgehog - the original - actually was in the first place. I find myself questioning whether it was all style and branding over substance. Maybe Sonic has never been that good. ​

Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing, but it can also blind us to the faults of the past. 

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
​EXCLUSIVE SCRIPT EXTRACT: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
21 EXAMPLES OF THE WEIRDEST EVER SONIC FAN ART
SEGA DESERVES TO ROT - BY MR BIFFO
21 Comments
Wrist Flapper
25/7/2016 10:35:04 am

"Admittedly, beyond that first stage, the music is pretty generic and forgettable. Except for Starlight Zone, which managed to be both soothing and upbeat to the point that, when you bollocksed up a jump, you didn't dwell on Sonic falling several thousand feet to a very graphic and violent death."

Fixed that for you.

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James Chops
25/7/2016 11:18:47 am

Came here to talk up Starlight Zone, but now I don't have to. Thanks.

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Dangerous Dave
25/7/2016 10:46:03 am

Sonic the Hedgehog was the first game I ever played (aged 3) and it made me the gaming enthusiast I am today. It's a very important game to me in that respect, but I don't think my enjoyment of it today purely stems from nostalgia. I think games of the late 80's and early 90's have a very distinct design that's just hard to come by these days. They're unique enough that they can have great appeal to the right audience.

I'm currently going through this weird phase of digging up NES games I never played as a child. I never played the Castlevania games, but they're now among my all-time favourites. I can't convince my friends that Balloon Fight is a genuinely great game and that Adventures of Lolo is a great puzzler that best suits having a girlfriend/wife or child with you to help find the correct solutions to each stage.

These are games I rate highly and choose to play over many popular modern titles. I guess in some way there's a sense of nostalgia in that i'm trying to reach back to my childhood, but the experiences I am having are all new and best capture what I love about video games.

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Wrist Flapper
25/7/2016 11:56:55 am

I'd concur about their being a certain unique "feel" to 8 and 16 bit titles, and there are certainly many titles from that era that stand up today, but I wonder if the appeal of them is linked not just to nostalgia, but also our contempt for the unneccesary bloat of open-world games these days. Yes, I'm talking about you Mr Collect Quest. There seems to be a purity, real or percieved, to games from the earlier days of our chosen obsession, but we should remember that there was as much shite then as there is now. It just had a different consitency and odour.

As to such feelings being hard to come by now, I'd suggest you give Shovel Knight a go it you've not already. It's the rare example of an indie title which uses retro feel without that being its only feature. Some parts of it had me audibly amused, which is quite rare as I'm a curmudgeonly old bastard. Axiom Verge also does some very clever things with a Metroidvania framework.

P.S. If you like Lolo, give Kickle Cubicle a look.

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Dangerous Dave
25/7/2016 01:19:31 pm

Yeah, I fully agree. There certainly is a lot of of tripe to swim through with old games, but that's half the fun of it.

As for Shovel Knight, i've played it and love it! Axiom Verge is also on shopping list as i'm a massive Metroid fan! I've never heard of Kickle Cubicle though, so cheers for that!

Voodoo76
25/7/2016 12:32:35 pm

I must say Biffo........you have an excellent way of conveying how I feel too. I'm nowhere near as good as putting it into words or explaining it like you do, but I completely agree about how it's the sounds and fx from all those old games that bring back the memories, such a comforting and happy place.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
25/7/2016 12:59:52 pm

I hate to say it, but some of the clips of the new stage look a bit too Sonic Advance 2ish for my liking. A bit "hold right to win". Hopefully that won't be the case.

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Windy Miller
25/7/2016 01:28:58 pm

When it comes to nostalgia I just find it hard to believe how recent 1991 seems. 25 years before Sonic was released it was 1966!

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Jeep Barnett
25/7/2016 01:32:56 pm

Mr Biffo, please get yourself to an electronics store or friend who can let you try a Vive. I've come to realize that its greatest power is being A NOSTALGIA MACHINE. It can transport you to a smokey neon arcade with skiball ticket dispensers, a bonfire at the beach, or the elaborate train models and tracks of your grandparent's basement (or whatever specific plastic fiddling memories you're recalling here). I think once you see that, your thoughts on VR will be much better informed.

I love and respect you, especially when you can admit you've changed your mind. Don't theorize about VR while waiting for PSVR (which won't be good for you), give roomscale VR a shot now so you have an informed opinion.

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Reversible Sedgewick
25/7/2016 01:48:46 pm

I've found that the 3D remasters on the 3DS have just enough of the "new" about them to scratch the nostalgia itch. Seeing something which, squashed and bordered on a PAL TV as it was, looked like The Future now running in the palm of your hand with layered 3D still has a bit of magic about it. It makes "parallax scrolling" exciting again.

Also the developer interviews on Sega's site for the 3D remasters are lovely little reads. Full of honesty and enthusiasm.

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Harry Steele
25/7/2016 01:57:02 pm

Hate to be dipping my toe into a 25 year old argument, but I *don't* think Sonic has been all that good? The graphics and music are great but I remember even as a child I was frustrated with a character whose raison d'etre was speed yet I spend 95% of the game speeding up from a sudden stop.

(I am sure NOBODY has pointed this out before!)

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Darth Tinder
25/7/2016 03:58:22 pm

@ Harry Steele - There was a good thing on Red Letter Media a while back about the fundamental flaws with 'classic' Sonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYDsz1NFBJw. Good viewing despite the clickbaity title.

As for Sonic Mania, will this do anything that wasn't promised already by Sonic 4, Sonic Generations, Sonic Advance, etc?

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NIck R
25/7/2016 05:37:53 pm

The main thing this has over what Sonic 4 promised to do is that it's developed by Christian Whitehead (The Taxman) and Simon Thomley (Stealth). They were some of the first fans to program their own versions of the Sonic engine in order to make their fan-games (rather than using tools like Klik & Play/The Games Factory as everyone else did), and later went on to make the widescreen/mobile ports of Sonic CD, 1 and 2. So they have a good track record, and there probably aren't many people who understand the nuances of Sonic game physics and level design as much as they do - and getting the feel of the control wrong was the biggest sin Sonic 4 made.

http://hcstealth.tumblr.com/post/100311283757/sonic-3-knuckles-20th-anniversary

Panda
25/7/2016 02:57:42 pm

Rayman Legends is already better than the elusive modern 2D game Sonic fans have been crying out for since the mid 90s. I even think Rayman Origins was better than Sonic has ever been, but it itself was great for mostly the same reasons so many people liked Sonic in the first place.

Sega should've understood that the problem with Sonic wasn't that he left the original two games too far behind; it's that he didn't go in a very sensible direction when he did.

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Random Reviewer
25/7/2016 04:31:20 pm

Dat Ice Stage Zone music tho...

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Willmill82
25/7/2016 08:11:14 pm

Yes! Ice Zone was the best

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Dirty Barry
25/7/2016 04:38:54 pm

I just feel grateful Sega finally listened after all these years.

Next I would like Sega to make the following please:

Nights Mania, Virtua Cop Mania Arcade, Burning Rangers Mania, Alien Storm Mania, Road Rash Mania and most importantly: STREETS OF RAGE MANIA (loads of levels and characters, multiple routes, expanded move list, original and remastered music). Cheers Sega.

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Darth Tinder
25/7/2016 04:54:08 pm

Yes - it's been said here before, but it's a real crying shame that Sega have a whole load of IP just sitting there, wholly capable of providing that nifty gaming Proustian rush, without the baggage Sonic has of year after year of games that range from terrible to "OK, I guess".

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Kelvin Green link
25/7/2016 06:36:53 pm

Sonic Mania looks okay to me; it seems a bit defeatist but 3d was never quite right for Sonic and it's perhaps best that they backtrack and go back to what worked in 1991.

The funny thing is that it's the music that turns me off. The Mega Drive Sonic games had great music -- or as great as it could be with the MD's wonky sound technology -- but the music I have heard from Mania doesn't have the same character, and that's a bit of a shame.

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Damon link
25/7/2016 06:42:07 pm

Very much a tangential point here but sound is very strong for me as well. I listen to a song and I remember many of the places and times I've heard it VERY vividly. I can even smell my old college's hallways when I listen to some songs. There's more boring stories but one example is enough for now.

Anyway, yea, sonic... personally I actually liked the sonic adventure games a lot. the 2-D games are great but they're a different sort of game and you've never going to make fans of both happy.

Of course even the 2-D sonic fans at least admit Adventure and Adventure 2 are playable games... maybe 3D sonic is just so tainted by now...? But then then visuals... I was a little too young to be nostalgic for that so as a style choice it all feels a bit trying-too-hard.

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Chris Wyatt
25/7/2016 11:00:09 pm

To me, Sonic Mania sounds more like a mental disorder than a game.

Sonic Mania: A longing to re-experience the same excitement from playing Sonic 1 on the Megadrive. No matter how hard the patient tries to recreate the spine-tingling euphoria; they will never quite reach that same alternative plane of consciousness, and instead will be left with a strange empty feeling, as if the seretogenic pathways activate a memory that no longer exists. As a result, patients are likely to abuse recreational drugs or keep live hedgehogs inside old Sega pinball machines.

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