Sonic Generations Ranking Attack

There were two things that I was looking forward to with the release of Sonic Generations:
1) Getting the platinum trophy
2) Competing on the Leaderboards.

Compared to Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Team was nice enough to tone down the difficulty of the Generations Platinum. You do have to complete all the challenges, but you do not need S ranks in any of them! If you did, the trophy rating would go from a 4/10 to 7/10, as some of the challenges are a total pain. After getting all of the challenges, each level has ten red star collectibles(five in each Act) that you have to find. Sonic's friends outside of each zone will give you a hint on how to find them, but I do admit that I used Youtube for at least two of them. Finding the red stars is also your first method of finding shortcuts in levels, as MOST stars are found on "pro paths." Once you finish obtaining all of the collectibles, there is nothing left to do for trophies except for some minor clean-up. Learning all of Sonic's skills, clearing levels without touching the water, etc. The worst of those is the trophy for the final boss, but not because of the boss's difficulty. It is especially annoying because you must do it in story mode with whatever amount of extra lives you have stored. When you run out of lives, no thanks to restarting the level, you have to afk the game until Sonic is ready to kill himself.
The trophies are only half the fun, as spamming Zones for your best time in Ranking Attack is where the real entertainment lies. Just as it sounds, Ranking attack is a game mode for performing time trials, with your time being compared to that of your fellow playerbase. It does have some flaws in overall "replayability", but it does exactly what you would expect for time trials. It is important to say that the gameplay for Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic are VERY different when it comes to getting top scores. My Classic Sonic isn't very good, but I do have top 30/50/100 scores in many Modern Sonic levels. I like both Sonics equally, but when it comes to skill, I like to think that Modern Sonic rewards skill a little more than Classic. So how do you get top scores in each Act?
Classic Sonic
Monster layout in Classic levels are specifically designed to propel you through the level. A good example is in Sky Sactuary, Spin jump onto one eggbot and a high momentum will place you on the "pro path." For optimum speed and momentum, you can spin dash and jump shortly after to guarantee that you hit the enemies at the correct speed. Spin Dashing is actually the most important part of Classic Sonic Time Trials, as several levels reward you for it. A good example is Green Hill, there is a small hill in the beginning of the level that can act as a ramp. The PERFECT launch off of this ramp will have you land on an enemy, then land onto the pro path of that area. Even average spin-dash-launches can allow you to skip the ledge that would typically slow you down.

Obtaining the best time for Classic levels usually involves finding these spots where you can spin dash and skip as much of the level as possible. Later levels like City Escape and Crisis City make spin dashing a little more risky, which is when you have to decide it the dash is worth it or not. Casual players can find great shortcuts for spin dashing in every level. Usually, just a few good launches can get you into the top 500 in the world(for now). To get into the top 100, you will have to do quick dashes (Briefly holding the Spin Dash button) to keep your speed as high as you can manage. Hold the dash for too long and you will go too fast to platform reliably. Even at the minimum spin dash speed, you will have to jump VERY early as Classic Sonic's "weight" is more than the speed he can generate (he's pretty chubby after all).

A ramp? Might as well jump!

Modern Sonic
It goes without saying that Boosting is the most important part of Modern Sonic levels. Even across 20' of distance, 1 Boost could be .5 seconds off your overall time. This is especially true if you jump right after boosting, allowing you to jump over gaps without losing as much momentum. Of course, you have to be careful of boosting into the gap in front of you or just losing your meter. When you are on the ground, you should be boosting almost 100% of the time. In "3-d mode" there is almost no excuse not to boost as you can see everything coming at you in almost every level. In "2-d" mode, before you start memorizing levels, the only way to predict what is ahead of you are by signs in the level itself. It is usually a visual cue to jump and could be a path of rings that are above your head (Chemical Plant), or the sound of an Enemy spawning (Crisis City). Some levels will even pan the camera around and show you exactly what is up ahead (Sky Sanctuary, Planet Wisp). If you weren't lucky to get any of that, you will have to rely on memorization.

Modern Sonic pro paths can be just as difficult to stay on as Classic Sonic. As Classic Sonic, you mostly need to jump whenever applicable and be ready to stop on a dime. Modern Sonic is the same way, except you are usually given a choice of direction that involves homing attacks. Just about all flying enemies for Modern Sonic are stepping stones for better paths. If you see a flying enemy, then you are probably in an area where your time could be greatly reduced. Unlike the past Sonic's, Generations has very few areas that use Light Speed Dash (which makes me sad). It may make more sense that once Sonic learned how to Boost(and Air Boost), there was really no need for Light Speed Dash outside of reaching impossible areas(Chemical Plant, Planet Wisp). I do wish that more levels had Light Speed Dash, but hey, that's one less thing to worry about.

So how do you get into the top 100 for Modern levels? I'm playing Sonic Generations on the PS3, and I will say that getting into the top 500 is pretty easy and anyone can do it if you take all of the pro paths without taking damage. Getting into the top 200 is just about the same, except you need to Boost the entire time. Getting into the top 100 takes a bit more skill, but is mostly knowing where and when to do specific actions:

1) Air Boost must be on deck at all times. Air Boosting allows you to skip some of the platforming that would otherwise slow you down. Many of the levels place roadblocks along your path, so Air Boosting over a gap has a pretty high chance of not sending you flying to your death. In certain areas where the game expects you to land on a surface, run for some distance, then jump, you can usually land and then Air Boost. A good example of this is Sky Sanctuary. Just before the Indoor Area is a ledge that you can only reach if you take a pro path about 8 seconds beforehand. At the end of the ledge are TWO rainbow rings, one that sends you to pro path A, and another to pro path Z(the better one). A rank 200 player would do something like this:
-Boost through the triple orange rings to land on the first platform.
-Jump and Homing Attack the 2 sets of enemies, then land on the next platform.
-Run or Boost for a short distance, then jump into the Z ring.
A top 100 player can do this faster by:
-Boost through the triple orange rings to land on the first platform.
-Jump through both enemies with enough momentum to land on the next platform, removing the need to Homing Attack.
- Immediately Jump and Air Boost. If you are at the correct distance, you can hit the Z ring, which is higher that the A ring.
Air Boosting does arc downward, so you can never expect to hit a target directly in line with Sonic unless you are close enough. The farther you are, the higher you will have to jump with Sonic, which can be a .2+ second difference in time.

See the ledge before the Cloud? You have to Air Boost->Stomp to reach that without risking Time

2)Stomp, when combined Air Boost should also be used to clear all large platforming gaps like the moving towers in Seaside Hill. The platforms you land on are so big that it is easy to Air Boost and land on them. If you think you may overshoot the platform, you can Stomp and ensure that you land on it. The Stomp does technically slow you down when used this way, but that difference is made up by the Air Boost you used to clear the gap. One of my favorite examples is the very first cannon in the forest area of Planet Wisp. A high risk/high reward manuever, you can ignore a tedious platforming section by Air Boosting OVER the Cannon (there is almost no way to reliably Air Boost and land on the Cannon) and Stomp onto it. If you aren't Air Boosting, Stomp needs to be used to finish free falls faster. Most of the best paths for Modern Sonic don't even have sections where Sonic must succumb to gravity, but for all other normal paths, each Stomp will save you some Boost power that you may need later.

3) Eventually, you will notice that some ramps, boost rings and springs actually SLOW Sonic down. I'm actually starting to believe that any spring or ramp that doesn't take you to some place you couldn't reach normally, is slower that getting there yourself. I believe we all know of the set of 3 grind rails in the beginning of Green Hill. The pro path grind rail on the far right has a spring at the end that launches you to the middle rail. This spring will slow Sonic down and you can easily jump to the next rail AND keep your Boost up. Timing it correctly will even give you the set of 10 rings as a reward! Another excellent example is the 2nd(?) rail in Planet Wisp. After taking the rainbow ring or destroying the bees to get to the final platform, you will find ramps that launch Sonic to the next grind rail. The ramp is nice because it will take you to the rail no matter what direction you run at it. Believe it or not, it is faster to just jump over the ramp and Air Dash directly to the grind rail. It is just far enough to end your Air Boost over the rail; this means you can adjust your free fall if necessary, but only by small amount. If you hit that rainbow ring to get to the platform, you will be in-line with the rail for an easy landing.

4) As dangerous as it sounds, Homing attack to clear distance will slow you down. top 500 players will use Homing attack in Crisis City to make sure they land on the correct ledge. Luckily for top 100 players, the gaps are spaced out just enough for Sonic to clear with no assistance. At high speeds, Sonic can clear almost any running-jump gap in the game. The chances of you landing on the platform lies solely on your timing. Top 20 players will even Air Boost and Stomp over areas you may have typically used "Homing Dash" to reach.

Keeping these things in mind, it isn't too difficult to get into the top 100 for all levels. This is ultimate goal and I check back daily to make sure I am still there. If you wish to find me on the PS3 Leaderboards, you can see my rank under the name Ealdnarche.

Thanks Sonic Team

As most of you know, I'm an advent Sonic fan. I had all the Genesis games, I still play my Sonic Adventures on Dreamcast, Game Gear, I even had shoes with Sonic's face on them when I was 6 and my Soap's at age 13. The recent years of Sonic games have always gotten a lot of gruff from players, despite most of them not actually playing the games. Sonic Team actually had quite a bit of success with the last Sonic game on the Wii, Sonic Colors. We have talked more than enough about the older games in these good game posts.

But this is a good week for games and my wallet is completely overworked. Thanks to some good deals on games(never ever buy a game without a deal. Exclusive costumes are meaningless when you can buy them later for less than the cost of your presell) I was able to pick up a couple of GotYs. Of course, the only one I actually opened was Sonic Generations, and boy am I satisfied.

Contrary to popular belief, Sonic Generations is not a simple collection of remastered levels. Though it does have a simple world hub for Stage Selection, there are storied cutscenes between each stage just like any other Sonic game. Akin to Sonic Adventure 2, you clear a level once and proceed through the story. After completing the level, you can redo them for better ranks and collectible music and art. You will also unlock Bonus missions with varying difficulty. There is everything from racing Sonic's friends, to wacky level layouts and special moves. Perhaps the second best part about the game is going through the challenges and seeing the new layouts. You can change the music in ANY level to any of the 50 additional tracks you can unlock. Some of my all time favorites I have unlocked are Mushroom Hill and Sonic Boom(with the voice over)!


Nostalgia runs rampant in Generations and is hard to escape from. Lucky enough, the level design has a very nice learning curve as you progress through the game, making S ranks more and more difficult to obtain. As I mentioned, there are 5 collectibles(art and music) hidden in each Act, and finding most of them involves traveling through the "pro paths" of the levels. Just getting to the pro paths is tough on its own. Memorization, twitchy muscles, flawless inputs; call it what you want but getting to the best paths isn't as easy as you may think. I like to believe that this is what separates people who love the game from people who played through it and only liked the game. It should go without saying that Generations isn't for everyone, as 80% of all Sonic games is repetition.


Leaderboards are a very important part of Sonic Generations for players like myself. I am by no means the best Sonic player in the West, but I am trying my hardest to get top numbers. Even the most average playthroughs can get you in the top 500 in the world. Once you get to the top 300(for now, soon we will have more people with better grades), the difference in speed becomes more and more exaggerated. The top player may have a level completed in 45 seconds, while you barely get 1 minute and 30 seconds upon completion. If you like being the king of Leaderboards in a game, good luck trying it in this one.

As a Sonic speed junkie, Sonic Team would have to ship me a broken disc to make a game that I wouldn't like. The game does have a buggy moment or two(such as the camera going into "3d mode" while playing Classic Sonic). The Leaderboards appear to have a few issues too. Besides that, I will be playing Sonic Generations a LOT. Alongside Resistance, Dark Souls, Disgaea 4, Dead Island and Resident Evils; Sonic Generations has made my library quite fat. The only way to play through these by Xmas time is to eat, breathe, and sleep games.

Get ready to spend some mula

In this Huge post we talked a bit about some cool games releasing in 2011. That was April, so before E3, Gamescon, and so much new information that has been released about your favorite upcoming games. These are just a few of the games I pointed out.
Infamous 2 - Already Released. Owned! (Unopened too.)
LA Noire - Already Released. Owned! (Unplayed!)
Resistance 3 - September 6th
Uncharted 3 - November 1st
Yugioh World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus- Already Released. Owned!
Dark Souls - October 4th
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 - Already Released.
"Sonic 20th Anniversary Project" - November 1st
Disgaea 4 - September 6th

This is merely scratching the surface of all the good games slated for Q3 and Q4. Besides this, there is also a new system, the Playstation Vita to pick up and then buy games for. I tried to count how many games I added to my library last year. Once I hit 10, I gave up, figuring that I had miscounted in some way. So far, I have gained:
Dead Space 2
Marvel VS Capcom 3
Portal 2
YGO WC2011
LA Noire
Infamous 2
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2
DJ Hero 2

That is already 8 games, so it is no surprise that I bought (well) over 10 games last year. This isn't even counting Digital Downloads. Granted, some games are gifts, and there is no way I would be able to pay for every game I have. The next releases for this year are so good that I have no idea how I am going to play them all. Besides actually getting the games, playing them is a challenge in itself. After work, yugioh, and other hobbies, it is hard to find time to play all the games that I have. As said earlier, I have an unopened Infamous 2 sitting on the cable receiver, just waiting to be played. I wan't playing that because Chelsea and I needed to finish up Dead Space 2. As awesome as Dead Space 2 is, I had to stop playing that because I needed to finish Resident Evil 1: Director's Cut before Resident Evil: Code Veronica HD is released. I had planned to play through the first 3 games so that we have a better understanding of the events that take place in the game. Of course, I haven't been playing RE1 faithfully because of all the League of Legends. In fact, LoL takes up far too much of my time, perhaps I need some organization  so that I can actually accomplish something.

I won't hold my breath, though. With so many good games I plan to get, the backlog is just going to grow more and more daunting.

Sonic Generations

Dubbed "Sonic 20th Anniversary Project," Sonic Generations is one of the best ideas to hit the Sonic scene in a long time. The game is a tribute to the 20 years of great levels by recreating them from 3 different "eras": The Genesis era, the Dreamcast era, and the Modern Era. So far, we do not have many levels revealed besides Chemical Plant from Sonic 2, City Escape from Sonic Adventure 1, and the classic Green Hill zone. In these levels, you have stages for Modern Sonic to play and stages with Classic Sonic. Classic Sonic is exactly like the original Genesis version, where your only tools Spin Dash and Roll, and Roll cancel. Modern Sonic has his Homing Attack, O Button slides, Boost, Spin Dash, Roll and Roll cancel. People wanting a return to fun stages with less filler in between should be excited to Generation's return to pure platforming. Of course there are some scenes here and there, but so far there is no hint of Adventure zones, npcs to do "quests" for, or objects to hunt down.

Most Sonic fans and Sonic haters will tell you that all they want in a Sonic game are fun levels to play with not much in between. This is probably the answer to most of our wishes and we can only hope that Sonic Team takes their time to make this one the best in years. I personally hope for:
-Better frame rate on the PS3. The frames in Sonic Unleashed were abysmal and there is no excuse to have it that way in Generations.
-Multiple ranks for levels such as in Sonic Adventure 2. In Adventure 2(expanded from Sonic Adventure 1's 3 rank system), every level in the game had 5 ranks, essentially 5 different missions to do in the same level. It went from Beat the level->Beat the level with a certain amount of rings->Beat the level within a certain time limit->Find a Hidden Object in the level-> Beat the level on "hard mode." The player is graded on their performance with a grade of A-E, where A is obviously the best. Getting A ranks on all stages is excellent replay value and is something I would love to see again.
-Downloadable content in Sonic Unleashed was sub par. Players could spend money on new missions for levels they already have. Once completed, there was no reason to ever do them again. I am hoping that Download Content in Generations is in the form of new levels, new characters and other things that players will enjoy buying. Even if they are skins of Sonics friends, I for one would love to play through levels as different characters if I had the choice.

Silent Hill Downpour

I believe Downpour is the 8th iteration of the Silent Hill Series. In this original game you play as Murphy Pendleton, a convict that has an unfortunate bus accident, stranding him in Silent Hill. As you can see in the video, the settings are still amazing with a great musical score to go with it, just as all the other games. In Downpour you have a number of people you can meet and do things for. Based on the latest videos, the Silent Hill town seems even grander than what we are accustomed to.

Of course, in 2011 gamers are plagued by many refutable feelings. The worst, and one that has dropped the ratings of the more recent Silent Hill games is nostalgia and the idea that "if the latest version of a game isnt as good as the first time I played it when I was 13, then that new version is automatically a bad game. The go-to complaint is that the modernized controls in our more recent Silent Hills are what kills the game. Some even say that the early games are scarier because the controls are so limited that you have no choice in how to react in most situations. The tension of the moment is multiplied by the terrible control scheme and the lack of defense in these older games. Now we have something like Homecoming, where next generation consoles can combine awesome visuals with a spectacular soundtrack. But once your put the camera on the Right Analog Stick and give your character knowledge of how to defend yourself(and no we aren't talking about Rocket Launchers, plasma grenades and rifles that shoot chainsaws), then the game is instantly bad. Let us not forget that some "Action Horror" games like Dead Space are actually good, and our latest Silent Hills are no where near the level of action in Dead Space. But alas, Vatra Games did make a couple of great changes to keep the most fickle of reviewers satisfied.

Murphy can actually fight, but finding a weapon during a frantic chase will often be too stressful. Chairs, bottles, iron bars, book cases, and other environmental elements can be used to slow, inhibit, or even combat the devilish creatures of Silent Hill. The goal is that most players will probably run in fear of most things, but you can actually be brave and take evil on with a little improvisation. Other subtle horror elements return too, like fixed cameras in certain areas and an aim-able flashlight. Honestly, as long as the story and atmosphere is good, you can't really go wrong with this game. People who base their reviews on 10 year old games should probably rethink how they analyze "fun."

Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3

I know what you're thinking. "You just got Marvel vs Capcom 3 this year, and Ultimate is releasing this year too? Don't you find that a little ridiculous?" While it does seem bad to support a developer that pushes out games this way, you have to remember that Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom would have been download content released over the course of the last few months. Every character pack of 2 could be anywhere from 8.99 to 14.99 per set, then there are new moves and gameplay balancing that would have been done via multiple large patches. Ultimate MVC also has a new interface, new stages, a spectator mode for online matches, and possibly more additions that we have not been told about. In any case, the characters alone are enough to spend $39.99 on. All shoppers should be trying to get a deal on their games anyway. If you shop at the trade-in place, you can get a discount on your Ultimate MVC that way. If you shop at big name retail place, you probably got a gift card for buying "vanilla" MVC that you can use towards Ultimate MVC...and get another gift card back.

We only have gameplay videos of Strider Hiryu, Firebrand, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange, and Nemesis. The remaining characters that need gameplay videos are Phoenix Wright, Rocket Racoon, Iron Fist and Frank West. All of them look really really good and I for one can not wait to try out Nemesis. In the latest videos, Nemesis is shown having awesome bounces, command grabs, and a level 3 Hyper combo that murders low HP characters. He is also one of the tallest characters in the game, giving him outlandish hit boxes(for you and your opponent!). My team of Jill, Trish, and Captain America haven't shown any changes yet in the latest videos. I do hope someone gets new attacks though, or else Nemesis is getting a slot.
Cap Trish Nemesis?
Jill Trish Nemesis?
Jill Cap Nemesis?
How can you not be excited for this?

There are even more games to talk about this year and I simply don't have the space to do it all, or the time for that matter! The 3 listed above are most likely day 1 purchases for myself. You can find me on the leaderboards for Sonic or in lobbies for Ultimate MVC as Ealdnarche(PSN) or maybe some Youtube videos of Downpour under BoogiepopPhantom05. I know Tumblr will love some horric pics of the game on my VeeDotMe Tumblr blog.

EXCITE.

2011 is Going to be HUGE!

Correction: Every year is huge for video games. Why is that? Because every year we get a new basis on what is great. Take for example Infamous. Great game. Huge hit when it came out. This year(June specifically) we have Infamous 2 coming out, which will also be amazing. This is because developers have successful platforms to build games upon. Some people say this destroys innovation, but with so many games on the market, Quality surpasses Quantity. I'm not really sure what I plan to buy this year, everything just looks so good. In no particular order, here are some of my hottest releases coming this year(or Q1 2012)

Infamous 2
Infamous was one of the best semi-sandbox action adventures available. The amount of carnage you can wreak was great, and is heightened in Infamous 2 in June. Cole gets new powers, more choices to make that affect story progression, and more things to do. They even added a Mission Creation mode that you can share with others online.

L.A. Noire
A friend of mine talked to me for a while about how Noire tries a bit too hard. "The game wants to feel so realistic, that it becomes unconvincing." The acting in this game is probably the low point of my anticipation, the gameplay trailers are what really excite me. One of the games Chelsea and I rented a few years ago was Condemned 2. Condemned had 3 things they REALLY wanted to emphasize: 1) Brutal Combat uses all sorts of weapons. 2) Scary atmosphere(which became Scary-Grunge instead of Scary-Horror). 3) Problem Solving a la detective work. The case solving was by far the best(if not the only) good thing in that game to me, and L.A. Noire uses a system very similar to this. Aside from vintage bar shoot-outs, chase scenes, and exploration, there is case solving that you have to do that sounds like hours of fun. There are interviews to do that not only have you comparing statements, but also watching facial expressions to pick up on their "ticks." You examine evidence just like in Condemned, where small details could be the biggest clues. Quite frankly, I could care less about anything else in the game. I honestly just want to pick up envelopes and find lipstick marks on the adhesive. (Everyone says I should play Phoenix Wright. No thanks.)

Resistance 3
Resistance games have always been underrated in my opinion. They get outshined by other games where the fights are Epic and you are also some big, burly alpha-male that can kill aliens in his sleep. And those games are fun, don't get me wrong, but the fights in Resistance are Epic in their own way. Not only are the enemies and circumstances ridiculous, but you are just a lowly soldier against these insurmountable odds. You get a real sense of "invasion" rather than "Aliens are here, but we're better than them." Resistance 2 also had ONLINE LOCAL CO-OP that was hours of fun for us. You basically did Missions with up to 8 people, and you can have 2 of them on the same PS3, on the same couch, in the same house. It has already been said that R3 will have local co-op, just hoping that it will be just as much as R2.

Uncharted 3
More games to buy holy crap. Uncharted has always had great acting, but unlike L.A. Noire, it is designed to be a full entertainment experience. There is comedy, serious moments, and high-speed action, and we expect the same from U3. For myself, I have always been a fan of acrobatics in games like Tomb Raider. U3 has this, but with a control scheme that doesn't punish you with its 8-way movement. Actually, U2 had a lot of different things in it, which combine to make a great game. There was tactical combant like Metal Gear, gun fights like Gears of War, platforming and treasure hunting like Tomb Raider, and online multiplayer like nothing else. Can't wait until November.

Yugioh World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus
Best Yugioh game ever? I still want the Xbox Arcade one to come out on the PSN so I can buy that too. WC2011 features cards up to Storm of Ragnarok and most of the Duel Terminal Series. For those who don't know, I played 2010 all day every day. I played it in bed when I woke up. I played it on my lunch break at work. I played it driving to and from work(not recommended). All to unlock every card and every opponent WITHOUT using cheat codes. WC2011 will get the same special treatment as playing any deck against any deck is a glorious experience. Unfortunately the game doesn't come out until May and if you want to import it, it will cost you double MSRP plus shipping.

Dark Souls
I talked about Dark Souls last time in this one of the best games ever post. If you haven't at least tried Demon's Souls, you should, as most retailers have it for cheap. Dark Souls will be multiplatform, and I REALLY hope the development doesn't take a hit because of this. Demon's Souls had beautiful environments, but its character models were lacking(unless you were decked out in armor). Hopefully there won't be any "Hardware Limitations" for the new game late this year.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3
New Gameplay modes? Check.
New Combat Abilities? Check.
Harder Enemies? Check.
More Diverse arenas? Check.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083? CHECK!
Gundam Wing Deathscythe Hell and Tallgeese II? CHECK!!!
Gundam 00? Check I guess?

Sonic 20th Anniversary Project
I am very excited for this and, unfortunately, 95% of the gaming community doesn't share my enthusiasm. Why? Xbox. Just kidding. I talked a bit about Sonic in this Good Games You Thought Were Bad post. As I said before, developers now have platforms that work very well and can use that to build better games. For Sonic Team(and Havok?) they have the engine from Sonic Unleashed, made better in Sonic Colors to use toward this Xbox/PS3 game. So how can they make they game as good as they can? Here are a few of my own ideas:
1) Keep Sonic's top speed the same as in Sonic Colors or slow it down even further. Removing his Boost Run may be the ultimate answer and does seem like a step backwards but it really isn't. If they re-implement the standard roll attack and roll cancels from Sonic Adventure, this will keep Sonic at a maximum speed that is manageable by even the most casual players.
2) Keep worlds diverse and try not to use too many of the same things. An example is in Sonic Unleashed with the Robot chase scenes. Too easy the first couple of times. The last time should have been the first. Then each time they wanted to use that chase, add in something else like QTE bouncers, low walls, short hops, etc.
3) 80% of the people who complain about Sonic games complain about new characters. If new characters are introduced, they're levels have to be exciting. Sure they can do things 100% different than Sonic, but if they are too boring(Werehog), or outrageous(Shadow from 2006), then no one will like it. Toning down Sonic's top speed should indirectly help this.
4)Download Content. Both Unleashed and 2006 had this, and it was good. Downloading Extra Hard, Rank SSS, etc levels are great for "hard-core" players.

Disgaea 4
I never got the Platinum Trophy for Disgaea 3. Some say it is easy but it does require a bit of a grind and I had too many other games to play! Disgaea 4 is supposed to have even MORE end-game content than 3 did. That means my 120 hours of playtime will have to be 180+. If that sounds like as much fun to you as it does to me, then you should pick up Disgaea 4 too.

There are TONS more games coming out that I'm interested in that supposedly come out this year too. I can't write about them all so here is just a bit of the action. I'll give them a buyers rating: 5-Day one purchase, 4-I just bought something else, so I'll get this next, 3-I won't get it on day 1 unless there's a good deal, and I probably won't play it until I have time, 2-Low chance I'll get it unless something changes my mind, 1-Probably won't get it, but the game still seems like fun.
- Playstation Move Ape Escape (3/5)
- Socom 4 (3/5 Looking at you MAG)
- Portal 2 (2/5)
- Twisted Metal (2/5)
- Ratchet and Clank All 4 One (4/5)
- The Agent (1/5)
- Silent Hill: Downpour (5/5)
- White Knight Chronicles 2 (2/5)

Good Games you think are bad 1: Sonic Unleashed

Now before I go too far in this, I should go ahead and say that I am a huge Sonic Fan. I'm excited about each game when they are released and I've played a very very good chunk of them all. We did grow up with both a Nintendo and a Genesis in the house, but only the Genesis had over 5 games (probably close to 30), and the Nintendo always collected dust. Mario games have always been popular, but they instill a bit of boredom to me, as mario levels only did so much back then. Of course, you could say the same thing about Sonic levels, but I always felt Sonic levels were more "flavorful".

But this does not mean all the games are good. And by "good" I always mean how enjoyable it is to play. "Good" doesn't have to have the best story in the world, or the greatest graphics, or the most intuitive controls, or the hottest new gimmick, voice acting, multiplayer, unlockables or anything else. When I say a game is good(to mean) I'm talking strictly in enjoyability. Yes, a game can be less enjoyable because of gameplay issues or difficulty, but only the most extreme cases lose enjoyability because the developers made the game poorly.

A good example of this is Sonic The Hedgehog 2006. If you look at videos of people SS-ranking levels, you would think that it is one of the best Sonic games around. But the game is borderline unplayable for a couple reasons.
1) The horrid amount of glitches because the game was poorly made. And I don't mean things like hanging upside down inside a loop-the-loop or falling to your death because you wanted to show a glitch which is actually a player just being bad at the game. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 has things like infitie jumps that could get you to areas of the level Reserved for other characters and 0 Substance in most of the environment so you can fly and run through walls as if you are supposed to.
2) A lack of....what's a good word...I guess I can use "substance" again. There's not much friction in the game, Sonic weighs about 500 pounds and moves accordingly, Enemies rarely try to defend themselves. It is almost as if the entire game is caught in a cut-scene that you aren't supposed to be able to play in, because 90% of the physics in the game are completely off.

Sonic Unleashed, however, doesn't fall prey to these issues. Instead, Unleashed has 3 main things that(imo) gave it such terrible reviews.
1) Stigma against Sonic Games since Sonic Adventure 1.
2) Internet.
3) Xbox.

Now to be serious.
Sonic Unleashed, however, doesn't fall prey to these issues. Instead, Unleashed has 3 main things that(imo) gave it such terrible reviews.
1) A terrible, terrible frame rate that should have been priority to upgrade in such as fast-paced game. On sunlight levels, Sonic can blow through several hundred meters of level space in mere seconds, and dropping the frame rate would instantly kill unskilled players. On moonlight levels, Sonic the Werehog has to navigate through levels with much caution. Dropping the frame rate on such low-speed, low-key levels destroy the fun in a beat-em-up platformer.
2) Unleashed has a decent story that gets exponentially worse towards the end. If you've ever watched the show or read the manga, you would know what to expect in dialogue between Sonic characters. Sega doesn't forget this, but I think a lot of players did. So for the most part, if a game wants a story, it needs to be a little more serious and up-to-date. Most Mario games gave up on story, and the recent ones that do have a story, sell less.
3) Unleashed can be a little unreasonable at times. Especially trying to platinum it, which is one of the most difficult platinums I have every attempted, and still don't have.

And why is that? Well, the game is HARD to platinum. It is about 85% skill and 15% luck, and that luck is based on the frame rate the game gives you. Racing through these levels are a lot of fun, but the game is very unforgiving.

This is an example of S-rank gameplay that I did this morning. As you can see, the game goes very very very fast, and its easy to let yourself get lost in the speed and kill yourself. Obviously, I've played this level many times before, but even my first run throughs of most levels in Sonic games are good ones.

Blogging Step 2: Posting videos

I actually started both this blog and the Yugioh blog at the same time. Yugioh is easy to make posts about, but Video Games are a little different. You see, I didn't want to just post pictures of games, or someone ELSE's videos about them. I wanted to show my readers my own gaming. So I bought the Pinnacle Dazzle 100 PVR to record everything and then upload it to youtube(until I can find a batter site, if one exists.) This is an example of Dazzle in action:

As you can see, the video quality is decent as best, and there is a little artifacting at the bottom of the video. The real problem though was playing it on my 32" LCD. Sonic was manageable, but when I got into better games the difficulty skyrocketed. Dazzle takes composite videos, so the best it can record at is 420i. Playing a game in 420i on a 32" TV is complete garbage though. I actually took back the unit and all the cables I bought in order to upgrade to HD recording hardware.


Playing MAG in SD is terrrrrrrible. Somehow I got MVP in that match with such terrible scores, and we still lost lol. I just can't stand it, there's no way I could supply videos for this blog if I was playing in Standard Definition. That's why I bit the bullet and bought the Hauppage HD PVR, which is supposed to be one of the top ranked recording devices for the PS# (as ranked by the Internet). I havent gotten to try it yet, but when I do it will be right here in a blog post.