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Rumor: The next Sonic game is open-world Sonic Rangers with linear boost-style levels and a new 'spincycle' move (UP: Sega accidentally confirms name)

Horohorohoro

Horohorohoro

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Jan 28, 2019
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It's weird when people say the Boost formula is the only well received 3D gameplay style, I highly doubt most people would be upset or negative about a game that's Adventure-style with the other playstyled taken out for example, if it just played like Sonic and Shadow, for example.

Not that this leak is particularly appealing to me, but there were other positively received playstyles.
 
BaconHat

BaconHat

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Oct 25, 2017
5,173
...well... at least it should stop ppl saying that a sonic open world full scale was feasible in a fun way?

Seriously, sonic team should just go do tempo the badass elephant sequels at this rate, they clearly have had no clue what to do with sonic for quite a long while.
 
My Blue Heaven

My Blue Heaven

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May 19, 2020
4,828
sounds like an easy pass, which for 3D sonic was already easy. current sonic team developing an open world sounds like it will make for a funny post mortem lol
 
Camjo-Z

Camjo-Z

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Oct 25, 2017
6,558
Doesn't sound awful at all but Sonic and hyperbole go hand in hand at this point. The boost formula was getting a little stale after 4 games, so doing something new but still including that gameplay in a smaller capacity sounds good to me.

I also don't see how BOTW-style open world is a bad idea for Sonic, what better way to utilize his speed and physics than with a giant playground. Every 3D fangame these days that has people going "SEGA HIRE THIS MAN!!!!!!" is based around that general concept anyway.
 
PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,461
Before the hatred circlejerk climaxes, I do want to say it looks like the game is receiving a substantial amount of dev time to tackle the "roughness" and figure out the "fun". Which again, "fun" isn't a thing that is instant and takes time and refining to figure out, even for the most experienced devs. (In b4 "but lol Sonic Team").

As a long time fan of 3D Sonic, the open world aspect is something I've been wanting to see them try for years, so excited to see that. Unlocking abilities is something I've wanted back since the Adventure days, and this does read like a large scale project which has been sorely wanted in the next mainline game.

Concerns:
-Unleashed-style levels worry me since I'm sick of boost, but at least it sounds like the music is on point.
-My main concern is that the game will be hamstrung by the ancient Switch hardware. Hell, by the aging PS4 hardware. I truly, truly wished that this game would be a nextgen powerhouse to make use of the latest visuals and the SSD speed, because right now making Open World and Speed work on something like the Switch sounds like a nightmare.

It honestly crushes me that a game like this that is finally giving the open world style a shot is crippled out of the gate by the Switch. I really REALLY hope I'm wrong.
 
I Wanna Be The Guy

I Wanna Be The Guy

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Oct 28, 2017
16,805
PeakPointMatrix said:
Before the hatred circlejerk climaxes, I do want to say it looks like the game is receiving a substantial amount of dev time to tackle the "roughness" and figure out the "fun". Which again, "fun" isn't a thing that is instant and takes time and refining to figure out, even for the most experienced devs. (In b4 "but lol Sonic Team").

As a long time fan of 3D Sonic, the open world aspect is something I've been wanting to see them try for years, so excited to see that. Unlocking abilities is something I've wanted back since the Adventure days, and this does read like a large scale project which has been sorely wanted in the next mainline game.

Concerns:
-Unleashed-style levels worry me since I'm sick of boost, but at least it sounds like the music is on point.
-My main concern is that the game will be hamstrung by the ancient Switch hardware. Hell, by the aging PS4 hardware. I truly, truly wished that this game would be a nextgen powerhouse to make use of the latest visuals and the SSD speed, because right now making Open World and Speed work on something like the Switch sounds like a nightmare.

It honestly crushes me that a game like this that is finally giving the open world style a shot is crippled out of the gate by the Switch. I really REALLY hope I'm wrong.
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Maybe the Switch version will just suck. That's a sacrifice I'm ok with.
 
OP
OP

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PeakPointMatrix said:
Before the hatred circlejerk climaxes, I do want to say it looks like the game is receiving a substantial amount of dev time to tackle the "roughness" and figure out the "fun". Which again, "fun" isn't a thing that is instant and takes time and refining to figure out, even for the most experienced devs. (In b4 "but lol Sonic Team").

As a long time fan of 3D Sonic, the open world aspect is something I've been wanting to see them try for years, so excited to see that. Unlocking abilities is something I've wanted back since the Adventure days, and this does read like a large scale project which has been sorely wanted in the next mainline game.

Concerns:
-Unleashed-style levels worry me since I'm sick of boost, but at least it sounds like the music is on point.
-My main concern is that the game will be hamstrung by the ancient Switch hardware. Hell, by the aging PS4 hardware. I truly, truly wished that this game would be a nextgen powerhouse to make use of the latest visuals and the SSD speed, because right now making Open World and Speed work on something like the Switch sounds like a nightmare.

It honestly crushes me that a game like this that is finally giving the open world style a shot is crippled out of the gate by the Switch. I really REALLY hope I'm wrong.
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I Wanna Be The Guy said:
Maybe the Switch version will just suck. That's a sacrifice I'm ok with.
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Yeaaaah I think the OG Switch version just isn't going to be a good way to play Sonic Rangers. Might be fine on the Switch Pro though
 
Vidiot

Vidiot

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Oct 27, 2017
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I mean I will say it would be fun as fuck to run around the world of BotW with Sonic's abilities. Running straight up mountains and straight over lakes, up walls and buildings, etc. You could probably get across all of Hyrule in a few minutes with Sonic's speed. Though I have no idea how they would allow an open world to load that fast. Remember the freezing when using the Master Cycle in Hyrule Castle? Now imagine something MUCH faster with a much less skilled (an assumption but a safe one) development team. If they could get it to work without gimping Sonic it could be a lot of fun.
 
Ghostsonplanets

Ghostsonplanets

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Oct 25, 2017
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I don't get why the Switch version will cripple the other or will be sacrificed. Are we forgetting that Switch launched with an Open-World game? lol.
 
AquaWateria

AquaWateria

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Oct 25, 2017
7,533
Vidiot said:
Compare Links speed to Sonic. He needs to be able to move across the open world crazy fast or else he ain't Sonic.
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Sure but it's not like the Sonic Team are good at making stable games to begin with so blaming the Switch for holding the game back is hilarious.

Either way going Open World for Sonic sounds terrible.
 
ValKiryuSonicEX

ValKiryuSonicEX

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,270
I'm going to keep an open mind about it, even if the leaks are real, like others have said, focus groups help test out these games. If Sonic Team has taken these criticisms seriously since then, the game will likely shape up, especially if the release is late next year.
 
Ghostsonplanets

Ghostsonplanets

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Oct 25, 2017
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Vidiot said:
Compare Links speed to Sonic. He needs to be able to move across the open world crazy fast or else he ain't Sonic.
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The testers said he doesn't move as fast on the open-world zone and there's unleashed style zones for that. Which makes sense, as a super fast character can explore a Open World content really quickly, which isn't ideal. Even then, this kind of concept(Super fast charater in an open-world) would be crippled not by Switch and it's flash storage but by PS4/Xbox One HDD(Yes, there's options around that).
Fake-Edit: And even then, we have Open-World games on Switch with fast vehycle option for world traversal. I really don't get all this "Switch will cripple the game".
 
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GetDigitized

GetDigitized

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Oct 25, 2017
2,825
Open world sonic sounds dope, if they can get tight gameplay. If it's the same as forces but open world then this won't happen and it'll be a flop. This just reminds me of SA1DX , it had an overworld where you moved slower and stages where you moved faster.

I don't think its the right move for Sonic currently when they don't have the modern formula down , maybe if they had released 2 modern sonic games in a row with tight gameplay (colours & generations were great) then I'd have more faith in them to do it.
Forces was ok, but not great or tight all the way through.
 
Streusel

Streusel

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Dec 28, 2017
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this sounds exciting to me, at least it's ambitious.
but unleashed is my favorite sonic from the ones i've played, so what do i know.
 
MrWindUpBird

MrWindUpBird

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Oct 28, 2017
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Sounds like they're actually trying something different, even if it apes other games. I'm down to give it a go. Much more interesting than fucking Mania 2 would b lmao.
 
KefkaPalazzo

KefkaPalazzo

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Oct 25, 2017
1,597
This sounds...not good...nearing wtf were they thinking territory. Let's hope they deliver on whatever vision they have.
 
PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

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Oct 25, 2017
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Ghostsonplanets said:
I don't get why the Switch version will cripple the other or will be sacrificed. Are we forgetting that Switch launched with an Open-World game? lol.
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AquaWateria said:
Yea people forget that the BOTW was made on the Wii U and it was Open World.
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Asset loading in BotW happens at an *extremely* fixed pace. And even then it chugs in places, and this was with Nintendo's best and brightest engineers at the helm. Look at the technical struggles a lesser dev like Gamefreak had with getting their open world section to be just decent. Barely. To work at Sonic's boost speed, they would need to reduce the fidelity and complexity of the world by a staggering amount.

It's to the point where I hope the Switch version is a seperate port alltogether, like Unleashed 360 vs Wii style. There's just no way these concepts will gel in any concievable way on the Switch without crippling the PS4/5 versions.
 
NotLiquid

NotLiquid

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Very mixed on the sounds of this but being mixed is a step up from feeling negative about the last decade of non-Mania Sonic games (which even that I felt somewhat mixed about).

If this was focus tested in 2020 that's a good thing. That means they had more than a full year to go back to basics and see what about the concept can be tinkered to work. An open world Sonic is something fan engines have been dealing with and I'm guessing Sonic Team finally decided to take a stab at it. I feel like hearing about the state of a focus tested game years before its launch potentially sets up an awkward precedent for a consumer because there's a good chance a lot of games you know and love absolutely suck in focus testing so it's not information that's super valuable to hear about. Having had experience focus testing for triple A games, I've played critically acclaimed games that were total messes up to a year before dropping. No reason that can't be turned around here.

Anyway, I'm hoping the mechanics of movement don't necessarily overlap too much in either respective field of play since I'd like the overworld to feature some more Adventure styled trappings like proper physics. I can tolerate the boost game play if it's in moderation. Using Nights Paraloops is something that sounds way more interesting of a combat mechanic than anything this series has done before and I'm shocked the series hasn't done this sooner ever since it threw them in as an easter egg in Sonic Unleashed's final boss, so I hope it does something well with this.
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

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Oct 25, 2017
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Hedge of the wild!?

I loved Sonic Forces, it was trash, but I loved it. Will get whatever bullshit this is

If this game doesn't have the Forces character creator I'm going to be super bummed. That need's to be modern Sonic Team's legacy outside of Puyo Puyo
 
Vidiot

Vidiot

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Oct 27, 2017
4,485
So they plan on gimping Sonic's speed on the open world? Yeah that's horrible. If you can't let your character do their main thing you fucked up. He needs to move at least as fast as Adventure Sonic or else why the fuck bother going open world with Sonic?!
 
Ghostsonplanets

Ghostsonplanets

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Oct 25, 2017
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PeakPointMatrix said:
Asset loading in BotW happens at an *extremely* fixed pace. And even then it chugs in places, and this was with Nintendo's best and brightest engineers at the helm. Look at the technical struggles a lesser dev like Gamefreak had with getting their open world section to be just decent. Barely. To work at Sonic's boost speed, they would need to reduce the fidelity and complexity of the world by a staggering amount.

It's to the point where I hope the Switch version is a seperate port alltogether, like Unleashed 360 vs Wii style. There's just no way these concepts will gel in any concievable way on the Switch without crippling the PS4/5 versions.
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BoTW wasn't optimized for Switch. The asset streaming needs to be carefully done because of WiiU optical disk based roots. And bringing Game Freak to the table is laughable. Sonic Team, despite all their flaws, are still a notch above Game Freak.
 
I Wanna Be The Guy

I Wanna Be The Guy

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Streusel said:
this sounds exciting to me, at least it's ambitious.
but unleashed is my favorite sonic from the ones i've played, so what do i know.
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Ambition is what the series desperately needs right now. I would rather get a Sonic game with ambition that falls flat on its face than another game that tries too hard to be safe. Unleashed is not my favourite Sonic game, but it's a damn good example of the kind of attitude I want Sega to bring to the next game. That game went all out.
 

RedSpring

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Aug 23, 2020
231
I was really hoping Sonic Team would move away from the ludicrously expensive to make Unleashed style levels and this rumor is not helping. I am foreseeing more "3D but really 2D" levels like in Forces. Combat doesn't sound hot either. Giving enemies hitpoints was a horrible ideas in Heroes and Shadow. Liking the sounds of finally giving Sonic a big budget again but too bad most of it will be spent on making an expensive idea work rather than polishing any of the many slower pace sonic gameplays.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

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Nov 8, 2017
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Open world with RPG elements....are they really going to be doing this to every franchise....

d90.jpg
 
AquaWateria

AquaWateria

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Oct 25, 2017
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I Wanna Be The Guy said:
Ambition is what the series desperately needs right now. I would rather get a Sonic game with ambition that falls flat on its face than another game that tries too hard to be safe. Unleashed is not my favourite Sonic game, but it's a damn good example of the kind of attitude I want Sega to bring to the next game. That game went all out.
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Ambition is the last thing the Sonic Team needs considering they fuck up badly even on most fundamental things.

What they need is focus instead of coming up with multiple ideas hoping that one of them sticks the landing. That's why I fear going Open World is a bad idea for them.
 
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

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Oct 31, 2017
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GamerJM said:
Open world with RPG elements....are they really going to be doing this to every franchise....

d90.jpg
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I mean this isn't the first time Sonic has RPG elements. Unleashed handled it pretty well (IMO), and then there's stuff like Secret Rings which handled it atrociously

And as for the open world: from what I remember, the most praised Sonic fan games have been these huge open worlds. So I'm not surprised.

I don't think it's a good idea but it just sounds like a very big hub, and Sega's answer of inflating game time. It makes sense, honestly. Hopefully the gameplay outside of the stages aren't total trash, though.
 
Gunstar Legend

Gunstar Legend

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Oct 26, 2017
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Reads almost like a checklist of things that I don't want in a Sonic game

Not even Boost Sonic levels particularly interest me because Forces was garbage
 
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