It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Game Break! This time I’ll be sharing my thoughts on 3D Sonic and where Sega could go from here.
Sonic’s rhythm has been a slow morph from what people call “Adventure” gameplay and “Boost” gameplay, the former being from Sonic Adventure and the latter originally being introduced in Sonic Rush for Nintendo DS.
Adventure gameplay consists of levels compartmentalized into specific activities and platforming, linked together by dynamic camera changes and loops, while Boost gameplay has levels focused more like race tracks, dipping in and out of traditional 2D Sonic level design, with a high road and a low road, the high road being harder, but more rewarding, and the low road being a slower, more relaxed experience. This is supplemented by the Boost system, which is a bar that fills up as Sonic defeats enemies or hits certain items, that can be expended as pure speed, allowing Sonic to boost through obstacles.
What sets these two apart mainly are how Adventure’s focus is on exploration, and Boost’s focus is on momentum and keeping momentum. Adventure is built more openly with more options for the player to play their own way, and Boost presents specific racetracks to the player, not unlike a go-karting track. Mastery of Adventure gameplay comes from players knowing which characters are proficient where, shortcuts and secrets. Boost mastery comes from memorization of a level’s key points, and having that memory be rewarded with even more speed, and a quicker level completion time.
Sonic has been following the Boost style of gameplay ever since Sonic Rush in 2005, with the last Adventure game being Sonic Heroes, released in 2003.
Boost gameplay has been the norm for Sonic all throughout Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and 2017’s Sonic Forces. This means that Sonic Team has been making boost levels exclusively for the past 10+ years.
I think Boost hit the apex when it was at its freshest, during Sonic Generations, where it was implemented and not heavily relied on as it is in Forces. It’s used as a tool alongside Sonic’s other moves, like the Homing Attack and Slide. In Forces, it really brought home the phrase people like to say, “Boost to win”. The levels designed in Sonic Forces are arranged in a way that you’re either going to be boosting into enemies, which will only refill your boost gauge and allow you to keep boosting, or you’re going to hit a spring or wall that will slow you just a bit from hitting the next patch of enemies that will replenish your boost.
The biggest problem I see with boost in this way is that boost makes Sonic invincible, and there’s no reason for the player not to boost, if its the easiest and surefire way to victory. Boost’s apex was where it was used as another tool in Sonic’s arsenal, with clear pros and cons. You could boost through, but that would mean sacrificing other options that may lead to a better clear time, or a higher score.
Sonic Team has been finagling with other types of Sonic games, like Lost World sacrificing traditional Sonic level design for having a more Mario Galaxy-esque level design and game design philosophy. I don’t think any of these endeavors have really proved fruitful, as they have stayed stagnant, while the fanmade Sonic Mania blows the earth apart and takes the title of “The best Sonic game ever made.”
Hopefully Sonic Team takes note of this and remembers what made Sonic appealing in the first place. It was the gameplay coupled with the character’s moxie and personality, almost saying to the player, “think you can catch up with me?” The more recent Sonic games have favoured spectacle over substance, where the best Sonic games had very open-ended level designs with many varied pathways, promoting exploration and the manipulation of speed as a tool to get to where you needed to be and truly master a level.
Now, they all serve as one-track raceways that eventually dip off into virtually three clones before converging again. There’s not as much exploration and uniqueness as there used to be with every run through, and although it is nice to see Sonic go fast, his speed is best when used as a motivator and invoker. Like eating junk food and a high-class meal, you can boost all you like, but if you hit a stride and master a level’s key points to hit that mach speed only with your knowledge of the game’s physics and level design, it feels so much more satisfying. There’s a sense of mastery, the feeling of looking at Sonic’s confident smile that teases you, and smiling back, because you understand how to run with Sonic.
I feel like Sonic Forces was Sonic Team slowing down from all the extras they’ve been pulling out, like Wisps and the Werehogs, and trying to go back to basics, as the boost gauge is the only real significant gameplay extra. If they were to take a hint from Mania, and really re-work their level designs so that they could capture the same satisfaction and discovery they did in the classic games and Generations, they’d be well on their way to sending Sonic back to the lush green hills of wonder he was first known for.