COULD Sonic 06 Have Been Good?

[SNOlink]

I think most everybody agrees that Sonic 06 was a really bad game, but did it have the potential to be a really good game?

I think that it could have been. If they had just actually fixed the glitches in the game, had better loading time, and made some of the battles less unbalanced (*cough* Silver fights *cough*), this could have been a really great game. Sega had a good idea, they just didn't finish it.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Any game can be made good if you just refine its ideas and improve its weak points so its fun.

Having watched some of it played on GameGrumps, I can safely say that I don't think improving it to be a good game would have been that hard; it's not terribly different from the original Sonic Adventure, which is pretty widely considered to be a good game (and I think even most of the people who don't like it would agree it at least wasn't a terrible game). With that in mind, Sonic 06 had a pretty good base design. It just needed to be worked on with care in expanding from that design.

Regarding the artstyle and the jarring mix of realistic characters and backgrounds with the Sonic characters... again I actually think this could have been done very well. Sonic Adventure did something vaguely similar, but even with the differences in mind it could have been a really interesting dichotomy, but it needed more skillful execution. As it stands, Sonic looks out of place. Similarity in coloring style and texture would have been needed, and I think they would have needed to either reduce the realism on the other elements, or up the realism on Sonic and the animal characters... or both. Maybe that would have been blasphemy, but Sonic's done it in the past with Sonic Adventure (switching from a silly cartoon style to a sleeker anime punk look), and if there's any time to come up with a modified look for your characters, it's when you're trying to do a reboot.

 

[StarBound]

Where should I begin...
In my opinion, Sonic 06 would still be a terrible game even if it wasn't rushed. Let me say this, glitches are not the reason why Sonic 06 is a bad game. Sonic 06 has more problems than an algebra textbook and I'm not exaggerating either. While the CG cutscenes look beautiful,everything else is not. For one, this "realistic" art style does not fit Sonic. The series has always had this cartoony style and it works because it fits the series. While the Sonic Adventure games weren't as cartoony as the genesis games, they kinda had an anime look and in case you didn't know, anime and cartoons are the same thing. The humans in 06 look like crap and the only decent looking human in the entire game is Eggman. As for Sonic and co, they look like crap too since this art style doesn't fit Sonic. Overall, the game isn't that pretty. The story is full of plot holes and Sonic's story just feels like fan fiction. If they fix the controls and the glitches, then the game still wouldn't be fun because of the level design. The level design in 06 is terrible. Some of the levels are too long, the enemies aren't satisfying to kill, ect. I can go on and on but between 9 different play styles that all suck, $h*tty level design, crappy story and pointless side missions, I don't see how Sonic 06 could've been a good game even if they fix all of the bugs and stuff.

 

[Ventus]

Do keep in mind that Sonic the Hedgehog was a rushed game; Sonic Team was somewhat pressured into getting it out for Sonic's 15th anniversary and also getting it out towards Christmas time as evidenced by this quote:

The reason why we probably ended up with what we see today, involves a lot of reasons. One is that we did want to launch the title around Christmas, and we had the PS3 launch coming up, but we had to develop for Microsoft's 360 at the same time and the team had an awful lot of pressure on them. It was very hard for the team to try and see how we were going to come out with both versions together with just the one team. It was a big challenge.

I have played Sonic 2006 and got stuck in Crisis City due to glitches and atrocious controls. That being said, I am definitely sure the game could have been great had it not been so damn rushed. '06 has a great crust, it's just SEGA/Sonic Team filled in it with frozen berries rather than defrosted, mixed berries. They didn't have the time needed to finish the game is basically what I'm saying. Had it been given, oh I don't know, another year or two I'm sure it would turn out indubitably great.

Source for the interview: Video Games Daily | Sega Interview - Sonic and the Secret Rings (Page 3)

 

[ShadowDiety]

Could have been a good game if it wasn't rushed. I remember one of my friends spent $700 on a PS3 just for that game, and he hasn't even used the PS3 since he beat it

 

[DuelMark]

Sonic 2006 had potential. Two problems.
1) It was extremely rushed, leaving in huge glitches and even for a Sonic game the plot had some holes.
2) It wasn't the kind of plot for a Sonic game. It was more of a plot for Final Fantasy.
3) The idea of Sonic stopping some god-like being and the introduction of a third hedgehog were good ideas just not good execution. These days if you were to put Silver in a game he might receive better reception thanks to Sonic Generations.

Really, if SEGA wanted to attempt the idea of three hedgehogs again, here's what they should do.
Have only the three. Make them all have the same basic controls but some key differences like Sonic using physical attacks, Shadow capable of energy and more damage or Silver creating shields for protection or to walk on water. Don't try to make a convoluted plot with a princess and some angry deity that can destroy time, go for something easier like, say, aliens are invading and Silver arrives because they started appearing in his time. Boom, there. Nothing confusing. No major overworld to outdo Sonic Adventure, go for something like Sonic Colors. Most of all, focus on the speed and platforming instead of how serious and stuff the game will be.

 

[Dan]

Yes it could of been a good game if it wasn't dragged through a field of every animal know to man's crap, then grinded against Gordan Ramsays frown for 6 weeks, followed by getting stampeded by a herd of elephants which of course have more crap on there feet, and finally being put inside A_Link_in_times underwear for a year or two. Maybe then it would of been a good game.

Seriously though people raise some really great points, if it focused more on just playing like a really nice game rather than some giant hedgehog sitcom it would of been quite decent. I think some of the levels settings were really good looking there's no denying that. A lot of the music was good too. The overall plot just didn't seem like a sonic game. It's interesting to see the milestone sega have taken now with Sonics 20th anniversary, which is something they should of done in the first place. I can see what they were trying to go for, but it's just not something the sonic franchise needs at all. I wasn't really a fan of silver and I didn't feel like his inclusion (like many of the characters) in the series was needed. Oh and yeah if the 1000 of bugs were cleared out it could of been okay. It's like axle said, anything can be potentially good but I think ultimately what sega were attempting just wasn't what the right direction for the franchise. (like most of the games in that time period weren't )

 

[prince rallis]

Watch Clementj642's review of Sonic 06 he'll tell you why it wouldn't be a good game.

 

[feraldonkey]

I've always wanted to know but too lazy to search it up. Is it connected to the Sonic Adventure series?

 

[Mcjoejoejoe]

I feel like if they remade it with the Sonic Unleashed/Colors/Generations engine, they may be able to redeem themselves.

 

[surferguy7]

It could have been very good, but the developers should have listened to themselves instead of following some superficial anniversary importance.

 

[Ventus]

I feel like if they remade it with the Sonic Unleashed/Colors/Generations engine, they may be able to redeem themselves.

But, even if it was remade with a different engine, it couldn't go anywhere unless it were fully FINISHED, right? Bugs found and squashed, glitches repaired and all that?