Sonic Generations Demo (360/PS3)

[elaniel]

Just had about 20 mins to play through the demo a few times. For some reason game after game I expect Sonic to finally get back to it's hey-day sometime, yet it fails again.

I do not know if it is my eyes but the game seems to have horrible framerate problems and the camera seems to be zoomed in far too much. Before you realize it you have hit an enemy. I've also found input lag as well when playing. The controls also seem to be off (hard to explain) but when I jump on a platform it feels like Sonic has over-jumped.

You can't play as modern Sonic in the demo, it's all 2D. Actually a few parts over loops and corkscrews go into a 3D type of view which is kinda cool.

The demo is only the Green Zone Level (about 2 minutes maximum) and you only have 20 days to play the demo before it expires.

I'm going to hope that since the game is still about 4/5 months away issues will be sorted by the retail release, but I'm going to try and not get my hopes up.

I'd say it's worth a play for everyone just to experience it, but I didn't come away excited. Then again, the last Sonic I actually enjoyed was Adventure so it could just be I don't appreciate the series anymore.

[Phantasmical]

Agreed and the controls feel too stiff, not like old school Sonic at all.

[Team Andromeda]

Other than issues with the strange burly GFX no homing attack (which too a while to get used to ) and Sonic not being to jump as High as I remember (took a while to adjust ) This a lovely trip down memory lane with some of the most beautiful and colourful backgrounds I've seen in any platform (the amount of detail in quite stage ring.

Can't wait for the final game .

[EvilBoris]

I thought it was pretty good, it looked lovely, sounded lovely and Sonic didn't feel like he was running in Treacle.
Definitely better than Sonic 4 !

My only critisicm is ........30FPS
the super detailed world is hard to resolve as it's moving so fast

[SuperBeatBoy]

Just played it......hmmm oh dear. It has this weird flow to the gameplay and everything looks smudged and blurry. 360 version don't know about the ps3. The demo only allows you to play classic Sonic. Really poor demo.

Really messed with my eyes. I hope this isn't final!

[saturn-gamer]

I have 2 issues with Ps3 demo:

-Framerate
-input lag
-... too fast..?

If they fix that, Sega might have a winner. I'm impressed.

[Dezm0nd]

The only real problem I had with it was that I was struggling to see anything in front of me due to the camera constantly zooming in and out and just general wonkyness of the camera.

Other than that, it's better than most Sonic games of late even in this demo state.

[Fader209]

Just played it......hmmm oh dear. It has this weird flow to the gameplay and everything looks smudged and blurry. 360 version don't know about the ps3. The demo only allows you to play classic Sonic. Really poor demo.

Really messed with my eyes. I hope this isn't final!

Yeah same here, it proper messed with my eyes too! I guess the lower frame rate made it feel faster but it just made it look messy and blurry. And agreed with the other comment about being zoomed in too close at times so you couldn't see far ahead of you...very annoying.
Think I will pick up Sonic Colours instead as I have been meaning to for a while now.

[nakamura]

I kinda liked it overall. It felt nice to control and when not moving it looked lovely. That said the frame rate is shocking for a game this fast. Once again let down in that dept.

[cutmymilk]

Just posted this in Headlines:

Played through once. Physics are off as Hodge says and the camera is in too much. Its a bit crap, really.

Also glitched on a ramp and sonic had a spaz attack. Oh and I spin dashed when on an incline and it shot me backwards. But as the game said its an in development demo for a game out late this year. So I have no idea why they bothered.

[DANGEROUS-3]

The reason they released the demo yesterday was because 23/6 was Sonic's 20th B-day. 20 years to the day since he first ran through GHZ in the original MD game. That, and because I think (hope) they want to get some player feedback on the gameplay.

The reason Sonic does not do homing attack is because the demo is just classic Sonic. His tools are Spin Attack and Spindash. See MD games. Modern Sonic who will also be playable in the finished game does the homing attack, plus boast and quick step. See Unleashed and Colours.

Anyway, I had been super excited about this game ever since it was announced 6 or so weeks ago and the demo did not disappoint. I never expected classic Sonic to play -EXACTLY- like the MD games, but rather a modern take on them. The important thing is that the basic physics are spot on imo. they have got that right and that's the main thing. This feels nothing like S4, thank f*ck.

The jump feels different and could be tuned up to be a bit more responsive but I have no problem with it. The graphics are gorgeous and the 30fps does not bother me, there is just one big problem with the classic gameplay in this demo and that is the rolling physics and uncurling.

In the MD games when you roll into a ball Sonic would stay curled up until you came to a stop or you pressed jump. In the SG demo he uncurls all the time and this needs to be fixed. As for the rolling physics they are wrong too. In the MD games rolling into a ball would dramatically increase speed on downward slopes, but in the SG demo he actually slows down when rolling downhill.

If they fix the rolling physics and uncurling and make them work how they did in the MD games they will be onto a winner.

[rmoxon]

This isnt very good, even the 360 version of sonic 4 with its horriblely stiff gameplay was more fun than this demo.

The level is boring, the framerate is poor and I was half expecting somthing to happen and the game to somehow transform from this misguided and poorly done homage to the original game into somthing spectacular as I got half way into it.

But then the level ended and I realised its just a rubbish demo of what is probabaly a rubbish game.

[crocky-chocky]

I liked it.

It shows promise with some way to go before release.

Agree the frame-rate needs sorting out, and the controls need to be a touch more responsive. But the level design felt pretty great, with the sprint sections nicely broken up with platformy bits. A small, but sexy step towards the Megadrive games.

The visuals were really lovely and there's a great feeling of effort and attention to detail just in the one level. Stuff like the screen filling totem poles and the hazy mountains in the background looked fantastic, and the enemy designs from the first Sonic look gorgeous and have translated really nicely into 3D.

If they sort out the frame-rate and the rest of the levels match this one, I'm so buying it.

[Yakumo]

The level is boring

What? The level design is pretty good. just as good as the original Sonic if not better due to the size. have you even played the original Sonic recently?

the framerate is poor and I was half expecting

This is a problem. the frame rate really needs to be at 60fps to stop all that blur. Sega still have a few months before release though so I hope they sort it out. Also there's a slight bit of lag I found but then again the original Sonic has it too. I think it's a good effort but being a Sonic game there are going to be those (many who weren't even born 20 years ago) who will bitch and whine about this new game. If Sega sort out the frame rate and slight lag, I think this could be a winner, or at least the classic levels will be. not sure about modern Sonic.

[nakamura]

I agree 100% Yakumo.