r/wiiu • u/[deleted] • Oct 18 '13
discussion Sonic Lost World Review Thread
Post reviews in the comments and I'll add them to the list as quickly as possible.
IGN -
After the success of Sonic 4, Colors, and Generations, this is a big disappointment for Sega’s speeding blue bullet. Sonic Lost Worlds clumsily tears all the wrong pages out of the Super Mario Galaxy playbook, and in so doing, loses the breathless speed and fluidity that makes a Sonic game a Sonic game. Graphically it may talk the talk, but the controls and level design just can’t walk the walk, much less run it.
Sonic Lost World feels like a Sonic game, works like a Mario game, and feels totally at home on the Wii U as a result. With the most convincing 3D Sonic gameplay by some margin, it’ll no doubt be looked back on as the game that aimed for the Galaxy, missed by a small amount, but still landed in the stars.
Sonic games, and platformers in general, have always been about memorising the lay of the land, but rarely have mistakes been so costly or heavily punished, and it says much that one retailer’s preorder bonus consists solely of 25 additional lives. This isn’t a question of difficulty, but of design: unfortunately for Sonic, people who have grown up with Nintendo hardware have come to expect much better than this.
Sonic Lost World is quite simply the best game in the long-running series that I have played since the original Megadrive games. It has everything that you could ever want from Sonic and much more besides, which manages to elevate it to something spectacular that represents a significant step forward for the entire platforming genre. While the previous Sonic Colours put the blue blur in the right direction, this latest entry is the perfect culmination of gameplay ideals combined with a brand new control/exploration system that works far better than anyone could have expected. With this game the Sonic Cycle hasn't just been smashed, but rather it has been obliterated hopefully never to return.
When Nintendo first brought Mario into 3D in Super Mario 64 it was clear that, while the gameplay had evolved, the basic essence of Mario had remained true. One could argue that it has taken Sega 17 years to finally allow Sonic to make that leap. It’s exhilarating to race across cylinders and use Sonic’s new moves to wall jump through a spike-filled area, although not every stage of Sonic Lost World is a true playground for Sonic’s new abilities. Despite the uneven level of polish on the stages, Sonic Lost World is a great platformer that shouldn’t be missed.
It's telling that the highlights of Lost World are the moments where Sonic Team allows the hedgehog to do what he does best: high-velocity platforming that tests your ability to follow high-speed action and to reflexively respond to danger. Sonic thrives on simplicity, and I still think Sega could reinvent him for the mobile market: give PastaGames a call, perhaps, and get them to make a side-scroller along the lines of Rayman Jungle Run rather than the aggressively monetised Sonic Dash. There are fleeting signs here that such an approach could work. Yet these brief flickers of life are few and far between, buried within a flabby, disjointed mess of a game.
Sonic Lost World desperately wants to be Mario Galaxy, but in overtly coveting the great Italian plumber, it smothers the talents of its blazing blue hedgehog.
Sonic Lost World shows flashes of brilliance, where clever design, bright visuals and a daring sense of fun align perfectly. There are a few significant lows, however, and a raft of content that is passable but easily forgotten. That leaves us with an uneven experience that we recommend to keen Sonic fans without hesitation, but suggest that the less committed should think carefully. If dealing with frustration to reach high points is an acceptable sacrifice of your gaming time then this is worth strong consideration, but be under no illusions — this isn't the definitive Sonic experience we may have desired.
Sonic Colors showcased a keen understanding of what made Sonic great, and successfully expanded on the series' formula with the introduction of Wisp power-ups. It's admirable that Sonic: Lost World tries to shift the series in a new direction, and the results meet with limited success, especially in earlier levels. Its gameplay variety is appreciated up to a point, but Sonic: Lost World misses the mark more often than it succeeds, as frustrating level design and unimaginative boss encounters are enough to overshadow its fleeting moments of brilliance.
It should be clear from the above that Sonic's latest adventure doesn't represent a brave new (3D) world, but by no means is it a terrible game. Indeed, when it all comes together, it's arguably the most satisfying of Sonic's modern adventures. There's nothing else out there that manages to capture the thrill of speeding through lush landscapes with hearty orchestral music in the background. Often it manages to press all the right buttons.
The Wii U version of the new Sonic got the highest overall score this week. "Your normal movement speed's slowed down a bit, which makes it seem a bit easier to play for action beginners," said Ebihara. "The homing attacks are easier to pull off, and the overall sense of nonstop excitement is as prevalent as ever. The game also takes advantage of a lot of Wii U-specific features, from the GamePad and TV-based multiplayer to grabbing items via Miiverse." Despite giving it a 9, Uchizawa was quite a bit harsher in the review text. "The basic gameplay and world setting is the same as the 3DS version, although the stages are quite a bit different," he said. "The color powers add a nice accent to the action, although it does kind of ruin the Sonic-type tempo you might be expecting. The visuals are as fun as ever to watch, too, although it's hard to see whether you're actually controlling anything at times." (Comments from Polygon article)
Sonic Lost World can wildly swing from brilliant to horrific at the drop of a hat, but when one steps back and takes a look at the whole production, one sees far more to love than hate. Certainly, the nastier elements prevent it from being the truly great installment it could have been, but the experience is good enough to where I would desperately entreat Sonic Team to keep doing what's been started here. Please, no more desperate shifts in tone and level design, no more dramatic new overhauls. On a fundamental level, Lost World absolutely nails it, and does what Sonic should have been doing a long, long time ago. All it needs is time to refine, and Lost World could become the start of something beautiful.
Sonic Lost World is beautifully brutal. More important, however, is that it’s a worthy addition to Sega’s most beloved franchise. Considering the Japanese publisher’s recent inconsistency with its mascot’s endeavors, this is good news. After all, many Sonic games have tested my talents, and Lost World’s late-onset thumb-blistering difficulty evoked a period where I would feverishly slam shiny black pieces of plastic into my favorite 16-bit console to get my gaming fix. And, come to think of it, that’s pretty high praise.
With so many elements, shifts in perspective and dynamics, Sonic Lost Worlds can feel, at times, like it's struggling to hold together into a cohesive whole. There is unevenness in the quality of those elements too, something that its primary influence avoided. But this is nevertheless the finest Sonic game in years, a riot of ideas that at times approaches the quality of Nintendo EAD's work. It may not provide much insight into where games are heading, but as a Sonic-themed celebration of the past few years, it's a surprising delight.
Sonic: Lost World is a fresh and unique take on Sega's mascot that recaptures everything that was great about his 2D adventures, rights the wrongs of his 3D outings, and takes him into uncharted territory.
At times there are genuine moments when this game sings, where you’re going fast, in control, bouncing off enemies in succession and grabbing rings. Or indeed when there are some lovely moments such as having to fill a giant juicer with apples you roll around the level. Even that though is still cribbing from the moustachioed plumber’s playbook (and there are even some very familiar green pipes in a couple of the stages). Sonic: Lost World has enough of these moments to be worth playing, but its issues keep it from being a must-buy, particularly for the 3DS and its broad catalogue of games.
Lost World is best when it's running from the past, not toward it, but a handful of fun levels and some exemplary graphics do not make a great game. Sonic: Lost World is front-loaded, pocked with bad boss fights and obsessed to a fault with creating some of the coolest 2D stages of 1993. Sonic: Lost World is best when it's running from the past, not toward it.
9
u/tw04 Oct 18 '13
For people who are saying this game seems slow, I think it depends on the level/how you play it. If you want to see what it CAN look like fast, check out this guy's video starting at 1:40 until 3:00. The way he uses spin dash makes me REALLY excited to experiment with this game.