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Sonic Lost World Review Thread [Embargo Ends: Oct. 18th, 4:00 AM EDT]

Dario ff

Banned
So the game sucks. But the engine is beautiful. I hope they use this engine to do a new Sonic Generations. SG gameplay was great but the 30fps engine really wasn't.
Uh, it's the same engine. Just horribly gutted from most of its shaders... (Only speaking in the graphical terms)
 

Village

Member
I don't particularly care if the game actually sucks, but briefly reading the review he sounds like a Sonic diehard complaining about the game playing differently from previous installments rather than actually judging the game on its merits. There's actually little to no substance to any of his initial complaints other than it not being like how it used to be. It's actually pretty horribly written.

That said its a Sonic game so it probably does suck.

Well sonic is a franchise so for all intents and purposes it will be compared to its previous versions.

Next, you ever thinks the person thinks the game sucks because it derived things too far from its original formula. People salivated at the thought of a mario-esque sonic, and then when they actually got it realized that even with the bad sonics. Sonic had a uniqueness about him, friends and all and you should want a game series to be the best it can be with out being someone else. Just a hypothetical.

This is a sentiment I feel will be echoed though out.

I personally will wait to try the game, my expectations are quite low though.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Uh, it's the same engine. Just horribly gutted from most of its shaders... (Only speaking in the graphical terms)
Horribly? They made the right cuts in order to reach 60 fps, I'd say.

At least Generations was available on the PC to make up for the 30 fps console release.
 

Peff

Member
Not to say it's influenced anyone one way or the other, but I think one thing worth keeping in mind with this game is that the final couple of worlds are something of a sour note for the game to go out on, as it's when the difficulty goes all out to extend the game and showing its uglier face in the process. To expand on this:

- 6-1 has recycled assets from the first level, but a brand new layout with lots of narrow-ish paths.
- 6-3 plays like the rocket barrel levels from DKCR, only even worse. Easily the worst part of the game.
- 6-4 is the 2D level I mentioned before, and the boss even has its own little carnival barrel moment.
- 7-1 is just a set of boss fights.
- 7-2 is a CRAZY minecart/grinding stage with lots of 1-hit kill obstacles and fiendishly placed red rings. You need to control Sonic's speed which can only be done while in the air and one little mistake means you go back to the checkpoint.
- 7-3 is a really long stage (not quite Eggmanland but close) with another obtuse final boss at the end. I'd be surprised if someone trying to get to the end of the game would touch it ever again if he lost all lives there, haha.
- 7-4 is the final boss from Sonic Colors re-skinned. Yup.

Trying to play through all that without taking it easy can't possibly leave a good impression, methinks. I'm sure some people will rage hard about some of that stuff in the OT, because it can get nasty, but it's not exactly a fair representation of the entire game.
 

trixx

Member
Yea i expected 6s. This is hillarious this was supposed to be better than 3d world. Please make a new billy hatcher as your next 3d platformer please sonic team
 
So I have not played the game, so therefore dont know if its good or bad. However, past experience with "divisive" games like this lead me to believe that the game had a lot of obstacles to overcome to get generally favourable reviews.

Reviewers who don't subscribe to any of that garbage have given it the lowest scores, like edge and gamecentral.
 

Dario ff

Banned
Horribly? They made the right cuts in order to reach 60 fps, I'd say.
The cuts for 60 FPS are mostly object/polygon density related, but they completely dropped the ball in all materials, using at most diffuse textures for like everything. The past game used a plethora of Normal/Reflection/Specular maps for each material.

There's a few stages that use some materials that look very nice (Ice, Goo, some glass blocks). Considering everyone loves how SM3DW is looking now (notice its heavy use of good materials/shaders) and that's 60 FPS, I'd say that's pretty important. Then again, Sonic Team is not the one to normally excel on this stuff technically. Their engine is very dependent on CPU-power, so I wouldn't be surprised that the lower count of objects / heavy pop-in is related to that as well.
 

IrishNinja

Member
still wish we'd get a demo here in the states

Another shitty Sonic game. What a surprise. The fact that it clearly tried to copy Mario Galaxy makes the bad reviews even more LOL worthy.

"another"? when was the last one, '06?
as i recall you were kinda dismissive of posts like this when TR was being called for aping Uncharted...cmon man
 
So I have not played the game, so therefore dont know if its good or bad.

it is therefore highly likely that this game gets a lower metacritic score than what it deserves - just like games like Wonderful101 and Zombi U did before it.

w101 and zombi u are both great titles, they have a few problems but generally they deserved better reception from reviewers.
this game however has so many fundamental flaws that are just basic mistakes, for me it really doesn't deserve anyone's attention other than those hardcore 3d sonic fans that have, and will always look past basic gaming requirements like a good camera, controls and level design. The game might be pretty but getting the basics correct should come first. And for the first time with a wii u exclusive, i think the low scoring reviewers are ones that are being fair. I just hope that donkey kong wasn't delayed because of this title.
 

daman824

Member
Sega really needs to just stick to one gameplay style until they start getting consistently great reviews.

It baffles me how these guys have been making 3d sonic games since the Dreamcast came out and they still can't make a single amazing sonic game. I mean, you'd think that of all the characters Sega owns, Sonic would be the one they are most careful with and assign their best developers to. But no.......

My first video game I've ever played was Sonic 2. And because of that, I've bought every console sonic game since then, and hated almost all of the 3D ones. But I always thought they would eventually catch up to one of their competitors. I'm not going to get this game though. Segas biggest mascot, the (arguably) second biggest platforming mascot and one of the most recognizable characters in videogames hasn't had an amazing game on a mainline console in over two console generations. Retro created a classic on their first attempt. Sonic Team has no direction, and they refuse to commit to anything. How long are they going to be stuck in mediocrity? When are they going to get rid of whoever is making these average games and bring in new talent? Sonic is keeping Sega afloat, but based on the quality of their games, I don't know why he should be. This is unacceptable.

Fuck this pisses me off....
 

trixx

Member
Another shitty Sonic game. What a surprise. The fact that it clearly tried to copy Mario Galaxy makes the bad reviews even more LOL worthy.

I honestly think their only decent 3d platformer game other than sonic colours+ generations, is billy hatcher and the giant egg unfortunately i seem to be the only person that thinks this.

Also super monkey ball but that franchise went to shit after the second game
 

Meier

Member
I can't believe how bad some of the reviews are. All the media for this has looked so damn good...was really anticipating this one being a very worthy successor.
 
I honestly think their only decent 3d platformer game other than sonic colours+ generations is billy hatcher and the giant egg unfortunately i seem to be the only person that thinks this.

Also super monkey ball but that franchise went to shit after the second game
My man!

Let's be friends. :)
 

Effect

Member
I can't believe how bad some of the reviews are. All the media for this has looked so damn good...was really anticipating this one being a very worthy successor.

This is why I'm not putting much stock in the reviews. There were videos of entire levels being played. Nothing in those seem to send up a red flag to me then. Even now some of the complaints being used as reasons to give low scores aren't making much sense to me.
 
Sega really needs to just stick to one gameplay style until they start getting consistently great reviews.

It baffles me how these guys have been making 3d sonic games since the Dreamcast came out and they still can't make a single amazing sonic game. I mean, you'd think that of all the characters Sega owns, Sonic would be the one they are most careful with and assign their best developers to. But no.......

My first video game I've ever played was Sonic 2. And because of that, I've bought every console sonic game since then, and hated almost all of the 3D ones. But I always thought they would eventually catch up to one of their competitors. I'm not going to get this game though. Segas biggest mascot, the (arguably) second biggest platforming mascot and one of the most recognizable characters in videogames hasn't had an amazing game on a mainline console in over two console generations. Retro created a classic on their first attempt. Sonic Team has no direction, and they refuse to commit to anything. How long are they going to be stuck in mediocrity? When are they going to get rid of whoever is making these average games and bring in new talent? Sonic is keeping Sega afloat, but based on the quality of their games, I don't know why he should be. This is unacceptable.

Fuck this pisses me off....
I'm not trying to be an apologist for Sonic Team/Sega but a I do think Sonic Colors/Generations were an awesome realization of Sonic in 3D. Also, I can't think of another fast paced 3D platformer. Can you? This isn't meant as a troll post-- I'm entirely open to the idea that someone else has done a 3D platformer with speed, but I can't think of it. I think it's probably a pretty tough concept to flesh out properly, but I think they are capable of it when I look at Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.
 

NTom64

Member
Not sure how to feel about these review scores. Colours and Gens brought so much goodwill to the franchise, this seems like a step down.

In any case, I'll be playing the 3DS version from beginning to end over on twitch in like 50 mins (beginning to end) if anyone wants to see it.
 

Cube1701

Neo Member
This is why I'm not putting much stock in the reviews. There were videos of entire levels being played. Nothing in those seem to send up a red flag to me then. Even now some of the complaints being used as reasons to give low scores aren't making much sense.

There's a preview from IGN stating that the slow speed of Lost World is a good thing.

One of the main complaints in the review was the slow speed.

I know staff have different opinions, but the large difference of these opinions is still surprisingly drastic.
 

Dr. Buni

Member
Not sure how to feel about these review scores. Colours and Gens brought so much goodwill to the franchise, this seems like a step down.

In any case, I'll be playing the 3DS version from beginning to end over on twitch in like 50 mins (beginning to end) if anyone wants to see it.

Nice. I will definitely watch it, since I want to see more of the 3DS version.
 
I can't believe how bad some of the reviews are. All the media for this has looked so damn good...was really anticipating this one being a very worthy successor.

I was just like you, i had such high hopes for this game.All the trailers and media made it look like sonic colors but even better.
It wasn't until that spanish guy on youtube got the game that it started to look bad.
Everyone said that it was just because he was a bad player, but once i had played through the first 3 worlds myself i realised that really wasn't the case.
I strongly recommend waiting for the demo before anyone spends there hard earned money on this mess.

This is why I'm not putting much stock in the reviews. There were videos of entire levels being played. Nothing in those seem to send up a red flag to me then. Even now some of the complaints being used as reasons to give low scores aren't making much sense to me.

Maybe because watching the game is fun, it does look very pretty throughout. But to actually play yourself is different matter, it's just not that fun to play.
 

WillyFive

Member
This quote from the Jim Sterling review I agree with the most:

Unfortunately, Sonic Team's biggest struggle is with its need to constantly reinvent the Sonic formula, even after it's found something that works.

They found the perfect Sonic formula in the 3D sections of Generations, so it's no surprise to me that when they change it, it makes for an inferior game.

So Colors and Generations were flukes I guess? Maybe Sega really can't make good Sonic games and the other two were accidents.

A stretch of good games going half a decade isn't a fluke. More like an era.

Another shitty Sonic game. What a surprise. The fact that it clearly tried to copy Mario Galaxy makes the bad reviews even more LOL worthy.

Another? The last bad one was half a decade ago.
 
So Colors and Generations were flukes I guess? Maybe Sega really can't make good Sonic games and the other two were accidents.

They just seem to be having a hell of a time creating an identity of gameplay with Sonic.

When they stuck to what Sonic is known for but expanded and modernized it, we got Sonic Generations. Not sure why they think stuffing their Sonic games with features from other games that don't mesh well will produce a better product.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
The overall impression I get is, unfortunately, what worried me all along: that Lost World just wasn't given the time, care, and attention Colors got. From level design to soundtrack, etc.
 

MarkusRJR

Member
This sucks. I had high hopes for this game after the good Sonic Colors and the incredible Sonic Generations.

They really need to stop fucking up with this franchise, it's arguably Sega's most important.
 

MarkusRJR

Member
Not sure how to feel about these review scores. Colours and Gens brought so much goodwill to the franchise, this seems like a step down.

In any case, I'll be playing the 3DS version from beginning to end over on twitch in like 50 mins (beginning to end) if anyone wants to see it.

Wait someone from HellfireComms is on GAF? :eek:

I've watched tons of your videos. Is the stream going to be with commentary or no?
 

RpgN

Junior Member
I've been liking these review scores lately. It feels like journalists have been more daring instead of handing out high scores like candy. Puppeteer (lovely game), Beyond Two Souls (it's very enjoyable, still not done with it), Wonderful, Sonic, Bioshock Infinite and more have been receiving mixed reviews. It makes you want to read the reviews and understand a reviewer's perspective more instead of making assumptions based on the scores. It makes it more easy to identify with a reviewer that has a similar taste too.

I can't say the same about Killzone Mercenary. It was unfair to compare it to console FPS ones. Again though, you can tell which ones like handheld games instead of a person with a different background.

Hopefully this trend will continue. Maybe that will make journalists more relevant again.

Sonic Lost World looks like a flawed one that might still be great for certain gamers. The 3DS version doesn't sound good. I wonder if it's worse than Sonic Generations? I would enjoy it if it's at least as good as that one.
 
The entire ring system is broken in a 3D world. The player is still allowed one hit, but it’s maddening to collect over 300 rings in one stage, only to lose them all at the end, and only be able to re-collect a handful of them due to the 3D gameplay.

haha what
 

Voliko

Member
I'm reading some of these and I'm wondering why, if the gameplay feels like it's from 199X, it is inherently a bad thing. They don't even explain why. The Sonic games in the early to mid nineties are great, how is "dated" a valid criticism?
 

nbnt

is responsible for the well-being of this island.
Yeesh.. I was looking forward to playing this, I guess my Wii U can wait for another month.
 

GulAtiCa

Member
Looks like it will be a polarizing game. I'm still interested. Just guess I should play it right away to make sure I like it or not
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Shame the 3DS version seems to be actually bad and not the weirdest mixed reception ever like its console bro.
 

DrZeus

Member
Can't say I'm surprised. The lack of speed and parkour injection really looked off to me. Then the whole aping of SMG. Really odd choices with this one Sega.
 

big_z

Member
This game looked nice but you could tell by the movement in the press demos it wasn't going to play well. It's too bad but not surprising.

Making a good 3d sonic game should become the X Prize of the games industry.
 
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