The Perpetual Motion Machine

So I was just sent this epic analysis of the four stages of Sonic level design and I thought I'd share my thoughts on it. Now, I was writing these as I went through the Part 7 Series so if they seem to be snippets it's because they really are. Enjoy!!

First off, I never thought about how in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, my favorite game in the franchise, that the speed vs platforming way of dividing up the gameplay, that I was first made aware in Sonic Unleashed, was apparent. See, even when the game requires you to stand still in the Sonic games like Sonic 3, you are still in motion! As they said, it makes the Sonic games have a perpetual rhythm, almost like a dance. This is an aspect of Sonic games that I find truly enthralling and rarely get with any other franchise.

See, I've always thought that what made a great Sonic game was one simple thing: Speed. This is not the case, it is in fact, two-fold: Speed AND platforming. The trick then becomes balancing out the speed and the platforming. See, the actual game part of a Sonic game is the platforming while the speed is a flashy technical gimmick. Thinking this way, it suddenly made a lot of sense why Sonic Team has tried out so many gimmicks on the Sonic franchise: They know that the speed is a gimmick and it's tricky to keep that sort of just go fast mentality fresh. I mean, it's mostly cinematic to begin with.

This also finally explains a question that I've been asking myself since I was like, 12: Why the hell do people love Sonic Adventure 2!? Now, please don't get the wrong idea, I love Sonic Adventure 2, but it's not that well of a designed game. It suddenly hit me when the above video starts talking how Sonic Adventure 2 takes this Speed vs Platforming approach as gospel. THAT is what makes it so fun despite it being technically BS. This is further answered when you think about the kind of company SEGA is (arcade game manufacturer) and, therefore, the kind of approach to game design that they're used to doing. (Arcade games don't look the best, but are highly emotionally impactful and really have to bank on maximizing on your sense of fun to make you insert another quarter to continue the ride) It all makes sense!

And then they get to that quick sketch showing the typical Sonic level workflow. Look freaking familiar? (Go back a few posts and find my analysis of Green Hill Zone, you'll get what I mean if you haven't already!)

Clear focused challenge. That's what Miyamoto was talking about when he found that people most commonly inserted another quarter into an arcade game when they felt that it was themselves who failed! He had to create clear focused challenge! See, I just turned in a tutorial level that I designed for one of my classes and you'd get to this part in it where you were on a platform and you could see a ton of collectables that looked like you could jump and get:

The thing is, you have to make two perfect jumps in a row to get to this point and you must make one final jump (that you've already done twice just before) to get that reward. The thing is, if you screw up, you fall down to a place where you cannot try again for the remainder of the level. Everyone in the class, including my teacher, vowed to acquire those coins. Hell, one person got so fed up with the challenge that she used the game engine to spawn her character inside the coins so that she could feel that sense of beating the challenge the game presented! Some people did it the standard way too but I was just so shocked at how powerful this moment was to my classmates and teacher. That's the goal ladies and gentleman: Make every task in your game a clear focused challenge with ramp up and the occasional rest.

Personally, I find that the Sonic 3/SA2 approach to level design is the most instinctively right to the player. Therefore, the most sound for a Sonic game. I now more than ever appreciate all the experimentation that the franchise has shown to me over the years but I feel that there is a better way to test these gimmicks without risking it all and potentially tarnishing your brand recognition/expectations.

Ah, HERE'S why I've always felt off about Sonic Unleashed's levels despite being told over and over how goddamn amazing the game is. It takes your trained expectations and punches you in the face with them. It's like how in Five Nights At Freddy's the animal's AI is suddenly inverted. Imagine if in the original Pac-Man all of the AI for the ghosts was suddenly inverted at some random level? Wouldn't you be PISSED!? I am a firm believer that games should be fun straight out of the box. Frankly, Sonic Unleashed left me thinking that SEGA needed to hire some people with at least a basic understanding of decent level design. At least now I agree why Sonic Team changed Sonic Unleashed from it's working title: Sonic Adventure 3. It clearly isn't a Sonic Adventure game as it does not rely on the design philosophy of that short run of games.

Sorry if those felt a bit random. I kinda liked doing it this way though! I'm on Part 7-5-1 (if that makes any sense) and I'll see if I can write more about it tomorrow but for now I gotta get some sleep!

If you liked the first vid, check out the whole series 'cause they really do a great job breaking these games down! That's the great thing about this profession: There's always buckets you don't know, even in your most versed fandom.

See ya next time!