Friday, February 7, 2014

And I thought mega evolution was only a Pokémon thing...

Knuckles @ Knucklesite
Huge Power
- What
- The
- Fuck
- Sega?

I think by this point we've all seen the new designs for the core Sonic cast, and like just about everyone else I have mixed feelings on this. Tails and Amy are perfectly fine, no complaints, so if you thought I was going negative Nancy all the way on you you're going to be disappointed. Sonic would be fine too if not for the disproportionate legs, but I have the same problem everyone else does - Knuckles. Oh my god what a train wreck. Did they think it was aesthetically pleasing or something?

I can sort of understand giving the whole franchise a makeover, it hasn't had a huge update on that front since Sonic Adventure, which was 15 years ago (yep, way to make myself feel old), but I'm sorry, but this new Knuckles is an eyesore. Granted, his usual design didn't do his physical strength justice, but I'm sure there are many other ways this could've been highlighted better. With that in mind, I'm not going to go all "childhood destroyed" like your average internet moron. Nothing's going to take away S3&K, the Adventure games, Heroes, and so on. I'm just saying I don't like this design. No exaggeration, no hyperbole. One thing I'd like everyone to remember, though, is that the last two times they tried giving a character a makeover (Rouge in Heroes, Eggman in 2006), the end results were just as terrible, but they didn't last very long either. Fingers crossed.

One thing that really threw me for a loop, though, is that I've seen people complaining about Shadow and Rouge being nowhere to be found. Seriously? Of all the characters that people would miss? SHADOW AND ROUGE? Shadow brought an element of angst that simply never had its place in a series like Sonic (and I guess we can also attribute him the paternity of the endless wave of fan recolors), and Rouge brought out the absolute worst of the most disturbing fanbase in gaming, if not all of fiction altogether. Besides, it's not like they've been very active lately. They both missed out on Unleashed and Colors, before having minor cameos in Generations, then not appearing in Lost World. After 2006 they were relegated to filler characters in minor games, which by all means should be their place forever. And only now do people really complain. Sonic fans, I swear...

27 comments:

  1. I always thought of Knuckles as the red Sonic that has his hair wet (at least as far as appearance goes) so I'm kinda glad they made this change.
    As for Shadow I have a feeling that he is the cause of the fan "characters" just like Rouge is the cause of... everything else wrong with the fanbase. (though I wouldn't know for sure because I got into the series fairly recently)

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  2. The official Twitter page confirmed these designs are only for Sonic Boom and the modern design will stay. https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/431589474431021056

    Also technically it would be BigRedEntertainment that made the design choice (Which is why the characters look similar to Jak&Daxter and Crash), Sega could have said no but it isn't really right to place all blame on them.

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  3. Technically, they were in Colors, just the DS version. But who the hell got the DS version of Colors?

    As for Knuckles... I'm reminded of Archie. Not Archie's version of Knuckles, oh no, that's fine, but their version of a TASMANIAN DEVIL.

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    1. You could really extend that to Generations and Lost World as well. I heard the 3DS version of the latter was a disgrace on par with 2006, yet not as entertaining to make fun of.

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  4. My thoughts exactly, except Sonic's legs didn't look nearly as bad in the cartoon's trailer, which is gonna be the follow-up storyline-wise to the game.
    But I managed to convince myself that I'd accept this redesign as long as the game acknowledges that he was changed for some reason or another... and not pretend like he always looked this way. No matter how farfetch'd the explanation they come up with is, it'll still be easier to swallow than just accepting that it's just how Knuckles always looked in that alternate universe...
    I know it makes me sound selfish and close-minded, but I can't help it, it's so horrible !

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  5. What Knuckles need is to lower his mass and a neck! Other than that...The rest are ok except for Sonic's legs.

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  6. I love Knuckle's new design, Sonic design I feels right if only based on the personality that has been assigned to him, Amy looks alright, and Tails put tape on his shoes and called it a day.

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  7. It's still stupid to rule out them keeping these designs for future games, regardless of Sonic Boom's status.

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  8. I can understand wanting Shadow back. With a makeover in personality, he could be a good character. Rouge though... no, just no.

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  9. Love what you said about Shadow and Rouge. What's everyone's thoughts on Silver?

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  10. I can accept knuckles' new bulky design, but for the life of me I cant understand why he has that heavy metal haircut? Sonic and Tails are ok, and Amy is just... *shivers*

    Also, is it bad that I want Metal Sonic to be somewhat relevant again?

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    1. (reposing because of typo):
      To me, the sonic here looks closer to the classic sonic than his sonic adventure design. It's the quills on his head. They look more curved and sleek.

      Knuckles... ugh. I call it a classic case of chaacter flanderization straight out of TV Tropes. Knuckles, on his debut, was a completely different character than he is now. They latched onto the "knuckles is the strong guy" schtick and ran with it, leaving the master emerald on angel island to rot while he hangs out with Sonic and Tails for no reason.

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    2. Now I misspelled "reposting" *facepalm*

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    3. Either way, that's true. Remember the Master Emerald's last major appearance? SONIC ADVENTURE 2.

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    4. Actually a correction. The most recent game which the Master Emerald had a big role was Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (( that RPG spin-off which I actually found quite fun )). In that, the main villain stole the Master Emerald mid-way through the game.

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    5. I know that, I've played through that turd like everyone else. (Well, not everyone else, but you get what I mean.) Either way, I said "major", and I certainly wouldn't call Chronicles anything close to "major".

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  12. I don't really like the scarf on Sonic. As for Knuckles, he has gone completely downhill since SA2. He used to be the master, smart and strong, and had very cool levels to play through. Now he is a meathead because of his power role in heroes.

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    1. Also, why is there so much goddamn tape?

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    2. It's sport/parkour wrap.

      I think a better question is "how the hell is Knuckles going to glide with all that bulk on him?"

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    3. I'm familiar with sports tape, but that's a lot of it. On the shoes even?

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  13. Why the heck does Sonic of all things need a makeover? Mario did just fine without one all these years.

    Then again, I've never followed Sonic after the Genesis, so I'm not sure I give a damn.

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    1. Thing is, never at any point did Mario have the nearly franchise-killing streak Sonic experienced in the mid-2000s. Even now most people can't take Sonic seriously because of that, despite Colors, Generations and maybe Lost World (depending on who you ask, I haven't played it myself) being the best games Sonic's had since the Genesis days, if not ever.

      Meanwhile, the worst thing you can accuse Mario games of, especially the NSMB series, is being too conservative, but not at any point bad.

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    2. Hotel Mario for CD-i is canon, right? I was never able to see Mario the same way after watching those cutscenes.

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    3. If the Zelda games weren't canon, I can't see Hotel Mario being either.

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  14. I just Google'd to see what you were talking about and...
    I'm not surprised. What were they thinking? He's too much taller than Sonic for my comfort. Also, if they broadened his arms, why the heck would they not do the same with his legs?
    Unneeded changes, when you get me...

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