On 25 Feb 1995, Alessandro Sanasi wrote:
> Don't forget that _Sonic_ is the tough and way past cool hero. _He_ can
> face Robotnik on his own.
Agreed, though I personally find having someone's mitts on the second
controller helps out in a number of sections; there are some powerups in
S3&K that you can't reach without a helifox lift, and even some that only
Tails Alone can get. Plus, Tails can bop the bosses without costing Sonic
rings. But since this isn't a game-tips list, I'll return to
considerations of character...
> Tails however is mostly a cute-looking and adorable fox. In 'Sonic II'
> he is only 6 1/2 years old (according to the manual) and only 10 years
> in the cartoon. To my opinion this is a little too young to fight
> Robotnik all alone during the _whole_ game.
First off, whoever said he wasn't 'cool'? Sure, he doesn't have an
attitude problem like Sonic does, but anyone who can take out Sonic 2's
Robosonic in less than 15 seconds deserves some respect. (If you're
interested in this way-cool-looking technique, send me email.) He flies,
he swims, he gets places Sonic couldn't get, and Super Tails gets monster
killer death birds at his beck and call. I'd say he's qualified to be a
hero all by his lonesome.
Second, he doesn't have to fight *Robotnik*. Or, at least, his objective
doesn't have to be to *defeat* Robotnik. In the below-mentioned scenario,
he'd be trying to rescue Sonic, at least initially; another possible plot
(like platformers need a plot) would be that he's trying to locate some
exotic medicine/power crystal/wand of wishing that can only be found at
the top of Unclimbable Mountain, or in the depths of Bottomless Lake, or
some other non-Sonic-accessible place... Robotnik would keep getting in
the way, but Tails' objective would be to get *past* him, get the wonder
object, and bring it back to Knothole.
Third, Sonic really *can't* be in a Tails game, at least not in a playable
role, if you want it to focus on the HFF; either you could play Sonic as
the lead character, in which case it'd be Sonic 4, or you couldn't, in
which case all the Sonic fans would be grousing. IMHO.
> Heroes don't just run into traps and then wait to be rescued (there are
> numerous examples for this). If they _really_ get cought they find a way
> to get out themselves.
Okay, how about this: Sonic gets captured somehow. Tails goes to rescue
him-- no time to return to Knothole for reinforcements-- only to find out
Sonic's improvised his own escape; Robotnik's goons detect Tails and start
chasing him through various Zones. Meanwhile, in a series of intermission
screens, we see that Sonic's returned to Knothole, having assumed the
two-tailed one made a strategic retreat; upon finding out the truth, he
sets out to rescue the fox in distress, only to be continually forced to
make detours that keep him one step behind (Tails flies up a cliff face
and Sonic has to run around it; Tails swims into an underground passage
and Sonic has to find another way in; Tails sets up a cave-in behind
himself to slow down the Swatbots and Sonic has to cut his way through...)
In the end, Tails is forced to battle Robotnik's latest evil creation, and
is outmatched, but Sonic shows up just in time to disable its impenetrable
force shield (at the cost of frying himself into incapacitation); now it's
up to Tails to save his friend and all of Mobius...
> However, it is possible that Sonic (or another suitable character) would
> aid young Tails in his first solo adventure. Then in the last level they
> could get separated and Tails has to take the final challenge alone
> (Tails _is_ a tough fighter when he is forced to be).
I could see this working two ways:
* Sonic makes cameos doing various useful things (like digging passages
through rockfaces or a wild spin-dash all over the screen to nuke all the
Badniks). Possibly you could collect Sonic icons and save up his
assistance to use repeatedly on the bosses.
* Sonic is the second character. This is pretty much Sonic 4 where the
player has chosen Tails & Sonic instead of Sonic & Tails, but would still
be cool. I still think Super Tails should have been able to go to the
Doomsday Zone... but I digress again.
On the topic of free choice of character pairs...
> That's a _very_ good idea. But don't forget that Sonic has to look cool
> in every situation (that's his charisma). It wouldn't look cool if he
> acted like Tails when controlled by the CPU (stomping merrily into
> traps, enemies, shots etc.). If this feature will be added, the
> programmers _definitely_ have to work out some sophisticated routines to
> let the CPU played character avoid these things.
Well, I wouldn't mind having Sonic blunder once in a while, but it would
be a neat game feature if he wouldn't just trail behind Tails but would
actively take out Badniks as they went. Of course, if Sonic gets it, so
should everyone else; CPU Tails should offer helifox lifts, CPU Knuckles
should break open passages, that sort of thing.
...so, all two of you who read this far, what do you think? (:3
---Fred M. Sloniker, stressed undergrad
L. Lazuli R'kamos, FurryMUCKer
lazuli_at_u.washington.edu
It's not the fall that hurts. It's the sudden stop at the end.
Received on Sat Feb 25 1995 - 17:19:02 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Thu Mar 19 2015 - 12:17:02 PDT