I know you've talked a little about P-06 before, but now that all the Sonic stages are out, what are your thoughts on the full experience now?
I’ve kind of poked fun at P-06 in the past, because at this point it’s like, the fifth “Sonic 2006 PC Remake” project we’ve had. There was:
My own Sonic 2006 2D Project
Baddog(?)’s Sonic 2006 2D Project
Genesis of the Azure Wind for Halo Custom Edition (debatable if this was a Sonic 2006 remake, but it was definitely heavily inspired by it)
Brianuuu’s STH2006 Project for Sonic Generations
(I feel like there was at least one more that I’m forgetting about, too.)
And something shared by all of them is they take various measures to “fix” Sonic 2006. And, well, to put it lightly... all of them are made by amateurs, making amateur decisions.
Sonic NEXT, for example, is way too heavy and fiddly with its controls. It takes a lot of getting used to, even compared to official Sonic games. It also focuses heavily on the beautification of Sonic 2006, and especially in the Crisis City demo, that feels like it takes center stage to actually making a game that controls well. It is still super easy to break the game or to die accidentally. It’s faithful to Sonic 2006 in all the wrong ways.
And then you have STH2006 Project, which I’d liken to porting Mario Kart to the Gran Turismo engine. You can do it, and maybe it’ll even be fun eventually, but it just doesn’t make sense to me.
None of this is to say I think these guys should stop what they’re doing or whatever. If they feel fulfilled by these projects, more power to them. Sometimes you get itches like that and you just have to scratch them. And these sorts of projects can be extremely important in the process of learning what makes a good game -- it’s sort of like how people start learning how to draw by tracing someone else’s work (a real, acceptable learning practice).
But there’s no changing the fact that these are amateur, rough, inelegant works. It could be argued they don’t fix anything at all.
P-06, though, is different. They not only polish everything up in a way that feels right, but they add smart new features, like a homing attack crosshair. The lights in Flame Core now have a trail effect that leads you to the next light. They add little boost rings during the surfing sections of Wave Ocean so you aren’t just watching Sonic surf. It’s much easier to aim bombs when playing as Tails. The energy meter works.
And when they get something wrong, they move quickly to fix it. The controls in the 1.0 demo were too sluggish and weird, so they released demo 1.5 that tightened everything up and made it feel more like the original Sonic Adventure. Flame Core was too dark in demo 2.0, so they released demo 2.5 that brightened up the level and tweaked some other things. And usually these updates follow only a few months after the main release.
And like I said during my stream, I’ve been starting to feel kind of starved for a new Sonic game, so I’ve actually been replaying Demo 2.5 of P-06 for a week or two now. And it’s... kind of won me over. A lot.
There are still levels that are stinkers, but that has less to do with this remake project and more to do with the original game. I don’t think you can fix a level like Tropical Jungle without completely rebuilding the entire level from scratch to be something different. It’s always going to be bad, even if you fix the controls and sand down the rougher edges. The same applies, to a lesser extent, to Dusty Desert, Flame Core, and Aquatic Base. Those are difficult, hazardous, weirdly laid out levels, and there’s only so much you can do with that while still preserving their core essence.
But, overall, taken as a whole, I’m very impressed with the level of speed this project was completed under, and the quality of changes and improvements they’ve made. This is about as close to an ideal overhaul as this game will ever get. It’ll never be perfect, because it’s still Sonic 2006 at its core, and parts of that core will always be a little rotten, but... to cozy up to an ugly meme, I would consider paying money for the completed version of this. It’s certainly better than Sonic Forces or Sonic Lost World, that’s for sure.
I hope they do a 3.5 demo at SAGE, though. The snowboarding section at White Acropolis feels a little chaotic because you’re moving so fast and the path down the mountain is so dense with enemies and things. The camera and stuff feels a little jittery, too.
I also feel like I take way more accidental damage now. It really cannot be understated how it feels like enemies fire on you almost INSTANTLY, the MOMENT they appear, which has the side effect of you taking damage any time you go in to strike. I don’t like the idea that you need to give enemies space for a second or two before hitting them. The player should always come out on top for pressing the first-hit advantage, especially in a Sonic game where the point is going fast.
Still, good on them for making this project, and I’m paying close attention for future releases. They’re basically the furthest along as anyone ever has been for these things -- the only one to get any further than this was Baddog’s Sonic 2006 2D, which also had all of Sonic’s boss fights.
