More Stupid talk about the ages of Sonic Characters.
I want to nominate this line as the worst line in Sonic when it comes to its lore. It may look like a nothing line, but I promise this line is fucked, no matter what side you take.
Let's say you view the majority of the cast as children. Well, Infinite said “decades”. With an “s.” So the cast is at least 20, argument over.
BUT….
Let's really think about that. Let's be generous and say Tails was only 4 in Sonic 2. That would make him 24 in Sonic Forces. You're telling me this goober, who went “YEEHAW" mode for Halloween, can legally drink?
Even someone like me, who views most of the cast as adults, has a hard time believing that.
“But Demogus, the Sonic Cast lost their canon ages around 2023. Sonic Forces came out in 2017.” Yes indeed, it did. WHICH MAKES THIS EVEN FUNNIER. If you don’t know, Sonic canon age was 15 before it was retconned. Sonic isn’t even 2 decades old, which means either 2 things:
Infinite is referencing the real-world time between Sonic 1 and Forces. For no reason, Infinite broke the fourth wall.
This game is so poorly written that the writers just threw this line in without thinking about the lore implications.
Where I stand on the ages of the characters is that Cream, Tails, Kit, Charmy, and Belle are kid-coded and the rest you can fuss with the ages a bit. Mainly because the Restoration is like two degrees away from being a paramilitary organization and the thought of kids running it is appalling to me.
Sorry if I sound like a dumbass but... Do sonic characters age or not? I can understand why the ages were removed but if the characters don't get older then what about classic sonic? Did they age just that one time between 3&k and Adventure ? If Eggman’s an old man then how did he get taller in adventure onwards?
Also if shadow woke up earlier in the classic games he'd be still looking modern right?
It is apparent that they do, indeed, age. Classic Sonic is explicitly stated to be a past version of Modern Sonic. They are biologically the same person from two different periods in time. There has been a passage of time which has resulted in Sonic going from looking like one to looking like the other as a result of that passage of time.
What aging MEANS for these characters is what is in question. Clearly, they do not age in the same way that we as humans do in the real world. Whether humans within the world of Sonic age as we do is inexplicable - Eggman has very specifically never been given an exact age all of his profiles merely list it as "unknown." But the Sonic characters ages were unchanged throughout the entire span of time that they were listed. Sonic has an on screen birthday in Sonic Generations, and yet he was still always listed as being 15.
The "age" of Sonic being 15 clearly does not represent him being born and living for 15 solar cycles of the earth rotating around the sun. (We also have no frame of reference for how time is measured in the world of Sonic, as there has never been a stated calendar system.) The idea of Sonic being 15 years old is just something that is applied to him for the sake of a frame of reference by human standards. Similar to how we say that one year for a dog is equivalent to seven years for a human, for the sake of explaining that a two year old dog is a teenager in human terms. That categorization is obviously not accurate and it isn't a perfect analogy but I'm just referencing it for the sake of comparison.
Really a better way to think about the way the Sonic characters age is perhaps to liken them to elves. Or, perhaps more appropriately, to fae. They reach a certain age that can be considered their prime, and then they just kinda stop. An elf that has lived to be 300 years old might look no older than 25 by human standards. And a single year to an elf might be no different from a season compared to how we experience one. (Lots of fantasy settings play around with this, Dungeon Meshi for example states that humans who are subjected to elf prisons will essentially die of old age in jail because the elves don't think 60 years is that long of a time to detain someone).
Considering Sonic is likened to being more of a fairy by Naoto Ohshima, I think that's the better lens to think of them through.
We shouldn't think of the way they age as being equivalent to the way we understand aging in the real world. Although, again, it IS apparent that they DO age. That time has passed in the series and they have undergone a biological change over the course of that passage of time. One could potentially liken the physical changes between the Classic versions of the characters to their Modern designs as a form of puberty, so to speak.
As for Eggman, I make jokes about him straightening out his posture which is why he looks taller now lol. But the truth is you can actually just attribute that to an "art style change." In universe, Eggman's height has always been the same. He has been stated to be about 6'1'' whether he's Classic or Modern, in every version of his Sonic Channel profile.
Thus, my joking explanation that he looks shorter and rounder in Classic because he's slouching =P like how Clark Kent differentiates himself from Superman. Posture makes a big difference.
Hello there, I am Sonik, but you know that by now. It’s that time again. The Sonic Amateur Gaming Expo or SAGE, for short. Where Sonic game devs or indie game devs show off their skills by making a game for SAGE.
As the Title says, I will be looking at Sonic ages and give my thoughts on it and what it did right, wrong and such.
Sonic Ages title screen
So Sonic Ages, a Sonic fan game made in Unity engine and it does offer Xbox360 / controller support. Be warned, the game will be loud when you open it.
The game opens up with a beautiful Tutorial stage that is based on a pencil and paper theme, with Sonic being a sketch for this scene. It’s a short stage, though, it is meant to help you get used to the controls.
Sonic Ages – Tutorial stage
After completing the tutorial stage, we are off to “Seabed” zone. Our water level for this demo.
Sonic Ages – Seabed zone
The seabed is your primary Linear stage. While there are routes you can go to, and even go on different paths of the scene, the level layout is ok, for what it does, it’s playable. You have the basics, falling platforms, Platforms, moving platforms, Enemy spawners, enemies, spikes and springs, and rings.
And, not to forget, this Sonic has the move set from Sonic 3, Sonic controls well, although he does carry momentum, this is a good and bad thing. You can gain speed at this stage, but this scene is built for platforming, not speed.
The seabed is an ok stage, but it gets the job done to give you a simple, of what is to come in the next release. This game has promise, but it needs work, a lot of work for this game to shine through.
And before I forget, the animation for sonic is nice, Though, at times it seems it would need more frames of animation to make it look smooth, not choppy. Sonic has a nice idle animation, and the running at full speed animation also seems nice.
I can tell that a lot of time went into the animations, and it shows. They are not perfect, they need a bit more work. But well done, some animations are still rough and unfinished, but this will change over time.
I guess I will talk about the bad and things I did not like about this game. I know the game will be rough but in SAGE, games need these type of reviews to give game devs an idea of what to fix, change, or improve on.
Seabed’s enemy placement often feels unfair and cheap, enemies can attack the player off-screen or they are placed in areas when the player has no time to react, which can result in potshots or cheap deaths. Below, is a good idea of what I mean.
Seabed platforming…
Seabed lower path
Sonic I-frames, where after getting hit, the player is safe from taking more damage. But they are short, Like very short, this is a problem. With short I-frames, you can take hits from enemies that can result in cruel death, based on the enemy placement.
Should you get hit onto a spring, your controls are lock in place and, in some cases, your momentum will carry you off into a pit, which is an unfair death.
Overall, this game left me with mixed feelings. There are things I like, things I disliked, and things that left me a bit confused. Sonic Ages is a fan game that reminds me of the classic era of Sonic. Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, though, Sonic 3 is what they are going for, I assume, it gives me those vibes.
While the game has its flaws, I can’t be too harsh, as this is only a SAGE Build of the game and just so much could be done, It’s a fun demo, which has two zones for you to play.
I am no SAGE judge, but I wanted to give my thoughts on this game, or in this case, demo. I think I said what I wanted to say.
Sonic Ages does remind me of another Sonic fan game, that is based off the Sonic OVA. Titled “Sonic Freedom” While as far as I know, Sonic Freedom is still a proof of concept
