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SonicLostWorld WiiU Review.
12 years ago
Get ready SonicLostWorld has been released in some different places. And a lot of online reviews are giving it mediocre scores… But it's a bit unfair if you ask me. I’ll explain.
(My thoughts on opinions from other reviews)
Some people don’t like how “Different” the gameplay feels compared to past games.
(I disagree. Imo if every game was the exact same, it‘d be boring)
Some don’t like the fact the game has a lot of level gimmicks & minigames.
(I disagree here. As I adore minigames & level gimmicks in general. But I do see a few of their points also)
Some believe that the game is way to hard + confusing + rage inducing in later levels
(From what I’ve seen the game is actually not that bad & it is straight forward what you need to do enough. Pretty normal skill level for a platformer game honestly. There are a few moments where it expects you to do something exact but doesn't tell you at all, Leaving you to figure stuff out the hard way. Which is a bit annoying)
Some don’t like how the game camera works.
(Can‘t say I see much of a problem with it myself)
Some hate how Sonic is slower in this game compared to past games.
(That‘s a personal preference and Sonic is still quite fast in this game unless you are purposely playing slow. But I'd agree I would like to see him little faster here)
Some hate how Mario this game looks & feels.
(It is a bit more Mario then it should be on this game. But that‘s real no reason to give the game a lower score)
Some don’t like how unfocused the game feels and think it often feels to messy to them. Saying it feels extremely experimental to them.
(This game is indeed was made pretty experimental. But that is because it is a experimental title, They are trying remake the gameplay concepts and ideas as they always do every few years to keep the series fresh & exciting. But if you are the type of person who just wants the exact same basic gameplay over and over, then I guess that may upset you)
Some hate how Sonic now walks slow unless you hold down the new run button. And the same people are upset that the game isn’t more focused on acceleration based gameplay like the classics.
(Again that is just personal preference. I think it‘s nice to be able to go from slow to fast quick. The game still has acceleration based gameplay even… it‘s less then the classics, but honestly I don‘t see that as a problem personally. Just depends on your own tastes)
Some don’t like the story for whatever reasons.
(It‘s a fairly light hearted comedy Saturday morning cartoon type story. For what it is it‘s fine and actually quite fun. But if that isn‘t your kind of story then of course you likely won’t like any Sonic game anyways. )
Some don’t like the planetoid based gameplay and want standard environments.
(Nothing more then just personal tastes. As I personally love planetoid based gameplay and environments. The more higher fantasy a story & visuals is the better far as I‘m concerned )
---
A lot of these reviewers are only giving the game a 6 out of 10. But in my opinion it doesn’t deserve lower then a 7. And personally I give it a 8 out of 10. I also wouldn’t suggest reading any reviews that go lower then 6. As it just wasn’t their kind of game from what I could tell and they just had overall lame reasons for disliking it most of the time.
---
On the upside, Almost everyone agreed that the visuals and art style of this game was super fantastic. And that the overall concepts of the game is great.
(My personal review)
I’ll give a quick run down of what I love about the game.
Lovely bright & colorful art-style/visuals/characters + world concepts.
Overall good music. Couple of them are really great and will have to wanting to listen to it for hours. Nothing wrong with any of them tho.
Fun fast action based gameplay with lots of good fast paced platforming & puzzles. It’s quite fun to run up & spindash up walls etc.
Lots of cool and different hazards to avoid and tons of level content to play around with.
Levels have collectables, Which will unlock bonus content.
Really fun silly environments to race across and explore.
Amusing & fun minigames and tons of level gimmicks that keep the game from feeling to repetitive.
Decent Saturday morning cartoon type story.
Good game for people who like to play games in short bursts. AKA Those who like to pickup a game for about 10 mins of fun then sit it back down until later.
Game is a bit experimental but depending on your tastes. This may be a good thing. It means the game has a lot of variety which keeps it from feeling repetitive.
Good quick responsive controls.
Lots of amusing powerups. (Some are little awkward to use at first. But just give it some time. You‘ll get use to them)
Lots of fun boss battles. (Most are pretty easy and shouldn‘t take you much time to figure out)
Enemies are fun. Cute. Silly and actually offer a small bit of a challenge. Unlike past games not just any attack will kill just any enemy. Sonic has different attack skills for a good reason this time. You got to figure out which attacks is right for which enemy and moment. Some enemies even take more then 1 hit to kill. Giving the game a actual sense of combat & skill.
---
Below are the only real cons I’d give the game personally.
---
While fun. It is a overly predictable story. Also the story while fun & quite funny overall, But it is full of serious plotholes & often feels unfinished Again I’m guessing the game got rushed and some content was made towards the end like most of the story.
In my opinion this game does takes a few to many concepts from Mario. Just little less would be nice.
Lackluster boss battles. While it may go against what I said above just a bit. But In my opinion most of the boss battles except the last boss feel a bit boring and to slowly paced. Just not very interesting overall. I'd still call them fun enough... Just not great. The last boss battle is overall fine tho... It looks like a last boss but plays & feels more like a middle of game boss tho sadly.
Only 1 playable character. I hope this is the last game SonicTeam makes for a while which only has Sonic as a playable character. I love Sonic etc. But I also like a lot of the other characters too and want to start seeing them seriously playable in the main titles again… I really want playable MetalSonic. Dr.Eggman & Blaze in a main title again. Bit of a pipe dream I know.
No extra life for collecting 100 rings. Not even sure why they didn’t include this aspect this time. It has always been a nice little bonus that makes ring collecting feel like it has a bit more of a point.
Some of the Wisp powerups are a bit to awkward and gimmicky in a hard to play lame way.
The game has a random difficulty problem where it goes back and forth of being to easy and hard. Judging from what the creator’s said a while back of wanting this game to be a bit easier overall compared to past titles. Seems to be the game clearly got rushed before they could refine & complete the overall difficulty balance. Because some moments are really easy while others seem to be much harder then it was meant to be.
The game suffers from what I like to call “Platformer bottemless pit sickness” “PBPS?” …It’s a semi annoying gameplay condition where a lot of platformer games often place to many death pits for the player to fall into everywhere instead of what most would consider to be better proper level design. Better design for example would be to simply fall onto a lower level section when falling in a hole. There’s other ways to make pits less a bother also. But point is that it isn’t very fun to be surrounded by bottomless pits. Unless the environments are big enough that it becomes less a issue. Which brings me to my next point.
Even gameplay wise the environments in this game are quite nice. But sometimes they get way to small and compacted, which gives you this consistent in danger feeling, Which can get be little stressing for some folk I suppose. The environments also have a bit to much going on at once sometimes, Far as dangers goes anyways. Level content would be a bit better if it was spaced apart from itself handful more in these problem areas in the game. Doesn’t need to be a lot. Just enough so you get a good second or 2 to regain your bearings properly.
The minigame stages while fairly fun. Don’t have much of a Sonic game feeling to them. Probably would had been better if it was replaced with a minigame that had more standard Sonic style gameplay.
Overall as I said before. This game shows signs of obviously being rushed in devolvement. Probably comes from the fact that they wanted to come up with a ton of new gameplay and artistic concepts and just didn’t have enough time or man power to refine the ideas. In general most of the concepts and ideas in the game are fine. And if they were worked on longer & refined, Then there wouldn’t be hardly any problems with things. While I love the game. It’s true that it could had been a lot better if they fix some of this stuff up imo.
---
In the end I'd say technically it's a 7 out of 10 game. But overall to me personally. The enjoyable experience of the game is a 8 of 10. Which is about the same score I give most Sonic games I liked to be honest. As even with it's problems, it’s still a fun game I'd say. *mew
Some things I hope for the next game.
Next game I hope to see other playable characters besides just Sonic. And I don't want it to be just the overrated main 3 friends. "Tails/Knuckles/Amy" Having just them all the time is barely better then just Sonic... 1 of them playable besides Sonic himself would be fine, But here below is what I way would prefer to see.
Sonic.
One of Sonic's main friends. "Tails/Knuckles/Amy"
And a popular but less overrated character such as Blaze.
Plus a villein character. Dr.Eggman or MetalSonic.
And 4 such as above would be enough in my opinion. More then that would just result in a poorly made game to be honest.
---
I hope they stay with the new art-style overall of SonicLostWorld for a long time to come. It's just... right in every-way.
---
I hope they streamline Sonic's skill set a bit. I feel that he doesn't need the kick-attack and charged version of the homing-attack.
---
I think that about covers everything. :) *mew
(My thoughts on opinions from other reviews)
Some people don’t like how “Different” the gameplay feels compared to past games.
(I disagree. Imo if every game was the exact same, it‘d be boring)
Some don’t like the fact the game has a lot of level gimmicks & minigames.
(I disagree here. As I adore minigames & level gimmicks in general. But I do see a few of their points also)
Some believe that the game is way to hard + confusing + rage inducing in later levels
(From what I’ve seen the game is actually not that bad & it is straight forward what you need to do enough. Pretty normal skill level for a platformer game honestly. There are a few moments where it expects you to do something exact but doesn't tell you at all, Leaving you to figure stuff out the hard way. Which is a bit annoying)
Some don’t like how the game camera works.
(Can‘t say I see much of a problem with it myself)
Some hate how Sonic is slower in this game compared to past games.
(That‘s a personal preference and Sonic is still quite fast in this game unless you are purposely playing slow. But I'd agree I would like to see him little faster here)
Some hate how Mario this game looks & feels.
(It is a bit more Mario then it should be on this game. But that‘s real no reason to give the game a lower score)
Some don’t like how unfocused the game feels and think it often feels to messy to them. Saying it feels extremely experimental to them.
(This game is indeed was made pretty experimental. But that is because it is a experimental title, They are trying remake the gameplay concepts and ideas as they always do every few years to keep the series fresh & exciting. But if you are the type of person who just wants the exact same basic gameplay over and over, then I guess that may upset you)
Some hate how Sonic now walks slow unless you hold down the new run button. And the same people are upset that the game isn’t more focused on acceleration based gameplay like the classics.
(Again that is just personal preference. I think it‘s nice to be able to go from slow to fast quick. The game still has acceleration based gameplay even… it‘s less then the classics, but honestly I don‘t see that as a problem personally. Just depends on your own tastes)
Some don’t like the story for whatever reasons.
(It‘s a fairly light hearted comedy Saturday morning cartoon type story. For what it is it‘s fine and actually quite fun. But if that isn‘t your kind of story then of course you likely won’t like any Sonic game anyways. )
Some don’t like the planetoid based gameplay and want standard environments.
(Nothing more then just personal tastes. As I personally love planetoid based gameplay and environments. The more higher fantasy a story & visuals is the better far as I‘m concerned )
---
A lot of these reviewers are only giving the game a 6 out of 10. But in my opinion it doesn’t deserve lower then a 7. And personally I give it a 8 out of 10. I also wouldn’t suggest reading any reviews that go lower then 6. As it just wasn’t their kind of game from what I could tell and they just had overall lame reasons for disliking it most of the time.
---
On the upside, Almost everyone agreed that the visuals and art style of this game was super fantastic. And that the overall concepts of the game is great.
(My personal review)
I’ll give a quick run down of what I love about the game.
Lovely bright & colorful art-style/visuals/characters + world concepts.
Overall good music. Couple of them are really great and will have to wanting to listen to it for hours. Nothing wrong with any of them tho.
Fun fast action based gameplay with lots of good fast paced platforming & puzzles. It’s quite fun to run up & spindash up walls etc.
Lots of cool and different hazards to avoid and tons of level content to play around with.
Levels have collectables, Which will unlock bonus content.
Really fun silly environments to race across and explore.
Amusing & fun minigames and tons of level gimmicks that keep the game from feeling to repetitive.
Decent Saturday morning cartoon type story.
Good game for people who like to play games in short bursts. AKA Those who like to pickup a game for about 10 mins of fun then sit it back down until later.
Game is a bit experimental but depending on your tastes. This may be a good thing. It means the game has a lot of variety which keeps it from feeling repetitive.
Good quick responsive controls.
Lots of amusing powerups. (Some are little awkward to use at first. But just give it some time. You‘ll get use to them)
Lots of fun boss battles. (Most are pretty easy and shouldn‘t take you much time to figure out)
Enemies are fun. Cute. Silly and actually offer a small bit of a challenge. Unlike past games not just any attack will kill just any enemy. Sonic has different attack skills for a good reason this time. You got to figure out which attacks is right for which enemy and moment. Some enemies even take more then 1 hit to kill. Giving the game a actual sense of combat & skill.
---
Below are the only real cons I’d give the game personally.
---
While fun. It is a overly predictable story. Also the story while fun & quite funny overall, But it is full of serious plotholes & often feels unfinished Again I’m guessing the game got rushed and some content was made towards the end like most of the story.
In my opinion this game does takes a few to many concepts from Mario. Just little less would be nice.
Lackluster boss battles. While it may go against what I said above just a bit. But In my opinion most of the boss battles except the last boss feel a bit boring and to slowly paced. Just not very interesting overall. I'd still call them fun enough... Just not great. The last boss battle is overall fine tho... It looks like a last boss but plays & feels more like a middle of game boss tho sadly.
Only 1 playable character. I hope this is the last game SonicTeam makes for a while which only has Sonic as a playable character. I love Sonic etc. But I also like a lot of the other characters too and want to start seeing them seriously playable in the main titles again… I really want playable MetalSonic. Dr.Eggman & Blaze in a main title again. Bit of a pipe dream I know.
No extra life for collecting 100 rings. Not even sure why they didn’t include this aspect this time. It has always been a nice little bonus that makes ring collecting feel like it has a bit more of a point.
Some of the Wisp powerups are a bit to awkward and gimmicky in a hard to play lame way.
The game has a random difficulty problem where it goes back and forth of being to easy and hard. Judging from what the creator’s said a while back of wanting this game to be a bit easier overall compared to past titles. Seems to be the game clearly got rushed before they could refine & complete the overall difficulty balance. Because some moments are really easy while others seem to be much harder then it was meant to be.
The game suffers from what I like to call “Platformer bottemless pit sickness” “PBPS?” …It’s a semi annoying gameplay condition where a lot of platformer games often place to many death pits for the player to fall into everywhere instead of what most would consider to be better proper level design. Better design for example would be to simply fall onto a lower level section when falling in a hole. There’s other ways to make pits less a bother also. But point is that it isn’t very fun to be surrounded by bottomless pits. Unless the environments are big enough that it becomes less a issue. Which brings me to my next point.
Even gameplay wise the environments in this game are quite nice. But sometimes they get way to small and compacted, which gives you this consistent in danger feeling, Which can get be little stressing for some folk I suppose. The environments also have a bit to much going on at once sometimes, Far as dangers goes anyways. Level content would be a bit better if it was spaced apart from itself handful more in these problem areas in the game. Doesn’t need to be a lot. Just enough so you get a good second or 2 to regain your bearings properly.
The minigame stages while fairly fun. Don’t have much of a Sonic game feeling to them. Probably would had been better if it was replaced with a minigame that had more standard Sonic style gameplay.
Overall as I said before. This game shows signs of obviously being rushed in devolvement. Probably comes from the fact that they wanted to come up with a ton of new gameplay and artistic concepts and just didn’t have enough time or man power to refine the ideas. In general most of the concepts and ideas in the game are fine. And if they were worked on longer & refined, Then there wouldn’t be hardly any problems with things. While I love the game. It’s true that it could had been a lot better if they fix some of this stuff up imo.
---
In the end I'd say technically it's a 7 out of 10 game. But overall to me personally. The enjoyable experience of the game is a 8 of 10. Which is about the same score I give most Sonic games I liked to be honest. As even with it's problems, it’s still a fun game I'd say. *mew
Some things I hope for the next game.
Next game I hope to see other playable characters besides just Sonic. And I don't want it to be just the overrated main 3 friends. "Tails/Knuckles/Amy" Having just them all the time is barely better then just Sonic... 1 of them playable besides Sonic himself would be fine, But here below is what I way would prefer to see.
Sonic.
One of Sonic's main friends. "Tails/Knuckles/Amy"
And a popular but less overrated character such as Blaze.
Plus a villein character. Dr.Eggman or MetalSonic.
And 4 such as above would be enough in my opinion. More then that would just result in a poorly made game to be honest.
---
I hope they stay with the new art-style overall of SonicLostWorld for a long time to come. It's just... right in every-way.
---
I hope they streamline Sonic's skill set a bit. I feel that he doesn't need the kick-attack and charged version of the homing-attack.
---
I think that about covers everything. :) *mew
Now, I'm curious on how the 3DS version is, I've yet to see any reviews from actual players on it. I have no interest in the Wii U (unless they plan to make a Metroid game for it in the style of the Prime Trilogy, then I'd buy one as soon as possible).
But SonicGames has the overall type of content I want in a game. So I'll greatly enjoy playing it anyways regardless of a few problems. Even if I played a different game that's overrated and is 9 out of 10 like "The last of us" or "GTAV" (which I don't want) ...It doesn't mean I'll like the game or can stand playing it whatsoever. I have very exact tastes for games & stories & art-style that rarely is satisfied, Especially all at once. I actually will be buying the WiiU just mainly for SonicLostWorld soon.
Also the 3DS version is also a 7 out of 10 game. It does somethings better then the WiiU version. But it also does somethings worse. *mew