In Video Games, sometimes changing a series in a big way isn’t a good business plan…
When I saw the new Sonic game, it looked good. However, let’s face it, Sega Games Company LTD has had problems with the Sonic the Hedgehog series ever since the end of the of their last game system they ever made: The Sega Dreamcast. Since then, they cannot seem to please it’s core audience. You see, Sonic fan boys, casual players, the press, Sega, nor Sonic Team can agree on how to produce a good Sonic game. The reason this happens is because the series is always changing, and cannot focus on one common thing. In other words, the core foundation of the series itself has continued to change so many times since the Sega Genesis era. The games story was simple back then as it was a 2D platformer with simple story, and easy mechanics that made the games on that system a joy to play. After that, there were two 3D platformers with an adventure stories which were also good. However, when Sega left the console market, it seems they lost the plot quite literately. Stories went from simple to edgy, and back so many times, it wasn’t funny. The controls became wonky, weird, to awful in short order, and nothing is same from game to game. Gameplay mechanics, graphics, and fun factor went from good, to tolerable, to downright hideous, to unplayable. The series hit rock bottom with Sonic 2006 which was one of the worst Sonic games of all time. After that, the series got better, but it kept changing, and evolving. Then Sonic Team, and Sega made the awful choice to sub out the series to Big Red Button which gave us the awful Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. That was the last Sonic home console game to be released since. Now you see my point? (I am leaving out the hand held games which are good, to playable, and are doing better then the console games ever did. This might be because they are 2D games with 3D software, but really it’s due to not changing the formula of this sort). Now Sega isn’t the only company to nearly destroy their much beloved franchise with mistakes like Sonic 2006, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric; oh no. Namco-Bandi nearly destroyed the much loved Ace Combat series in one fatal stroke with Ace Combat: Assault Horizon; a game so bad that fans want to forget it exists. For those who don’t know about the Ace Combat series, let me enlighten you. Ace Combat is a console flight simulator which was beloved for it’s excellent controls, incredible graphics, great stories, deep lore, incredible action, and awe inspiring music. This was case from beginning with Air Combat on the PSX to Ace Combat 6 on the Xbox 360. Then they decided they wanted to compete with Ubisoft, and released Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. It did a good job of making fans really mad, and they scorned it with a passion. They got rid of all that was good, and replaced it with a terribly flat story, unneeded action sequences, horrid controls, and music which could easily fit in a COD or Battlefield game. After that, they then decided to make Ace Combat Infinity which was a pay for game. (Although Ace Combat Infinity isn’t a terrible game, it costs about $300 to have a good game, and that is robbery). These games did a wonderful job of alienating fans who hated them with a passion, and it nearly doomed the entire franchise. The series has struggled ever since, and when the decision was made to return to the original formula with Ace Combat 7; fans have rejoiced. However, for the Sonic series, it is a far more complex, and troubled issue. Ace Combat fans know what they want, and usually get it. Sonic fans don’t because the games have changed so much. Still, with both new games coming, what happens if this these games fail? Where does the series go from here?? Well, the answer may not be an easy one to come to, and only time will tell. For Sonic, it would be wise for the series to make small changes, and not large ones. For the Ace Combat series, the exact opposite applies.