Sega revealed this week their new title Sonic Hater Adventure, which is apparently designed to appeal to long time critics of the series. "We have finally decided to listen to the foolish hypocrisy of these gamers, who have given up on our franchise a long time ago." said Takashi Iizuka, as he narrated the demo. "We want to show with this game that we really do care about our loyal fans, who we have shamefully turned our backs on until this point. I hope that in this game, every one of their trivial complaints has been addressed."
In Sonic Hater Adventure, Sonic, an obnoxious and reckless short chubby blue hedgehog, uses his supersonic speed to defeat the menacing Dr. Robotnik, while still finding time to get in a chile dog or two. The game takes place on a planet called Mobius, populated by many generic bubble-headed furries who live in straw huts, and Dr. Robotnik, who is bent on conquering the world and covering the natural landscape with morbidly colored factories and cities designed for robots. The environments are a savvy combination of fantasy and cyberpunk, and are designed by legendary european landscape artist Verddun Mahieu.
This may be startling to some, considering that this game turns around design decisions made since the first Sonic, including the world the game takes place, and the name of the villain. "We knew we had to change if we wanted to reclaim the interest of the boring westerner." said Mr. Iizuka. "American gamers have different perspectives than Japanese gamers. They want everything to be as literal as possible."
The game is slated to feature a modest cast, including one new character named Ashley. Ashley is not playable, instead he serves as Sonic's navigator. He doesn't have any outstanding traits, he is however a level-headed and balanced character. In the demo we played, Ashley helped us guide Sonic through the training stage, and explained how to use the game's unique camera and Z-targeting system in the game's 3D segments. "Sonic is fast, but very precise to control" Iizuka noted, as he demonstrated using the shoulder buttons to adjust Sonic's speed. "The challenge comes from navigating a series of platforming challenges which steadily increases in difficulty as the game progresses." We were told that about 70 percent through the game, Ashley will have taught you all of Sonic's moves. Supposedly, the game begins to let go of your hand at this point. "At a certain point, you will have to complete the rest of the game on your own, but you would have the controls mastered. Completing Sonic Hater Adventure will be a very rewarding gameplay experience." We have confirmed that the Chaos Emeralds can be attained in Sonic Hater Adventure. We're told that they will increase Sonic's abilities and unlock a new ending, adding replay value to the game.
Other characters to make a return include Amy, who incidentally is renamed Sally Acorn. She has undergone a personality change as well. No longer does she actively chase Sonic -- she is now more reserved and shy. Sonic also apparently has a romantic interest in her as well, and even asks her out in the game's story intro, which introduces the intimidating new Robotnik who captures her before setting the forest on fire. It is at this point that a group of freedom fighters, including Sonic and Ashley, decide to rescue her and defeat Robotnik's reign of terror once and for all, without ever thinking about how he could exist as the only human on the planet. The story is expected to have at least one betrayal and the death of at least one minor character. The tone of Sonic's new adventure is much darker and more serious, but it does not have guns. Sonic's only asset is his speed, and a trusty shoulder bag in which he carries his rings and other various items. Takashi Iizuka closed: "Sonic Hater Adventure marks the return of Sonic as a respectable creative work."
Sonic Hater Adventure is due to come out this fall for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's release coincides with the release of the new Sonic the Hedgehog, which is a spin-off release designed to appeal to a less mature market.
In other news, Square Enix announced the release of Final Fantasy 4, named so since it is being touted as the true sequel to the USA release of Final Fantasy 3 (Final Fantasy 6 in Japan). Square Enix made this move to finally restore the number order to the USA line of games. We have little other information about Final Fantasy 4 so far, but Square Enix showed off this concept artwork of the main character, who appears as a bald, gun-toting Pole in camo. We'll keep you up to speed as Square Enix reveals more information about this bold and exotic new direction.
-GGM (Genering Gaming Mag)
.........................
anyway tell me what you thought 8|
