Time to go over Sonic Adventure SX for SAGE2018. I know I am late to the party, but I want to share my thoughts, since I did review this game before, but under a different name “Sonic and Shantae Adventure (SAGE 2017) Demo”
So, in this demo I will list the new stuff.
Time attack or Trial mode
Mini game mode
Story mode, Battle mode are not in this demo.
Made by Giga
When opening the game, you will be met with a new title screen and save / load screen which is fancy.
From what I have played, It has got a huge overhaul and I will be talking about what I like in this demo and dislike as well.
Likes
Able to play as 8 characters (Not counting Super, hyper, and dark form)
Each Character feels different, and not a sonic clone
Level layout is much better than the last build
4 stages total to play in. 2 for each side. 2 for Sonic, and 2 for Shantae
Pretty good Music
Fun to play.
Issues I had with the last version has been fixed
Mini games are a fun time killer for a bit
Dislikes
The camera for any sonic Character always jerks around when you are going at max speed when going in loops
Playing as Shantae or RottyTops. When hit or takes damage on ground or in air, the player freezes up in place and can’t move for a bit. This can be a issue when you are over pits or other hazards. This can lead to unfair deaths
Spindash is not strong enough, unless you also move in the spindash state
Bugs
Rottytops can clip through walls when ducking on the left side of them
RottyTops can zip along the wall
Shantae’s dash backwards allows her to clip in walls to skip areas
When getting hit in the air or ground, you’re stunned and this can lead to cheap deaths
Sometimes risky’s scimitar doesn’t hurt enemies and you take a free hit
Tails feels heavy when he is flying
Collision needs some more work
Overall Thoughts
It is far better then the last year’s build. It has love put into this fan game and I would love to see this completed. It needs more work but Giga6152, you did well here and it will get better overtime
I had fun playing this. It no longer as rough as the last version. There is a amazing game here, and with a bit more fine tuning I think this would be a fun crossover game.
Keep up the good work, Giga6152. I’m proud of what I see here. :3
Where do I begin with this one… I have played bad fan games before, but damn, this one takes the cake. But let’s get into this “gem” of a game.
Before you can play, the game will give you the option to use a control or a keyboard. It would be best to use. It is a control layout, so it does not matter what you pick.
When you first start the game, you are dropped into the level, No cutscene, just an action stage. This stage is called “Emerald Garden” It uses level pieces from the advance series.
This opening stage is all over the place, there are pits in some annoying areas, the level layout is not too bad… but zone two is very questionable. But I’m jumping the gun. For sonic, he has light blue rings as a means to use his light speed dash.
I also want to talk about sonic, in this game, he feels heavy when he jumps, his momentum feels akin to Sonic 4 momentum, if you roll while holding right or left, you gain momentum, maybe, too much. This feels awkward to get used to it.
The more I play it, the more the physics and momentum give off a Sonic 4: EP 1 vibe. It really does remind me of that game, it’s not a bad thing mind you, It feels off.
I got off track again. So, let’s see. Emerald Garden has some questionable enemy placement. Or rather, the game has very questionable enemy placement, at times is unfair. You have to take your time, should you go fast, you will end up falling into a pit or running into an enemy with almost no time to react.
But the emerald garden stage is a fairly easy level if you ignore the pits. It’s a standard platformer stage. After beating Emerald Garden, you are off to fight Eggman, this boss fight is based on the Sonic Advance 2’s, “Leaf forest” boss.
But after beating the boss, you are warped to Scuttle Town, (Yes, from Shantae), where you get a cutscene that is pretty much a plot dump. Eggman and Risky boots have teamed up and you must stop them.
Here is the main hub world for this game, After beating Emerald garden zone, which is a level and a boss. Sonic gets one more zone, for the demo to play in. And boy, this next stage for Sonic is.. I really don’t like it.
The level select hub room is based on Sonic Advance 3, where, if you complete a zone, you can come back to it later, and play it again.
Now, to get into the second zone… I can understand why Lake Feperd, said this was the worst fan game from sage2017 on his twitter.
So, zone 2 is a fire-based level, or rather, going for a fire theme for the zone.
Lava Filter… Man, this stage is ugh. Enemy placement is awful here. If you are new here, using the dash booster will boost you into an enemy. There are pits here. too many pits that make this a marble-like level.
You can go fast, but you will be punished, with cheap enemy placement and cheap deaths. You need to go slow, so you can avoid cheap deaths and cheap potshots.
Overall, this is not a fun stage, it needs work, a lot of work. I can say, without a doubt, that I truly hate this stage with a passion.
But, should you manage to beat the stage, then the final boss for Sonic, is Sky. And this boss is so easy, that it is sad. Deal with a “Hard” level, only to fight an easy boss. UGH!!!!
I know, I’m being a bit mean but, you need to be this way for games. This way, they will know what to fix or improve.
After beating Sky, You get a cutscene between the two.
Then Sonic story ends with him, talking to Knuckles and Tails, which follows up with Sonic meeting Shantae again and meeting Amy
Just DAMN. Now for Shantae.
If you played the Shantae series, you know she has a Hairwhip attack and magic powers and items. The game gets most of that right, for the most part.
Scuttle Town is our first and only level for Shantae. It’s your normal platformer stage and yes, there are pits but here, they are not too bad, it’s a good thing.
Scuttle Town, you just go right and do some platforming here or there. There is a part where you need to fall down to get to the next area.
After making your way through, you get a cutscene with Sky and Bolo, as they let you know that risky boots, is up ahead. You have a cutscene with Risky Boots, seen below.
The Sonic Vs Sky fight is the same, but Risky Boots has two patterns. Run to the left or right, or jump to the left or right. That’s it. She only has touch damage as an attack and this fight is so boring.
Once Risky boots is beaten, You get a cutscene that ends Shantae part of the demo.
I am not going to bother, playing this game any longer than I need to. Going to give my thoughts on this demo, what I liked and didn’t like.
What I liked
Most the sprite animation looks nice
I like the concept, of a crossover happening
The story needs work but could be good.
What I didn’t like and bugs
This game has too many pits
Enemy placement needs work
The homing attack is broken and need to be fixed
The Lightspeed dash rings, also need work. Pressing the action in the middle of the rings will send sonic backward
Homing attack on a spring kills momentum
Sprites tend to be off the ground or not align well
When Shantae attack in the air, she does not attack but loses momentum for a second
In Lava Filter, if you skip the level trigger (By jumping over it), that takes you to the other half of the stage, the game hard locks.
In short, this game left a bad first impression, I went in knowing what I was getting myself into, but, wow. I did not plan for this, in any way. There are some good ideas here, but there is a lot of coal, burying the diamonds and there is a lot that needs to be done.
The game goes for a Sonic advance style but the physics and momentum for Sonic feel close, to that of Sonic 4’s physics and momentum. It just needs work, is this the worst fan game? No, but it’s pretty close.
If you are making games like this, it’s best to have a team of testers to find what does or doesn’t work. So this way, you will know what needs to be fixed and improved on.
But I am done with this game. There are other characters like Sky, Knuckles, Amy. Only Tails, and Bolo are unplayable, at the moment. I like the ideas here, but they need work and time. I don’t know what game engine, that giga6152 used to make this game. But with a little work, time and effort, this could be a fun fan game.
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