The recent IGN previews the most anticipated games of the year and has a nice little feature on Sonic and The Secret Rings for Wii. The article claims that despite the on-rails gameplay, the game is “far more instinctive, addictive, and fun than any 3D Sonic game in recent memory.” To boot, the game will have over 30 muyltiplayer minigames.
Having played an early demo at E3, I was sold on the concept. It felt as if you were playing the original Genesis version in the 3D realm. And though Sonic has been the epitome of poopsky over the last several years (maybe since the 2D days), I’m excited for this one. Anyone else? The game hits retail sometime this winter.
Me and Sonic have been tight for quite some, back in the Sega Genesis days. Although, he was OK in the beginning, got better, and then got worse again. I have a feeling this is going to be good, it just looks fun. Although, I'm not entirely sure about the Wii's controls and how they'll fit themselves into this badboy.
I will probably purchase this title if MetaCritic gives it at least a 75 (tied with Wii Sports & SMB:BB). I am still amazed at those ratings…
OK. I am REALLY getting sick of this.There is an near conspiratorial plot that has been underway since Sonic Adventure 2, and it is a plot to convince the world that, since 1998, Sonic the Hedgehog sucks.Sonic the Hedgehog does not suck. Sonic Team has barely tweaked the formula since the Genesis days. I scratch my head in hopeless confusion whenever there is a new3D outing for Sonic, because it's then time for the video game media to slam it with reckless abandon, never offering any valid clues as to why they hate it so much. The leaderof the so-called "Sonic fans" among the video game press are IGN with their oh-so-cynical bantering about how "insert_Sonic_title" lacks the sense of incredible speed reachedin the classic such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2.Let me to you, rauru, and everyone else who has been duped by IGN into believing the new Sonic games suck one thing….just ONE THING above all: and that is that Sonic hasnot……slowed……..down. If all you Sonic haters out there were really Sonic die hards to begin with you'd know that there is no such thing as uninterrupted speed in ANY of theGenesis Sonic titles. There will always been enemies, spikes, pits, and walls that put a halt to your speed. Contrast this to Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, where there can often be 2-3 minute intervals of speed, speed, and more speed. If anything Sonic games have become faster. But what if it's not the speed…..what if it's something else?What, then? WHAT ELSE IS THERE? I'm sick and tired of hearing so-called Sonic fans bitch and moan about how it's not the same any more. Guess what?! NEITHER IS MARIOOR ZELDA. Even Mega Man with it's endlessly repeated formulas has changed a great deal since it's debut. "Oh, but the gameplay just sucks", "Oh, but it's full of glitches and badcamera control". Glitches and camera control my ass. You IGN, Gamespy, Insert Credit, etc. editors are all the same. You're spoiled on pitch-perfect presentation, and too ignorantto even realize that in the old Sonic games players had issues with getting stuck in walls (among other things). "Oh, but the characters are too sickeningly cutesy". Yeah? Well so wasTails when he was introduced…..because guess what? Sonic is still for kids! Most classic video game characters out there still are. You can whine and bitch about it or you can humbleyourself to the point where you admit you can have fun playing a cutesy cream-colored rabbit. "Oh, but the storylines suck". And? Another invalid complaint, because if you'd take yourhead out your ass you'd realize that the plot to Sonic 2-Sonic & Knuckles was simply "collect emeralds, stop Eggman" (yeah, EGGMAN. Get with the times).Me and Sonic have been tight for quite some time, SINCE back in the Genesis days. He was great in the beginning, got better, and is still as cool and badass as ever. PERIOD.
Another thing — it's a tell-tale sign when someone says something like "it feels like the original Genesis" version.Which one? Sonic the Hedgehog? Sonic & Knuckles? Sonic 3D Blast? Or…..are you unfamiliar with these namesand only remember playing "one of them" at a friends house once or twice (and now you're quite the expert onSonic)?How many Zelda fans do you see referring to Twilight Princess as being something like the "SNES version"?Not many. It's a sign that you haven't played Sonic much in your lifetime. Otherwise you'd be comparing itto something more specific. Mario fans don't debate whether Super Mario 64 is better than the original NESversion. They usually debate whether it's better than Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 3. The fact that theyrefer to the classics by name is something that identifies them as fans. But it always makes one look good to complain about something that in reality one knows nothing about, doesn't it?
I'd be delighted if anyone (that is to say, anyone who honest-to-God PLAYED all five Genesis titles) agrees with me that post-'98 Sonic games are not wretched and Sonic has madea fairly good leap into 3D. If not, oh well. At least I stuck up for my all-time favoritevideo game mascot.
Poochy – I agree with you – the only thing that I hope for is a Sonic game where the player plays as SONIC alone, no more non-fun extra characters [Knuckles is okay and Tails is tolerable – but we need PURE sonic.]
Sonic has made a good leap into 3D territory, although some recent titles have been lacking in the control/camera views department. I can think of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the Gamecube and also Sonic Adventure DX for the Cube had horrible controls/camera angles if you were to compare them to even Mario 64. It just took some time to get used to them.I had always been a Sonic fan after my 8-bit NES. I never really liked the SNES until the Genesis was on its way out. I never wanted the Saturn or Playstation due to the "now loading – please wait". That was when I had latched back onto Nintendo from the N64 in Jun 1996 (Japanese launch). I hadn't played many Sonic games since Sega dropped out of the hardware race and entered the software pool until the Gamecube releases. The thing that I have always noticed about Sega is, they have always been great at making arcade games but have had trouble porting them to consoles. I know I have gotten way off topic but I have pretty much lost interest in Sonic but this may bring me back if the controls/camera views are tight.
Poochy, i like you. Both as a vocal opiner and as a Sonic fan.Though i'ma let you fly solo on this because i was a Genesis kid back then and i loved Sonic. Loved every bit of it. Played pretty much anything with Sonic in the title, including Seattle in NBA Jam. But by the time things went 3D, i wasn't in the mix with gaming and so on. I had a PS and an N64, but i didn't even know about the DC and where Sonic was at the time. I didn't play a 3D Sonic till Adventures 1 & 2 and Heroes on the Cube. Nahhh, bro.Them games blew chunks galore. The thing with 2D Sonic – i'm thinkin Sonics 1 and 2 in particular – is that they created a very blazing sense of speed when you went around loops and through tunnels the way the camara was fixed on Sonic, leaving the environment to naturally blur on the screen. And Sonic would hit the red bumper balls in quick succession just how he needed to because of how fast he was going, leaving you with that feeling that he was being controlled by you but slightly out of your restraint. This would force you to pre-plan all your moves so that once he gets out in the open again you can make him avoid an enemy or unfortuantely placed spikes. In a way it made you feel like you could keep up with him if you got used to it, but the speed was always there. Sonic games now are about having him fly through the air and run across long bridges with tons of motion blur, but it doesn't have the same effect. I think the problems people have with the camera are more about how detached it feels in 3D Sonic, having different close and far angles and such. Beyond that, on the new 3D elements alone Sonic feels uncomfortable in his hedgehog fur when he's throwing punches or using a weapon. Controls didn't ever feel right, either. The vehicle gimmick might be nice, but i haven't tried it. All in all, i just really hope that opiner is in the dictionary.
For the record, poochy, when I say Rings feels like a genesis Sonic, I mean 'em all having played each. Regarding which one specifically, take your pick. They're all good in my opinion.
Rollin, I respect your opinion, but: NO. Just……no.That "blazing sense" of speed that you so fondly remember….how sure are you that it was ever there to begin with? I have never played a 2D Sonicgame where it's by any means easy to "pre-plan" your moves, thereby successfully speeding through the game. For that matter, I have not seen anyone play that way either. And what's with everyone and Sonic 1 and 2? Honestly……there were these two games, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. You may not know this, but, combined, they improved on EVERYTHING that Sonic 1 and 2 established. And if it were even possible to"pre-plan" your moves in those games, then it would be impossible to do so in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The level layouts are enormous….the paths branch out infar too many directions to keep "blazing" through the zones!In other words, you're deluding yourself if you think the speed was always there. Also, when did Sonic use weapons or throw punches? Did you playsomething I didn't? And how exactly can SA, SA2, and Sonic Heroes "blow chunks"? They were all best-sellers. That means either kids these days don'tknow what a good game is or there are a few too many jaded Sonic fans out there who can't get with the times. Believe me, I played games that blew chunksas a kid. Games like Super Pitfall (NES), Pictionary (NES), Toy Story (Genesis), Mario's Time Machine (SNES). And I had fun with a lot of them, too. These new Sonic games are far above and beyond any of those games mentioned. Sonic Team still makes high-speed games with a trendy, rebellious and youthfulspirit. The problem is a lot of fans are hung up on nostalgia and refuse to look at the good points in the new games. Things like excellent Zone design, character design,good (yes, I said it, GOOD) music, cool new moves (see Sonic Adventure 2), decent voice acting, challenging bonus stages and bosses, varied gameplay, etc…
BTW, Blake, I'm just curious….how many emeralds did you have to collect in Sonic 3 & Knuckles again?And who could transform into hyper mode and who couldn't? And….what was the name of the island again?What new move did Sonic have that he *didn't* in Sonic 2?Just wondering. I'm not insinuating that you didn't play that game and that you're not really qualified to saythat the new Sonic sucks compared to the old or anything. Just wondering.
Did I say suck? I'm sorry, I'm "the epitome of poopsky". Yeah, as in the worst games of all time. As in, "maybe I'm spoiled and need to get a reality check if I'm THAT picky when it comes to mere games".
Poochy,All I remember is the speed and level of fun while playing the first several 2D versions of Sonic. The new one felt a lot like that, hence my enthusiasm for Rings, even though most of Sonic's recent 3D games have been widely criticized.
My most recent disappointment in a Sonic title comes not from the 3D- but from the 2D-department. Sonic Rush DS is, in my eyes, a piece of junk and totally overrated. It's mostly long "rushing" passages where you have absolutely no control of what's happening on the screen, until you bump into an enemy or a deadly obstacle you had no chance to anticipate. It feels absolutely nothing like the Genesis titles.
"That "blazing sense" of speed that you so fondly remember….how sure are you that it was ever there to begin with?"Who cares, i loved it!
Tapsel: But that was then. This is now. You knows, as far as Sonic fans go, they don't get much more hardcore than me. I am extremely fond of the old Sonic games, perhaps more than Blakeseeing as how I can refer to specific games rather than referring to them as "versions".But that was then. This is now. You can't expect all new Sonic games, 2D or 3D to feel the same! Not even Mega Man fans complain that Mega Man X8or Mega Man ZX or whatever don't feel like the original games! I have never seen more bias and prejudice towards any other game franchise in it'scurrent incarnation than I have with Sonic the Hedgehog. And it all started with the king of jaded, self-important jackasses, Matt Cash-in-my-ass-massina. Now half the people complaining about the new games aren't really Sonic fans to begin with, they're just people who buy into the negative hype.Blake: If that's all you "remember", then do yourself a favor and rent Sonic Mega Collection and actually play the games. While I can't vouch for whatyou consider to be fun, I can assure you the "level of speed" isn't all that you remember it to be…..these games are over a decade old, and the speed isstill there in the 3D outings, only faster (most of the time). You mentioned that most of Sonic's recent 3D games have been widely criticized. First off,Shadow the Hedgehog isn't a Sonic game. It's a Shadow game. Hence the name. Second, Sonic the Hedgehog 360……have you played it? The fact thatyou can so easily throw words like "fun" and "speed" without referencing any game in particular causes me to wonder if you've ever even owned, played,and beaten a 3D Sonic title.I find it very sad that so many so-called Sonic fans are looking forward to an on-rails experiment to save them. You know, I could understand disliking say, Sonic 3D Blastfor it's totally different approach to the traditional Sonic gameplay. But games like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 are merely the natural evolution of thegame series. There was no other way for the series to progress into 3D. And honestly, I don't see what's so unfun about it. And yet….in the eyes of so many, SonicTeam simply fails on every level. They just don't know how to make it "fun" like the "Genesis days", am I right?There was only a 4 year break between Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic's official return with Sonic Adventure. 4 YEARS. During that period Sonic Team developedone of the most revolutionary and beloved video games of all time, NiGHTS: Into Dreams. To think that between 1994 and 1998 Sonic Team "lost their touch",and yet out of that came NiGHTS, is just madness. All I'm hearing is people whining about the good ol' Genesis days….like a baby crying for it's nookie. Sure it's crying for it's nook, but is it really making any sense in the meantime?
Rollin: What kind of response was that? "Who cares, I loved it!".Uh, yeah….I loved those games too. The break-neck speeds were no less interrupted by obstacles than any of the 3D titles, however. If you ever decide to play S3&K, you'll see what I mean.You simply can't pre-plan your moves as you claimed, and just expect to throttle through each level.The exhilerating speed in your memory is just that: a memory. Not that those games weren't fast, it'sjust that as we grow older, our brains tend to exaggerate a little, and we tell tall tales about how greatthings were. Now I don't know about you, but to a certain extent, I've never stopped playing those old Sonic games. I bought Sonic Mega Collection, and I still play them every so often. So I know for a fact that the speed isn't all that everyone claims it was. The Sonic games were fast, yes. But you could onlygo fast when the game allowed you to. There WERE platforms, there WERE walls you'd run into, andthere were dozens upon dozens of different paths you could take, not to mention the challenge (in Sonic 1and 2 only) of keeping 50 or more rings at hand so you could get to a special stage. In Sonic 3 and Knucklesyou would have to stop and explore the scenery (yes, EXPLORE THE SCENEREY. NOT BLAZE THROUGH LEVELS)in order to find gigantic rings which would take you to special stages, which would in turn yield emeralds, whichwould in turn, yield a good ending and the coveted ability of Super Sonic. To say that Sonic games were aboutbreak-neck speeds and that the newer titles complicate the simplicity of simply running around is to pervert thetruth, which is that Sonic 1 – Knuckles were much more complex than that.I hope to God someone here heeds my advice and plays Sonic Mega Collection after reading this.It's really shocking to read the misconceptions people have about Sonic, and even more shocking how theyapply these misconceptions when judging the newer titles ("blow chunks", btw, is the worst insult I'veheard of a prestigious Sega title in a very, very, very long while).
Sonic was great on Game Gear.
I was always a Sonic supporter. I started out in the Genesis days as a complete Sega fanboy, and I loved all the originals (Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic and Knuckles, etc.). My favorite Sonic game was Sonic CD. Remember that? What a fantastic soundtrack and visual spectacle. Since then, I've been less impressed, though I'll admit that once the Dreamcast came out and I could play Sonic Adventure, I was ecstatic. I have played Sonic the Hedgehog on 360, however, and it is indeed "poopsky." This new game looks promising and fun. I'm just ready for our blue buddy to reclaim his rightful role as the king of speed, and a great videogame mascot.
Pooch, settle down. Your bias and hardcore love for Sonic is a little too extreme. Sonic was great all through the Genesis, and i did play all of them – plus Game Gear Sonic – regardless of what you wanna think. Obviously you have some baggage from dealing with Sonic haters on a forum somewhere. Deal with that on your own time.There are misgivings about 3D Sonic for a reason. They're not that great relative to the time period they're in. No one compares 3D Sonic to 2D Sonic because of "prejudice" or any other term that's way too serious to be used in reference to a videogame. They compare it to old Sonic because the Adventures and Heroes of the world can't hang with the platformers of today. You may find it fun and better than the old ones, but in the early 90s, 2d Sonic games made an impact on the industry at large. So did Mario. People have fond memories of that for a reason. It's up to you if you wanna trample on that nostalgia, but if you have to go to those lengths just to prove that 3D Sonic is underrated, you lost your case. In the 3D era, the impression Sonic made was dull. On the DC it seemed to be a good starting over, but these days it's off-track. Heroes, Shadow, Sonic 360 – they're on a bad streak. Whether you wanna count Shadow is up to you, but it's a hedghog game made by Sonic Team, and i don't see people discounting Yoshi's Story as a "non-Mario" game. Pretty convenient to drop the worst one just cause the progtagonist is slightly different. Listen, i didn't say i'm looking forward to Sonic Wii or that i "hope they get it right this time". I just hope it is as fun in today's age of gaming as Sonics 1 thru Knuckles were in their day. You speak bad of Matt Cass (i'm no fan, either), but you're sounding oddly similar to how he defended Zelda as factually better than Okami. You can't seriously be comparing games from the Genesis to games from the GameCube/XB/PS2 and 360. Of course Sonic in 3D is "better" than old Sonics, but they don't have the charm. Twilight Princess was fuckin outstanding and statistically "better" than any other Zelda by miles, but Majora gave me a better experience.Lemme tell you something about the brain and nostalgia. When you get older, you tend to look back on something you cherished as a kid in a good light. Happens whenever you enjoyed something that much in the past. But the reason you don't get why people have nice thoughts about old Sonic is because you play them today. Scientifically, that tends to erode whatever memories you used to have of it because you're playing them now, after the platformer/adventure games have evolved well past that. The majority of old-time Sonic fans played them then and the series left a great impression relative to what else was out there at the time. It seems like you're the one comparing Sonic to Sonic. I compare it to Ratchet & Clank, Mario, Jak & Daxter, etc. I assume that's what everyone else compares it to because they're all in the same space today. Sonic hasn't stacked up well against those guys. That is factual, what you think of them is not.You're giving Matt Cass way too much credit if you honestly think that dickhead influenced a generation of Sonic lovers this much. Usually i gauge whether a game is good by playing it, not listening to game journos or fanboys or playing its 15 year old predecessor to decide whether it's as bad as i think. Playing through Sonic Mega Collection is only gonna wear down nostalgic feelings about the series — not make current day Sonics any better.
The fun of Sonic games was just rushing through levels without stopping, avoiding obstacles and getting hit and just blazing through the levels at insane speeds. Kinda like racing but with jumping, baddies and platforms.I hope the Wii version has enough depth to warrant the purchase, mini games? Let's hope it's not another monkey ball fiasco (unlikely with all the time they would ahve had by now).
So, wait .. is Sonic going to be in Smash Bros or not?
I appreciate your response, Rollin. It's clear that you spent a lot of time on it, and that's something I definitely respect. You brought up some good points, such as how a game can be stastically better (which I never said 3D Sonic games were, by the way), but still lack a certain charm that the old games had. As someone who regularly plays Sonic games, I admit you do have a point there. Though in my opinion Sonic Adventure 2: Battle came close to the magic of Sonic & Knuckles…..no cigar. However, this is coming from someone who does play the classics as well as the new games, as has played them since the mid 90's. No matter what you think about playing through Sonic Mega Collection, it's not going to "wear down" nostalgic feelings about the series. No, not unless you go on some mad 48-hour marathon of playing only Sonic, I really don't think it will. The only thing that could come from playing Sonic Mega Collection is good. You'd come out of the experience with a fresh perspective, not one polluted with nostalgia. It won't neccesarily make you appreciate the current Sonics any more. But there are many games that I was once nostalgic for, and when I replayed them years later, I realized that they were third-rate experiences. So it's up to you: you either keep your memories bottled up in a crystaline jar, or you re-live them. I always tend to choose the latter, because, as much as I love nostalgia, I also love to be honest with myself: do I really still think this is fun, or am I just getting old?By the way, you're right about giving Matt Cassamassina too much credit…sorry. I'm glad, though, that I'm not the only person who thinks he is a dickhead. :)Liraco: I'll say the same to you: you're wrong, dead wrong. I'd love to see a video of you rushing through Sonic game's without stopping. In fact, even if you can't supply a video of it, I challenge you to go play Sonic 3 right now and "rush through" Angel Island Zone without stopping. As I played that zone last night I chuckled at the realization that there are so many people like you think they remember what Sonic "was" instead of facing what it "is" by playing the old and the new side by side instead of relying on dilapidated 13 year old memories.The games are still out there, ready to be played! It's called playing Sonic Mega Collection! It's called using an emulator! Hell, it's called playing the actual carts on an actual Genesis! Who the hell knows what Sonic was anymore? I KNOW. It's people like me who own the games and didn't last play them 5+ years ago.
Alright.. Poochy? You're a bitch. Honestly. I am about 10 times the Sonic Fan you will ever wish to be. I grew up on Sonic, live and breather Sonic, and I still do. And that is why it is so hard to deal with the fact that the Sonic games suck nowadays. You, obviously can't understand this. YOU are a Sonic Fan in DENIAL. I enjoyed EVERYTHING (even Sonic R) up until Shadow. I really liked SA2b but you can't just keep pushing that engine into all the other games. Sonic Heroes was fun but it was pushing it too. and Shadow… Shadow made me -no- the whole world collectively vomit. STH '06 was even worse. They have horrible cameras, I continually lost control of sonic, and pushing forward and watching Sonic run along a predetermined path until you get randomly flung off an edge ISN'T fun. The graohics are horrid, the levels are boring and uninventive, and it controls like shit. End of StoryOh and Sonic HAS lost his speed. Almost ALL OF IT. now STFU!
Oh and by the way, check any Sonic forum (SWMB is a good example. are you a member there? or you not a big enough sonic fan?) and you'll hear a unanymous "THE NEW SONIC GAMES SUCK, WILDFIRE BETTER DELIVER"
Poochy, shoosh.The Sonic games HAVE sucked to a lot of people since the jump to 3D. Just because they're million sellers or whatever doesn't mean it's a good game. It's just a testament to the (apparently dwindling) franchise.Yes, the 2D sonic games on Genesis DID have an amazing sense of speed. Try to think back to the SNES/Genesis days. Aside from F-Zero, ultimately, there weren't too many games that delivered that sense of speed on those systems. Sonic was one of them. It might not seem as fast to you TODAY, but when you and I were younger (I'm assuming you were actually around for the golden age). Thus, when Blake says that it reminds him of the older games in terms of speed, I assume he means it feels fast as hell, just like the 2D games did back in the day.That said, the 3D Sonic games HAVE all sucked. I'll admit I haven't played every single one of them, but I've definitely played enough of them to say that Sonic is a franchise that doesn't work in 3D.It's HORRIBLE. The controls have all sucked and the lousy camera compounds everything. It goes waaaaay too fast to control in an open 3D environment and not keep losing your place, doubling back and trying again…and again…and again…and AGAIN.Yuo're in denial about how awful the 3D Sonic games mostly are.
Gojiguy…I'm just a true blue Sonic fan, the same as you claim to be. I can recall discussions between me and my friends back in late '95 about Sonic 3D Blast. The intro to the game was the most amazing thing we'd ever seen. We were so naive, so unbred on 3D graphics that we actually compared it to Super Mario 64. I know that sounds dumb, but that's just one of the Sonic games I could share memories from. How about playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles to death, wondering if there was anything over Hyper Sonic, a "Platinum" Sonic as me and my friends theorized. There's another memory.But…I'm a bitch, huh? And a Sonic fan in denial? That's very funny, calling me a bitch and telling me to shut the fuck up. That's very funny insinuating that I don't go to the Sonic boards (I'm a member at Sonic 2 Beta, btw) and hear all sorts of crap from jaded Sonic fans about how the new Sonic games suck. DUH, if I didn't do that, then why the hell would I be ranting about the jaded breed of Sonic fans who wouldn't know good gameplay if it bit them in the butt?Actually, the truth is, you just threw in that last bit about Sonic losing his speed just to piss me off. That's completely unreasonable. But……what would I know? [b][i]I DON'T OWN SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, NOR HAVE I PLAYED STH '06.[/b][/i]Yes, that's right—I enjoy all the 3D Sonic games you just claimed were fun! The games I've been ranting and "bitching" were actually good, YOU just agreed with in your post! Oh, but I'm in denial, right? And I'm a bitch, and you're 10 TIMES the Sonic fan I am. Right.
And Mr. Fish, insinuating that I wasn't around for the golden age is cheap. Very cheap. I shared some of my memories with gojiguy above.Again, and again I hear that the games had an amazing sense of speed. I may be uploading a video of me playing through Angel Island Zone to Youtube soon, so everyone out there who thinks they remember what Sonic is all about can see actual gameplay in motion.And no, I'm not a Sonic fan in denial. But I guess there is something wrong with me, for when I play Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes (again, I don't own Shadow or Sonic '06), I only experience GOOD control, BEARABLE camera angles, and GREAT graphics (being an 80's kid, I'm not spoiled on Resident Evil 4 and Final Fantasy 12-esque geometry like some people are). Am I crazy for having a good time with those games, Mr. Fish? I think not. All the glitches, bad camera, and bad control that I hear so many people….people who depend on reviews written by jackasses, talk about…….personally, I've never experienced any of it. Maybe I AM crazy. Crazy about Sonic, and good gameplay.