Dragon Road Layout in Sky Sanctuary

MondoMega

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 10, 2018
47,478
IMG_1425.jpg


Add another to the list of recycled level designs; there's Dragon Road.
 

The Deleter

Member
Sep 22, 2019
3,555
IMG_1425.jpg


Add another to the list of recycled level designs; there's Dragon Road.
Incredibly based choice tbh

Also further clarification from Iizuka's eurogamer interview, it seems they were intentional to be mixed up with inaccurate level themes, as an inaccurate feeling of deja vu:

"We want to kind of reuse those memories - like the memories we have as well, because we played the games with Sonic - but the team is doing it intentionally, to kind of poke at those little points that some players are gonna pick up on immediately. Like, 'I remember this exactly!' And we are making levels that maybe look different, but feel the same as other things you have experienced. There's going to be a mix of those very intentionally nostalgic or familiar areas, but there will also be some brand new things nobody's ever seen before."
 

Shadoken

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,216
Its actually hilarious how theres been so much positivity from the press and people who played. Meanwhile Era is on a full on hate train because some levels are similar.

Weird Sonic cycle for this game.
 

FallenGrace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,055
Previews for most games are nearly always positive. I'm just not taking the bait. I've been burned by the Sonic cycle over and over. Not this time.
 

Symphony

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,361
Its actually hilarious how theres been so much positivity from the press and people who played. Meanwhile Era is on a full on hate train because some levels are similar.

Weird Sonic cycle for this game.
Lets be fair, the gaming press has been dunking on Sonic games for years even when the fans like them, the fact that they are really enthusiastic about Frontiers, a game which has raised multiple flags for questionable design decisions with fans, doesn't seem unusual as the two groups seem to want the exact opposite things out of the series. Are the press really going to notice that they've copy and pasted a bunch of Unleashed stages?

The reality is this game is probably going to sit somewhere in the middle of the review scores and the fan reception. Reviews will overlook details like the asset reuse and lack of momentum physics, and fans won't be willing to get past the ill fitting visual style or the lack of extended character cast. That reception would be the best outcome for the series as well, Sonic Team wouldn't throw away a gameplay style that the general public liked without having a chance to refine it, and fans won't be left out in the cold with a series going off in some weird "somber" BotW direction instead of the Sonic Adventure 3 (or SA1 remake) they've been begging for over a decade for.
 

Tomasoares

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,679
Positive early impressions of shitty Sonic games are really common tbh. But maybe the open world is the "alternative" gameplay element they were always looking into, tbh
 

Nocturnowl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,241
It's actually nice to hear this might be decent, it's not like I want it to suck, but good lord if everything around the ign reveal month wasn't just the soggiest fart.

Still not a fan of the reused boost stages, wafer thin story justification be damned, I've played those stages/segments enough already
 

StraySheep

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,332
We got a long clip of the city 3D level and this level design actually looks miles better than the other 6 stages we've seen. There's complexity, moving platforms, branching pathways. Which is why it's confusing to me that the other 6 stages are all so extremely linear and straight line simulator.

View: https://twitter.com/sonic_frontier/status/1564528050221506561?s=21&t=n-sdn91M4iZmRwRIflCRag


The one I played, which is neither the Green Hill Zone one or the one in your tweet, also had at least a ton of verticality with different routes to take.
 

jroc74

Member
Oct 27, 2017
29,388
Well damn, this might be the first time in years I've been actually excited for a Sonic game.

The Sonic revival is upon us...and I'm here for it.

Its actually hilarious how theres been so much positivity from the press and people who played. Meanwhile Era is on a full on hate train because some levels are similar.

Weird Sonic cycle for this game.
Some of the takes in that Green Hill Zone thread were really wild.

Same level as a previous game...game is a tragedy. Never mind this game being a higher quality version.

?

No gameplay....just same or similar level. Tragedy.

I usually wait for a game to actually come out...and actually play it before deciding to like it or not.

Its a wild concept, I know.
 
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Efejota

Member
Mar 13, 2018
3,750
IMG_1425.jpg


Add another to the list of recycled level designs; there's Dragon Road.
Yeah, at this point it's clear it's intentional. Looking at this I get that feeling of "wait, is this Unleashed or Generations?"

I just hope there's stage themes from games other than Generations and Forces. I want to see more pre-HD stages getting the Generations treatment, but I'm not even sure if there's going to be Unleashed or Colours assets.

At least we seem to be getting some original themes too, like the Metropolis one.
 
GameReactor Impressions + Interview with Iizuka

CaVaYeRo

Member
Oct 31, 2017
342
I had some good fun too with it at Gamescom.

Here I talked with Iizuka-san about Cyber Space being Sonic's own memories and more (video is in English):

www.gamereactor.es

El Cyber Space se basa en los recuerdos de Sonic por estos 2 motivos

Hablamos con Iizuka-san en la Gamescom 2022 para saber más sobre las mecánicas de zona abierta y sobre los niveles más lineales y tradicionales.

And here are my impressions:

www.gamereactor.es

IMPRESIONES ARES ISLAND: Sonic Frontiers MEJORA en su recta final

Viniendo de recibir un aluviĂłn de crĂ­ticas, el erizo azul acelera de cara a su lanzamiento con una demo variada y divertida.

Will share in English too.
 

Vidiot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,477
So I'm guessing that interview from a while back talking about the movie being an inspiration for some combat moments was talking about that bouncy cage fight part. It automatically made me think of Sonic's final fight with Eggman in the Sonic movie where he bounced off of the buildings to destroy his flying thing.
 

Deleted member 34949

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 30, 2017
19,101
I've stayed out of Frontiers threads and away from media since Summer Games Fest because I've largely had nothing nice to say about the game but poked in here out of curiosity.

The developer justification for the level reuse/remixing sounds vaguely Mania-ish and I kind of respect that?
 

BossDumDrum

Member
Jan 3, 2020
1,313
So I'm guessing that interview from a while back talking about the movie being an inspiration for some combat moments was talking about that bouncy cage fight part. It automatically made me think of Sonic's final fight with Eggman in the Sonic movie where he bounced off of the buildings to destroy his flying thing.

It would been cool if the cycloop could kick up dust like the movie too to make a tornado, but that's probably beyond the scope of this project.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,798
IMG_1425.jpg


Add another to the list of recycled level designs; there's Dragon Road.
Interesting, there was this supposed leak on 4chan a week back where one of the levels listed was Dragon Road


Full list is:
Stage: Green Hill Act 1
Stage: Green Hill Act 2
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 1
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 2
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 1
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 2
Stage: Metropolis Madness
Boss: Air Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Ice Cap Act 1
Stage: Ice Cap Act 2
Stage: Speedy Highway Act 1
Stage: Speed Highway Act 2
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 1
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 2
Stage: Blazing Peak
Boss: Fire Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Final Rush Act 1
Stage: Final Rush Act 2
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 1
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 2
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 1
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 2
Stage: Gravity Field
Boss: Earth Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Dragon Road Act 1
Stage: Dragon Road Act 2
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 1
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 2
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 1
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 2
Stage: Steel Turmoil
Boss: Water Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Cyberspace Act 1
Stage: Cyberspace Act 2
Boss: Sage
Boss: Egg Titan (Cyber Sonic)
 

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
34,947
Interesting, there was this supposed leak on 4chan a week back where one of the levels listed was Dragon Road


Full list is:
Stage: Green Hill Act 1
Stage: Green Hill Act 2
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 1
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 2
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 1
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 2
Stage: Metropolis Madness
Boss: Air Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Ice Cap Act 1
Stage: Ice Cap Act 2
Stage: Speedy Highway Act 1
Stage: Speed Highway Act 2
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 1
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 2
Stage: Blazing Peak
Boss: Fire Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Final Rush Act 1
Stage: Final Rush Act 2
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 1
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 2
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 1
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 2
Stage: Gravity Field
Boss: Earth Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Dragon Road Act 1
Stage: Dragon Road Act 2
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 1
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 2
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 1
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 2
Stage: Steel Turmoil
Boss: Water Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Cyberspace Act 1
Stage: Cyberspace Act 2
Boss: Sage
Boss: Egg Titan (Cyber Sonic)
I could believe this leak, although it seems kinda mindscrew-y that they use a Dragon Road layout for a non-Dragon Road level.
 

DanielG123

Member
Jul 14, 2020
2,490
We got a long clip of the city 3D level and this level design actually looks miles better than the other 6 stages we've seen. There's complexity, moving platforms, branching pathways. Which is why it's confusing to me that the other 6 stages are all so extremely linear and straight line simulator.

View: https://twitter.com/sonic_frontier/status/1564528050221506561?s=21&t=n-sdn91M4iZmRwRIflCRag

The way Sonic is tightly turning on the highway while boosting... You just couldn't do that in Unleashed nor Generations unless you wanted him to go barreling off the map. This definitely gives credence to everyone who have played Frontiers saying that Sonic controls incredibly well.
 

Meowmixez

ESS ESS DEE
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,187
I've stayed out of Frontiers threads and away from media since Summer Games Fest because I've largely had nothing nice to say about the game but poked in here out of curiosity.

The developer justification for the level reuse/remixing sounds vaguely Mania-ish and I kind of respect that?


I think it's cool. I'm sure it comes off better in game than people want to let on.
 

Mik317

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,797
the game looks fun IMO

and as long as it doesn't fall apart at the seams or is like 4 hours tops like forces felt....then I'm game
 

Kinsei

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
20,682
The remix level excuse is just that, an excuse. They created the story because they wanted to reuse levels.
 

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
85,873
Houston, TX
Interesting, there was this supposed leak on 4chan a week back where one of the levels listed was Dragon Road


Full list is:
Stage: Green Hill Act 1
Stage: Green Hill Act 2
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 1
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 2
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 1
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 2
Stage: Metropolis Madness
Boss: Air Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Ice Cap Act 1
Stage: Ice Cap Act 2
Stage: Speedy Highway Act 1
Stage: Speed Highway Act 2
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 1
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 2
Stage: Blazing Peak
Boss: Fire Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Final Rush Act 1
Stage: Final Rush Act 2
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 1
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 2
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 1
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 2
Stage: Gravity Field
Boss: Earth Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Dragon Road Act 1
Stage: Dragon Road Act 2
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 1
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 2
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 1
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 2
Stage: Steel Turmoil
Boss: Water Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Cyberspace Act 1
Stage: Cyberspace Act 2
Boss: Sage
Boss: Egg Titan (Cyber Sonic)
This feels like Generations 2 in addition to the open world stuff.
 

Diogo Arez

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 20, 2020
17,816
Interesting, there was this supposed leak on 4chan a week back where one of the levels listed was Dragon Road


Full list is:
Stage: Green Hill Act 1
Stage: Green Hill Act 2
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 1
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 2
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 1
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 2
Stage: Metropolis Madness
Boss: Air Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Ice Cap Act 1
Stage: Ice Cap Act 2
Stage: Speedy Highway Act 1
Stage: Speed Highway Act 2
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 1
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 2
Stage: Blazing Peak
Boss: Fire Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Final Rush Act 1
Stage: Final Rush Act 2
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 1
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 2
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 1
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 2
Stage: Gravity Field
Boss: Earth Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Dragon Road Act 1
Stage: Dragon Road Act 2
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 1
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 2
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 1
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 2
Stage: Steel Turmoil
Boss: Water Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Cyberspace Act 1
Stage: Cyberspace Act 2
Boss: Sage
Boss: Egg Titan (Cyber Sonic)
That's a yikes from me, although some are welcome returns, I hate when Sonic reuses stages from previous games, even Generations that I really liked didn't blow me away because it was just the old levels with new designs, it made sense there but since then they have entered full reuse town, even Mania the best levels were the new ones not the old ones.
 

CoinStarDX

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
633
Yeah, at this point it's clear it's intentional. Looking at this I get that feeling of "wait, is this Unleashed or Generations?"

I just hope there's stage themes from games other than Generations and Forces. I want to see more pre-HD stages getting the Generations treatment, but I'm not even sure if there's going to be Unleashed or Colours assets.

At least we seem to be getting some original themes too, like the Metropolis one.
There's some footage from the city level theme that uses some level design from the SA2 version of City Escape
 

GrayMage

Member
May 2, 2022
249


The open world part seems so empty. The desert theme is more insteresting to look at than the first island, but there's hardly any enemies and everything shown there is heavily automated. Even the fights seems heavily automated, most of the moves interrupt the flow (the ricochet/pinball move seems cool, though).

The fact that there's no music doesn't help, it makes it seem so lifeless.

The 3D cyberspace level seems cool, though. Hope there's more levels like that (multiple path), I think so far it's the only one like that.
 

Kinsei

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
20,682
To be fair, there is some story consideration. Sonic '06 being absent makes sense given that Sonic doesn't remember the events of that game.
I think it's more to do with 06's reception. Why waste time remaking stages from a game so poorly recieved when they can't just port them over like they could boost game stages?
 

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
85,873
Houston, TX
The open world part seems so empty. The desert theme is more insteresting to look at than the first island, but there's hardly any enemies and everything shown there is heavily automated. Even the fights seems heavily automated, most of the moves interrupt the flow (the ricochet/pinball move seems cool, though).

The fact that there's no music doesn't help, it makes it seem so lifeless.

The 3D cyberspace level seems cool, though. Hope there's more levels like that (multiple path), I think so far it's the only one like that.
The music is apparently under embargo.

I think it's more to do with 06's reception. Why waste time remaking stages from a game so poorly recieved when they can't just port them over like they could boost game stages?
Everyone loved Crisis City in Generations.
 

RochHoch

One Winged Slayer
Member
May 22, 2018
19,078
Combat in this game looks atrocious

Taking down those bigger enemies looks so slow and tedious, and the attack animations look straight up unfinished
 

Evoker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,000
Interesting, there was this supposed leak on 4chan a week back where one of the levels listed was Dragon Road


Full list is:
Stage: Green Hill Act 1
Stage: Green Hill Act 2
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 1
Stage: Chemical Plant Act 2
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 1
Stage: Sky Sanctuary Act 2
Stage: Metropolis Madness
Boss: Air Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Ice Cap Act 1
Stage: Ice Cap Act 2
Stage: Speedy Highway Act 1
Stage: Speed Highway Act 2
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 1
Stage: Pumpkin Hill Act 2
Stage: Blazing Peak
Boss: Fire Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Final Rush Act 1
Stage: Final Rush Act 2
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 1
Stage: Seaside Hill Act 2
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 1
Stage: Rooftop Run Act 2
Stage: Gravity Field
Boss: Earth Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Dragon Road Act 1
Stage: Dragon Road Act 2
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 1
Stage: Aquarium Park Act 2
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 1
Stage: Sunset Heights Act 2
Stage: Steel Turmoil
Boss: Water Titan (Super Sonic)
Stage: Cyberspace Act 1
Stage: Cyberspace Act 2
Boss: Sage
Boss: Egg Titan (Cyber Sonic)
Honestly, I'd be down for this if
Seaside hill focuses more on the beach side of things instead of the Green Hill aesthetics. I don't want it to feel like Green Hill part 2.
 

Efejota

Member
Mar 13, 2018
3,750
There's some footage from the city level theme that uses some level design from the SA2 version of City Escape
What I meant is that I'd like to see visuals that aren't pulled from Generations or Forces.
7da5fea001c5088116712ea8dcae64777fc00b04_hq.jpg

Each of these 9 games has at least other 6 stages they could be referencing.

Nonetheless it's cool to know that they're making something with SA2 levels too. If their goal with these was to go full in with the references, I hope Heroes gets some love too beyond a Seaside Hill theme or level design.
 
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fontguy

Avenger
Oct 8, 2018
16,234
Combat in this game looks atrocious

Taking down those bigger enemies looks so slow and tedious, and the attack animations look straight up unfinished
Not only do a lot of Sonic's animations look bad, but there's a serious lack of feedback from the enemies. Sonic is warping through time and space to deliver a super saiyan gut punch and even the grunts are like "ok."

I mean say what you will about 06, but I personally ended up adoring Unleashed ending up as my second favorite 3D Sonic, which made the scores in comparison to the former all the more absurd to me. The music, the charming art style and visuals were some of the best of that generation and leagues better than 06. The story was fun, the ambition was there, and at worst, the Werehog felt out of place, but not bad once you opened up more of the combat options imo. I don't blame anyone for drawing the line here though, but I stand that it was a travesty to see it score below 06 to me.

Even more weirdly, the PS2/Wii versions which had LESS daytime stages and MORE Werehog sections averaged BETTER review scores than the HD versions. It was nonsense top to bottom.
Well I guess if you genuinely enjoyed the werehog levels, I can understand the scores being aggravating.

The Wii score thing happened a lot with Wii games that generation. My thinking was it was due to a sort of selection bias (like reviewers who self selected to review Wii games had different tastes and standards than the general critic population).