How Sonic 06 Handles Multiple Characters

A brief history on how other playable characters have been used in the Sonic series leading up to 06, with a focus on how that game in particular may have the ideal formula going forward.

[calistusjay]

In concept alone, Sonic 06 was the PERFECTION of the adventure formula.

[byg]

06 did have a good concept on how to tackle the multiple characters dilemma Sonic was having. But to quote TGC 06 review: "If they were properly executed, they might have avoided the disparity of the Adventure games efforts, while still delivering the variety afforded by the approach. But this is a game where the only thing that was properly executed was Sonic Team's reputation"

[seamistseamist]

Honestly, Sonic's twilight princess is a really good way of describing what '06 was going for.

[axelwoni.m.]

My god, I swear that this guy is an absolute master of comedic timing and line delivery. It's perfect and funny every single time 👌

[DesignDoc]

Multiple Characters is kind of a pillar of Sonic's design that sadly got pushed to the wayside as kind of a scapegoat for a lot of Sonic's design problems in the mid 2000s. While it was good to reset and refocus in the late 2000s with just Sonic at the time, having other characters is probably the thing I miss the most in modern Sonic games. Having multiple playable characters with slightly different abilities can do wonders for the replayability and variety when done right. 06 had many issues but I think the plan for how to implement other the characters without designing the whole campaign to work with them was quite solid, good even. Though they were definitely biting off more than they could chew with 9 characters on top of that dumb 15th anniversary deadline and split dev team. If I was re-planning this game, I would probably drop Knuckles, Amy and maybe Rouge (tougher cut I know as both she and Omega serve a larger role) as playable characters. This way, you don't lose too much while reducing the work load.

[Kingnorm]

I think this video really highlights an issue plaguing the series. Sonic Team/SEGA seems to always learn the wrong lessons from their mistakes. The way multiple playable characters were structured and the idea of returning to the Adventure gameplay and story formula were brilliant, but because 06 failed, they thought it was because of the Adventure gameplay and the characters and not, yknow, the fact that the game was incredibly buggy and not only completely abandoned the Adventure formula, but also having anyone but Sonic as playable. Another example is Sonic Free Riders. Just because the game was terrible and barely even playable, they completely abandoned the Riders series for kart racers, which was really unfortunate because Racing on hoverboards and doing tricks suits Sonic way more than a generic kart racing game.

The playable characters is a damn shame too because I feel like this game had the most balanced version of multiple playable characters like you said. Although I prefer having characters with their own dedicated stages like Adventure 2, this is a good compromise because not everyone likes those stages and I understand that it feels forced compared to Adventure 1 and the classic games.

[islandboy]

The hate for Sonic's friends in the community was truly huge at the time 06 dropped, to a very toxic level and were used as scapegoats as to why the games became bad, which is probably why Sonic Team only focused on Sonic's gameplay for the next title Unleashed with the introduction of the boost gameplay from Sonic Rush as the main gameplay style from then on.

However what you said about Sonic burning through detailed assets plus setpieces and making a 60 dollar 3D game very short in it's content became a real consideration for Sonic Team when they introduced the boost.

Hence why from that point on they added 2D setpieces to the 3D gameplay and introduced a secondary gimmick just to lengthen the runtime without resorting to the friends in fear of another backlash. Wheter it be the unpopular Werehog, the popular Wisps or straight up nostalgia baiting with Classic Sonic.

This is why I'm not surprised that Sonic Team has now chosen to do a open world type game for Sonic with Sonic Frontiers just so they can make a big budget 3D title that isn't short in content and doesn't need gimmicks or friends (although Tails and Knuckles would fit this) as a crutch to lengthen the runtime.

I would be interested to know how a boost game could be done that isn't very short and doesn't rely on secondary gimmicks though because I do like that style a lot.

[Futt_Buckers]

I like to imagine the parallel universe where instead of getting Sonic ‘06, we got Sonic ‘07 and it’s touted as one of the greatest games ever made.

[jonatanp.]

Ok, not gonna lie, but the '06 version of Shadow is probably my favorite one, I genuinelly think that his story mode is great, cuz the characters and story per se are really good imo. Actually, Sonic 06 has a really interesting Story and the multiple characters would be more memorable and loved, if it didn't had the other problems to hold it back, cuz it's (unfortunately) one of the few Sonic games that has so many playable characters, and it's really ambicious about it. I would LOVE to see more of what '06 did in some other Sonic games in the future.

[potofsteak]

I found your channel from the Lost World video, and I just gotta say, the editing here is on point and the jokes are quite good. Looking forward to more videos!

[soulsparx]

honestly the best part of 06's structure to me isn't just the gameplay/mechanical aspect of it, it's the story implications. it makes it so that you can have this huge story surrounding a bunch of characters who have all become iconic fan favorites in their own right, without ever losing focus the way i feel adventure 1 and heroes do-- adventure 2 is better about it from this perspective, but i feel the constant shifting in play styles can be jarring so ehh, but like. execution aside, 06's approach to it really is the best of both worlds

[hedgehogsonic]

I've been saying for years that 06 nailed the multicharacter system. Unique stories with minor overlap, and every character having similar base gameplay but unique enough to feel like each of these characters have their own identity and stages that can at least partially accommodate their interests without taking away the spotlight from the main cast- and even allowing you to play as the other characters in Kingdom Valley, which feels incredibly rewarding if you're playing Sonic's story first, being given control of the mysterious new rival in the penultimate level. I need it back, so much.

[amurilloreno]

11:05 Actually, for the side characters, SEGA did release "Team Amigo" DLC where you'll get through stages that mostly as Sonic, Shadow, or Sliver only as Tails, Knuckles, Rogue, Omega, Amy, and Blaze. Of course, the chosen stage still based on their own skills, so you won't play as Blaze in a stage that involved lots of flying.

[akagi]

This is EXACTLY what I like about 06. It just feels refreshing after playing from SA2 to P'06.

[Crow_Rising]

Project 06 for some time now has been shining a light into what could have been, and it's becoming more and more apparent how great of a game 06 could have been if it wasn't rushed. In it's time, 06 was like a natural disaster onto the franchise, fracturing the fanbase and casting doubt onto the franchise's future. It was like a meteor crashing into the ocean. The franchise would pick itself back up in the coming years, only to stumble in the resulting ripples not too far into the following decade. We've once again reached the point where the fanbase can't stop bickering about whether each new entry is worse than 06 or just merely mediocre, while SEGA themselves remain terrified of making anything that might venture to close to 06's crash site, even though the waves have finally calmed down. While SEGA tries to play it safe, fans continue to grow discontent by the constant nostalgia pandering and the general lack of original new content and Sonic taking up all the spotlight.

I think what SEGA really needs for the Sonic franchise right now is to get over their phobia of Sonic 06 and give it a proper analysis like so many others have done before them. Stop listening to what all the fans bickering amongst themselves are saying, and well and truly learn from what happened with Sonic 06. Why it was a failure, what ideas were actually pretty decent from the project, and how it could have been great. It's about time Sonic got over it's identity crisis, and that isn't going to happen until SEGA grows the backbone to reignite their creative spark instead of dwelling in the past.

[rickyronny]

I appreciate Sonic games where the characters are relatively unique and play different from others instead of all the characters being more or less clones of Sonic. And I appreciate what 06 did with this idea

[da_pikmin_coder]

15:42 I love how you showed a clip of Raiden and even though we can't hear anything, we all collectively knew "what is your source for that information?" "Source? My source is I made it THE F*CK up!!"

[StelmoShow]

MAN. I can not stress enough how much I love that you have the silkiest voice ever juxtaposed with chaotic wit and little gags. These videos are great man keep it up! :)

[Chill]

Multiple stories are my favorite in sonic games, I love playing a lot of characters and seeing the overarching story from everyone's point of view

[Rokku-D]

2:34
The delivery of Knuckles saying: "Yo that sucks, i'm going home." got me good.