/vr/ - Retro Games

You are almost 40 years old

>>9906689
Genius, it allows shitters to still continue to beat the game without being too punishing as even having 1 ring allowed you to take an additional hit.

It also encouraged good execution and gameplay because the more you could go without getting hit gave you a bonus stage and an extra life.

It fundamentally proves that the blue hedgehog game was never good. If you have to implement a quasi-invincibility for basic gameplay, that's not exactly a great sign. I'd be interested in seeing a 2 hit death mod and let people have a reaction to that.

>>9906695
You can also go hyper autistic and try for perfect runs where you get as many rings as possible in as short a time as possible for the best score multipliers. It really has something for everyone

>>9906706
They didn't HAVE to, just like you don't HAVE to collect your one ring after dropping it for the hundredth time ya scrub

>>9906689

Genius, gives a new dimension to the gameplay and raises the skill ceiling for scoring

>>9906689
Nah, it’s fun. If you’ve ever played a Sonic clone without a ring equivalent (Bubsy, for instance) it’s incredibly frustrating having to cautiously charge forward knowing one slip up can cost you lives and time.

>>9906729
To add to this, I wouldn’t say the inclusion of a ring system is indicative of a design flaw. A particular premise requires unique mechanical accommodations. It’s the same reason DOOM is fun as a first person shooter but would be incredibly boring and dull as a side scrolling shooter, everything else in tact.

>>9906689
It compliments the Genesis Sonic games very well, which were always about stumbling through a stage on your first playthrough, and finishing it with finesse on later playthroughs.
Having just one ring will keep you alive, but you need 50 if you want a shot at getting a chaos emerald.
The ring mechanic isn't so obnoxious that the game can't find a way to kill you. There's plenty of crushing obstacles and bottomless pits in Sonic games, and there's a few tough bosses that make it difficult to collect rings after you've lost them.

>>9906689
it's cool looking, but trivializes any challenge.
case in point: death egg in sonic 2 is fucking hard. if you don't know what to do, there's a high chance of burning through 20 lives and getting a game over before you figure it out.

>>9906706
Retarded take. There were plenty of 1 hit kills like crush traps and pit falls that could still kill you.

>>9906689
It's an interesting reversal of the SMW damage system, the protections of
>functional immortality (single hit + power up (death))
now become
>single hit + eventual elemental shield powers (functional immortality (death))
I'm not sure if that makes you more or less vulnerable overall. You find rings much more often than Yoshi, but Yoshi is very easy to recollect on hit, unlike rings that become unreachable as they pass through walls and ceilings in most games.

>>9906689
It's fine aside from certain games that make them disappear almost instantly during boss battles for no reason...

>>9906740
>Dude just listen, if you make the game completely different then it sucks.

>>9906908
Yes

>>9906740
Tell that to duke nukem, shit for brains retard

it was cool as a kid and it's still cool now, simple as

>>9906908
do you think you said something smart?

>>9906920
The 2D and 3D Duke games play completely different. Dumb nigger.

>>9906689
Was it ever explained why they've picked rings to represent character's HP?
Not hearts, not apples, but rings. Is it just a spin dash on Mario's coins?

>>9906924
Do you think >>9906740 did?
Let me know, I want to gauge your IQ.

No, they're genius. For people who're bad at the game and continue to get hit, they can recollect at least one ring and get another hit. For people that are better at the game it could be a self-imposed challenge of holding on to as many rings as possible before getting to the end of the act, holding on to hundreds of rings showing that you know the game well and can avoid traps and enemies.

>>9906740
>incredibly boring and dull as a side scrolling shooter,
I don't think we can take that for granted at all. I'd love a doom side scrolling shooter. I loved the Doom rogulike and I thought it was very accurate to the feel and spirit of the game. I bet the same could be done with a sidescroller.

>>9907146
>no u
Get lost, zoomie.

It's pretty unique, and makes the game less frustrating for kids.

>>9906689
It makes a game out of getting hit, the frantic recovery of rings and the panic of having none, especially on bosses. Frankly it's a masterstroke.

>>9906695

This. I've never understood the whole "you only need one ring" argument. Because only having one ring is riskier than having more since its easier to grab that one ring if twenty come out instead of just one. On top of that, what you said about not wanting to get hit anyway and being rewarded with bonus stages (except for 3&K, I hate that they made exploration mandatory in that game if you want the chaos emeralds) and extra lives for not getting hit and collecting more rings.

The rings are probably the best mechanic that Sonic ever had.

>>9906706
It's not "quasi invincibility" at all. If you had a ton of rings and got hit you could grab some again. If you had almost no rings (so less come out) and there are death traps all around you might manage to grab 1 or 2 - or you might die proper trying to grab the rings, or you might not be able to get any at all.

Is Sonic too easy - well of course it's easy now - you've played the games over multiple decades. Even now try playing Sonic 2 all the way through at a decent pace and see how it goes. Now how about the first time you ever played it, likely as a kid? Note that unlike in Mario you can't really farm lives in Sonic and you also don't just start the world you left off in most games.

Sonic may be easier compared to Mario, and I prefer Mario myself, but it's still good. There's room for more than one platformer series.

You don't just watch one movie franchise over and over and then if someone says let's watch a different one say "but this one's better, why we watch that?". In the same way, you don't just say "ewww, Sanic, why play that when Mario is better?"

I think it's a fun health mechanic that lets you big dick and hoard rings if you want a good score, but if you're shit at the game you can always recover as long as you don't get hit twice in a row. I never liked the later games that try to balance/ruin this system by only making you drop like 10 rings at a time, it felt like a total downgrade.

>>9906689
Genius beyond measure. As long as you have one you can take two hits. It made collecting just as important as running and platforming. Sonic was the perfect 2D platformer. The absolute peak of the genre.

>>9906689

I never really found it to be a fun or interesting mechanic, although I like the sound effect of picking them up I guess.

>>9906695
>It also encouraged good execution and gameplay because the more you could go without getting hit gave you a bonus stage and an extra life.
Why would you need a bonus stage and an extra life if you're already good at the game?

>>9909823
Ask the designers of any game that reward you with extra lives for playing well. Not a Sonic specific trait.

>>9906689
its genius in the sense that it allows sonic fans to pretend like you dont effectively have infinite health while you endlessly defend these games

DEAR SEGA

Rings are good not only for shitters that use 1 to beat the game, but for advanced players that use them to pump up their score at the end of the level. makes the game very tense

>>9910408
it's genius because it lets sonic haters cry about hazards being impossible to dodge in a game where you have infinite health