SONIC 2D ENGINE



THE CAMERA

The biggest issue I've had with 2D Sonic games is the camera being left behind when Sonic goes too fast, or not being able to react to what's ahead of him due to the short field of view. Zooming out allows better view, but also makes it harder to see Sonic himself. My idea is to have the camera lead ahead of Sonic, leaving just enough space behind him to know when something that might be chasing you is catching up, but also giving plenty of time to see and react to what's ahead of him. Sonic games at their core are actually twitch games disguised as platformers. In many endless runner games, the character is always to the far side of the screen from where the action is coming from, giving the player plenty of time to react to what's ahead of them.

I realize this comes with a new issue: what to do about the camera when changing directions, going through loops, etc.. Rather than have it always hang to one side, the view would slide to the center when standing still, and in the case of loops or running upsidedown or along slopes, rather than rotating Sonic onscreen, the view itself would rotate. This would give the players a much greater chance to see things closer to Sonic's perspective, while being in the air or landing on another surface would reset the view as needed. The backgrounds would serve as a point of reference for what angle Sonic is at to prevent players from forgetting which way gravity is pulling them, but the environment itself could offer clues to this as well, such as grass growing upwards or, in the case of the long pipe slopes in Chemical Plant Zone, have the solid yellow bars replaced with yellow and black caution stripes, which not only look more like something you'd see in a place like that, but also serve a functional purpose by always having the black bars be vertical on sloped pipes, allowing the players to see which way is up even when the camera is angled down.

2D Rotated Sonic View


HOMING ATTACK

Rather than having a homing attack, which is sorely overpowered and mindless to use enough in 3D without oversimplifying things further in 2D, Sonic would have a directional dash based on the position of the D-pad, and could possibly use the insta-shield instead if no direction is pressed. This could allow for special challenges to be put in that require the player to hit a chain of enemies while still requiring some aim and timing to be used, rather than simply mashing the jump button. For instance, a ladder of enemies could be placed that require a player to diagonally jump left and right to reach each next one.

Sonic Dash Attack Sequence


This attack could also serve as either a double jump or boost, allowing players to regain momentum after a chain of enemies. A cool feature for Super Sonic might also be to be able to do several air dashes in succession without the need to hit enemies between each one.

Alternatively, a homing attack could still be used, but would work like the one in Ori and the Blind Forest, allowing Sonic to pick a direction to rebound in after hitting his target.

KNUCKLES

While it makes sense that Tails can keep up with Sonic, being able to fly and use his tails to propel himself on the ground, Knuckles has no reason to be so fast. If Knuckles is to be a more interesting character, it might be in the game's best interest to slow him down and give him a more methodical approach instead of just being Sonic with gliding. While he could gain speed by rolling down slopes, this would mainly be used to control where he is able to speed up, allowing for level design more geared towards solving puzzles with his strength, climbing, and gliding. He could probably also attack not just by punching enemies, but also picking up blocks and throwing them, while also using them for pressure plate puzzles or bringing objects to a socket. He's already shown a propensity for manipulating traps on Angel Island in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, so why not take advantage of that and have his levels involve more critical thinking?

The newer games like to play up how he'd been duped by Eggman in his first appearance, but like with the storm troopers on the Death Star, this is an example of intentional failure being ignored by the series' own creators, resulting in a dumber Knuckles when he's already proven himself to be crafty and resourceful. Having gameplay that compliments this ability would make him more interesting to play as, as opposed to frustrating scavenger hunts.



Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyright to SEGA.