Sonic Origins Plus Review - Is It Good?

alrighty let's see if they fixed it [Music] didn't expect to be back to this so soon Sonic Origins came out a year ago already what the and if you remember my thoughts on the game back then I didn't have the kindness of words for it it's far from a bad title though for any Casual Gamer that just wants to play these classic games in a convenient way it does a serviceable job bringing the classic titles to consoles and such but for a long time Sonic fan like myself it was a lot of the small details that added up over time if you want to know my full thoughts on Sonic Origins you could watch my review from last year on the card up top or in the description what's that you're not gonna do that because you're lazy well screw you but in short I was left not recommending Origins to those who already have many ways to play these games at least not until they fix the issues like Sonic's jump in Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 Tails not despawning in Sonic 2 Tails not jumping in the Sonic 3 special stages Jesus Christ a large amount of bugs in Sonic 3 the absence of the nearest neighbor filter to the game so it no longer looks blurry because you know why would you want the game to look the best it can be for forty dollars nice job team and of course the Prototype music in Sonic 3. sounding like and again I want to reiterate I did advocate for the Prototype music to be used in Sonic Origins but whatever versions they used is definitely the wrong versions but it wasn't all bad I love the animations added to the game as well as missions and mission mode in fact I was left wishing we had even more of those but now we have Sonic Origins plus what new features does it bring to the game and does it fix any of the problems the original Origins had let's go over all of that right now foreign [Music] before we dive into the quality of life changes made in this title let's go over the new features first and no better way to start than by talking about the new edition made to the cast of characters Amy she is now playable in all four games which is something a lot of people have been advocating for for so long and I'm actually surprised to take them this long let's go over her movements some people assumed her movements would be closer to what she had in Sonic Advance and to those people I say are you crazy have you played Sonic Advance but there are some people that also wanted her movements to be like Sonic Advance 2 and 3 which is a lot better and it would make sense since that was the last time she was playable in a 2d game if that is what you were looking for though I am sorry to say that her movements are much much simpler than that her base speed is the exact same speed as all the other characters which is a good thing her jump is the exact same height as Sonic and Tails which is a good thing and she has the ability to do the spin dash like everyone else which is a good thing now for the differences and this is where her iconic Hammer gets integrated for Amy you want to essentially perform what would be a drop dash for Sonic if you hold down the jump button after performing a jump she'll begin to swing her Hammer around her body thankfully this is not just her show or a simple spray Swap this Hammer attack actually increases her range compared to the other characters and it works well against certain enemies and bosses but I do want to stress it isn't perfect orbit dots and Sonic ones can be taken care of pretty easily with her hammer but there are times I do find myself catching it at the worst angle and I still take a hit no matter what the annoying Soul enemies in Hilltop Zone in my experience are no longer a threat and shell crackers which were the bane of my existence can now be easily destroyed slicers on the other hand can still burn in hell but where I think Amy's movements really shine is with bosses take Sonic 1 for example almost every boss in this game can be cheese in some way egg wrecker was already a joke but now it's barely even requiring any skill whatsoever the egg scorcher stinger and Spiker can all be taken care of in a matter of seconds without having to wait for the boss to attack to open itself up the Labyrinth boss still sucks I'm sorry I feel like this is what really gives Amy her importance here if you ever find yourself having problems with the classic Sonic bosses then she may make the experience less difficult I know a lot of people and especially first-time players have trouble beating Sonic 2 due to the precise jumps needed at the very end before was Sonic or any other character for that matter you could only attack Mecha Sonic on the front of his face any slight deviation from that and you'll die but now with Amy you could attack him from any angle in this extended range really helps against the death I grow about as well it's a small change but enough to change your boss encounters quite a lot in fact I'll probably go as far as to say that I will classify her as the easy mode of the game now which is great for new players but for old players taking away challenge can be seen as a bit of a disappointment Amy also has a super form which isn't too interesting it's just a faster and flashier Amy but her hyper form is quite interesting in this form she's actually able to throw her Hammer to attack enemies by using a secretary button on the controller which is neat and unique to her you see Sonic Tail and Knuckles in the classic games were designed to be played using only one button that's something yujinaka was infamously known for doing in the series for many years fitting multiple actions into one button but that's not all he was also infamously known for doing insider trading and going to prison man I really didn't need to bring that up but Amy is the first character to break that one button mentality in the classic games which does beg the question if they're okay with breaking the one button rule with her hyper form why not just let her have more moves with her base moveset by utilizing multiple buttons like having a hammer jump of some kind probably would have made her inclusion a bit more exciting if that was the case regardless not just her movesets are different compared to the other characters but also her height Amy is a lot shorter than the rest of the cast and well that makes sense and may seem like an inconsequential change I did encounter a number of problems because of this level layouts that were designed with a specific character size in mind are now not working properly I experienced a number of problems in Starlight Zone where unlike Sonic Amy doesn't go through these sections properly by Rolling which does suck because rolling through the zone is what made it so iconic there was also this section in carnival night Act 2 where you get thrown into this area with the switch to turn the power back on before with Sonic getting here didn't require a second thought but now with Amy if you so much just have a pixel of her touch these spikes you will either take a hit which is the best case scenario or you will die procrastination Nation what I do not remember that Spike hitting me in the classic games all right but now I'm scared to jump toward there am I just gonna die how do how do I get there without dying oh my god oh my god well this isn't a big deal I find it hard to believe that any play testers playing as her didn't once encounter any of these issues these should have been addressed in the end though many of these issues are minuscule overall and I'm happy with Amy's addition to the game while many would have liked her movesets to have a bit more Flair to it like an advanced two or three I think what we got here matches closer to what she would have had if she was originally part of the cast back in the 90s but there is also another Edition made to plus regarding the cast and that is Knuckles being playable in Sonic CD and I gotta be honest I completely forgot this wasn't even a thing because it was so stupid that it wasn't playable to begin with and there really isn't much to say yeah Knuckles is playable in Sonic CD that's great his new Sprites in the special stages are awesome and that also goes for Amy as well and the vertical level design works well with his gameplay it is worth mentioning though that they apparently added new level sections for Knuckles in Sonic CD and I gotta be honest I have no idea where these are I only found one in metallic Madness act 1 because the beginning literally spawns you in the new section that is super cool of Sega to add a scavenger hunt to find the new feature nice job team but yeah not much else to say I'm happy Knuckles is playable in CD now but I really should have just been the case when it was released a year ago now there's Amy and Knuckles but what other Edition s bring to the table Plus adding 12 games to the collection sound sounds like a great idea that justifies the 40 price tag right so what did they add Sonic 3D Blast Sonic spin ball in the Genesis maybe even Knuckles chaotix or Hell Sonic pocket Adventure let's see what it is Jesus Christ what the was that yep in the most predictable move ever it's the 8-Bit Game Gear games again and while I don't hate these games at all man what a letdown not because of the games themselves but really that's all this collection has to offer first off in a shocking twist these aren't even the best ways to experience his 8-bit Adventures which I guess now looking in hindsight makes it perfect for Sonic Origins but that's beside the point the Master System version of Sonic 1 2 Chaos blast spinball and Mean Bean are way better since they have a bigger screen resolution giving you more screen real estate The Game Gear versions have a smaller screen resolution which as a result suffers from considerable screen Crunch and while I still find enjoyment in them I mean come on look at these comparisons the Master System version is the go-to and you know what else that version is the version that is never ported you want to know how many times the Master System version of these games reported once back in 2008 on the Wii virtual console and that wasn't even all the games that was just Sonic 1 Sonic 2 and Sonic chaos want to know how many times the Game Gear versions have been ported six this is the sixth time these versions have been ported nice job these versions have been ported to death we did not need to play them again or better yet fine include them but at the very least give us the option for the Master System version 2. give us something new to justify giving you forty dollars or ten dollars on top of the 30 that you want us to pay for this DLC this is just not doing it outside of that little rant though how do the Game Gear versions play well they play and sound perfectly fine is what I would say if I was lying to your face first off they all sound slightly off the original games had a mono audio output but since they are coming out of a stereo output and Origins they all have what could be described as a slight Echo effect now I won't lie this isn't a huge deal and it wasn't something I immediately noticed until someone else told me my bigger issue here though is the emulation of these games they are running exactly how they would on a Game Gear and you know what that means [Music] oh oh so now you care about preserving how these games originally played to the point where you even keep the slow down but you couldn't do the same for the 16-bit version of the games running in classic Mode sure that makes a lot of sense it doesn't also are we just gonna ignore how this looks right now why is the game slightly smaller than the 4x3 screen ratio can you fill it up a little bit more why is there black borders between the game and the letterbox overlays on the side was it that hard to increase the size of the letterbox to cover all this dead space I'm not asking for a lot here am I here I'll do it for you look that looks a lot better doesn't it outside of all that what do we have here we have Sonic 1 Sonic 2 which is damn near impossible on The Game Gear version Sonic chaos mean Bean Sonic drift 1 Sonic drive 2 Sonic spinball Sonic triple trouble tail Sky Patrol Tails adventure Sonic Labyrinth and Sonic Blast we also have local multiplayer for some of these games like Mean Bean and Sonic drift one and two which is pretty neat that they put this in well I do have a soft spot for a few of these 8-bit Sonic games like Sonic 1 2 Chaos and Mean Bean especially triple trouble I am just not a fan of a good chunk of these games first off Sonic drift 1 and 2. I really don't like these very much I know the second game tried to switch it up a little bit by adding more power-ups on the track to be more like Mario Kart and all but it is still not even a comparison these games still play like any generic 8-bit racer spinball dear God I might actually be one of the few Defenders of the 16-bit version it's not perfect but I do find some enjoyment in it and the soundtrack is super memorable especially the options music [Music] but the 8-Bit version gross first off this game suffers from horrible slowdown and it makes the whole Adventure unbearable you just can't control Sonic as well as you can in the Genesis version I didn't even try to get past the first one in this one I could not be bothered then we have tail Sky Patrol this is actually my first time playing this and I'm so confused okay so you play as Tails non-stop you can't touch the floor or you die you have a ring that you could throw and there's a witch and um this feels like the most not Sonic game with a sonic character actually that's exactly what it is this game starts you off in what is called a training area and I you not I got over five game overs in this training area because of this stupid door what kind of training area just throws you in without explaining how anything works I just keep dying and dying and dying what am I doing wrong and why is Tails flipping me the bird it is not worth my time or yours give me forty dollars you'll get your forty dollars when you fix this damn door Tails Adventure is okay it's not my type of game but at least it's playable compared to the other one Sonic Labyrinth Sonic Labyrinth no and then we have Sonic Blast [Music] and that was Sonic Blast so to end my whole spiel about the Game Gear games while I do like a good number of them about half of them are just not adding much value to this collection I'm happy they are here but this collection needed way more even Sonic Origins itself knows that it has the island from Sonic 3D Blast here but no 3D Blast is playable why not have the games that were never ported before to really drive up the value like Knuckles chaotix or sonic pocket adventure maybe even an island for the Game Boy Advance games I don't know yeah it would take work to do but yeah we expect a collection that is worth our time and money something that makes us want to drive out and get it there are so many oh there's ton of collections out there this needs something to differentiate itself from the rest these Game Gear games aren't doing it for me and the only way it feels like Sega has given this collection any value is by adding Amy which is nice I won't harp on it too much it is nice but they also are delisting the original ROMs of these games to really drive up the value of this one and that just seems so backwards now that covers a lot of the new but what about the quality of life changes made to these games did Sega take the time to address any of the problems I said they should address at the end of my review last year actually yes before plus came out they actually fixed Tails Auntie spawning in Sonic 2 which is great that they address it so quickly because I don't know about you but I couldn't even hear myself think while I was playing Sonic 2 last time but that was the last time Sonic Origins would see an update before plus came out so what does plus itself fix in these games well they fix Sonic's jump controls after rolling into a ball in Sonic 1 and 2. you can now freely move Sonic after performing a drop Dash in one and two just like you can in CD in three which is great I'm really happy they finally addressed this they also fixed Tails not jumping in the special stages in Sonic 3 which is really nice but I can't believe it took them a whole year to fix that glaring issue speaking of Sonic 3 I also heard that there was a good amount of changes made in terms of bugs and hit detection issues which is great ignore that but that's good that Sonic 3 had some issues ironed out because Jesus Christ there were some issues all right guys you can move left and right oh God there we go what else did they fix nothing wait what nothing nothing nice job how could they not address the game's blurry filter that was one of the primary complaints that many people had with these games when it first came out a year ago and that was also one of the first things modders addressed on day one when the game came out it was such an easy fix this game should have different filters it is so easy I am baffled I hate how blurry these are I really want the nearest neighbor filter but none of that no is more insulting than the music in Sonic 3. absolutely positively no changes have been made to the music or the sound effects in the game they still sound extremely compressed and are still wildly inferior to the original prototype music [Music] thank you foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this is completely inexcusable Sega what did you just decide to ignore us wasn't this one of the biggest complaints everyone had really so you fixed the rolling issue in Sonic 1 and 2 fixed Tails not to spawning inside two fixed Hill's not jumping in the special stages in Sonic 3 which again is all great but this this couldn't have been addressed look I'm not a game developer I understand that but something like this tells me that this could have been simply fixed with a file swap I'm just going to assume that for some reason they don't have the original prototype soundtrack in their archive and have no interest in getting someone like T Lopes to actually make it sound good this is just extremely extremely disappointing and it feels really lazy and that covers Sonic Origins plus I know a lot of this review has been complaining but like I mentioned in my review a year ago and in this interview a lot of these problems I'm mentioning aren't going to be noticed by your average Joe that just wants to play a classic Sonic game on his Nintendo switch console or something these are problems that as a long time fan would notice because I play these games so often I will give credit to this DLC where credit is due I'm happy they address some of the problems and I'm happy Amy's in the game heck I'm even happy they decide to include more games while I'm not fond of the versions they went with or the games they added they do add to the value of this collection even if it is minor I think the most frustrating part about Sonic Origins plus overall though is it being so close to being a spectacular collection in Port of these games this should have been the easiest home run for Sega but they stopped just short of the Finish Line the practice of delisting other games to give your title significance was an unnecessary tone deaf corporate move that did nothing but piss us off made worse at the original ROMs that they delisted are not a part of this collection and they could have very easily been in this collection as the classic mode of the games the lack of quality like the absence of a nearest neighbor filter the sound designed for both Sonic 3 and The Game Gear games as well as design choices like having the spin Dash and Sonic 1's classic mode and not having a good amount of significant things to buy with the coins in the game that you can't just find on YouTube it just comes off as lazy while I'm happy Amy is in the cast of characters and Knuckles is playable in CD could I recommend Sonic Origins to you I'd say yes but with a price drop if you already have Sonic Origins I'd say ten dollars isn't too big of a deal for the DLC but just know if you paid for Origins a year ago at full price with the digital Deluxe stuff and you plan on getting this DLC you have dropped a total of 55 which is way way way way too much for what you are getting again you are not getting the definitive way to play these games like they want you to believe you are just getting a way to play these games I still recommend the Standalone version of Sonic CD which is now delisted I still absolutely recommend Sonic 3 air as the definitive way to play Sonic 3 which you can't do anymore because Sonic 3 is now delisted so I leave this review with a final call to Sega do your fans a favor bring back the original ROMs of these games you can do so by bringing back the old ROM 2D listed or putting them directly in Sonic Origins at the very least all you've done by removing them is encouraging fans to get these games in illegitimate ways because the best way to experience these games are not in Sonic Origins plus I was one of the main advocates for releasing these versions of these games Sonic Origins plus is a game that was released directly because of people like me calling for a collection like this but that was under the impression that you would do it right but you fell short of what Sonic fans deserve and what the Sonic brand deserves is there still a chance to fix this of course there are are you gonna put the money into it to fix the outstanding issues I doubt it but I guarantee you it's not going to take a lot of money it is not a lot of fixes that need to happen but I would love to be proven wrong and if by some miracle you do decide to fix the sound quality of Sonic 3 add filters to the game add even more titles beside the Game Gear games and even add the original ROMs as an option in the game I will be yelling from the mountains for everyone to support this title but it's up to you to make that a reality Sega but it's not impossible you already do this with Sonic Frontiers which is the most baffling part about all of this Sonic Frontiers is getting free DLC and updates that not only add content that fans want but it also addresses problems that people had with the game originally you can do the same with Sonic Origins and I promise you your sales would reflect that all you got to do is give Sonic Origins the proper fixes it needs thank you all so much for watching this video again if you guys like this video please make sure to leave a like and if you guys want to stick around and have more videos like this one be sure to subscribe to the channel if you're a Sonic fan you're at the right place with all that said I'll see you guys in the next one see you later procrastinators [Music]

Channel: Sam Procrastinates

Views: 21,682

Keywords: Sonic Origins Plus, Sonic Origins, Sonic, Sonic Origins Plus Review, Sonic Origins Review, Sonic Origins Amy, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic origins plus amy, Amy gameplay, Sonic amy, Sonic origins review, Sonic the hedgehog game, Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Superstars, Sam Procrastinates, Sam Procrastinates Sonic, Sam Procrastinates Sonic Origins Plus, Sonic Origins DLC, Sonic Origins Plus Gameplay, Sonic Origins Plus Knuckles, Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic CD

Id: IR2Y2Agp4Tk

Length: 22min 34sec (1354 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 12 2023