User blog comment:Mystic Monkey/What makes a Sonic Adventure game/@comment-4220590-20170626143235/@comment-679780-20170626155222

It can be for modern Sonic games sure, for the Dreamcast era is was the spin-dash along with a gameplay speed bonus.

It's not that I hate the boost and I agree it is an ability that best represents Sonic. It's just that it's a "one or the other" kind of deal when in comparison to Dreamcast era of gameplay.

In Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 you had more freedom of exploration and control over Sonic that to a degree you can be creative how you progress through the stage. The stages were more platform based, some with puzzles for progression or alternate paths. To a degree it wa sall traditional to the classic era but fully 3D given the Dreamcast was a pioneer into the 3D era, it encouraged exploration. That doesn't mean you couldn't go fast as it was still about reaching the goal at quickes ttime, whenever casually, hardcore or speedplay. Back then Sonic was still about speed.

Modern Sonic games with boosting, it sacrifices those various freedom in favour for being all about speed. Sonic's controls in modern games have been to a degree "flighty" since the controls were more for steering than exploration. Boosting allows progression through the stages as well as a degree of invincibility which allow Sonic to mow through problems. So you're pretty much holding down a button, steering and skipping most of the stages the developers put time to make. Yes it suits Sonic well I agree to that, but me, the player playing the game, not so much.

I do see the pro's of modern gameplay and boostings, but I also see cons. Just as you see pros and cons of what Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 had back then.

But that doesn't mean I find modern games bad or you find Dreamcast games bad since we still thoroughly enjoy these games for what they provided. Boosting is a thing but I still loved the modern games and thinking about Sonic Forces makes me very excited and eager to play it ASAP even if it's gameplay is like before.