Alex Kidd or Mario...?

[bb_hood]

I have always hated Sonic's controls. I know Mario had to build up a little momentum, too, but Sonic starts way too slow for my liking, and then ramps up to too fast to be played as much of a real platformer. I feel like you have to memorize the stages more than you should have to in order to play the game the way it's meant to be played. There are all those set pieces that make me feel like I'm missing something, and while the levels are meant to be explored, the game just wants me to run really fast toward the end. It's like it wants to be two different games at the same time that don't mesh well. I didn't truly enjoy a Sonic game outside of Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast, which did a good job of drawing a line between exploring and speeding toward the goal, and its movement didn't start as if Sonic was stuck in tar. Alex Kidd's control may be a little slippery, but you can get a feel for it and play it with more finesse than Sonic. I kind of resent 16 bit Sonic, because I like the graphics and sound, and they have flashes of brilliance, but then I start to hate them for tge stop/start/run really fast until an enemy pops up from under the ground or spikes pop up and make you feel stupid for losing all the rings you've painstakingly collected gameplay. What's the point of all those hidden rings if you're going to undo all of my work in one hit out of nowhere when I'm doing what the game tells me to-run really fast and occasionally jump. The games are easy to finish, but totally unrewarding to me.

Sorry, this is not about Sonic. Sonic sucks, though, and I always liked Alex Kidd better. Also, I have to agree with 8bit archaeology. I like the Wonder Boy series better than Alex Kidd or Sonic. I can only imagine it wasn't more prominently featured due to Westone also letting Hudson publish PC Engine ports and spin off the Adventure Island series...

The controls in the 1st sonic game can seem a little clumsy if you keep running into things. With practice you can fly through the levels, which is where its at. The controls in the 2nd Sonic game are even better with the introduction of the spin dash. These are games where you have to explore the levels to a certain extent so you learn the routes, then you just aim to finish the levels as fast as possible. The rings dont really matter, with practice and a little memorization only the last few stages pose any real challenge. I think the sonic games on genesis have tons of replay value. Sonic is a way better mascot then Alex Kidd, imo. And Super Mario Bros is also way better than alex kidd, no contest there.

I always thought that Sonic games had HORRIBLE controls. You couldn't walk up a hill, and running at breakneck speed meant you were exploring anything. Just rushing though like a blur. Stopping sucked, walking up ANY incline sucked. In fact, you flat out couldn't do it. You had to go back and always get a running start to clear the smallest hill. Also (and this is probably just a 'me' thing), I've NEVER been able to understand how to do the charging spin dash in any of the sequels. IIRC, letting go (of the button or D pad, I don't remember anymore) after you charge it was how it was performed, but simply letting go just never felt, I don't know, natural. I wish it launched with a button push instead.

With the first sonic you kinda do have to get a running start. The spin dash is actually super easy to master.

the fools who did the GC port of the Mega Man Collection did the same move and the game is rendered impossible to play because you need to be able to jump and gun at the same time in that game and you just can't do it. The PS2 version has it setup right, just the GC one is broken by design.

Yeah, absolutely. The GC version of Mega Man is complete garbage because of the controls. You cant even reassign the button input.