Sonic Origins messed up Sonic 3 and Knuckles

 Who saw that coming- I mean, who saw where that came from?

From the moment of Sonic Origins' conceptual birth it was proposing to do something never before attempted by man: a full remaster/remake of Sonic 3 and Knuckles. A truly daunting and terrifying proposal that had eluded the best scientists and philosophers for the better part of two decades, now finally on the table of the people who could actually greenlight such a thing: Sega. What sort of rituals, planning, sacrifices and rights waggling were needed to bring the classic cap-off of the original Sonic trilogy up to the standards of it's oft re-released peers? A lot, clearly, as the beast which had gripped 3 for so long and kept it out of the hands of remake developers is that most virulent and unassailable of all development beasts; licencing disputes. Yes, the very monster that has swallowed up entire franchises, such as the Ultimate Alliance Games before 3, MGS3, Too Human, Xmen... something or other... and probably a whole bunch of games that no one's heard of before. It's a big enemy, okay? A huge one. And overcoming it would be a doozy.

You see, Sonic 3 had a problem when it came to it's music and who made certain tracks during it. Because apparently the game wasn't entirely a Sega project. Rumors have persisted since the 90's that the famous singer Micheal Jackson was the creative mind behind half of the tracks in the game, the funkier funner ones, but SEGA have been distancing themselves from that perception since forever. And then confirming it. And then denying it. It's been a real game of cat and mouse, where it's hard to take anyone at their word for when they're telling the truth or speaking a rumour. Although one thing is certain, some type of licencing deal behind the music has kept Sonic 3 and Knuckles out of rerelease cycles which means someone outside of Sega has rights on the game and it's been a headache for them. The release of this collection sparked a whole new wave of Micheal Jackson involvement rumors, which have yet to be directly refuted by SEGA, so for the moment the story is that he did work on this game's music, but then asked for his name not to be credited if the team couldn't get the tracks to sound better. Which of course they couldn't, because Sonic is literally the height of video game music replication during it's time. So that's the tentative story until someone rocks along and totally refutes it.

Getting this Sonic Origins collection out the gate, and murdering all previous rereleases from all storefronts like tyrants, meant that Sega would now be under an obligation to deliver a version of Sonic 3 and Knuckles that was every bit as good as the stellar Christian Whitehead mobile remakes. (Which, themselves, had never made it to PC all these years somehow.) There was only one huge problem there... Sonic Team haven't made an actual game for years. I mean sure, they slapped some 3D assets onto rails and called it 'Sonic Forces', but no one who's actually bought and played that mediocre little project is mistaking that for an actual Sonic game. And besides, they're busy making the most amateur looking AAA project of 2022- how could they possibly work on Sonic Origins? And so Sega were forced to turn to a group of people they had worked for before, and apparently fallen out with; the fans.

Which is to say 'Headcannon', one of the chief creative forces behind the incredible Sonic Mania and Mania Plus. Both games which are, indisputably, some of the best Sonic content of the past twenty years. And it wasn't made by Sega. Tells you a lot, doesn't it? Headcannon would handle the Sonic 3 and Knuckles remake, whilst Sega devoted themselves to the utterly laborious and brow beating task of porting the Mobile remakes to PC and console before then sticking it all into a collection. I mean sure, that does sound like a lot of work for one guy; but SEGA is one of the biggest and longest running video game companies of the modern age, surely they can handle a literal bare basic's task like that between their gargantuan size! Right? They couldn't mess up that, could they? You already know the answer don't you? It's 'yes', they can and have.

First off, that whole situation which was stopping Sonic 3 from being remastered all these years, hasn't been resolved. For some reason SEGA can't find it in their budget to renew, or outright buy, the rights to the original classic Sonic 3 and Knuckles soundtrack and so they went the lazy route and scrapped it. Now if there's one thing Sonic is universally praised for, it's the strength of their soundtracks so this was already going to be a questionable choice for going forward, but SEGA being themselves they decided they could pull this off in only the worst possible way. Which meant replacing the original tracks with the Beta tracks, just as they had done with the PC port of Sonic 3 back in the day, and replacing those tracks with bad and bizarre remixes for no other reason than to make it look like they put some effort into this collection.

They also somehow allowed a number of bugs into the collection, which Headcannon swears weren't there when they sent over their finished project. Somehow, during the work of assembling this collection, SEGA managed to break the stability of this port through what I can only assume was a herculean effort to disappoint their fans. And of course this was all on top of the whole 'selling the ability to zoom in on the main menu map screen as exclusive pre-order content'. So SEGA literally put the least amount of personal work possible into this collection, they ported the Christian Whitehead remakes and smashed Headcannon's work on the end of that, and somehow they still managed to wind their own professional inequities into the final product. How in god's name are we supposed to expect them to handle an entire full game on their own?

At the very least I can say that they didn't somehow turn around and replace Big Arms with Nocturne; which might seem like an out-of-nowhere praise but with the absolute comedy of errors this company is prone to I wouldn't be surprised if they managed that. It truly is a testament to how out-of-their-depth SEGA is with the Sonic franchise where they can't even deftly handle a rerelease and just butcher the process they had the minimal amount of work in. I've often said that the Sonic franchise is a lot better than the general consensus likes to paint it, but oftentimes that's in spite of SEGA's guiding principles, not because of it. Hell, they couldn't even celebrate Sonic's anniversary without brutally delisting all previous ports so that you had to shell out for their full price collection in order to play classic Sonic; what kind of healthy not-insecure company does that? (SEGA and Rockstar, it would seem.)

So my gaze turns from this face plant to Sonic Frontiers, and I question once again what amazingly brilliant formula we western gamers just aren't seeing tucked away here. The recent reveal of the 'classic' sections at least look better visually than the open world of Frontiers, but they're linear action sections totally at odds with the supposed 'open' nature of this game. Plus, they kind of look like left over levels ripped out of Sonic Forces: a game that featured notoriously straight-forward and uninspired levels where you just ran in a straight line and pressed jump a few times and got an S rank, everytime. Yet another failure to sell the promise of this game. But hey, I'm sure Sonic Team are totally the right people to handle this game because hey: they have 'Sonic' in the title, right? They must be the right guys! They probably have none of the same developers who made the originals, and have a direct legacy of largely disappointments, but sure: They're the boys for the job, I guess.

Sonic really isn't having a good Homecoming, is he?

 When will you learn? That you actions- have CONSEQUNECES!

Wow. Sega you really know how to turn a party into a funeral, don't you? One of your most beloved and long-lifed mascots is about to celebrate his anniversary, a grand event that should be dripping with nostalgia, fond memories and the over powering attitude of a little blue hedgehog from the Green Hill zone. This should be a time of happiness! But into the party-hall stumbles uncle Sega, kicking over the coffee table, plastered out of his mind, trying to demand door fees off all the attendees whilst pilfering the gift-table and calling it 'just dues'. It really isn't hard to celebrate one's anniversary, it truly isn't. Most games companies just settle with a plain discount, get people playing the game. Sega have done... pretty much the celestial, intergalactic, opposite of a discount; and in their greed to capitalize off the temporary place of strength that the franchise is currently in, (Which, reminder; is in no way due to their own efforts or talents) they threaten to turn this battered and beleaguered franchise into a laughing stock once again.

When it comes to anniversaries, the classic 're-release your old games with a lick of new paint' is a well-tested successful tactic to score easy points with your fans and the wider gaming community. It plays into the fond memories of the faithful and presents and accessible 'in' to potential newcomers: the best of all worlds. And when the series in question is Sonic, well, then this process becomes even easier thanks to the diligent and excitable fanbase. Just reach out to some of creatives out there and commission them to slap together a remaster of your games and- oh wait, Sega already did that with Sonic Mania, didn't they? Oh, and then Sega management got into some sort of a dispute with the Mania team, causing them to leave the project and costing the creative force behind a potential Mania 2. Is that why we're getting Sonic Origins this year? Is this a hastily slapped together replacement piece to try and fill the void left behind by a proper celebration game? I invented that as idle speculation but now thinking about it, that doesn't actually sound like a total impossibility at all.

What I'm trying to say is that this was an easy 'win'. Making a great anniversary celebration that everyone loves should have been an automatic cakewalk. But then Sega has to turn around and start nickel-and-diming for their re-releases of Classic Sonic games. Really, Sega? Is this how far you've fallen? I've said is before but I can't belabour the point harder, they're literally trying to make us pay for animations in the main menu! So what, does that mean when we start the game Sonic is going to flop out of the logo sash and stare at us dead-eyed, one finger primed for a wagging that never comes? Unless you pre-order, of course! Then you the full disapproving finger wag that we've come to know and confusingly accept as it doesn't really match up with Sonic's core personality in the slightest! And what's more, this little collection is apparently coming in at around the $45 range, just shy of a brand new release. That's not the deluxe version, that's the basic! These games are 30 years old: chill out, Sega!

But what if I told you that this gets worse? What if I revealed that in their infinite lack-of-wisdom; Sega have decided to adopt the lessons of that most cursed of remasters, the 'Grand Theft Auto Definitive Edition'? You remember, the single most embarrassing moment in the past ten years for Rockstar; the moment they flogged 'remasters' of their incredibly classic series which were so bad that Rockstar Proper had to dedicate the next 3 months fixing the mess into something of a passable state; within which the games now still reside? Yeah, that's Sega's rolemodel. And we can see this highly insidious inspiration written on the face of their attempt to brute-force interest into this questionable remaster collection with, you guessed it: a full delisting of previously released standalone versions of each game so that they can be flogged in this collection that is, even in its base price, slightly more expensive than the sum of its parts. Oh capitalism, ain't you a peach?

Now on it's face this isn't quite as dire as the GTA Definitive Edition debacle because those games were frankly butchered in their remasters to such a point where they looked like products cooked up for a 'game design' class' group project. Sonic, on the otherhand, is pretty hard to fundamentally screw up like that. Plus, it looks as though some, if not all, of the games in this pack are based on the Christian Whitehead remakes which are, as I've said before, damn near perfect. The only changes from the original to those remakes are HD textures, improvements to world design in order to accommodate cross-character play between games, and the addition of a new, remade, cut level from Sonic 2. So these games in the Origin collection are still fundamentally leagues ahead of the 'Definitive trash' from Rockstar's Grove Street Games; but are they improved enough to warrant the price of a totally new released game just to play. (Ahem, I should say: Just to play with menu animations. Because we all obviously need to pre-order for those animations, that goes without saying...)

The excuses write themselves, because there has actually never been a release of these remade Sonic 1, 2 and CD ports on consoles or PC. Up until now they've only been accessible on the mobile storefront, an oasis of genuine game content stranded in a dead sea of greed-driven time sink abominations of game design. Now they've coming to the PC and that apparently warrants their right to completely replace the Genesis ROMs we've enjoyed up until now. Although is that really necessary? I mean, what makes the Remakes so impressive is their faithfulness to the original Genesis version of the game, with scaled up textures making themselves the cherry topping the trifle, which inherently demonstrates that these iterations of the game offer nothing transformative to the base package. Once again it very much seems like the publishers here are just trying to take away the more cost-effective and easily comparable alternative to try and force buyers their direction, and do I really need to line out why that's wrong?

I'm going to anyway. As a consumer the most powerful tool we have at our disposal to influence the development of the video game market is our ability to choose, with our wallets, what we want to support. Thus it's only fair that to maintain a respectful relationship, developers and publishers need to allow us the right to choose and win over our money through performance and results. Make a better game and I'm going to want to buy it over the inferior game, it's a very simple equation that we're dealing with here. Try to get in the way of that, kill off the competition to funnel attention one way, and suddenly you come across as manipulative and tyrannical. Why am I not allowed to pick up the ROM version of Sonic 3 in order to compare against their remake? If Sega are confident in the product they put together, 20 years after the original, then why do they need to force the hand of the market to make it the only legitimately purchasable product?

Another small cut in this 'Dorian Grey' portrait that represents '30 years of Sonic', and another way that Sega appear to be trying their darn-est to scupper this release. Sonic's brand is enjoying it's recent movie run, not handled by Sega, a recent influx of love for the original games thanks to Mania, not helmed by Sega, and is going to be enjoying a brand new TV show called Sonic Prime at somepoint in the future, not a Sega production. But the brand's name is struggling under the weight of an equal number of screw ups such as the spotty Sonic Forces, a Sega-made game, the near unplayable 'Sonic Colours: Ultimate', another Sega-built product, and now this debacle filled venture, all Sega's making. Why is Sega the worst thing for the Sonic brand right now, and how do we file for legitimate emancipation? Sega really does do what Ninten-don't; because Nintendo couldn't screw up an anniversary this badly in their wildest dreams!

Sonic Original Sin?

 If you're strong you can fly, you can reach the otherside of the rainbow- Sun Tzu, The Art of Disappointment

Oh I had that initial second of such excitement when a brand new trailer for a Sonic game dropped on the Internet entitled: 'Sonic Origins'. Imaginations raced, what could be this 'Origin'? Clearly it was eluding to the 2D era of Sonic games, but could this be a continuation of the Sonic originals? That renegade spin-off series 'Generations', as we know the 3D version of that universe is going onto 'Frontiers' next? Or maybe a direct sequel to Mania! Yes, as you can imagine I didn't take the necessary time to stop and think about for half a second until my brother, resident expert in all things Sonic, calmly explained to me that I did actually know this thing was coming, he had told me so before, and that it's just the 5 thousandth collection pack for old-school Sonic games. That's Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, being packaged up and sold for some as-of-yet-undisclosed price which has more than a few people just a little antsy.

So of course I'm coming at this with more than a little trepidation. We've been sold these games more times than Metal Sonic has popped up in the series and no one's exactly thrilled to be bumrushed into purchasing them again; however there is something new coming with this package. You see, for the first time ever these games are going to be coming with a remaster for Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with the rest of the packaged games presumably being the exact same flawless remake jobs pulled off by Christian Whitehead for the mobile versions of the games. Now that does actually mean something to someone like me, because my very first 2D Sonic game I ever played was actually Sonic 3- (Although my first actual Sonic game was Adventure from nearly a decade prior to when I played 3- but we know how fans talk about the 3D era...) Yet even with that point of connection to this package, I would be lying if I said this wasn't more than a little disappointing.

Sonic is one of those franchises barred and chained by a single succession of questionable quality games when nothing about this series demands it needs to be this way. These games come from a platforming series about a blue Hedgehog breaking robots, why do we need a cohesive and continuing narrative? Mario doesn't, and has never, cared about such things and that series is a permanent classic in the video game world, and a Sonic contemporary. (If you squint your eyes and smudge the dates a little.) Me and my brother sat down to talk about it, and he explained that despite how it may seem, nearly every single 3D Sonic game has been following the exact same 'canon' since Adventure, excluding the obvious veer-offs, like Sonic 06 and Boom. (Literally the most broken 3D games in the entire series.) So there's clearly a stigma against going out there and trying something wild and unconnected to the past from the dinosaurs over at Sega.

When I saw the title 'Sonic Origins', my mind immediately raced to the ancillary Sonic media that tried to add enough depth and character to the Sonic world for words like 'origin' to have any actual value. And so of course, my tortuous, self-sabotaging, mind flashed at 'Sonic Underground' for a brief damnable second (Miracle, why must you remind me of Sonia and Manic on a daily basis? What have I done to deserve this cruellest of penance?) and then to the SATAM tv show. It was a couple seconds of racing thought, but before sobriety struck me around the back of the head with a half-empty glass, I genuinely believed that SATAM's actual, genuine fully-fledged alternate Sonic setting, was finally getting it's video game debut. How utterly and embarrassingly stupid of me.

SATAM (Short for 'Saturday Morning Cartoon', in reference to when the series was slotted for in the day) proposed a functioning and comprehendible Sonic world that consisted of more than just malformed grass loops courses and floating platforms. This was the world of Mobius, and it had swathes of various anthropomorphic garden-animal residents, a least one sprawling and rugged industrial metropolis, an apparently functioning system of government (a Monarchy), and a genuine tyrannical threat in the most dastardly iteration of Eggman we've ever seen: black-sclera Robotnik, as I like to call him. This is the universe that proved fruitful enough to be adopted by the comics and rode for over a decade before it was all rebooted, and then the comic series itself was eventually rebooted. (You know what comics are like; confusing.) Yet has Sega ever taken advantage of this entire pre-made world lying on their doorstep to make a game with it? They considered it for a spell, but ultimately no. They never took the plunge.

Instead of getting our fictional tyrannical robot Sonic dystopia, we have to deal with the real life sonic dystopia of trying to parse another moronic 'content editions table', because yes: Sonic Origins already has one of those mind bending plans to try and flog some stupid plan to us. Looking at the chart we can see that there really are only two actual editions of the game here, Standard and Deluxe, but a plethora of DLC and Pre-order bonuses that share and contrast items here and there, just enough to make you want to throw the whole thing in the trash and just slap on the inexpensive, normal, copies of the games that most fans have already bought twice over. You've got the 'Start Dash pack', only available by pre-order, which comes with 100 bonus coins (I don't even know what a 'coin' is in a game where you collect 'rings') a Mirror mode and a letterbox background- that's literally it. The 'Premium fun' also has that background, a Hard mode, (ooh) Character animations and camera movement in the main menu as well as on 'music islands'! (whatever that is.) And the deluxe version comes with everything in the premium pack, except for the letterbox backgrounds, but with the additional tracks from other SEGA Megadrive titles that standard version buyers can pick up through the Classic music pack.

I've seen a lot of bad content charts before, but this one is absolutely abysmal. Let's be totally honest with ourselves, the only 'content' on this chart worthy of an entry are the Hard missions and the music pack, to snatch the rest of this stuff out of the game and sell it at a mark-up is frankly embarrassing. You expect me to go out and buy animations for characters in the background of the main menu? Are you high SEGA? A mirror mode? Which simply flips a stage on it's head? That's worth an extra DLC to you? HOW ABOUT A LETTERBOX MODE? " An aspect ratio change? Cough up the dough!" Typically you see other companies attach crappy DLC chunks like a skin here or there, or maybe even a tiny mission pack. Sega went around and pulled crap from the options menu to try and flog it on the side for a bonus, how utterly pathetic of them.

I'm usually the kind who just sits back, tuts his head, and says; "what's done is done, this is a buncha crap: but what'are'ya gonna do?" I have a different feeling with this one. This is insulting to the fanbase, this whole chart needs to be ripped up. Alternate menu animations and differing aspect ratios are fun additions to the core package, not substantial chunks of extra content to be sold for a premium; SEGA must think we're idiots to even consider a DLC strategy like this. What's next- are we getting a DLC pack to unlock Level Select? How about Debug mode? How much is it going to cost us to play as character's outside the base game they were included in? "Knuckles in Sonic 2? That'll be a cheeky fiver!" So let me just say kudos to SEGA for getting my high-flying hopes up with this announcement, crushing them with reality, and then utterly failing to meet my re-adjusted minimal expectations. Truly you are masters in the sacred art of disappointment.