ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
- Patrons get updates and early vids: / shaymay
Twitter followers get headaches from nonsense: / shaymay_
Discord users get to chat on Discord: / discord
#shaymay #sonic #guide
------------------------------
Mega Drive Controller overlay by Pete Lawrence: pete-lawrence.github.io/
------------------------------
0:00 Intro
1:00 Sonic 1: The Basics
5:09 Sonic 2: Spin Dash
6:40 Sonic 3: Insta-Shield and Bosses
8:15 Sonic CD: Time Travel and Peel-Out
11:38 Sonic Mania: Drop Dash
12:22 Sonic-- oh no that's the end of the video - เกม
Hi everyone, thanks for watching, and thanks for the lovely comments. A few people thinking of giving it another go which I'm delighted by!
I forgot to say in the vid: if you play the games differently in any way - maybe you enjoy memorising and perfecting your lines, for example - that's totally valid! Having fun should overwrite anything I say in this video. I'm keeping it simple here to hopefully help people get a foot in the door - I figure they'll pick up on stuff like Special Stages on their own if they're enjoying themselves.
Oh my gosh you made a video again
miss you
Oh, ok yeah, ok, that looks fun, I'll maybe give them another go
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
1 remember sonic exists
2 play the games again and have a blast
3 go on the internet and share with others no doubt love of the franchise
4
*April 4th 2024*
*The Fans incident*
@@vintheguy i am now going to refer to this date after it has passed in the most vague of manners possible
@@LiroRaeriyo we do a little trolling
@@vintheguy lmao what?
I remember being really frustrated when I played Devil May Cry 5 because I wanted to so despretly like the game, but couldn't, due to me just button-mashing my way through it and not having any fun
After talking to some DMC fans to see what I was doing wrong, they told me that it's not about beating your enemies, it's about playing with them and making them look as bad as possible, and at moment I realized that this is literally how a nonSonic fan comes into Sonic and leaves disappointed, they have a twisted idea of what the game is supposed to be, just like how I went in DMC expecting GoW.
So now if I wanna explain it easy to someone, "Holding right to win in Sonic is like button mashing in DMC"
Love DMC, great way of putting it
Idk about that one, dmc 1 is hardly about styling on your enemies it's about efficiency
@@2emo2function They had 5 games to iron it out, to be fair
and by the time you get to 3 it's definitely part of the identity
Being a longtime Sonic 3 fan; watching you use the instashield to destroy enemies without taking damage kind of feels like if I had been using a can opener and my friend come up to me and says "Ya know you can just pull that tab in the middle right?"
i felt exactly the same way when i first found out about it 😂 must have been almost 10 years ago now but i realised that I'd been playing sonic 3 wrong my entire life until that point haha
The way you roll your fingers over all 3 buttons to spin dash is wild to me, but also very pleasing to see in action
I only recently got a Mega Drive pad, I'm so used to just placing my finger in the middle of ABXY and mashing it around!
@@shoogles_ rolling your fingers to spindash is pretty much the entire reason i prefer to play these games with keyboard! so easy to just put one finger each on the A S and D keys and just mash away
@@shoogles_ I actually switch to a claw grip on my right hand when I want to do a charged spin dash, so I can tap all three buttons with three fingers. I've done this since I was little!
@@gamingblowsofficial Not sure why you're saying this in a reply to an unrelated comment, but "hold right to win" is a surefire failure mindset for levels like Marble, Labyrinth, Scrap Brain, Mystic Cave, Oil Ocean, Metropolis, Wing Fortress, Marble Garden, Carnival Night, Ice Cap, Launch Base, Flying Battery, Sandopolis, Lava Reef, Sky Sanctuary, and Death Egg. Maybe you could fumble through the omitted Zones by just barreling forward without considering your surroundings (and not have much fun doing it), but probably not these.
But that's HOW! :D I think it's a Megadrive pad thing though, the three buttons being in a straight row like that - it's harder to do when you're playing on a modern pad. (Incidentally, it's also why I had a lot of trouble with Mania Plus's new mode. Whenever I tried to do a spin-dash as a classic Sonic guy, it would play an irritating clown boing noise, because I was hitting a button the new mode has attributed to some new thing. Get lost! I need that button to rev up properly!)
Edit - oh interesting, Shaymay replied with the exact opposite opinion, that it's a middle of ABXY thing. So I guess it must just be Correct
Pointing out the fact that rings don't really matter was a stroke of brilliance, and never would have occurred to me. I just take it as given, of COURSE rings don't matter beyond just having one of them. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I'm so disinterested in completion tasks in video games in general, and why I'm so bad at noticing obvious item pickups. My whole framework for understanding game design taught me that all that was tertiary. xD
Sonic was always good, it's everything else that misunderstands correct game design!
as someone who did not grow up with these games, bought sonic mania on a recommendation, and stopped playing it twice because i felt like i could never react to anything, this is a great resource, thanks!
For me, the classic Sonic games are really easy to me and sometimes I would compare these to other Retro games because of the difficulty; Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & 3 are considerably easy compared to other titles in it's era and following years of the 90s, such as Ghost'n Goblins, Mario Bros, Megaman, Pac-Man, Joe & Mac, etc.
What I'm trying to say it's that I would have liked these games to be considerably more punishing in difficulty to make them more entertaining to other kind of gamers that find fun in the games where you only have 3 lives to start and the way to get more of these is kind of reduced as a matter, more like arcade games; But they decided to think in a more infantile audience for the game or smth like that IDK, I want a Hack ROM of Sonic 3 Complete which turns up the difficulty of the game if it's possible.
@@locoyoutube46Sonic is similar to a game like Castlevania in the sense that it’s tricky for newcomers, but then becomes extremely easy after playing the game enough. It’s not just a matter of skill, but knowledge of the game. I used to not even be able to get past Spring Yard zone, but after several playthroughs I was able to beat the whole game and get all of the chaos emeralds with 1 death in Final Zone. Why did I have to fail the easy final boss...
Anyway, I had an idea to make Sonic games more challenging to make the resources you collect more valuable. Instead of dropping rings, you die, which nullifies the whole system that makes these games easy in the first place. You can still use rings to get special stages and lives.
VERY IMPORTANT SPINDASH INFO FOR BEGINNERS: There are two types of spindash, Held and Tapped. Holding the button is easy and usually good enough, but Tapping the button goes much faster. Sonic 3 in particular has sections where you really need Tapped spindashing if you want a fair shot.
Also, you start your spindash by releasing DOWN, not releasing jump. I always thought that was a little unintuitive but you'll get used to it. Just let go of all buttons on the controller to start spinning the easy way.
I would say the genius behind the ring system isn't that it doesn't matter. It's that is only matters as much as you want it to. On a first playthrough, I would absolutely agree with only being concerned with having more than 0 to stay consistently alive. But on repeated playthroughs where you are familiar with the levels and gameplay, getting additional 1-UPs via rings is a great way to keep more experienced players engaged early on and rewards them with extra lives when they get to the more challenging stuff later on. Not to mention getting chaos Emeralds/Time Stones in most games requires the players to be at least skilled enough to have half the rings of a 1-UP at specific points.
Yeah, absolutely! Just for beginners, I think ignoring Rings is the best way to get a foot in the door.
I forgot to add a line saying, like, if you have more fun perfecting the maps or playing the "wrong" way that's totally rad and you should go for it!
agreed when i started focusing on emeralds the rings became super important
@@caltonianorange9823 VERY curious to hear more about playing for score/points, id never heard of that associated with these types of platformers
@@matthewmcneill5320 The score system is easily exploitable, to me it’s more about the fun level design the developers put in that rewards stylish play that happens to also give good scores. Rings are placed in such a way that makes it very satisfying to collect them efficiently, and enemies/monitors are placed deliberately to allow chain bounces. This is even the case in Labyrinth zone!
If you want to try this for yourself, go to Marble Zone act 1 and try to go through the opening section (before you go underground) and defeat all enemies/grab all rings as efficiently as possible. Ignore the ring boxes below the first big slope.
Jumping from a high place and landing on an enemy/monitor can also give you an extremely high bounce if you hold the jump button.
No joke, I couldn't get into these games for the longest time. Then one day I learned how rolling worked, and started doing that on like every slope. I've now finished all four of them, all McGuffins, multiple times. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes.
I'm well versed in "how to play Sonic", I'm just here for Shay's lovely renditions of the Sonic games' theme tunes :p
Also yeah, I love Sonic CD but it's the one I've played the least thanks to not having the Mega CD when I was a kid. It's the one game in the Origins collection that I *haven't* been able to pick up and the muscle memory takes over haha. So thanks for the refresher there, Shay! :)
I'm glad folks are making videos like this. When I tried the classic Sonic games as a kid through retro compilations, I just kind of wrote them off as "some of those ultra hard games people used to like back then." I didn't appreciate them until much later. Stuff like "roll downhill" and "jump off ramps" sound so stupidly obvious in hindsight, but they felt like a revelation when they were first pointed out to me. I wonder if my prior experience with the 3D Sonic games might've played a part in this. Even Sonic Adventure, the "roll downhill"-iest and "jump off ramps"-iest of the 3D games, gives you a perfectly fine time if you don't do any of that and never really calls attention to it.
Speaking of revelations, though... That sneaky little shit, the Insta-Shield, hiding away all these years... I never understood why anyone would pick Sonic when Tails and Knuckles are right there, but wow, that move is a game-changer. I never play anything from before 2002 without looking up a .pdf of the manual first, and I blame the Insta-Shield for that.
I'll admit, at least in the case of Sonic 2, I disagree about Rings. The last few zones eat up extra lives and continues like a starved lion, and racking up Ring Bonuses beforehand helps tremendously. I'd add a self-deprecating "maybe I'm just bad at the game," but I feel Death Egg Zone is infamous enough at this point that I don't have to.
I got Sonic Mania because I wanted to try out a Sonic game and after watching this video I know understand the controls of the game. Looking forward to giving the game another go. :)
Mania is an awesome game once you get a grip on how 2D Sonic works.
I really hope you enjoy it!
The real hold right to win was the friends we made along the way.
Have to admit I didn't know some of this, even as a classic sonic fan. I'll definitely be giving it a 'lighter touch' going forward.
Very good video. While I definitely think this will be helpful for newcomers, I'd say it's also helpful for longtime fans. I think a lot of Sonic fans get really sore when they hear criticisms lobbed towards the games, and they seem to have the impression that these criticisms come from a bad place. As someone who's been playing Sonic games for way too long, it's often hard to remember that Sonic's concept isn't as straightforward as most other platformers. I'm not saying that anyone who criticizes Sonic simply doesn't "get it," but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the reason the classics remain so inaccessible to some is because of how they were essentially marketed as "fast Mario" in the 90s.
even if I've been a fan for years, this video made me very happy. Love the chill mentality and approach to these games that feels so much more relaxing than most Sonic content I absorb. This would be the way I'd want to get into the series if I could again.
I've been playing these games for 13 years, but I never really stopped to think of the Peel-Out as a tool to aid time travel. Even experts could learn a thing from this. I wish we could've heard a "You Can Do Anything" cover though ;)
I never realised that either!
i always knew there was something to using sonic's momentum, but i never realized that was the chief perspective to appreciating those titles gameplay-wise.
thanks for the video!
The way you explained Sonic CD made me actually want to play it, oh my god
I'd also like to add that metering out your speed is pretty valuable when platforming. Slowing down just slightly can mean the difference between smoothly jumping from one platform to the next, vs over-shooting and falling into the lava because you were just holding right.
A nice companion to the Geek Critique video for helping newer Sonic players.
I feel like I’ve gotten a bit better at Sonic after spending more time with Mania after that video, but I still haven’t felt like it’s clicked yet, so I’ll try some of the tips in this video too, thanks :)
8:00 I never knew that holding the button after a bounce with the Bubble Shield gives you a higher bounce.
yesss i'm always happy to see these simple, short videos on the fundamentals of playing these games well. i truly believe the only thing separating most (not all of course, but most) people from casually enjoying 2d sonic is their own preconceptions about it.
The way I tend to phrase your first point, about speed being a tool not the goal? "It's not about going fast, but about momentum management"
Also give me a neat virtual environment, including a 2d one, and I'm going to want to explore it and classic Sonic - especially Sonic 3&K - did a great job of building levels for exploration which just going fast would completely bypass (For me CD goes a bit too hard for exploration, while 2 goes too hard on Pure Speed, 1's levels are... An odd mix... with 3 and 3&K having just the right balance for me out of the classic games)
"Rings don't matter" - Fully agree. Except when you're approaching the 100n marks and as such losing them means you're not going to get that extra life, or you're doing a specific thing with rings to mix things up on your 20th playthrough or whatever.
The only benefit from collecting rings is to either get an extra life or an extra continue once you reached the end of the level. Other than that, it is mostly used for bonus stages and special stages in general, or for acquiring a super form during the stage. However, I tend to ignore most of these rings once I'm in the near-end zones.
Also, back when I was a kid, what taught me that speed is a tool than a gimmick is when I tried to practice a race stage in Sonic 3. This stage is Balloon Park and it has this simple pit section that it shows that sometimes controlling your speed is necessary to win the race (or to beat any stage in general).
I’d be interested to here you say more about Mania
You did an amazing job explaining how to play :D
When i first played the classics i had to discover these techniques by myself. I still had fun even tho i couldnt get past the second zone in most games but once i learned these little tricks by instinct i had a blast playing trough the games.
PS: when i discovered debug mode i used it sometimes to get the hang of the games basically cheating a little bit. When i started feeling confident enough i started to play the games without it
I still know someone who only played sonic 2 to play the debug mode because they never worked out how to get past chemical plant lmao
I wish I could remember where I read this, but: I remember someone discussing classic Sonic and mentioning that Mario established a LOT of rules for the platforming genre that most platformers that rose in his wake followed...but Sonic didn't. Those of us who grew up on the Genesis and classic Sonic understood all these things right from the get go, whereas anyone who was used to Mario and his descendants didn't have it click, and so didn't get what the hype was about. So yeah, an instructional video of sorts is super helpful, and glancing at the other comments, HAS helped a lot of people already.
Honestly I can't believe it's that simple, I did reach some interest with Sonic and the Fallen Star. Now I understand what I must do!
No joke, this video made me like Sonic. I had previously played a couple and I hated them all. But after seeing this I tried again and now I finally get it. Thank you.
This was actually really helpful for somebody that’s been playing these games since the mega collection for PS2. That’s, what, upwards of a decade with these games? Some great tips here!
An advanced technique that’s often overlooked is jumping during loop de loops.
If you jump at the bottom right and top left sections of the loop you’ll gain extra speed compared to just running or spinning through the loop.
Combine that technique with spins and you’ll go even faster.
"Rings don't matter"
Unless you're going for Emeralds, and then only in 1, 2, and CD.
As someone who never really understood the purpose of the roll (and by proxy, never understood the significant difference between the spin dash and super peel out), this might legitimately impact my experience with the games whenever I get around to trying them again. Nice job.
Hey, I hope you enjoy when you do!
I'll give these games (yet) another go, thanks to your sage advice. Turns out I was playing the Sonics wrong all this time. Much appreciated!
5:16 you take that back right now
Been a Sonic fan for nearly 18 years (dang how time flies), and this video taught me some stuff I never really noticed or thought about before. You're really good at picking up on stuff that I'd take for granted and articulating them, here and in your Crash and Balan videos.
I actually find the 2D Sonics to be the best sort of 2D platformer for me, since they're a lot more lenient than other platformers - the rings system, the multiple routes, even the fact that no true playstyle is heavily encouraged. I'm quite clumsy at 2D action games, so having that much room to screw up but still make it through is really encouraging. (I only just realized if that might be why some of the Sonic games use the phrase "sonic GOT THROUGH act x" upon beating the stage - just to emphasize that it's fine so long as you get to the end at bare minimum.)
I hope this vid does encourage more people to take another crack at these games, because they are good and have something to offer you don't see in most platformers (at least those that I've played). So thanks for making this video, it's really good. Also, in response to something you said on Twitter, that artwork you drew for the thumbnail is really good. That Tails is adorable and the lighting's very nice, kinda reminds me of Diana Skelly's work on the latter day Archie Sonic comics mixed with a bit of Evan Stanley. :)
The video I desperately needed to see. Most of the first results in the TH-cam search say you do have to memorise the level which is ridiculous for a beginner trying to get through the game for the first time. There are no other platformers like Sonic. You don't just hold right and jump like Mario. You don't just go on one path with obvious short bonus areas. When you first play with the impression you're suppose to know how to go really fast (because that's what sonic is, fast) off the bat you see all these springs, loops and tunnels as you pass them by and think you've just fucked yourself out of playing the level properly (which you have). You don't have any idea how to get to these areas while going "fast like sonic".
If the only way to play a game properly is to slowly memorise the level before you can have fun running around, that's just a rhythm game with extra steps. A good game allows you to understand fundamentals so you can easily begin to navigate other areas and advance at the intended levels. The problem is people who never played games like sonic think they use the same fundamentals as other platformers. Anybody who's played Mario can play a new Mario game without running into things like a retard because Mario is very simple. You don't play Sonic like you do Mario or Kirby or the majority of 2D platformers. They don't make games like classic sonic often these days and a lot of people only understand the simplicity and one directionality of 3D sonic games. Lot's of people didn't grow up playing the real Sonic and we're treated as stupid and don't get it explained to us, being told "just hold right"
thanks for this man! I grew up on Sonic adventure 1&2 and always had a hard time with classic sonic, despite the franchise being a huge part of my childhood. I'm ready to give it another go
i don't know why, but sonic gameplay just always made sense to me (even though it was mainly sonic flash on my moms pc)
My first experience with Classic Sonic was Christian Whitehead's remaster for Sonic 1 then I found about Sonic 2 and I looked out some Screen shots for the game and I found out about the Death Egg Robot and I thought he was pretty cool, so my first ever Classic Sonic game was Sonic 1 and my first ever Game to ever complete was Sonic 2, but still it wasn't my introductory to Sonic my older sister used to own a Nintendo D'S and I watched her play Sonic Colors D'S
“Do you really think I can memorize this?” I had that exact assumption about old Sonic-heads and I think I can tell you why
This isn't the point of the video so I understand why you didn't dig into this but, yeah. I think a big part of the modern experience of gaming is knowing that somewhere out there, some maniac has speedran the game you're playing while standing on their head, or the competitive scene has already burned through the process of discovery and found every optimal strategy.
When that is in the back of your mind, it's easy to assume that what you're doing wrong is just not barreling forward well enough, not having the perfect path memorized yet. You haven't "gitten gud" yet, so to speak.
Compare this to when Classic Sonic (besides Mania. Vintage Sonic, I guess) came out and a player's frame of reference could be just their circle of friends. In that scenario, when you're subconsciously comparing yourself to peers instead of professionals, you're more likely to try new things because you aren't being so hard on yourself for losing. It puts you in a better mindset for exploration.
This is a brilliant observation, thank you
i wish people stopped thinking that new standards for casual play are set the moment a speedrunner destroys the game with an earth shattering record filled with skilled maneuvering and just about as many glitches
youre a regular guy who likes games, not a speedrunner
dont hold it onto yourself if you fail in a game some guy spent more than 50 hours practicing either as a profession or to style on for bragging rights
if someone expects you to play a game masterfully without mistakes then thats on them for taking for granted someone else's skill as the status quo and not the exception
Hi, I play tetris, puyo and osu! Very consistent and solid arcade style games. You know, the type of game where knowledge and experience is heavily emphasized and rewarded. A very common saying that gets thrown around by outsiders looking into these games is "wow, I'll never be as good as THAT guy, so I won't even bother trying." It makes me cry out every time I hear it, I see it as people robbing themselves of the experience they could be having. There is plenty of fun to be had playing these games that isn't including being at the top of the leaderboards. Like just how personalized an experience arcadey games have; since there is no intrinsic objective, its up to the player to set their own goals and track their own progress. The journey to getting your first 7 chain, getting a sub minute time in sprint, FCing your first 5 star map. these are milestones that can only be achieved through intentional practice and time spend becoming familiar with and mastering the game mechanics. And once you are done with that one milestone, there is always a level up from there. You can have this personal and rewarding experience with the game at any level, and put it down whenever you want because there is no commitment outside of your own goals. Lastly I despise this notion that a player thinks that other players that have more experience then them care about and will make fun of a newer players gameplay and scores. I'm here to assure you that NOBODY CARES. Nobody is going to take time out of their precious life to go out of their way to find your low ranking account and scrutinize you for no reason. Anyway I went on a bit of a tangent, but this is to say that you don't need to beat yourself down because someone is better then you. There is plenty of great fun to be had with a game that doesn't involve playing at the highest level or absolutely exploiting the hell out of it. Your comment just really inspired me to go off on this topic and put my thoughts together.
@@SAITEKIKA I appreciate the statement and the encouragement but I'm sorry to say that attitude of going out of your way to scrutinize low level players absolutely exists, at least in other online game communities. The main example I'd point to is "scrubquotes", which is a twitter page almost entirely dedicated to mocking frustrated new players.
@@skye1346 they do yeah, but you can rest assured that after they take the screencaps of whatever newbies said anywhere and post them for likes, they moved on to something else in their life and immediately forgot
and for the record, you shouldnt really be letting other people's way of thinking factor in onto how you enjoy or experience something you play, in good measure.
that time you spend getting your blood venomous by looking at those elitist pricks could be better spent by looking up tutorials written by equally as experienced players that tend a hand to newbies to help them with games they struggle to play (for example, shaymay with this video), since nobody is born knowing what game tropes and staples are until they've played several titles and got the ropes of how things go.
As time goes on I learn to appreciate Sonic's core design more and more. I think the classic sonic games are really smart in a lot of ways.
I think these games are kind of sold in the wrong way which is maybe what leads people into becoming frustrated with them. The game is less about "gotta go fast" and more "using speed as a tool to help traverse the environment", but that second one probably wouldn't sound very good as a lyric to an anime theme song.
I wonder if Sonic's core gameplay loop is just doomed to forever be kind of niche? "Momentum based physics" probably don't exist in the average non-Sonic fan's lexicon lol
I'd agree that Sonic's always going to be pretty niche in terms of the games appeal. Almost all of the most loved games by fans have elements of trial and error and reward replaying them that, especially in the modern gaming landscape, just really doesn't vibe with a lot of people outside the fandom.
I dunno, skateboarding games have had a very dedicated audience for decades. Marble Blast is popular too. I'm sure a 3D Sonic that plays like one of those games would be a bigger success than Sega thinks.
I'd say likely, unfortunately. Getting better through repeated playthroughs is a core appeal of the early games, but outside rougelikes that's heavily discouraged in modern video games, to the point where "Lives Systems" are considered obsolete, even though I'd argue they are an essential part of Sonic's gameplay loop.
But games tend to be better when they appeal the few thousand who love it over appealing to the several million who kind of like it.
Excellent video. This video is very much needed. The classic games are notoriously unintuitive and difficult for Beginners.
The main problem is there is a "correct" way to play these games and a "wrong" way. Just pressing right is not only frustrating, it's also the least fun way to play these games. Like you said, you can have much more fun by going with the flow and only use minimum inputs instead of forcing sonic to go in one direction.
Green hill zone has brilliant set pieces in that introduce you to how to make use of the monentum and go with the flow like the iconic loop to the ramp jump or the "evil" spring that launches you left on top of the loop with the 1-up. However, these games don't do anything to discourage newcomers to play in the least fun way possible, with the biggest offender being Sonic CD which actively encourages you to just force you way through a level and get the good ending from collecting the time stones.
This video is so necessary that I think you should consider doing a follow-up with more tips, tricks and techniques to make use of momentum as a tool. Like jumping when reaching the top of the loop, generating speed from jumping downhill and how to effectively transition from a rolling state to a running state (eg. Jumping from a downhill). The biggest omission has to be the lock on your air control after jumping while rolling, which is an important part on the trade-off between the two locomation methods and something that newplayers often struggle with leading to them blaming the game for having unresponsive controls.
As always your classic Sonic analysis are spot on ^^
oh my god
i always had a bad time with sonic games, and this video made me realize why
thanks, i will retry them with this video in mind
I’ve had sonic and knuckles on the Wii since I was like 10 but never touched them because I had the wrong mentality. This was super helpful!
I certainly has no idea what Sonic was all about, you have the games a fresh new look for me, will give them another shot
Glad to see an upload from you. Normally I add stuff to watch later, but this was an instant watch for me
"sonic boom sonic boom sonic boom
save the planet fae destruction"
golden reading, thanks so much
Finished sonic frontiers a few weeks ago, slowly making my way through mania and colors ultimate. Mania quite an enjoyable experience after not playing a sonic game in a while. Thank you for making this video! 🙂
"rings don't matter if you can just pick up one immediately"
This explains so much of footage I've seen, like that clip you showed of losing what looked like hundreds of rings, grabbing one, then just GOING. I've tried Green Hill Zone 1 like maybe a few times and didn't get far for basically every reason you explained here lol. There's absolutely no info explaining what to do lol
The funny thing is the only thing I didn’t know about was the Insta-shield, I thought it was just useless lmao
Dude you are so fucking good at these games i just keep running into enemies all the time...
Thank you. I was getting pretty mad playing through these in Sonic Origins, but this helps.
My personal take on rings is that they exist more for adding challenge to level replays
They’re a big part of your score at the end, so this adds more tension to avoiding damage since you’d lose a big chunk of them before they can be cashed in
although yeah, if you play more casually then they don’t matter
Dang homie love your channel. Your Zelda video was fantastic. ❤❤❤❤❤
Also spin dash ABC usage is fantastic. I never did it like that, I love it.
Well articulated my friend
As someone who has played Sonic games for most of my life (first game was Sonic 1 naturally) this was really freeing and refreshing to see.
I’ve been revisiting the series recently and found myself stuck in the amateur and naive ways of my childhood. Rushing to the ends of levels, using save states for emulators like most other platformers (which I notoriously have always sucked at) etc.
This opened my eyes a bit from that and I thank you @shoogles!
Pro-tip for beginners: use the Roll move you maniacs
I’ve played these games before and didn’t know you could get so much height after jumping off a ramp
FINALLY! The video that needed to be made!
Great video!
Love the little Game Over title card at the end, hah.
I remember that I first played Sonic at the babysitter's house. It was Sonic 2, I played Tails, so I um, couldn't die...
Wait. I remember now! I helped re-capture rings when the player controlling Sonic got hit. Rather than feeling punished, I felt like I was doing real teamwork.
I'm fairly certain Arin Hanson contributed to the idea that "Sonic is all about speed." and you should "hold Right to win."
It's interesting to see when you spin dash you seem to be tapping the a b and c buttons in a sequence to spin, I usually just mash one button
Always a great day when we get a new shaymay video
cheers for putting this into video form
He finally returns, thanks for the wonderful video
I don't know if anyone has said it but, i like your accent! It sounds cozy like a cottages in the country side with a fireplaces that warms you during winter
I've been playing these games since the nineties and have completed them multiple times and I still learned something!!
Sonic Spinball was peak classic Sonic
I was gonna say "hey this guy sounds like Shaymay, they should collab" then you say you're Shaymay and my jaw hits the fuxking floor.
While not caring about rings can be helpful, you need them for the chaos emeralds and extra lives.
LET'S FUCKING GO NEW SHAYMAY UPLOAD!!!!
first video i watched was the 7 hour ORAS review (like twice) your voice is so nice to listen to, it's great to have on in the background while doing things
Oh. Okay. Now I get it, thanks ShayMay!
Now I gotta try those out, too ^^
The thumbnail is so cute!
I actually think the Rings are a good compliment to the rest of the gameplay.
The game understands that the player won’t always be able to react to obstacles that can’t be rolled through, so it ensures the consequences for getting hurt are easy to recover from. When you play a Sonic clone that does use a health bar and doesn’t slow down with this big obvious spectacle when you get hit, you don’t tend to notice how close to death you are
Playing sonic CD with Euro/JP tracks
*Such a classy gentlemen you are* 👌
Top notch beginner’s guide here
yes, i can get behind this. Just a little video explaining it! I want people to understand the appeal of these games so bad, but there's absolutely a wrong way to play them. Maybe that's the game's fault, but it's also hard to convey these ideas through subtext. The game rewards you for playing it well, but actually understanding what it wants is really the hard part when everyone is looking for a rollercoaster instead of a good platformer.
That said, i still personally haven't even understood sonic CD. i've given that game like a dozen tries and it's never clicked with me. maybe i'll try it a dozen more times lol.
Like, i never even understood the utility of the peel-out over the spindash, but it's so obvious now that you've actually spelt it out.
I already know most tips, just watched because i wanted to see how you would spell it out. I think i got used to stuff like Classic Sonic games due to Classic Sonic in Generations (played both 3DS and Console version, can agree at least the 3DS has a more accurate classic sonic), the once free without ads mobile port of Sonic 1 and 2 as i fooled around in debug mode and tried my aim at playing it, and playing Sonic 4 Ep 2. I bought Mania last year, started playing as of recent, got to get used to the drop dash as i never really used it because i learned how to get all chaos emeralds ASAP and got super sonic to barge through everything. The Sonic 3 shield i still got to get used to, at least the timing part. I would also like to briefly talk about special stages, do you have a video on classic Sonic special stages? Anyway, great video.
8:18 i can't stop replaying this part
I just watched after buying the Sega Gensis Switch controller from Nintendo. I was a huge Sonic Adventure 1/2 fan growing up thanks to Nintendo Gamecube, but could never get into the 2D games excpet for Sonic Spinball from reason. I'm going to get Sonic Origins Plus and with your tips I'm sure I will enjoy and beat them this time!
Good luck pal, I hope you enjoy!!
Ive heard people say Sonic is mindless, and I disagree. A lot of levels involve player agency like hopping onto platforms and grabbing rings or powerups, maybe dodging the occasional enemy. Its a very clever game if I say so.
Another Shay video for the ages.
Sonic origins/mania drop dash is amazing
I appreciate the video, I enjoyed Sonic 2 and Knuckles a bunch but I don't think I ever had much of a clue what I was doing and kept bumping onto stuff.
Let's hope Sonic Superstars is more of this goodness! :D
I loved the acapela can we have a video of a full sonic acapela track
5:15 Don't worry too much, ShayMay, Sega has kinda drilled that point home for him already with how they never make him a playable character in the mainline 3D games anymore, and how they wrote him in Forces.
Excellent video, by the way. I'm still not sure if I'd be willing to buy a version of one of the games just to try them again, but I feel like I certainly understand the appeal more now than I did 15 minutes ago.
I have Sonic Advance 2 lying around and I remember never beating it and it generally being very frustrating. But I also valued speed above all else when I last played it. I might have to try again with these tipps in mind.
Ahh, unfortunately Sonic Advance 2 really doesn't work like this - it's the one 2D game I'd say WAS very focused on holding right to charge to the end! This guide is mainly for the "Classic" games - 1, 2, 3 (& Knuckles), CD, and Mania.
Oh really? That's a bit of a shame. I'm gonna try anyway, I think. I just watched the Sonic Spitball series and got a bit of an itch to play some Sonic, if only to maybe finally unlock the Tiny Chao Garden (I was a Chao nut)
Kinda embarrassed to admit that i never properly played the classic games in the over 10 years that ive been a sonic fan, recently got mania and i just felt like i wasnt playing it right, hopefully this video will help 😅
I hope so too!
So I only heard this off-handedly, so I kinda forgot about it, but it seems that you too mash all the jump buttons to spindash quicker.
I guess I never did it because my exposure to the classic series was through the gamecube collections, and I just jumped and spin dashed with the big green dumb "A" button, lol
Sonic Mania taught me how to appreciate classic Sonic (as someone who grew up with the games but never truly clicked with them)
And while that is true, you'll never convince me that Sonic 1 is a good game.
Furthermore, Sonic Mania is easily the best incarnation of the formula so far, for 2 reasons:
1. The drop dash changes everything. So completely brilliant and very difficult to go back to the before times now that it exists.
2. The levels are very consistently built well around the series' strengths. This absolutely cannot be said about Sonic 1, and is also only sometimes true of 2 and 3 (and Knuckles).
Although as much as I love Mania, CD is my next favorite precisely because it makes exploration feel worthwhile in a way that the other games never really did for me. Like sure you use Sonic's speed and physics to explore in the earlier games, but why not just race to the end? In CD I feel motivated to explore and rewarded for doing so.
I grew up in the 90s so I played 1 2 and 3 but I never beat any of them because I sucked so hard at games when I was younger. So I mainly replayed the first and second stages
Explaining how rings aren't the red mushrooms nor the coins but also both is the hardest thing
Someday I will learn to enjoy Sonic CD. Someday.
Sonic CD stages felt too big and devoid of meaningful things in a lot of places imo. It wasn't awful, but it just wasn't for me, especially when the only things of value you can look for are the metal sonic projector (which just has critters bounce around when broken) and the robot machine, which is an interesting alternative way of achieving the good ending (gotta give it props where it counts). I think the things I liked best were probably the special stages and, naturally, the music. Quartz Quadrant's Bad Future being among my favorite (and the stage itself is pretty fun imo).
Of course, the emptiness factor was by far trumped by Knuckles Chaotix that took it to a whole new level, but that's a topic for another day.