Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces both promise to make everyone’s favorite hedgehog great again but I feel that the developers have missed a trick by avoiding VR.
I had my first VR experience yesterday and, well, it blew my mind. One thing that caught me is how wrong I was about the kinds of games that could excel with a VR headset strapped to my face. I thought that adventure games and first person shooters would be amazing but platformers? Nah.
I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Lucky’s Tale, a colorful platformer bursting with charm. Lucky’s Tale made the platformer genre, a genre I’ve long considered to be stale, fresh and exciting. I loved every second I had with it.
Watching Lucky’s Tale on YouTube after the fact felt a little hollow; it looks like little more than a generic platformer. But, being literally within the game world made it a special experience, one I will never forget.
As I physically looked around the level and ran around collected coins I couldn’t shake the thought that one thing would make this game better: Sonic the Hedgehog.
Despite adoring Sonic, my love for him and the platforming genre has declined substantially over the last decade. New games just don’t feel new, they feel like rehashed versions of past efforts that have been played out to the point that they induce boredom. I am fearful that Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces will ultimately disappoint in the same way, despite both taking very different approaches to their development.
What Sonic needs is VR, and VR needs Sonic.
VR has been crying out for a flagship title, a game to make people rush out and buy the hardware. A game in the same style as Lucky’s Tale, watching Sonic from a distance, and guiding him around lovingly familiar levels from a whole new perspective would be a match made in heaven.
Just a thought. What do you think?
