Well, there are many people out there who wonder how to make Sonic games better, especially the 3D ones. So I decided to share my ideas on how to do so. There are going to be a lot of ideas, so please bear with me. Some of these ideas are also for fun. Anyhow, here they are.
For the first idea, You know how you accelerate to top speed with the boost by a press of a button? Well, this idea makes it so that you don't need to hold down the boost button to maintain momentum. Just press the boost button, let go, keep holding forward and you'll still have momentum and speed as you go along. This allows for running through loops and on walls or down hills (provided they aren't scripted), all without the boost. It would also be possible to gather and maintain momentum without the boost altogether, but should you press the boost button, you don't need to constantly hold it down to keep your momentum, thus you can do momentum based stuff like in the classics without constant boost. You might go faster without the boost even if you are skilled and able to maintain momentum while avoiding obstacles. You obviously don't get the invincibility with the boost, by the way.
The next one, In terms of having the boost mode from Sonic Advance 2, Sonic can have boost mode while boosting, but only when the boost button is held down. When not held down, whether the boost button is tapped or not pressed at all, the player will just need to hold forward for a certain time, and after that, the player enters boost mode and continues until an obstacle is hit or when an enemy hits Sonic, or if Sonic slows himself down. Sonic still gains momentum, whether by just holding forward or by tapping the boost button once, but it will take some time either way to achieve boost mode.
Here is the next one. Now, with the boost, Sonic would accelerate to a high speed. Not a maximum speed, but high enough. Sonic would accelerate instantly when using the boost, and he'd maintain the same speed as long as he is boosting. He could also reach that high speed by hitting a dash pad.
However, for running to build up speed, and rolling, and perhaps spin dashing, that is a different story. The following applies to building speed or even rolling, especially down hills in the case of the rolling. When Sonic builds up speed, the player will notice accelerating effects seen as Sonic runs forward through the level. This acceleration would not be noticed when the boost is used. When Sonic reaches max speed, he can run as fast as he can in boost mode. But when running or rolling down ramps and hills, either way, Sonic would accelerate quickly as he runs down them, like how the rolling worked in the classic games. Sonic will not only accelerate faster, but when he is going down those ramps and hills, he can even speed up to a speed faster than the speed Sonic goes while boosting!
Here are some ideas for some moves for Sonic.
The Boomerang Attack. By doing a jump dash and pressing the jump button multiple times after, Sonic can curve around while dashing and eventually land back in place, homing attacking anything that may be in the way automatically.
The Wall Bounce, which has Sonic use his jump dash/homing attack on a nearby wall, in which he bounces off of, gaining height every time he hits the wall. With that, Sonic can climb to higher places and do so without the wall jump, and this only needs one wall to do the move with. This can also be used to knock enemies and items off of the walls, which can be useful. It could also destroy item boxes and enemies with a harder blow to the wall, which would require holding the jump dash button.
The Invisible Sonic Technique. Sonic runs so fast, that he becomes invisible, perhaps after boost mode is activated, or a few seconds after it has been activated. As long as he is running, he will be invisible, and enemies will not attack Sonic for they will not be able to spot him as long as he moves. This move, of course, will cease to function when Sonic slows down through any method, and it will require speeding back up to the proper speed to be able to use again. If Sonic uses this, and slows down when he is around a large group of enemies, he will likely be in trouble, since his invisibility does not function after slowing down. Sonic can still take damage from enemies while invisible.
There is also the Cling Dash. It works just like the Drop Dash in the upcoming Sonic Mania. The player even charges in mid air. However, this works on walls, so like when the Drop Dash has Sonic speeding off when he hits the ground, Sonic goes up a wall or down one depending on which direction he is currently going during the trajectory of his jump. It could be used to get to high places o get to lower places easier.
Also, there is the Pole Dash, or the Pole Boost in terms of the boost. When Sonic hangs onto a pole or ladder, he can charge up his spin dash to prepare to spin up or down the pole. Sonic can change the direction he spins in from up to down. Then, he spins up or down the pole (or ladder) at high speed, or boost up or down them at high speed. This would be useful for climbing or descending poles. For the boost version, Sonic swings up or down the pole or ladder.
This other one is the Ball Form. With this, Sonic goes into ball form, but he then stays in ball form. When he does this, he can roll around in this form just like Samus in her Morph Ball form in the Metroid games. Sonic can gain momentum in this form and roll around at high speed, but while he can spin dash in this form, he can't control himself, even if he was in ball mode before.
This next idea is a variation of the Gold Shield from Sonic 3D Blast. The Gold Shield would be golden in color, but it would be sparkling and translucent. Most noticably, the gold shield would have the special attack Hyper Sonic has in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which would give Sonic an extra jump in any direction, and if Sonic has it for long enough, Sonic can do a Light Speed Attack in the blink of an eye, destroying all enemies in sight. The attack would have to recharge for a long amount of time after each use, but the jumping in any direction part would still work normally.
Now, for this other one, it is an idea I call "Super Invincibility". Basically, it works just like Invincibility, only it has the added effect of destroying not only enemies, but obstacles of any kind and even walls just by running into them, like the Boost in the Rush games and Generations, Unleashed and Colors. This is intended for non boost games, and it could allow Sonic to go anywhere by running into things like with the boost until the power up wears out.
The next one is a power-up called "Instant Momentum". Basically, it is a power up that will allow Sonic to reach top speed instantly, allowing him to go at full momentum. Sonic does not go any faster than his top speed unless he hits a dash pad or goes down a hill, but it can allow for getting through loops, hills and other pathways easily. There will be some alternate routes with long paths, loops, what have you that are so long, that though optional, they won't be passed with building momentum alone, depending on their placement, and they need this power up to make it through them.
The next idea is a combination of Parkour from Lost World and the tricks from Sonic Generations, the Advance games and the Rush games. It is something I like to call "Freerunning". With this, Sonic can vault (leap over obstacles like the logs in Sonic Rivals), jump, wall jump or reflect off walls and do tricks to gain momentum and go further in the air. The amount of tricks that can be done is shown by a gauge that decreases every time a trick is done until the gauge reaches zero. The gauge automatically refills after Sonic lands from the move he makes. He can even do this when running and jumping between walls or climbing walls before jumping into the air after reaching the ledge. Also, Sonic needs to be at full momentum to do the tricks, even before vaulting. Tricks can be done by pressing a specific button while in the air at full momentum, and Sonic can earn more points if he leaps over something while jumping.
For the next idea, it would be switches that make turning, twisting paths appear, for a short time, anyway. With that said, Sonic would be able to walk on certain switches that would create twisting and turning pathways that he has to run through (and are not really automated) quickly to get to the other side. If he doesn't make it in time, the path will disappear, and Sonic will fall to a lower route or down a bottomless pit. For an example, look at this from 5:31 to 5:42.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsbjGaUYunM
And 6:16 to 6:29 in the same video above. Sonic does not automatically start rolling fast in this case. Rather, he needs to spin dash, boost or build momentum up first to make it across. If he can't make it in time by the time the path disappears, he will fall, perhaps to his doom.
For the last one, this one combines the collecting animals thing from Sonic Lost World and the Flicky and Giant Ring gameplay in Sonic 3D Blast. With that, there would be a ring somewhere in the stage with a number indicating the number of collected animals to "send home", and if Sonic has enough, he can jump through the ring and dump in the animals to set them free much like with in Sonic 3D Blast. If there is a trap door under the ring when the animals are dumped, Sonic can fall through it to go to another alternate route in the level with hidden items and secrets. If there is a green X under the ring, Sonic will be transported to a hidden level like how he ends the stage in Sonic 3D Blast. This does reduce the total number of animals Sonic has, and it would normally cost a lot of animals to open each route or level, but once the right amount of animals are dumped in, Sonic can access the route or exit anytime. These are optional, by the way.
It's kinda based of an old form of checkpoints, but these checkpoints would be like the lamp posts usually seen, but function kinda like in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes. These checkpoints would be able to be stepped into multiple times, and when you step on one of these, the classic checkpoint post from the Genesis games makes a sound, and a ring of swirling star lights, like the ones that took you to the Special Stages in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 and Knuckles respectively. If the player jumps into these light rings, a small banner will show up with red and blue marks. If later checkpoints, or earlier checkpoints are missed, the marks will be red, while the ones that have been touched will be marked blue. As long as these marks are blue, the player can transport forward or backward in the stage, like in Shadow the Hedgehog (the game version). This is optional to do, but it does not have to be used for missions, but could be used for backtracking, or even access other parts of the level that could not be accessed until something ahead in the level is activated. Also, it could allow the player to try certain things again and again until they get it done right.
In regards to the yellow ramps, as seen in Unleashed, Colors and Generations would work like this. When touched, the player can press the jump button to gain extra height, like in Colors. This could be useful for gaining height to access higher, alternate routes, like how some QTEs did in Sonic Unleashed. At the same time, the player can use the left and right stick to do tricks like in Sonic Generations, gaining energy for the boost. The player can even press the jump button to gain height and use the control sticks for tricks at the same time if they want to.
Some of the red ramps, as seen in Sonic Unleashed, Colors and Generations, would come in groups, meaning there would be three or more ramps in certain areas in stages that each lead to a different route. Whether or not there is one or more of these red ramps, these would be momentum based, so that whatever speed Sonic is running at when he hits these ramps, they send him flying at that speed, which can create challenges in reaching some higher areas. As for the springs, the springs would be less automated, and the player can move in different directions while moving in the air after hitting a spring, and even homing attack other springs and other objects as they are moving through the air.
In 3D sections, on structures such as loops and corkscrews, the sections would be semi-automated, and would require the player to hold forward to keep Sonic running or else they would fall off, like in Sonic Adventure 2. The loops would be momentum based as well, so that once running through them, Sonic would effectively run at that speed through such structures, which means moving at low speed means Sonic will possibly fall off. Also, Sonic can move left and right while automatically running on the loops or corkscrews as well, making him able to collect rings and other items on the structures (like loops and corkscrews) or jump off to get off the loop or jump onto platforms and alternate routes in between loops and corkscrews and the like. Furthermore, in 2D sections, the loops, corkscrews and other similar structures would be exactly like they were in the classics, with no automation.
Speaking of loops in corkscrews, there would be branching loops and corkscrews like in Sonic Heroes and Seaside Hill in Sonic Generations, which lead to alternate routes, and the player can choose which alternate route from these branching loops Sonic can go through as they go through the level.
In levels, there would be alternate routes that would lead to alternate goal rings like at 3:08 here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9JWe0ILFAY
These goal rings would not only finish the level, but lead to a different act or level other than what the main goal ring leads to. This would effectively be like Shadow the Hedgehog's (the game) branching paths, except they would not change the story like in that game, and there could be more levels to explore that are found through these alternate goal rings in these alternate routes. Some of these may be well hidden, or hard to reach.
Here is an idea based on the homing attack. The homing attack could work so that not only would Sonic maintains his momentum while using it in the air, but he would bounce off of enemies instead of losing speed when he hits one with the homing attack, like bouncing off the balloons with a homing attack in Sonic Generations' Rooftop Run level. Furthermore, Sonic would gain speed every time he hits an enemy with an homing attack. There could be a maximum speed, but Sonic effectively goes faster with each homing attack on objects and enemies, and does tricks while bouncing off the enemies that can earn points. The tricks can be cancelled depending on how fast the player presses the homing attack button when hitting enemies in mid air.
For some other features, I would have the Double Boost from Sonic Forces function with Sonic alone and be called the Hyper Boost, unless he is with another friend, which makes it the Double Boost. With the Hyper or Double Boost, Sonic can run through heavier, larger and more durable objects, though they might slow him down some. There would also be more bottomless pits, alternate routes and even obstacles to deal with, like a faster version of the daytime Sonic Unleashed HD levels, and kinda like the mach speed sections in Sonic 06. Also, if Sonic hits a wall, he will stop dead and thus lose a life in the Hyper or Double Boost sections, like in the high speed sections in Sonic Lost World, Wii U.
While dash pads are unpopular, here is something that could make them a bit more fun. If the player slows down some when approaching a dash pad, they will gain tremendous speed, more than usual, as they hit the dash pad, and go really fast, faster than normal, kind of like in the game, Diddy Kong Racing.
Another idea for orange and rainbow hoops that propel Sonic through the air. When Sonic is in some areas, there will be multiple hoops pointing in different directions, which will lead to multiple routes. They also propel Sonic faster the faster he is going when he goes through them. Thus would be done with a jump dash or, if it were to work that way, a jump dash that does not cause Sonic to lose any previous speed and momentum, usually with a running start. This could help the hoops propel Sonic to further, alternate routes.
For the Spindash itself, I would have it work like in Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) in a way that it could be used to get through small gaps quickly, and break down obstacles like in the classic games. Also, unlike the Boost, the Spindash would function so that it could transfer momentum to objects, such as knocking over a bridge or knocking down pillars, while the boost just breaks through pillars, such as heavy ones (though the spindash can still break some things). The spindash also gains and loses momentum unlike the boost, making it more rewarding in terms of earning momentum wheres the boost is effectively set in momentum, well, normally. The spin dash could also fit Sonic through holes he could not fit through using the boost.
Another idea to improve gameplay would be to make the platforms that Sonic jumps on bigger, longer and wider, as well as other pathways and walls, too. This way, Sonic can have enough room to build up speed, use the boost or just run fast when going from platform to platform, making things be easier for the player and Sonic. With that, it would make falling off platforms or falling into bottomless pits at high speeds less worrying, as the player has enough room to do what they need to do.
So, what do you guys think of these ideas?
