I'm very much looking forward to Team Sonic Racing, slated to release May 21st, 2019. I've always loved racing games, especially those among the library of precious Sonic spin-off games (e.g. Riders, All Stars Racing, etc). I had a tremendous amount of fun with Sega & All-Stars Racing as well as Sega & All-Stars Racing Transformed, but I'm very much excited by the prospect of a Sonic-only racer to help maximize the number of Sonic characters and levels included.
Unfortunately, the character roster and level count both seem rather small, which is unfortunate -- there is honestly little excuse to have a small roster for something like a racing game where you don't need to design heavily varied gameplay styles or attributes among different characters. Furthermore, while I can understand it being more time-consuming to design high quality and sufficiently varied racing layouts and surrounding levels in high quantity, it seems like we're only going to get 7 distinct worlds which is lacking for a modern game. Sonic Adventure should be held as the overall gold standard for any modern Sonic game (including spin-offs) in at least some respects -- that game provided over 10 robust, beautiful, comprehensive and unique environments, and it's a few decades older.
If money and staffing resources were no object, ideally I would love to see at
least 25 unique environments in Team Sonic Racing, with multiple levels (including different types of levels/objectives) within each environment. As it's a spin-off game with at least a partial purpose of celebrating Sonic's past (due to the apparent return of many previous worlds), it would be really cool to include 10 modern environments as well as 10 classic environments. The classic environments would be remastered and reimagined in full 3D, comparable to the modern Sonic variants of each level found in Generations. Lastly, the game would include 5 brand new environments with fully original artwork, backgrounds, badniks, gimmicks, and so on that are not directly based on any older level.
It's so difficult to choose which levels (and subsequently games) I would want to have represented as I love them all for varying reasons and to varying degrees, so I can't pick favorites. But if I had to choose only 10 from each aforementioned category, my choices would be as follows:
Classic Zones- Spring Yard Zone (Sonic 1)
- Star Light Zone (Sonic 1)
- Aquatic Ruin Zone (Sonic 2)
- Oil Ocean Zone (Sonic 2)
- Quartz Quadrant [Past, Present & Good Future] (Sonic CD)
- Sandopolis Zone (Sonic 3 & Knuckles)
- Speed Slider (Knuckles' Chaotix)
- Bridge Zone (Sonic 1 GameGear)
- Sleeping Egg Zone (Sonic Chaos)
- Sunset Park Zone (Sonic Triple Trouble)
Modern Worlds- Windy Valley (Sonic Adventure DX)
- Twinkle Park (Sonic Adventure DX)
- Lost World (Sonic Adventure DX)
- Pumpkin Hill (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle)
- White Jungle (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle)
- Grand Metropolis (Sonic Heroes)
- Kingdom Valley (Sonic 06)
- Dragon Road (Sonic Unleashed)
- Night Palace (Sonic and the Secret Rings)
- Toy Kingdom (Sonic Advance 3)
New Levels (Theme Ideas)- Christmas themed level (winter setting with heavy amount of Christmas lights/decorations, perhaps with a mixture of city and rural themes such as a combination of Ice Paradise from Sonic Advance 2 with White Park Zone from Sonic 4: Episode II)
- Pirate themed level with track extending across land and sea, as well as through caves (could draw heavy inspiration from levels such as Haunted Ship from Sonic Rush Adventure, as well as Coral Cave from Sonic Rush Adventure)
- Sky/ruins themed level with beautiful clouds, sky and mysterious architecture (could draw heavy inspiration from levels such as Angel Island Zone from Sonic Advance and the version of Sky Sanctuary from Sonic Generations)
- Library-themed level with mysterious and vast expanses of bookshelves, ancient ruins/architecture themes, and multilayered gimmicks such as driving through certain book covers temporarily transporting racers to unique mini-worlds based on other levels or areas from past Sonic games not represented by other in-game levels (can't think of any previous levels off the top of my head this could draw major inspiration from)
- Vehicle/travel-themed level wherein players ride along constantly-morphing tracks that take them across large trains, ships, and airplanes giving players a vibrant experience across a wide variety of backdrops, weather effects and shifting time of day giving the impression of racing whilst undertaking a long journey across vast distances, including track sections outside of/on top of vehicles as well as sections inside of vehicles for added atmospheric alterations (can't think of many previous levels off the top of my head that this could draw major inspiration from, but could draw loose inspiration from levels such as Mirage Saloon Act 1 (Sonic/Tails version) from Sonic Mania, Flying Battery from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sunset Park from Sonic Chaos, Haunted Ship from Sonic Rush Adventure, etc)
Now, while the above was a fun exercise in ideal game design I definitely don't expect Team Sonic Racing to include that amount of new content. While I do look forward to the content the game shall include (much of which has already been revealed), I do think Sonic Team should strive to include more content in their new games (even if not to the quantity detailed above), and when older levels are given representation in newer games, generally speaking I would rather see older levels be featured that were not already previously used in a newer game (e.g. Seaside Hill being featured in games such as Generations and All-Stars Racing, and now appearing in Team Sonic Racing).
In conclusion, I'm definitely very much looking forward to Team Sonic Racing despite my concerns about the small character roster and level count. For example, the gameplay seems very fun -- both in general as a racing game, and also in that I'm excited to try out the team aspects. I also really love all of the music shown thus far on the
Sonic Youtube channel, and I'm extremely happy to see Jun Senoue working on the music along with Tee Lopes, Hyper Potions, Richard Jacques, and others. Sonic music is always wonderful, but TSR music is shaping up to be even greater than standard.
Aside from Team Sonic Racing, I'm also very much looking forward to the hopefully soon-to-come next installment in the main series of 3D Modern Sonic games, as well as either a Mania 2 (direct sequel) or at least another Mania-style main game in the Classic Sonic line. Of course, none of this has been confirmed so I can only speculate for the time being. But, given that Team Sonic Racing was originally supposed to be released toward the end of 2018, I'm willing to bet that the next main series modern Sonic game could have had its release date pushed back as well -- for example, if we were originally supposed to get a new main series modern Sonic game by the end of 2019, this may have been pushed back to the middle or end of 2020. We'll see, though.
If a new main-series modern Sonic game is in the works, I would absolutely love to see a game in the style of Sonic Adventure. I do love boosting as well, but the boosting mechanic was subpar in Sonic Colors and even more subpar in Sonic Forces. If they release a new boosting-style game, which I do hope happens at some point, I would love to see a return to the Sonic Unleashed style of levels and gameplay as those levels were far more difficult, engaging, interactive, and unique than many post-Generations levels, as well as featuring the fastest boosting in any game to date unless I'm mistaken.
But as a change in pace from the several games featuring boosting, I would love to see a Sonic Adventure style game with the Adventure-style spindash and multiple characters with multiple gameplay styles. I would love to see each character have every move unlockable from Adventure 1 and 2, as well as a series of brand new moves and abilities. Additionally, I would love to see Sonic (and perhaps certain other characters such as Shadow, Silver and Knuckles) also have Lost World-style parkour abilities as I thought that game (and its associated parkour mechanic) was extremely fun, and a unique addition to the platforming style of Sonic that I found to be far more enjoyable than the wisps (which I was not a fan of overall, especially in the way they were overused in Sonic Colors).
Most importantly, I would love to see a new entry in the main series 3D modern Sonic games feature mostly brand new content. I love precious old Sonic games and levels, but we have gotten many games in recent years that are retrospective in nature, such as Generations, Lost World, Forces, Mania, All-Stars Racing/All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Forces Speed Battle, etc. I always love including many little nostalgic references and nods to older Sonic games (such as Sonic X / Sonic game posters found in some Sonic Adventure DX missions), but I'm yearning to see a modern Sonic game with mostly brand new ideas, content, levels, etc. So ideally, if for example the game included 30 unique environments with multiple levels each, I would only want 4 or 5 of those environments at most to be either returning or heavily based on an older zone/level. If the game was not able to include that many levels, such as if it only included 10 unique environments -- I would want all 10 environments to be brand new, perhaps with the possibility of unlocking a secret 11th environment at the end of the game that was not required to complete the story mode (reminiscent to unlocking a rendition of Green Hill Zone after getting every emblem in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle).
In terms of a Mania-style game, given that Mania was released in 2017 and Mania Plus in 2018, I think it's reasonable to hope for a main-series Mania-style game being released by or before the end of 2019. Especially since Mania Plus was mainly a series of additions/enhancements that, while awesome and robust were likely nowhere near as time-consuming as designing the Mania game itself, I'm hoping that work on a Mania 2 has been happening concurrently in the background since sometime in 2017.
Ideally, I think each new Sonic game in a series should improve and surpass previous games. So while Sonic Mania including 12 regular zones was awesome and very beefy and comprehensive, I would love to see a Mania 2 up the ante even more.
For example, a Mania 2 could include 15 regular zones (not including bonus levels, special stages, Super Sonic-only areas/bosses, mini-zones like the small adventure on Angel Island included in Sonic Mania Plus, etc). While I would really love to see more brand new zones, I feel Mania 2 could take the opportunity to remaster and reimagine a large number of old beloved levels that were not included in Mania, which can help open up the possibility of a future Mania 3 consisting of almost entirely brand new zones.
Additionally, I would love to see each zone in Mania 2 consists of 4 acts. The first 3 acts would be large full-size acts (generally speaking at least 10 minutes per act for an experienced player, not including sub-bosses), with no boss at the end of the 1st or 2nd acts, but a sub-boss at the end of the 3rd act. The 4th act would consist of a very small amount of very difficult but brief platforming (generally speaking 2 minutes or less for an experienced player) with the main boss for the zone at the end of the 4th act.
If, for example Mania 2 included 10+1* returning zones and 5 brand new zones, while it is extraordinarily difficult to choose levels and I can't pick favorites (for reasons discussed earlier in this post), I would love to see the following distribution:
Returning Zones (10+1*)- Spring Yard Zone (Sonic 1)
- Star Light Zone (Sonic 1)
- Aquatic Ruin Zone (Sonic 2)
- Mystic Cave Zone (Sonic 2)
- *Hidden Palace Zone (Sonic 2) -- [Optional/Hidden zone, would be accessible from a secret warp point accessible but hidden somewhere after defeating the boss at the end of act 4 of Mystic Cave Zone, but prior to running past the goal post -- not required to progress in the game. Hidden Palace Zone would have 4 acts as the required zones do, and the zone would be based heavily on Taxman's reimagining from his iOS/Android port of Sonic 2, including the boss he created for the zone being placed at the end of act 4. Upon completing this zone, the player would teleport to act 1 of whichever zone normally followed Mystic Cave Zone in the sequence.]
- Legendary Ruins Zone (Sonic 2) -- [Newly-titled zone differing in style from most other zones in the game. The zone would include 4 acts, with a difficult primary boss at the end of each act. Each act would represent one of the lost levels from Sonic 2, and in contrast to most acts in the game, the title card for each act would display the name of the lost level it was based on. For example, act 1 could be Wood Zone, act 2 could be Genocide City Zone (with a different/more appropriate title), act 3 could be Ocean Wind Zone, and act 4 could be Olympus Zone. Unlike many acts in the game, each act would be especially long with the goal of taking at least 15 minutes for an experienced player moving at a consistent pace to complete. Due to its difficulty, Legendary Ruins Zone would likely be the second-to-last regular zone in the game.]
- Quartz Quadrant (Sonic CD) -- [Act 1 would represent the past, and Act 2 would represent the present. Act 3 would begin by representing the bad future, but would shift to the good future after about 1/4 of the way through the act in conjunction with explanatory story events and cutscenes, remaining for the rest of the act. Act 4 would take place in the good future but include a field of illusion around the boss that resembles the bad future that disappears upon vanquishing the boss, with the zone fully staying within the good future afterward. After fighting the boss, a few extra minutes of light/easy platforming would be included (with a prior checkpoint and free additional life box and ring box) to allow the player more time to relax and enjoy the beautiful music and atmosphere of the good future, which would involve either the US or Japan soundtrack dependent upon the player's selection in game settings.]
- Icecap Zone (Sonic 3)
- Sandopolis Zone (Sonic & Knuckles)
- Sunset Park (Sonic Chaos)
- Marina Madness (Knuckles' Chaotix) -- [Gameplay and act layouts would be reimagined and optimized for the more traditional Genesis-era Classic Sonic gameplay styles, as opposed to the Knuckles' Chaotix rubberband-style cooperative platforming]
Brand New Zones (5)- Christmas Wonder Zone -- [Christmas-themed zone in a wintry setting, including both city and rural elements as well as snowy weather occurring at certain times and in different degrees, as well as changes in time of day between acts and within certain acts. Act 1 would take place within the city proper, and would be inspired by Ice Paradise from Sonic Advance 2. Act 2 would take place in a rural area directly outside the city, with the city in the background, which could be imagined as similar to a Christmas and wintry setting further zoomed out from Route 99 from Sonic Advance 3 mixed with nature elements such as that found in Icecap from Sonic 3 and Twinkle Snow from Sonic Advance 3. This act would largely feature the player sledding down large hills of varying height, thereby mixing up the gameplay for that act. Act 3 would start briefly back within the city proper, then transition to largely taking place within a large fantastical toy shop (can be imagined as a far bigger/fancier/more mysterious and fantastical version of the one featured in the movie Home Alone 2), and then lastly end in a cozier and less urban part of the city, namely the city center/park, which could be vaguely reminiscent of certain elements of Spring Yard Zone from Sonic 1. Act 1 would take place during the day with light snowfall. Act 2 would take place mostly during the day with heavy snowfall, but transition to sunset by the end of the level. Act 3 would take place entirely at night and feature moderate snowfall. Each zone, regardless of urban/rural location or indoor/outdoor location would be filled with Christmas lights, trees and decorations, as well as abstract elements lending to the imagination the idea of busy shoppers, warm hearths, cozy fireplaces, soaring snow angels and twinkling snowmen.]
- Ocean Voyage Zone -- [Seaside, ship and ocean-themed zone in a lush and rainy tropical setting. Act 1 would take place during the day, and would take place during the day primarily along a seaside beach setting reminiscent of Neo Green Hill Zone from Sonic Advance. Fluffy clouds would slowly build on the horizon, resulting in the area appearing more overcast as the level progresses, with light rain beginning to fall toward the end of the act. While the majority of the act would occur on a beach, the last few minutes of the act would find the player platforming along a harbor-themed area with varied and colorful ships dotting the seascape. Act 2 would take place largely during sunset hours, and primarily involve platform along rocky structures, buoys, large fish, and other nautical-themed interactive elements across the vast ocean with the island appearing increasingly distant in the background, culminating in the player approaching and jumping on a sailing ship offering easier travel for a vast journey. There would be moderate rain for the majority of this act. Act 3 would take place mostly at night, with the player platforming throughout outdoor and indoor areas amongst a fantastically large and mysterious ship. Heavy rainfall would occur throughout the level, including calming atmospheric effects of rainfall pattering on porthole-panes/the deck with moderately turbulent ocean waves offering a more subtle audio-atmospheric experience indoors with a more vigorous and adventurous audio-atmospheric experience outdoors. By the end of Act 3, the ship would lay anchor at a distant shore, with the player running off of the ship and toward a new adventure. By this point in the level, sunrise would begin breaking through the clouds, with a lessening in rain and vibrant rays of sunlight dancing throughout land and sea.
- Palatial Gardens Zone -- [Lush and vibrant garden and ruins themed zone. The zone would be somewhat reminiscent of a combination of aesthetics from multiple past Sonic levels, such as Botanic Base from Knuckles' Chaotix, Marble Garden Zone from Sonic 3, Angel Island Zone from Sonic Advance, Plant Kingdom from Sonic Rush Adventure, etc. Act 1 would take place during the day, and would largely focus on garden-themed platforming and gimmicks involving a multitude of wondrous, mysterious and colorful plants, soaring with vibrancy and unique splendor. Toward the end of the act, large ruins-like structures such as monuments and gazebos would end up appearing in the distant background. Light rain would begin falling toward the end of the act. Act 2 would take place during the day, and feature light/moderate rainfall mingled with crystal clear rays of sunlight dancing through the foliage, treetops and plants. Would largely feel like a continuation of the first act, with a few new elements and gimmicks involving smaller-scale "man-made" objects such as structures resembling sundials and birdfeeders. By the end of the act, large gazebos and monuments would become large and highly visible in the background amongst the garden proper. The rain would cease by the end of the act, and the time of day would transition to sunset. Act 3 would take place entirely at night, and feature some plant elements but have a much greater focus on ruins with plants and trees in the background. The player would explore vast and ponderous gazebos, towers, fountains, monuments and statues, all weaving a curious tale of lore and legendary mysterious bursting with imagination and sailing tides of wonder.
- Effervescent Fountains Zone -- [Joyous and energetic zone bursting with imagined laughter, fun, friendship, family and romance. The zone would be somewhat reminiscent of a combination of aesthetics from older Sonic zones such as Speed Slider from Knuckles' Chaotix, Toy Kingdom from Sonic Advance 3, Twinkle Park from Sonic Adventure DX, and White Park from Sonic 4: Episode II. The zone would find the player soaring to and fro amongst a wondrously vast and expansive amusement park / water park. Act 1 would take place during the day, and would primarily feature an amusement park both in background aesthetics and interactive playable elements. Many rides would be found, ranging from roller coasters to merry-go-rounds to ferris wheels to teacups, and most would involve some interactive element allowing the player to ride amongst the natural flow of the level. Act 1 would start out with a softer morning glow filtering everything through a soft and gentle light, transitioning into an energetic and bright noontime by about 1/2 of the way through the act. Act 2 would take place during the day, and would primarily feature the aforementioned described elements except as a water park filled with fun pools and thrilling slides. Act 2 would start out at noontime, and end with the first hints of sunset peaking over the horizon. Act 3 would start out at sunset, and transition to night-time by about 1/4 of the way through the act. Act 3 would primarily feature a mixture of indoor and outdoor locations based on immersive theaters, arcade games, carnival games, attractions and restaurants, treating the player to a vast array of joy in more relaxing activities with soaring coasters and rushing water slides gleaming in the background with beautiful and expansive colorful lights and lanterns winking on throughout the park as the time of day transitions into night for the remaining 3/4 of the act. The player would also platform among many decorative aspects, such as massive ornate fountains gleaming with lights and exhibiting varied waterflow schemes and displays.
- Verdant Urbanity Zone -- [Would be designed to be the very first zone in the game, so would be somewhat shorter and much easier than most zones in the game. Each act would still be long. Act 1 would take an experienced player about 5 minutes to complete, act 2 would take an experienced player about 7 minutes to complete, and act 3 would take an experienced player about 8 minutes to complete (in contrast with most acts throughout the game, regardless of difficulty level, being designed to take an experienced player 10 or more minutes to complete). Act 4 would only include about 1 minute (compared to 2 minutes average for 4th acts for experienced players) of platforming for experienced players prior to the primary boss, and would be significantly less difficult than platforming found in most 4th acts throughout the game. The zone would feature a unique blend of aesthetics from multiple zones from older Sonic games, such as Route 99 from Sonic Advance 3, Emerald Beach from Sonic Battle, Central City from Sonic Battle, Spring Yard Zone from Sonic 1, and Seaside Hill from Sonic Heroes. Act 1 would take place in a light urban center reminiscent of Emerald Beach, with a shimmering jewel of ocean in the background and many verdant parks, trees and plants placed throughout the town. Act 2 would transition to a heavier urban center that still included simplicity and charm reminiscent of Central City from Sonic Battle, especially inspired by both the outdoor and indoor aesthetic of the Amy's Room arena from Sonic Battle. Soaring verdant leaves would line the horizon, reminiscent of Spring Yard Zone from Sonic 1. The nearby ocean would appear closer/larger in the background as compared to act 1. Act 3 would occur outside the city proper with the city in the background, reminiscent of a more zoomed-out version of Route 99 from Sonic Advance, and would be much closer to a beach setting vaguely reminiscent of Seaside Hill from Sonic Heroes. Gentle waves and seagull calls would be heard in the background. A light rain would begin toward the end of the act, with the player platforming among rock formations, hills and other natural elements getting increasingly close to the beach. Acts 1 and 2 would occur entirely during the daytime, with most of act 3 occurring during the daytime and only beginning to transition to sunset with light rain toward the end of the act, to avoid any potential difficulty or confusion for newer players caused by fluctuating visibility levels from variations in time of day and weather.
I would love to see levels similar to my above described ideas appear in a hypothetical Sonic Mania 2. I feel 15 zones (approximately 10 returning, with 5 brand new levels) is a reasonable amount of content as long as SEGA provides the teams with appropriate time and resources. Especially given how the first Mania game included 12 zones, so 15 would only be a relatively small increase. That being said, my idea of each zone having 4 acts is definitely far more content than the first game, and I could understand if that would become unrealistic for the number of zones included. I would be perfectly happy with a more traditional 2 acts per zone, with a sub-boss being at the end of the 1st act and the primary boss being at the end of the 2nd act, but I do dearly miss games such as Sonic 1 that include at least 3 acts per zone as that just feels beefier and gives you more time to enjoy the aesthetics, style, gimmicks and overall feel of each zone.
But, I digress. The subject of this topic was about what games am I looking forward to: to summarize the above, I am very much looking forward to Team Sonic Racing, the next main series 3D modern Sonic game, and the next main series 2D Mania-style game. I hope I haven't strayed too far from the subject matter at hand, but I just take great joy in thinking out and explaining my personal ideal designs for some elements of the aforementioned games.
Digressing from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, I can't think of any other specific games offhand that I know are coming out in 2019 that I'm looking forward to. Smash Ultimate was the main non-Sonic game I was looking forward to, which of course was already released last month. There are multiple game series I would love to see a new entry in, such as Advance Wars, Child of Light, Croc, and Civilization -- but all of which are almost certain not to happen this year, or any time soon, due to the sadly low popularity of the first 3 and the 4th series already having coming out with a 6th main series game recently. I'd also love to see a true Super Monkey Ball 3 using the old-style characters, and while this is hopefully more likely than the other series I mentioned, I'd love to see a true new F-Zero game, but again I'm sadly not counting on any of that happening this year.
But, I continue to hope for that which I wish to see, and enjoy that which is good that is released regardless of its alignment or lack thereof with my most ideal hopes.