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LinkTSwordmaster
Joined: 23 Dec 2005
Posts: 825
Location: PA / USA
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 Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2026 7:33 pm |
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I maintain that the v2.3 release of Ring Racers was probably the absolute high point of anything Sonic will ever be from here on, and it wasn't even an official Sega release. I really liked what Mania did but there was a lot of repackaged existing levels in it. I liked what Shadow Generations did, but again, it was kinda of a repackage outside of the new Shadow content. Frontiers needs modded to hit a playability sweet spot, and otherwise only seems to be a weird justification for Sega's dev teams to prototype their open world engine in PSO2: New Genesis.
I hold those releases up against what fans managed to pack into Ring Racers and it functions as a mechanically-deeper CrossWorlds racer, while hitting 100x the nostalgia that Mania does, all while managing to have the 3D platforming of a more matured 3D Sonic game like Shadow Generations. Anything that Sega tries to do, especially in an age where their new Crazy Taxi release is getting blasted for using Ai assist tools is just always going to fly in subpar compared to the once-in-a-generation delight that v2.3 Ring Racers is. CrossWorlds is fine for being able to quickly group up friends and make an evening of it, but nothing has captured that adrenaline of 100%'ing a Sonic 3+Knuckles lock-on run the same way that unlocking things in Ring Racers feels.
Sega stopped having any idea what passion-project games looked like after the Dreamcast died. You get an anomaly like Sonic Racing Transformed here and there that are actually fun to play, but it's the fans that are the future of Sega, not their corporate dev times/budgets/Ai slop.
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BadNewsBlues
Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 7257
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2026 9:18 pm |
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| LinkTSwordmaster wrote: | | , but it's the fans that are the future of Sega, not their corporate dev times/budgets/Ai slop. |
If it leads to more stuff like Sonic Mania, Streets Of Rage 4, or Art Of Vengeance that’s not really a good thing. Nostalgia only goes so far.
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Ryuji-Dono
Joined: 26 Apr 2018
Posts: 1315
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| Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 7:09 am |
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| BadNewsBlues wrote: | | LinkTSwordmaster wrote: | | , but it's the fans that are the future of Sega, not their corporate dev times/budgets/Ai slop. |
If it leads to more stuff like Sonic Mania, Streets Of Rage 4, or Art Of Vengeance that’s not really a good thing. Nostalgia only goes so far. |
Are you saying these games are garbage? 
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