Duplex

Sonic Rush is in the middle to me. It's not as good as the Genesis trilogy, but it's certainty better than most other Sonic games. The music is awesome (I agree with Jassbec, Naganuma is great) and the gameplay is serviceable. My only gripes with it are the cheap deaths and how useless rolling is. I also don't like how its physics would eventually plague Sonic 4 either. Other than that, it's alright. By making good Sonic games. Where do you think you are? That or reading the comics.

I should clarify that you don't need the gameplay of the Genesis games to make a good Sonic game. It helps when making a 2D Sonic platformer, but not a good Sonic game overall. Here's the thing. What distinguishes Sonic from other 2D platformers is its use of slopes. Even though Sonic 4 and the Rush games didn't have perfect physics, slopes were still a big part of their design. Levels in other 2D platformers are typically designed with flat 90 degree angles. If you're lucky, you might come across a 45 degree angle! But Sonic has slopes that bend up and down at practically all angles. That was what allowed Sonic to go fast to begin with. Do you need slope physics to make a good 2D Sonic platformer? Well, no. But if you are going to make a Sonic game, how do you plan to incorporate his speed? You could just make a standard platformer, but then why make it about Sonic? Perhaps there are other ways to incorporate Sonic's speed in a 2D game, but I've yet to see them done in a way that's... well, fun. You can also put Sonic in other genres. Puzzle games, racing games, rhythm games, the list goes on. Just as long as they are done in way that's fun.

I half agree with Serephim's sentiments. Sonic fan games should strive to do more than just give us another Sonic 2 clone with the same plot, the same opening green level, the same abilities and nothing more. On the other hand, I feel that in order to go beyond what the Genesis titles were, you have to first match them. You have to understand the fundamentals of what made them work. They need controls that make Sonic and friends feel satisfying to play as. Since the controls in Sonic games are often tied to the slope physics, it's also important to derive the slope physics from the real world physics that inspired the Genesis titles. You already know why this is important just from playing Sonic 4 Episode 1. The games also need interesting level designs that encourage both speed and exploration. Limit the cheap deaths, limit the bottomless pits and dick enemy placement, and instead create challenge through clever platforming and unique enemies with different weak points. Make sure there are little to no automated sections so the control is always in the player's hands. You already know why this is important just from playing Sonic 4 Episode 1 and 2. Once you understand the fundamentals, you can go crazy and add all sorts of things on top of them. Add in as many different characters, abilities, wacky level tropes and new enemies to your heart's content. You can even think up crazy plots that haven't been done in Sonic games before. But you need a functioning template first. As far as the official games are concerned, the most functional Sonic titles are still the early 2D ones, their only real fault being the zoomed in camera.

And here I was hoping we'd get a new demo or something. Since this game is back in the limelight... er, any progress so far?

If I may ellaborate upon my problems with the collision detection, there's a past sign in Frigid Fortress that, when used to time travel, causes you to get trapped in the ground. It happened two times in a row.

I had fun with it. There were a handful of flaws though. Metal Sonic gives no indication of when he's going to attack in the intro fight. A subtle "charging up" animation or a split-second target reticle would work. Knuckles can't climb over some ledges. The collision detection got me stuck in the floor when I went too fast. This only seemed to happen in Frigid Fortress though. Jumping out of the gravity orbs causes your character to automatically use his secondary ability. Knuckles has his OVA hat on in the character select screen... but not when you play as him? What a tease! It was a great demo aside from those issues. As far as demos go, I'd put it up there with Retro Sonic, Sonic Nexus '08, Project Mettrix, and Zero Remastered.

I don't think I was fretting. I just find it strange that a staple character like Robotnik would be killed off. He could just be faking his death too, but hey, it's not my project.

That's... pretty morbid. I don't mind Sonic fighting other villains, but why kill off Robotnik? Couldn't he just be hiding?