Poll of the Day > Sports Discussion Topic #161: You Won't BELIEVE What Happened At TRAINING CAMP!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Football, please can you just leave us alone for a while

Continuing the discussion of the last topic...

I don't know if I'm really that excited about Sonic Mania. I like the old Sonic games, but I can't really explain why. They're enjoyable enough to play through, but nothing about the gameplay is truly special to me. Sonic Mania just seems like a nostalgia cash-in, and I don't know if I'd have the patience to play through it without having the familiarity that brings me back to the Genesis games.

Johnny Bone Jone.
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I really like the old Sonic games a lot because the level design was generally good. I think they've messed that up since then.

DorkLink posted...

Continuing the discussion of the last topic...

I don't know if I'm really that excited about Sonic Mania. I like the old Sonic games, but I can't really explain why. They're enjoyable enough to play through, but nothing about the gameplay is truly special to me. Sonic Mania just seems like a nostalgia cash-in, and I don't know if I'd have the patience to play through it without having the familiarity that brings me back to the Genesis games.

After the shitshow the last what, 15 years? More? has been, I don't blame you for doubting. I just trust the dude who is running the show -- he was one of the biggest Sonic fangame creators who got hired to port Sonic 2 and Sonic CD to mobile, both times going above and beyond. He even added a level to Sonic 2, which is pretty dope.

Gameplay is identical to the Genesis games, which is something that hasn't been done since...well, the Genesis games. He's adding a dropdash move, which is awesome. Adding a move sounds lame, I know, but the spindash in Sonic 2 completely changed the Sonic gameplay. I know that after I play Mania for awhile, I'm going to totally fuck up playing through S2 and S3&K, just like I can't go back to Sonic 1 without trying to spindash ten times a level. I've pressed Down+A+A tens of thousands of times, as fast as I could, and I just can't re-condition myself.

It's literally the game the Genesis fans have been asking for since 1994, and they are finally giving it to us! I would say that if you weren't big fans of the originals, you will feel the exact same way with this game. But everything I've seen so far looks phenomenal, and while I've always been hopeful about new Sonic games, this is the only one I wasn't hesitant about. For comparison, I thought Sonic Forces looked like dogshit even before the create-a-character was announced. I was really hoping for a new 3D gameplay style by now.
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bortles sucks lol
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Sonic's best games are overrated and his worst games are genuinely atrocious. Some games like Sonic Adventure are very bad but hold a special place in my heart as a former fan. As bad as the series is I'm glad it still exists to a degree because that Sonic Forces game looks absolutely hilarious. Sonic Mania looks fine I guess but it's pretty embarrassing how they're so bad at making these games that they've basically decided on remaking the old ones.

I've been playing Pyre on PS4 the last couple of days. It's from the guys who made Bastion and Transistor. It's on PC too. It's basically a tactical basketball RPG. It starts pretty slowly but I'm loving it so far. Switch needs to get sfuff like this because it could be the GOAT platform for indies.

I think I have Bastion and Transistor for free from PS+. Was Pyre free as well? You made it sound interesting.

No it's brand new. There's a lot more to it because it's a really interesting game from a storytelling POV but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may play it some day.

Bastion is a pretty sick game. I haven't played that many indies but it's one of the best among those few I have.

I might get Splatoon but I'm going to wait for my friend to get a switch and try out his copy. I didn't love the first one and don't know if 2 will be worth $60

I have played neither Splatoon so I can't weigh in except to say the second one should have been called Spla2n

The old Sonic games have odd pacing. I think something like Mario actually works better as a fast paced platformer because it basically has two speeds: walk and run. It's very easy to change between those at a moment's notice. Sonic has more like three speeds, but you can't really go from top speed directly to medium speed, making for a lot of momentum killing moments. It also has a lot of slopes and verticality to it, which limit your ability to really stop and explore the level or to backtrack.

The first two Sonic games had too many levels that you can just run through in a minute without anything interesting happening, but S3&K often took it to the opposite extreme. I remember a lot of levels with confusing layouts where I'd just get stuck for a while and actually run out the ten minute limit - not very fun. That being said, there are a few decent levels in all 4 Genesis games that hit the 3-5 minute sweet spot.

Yeah I remember playing the first DS Mario game and thinking it was what Sonic should have been. At run speed it still feels like a super fast platformer but you feel more engaged because it's not just you zipping through. It's more like quick thinking platforming than just pure speed based platforming which is what Sonic is until you hit a wall.

Also, to Colby's point about how much of a shitshow the series has been lately, this is finally the game fans want, etc., how many times have we heard that before? This is what people said when Generations and the Sonic 4 episodes were coming out too. There is maybe more reason to believe that Sonic Mania will be good, but it's literally a safer game than NSMB

I'm so glad they're coming out with Mario Odyssey. I was getting worried we'd be stuck with the dumb co-op Mario they've been giving us for a while.

DorkLink posted...

Also, to Colby's point about how much of a shitshow the series has been lately, this is finally the game fans want, etc., how many times have we heard that before? This is what people said when Generations and the Sonic 4 episodes were coming out too. There is maybe more reason to believe that Sonic Mania will be good, but it's literally a safer game than NSMB

Generations was pretty good. That was the last good Sonic game. Once I heard the awful Sonic 4 music and saw that they gave it awful physics, I was so mad. Other Sonic bros definitely go crazy for each new game, and I used to. You can imagine my despair when Sonic 4 was so abysmal! I'm 100% confident in Mania.

Also, I would LOVE if Mania is NSMB Sonic. All the NSMB games were fantastic. Well, I never played the 3DS one where you had to get a million coins, so maybe they all aren't, idk.
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Ozarks is pretty good. It takes place at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and they gave everyone a wacky accent. I've been to the Ozarks a few times and never heard those accents. And it makes Missourians look awful, but to be fair, we mostly are. Anyway, the first episode is dramatic and intense, so you guys should try it.
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The Rockies have acquired Jonathan Lucroy.

Jon Luke Roy

Doesn't he kind of suck now? ... yeah, he does. And yet he constitutes an upgrade over what we currently have at catcher. I long for a day when we have a stud catcher prospect actually pan out.

So I guess the Rockies are all in on going to the playoffs after this and the Neshek trade

Altuve has to go 3 for 3 or 4 for 5 today to hit .500 for July. Far from impossible but he really blew it the last couple of days.

Also happy trade deadline everyone. Get ready fora thrilling day of marginal upgrades and ho hum prospects! And then get ready for it to keep happening for another month while a different type of trade remains possible!!

Altuve started blowing it because you jinxed him

The Cardinals will trade for some moderate upgrade to their bullpen today and pretend like they're in the hunt m

The Cardinals literally did nothing. A ton of teams were in on Lynn, so why keep him if you aren't gonna add to the team? It's preposterous. The Cubs were a better team before acquiring Quintana, and now they got another awesome reliever and a surprisingly good catcher for nothing, so it was clearly time to sell.

I wonder if a Lynn deal fell through at the last minute or something. Maybe he was going to LA before the Darvish deal came to fruition at the deadline?
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They absolutely should have sold. If they had bought I would have hated it but at least it's a stance. Instead they're fine being mediocre to bad, and Ken Rosenthal said the other day they probably won't give Lynn the QO which is just absolutely maddening. I'm so sick of this. Again they're just content to be the most cost effective team to miss the playoffs. And oh by the way in the middle of this dreary season Mozeliak and whoever Girsch is got huge promotions!

I get the sense that ownership plans to wait out the Cubs glory days which is whatever but they're also too scared to lose their sellouts to actually rebuild

I kind of forgot the deadline was happening this afternoon and then I just looked and saw the Dodgers traded for Yu Darvish. Well shit.

Actually, maybe this move isn't that big of a deal since they were already going to run away with the division and no amount of moves can guarantee you a title. Just look at the A's a few years back, who made all these big moves when they were already the best team in baseball, and now they're a rebuilding team. Granted, I'm not saying that means the Dodgers will go through the same thing. I have no idea what their farm systems looks like now, but I know that they have a lot of young studs under team control already in the majors, so even if they continue gutting the farm for the next year or two they'll still be really good, right?

And by sellouts I mean sellouts at the ballpark not some turn of phrase

The Dodgers got Darvish in case Kershaw isn't ready for the playoffs. Their rotation is already solid around an amazing team but they wanted more assurance and are still unlikely to win the world series

Darvish has been going downhill for a while now. Not really much of a pickup but yeah I guess he's a decent backup guy to have around

I was reading that the Dodgers didn't even give up any of their top three prospects to get Darvish

The Rockies should have traded for Jay Bruce because their next opponent is the Mets and that would have been interesting. But mostly because CarGo sucks. I wonder if they've fallen a bit too in love with Gerardo Parra, who's playing way over his head. Charlie Blackmon is the only OF they have who I'd say is a true everyday player. Maybe David Dahl will be good but his return just seems to get delayed repeatedly

Cargo has the lowest WAR in MLB. Second lowest is Chris Hermann with 188 truly atrocious plate appearances. He's ahead of #3 but they both say -1.1. The other -1.1 guy? Well it's our dear old friend Albert Pujols, now the worst player in the American League.

Albert signed that contract forever ago

Yeah, I know his WAR is awful and think to myself "How has he stuck around this long", but they have very limited OF flexibility since Ian Desmond can't stay healthy. I also know that they can't just stash him in the minors when better players are available, but if they get the depth back to be able to DFA him, would it really be that awful? It's the last year of his contract anyway and he has no trade value.

I hope they give David Dahl their full confidence when he comes back (which may mean having to eschew CarGo), but I'm not sure they'll do that. I'm not sure when he'll be back though or how that all works. Doesn't he need to be part of the 25-man roster before September call-ups or something like that to be eligible for the playoff roster?

They can't demote CarGo without offering him a full release because of his service time. I guess you also are just holding out hope that he turns it around by the end at some level.

Another thing I've seen suggested is that they might want to avoid the bad look of giving up on a guy with a few months left on the last year of his contract, especially when the team might make the playoffs after he's been a loyal player during so many bad years. It sucks, but I think almost every franchise is guilty at some point of giving too much love to a washed-up veteran who's hurting the team.

True and the odds of CarGo outperforming whatever AAA player they'd use in his place for the rest of the year are still fairly good. He's probably Done though.

you guys ever seen this guy before? I'm not much of a "youtuber" but I see him on reddit. He's this newer (I think) video maker who recreates food from tV shows and stuff. Here's one from BotW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgtpaBOkvrA

Please don't post about Zelda in here.

Season 3 of the Simpsons is good

The Simpsons is just a good ass show.

The Cardinals after not selling are 5.5 back of the division. They apparently did almost trade Lynn but decided to wait it out so hopefully something could still happen but I'm done expecting anything

CLUTCHlos GODzalez hit in the tying run in the 8th inning to prove everybody wrong. But I'm sure the Rockies will screw it up anyway

They won so the non seller Cards are also now 8.5 back of the second wild card. Not that I'm rooting against the Rockies or even the Brewers, I'm just stating a fact. I'm rooting for the Cards to either win the world series or to be humiliated for the rest of the season and the latter seems a lot more plausible

Nolan Arenado just did a little interview on MLB network and when they asked him about catching the Dodgers he said "I don't know, the Dodgers are probably gonna go 60-0 so we're just worried about ourselves." Gotta respect the honest perspective, he didn't even do the thing they usually do and say hey man, people are sleeping on us but we're good too. You just gotta admit that you're not gonna win 108 games so you're not gonna catch the Dodgers

Speaking of Nolan Arenado, I don't know how the hell he gets so many got dang RBIs. He led all of MLB the past two years and currently owns a huge lead for this season. Obviously he is very good and having Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu batting in front of you helps, but it's not like he's the only great hitter in a great top of the order.

I don't know if he'll keep up his 40 home-run streak, but he has been heating up lately and at least should easily get to 30 if he stays healthy for the rest of the season

At this point I'm rooting for the Giants to lose every game, but I don't want the team to get so crazy about losing that they fire all the coaches to shake things up. I just want a good draft.

Lmao at all these braves prospects weighing in at like 150. They may do well at the AA or AAA level but I can't put much faith into some dude the size of a 15 year old having any kind of real power at the mlb level. Altuve is a rarity

It's too bad the Cubs got hot, because the entire NL playoff field could be teams that haven't won a World Series (or haven't won it in forever) if the Brewers make it instead.

The AL, on the other hand, is going to suck to try to root for, with the Royals, Red Sox and Yankees all looking like they'll make it. I'll go crazy if it's a Red Sox-Cubs World Series