Sonic Adventure: A-Button Challenge - Gamma's Final Egg (0)
2MISSION FAIL.
So in my LB of SA1 about two and a half years ago, I advertised a series I was gonna do where I'd complete levels in Sonic Adventure while jumping as few times as possible. Well, I never did that, favouring such oddities as Let's Plays and Sonic-only runs of Heroes stages. So I've decided that now, of all times, I should remedy this. Welcome, one and all, to Let's Break Sonic Adventure In A Different Way: A-Button Challenges!... or the SA1 No-Jump Run for short.
So now we begin E-102 γ's playthrough, and I've got something to show for every one of his stages this week and next. Today's showcase is how much I suck at playing as a robot. I love his gameplay, and it's one of the most satisfying and interesting (albeit not the most intricate) radical playstyles the Sonic series has ever put out there. Right up there with the Werehog for me. But dammit I suck at shooters in general (just wait until I get into the Resident Evil series later this year. Hoo-boy is that gonna be interesting).
Gamma Physics:
Since no real trick is employed here, I thought I'd just cover the basic approach I'm taking to this metal man's levels. Gamma is a helluva lot slipperier, taller, and floatier than any other character in SA1. Add in the MODE CHANGE and you've got even more of a control-handfull. But we're not there yet.
I'd like to focus in for a bit on Gamma's mid-air floatiness and its uses: When you control Sonic and try to pull off something like I did at the start of Speed Highway, the way the hedgehog flies around and the arch he falls in feels very natural in relation to his motion, speed, and size. Gamma... does not. He goes too high, stays there for too long, and his trajectory parabola is screwy. I'm not here just to complain, though: the trick to future Gamma stages will be to learn and use these odd physics to help you, beginning with that weird-ass floaty jump. Note how Gamma moves coming off the spring at 0:18 and 0:55, and how fluidly he turns without actually moving in those directions during this "flight." Technically, this is very similar to how Amy and Big's jumps are calculated, but the key is that Gamma is put in much more acrobatic situations than either of them.... which come to think of it is just plain weird.