Topic: Sonic Advance - Sonic Colors Maps' sizes

[Cyartog959]

Those Sonic games have been great to have their maps seen, but playing through them is more enjoyable!

I've seen Sonic Advance's maps' sizes, and I was rather a bit disappointed to see them not larger/longer than Sonic 3 & Knuckles' maps, for any skilled player could, and many have, easily conquer them in less than minutes. Sure, they're all neat, but not truly long.

Then came Sonic Advance 2, and corrected the maps' length complaints people sent by having them six times larger, and I've seen how larger and longer they all have gotten! I was completely unsure how longer or shorter they could be, because their sizes weren't documented yet, but the former turned out true, and I loved the greater, longer length!

Even Egg Utopia Zone's Maps stand at their horizontal length range in the 30,000s, which not many games did... yet.

Sonic Rush went in, later on, and gave us the more longer Dead Line Zone, beating Egg Utopia's sizes by a more couple thousand pixels longer, nearing the 40,000 range, horizontally, that is.

Ok, Night Carnival, Act 2's length reached its greater length at about 41,948 pixels wide, but Dead Line Act 2 came close as the second longest level in the game.

Later again, Sonic Colors' DS version seemed to reach its longest level status yet. That would be Asteroid Coaster Act 2, reaching it at a whopping 44,256 pixels wide, and I see how its been a long ride, so to speak. Even speedrunners tried to conquer it as fast as they could, even going under 2 minutes & 30 seconds. Very impressive.

I previously thought any 2D game(not counting Metroidvanias in the mix) could try to top what size I hadn't seen yet, because they weren't documented yet, even Freedom Planet could've been that, but given the game was run on Clickteam's MMF2 engine, I strongly doubt their maps are close to that long size, cause that engine's size limit was at about 32,767, both horizontal and vertical(which didn't seem possible for lesser computers at that time, I can understand that).

So, I ask you this, even though some aren't fond of long levels, what is it you liked best about conquering them with what strategies used to do it?

[G.E.R.]

Cyberstation in Sonic Superstars has an original size 257993x19962 pixels, it's 4 times more max jpg size.
It was necessary to remove half map to bottom area of the map image.

[Cyartog959]

Cyberstation in Sonic Superstars has an original size 257993x19962 pixels, it's 4 times more max jpg size.
It was necessary to remove half map to bottom area of the map image.

OK...

I'm not quite fluent on this, but, what I can't grasp is the tantamount of 3D made into 2.5D for such maps to regular 2D maps in actual size, that is to say tileset & layout size wise.

I'm kinda shocked about that level's actual size, but I kinda know whatever 3D levels made kinda don't count to 2D game maps' actual length when playing them.

When viewed on any television, real handheld, or computer screen, regardless of screen ratio, the environments' 3D models closely look like how a 2D side-scrolling platform level is, but how they're viewed on the engine they're made from, you kinda spoke as if, well, they're far bigger than what we saw in-game... I think.

I just don't actually know how comparable to any actual length in their completion times, regardless of speed, when playing them. If only I could connect such comparisons between them.

I... kinda need some clarity on that matter. I'm a bit baffled.

[Cyartog959]

That's a fascinating breakdown of Sonic maps and their evolution in scale! Long levels like those in Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Rush, and Sonic Colors DS can be incredibly satisfying to conquer, especially when they test both speed and precision. What I enjoy most about tackling them is the sense of flow you get when mastering the level design—finding the fastest routes, chaining boosts, and nailing those perfectly timed jumps can make even enormous levels feel smooth and rewarding.

The strategy I lean on is patience during the first few runs to explore the routes and mechanics, then refining it with practice until I can sprint through sections without hesitation. In Sonic games, the challenge of balancing speed with control is what makes long levels shine; you’re not just racing against the clock, but also your own skill ceiling. And nothing feels better than hitting that perfect line through a massive stage!

That's a neat strategy to follow! Many people that played such levels that get longer and longer tend to feel more hesitant in finishing them, even in their blind runs, then, falter quite more in trying to get to the goal.

The maps from "Sonic Rush Adventure", the main stages, that is, from what I've seen, were designed to be a bit far more straightforward in harnessing the Boost, but the consequence, they're made shorter to finish than Rush's levels, many, at least, despite few made larger in size.

They were less labyrinthine, cut down the sense of flow that made the Boost kinda less enjoyable, and made less alternate routes to take, which is the point of having longer, larger levels, not to mention having the fun in taking them in repeated playthroughs for multiple characters.

Made the adventure less fun, too, even though the amount of written dialogue to convey some lore and filler chatter were crammed in to accommodate Sonic and Tails' time being stranded in Blaze's home dimension.

I have no quarrel of storyline exposition and lore in games, though. It was the overall writing vision, pacing, and execution that dragged that game down. At least, the writing there kept everyone in-character within their personalities.

By comparison, Plant Kingdom's maps were made quite shorter than Leaf Storm's, which is, to me a letdown. A skilled Sonic player using Boost a lot could clear them in less than a minute, tops, compared to past 2D Sonic games having maps in many levels that were beaten in that same estimate.

I'm kinda sure whatever upgraded proprietary computer tech Dimps had in making those Sonic games at that time benefited them to making such longer levels, but that stopped as they made more different games for later systems.

People expected slightly longer maps time and again, but prior to us knowing their sizes and being able to chart more larger maps, their expectations briefly changed.

Yet, still, the persistence to withstand longer and larger levels can't truly go away. All it takes for people to get used to them is some gradual adaptation.