Eff you~! D
°<
*I'll make this post actually worthwhile, for now, >MFW.*
Alright, this time around there's a little bit less (more like it'll probably be missing all-together) of hard data, but this should go over some of the ideas and things that people have gone through and will go through when playing Sonic in a competitive environment.
I would like for each level to get it's own sub-category. It makes sense, from something like "getting started," "mid-level play," and "high/top-level play."
First with getting started, I think it's obvious that this section should go over some of the challenges that new players will face when starting out with Sonic.
I want to make this apply to everyone though, and I'm sure that there have been/are some people whose competitive campaign has not originally started with Brawl or Sonic. I will make sure it applies to them too, but let's say we just have a Third Strike player who for whatever reason decided he wanted to play Brawl, and particularly play Sonic. He should already have an idea of what it means to be successful and/or be a good player. Admittingly the getting started tab may not benefit them much, if at all, but I still feel that everybody deserves to have an idea of the challenge they'll face regardless of their origin.
Without further adieu...
Getting Started
The Challenge
Welcome one and all to Sonic the Hedgehog in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is our understanding that some of you might have a little bit of experience either with another character or another competitive scene; it is also expected that there will be some of you who have absolutely no experience with competition dealing with video games. Either way, it is essential that whatever your reason be that you have an idea of some of the things you'll come to face during your first steps, and forevermore so long as you stay with your decision to play as Sonic.
People with a background will find this easier to break into, and are probably already aware of what it means to be a good player; in particular, to be better than the opponent(s). Sonic is the type of character who is made by the player. That means that the trial is very unforgiving and there is very little place for error. Due to Sonic's playstyle, the player is required to always be conscious of his or her actions, and to adapt to the situation and respond accordingly. This applies at low-level play, and especially moreso at high-top level play were both players are expected to have an understanding of the overall game.
Overcoming the Challenge
With that said, it is not out of the question to be discouraged not once, but many times. It is a lot of work, and it isn't until so much later that the effort is returned with rewards. Many have taken the trial, and just as many have given up; either on Sonic or on themselves.
You have your reasons, no question. If you don't, you'll find out what brought you to Sonic soon enough. You may also find that Sonic may not fit you, if that's the type of person you end up being; again assuming you have yet to find your drive. Regardless, if you already have a definite inspiration, be it childhood memories, seeking a challenge, or to liberate yourself of bad habits, you'll probably want to remember it for when it does get tough. Believe it that it will.
Remember it well though, one cannot go for long without their personal inspiration. No one person who does anything with passion will tell you that they're doing it just because. This is no exception.
The Do's and Do nots
Even a vetaran will have habits, or develop them over time. New players have it especially bad. If you hope to see improvement in your overall gameplay, it is best that you constantly beat it into your head that you need to work on a good base, and study what it means to have a good mindset.
Sonic is a diverse character. It is all too easy to forget that we can fall into a pattern, or limit ourselves to one certain playstyle. The best way to counter this is to learn every single thing that Sonic can do at any given time. To give an example, one may see that recovery is as simple as a Spring Jump, but that option alone is limited that your whereabouts are predictable and leave you open for punishment. One may not see or remember that Sonic can wall-jump, use Homing attack to either stall or give another angle of recovery, et cetera. On the offensive, ASC is one way of approaching, but the opponent has a plethora of ways to counter this one act. The same goes for many other of Sonic's approaches to be honest. It will be covered in other sections of this guide, but in short, Sonic needs to keep the opponent guessing by having more than one approach; this may require you just run in and dash attack, grab, SDR, and so on.
Take your time in studying Sonic's options, and take the time to practice some of the techs. If it takes you 5 minutes or five hours to get something down, just remember that when you finally break it in, you release the shackles that held you down before and become that much stronger.
One steadfast person is good, two determined people or an entire group or community of them is infinitely times better. If you can, find someone who has the same will to improve their gameplay. This can be either a newcomer or a battle-hardened veteran, find somebody who can call out your habits and punish you for them. It's a symbiotic relationship that can prove beneficial to the both of you, and there's very little substitute other than being very aware of yourself or being able to record yourself in video format and dissecting yourself.
Your First Tournament Experience
For some people, Brawl in particular may be their first game. Some others may already know what it means to compete in a tournament but may not have played with Sonic before. It is important to understand; especially when first starting out, that there will always be somebody who is just better than us.
The first tournament should be an experience not of shame, self-doubt, arrogance, ignorance, or anything of that nature, but rather one of realization and education. The mindset that a player has will most certainly play a factor in performance, but it is essential to remember that either extreme will only prove to be the downfall of the player. Going in expecting to lose badly tacks on a huge burden on the mental state of the player then and sometime after the experience, likewise thinking you're "hot stuff" will only set yourself up for serious disappointment. Even those who are naturally talented can only get so far before they eventually need to practice. Try to find the right balance where you will do your best, and use that to gauge where you currently stand around your local community and improve from there. Recall that you wouldn't see much progress for a long time, but as long as you choose to stick with it and condition yourself to improve you will eventually climb that ladder.
Mid-Level Play
The Drive
If you're reading this after a couple of weeks, if not months of play with Sonic, you've probably begun to understand just what it means to play Sonic. Not easy is it?
By now, you should moreorless have mastered... oh, let's say maybe 65% of Sonic's game? More importantly, you've begun to notice the importance of understanding this game as a whole. If not, you may want to start.
Again, players who hail from different communities will already have this idea down, but the newcomers are beginning to realize just how little they know. It is true afterall, "
ignorance is bliss." At this point, you can compare yourself to some of the more seasoned players and see how fluent they are with their movements, and just how commanding of an assault they can have when they get their moments.
All at the same time, why is it that despite how hard you try, you just cannot draw nearly the same success?
If the hints haven't been enough, it isn't necessarily because you suck. Try to put yourself in other peoples' shoes. Other people being your opponents, the seasoned Sonic players, or even some of the newer people in the community. Yes, it's possible that you can learn a thing or two just by observation. It might even pay to take a more active role in your career. Ask questions, interrogate the superstars, tell them how far they've come and with a little bit of a push they can go that extra nine yards. Find out that it isn't nearly as clearcut as you may have originally thought.
Most people will tell you that where they are now, it's been a long and tough road, and they are nowhere near where they want to be even after years of play. Newbies and veterans are both alike in the sense that they want to get better. They are also similar in that they have a certain motivation. Veteran players will have solidified their reasons, it doesn't necessarily have to be logical to anybody else but them. As mentioned before, anybody who has a lot of time logged will tell you that it's a constant struggle to improve and not go stale. Anyone who is a true champion will tell you of their past experience in full detail in the hopes that you listen and use their experience to better yourself; perhaps prevent their past mistakes. Let's face it, nobody is perfect, and we have all done things that some to this day might still regret, and it's no question that you yourself may find yourself in those kind of situations; it will continue to happen as you learn more and become more aware of the game.
Self Realization
Recall earlier how Sonic may not be for everyone? Either sometime in the recent past, or in your soon future, your faith has been tested. Regardless of whether or not it has, it will (again) soon be tested.
As one takes it upon them self to learn more and more, it becomes apparent just how difficult it is. It is in some way peculiar to say that Sonic may be "limited," but compared to some of the other available characters in the game, he leaves much to be desired.
Is it strange to see that a Sonic guide, of all things, would leave such disclaimers? Is it right to believe that even the most adamant of Sonic fans can be incompatible with their favorite character? Is it questionable to find yourself doubting your original motive and your future? Certainly not.
If you have asked yourself something along these lines, this just means that you are beginning to understand what it means to be a top-level Sonic. No one with a couple of titles under their belt will tell you that Sonic is the perfect character. It is important to understand though that even with these shortcomings and faults, Sonic can still be the perfect character to fit the person in question.
This is what it means to have your faith tested. Even those who may not understand the game in whole will see that Sonic is limited in a few ways. To mention one, his damage output. compared to something Snake can put out, it just pales in comparison. It isn't unfair to make the comparison either, Snake deals damage through raw power. Diddy may have comparable power behind his attacks, but the difference is that Diddy has a different set of tools; mainly his bananas, that allow him access to certain set-ups which can build up.
That may be Sonic's only short-coming, if one wishes to see it as such. Everything else, and probably even the aforementioned, is up for debate. Take notice in that Sonic really has no direct approach. There is no one thing Sonic can do the entire match and have it work consistently; at least not against a player who is worth their salt. Sonic must constantly adapt to the situation and his opponent to deal damage. On paper, his range and poor damage output make it look impossible to get in. The thing to remember is that in practice, Sonic's sheer selection of options allow him to toy with his opponent and commit to an action, which Sonic can hence forth punish.
What all this is saying though is that you just have to work for each and every victory. You can again see some of the characters who are "better equipped" quote end-quote, and see that even with very little conscious play that they still get pretty far.
Once you see this, you may just ask yourself "why am I playing Sonic again? I see this and I understand that if I weren't doing this I 'could' be doing better..." It's at that point that the decision is yours. Again, it may be strange that a Sonic Guide may point you in another direction, but unless your inspiration is true it is best that you find something else to do. Really, you as a competitive player are suppose to maximize your chances of winning. Sonic is one way to go about claiming victories; just as the other characters are another way of getting to the top. Despite this, if you've come to accept that Sonic fits your playstyle best, and if you are absolutely sure that you have the determination to put in effort to outplay your opponents every step of the way, then by all means let nothing stop you from reaching your goal, your dreams. Whoever tells you that the sky is the limit has not seen what's beyond the clouds.
But enough with the motivational speech... It is important to understand that even though it may seem unfair, some of the other characters put in just much as work, if not moreso than Sonic, and can still get places.
It is important to understand just as well you may have it.
Options Select
Have you ever felt sorry for anybody else? Perhaps a new player, or perhaps you see somebody who plays a more limited character? Don't be afraid to say it, this game is not the most balanced fighter out there, and it's clear that some character have bigger flaws that hold them far back. It is debatable for some whether or not the flaws may be too plentiful, or too harsh to allow them to truly succeed. To this day, neither proves to apply to Sonic, but right now this isn't about Sonic.
Let's take a look at Link. He seems like a combat-ready warrior, fashioned with arrows, bombs, a boomerang that can summon the wind, a sword and shield at hand ready to fend off any opponent, right? If you look past all that though, you will see that he is heavy... perhaps so much so that it takes away so much of his recovery to the point that pressuring him offstage may just be a given for anyone else. With all that gear on too, it makes him very slow and committed.
Forget not that Sonic's recovery is very diverse, and somewhat effective. Imagine if Sonic's Spring Jump only carried him a quarter of the distance... Well, it could go on, but if you don't already get it, understand just how much work someone else can put in to get just as far. This applies to even some of the better characters.
At low-level play, and with opponents of equal skill-level, it may seem that one character may just have no way of losing. There is always "this one move" that is just used and abused and there doesn't seem to be anything that can be done about. At top-level play, this may not apply as heavily, but it can still have it moments where it shines. It can also show itself when there is a gap in skill and one player may be a lot better than another. At the same time it may also be difficult to see. If we're still assuming top-level play, and both characters seem to go even, it may be that one player is just so ever slightly better than his opponent. It could also be that they're playing an even matchup. It could even just be that one opponent is so much better than their opponent but the character they play is just so limited or cannot deal with certain aspects of that particular matchup that it doesn't look like much is going on at that moment; and perhaps for the entire match.
Back to Sonic, we can see that Sonic is most certainly equipped for every situation. Hopefully the guide will have gone over some of that previously, and go into more detail later, but it is not impossible to see that some things can hold back Sonic in certain places.
Let's bring Lucario into this. We see a character who overtime gets stronger the longer he lives. We also see that he has some nice range to his attacks. Let's not forget that he's pretty quick.
Why mention these traits in particular?
They take advantage of Sonic's few weaknesses. Heavily at that.
Sonic already had a problem with killing. His range is also pitiful. Sonic may be quick in movement, but his attack speed kind of falls short of this.
It wouldn't be a problem if Sonic didn't have one of these, or all of them to a lesser degree, but because he does, and because Sonic is only a mid-weight character, it is commonly seen that Lucario is just an awful matchup for the hedgehog. The only way around this is to understand Lucario's options and constantly outplay the opponent by getting him to commit. This is why it was mentioned earlier that it is important to understand the game, because it definitely helps to have a field of expertise outside of Sonic. With the right knowledge, the bad matchup can be made even, but no amount of knowledge will prepare you for the impending brutality, only experience can do that; a lot of it at that.
On the opposite end; though very rare, Sonic can have the advantageous end of the matchup. Even still, there isn't much room for horseplay. Either due to Sonic's playstyle, how it comes into play in that particular matchup, or the skill-gap, never underestimate the opponent and take heed to everything that happens. You may find that you are losing a matchup you "shouldn't be losing," but either from lack of knowledge or a cocky attitude, you can lose if the opponent has a more steadfast mindset. It is equally important to learn the common and difficult matchups for Sonic, just as it is to understand what it takes to win an advantageous matchup. In some cases, it's that small tidbit that takes you ahead. Don't forget that for those cases, your opponent essentially becomes you.
Top-Level Play
TBA
TBH, I want the consent and approval on everybody on this. I [Kinzer] consider myself a high mid-level Sonic player, and slightly above average as an overall player. I only have an idea of what it means to be a top-level player, let alone one of the high-caliber Sonic players.
Espy, I'm looking at you in particular. At this point in time, you are the definite goal, and you have set forth what everybody should shoot past. If you have anything to write, I look forward to reading it, and I hope that it can contribute to teh guide and everybody else that takes interest.
At the same time, if people want to see me as a top-level Sonic player despite how little I travel and how poorly I place, I will humbly do my best to see what I can come up with and see if I can come up with something that can help even the most ascended of Sonic players on improving.
Though I'd be foolish to not mention anybody else. I know so many of you have things to say, things that can help. I'm just calling out Espy because he happens to be the easiest person to seek top-notch advice from. I did say that everybody does have something to offer and that if we could all be one person, we could probably make an unstoppable force.
Take Espy's precise offensive, Speed's gridiron defense, Goggles' multitude of enigmatic tricks, Trent's solid base, perhaps my knowledge, and...
... Well, you get the idea, I hope. Again, I'm not intentionally leaving anyone out of this, I just want to see that before I retire that we can have a definite layout for everyone to follow so that we can see that Sonic succeeds until the end of time... or whenever the next fighter comes out that has Sonic; whichever happens first ya know.
