I used to play sonic 3 all the time as a kid. Unfortunately being a dumb kid, I never thought to press up + down to get past that stupid barrel that apparently a lot of other kids couldn't get past. At least I know now the rest of sonic 3 is good.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil"
~Donald Knuth
A truly prophetic sig...
I remember when Cybershell met the obstacle in his Sonic 3 & Knuckles let's play with an elaborate dramatic edit set to the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme, and talked the barrel up as one of the most annoying things in the game before continuing on with the gameplay and using the d-pad to get past it.
In the same kind of series, The Great Clement got to the area with the barrel, used practically no edits, and told the audience that it's obvious how to get by since there aren't many buttons on the controller to try, and said it shouldn't give people trouble.
Two kinds of people.
Seriously love the Miestas zeitgeist....
In the same kind of series, The Great Clement got to the area with the barrel, used practically no edits, and told the audience that it's obvious how to get by since there aren't many buttons on the controller to try, and said it shouldn't give people trouble.
I suppose it depends on what controller you're using to play with. I found this infamous Sonic 3 barrel fairly easy to figure out in the Sonic & Knuckles Collection PC port, since that version pretty much only used the arrow keys (for movement), space key (for jumping and stuff) and Enter key (for pausing the game). I imagine it's just as easy or even easier to figure out on the original SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive pad, especially if it's the basic one that doesn't come with additional X, Y and Z buttons.
In the likely event someone nowadays is playing Sonic 3 with a modern controller, such as the PS5, Xbox Series or Switch Pro controllers, then yeah, I can imagine they'll overthink this barrel puzzle and press all sorts of buttons and joystick clicks that the recent Sonic Origins version of Sonic 3 doesn't even use.
At 11/17/24 10:44 PM, jthrash wrote:In the same kind of series, The Great Clement got to the area with the barrel, used practically no edits, and told the audience that it's obvious how to get by since there aren't many buttons on the controller to try, and said it shouldn't give people trouble.
I suppose it depends on what controller you're using to play with. I found this infamous Sonic 3 barrel fairly easy to figure out in the Sonic & Knuckles Collection PC port, since that version pretty much only used the arrow keys (for movement), space key (for jumping and stuff) and Enter key (for pausing the game). I imagine it's just as easy or even easier to figure out on the original SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive pad, especially if it's the basic one that doesn't come with additional X, Y and Z buttons.
In the likely event someone nowadays is playing Sonic 3 with a modern controller, such as the PS5, Xbox Series or Switch Pro controllers, then yeah, I can imagine they'll overthink this barrel puzzle and press all sorts of buttons and joystick clicks that the recent Sonic Origins version of Sonic 3 doesn't even use.
Certainly. I for sure know I wasn't using a controller when I finally got to the point of playing real Sonic games (instead of silly Flash ones) in 2009. I have never had to deal with PS5 bullcrap before, but long after 2009 I remember playing Sonic 1 quite frequently on my XBOX 360 - and a bit of Sonic 2 two player - and yeah, lots of controls in games on that Sega collection I had could be pretty hard to figure out. It was on an XBOX 360 collection disc I bought that, of course, used a broader XBOX 360 controller.
Unless I took the time to deliberately open the controls guide menu and really tried to commit the information to memory before playing, my informed gameplay could go missing. Like if I tried to play Echo the Dolphin, and I had a minute to memorize a picture before forgetting what a critical button did. It's hard to explain.
Actually I've got something that I believe is much worse than the barrel in classic Sonic games, and it's quite insidious - the pipe junctions in Chemical Plant.
For the life of me, I can't get my head around whether there's actually any user control over where those machines send you or not, as in which of two other connected pipes you'd go from there. Because I could almost swear that holding down C will change them somehow, much in the same way that holding C in Sonic 1 demo sequences will disable the bot Sonic jumping and desync the automated Sonic. And the stupid XBOX 360 collection does not tell you that the C button does something on its Sonic port.
But yeah, if I happened to actually be annoyed about somebody giving commentary on the barrel being "obvious", I'd definitely blame Clement. He's the one who said it.
Seriously love the Miestas zeitgeist....
At 11/18/24 07:43 PM, Wardsmith wrote:At 11/17/24 10:44 PM, jthrash wrote:In the same kind of series, The Great Clement got to the area with the barrel, used practically no edits, and told the audience that it's obvious how to get by since there aren't many buttons on the controller to try, and said it shouldn't give people trouble.
I suppose it depends on what controller you're using to play with. I found this infamous Sonic 3 barrel fairly easy to figure out in the Sonic & Knuckles Collection PC port, since that version pretty much only used the arrow keys (for movement), space key (for jumping and stuff) and Enter key (for pausing the game). I imagine it's just as easy or even easier to figure out on the original SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive pad, especially if it's the basic one that doesn't come with additional X, Y and Z buttons.
In the likely event someone nowadays is playing Sonic 3 with a modern controller, such as the PS5, Xbox Series or Switch Pro controllers, then yeah, I can imagine they'll overthink this barrel puzzle and press all sorts of buttons and joystick clicks that the recent Sonic Origins version of Sonic 3 doesn't even use.
Certainly. I for sure know I wasn't using a controller when I finally got to the point of playing real Sonic games (instead of silly Flash ones) in 2009. I have never had to deal with PS5 bullcrap before, but long after 2009 I remember playing Sonic 1 quite frequently on my XBOX 360 - and a bit of Sonic 2 two player - and yeah, lots of controls in games on that Sega collection I had could be pretty hard to figure out. It was on an XBOX 360 collection disc I bought that, of course, used a broader XBOX 360 controller.
Unless I took the time to deliberately open the controls guide menu and really tried to commit the information to memory before playing, my informed gameplay could go missing. Like if I tried to play Echo the Dolphin, and I had a minute to memorize a picture before forgetting what a critical button did. It's hard to explain.
Actually I've got something that I believe is much worse than the barrel in classic Sonic games, and it's quite insidious - the pipe junctions in Chemical Plant.
For the life of me, I can't get my head around whether there's actually any user control over where those machines send you or not, as in which of two other connected pipes you'd go from there. Because I could almost swear that holding down C will change them somehow, much in the same way that holding C in Sonic 1 demo sequences will disable the bot Sonic jumping and desync the automated Sonic. And the stupid XBOX 360 collection does not tell you that the C button does something on its Sonic port.
But yeah, if I happened to actually be annoyed about somebody giving commentary on the barrel being "obvious", I'd definitely blame Clement. He's the one who said it.
I think another thing is that the face buttons on modern controllers generally follow the format of the SNES controller (ABXY) or the PlayStation controller (Cross Square Triangle Circle). The Genesis/Mega Drive controller is weird by today's standards, with a directional pad that sorta-kinda works like a control stick, but not really, and a single row of 3 buttons (ABC). Some people also had the one that adds a second row of buttons (XYZ) for Street Fighter II and other fighting games. Thus, it's pretty easy to map ports of SNES or PS1 games to modern controllers, not so much with Genesis/Mega Drive games.
I find Comix Zone pretty hard to play on anything other than an authentic Genesis controller because it actually uses the extra XYZ buttons and in most modern ports of the game, it is awkwardly mapped to some of the shoulder buttons and one of the face buttons, with seemingly no better alternative. On the other hand, Sonic 3D Blast's controls are MUCH more comfortable with an actual joystick to move Sonic around. Trust me, playing that game on the original Genesis/Mega Drive pad or even the SEGA Saturn pad without the joystick is a one-way ticket to debilitating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. There's a good reason most other 3D-ish games from that era used D-pad-friendly tank controls until Nintendo 64-like control sticks became the norm in modern controllers.
At 11/18/24 10:32 PM, jthrash wrote:At 11/18/24 07:43 PM, Wardsmith wrote:At 11/17/24 10:44 PM, jthrash wrote:In the same kind of series, The Great Clement got to the area with the barrel, used practically no edits, and told the audience that it's obvious how to get by since there aren't many buttons on the controller to try, and said it shouldn't give people trouble.
I suppose it depends on what controller you're using to play with. I found this infamous Sonic 3 barrel fairly easy to figure out in the Sonic & Knuckles Collection PC port, since that version pretty much only used the arrow keys (for movement), space key (for jumping and stuff) and Enter key (for pausing the game). I imagine it's just as easy or even easier to figure out on the original SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive pad, especially if it's the basic one that doesn't come with additional X, Y and Z buttons.
In the likely event someone nowadays is playing Sonic 3 with a modern controller, such as the PS5, Xbox Series or Switch Pro controllers, then yeah, I can imagine they'll overthink this barrel puzzle and press all sorts of buttons and joystick clicks that the recent Sonic Origins version of Sonic 3 doesn't even use.
Certainly. I for sure know I wasn't using a controller when I finally got to the point of playing real Sonic games (instead of silly Flash ones) in 2009. I have never had to deal with PS5 bullcrap before, but long after 2009 I remember playing Sonic 1 quite frequently on my XBOX 360 - and a bit of Sonic 2 two player - and yeah, lots of controls in games on that Sega collection I had could be pretty hard to figure out. It was on an XBOX 360 collection disc I bought that, of course, used a broader XBOX 360 controller.
Unless I took the time to deliberately open the controls guide menu and really tried to commit the information to memory before playing, my informed gameplay could go missing. Like if I tried to play Echo the Dolphin, and I had a minute to memorize a picture before forgetting what a critical button did. It's hard to explain.
Actually I've got something that I believe is much worse than the barrel in classic Sonic games, and it's quite insidious - the pipe junctions in Chemical Plant.
For the life of me, I can't get my head around whether there's actually any user control over where those machines send you or not, as in which of two other connected pipes you'd go from there. Because I could almost swear that holding down C will change them somehow, much in the same way that holding C in Sonic 1 demo sequences will disable the bot Sonic jumping and desync the automated Sonic. And the stupid XBOX 360 collection does not tell you that the C button does something on its Sonic port.
But yeah, if I happened to actually be annoyed about somebody giving commentary on the barrel being "obvious", I'd definitely blame Clement. He's the one who said it.
I think another thing is that the face buttons on modern controllers generally follow the format of the SNES controller (ABXY) or the PlayStation controller (Cross Square Triangle Circle). The Genesis/Mega Drive controller is weird by today's standards, with a directional pad that sorta-kinda works like a control stick, but not really, and a single row of 3 buttons (ABC). Some people also had the one that adds a second row of buttons (XYZ) for Street Fighter II and other fighting games. Thus, it's pretty easy to map ports of SNES or PS1 games to modern controllers, not so much with Genesis/Mega Drive games.
I find Comix Zone pretty hard to play on anything other than an authentic Genesis controller because it actually uses the extra XYZ buttons and in most modern ports of the game, it is awkwardly mapped to some of the shoulder buttons and one of the face buttons, with seemingly no better alternative. On the other hand, Sonic 3D Blast's controls are MUCH more comfortable with an actual joystick to move Sonic around. Trust me, playing that game on the original Genesis/Mega Drive pad or even the SEGA Saturn pad without the joystick is a one-way ticket to debilitating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. There's a good reason most other 3D-ish games from that era used D-pad-friendly tank controls until Nintendo 64-like control sticks became the norm in modern controllers.
OK, yeah, that is a lot of Sega Genesis knowledge. You're the real deal.
Seriously love the Miestas zeitgeist....
At 11/14/24 06:10 PM, xeiavica wrote:I used to play sonic 3 all the time as a kid. Unfortunately being a dumb kid, I never thought to press up + down to get past that stupid barrel that apparently a lot of other kids couldn't get past. At least I know now the rest of sonic 3 is good.
I think the barrels are funny in the sense that if you don't know how to work them you just look like an idiot jumping on it
Take it slow(poke).
Why are people writing whole essays about a barrel. Everybody knows Sonic is a momentum based platformer so you need to press up and down on the barrel.
When I first encountered it I was confused sure but I figured it out pretty quickly lol
That barrel is confusing at first, but it's been 30 years and plenty of guides and tips to get around it, so it has lost a lot of its intimidation factor.
Though for its time, it was the stuff of legends, though not necessarily in a good way.
Just stop worrying, and love the bomb.
There's also the Mystical Spike Pit. That was one Sonic the Hedgehog legend of yore...
Seriously love the Miestas zeitgeist....
My favorite part of the barrel is that Sega's taken advantage of it's infamy, and turned it into a mug. I swear not enough people mention this. https://segaservices.com/products/sonic-barrel-of-doom-mug/
Insert Witty Comment Here
I actually had my dad call a Sega Tipline to help me get past that damn barrel back in the day.
#memoryunlocked
От каждого по способностям, каждому по потребностям
At 11/14/24 06:10 PM, xeiavica wrote:I used to play sonic 3 all the time as a kid. Unfortunately being a dumb kid, I never thought to press up + down to get past that stupid barrel that apparently a lot of other kids couldn't get past. At least I know now the rest of sonic 3 is good.
One of the first few games I looked at guides for. And a manual moment.
Also Yuji Naka apologized for the Barrel of Doom which is honestly amazing.
At 11/21/24 05:30 PM, blackwind677 wrote:Also Yuji Naka apologized for the Barrel of Doom which is honestly amazing.
Okay, it's over. We can pack up now. That's the most perfect possible conclusion to this whole topic. We can't get any better than that.
Seriously love the Miestas zeitgeist....
