Sonic 4

[Kolzig]

Hmm, it has been revealed that Sonic team is apparently not behind Sonic 4. The developer of the upcoming episodic games is Dimps, the developer that made the Sonic Rush and Sonic Advance games.

Well, Sonic team is not The original great Sonic Team anymore, but Dimps' handheld console Sonic games were not good in my opinion. I have played all of them except the second Sonic Rush DS game and the Bioware Sonic.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Kolzig

[syntheticgerbil]

Well, Sonic team is not The original great Sonic Team anymore, but Dimps' handheld console Sonic games were not good in my opinion. I have played all of them except the second Sonic Rush DS game and the Bioware Sonic.

I think they also developrf Sonic Pocket Adventure sort of secretly as well, but I'm not sure, since most of those stages were ripped of directly from Sonic 2. I played up to somewhere within Sonic Advance 3 and got sick of the series. The only Advance game that didn't seem like a chore to play was the first one, and even then it didn't come anywhere near the fun of Sonic 2 or 3 hooked up with the Knuckles Cartridge.

[Chuckpebble]

Well, growing up, I hated Sonic. That was a product of those terrible Nintendon't commercials though.

I've since come to pity the poor guy to the point of actually having an interest in playing the original games. This game may actually end up scratching that itch. I'm actually looking forward to trying it out.

Megaman 9/10, Contra 4, Blaster Master and the like are right up my alley, if this new Sonic aligns itself neatly with this group of games I can see myself getting it.

Oh, and for all of the people who are rightfully taking the wait and see approach, I give you this:

Edited February 17, 2010 by Chuckpebble

[Patters]

Dimps worked on Street Fighter IV, I think. It will be interesting to see the result.

[Moelman]

Definitely a day one purchase for me, but I am not gonna set myself up to be disappointed. Sonic 2 was the first game I can remember playing so definitely a lot of fond memories with the 2d Sonic games.

[Korax]

pVI6Agm1-kY

[syntheticgerbil]

The funny thing is, I feel that way about Sonic no matter which way you talk about it.

[elmuerte]

Sure Sonic sucks, but it's fast, very fast. Mario is nothing compared to Sonic.

[Xeneth]

I have played all of them except the second Sonic Rush DS game and the Bioware Sonic.

Oh god... I completely forgot about that! There was a friggin' Sonic RPG on the DS, wasn't there?! ...Anyone give that a shot? <.< Was it any good? >.>

Shit, they've tried a LOT of different ways to make the poor guy RELEVANT again, haven't they? I can't say I've ever been much of a fan, I was a Nintendo kid, and lacked any way to get exposed to the blue hedgehog outside the occasional visit to a friends, and I was ALWAYS pissed off that a 2D game revolving around breakneck level traversal would be designed to lock the "camera" horizontally so that your avatar is ALWAYS in the center bar of the screen! Fully half the playfield is filled with irrelevant data 75% of the time... As I said, I never really have a chance to play for that long, but it always felt like it was equal parts level memorization and execution, because it encourages you to go so quickly that it's almost impossible to avoid danger unless you already know it's there.

I guess the likes of Mario generally can't get going SO fast as to make the framing of the level that big of a deal, but I could swear that some platformer like Uniracer was really good about it...

If this new 2D sonic twigs to this and eases the "camera" to look a little in the vector that you're travelling on relative to speed, I'd be stoked to give him another shot.

[Garple]

Sure Sonic sucks, but it's fast, very fast. Mario is nothing compared to Sonic.

Oh snap! Well...have fun missing out on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy games with your Genesis, punk!

[Chuckpebble]

Hilarious MEGA 64 bit on youtube...

I watched this earlier today. The skit is freekin' awesome. It is almost eclipsed by the hilarious comments wherein the internet shows its disappointingly low average IQ level.

[elmuerte]

Oh snap! Well...have fun missing out on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy games with your Genesis, punk!

I was talking about the Pizzaria Mario on the corner of 5th and Main, they're damn slow.

[syntheticgerbil]

The skit is freekin' awesome.

The skeet is frickin' awesome.

[Garple]

The skeet is frickin' awesome.

Ew, semen joke.

[Xeneth]

How uncouth!

...Then again, Sonic and "friends" frequently run around without any pants on, so...

[Thyroid]

Some new details.

If you don't get all the Chaos Emeralds, you'll receive a classic "Try Again" ending. Getting all the emeralds results in a cliffhanger tease for Episode 2

I guess an episode is the new game's equivalent of a Zone?

[Thyroid]

So the game's out. Has anyone played it? I really want to, but damn Sony and their ridiculous payment system.

Most reviews have been gushing, but some of the hardcore whiners make me want to murder entire continents.

I can't believe this is getting reviewed so well. The speed is well off and he doesn't carry any of his speed like he should, if you let go of the pad for half a nanosecond he basically stops, the lock-on attack is horrible and annoying, his jumps as all floaty and don't feel right, the music is awful, the pre-rendered graphics look absolutely crap and the level design feels all wrong.

This doesn't feel like Sonic, I'd be tempted to say it plays just as badly as any other recent Sonic game. With the exception of the DS Rush games which felt pretty spot on.

Like he should grates. It seems this guy walked in, saw, declared himself unimpressed and walked-out. Didn't even try. Other people say Sega should revert back to good ol' sprites.

Maybe he has valid points. Joystiq agrees with him. I'm just very annoyed by the "Impress me!" attitude that a lot of people are taking. I didn't know Sonic had such a purist set of loudmouths chasing after him.

IGN are complaining that a 1200 MPs game is "too short". They never specify the amount of time, but they just say it's short. I'm going to play the odds here and say it takes a few hours, as they still frequently level that criticism at Telltale's games, which, for the money, aren't that short at all.

But how do you guys feel about it? I remember loving Sonic 3 when I was 5 (it was one of my first games), and though I never got past Zone 2 I still would like a good Sonic game.

[Kolzig]

I have a lot of love for the old Megadrive Sonic games, I have never actually played "the true Sonic 3" with the Sonic&Knuckles add on.

I will get the game at some point, but not right now as the backlog is big and this will be in Wii Shop Channel waiting anyway. It's not going away so no need to rush in and buy it.

[brkl]

From the Giant Bomb quicklook the gameplay just looks a bit boring, the synths in the music sound right but the music itself isn't good. It just looks dull.

[mikemariano]

I'm at work right now, but I'm curious to watch this video titled "Sonic 4 physics and gameplay complaints".

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Twelve minutes! I hope this guy becomes the next Phantom Menace review guy.

The IGN video review of Sonic 4 made the game look good enough, but if it doesn't play well that's an extremely big turn-off for me.

Keep in mind, folks, Sonic has never been perfect. The first three games contained many moments of aimless drowning, absurdly tricky jumps, and other annoyances. But you could ignore all of that and just play Green Hill Zone over and over and still have fun. I don't know if Sonic 4 is giving us any additional fun worth buying.

[syntheticgerbil]

Keep in mind, folks, Sonic has never been perfect. The first three games contained many moments of aimless drowning, absurdly tricky jumps, and other annoyances. But you could ignore all of that and just play Green Hill Zone over and over and still have fun. I don't know if Sonic 4 is giving us any additional fun worth buying.

I don't have anything to say about Sonic 4 because I'm never going to play it, but I disagree with your assessment of the first three games, as I think what you are pointing out is only common in the first Sonic, while 2 and 3 (and Knuckles) fix all of the problems by the end of the series.

The drowning is just part of the territory of water levels while tricky jumps almost only factor in if you are taking the usual "high road" in Sonic games which leads you to better secrets, shorter levels, and whatever else. Sonic 2 should be pretty easy to play in one sitting for most people who are moderately good at games to get up to Metropolis Zone, while things don't get unfair or cruel until that Aero Zone level and the last boss. Chemical plant might be the only trip up until then, but it's the second level.

I feel like Sonic 3 with the Knuckles add-on is pretty straight forward and all around forgiving compared to any Sonic game to that point. You can save each level, plus the added shields are ridiculously powerful. Also the levels are all pretty clearly designed.

I don't play Sonic games anymore because I feel like Hirokazu Yasuhara was the reason they were ever any good, and besides that, the few Sonic Advance games I did play were pretty lame. If I'm not mistaken, Dimps is also the creator of this new Sonic 4 series?

Edited October 16, 2010 by syntheticgerbil

[Thyroid]

I'm at work right now, but I'm curious to watch this video titled "Sonic 4 physics and gameplay complaints".

All the guy does is say he shouldn't get prissy, and then proceeds to compare Sonic 4 to Sonic 1 and show how different they are. Maybe one or two criticisms are valid, but "It's not the same!" surely isn't.

Keep in mind, folks, Sonic has never been perfect. The first three games contained many moments of aimless drowning, absurdly tricky jumps, and other annoyances. But you could ignore all of that and just play Green Hill Zone over and over and still have fun. I don't know if Sonic 4 is giving us any additional fun worth buying.

Nostalgia makes everything perfect. And people are complaining that the first zone is called Splash Hill, and not Green Hill. Ugh.

[mikemariano]

I disagree with your assessment of the first three games, as I think what you are pointing out is only common in the first Sonic, while 2 and 3 (and Knuckles) fix all of the problems by the end of the series.

Ah, now that I split those games out in my mind I think you're right. I remember slowly, carefully jumping over lava pits in Sonic 1 and thinking, "this is exactly the opposite of what I thought this game would be." I got lost a lot in Sonic 2/3/Knuckles, but being stuck going in circles is better than being stuck over pits of lava---because when you're lost in a Sonic 2 level you're still moving.

I'm wondering how that "torch" zone will play in Sonic 4. Slowly lighting up a level might work in other platformers, but in Sonic you don't know what's ahead of you most of the time, anyway. Being in the dark doesn't seem like too much of a disadvantage.

[CaptainFish]

Having a wide variety of gameplay doesn't hurt sonic games. Yes there are parts where there is precision platforming. It's a good thing.

Just finished episode 1. Still have one more emerald to go. Overall it's a pretty good game with a lot of variety in gameplay. It's really derivative in spots, which is a shame, because I feel like I enjoyed the new additions a lot more. A lot of the bosses are older bosses with an angry mode that causes them to flip out. There is more than just 4 zones in this game. Not much more, but there's some closure.

The one thing that irks me is the homing attack. I still don't think it belongs in this type of game, even though I love it in the daytime gameplay of Unleashed. There are lots of times when you will lose lock, hit jump only to have Sonic nudge toward an enemy and lose all his rings. It wreaks havoc when you're trying to do precision timed jumping. You'll end up hitting jump too early and flying in to pits more than you should (i.e. never). Most of the bosses are rehashes, so it's possible and often less messy to beat them with out the homing attack.

The bosses are good looking. You can no longer just repeatedly jump on Robotic Nick to finish him off. He has an invincibilty timer after hitting him, that isn't actually depicted in anyway. The bosses are also strangely without sounds, outside of their attacks and damage farts. I experienced some silent explosions.

I still think that they should look at the metagame aspects of Sonic. The same way RE 5 was really replay friendly even though it wasn't as good a game as 4, Sonic could really shine with some changes. Add in challenges and downloadable ghosts. Design challenges that encourage different paths, and add some in that change ring layouts and objects. I really believe a Sonic game designed around a perfect run, has some merit.

Edited October 15, 2010 by CaptainFish

[Tanukitsune]

I played the original saga pretty recently and I must say that so far it seems like this is Sonic Remix instead of a new Sonic game...

The first stage is a remix of Green Hill, the second is a rehash of Casinopolis, the third of Hydrocity zone and the level I'm at now is a rehash of Metropolis...

Even the enemies and bosses are rehashes! Sure, there are a few new ones, but most of them are just HD versions of the classic ones...

You know... if the future of Sonic is going to be recycling Sonic 1-3, I'd rather go back to Werehogs... at least that had some originality in it...