The Sega Blognik has just announced that Sonic 4 was just released on PSN, was on Wii yesterday, and will be on XBLA tomorrow. I haven’t gotten a chance to play it yet (middle of the school day and all) but I’m really excited. Anyone else gonna pick it up?
Eurogamer gave it a 9/10, which is encouraging. Apparently it’s finally a Sonic game in the old mold.
Got it. It’s just like old sonic. I think I may have overestimated how much I liked old sonics though because the game is fairly frustrating to me because I’m not quick to react to stuff and the controls are a little weird but if you liked sonic before you’re going to like this guaranteed.
Oh it’s also pretty expensive. $15 I think I paid.
How many episodes will this thing be eventually? $15 an episode? Should be more like $5.
Four is the planned number, I think. It could be 5. But 4 * 15 = 60 = the price of your usual new game.
Anyway, the game is very good, short (about the length of the Genesis games in total time played, maybe a bit shorter than 3 and Knuckles) but good. I can’t help but feel they took “old mold” a tiny bit too seriously though, they lost a lot of features between then and now. I wrote a review for GameFAQs, but I can’t submit it until next Tuesday because it’s considered a “detailed review” and those can’t be submitted for 7 days post release. I’ll spoiler it for anyone interested, warning, it’s about 1800 words long, but it sums up my feelings nicely.
[spoiler]Speed Back to the Past With Sonic… but Perhaps a Little Too Far
Sonic is back! After what many consider a long hiatus in quality from the beloved franchise Sonic the Hedgehog 4 brings back the days of the good old Genesis titles. It’s fun, it’s running and jumping, and most importantly, it’s NOT about speed, but rather momentum. However, there are some elements one cannot help but feel are a step backwards in the franchise, and this is in relation to Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, not in reference to the more modern games.
Graphics:
There’s really not much to say here, it looks like Sonic 1 would have looked like had it been first made today. The graphics are beautiful, and the production values are high, especially when you consider it’s a $15 game. There are a few quirks, Sonic’s jump seems a tad off, and the running animation alternates between good and slightly strange depending on your mood. But most of these issues are minor and almost unnoticeable unless you specifically look for it. I never had any trouble differentiating enemies, terrain, and obstacles in the foreground from the beautiful backgrounds like some modern platformers. Everything important stands out nicely, without ruining the aesthetic with a blatant “THIS IS IMPORTANT! LOOK OVER HERE” sign.
Story:
This game has basically no story. This was an intentional design decision to appeal to many old gamers. But this is where we start getting into the “too far backwards” part of the argument. Sonic 2 and 3 have more narrative cohesion than this. Sonic 2 wasn’t as good as 3 in these terms, clearly, but at least had transitions for some levels, most noticeably the Sky Chase -> Wing Fortress -> Death Egg section, in addition in most of the levels you can infer some kind of connection as to how Sonic got there. 3 stepped it up, its story opens with a short, voiceless, and very effective cutscene. Furthermore, the scene transitions made it explicit how each zone connected (even if without them some of them would be a leap in logic).
Sonic 4, unfortunately, does away with these touches. While there is SOME cohesion, (the Lost Labyrinth presumably leads into a secret entrance into Robotnik’s base in Mad Gear Zone), there are simply too few levels for there to be meaningful inferred transitions without the aid of short intro/exit sequences like Sonic 3 had. Add to this the fact that they removed cutscenes entirely (except the short ending and a <b>brief</b> sequence between Mad Gear and the inevitable final zone) and you have a game that feels very watered down. Some may like it that way, if you thought the moment Sonic went down hill was when Knuckles appeared in 3 or Amy appeared in CD and harken back to the lawless days of Sonic 1, then this is your game. If you fondly remember Knuckles knocking your emeralds out, helping you reach the Death Egg, or showing you where the first teleport ring to Hidden Palace was you may be left wanting more.
Music/Sound:
The sounds are classic Sonic, no complaints. The music is also very good, but rather forgettable as far as Sonic games go. While Splash Hill comes close, there’s nothing quite as catchy as the earworm that was Chemical Plant or Sky Chase Zone from Sonic 2. It’s competent and pretty, but not Sonic standards.
Gameplay:
The game really shines here. This is probably the most important aspect when compared to more recent games. Sonic moves a tad slower than usual, but he doesn’t feel sluggish. The aspect many people were worried about – the homing attack – works well. It’s used sparingly (mostly for bouncing off a specific enemy to get on certain paths). It’s a necessary aspect of the game without feeling tacked on or forces. Its only issue is that sometimes the game decides you want to do an air dash rather than a homing attack and sends you careening straight into an adjacent enemy, ending in your losing your shield/rings or death by pit in extreme cases (alternatively, sometimes it does the opposite, doing a homing attack instead of a dash which ends up having a similar effect).
The game has a few bad decisions, but nothing egregious when compared with Sonic 3. The noob-killer torch puzzle is about as difficult as figuring out the Barrel of Death from Sonic 3, and perhaps a little easier since it’s a puzzle and not just figuring out what buttons to press. They also had the wonderful idea to have not one, but two moving wall sections, one of which is pretty difficult. It doesn’t feel unfair, but it will take some trial and error to get right. It’s a little more jarring because of the lack of levels, it would be more tolerable if it were 2 acts out of 30 instead of 2 out of 17 (including bosses).
Speaking of bosses, most of the bosses are either too easy or slightly unfair. The best one was probably the one in Mad Gear Zone. The first boss is possibly easier than the corresponding one in Sonic 1, and the second one is easy if you figure it out. The third boss, however, is very annoying because it’s an instant death boss. You start out by going through a quick chase sequence/labyrinth, but it starts to drag on after the second or so time you die. It then faces you with a boss that uses moving pillars as an attack, the catch is you have to jump on these pillars and be quick, or you WILL get crushed, which is instant death of course. The final boss is also very difficult until you figure out the patterns, it’s not too bad, but it is rather jarring to go from 6-8 hit bosses to a boss that takes at least 25 hits, has multiple phases, and becomes much faster after hit 15. Either way, the game isn’t TOO difficult, I never saw the Game Over screen, especially since the game doles out lives like candy (especially in the Casino zone).
As for the special zones, they hearken back to the Sonic 1 days. I’m not sure why, many people probably like these special zones, but they were my least favorite of all of them. The controls feel a little floaty, sometimes too sensitive and sometimes too sluggish. They also have brutal time limits, and of course with the caveat that you only can get into it if you finish the level with 50 rings in the first place, meaning every failure is another (minimum) minute of playing a stage over. In addition, it’s possible I just have weird problems, but the ring at the end of the stage is REALLY difficult to jump into. If you go to fast you lose your opportunity because the game doesn’t give you long enough to run back and jump in, too slow and you can’t get to it in time. Your only hope is to jump exactly right or cross the sign at precisely the right speed. It’s quite frustrating, I finished many stages with 50+ rings only to not be able to do the special stage because I missed the big ring.
Miscellaneous Features (vaguely related to gameplay):
This is mostly referring to some features that disappeared from the series. Sonic 3 had Tails carrying Sonic and slightly different paths for all 3 characters. In Sonic 4 Sonic apparently decided he needed some “alone time” away from his friends, so you won’t be getting any extra characters (and ergo, no character specific paths). This also has the unfortunate side effect of removing the Tails/Sonic combo from the equation, so if you were planning on playing through with an invincible friend who can lift you to far off places like the good old days, then you’re in for some heavy disappointment. Again, if you were the person that said Sonic 3 or Sonic CD was where Sonic started declining because of another new character (ZOMG!) then this probably won’t irk you, but it does feel lacking without the token co-op.
Also gone are the new shields from Sonic 3, it’s back to speed shoes, bubble, and invincibility for now. It’s not a terrible loss, but it makes the game lost some variety. The lack of a new mechanic is also bothersome. Sonic CD got very creative with the time travel and good/bad future mechanic. There’s the homing attack, but that’s not a “new mechanic” in the same way. It’s lacking new types of special zones, preferring (as mentioned above) to rehash Sonic 1’s idea, nothing innovative like time travel. These are minor things, I don’t want to give off the impression that these ruin the game. The game is solid and the core gameplay is good, however they were so intent on returning Sonic to his roots they decided to give up a lot of what made Sonic 3 and CD amazing games. It’s a good game (I gave it an 8/10!), but it had more potential and would have been perfect if it had kept some of the later features or added something substantially new to the equation.
Play time:
It only took me about an evening to beat the game. It took me a little longer to gather all the Emeralds, but it probably could be done in a day if you have no prior obligations.
Replayability:
Well, it IS a Sonic game. It mostly depends on whether you are the kind of person who enjoys high scores and time trials. If so, this game is from the series that’s the original king of the hill in those regards. If you’re not that sort of person, there’s not much to come back to, seeing all the paths in a level isn’t too exciting, and there’s no giant sprawling RPG storyline with good/evil dialog choices. So it all depends on your interests as far as games go.
Conclusion:
To sum up, it’s a great game, an excellent game. Beautiful graphics, good sounds, and classic gameplay. However, they may have been a bit too zealous into going back to the Genesis days, seemingly forgetting that the Genesis Sonics weren’t this limited. If you want to play the most excellent version of Sonic 1, this game is perfect. If you want to play old Sonic, this game is for you, but you may be left wanting a little more at the end. Overall, 8/10: a bunch of tiny lacking aspects can add up. If you don’t like Sonic much, or don’t know, try it at a friends house. It’s a very simple game, and very different from the games we’re used to in the current market, so act accordingly.[/spoiler]
What do the jump buttons do in those special stages? Looks like the screen just shakes and nothing more. Those time limits are insane. I’m stuck on the third one. Cant even get close. What happens when you get all the gems?
I had no idea that people had that much trouble with the barrel in Carnival Night Zone. Huh.
Anyway I’m a bit sad that they don’t have the cut scenes any more, I thought that was the best improvement from Sonic 2 to Sonic 3. I did think that Sonic 3 & Knuckles was a bit too easy, though, so if it’s any harder, that’ll be fun. 
It’s quite an infamous one, really. There’s an urban legend that on those old 1-900 game help hotlines, the official SEGA one had in its opening message “to get past the barrels in Carnival Night Zone in Sonic 3…”
It also gets the honor for being the page picture for Guide Dang It on TV Tropes.
Yeah, I’m sad with the cutscenes too. I wouldn’t say it’s harder than 3. I think I died more in 3, but that may be partially because it’s bigger so you have more time to die. Though to be honest, most of it was concentrated in that God Forsaken pyramid with the lights. I can’t remember my way out of there to save my life.
Alright, I got Sonic 4 yesterday, and completed it yesterday (without all the emeralds) and I’m here to rant. Spoilers after this point.
Ok, I wanted Sonic 4, not Sonic Green Hill Zone, Casino Night Zone, Labyrinth Zone and Metropolis Zone remix. The bosses were utterly derivative, the enemies were flat out copies, the music was almost literally remixes from the originals. Badly. There were absolutely no surprises because you’ve already played it before. As much as Green Hill, Emerald Hill, Angel Island and to a certain extent Mushroom Hill were similar, at least they felt different. This was a direct copy, and makes me feel like they decided to make a cash grab from nostalgia, and in a bad way. Even NSMB, as poorly received as it was for originality, felt like more of a new game. Seriously, hiding switches behind powerup boxes? The looping waterslide? Absolutely none of the originality of S&K.
Souch for originality. Now for what they didn’t copy - Sonic physics. Sonic is (horrors!) slow, maintains all the momentum of a snail rolling in molasses, and unresponsive. All I can think of is that the new programmers either couldn’t read the old Sonic physics code, or they flat out lost it, because they certainly weren’t shy about copying the ideas or the levels.
Level design is also pretty crappy. Since when did Sonic ever have a button puzzle? And it’s the only puzzle in the game, which makes it all the worse. Puzzles are the antithesis of the timing/platforming core of Sonic, and I think Sonic 4 totally misses that.