Oh Sonic... here we go again...

[DioShiba]

None of you even bothered to mention nack/fang at all.

what the fuck guys. he's the most deserving to be brought back (Even though it's not likely to happen).

[Marth]

Not gonna lie this is the first sonic game since 2nd grade that I'm gonna play. Here I thought Sega was making a shit game again and this time I maybe wrong.

[Chaoxys]

I'll be honest, when I first heard it, I hated the theme, but now I'm starting to like it since I've heard it so much.

[Keychain]

If they brought back Nack you'd know he would have a really shitty stereotypical accented voice.

[Vipershark]

Just played Sonic 4.
It basically sucked ass.


It looks like complete shit.
Sonic himself has terrible animations and still has that downs-syndrome-looking sideface thing going on.
He feels slow and sluggish.
THAT RETARDED "HELPLESS" POSE SONIC GOES INTO AFTER LAUNCHING OFF A RAMP UGH
The homing attack works better than expected, but isn't really needed.

Probably the worst part is that the game can't decide whether it wants to be a genesis game or not.
The title screen has sonic pop up through the ring and wave his finger in the traditional style, but the animation is choppy and doesn't animate well, especially as he's popping up.

Probably the most confused part is the sound.
It constantly mixes genesis sounds with weird modern synth effects and ends up sounding terrible.
How did I just come off of that chiptune song to the end of level theme which is in a completely different style?

In other words,

Hahaha.

So you're Sega, and you want to make a game called "Sonic the Hedgehog 4"; with all the expectations that such a weighty name infers. Do you:

(a) make the most epic 2D game imaginable, that uses the most beautifully drawn HD-sprites to create a new land of thematic beauty for Sonic to explore? Using a perfect physics engine as basis, painstakingly created using the movements in the original games as basis, Sonic jumps, spins, and uses momemtum-based movement to progress. The game jettisons all qualities of the failed games (excessive boosters, grinding, homing attacks, repugnant "friends"), and we have Sonic once again fighting off the machinations of the evil Doctor Robotnik.

With a soundtrack that expands the MIDI stylings of the original into more modern territory, a multiplayer mode inspired heavily by Sonic 2, and a wealth of other options, a genuine rich sequel to the classics is achieved. Coupled with that, the game is accompanied with a Sonic Level Creator (refined from the Flash version) which, with access to the bandiks, spirte-sheets, backgrounds and music of all Sonic 1-3K, CD, and the MS games, allows gamers to mix and match, create and share their own fully-functioning Sonic games online, in a custom-content archive (regularly updated with new sprites and midis from classic Sega games) that will truly allow 2D Sonic to live forever.

or

(b) port an iPhone game.

[DioShiba]

I'm downloading the demo to see how bad this really is.

I got a feeling it isn't gonna go well compared to what I was originally expecting.

[Ton]

Really? I've heard nothing but good things about this game.

[DioShiba]

Really? I've heard nothing but good things about this game.

And where did you hear all these good things about the game?

I mean come on, you shouldn't take everyone for granted until you try it yourself ton.

EDITust played the demo, so I am posting a small review.

To be honest, I don't know whether or not I should like the game.

I mean it has some good points, but that doesn't mean it won't have it's share fare of flaws ether. And it certainly isn't what I was expecting.

The game play itself was really just... I don't even know how to word it right. So-So might be the right phrase. I can easily agree where viper said it felt slow, it takes a while to speed up to Sonic's highest speed unless you hit a speed panel or speed dash. Which to be honest is kind of unforgiving at times since most enemies will throw things at you before you can even speed up. BUT, that doesn't make it completely shit. The good points are that the speed dash and homing attacks work fine.

Level design is sub par at best, It can give you some exploration at certain areas but the problem is that it can also be linear in some areas. I can see where it is trying to be like the modern games but for Christ sakes, Sonic Team could have at least stuck to one type for the most part. What makes it worse is that when sonic is going fast, it feels like a 2-D version of the 3-d games and that kind of makes it boring compared to the other retro sonic games.

The graphics, in my opinion are actually rather good. The level artwork is somewhat decent, and the enemy design actually seems to look good. If I were to choose one thing I did not like out of the graphics though is, is Sonic himself, Most of his in game animations feel rather awkward. The intro logo is another thing I didn't really like ether, I don't know if Sonic team was intending the choppy animation on the title to look like the sonic one title, but it doesn't really sit well with me.

The music wasn't too bad ether, I mean it's not perfect but it isn't bad. I like where it tries to be more like the genesis chip tune music, but the drum beats and other things in it aren't really fitting. The sound effects weren't bad ether and to be honest this was somewhat bearable.

While this isn't the best sonic game out there, it's decent. But to be fair I wouldn't buy this until they have finished the other two episodes and made a complication disc out of them. There are so many things that sit wrong with the game it just feels like a waste of time bothering to make it an episodic release. I kind of would feel like I got cheated out of my money if I did buy this for 15$, and that's why they've made a a demo for me to try out. Coming from me, I would give this a 6.8/10.

[Ashura]

I got the game for the wii and it's awesome

I'm not forcing myself to like the game or anything because it's nostalgic. I like it because it's fun and (mostly) well designed. Hell, I played through it entirely twice since I got it. It's short but sweet

Yeah there are a few problems (like getting used to sonic's slower acceleration) but they're minor bumps in the road really, I'm used to his speed and I can speedrun through the levels pretty quickly now

Dunno why people are saying that this game sux. Sonic has new physics and crap, get used to them. It's like driving a brand new car for the first time. It's not buggy, it's just different IMO

[Rökkan]

Most reviews of the game are positive, but I really find the game to be really mediocre.

I was expecting just this really small game that would play like the Advances, and just be kinda meh, but I was wrong. In both good and bad ways about its aspects.

The good things about Sonic 4:

Really good Special Stages, really fun and challenging. I thought that they would be boring rip-offs of Sonic 1's Special Stages, but goddamn, they made some really fun labyrinths there and explored a potential in some elements of Sonic 1's Special Stages that neither the original Sonic 1 had explored and not even the lots of fan-hacks of Sonic 1 that explored and improved the Special Stages a lot.

Graphics are really really good. I love how the levels look, and the World Map is just so gorgeous. One of the most good-looking Sonic games ever to be made. Although there are a few things that doesn't look too good, like the Splash Hill grass looking too plastic-ish and artificial and some other stuff that doesn't look too good, maybe because they're mostly pre-rendered graphics. Also, I noticed that the Sonic model and most of its animations are all directly from Sonic Rush. The falling animation, the walking and running (before he goes full-speed), etc etc etc.

Also, there are some fun original gimmicks here and there, like the cards on Cassino Street Act 2, and the level design is okay at most of the times, but I'll get more into the level design later.

Anyway, the bad parts of Sonic 4:

The physics.
Oh my god they're so fucking bad.


Sonic walks on the walls. For instance, Casino Street Act 1 has a U shaped ramp sort of structure, so you figure: Okay, I'll just run from one side and then keep going back and forth, gaining more speed and reaching new heights, you know, just like in Collision Chaos in Sonic CD. But that doesn't work. Sonic will not speed up by doing that and won't go higher. What you have to do is to just, literally, walk on the wall. Run on the ramp, and then, when Sonic reaches 90 degrees, in which, in physics, you would either fall, or if you're going fast, the gravity would pull you down more and more until you can't run and fall, but not in this game, no. If you feel like you're not going fast and you're going to fall, don't worry. Just keep holding right and he'll walk on the walls without losing speed.
In fact, on the E3 build of Sonic 4, you could actually walk on the walls and stand on them without falling, because this was based on the Sonic Rush engine. So some people complained about it, and instead of working on the physics, they just put something so that Sonic would slip if he goes higher than 45 degrees without running. But you can walk on walls and even be standing up still on a wall if you jump on a wall that has a ramp on it.

You know how Sonic 1 was all about running, dodging obstacles and specially, pressing down when you're on a slope to gain speed? Sonic 4 doesn't have that. Rolling on a ball will always slow you down. I tested it, if you run through a downwards slope it's faster than if you run and then roll through a downwards slope.
Because they don't have good physics, some of the gimmicks that are present on the game and uses physics doesn't work very well. There are seesaws on Mad Gear Zone in which you roll on them and you have to control the seesaws' inclination to make Sonic roll on the right side, but because of the screwed up physics, Sonic can actually roll upwards the seesaw and fall on the opposite side you're inclining.

Sonic controls really weird too. His jumps are really bad to control, he feels weighty and slow as fuck, which is one thing that I have a huge problem with. Sonic running by himself is not fast enough to go though some parts that require speed (like that road of cards at the very end of Casino Street Act 2) and thus, you're obligated to speed up by either doing jump-dashes or by Spin-Dashing, which is INCREDIBLY broken. One little tap and you boost faster than your running top-speed.

The level design is okay at most parts, but I spotted some parts of really bad design here and there. Plus, there are not so many alternate routes as your usual classic Sonic game would have. There might be three split paths in the Splash Hill acts, but I only counted two max. when I played the levels. Yes, maximum, because I noticed that in a lot of parts in some levels there aren't any split paths at all. Sure, there are some little shortcut parts, but they're very small and just throws you back to the main (and most of the times, only) route of the level. This is not the level design that Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 & Knuckles would have. There are always at least two main courses for each act, yes, at least. Most of the times there are three, not counting all the little routes, shortcuts and hidden rooms. Plus, the levels most of the times don't let you do much exploration. Most of the times, you feel like you have to do what exactly the designer wants you to do, instead of the designer giving you a level that you can do whatever you want with it.

Speaking of which, because of that, there are tons of bullshit moments that happens because of bad design, specially on that fucking final boss and its last attack (you dodge it and then hit it, tried 3 times, but they were either too soon and Sonic took damage, even though the aim was on the boss and all, or too late and I just went through the giant robot even though the floor wasn't falling yet) The game is mostly really easy, but there are some really bullshit parts here and there that makes me wanna throw the controller at the screen. Like when you explode the rocks with the detonators, the rock explodes, and pieces of it falls really fast, so you think, "oh that's just some little detail, right?" nope it's not, they actually hurt you, and it's bullshit because it's impossible to predict where exactly they'll fall and dodge. Plus the puzzle of the four torches, and that gimmick of the room filled with water and you have to tilt it so that you push the block out? But OH THERE ARE SPIKES HERE AND IF YOU ACTUALLY DO THAT YOU'LL HIT THE SPIKES so you have to tilt it in this weird way that you can't figure out? Seriously, what the fuck. Oh, and also those pistons from Metropolis Zone are really unsyncronized on an act of Mad Gear Zone, so I had to exploit the "stay on the very edge of the platform" trick that happens on most platforming games to actually get through.

Also the music is dull as hell. There is not a single track of the whole soundtrack that I really like. Really SEGA? You have a fuckton of great composers and you choose Jun Senoue to do the WHOLE soundtrack? Because he did such a great job when he composed Shadow the Hedgehog's soundtrack all by himself, didn't he? Because you don't have any other composer that worked on a classic Sonic game that had really good music, don't you? *cough cough cough Mariko Nanba cough cough*




So yeah, this is basically Sonic 4. Short as fuck game that really doesn't live up to either its title or the hype behind it. Instead of making the game work just like the classics, they went out of their way to make the game remind you of the classics instead. :I Even though I found the Special Stages to be fun, it's just too worksome to re-do a stage over and over again to gain access to it, so I didn't get them all, and I don't think I will.

I can actually understand why people can like it, even with all of my complaints, it is a solid game, and you can easily not notice or overlook some of the things I said here if you're not too much of a Sonic enthusiast or if you're doing exactly what the designer wants you to do. But, for myself, Sonic 4 is an even bigger letdown than I thought it was going to be.

[DioShiba]

Dunno why people are saying that this game sucks. Sonic has new physics and crap, get used to them. It's like driving a brand new car for the first time. It's not buggy, it's just different IMO

saying "it isn't buggy, just different" is bullshit.

Sonic should be speeding up quicker then how he is speeding up in this game, and some parts of the physics were somewhat bugged. I'm not saying it's bad but there was a lot to be improved on.

[DadNier]

walking up a wall at a 90-degree angle: not glitchy, just different
come on guys lets not criticize things (:

[Kosheh]

Sega's full of geniuses

A potential four-part game sold at $15 for episode 1 alone
In the end it will probably be four parts and end up costing you as much as a PS3 disc ($60)

Hopefully each episode actually improves upon the previous game due to player input. IMO the game COULD use an additional character (not someone like Shadow - Tails or Knuckles do just fine) just because I like how they open up potential new ways to play the same game (which I don't think Sonic Advance even did - only Sonic 3 came close to it)


oh and the Special Stage music is friggin' horrendous if they just used the old music I'd be happy but

whatever, jun senoue

---

also, speed shoes going up ramps - i like how when you you typically fight your way up the ramp and only run in place, you somehow end up walking up it at a steady pace

and i ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND the let-go-of-a-horizontal-directional-and-fall-straight-down part of the game physics :/

[Cobalt Blue]

sonic 4 sucked major balls thanks for coming please take your coat while you never touch this game ever again and pseudo hype yourself again for its second episode.

[Daroach]

Sonic 4 is awesome ok

Spoiler

Also Metal Sonic silhouette at the end when you get all 7 Emeralds.