Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1

[Zevox]

So, this game has at last released, and I downloaded it last night.

It's four zones comprised of three acts and a boss stage each, plus one final boss stage, and (presumably seven) bonus stages for collecting Chaos Emeralds. Takes just a couple of hours to play through and beat each stage (albeit not necessarily collecting all seven emeralds).

It's pretty good in my opinion, but I still have some mixed reactions to it. I'm not sure how much "spoilers" matter to people for a game like this, but I'll use one just to be safe.
Gameplay-wise, this is very much an old-school Sonic game. Only Sonic is playable, Robotnik is the only other character in the game at all, and the only new mechanic is the homing attack, which is implemented pretty seamlessly.

The thing is, it is perhaps too much so an old-school game in a number of respects. Basically, the stage and boss design for this game are often taken wholesale from the old games. The first zone, the Splash Hill Zone, is basically a redesigned Green Hill Zone, with the boss just being a very slightly altered version of the original Green Hill Zone boss fight. That is the worst offender there - basically nothing new to see other than the new layout of the zone. In spite of its name, there isn't even any more water in it than the Green Hill Zone had.

The second zone is the Casino Street Zone, which as you might easily guess is very much based on the Casino Night Zone. That one does start to show some originality in act 2 with some card-based mini-games and platforming though, so it's an improvement. The boss is still basically straight out of the original Casino Night Zone though.

The third, the Lost Labyrinth Zone, is the only one that can really claim to be its own zone. There is some obvious inspiration from the various ruins/underground/underwater zones of old, but the design is very much so original, especially in act 2 where you wander around a dark cave with only a torch to light your way, lighting wall torches and the fuses of dynamite set to blow up various obstacles in order to help you see and proceed. This is where the game is at its best, including the best boss fight, where Robotnik hovers just out of your reach and causes the walls to close in, trying to crush you, and you have to jump on the platforms they make as they're moving in for the kill and reach the alcove where Robotnik will be, the only part of the stage that will be safe, and attack him before the walls retract. It's not hard once you get used to it, but it is quite original (or at least, I cannot recall an old boss fight it is based on) and fun.

The Mad Gear Zone is still better than the first two, but still also quite obviously based on some old zones - pretty much any of the technological zones. There are some unique platforming elements I don't recall from the old games, and others that are taken from them wholesale. The boss battle is similarly... eh. It's a two-parter, with the first part being a copy of an old boss fight (unless my memory is playing tricks on me), and the second being a little more original, a chase section where you have to dodge the attacks Robotnik throws at you to get close to him and homing attack him.

Speaking of the homing attack, it makes this game a fair bit easier than the old ones, particularly as boss battles are concerned. Save for part 2 of the Mad Gear Zone's boss fight and (especially) the final boss fight, the bosses here are pretty easy, which is definitely in part due to the homing attack. As is much of the platforming. Not to say that there aren't some frustrating parts to the stages, but they're pretty few and far between compared to the old games.

Oh, and the final boss stage has you fight weaker (4-hit instead of 8) versions of each of the previous boss battles (Mad Gear Zone's just uses phase 2), then a true final boss which is obviously inspired by one of the old final bosses (can't remember which game it was from though... probably 1 or 2). It is tough though - took me maybe 30 tries to finish it off. And there is some originality to it as well, particularly in phase 2, which is when the difficulty really kicks in. It can take a pounding too, much more than the 8 hits that is standard for Robotnik's other forms.

The bonus stages for the chaos emeralds are heavily inspired by the original ones from Sonic 1. They're mazes that you flip around as Sonic tumbles through them, trying to reach the end (and emerald) before the time runs out. Unlike in Sonic 1 you control the stage's motion, as well as being able to make Sonic jump, but since this has become a time-limited deal it's still quite the challenge, especially if my one (failed) effort at the third stage is any indication of how hard they get after the first two. Pretty nicely done I'd say - old-school aesthetics, but new gameplay and design.
So basically, the game is pretty good, but suffers from over-use of the old games' stages and platforming concepts. Now, I'm all for playing on our nostalgia, but that doesn't mean remaking the old stuff with a little new stage design, it means making new stuff using the old 2D platforming style. That's what we got with Mega Man 9 and 10, and those were great. Here, the Lost Labyrinth Zone does that best, but the others could've used being less based on the old stuff in terms of direct content, especially the Splash Hill Zone. That, combined with the relatively short length, does make me question whether it was worth my $15.

Still, hopefully they can remedy that in episode 2 and on. That was the purpose of making this game episodic, or so the developers claimed.

Zevox

[Mando Knight]

There are 7 special stages. You also can only get one emerald in each Act, so you don't blaze through Splash Hills 1 seven times to get all the Chaos Emeralds before even attempting Splash Hills 2. I did Splash Hills 1-3, Casino Street 1-2, and Lost Labyrinth 1-2 for getting the Emeralds. (In Labyrinth 2 you can even die, come back to the very last checkpoint, and still have enough rings nearby and ahead to get you to 50 rings without back-tracking)

The entire game screams old-school Sonic. Multiple converging-diverging paths to the same destination, the casino levels, the watery-ruins level, the crazy mechanical Eggman's Fortress levels... and the final boss and Super Sonic. Unlike 2 and 3&K, however, instead of double-jumping (since the dev team apparently didn't want to force you to use SS once you got him, since I use Homing Attack all the time and Super Sonic moves REALLY fast), you just tap a second button, letting you ramp up your power levels even on the ground.

...And if you beat the final boss again after grabbing Emerald #7, you get a silhouette of a rather familiar opponent...

On Homing Attack use: yes, it's pretty much required. Why? Because it lets you easily chain your attacks (especially if you've played any one of the 3D Sonics so you roughly know the rhythm), but more importantly because it's one of Sonic's best two acceleration modes. Spin Dash is all well and good for a quick burst of speed and starting out in a spin, but using Homing Attack on the ground accelerates you to a running speed, and Sonic accelerates when running rather than decelerating like he does while spinning (except when spinning downhill). It also can be used to control how far you Spin Dash or to make quick turns: since Homing Attack is executed from a jump and cuts off Sonic's initial velocity, you can make a quick double-jump to pull a 180 and start running the other way at a fairly modest speed.

On the other hand, you can't chain Homing Attacks on Eggman at all... after you hit him, you ricochet a fairly good distance away and can't interrupt the recoil with another Homing Attack. I used this "feature" to my advantage when taking down the final boss: hit him in twos (hit on initial jump, chain a Homing Attack to it for a second hit) and he goes down fairly easily. Phase 3 is the most luck-oriented one, though: he goes down in one hit, but you've only got one shot in a couple-second-wide window before you auto-die.

[Kris Strife]

I've managed to grab the first 4 Chaos emeralds, 4 was the hardest, only tried for the 5th one twice so far. Totally trying to have Super Sonic before I finish the game. Been wanting to play him in a normal stage for ages now. Its about time Sega listened to the fans on that one. :smallamused:

[Mando Knight]

Once you get him, Super Sonic can shatter your level times. Without the 7th Emerald, you're lucky if you can get a 10000-point Time Bonus on anything other than a boss. With that Emerald, I've gotten an 80000-point Time Bonus on a level, and multiple 50000 Time Bonuses.

Super Sonic also doubles the point values of killing enemies.

[Kris Strife]

And auto-jackpots on the slot machines.

[Zevox]

Yeah, I'm not very good at chaos emerald collecting. I'm taking the occasional opportunity to try and get them, and I'm only on 3. The fourth stage is kicking my ass. If they keep getting harder as they have so far, I don't know that I'll get all of them. :smallfrown:

Zevox

[Mando Knight]

Personally, I find that half the fun is getting frustrated at the special stages. It also limits my game time, since I can only fail so much before I need to do something else.:smalltongue:

...I wonder if the later episodes will let you keep the Chaos Emeralds you've already found? It would make sense, but also take all the tension out of trying to figure out how to get through the game...

[tonberrian]

Personally, I find that half the fun is getting frustrated at the special stages. It also limits my game time, since I can only fail so much before I need to do something else.:smalltongue:

...I wonder if the later episodes will let you keep the Chaos Emeralds you've already found? It would make sense, but also take all the tension out of trying to figure out how to get through the game...

You know what'd be cool? Something like S3&K, where you lose the emeralds at the beginning and get them back for a better super form.

[Lhurgyof]

Oh god... not another sonic game. When will they decide to stop beating the dead hedgehog like he's a pinata? So, so sad....

By the way is Robotnik still "Eggman"? And is sonic still like 80 years old technically, but still alive? Or is it set back in the good old days.

[KBF]

Oh god... not another sonic game. When will they decide to stop beating the dead hedgehog like he's a pinata? So, so sad....

By the way is Robotnik still "Eggman"? And is sonic still like 80 years old technically, but still alive? Or is it set back in the good old days.

...what

They have not made a 2d sonic game since Rush, and this is a real actual callback to Sonic 1. This is the first game of it's kind in years. This is 'beating the dead horse' the sense that they shouldn't have made Megaman 9. This is 'beating the dead horse' the same way clearly nobody wants another Mario game.

This is what Sonic fans (the actual ones, not the horrid fanbase) have been asking for for years.

Sonic 2006 was beating a dead horse. Sonic Unleashed was beating a dead horse. This is not beating a dead horse. This is something more akin to a fresh beginning.

really that's a complaint for the newer games, but not even then i don't think does anything follow any kind of timeline. if you think the sonic series follows a solid realtime continuity you might as well complain that mario should have arthritis by now.

[Rustic Dude]

Tried it, and it's very promising. The torch in ruins act was pretty original and I enjoyed it a lot.

I only dislike 3 things:
-Music in the first zone.
-Some of sonic's animations seem a bit...off. When he's walking, specifically. Also the lack of inertia when jumping.
-¿"Eggman"? :smallfrown:

[KBF]

-¿"Eggman"? :smallfrown:

His (more) original Japanese name, yes.

[Kris Strife]

I've said it before, and I'll likely wind up saying it again: As bad as Sonic 2006 was, you have to remember it was an unfinished product. They rushed it out months early to meet a dead line that (last I heard) Microsoft demanded, and they left a lot of game features and bug checking on the cutting room floor.

I weep for the game that could have been. :smallfrown:

[Lhurgyof]

...what

They have not made a 2d sonic game since Rush, and this is a real actual callback to Sonic 1. This is the first game of it's kind in years. This is 'beating the dead horse' the sense that they shouldn't have made Megaman 9. This is 'beating the dead horse' the same way clearly nobody wants another Mario game.

This is what Sonic fans (the actual ones, not the horrid fanbase) have been asking for for years.

Sonic 2006 was beating a dead horse. Sonic Unleashed was beating a dead horse. This is not beating a dead horse. This is something more akin to a fresh beginning.

really that's a complaint for the newer games, but not even then i don't think does anything follow any kind of timeline. if you think the sonic series follows a solid realtime continuity you might as well complain that mario should have arthritis by now.

The issue is that they ACTUALLY made a timeline for it. Eggman is Robotnick's grandchild or some other bull.

And so this one's actually good, you're saying? It seems after the 2d games they started beating a dead horse.

Edit: Oh god, were-hogs.

[Mando Knight]

The issue is that they ACTUALLY made a timeline for it. Eggman is Robotnick's grandchild or some other bull.
Eggman is the grandson of Dr. Gerald Robotnik, and Eggman's official given name is the same as his original American one: Ivo Robotnik. Also, it's Shadow who's 50+, but he seems to have been in stasis or something. Or is possibly a robot. Depends on who you ask.

[Geno9999]

Eggman is the grandson of Dr. Gerald Robotnik, and Eggman's official given name is the same as his original American one: Ivo Robotnik. Also, it's Shadow who's 50+, but he seems to have been in stasis or something. Or is possibly a robot. Depends on who you ask.
I'm pretty sure Shadow is some sort of artificial hedghog.-alien
And that He was in stasis for 50 years until Eggman Robotnik breaks in and frees him, thinking it was Gerald's ultimate weapon. (Sort of, the eclipse cannon is more of the Super Weapon as it's essentally the Sonic Death Star.)

[Mando Knight]

More like the Sonic Pre-Death Star. The Sonic version of the Death Star is the Death Egg. :smallwink:

The real Shadow is as much an artificially-created lifeform as the copies, yes, but the official ambiguity is whether or not the player Shadow is the real one, or just another mechanical copy. I'm of the opinion that it is the original, given his affinity for Chaos Control and how much they bring up the issue without resolving it "officially," but you all are entitled to your own opinions.

[Zevox]

Sonic Unleashed was beating a dead horse.
Actually, Sonic Unleashed was the first game since Sonic Adventure 2 to get Sonic's gameplay in 3D right. Unfortunately it was only for the day stages, the ones that actually featured Sonic, and for some unholy reason they decided it would be better not to focus on that, but on that abomination they called a "Werehog."

Seriously, they should make a 3D Sonic game based on Unleashed's day gameplay without... well, just about anything else they've done since SA2. I'd pick it up on release day.

Anyway, yes, Sonic 4 is an actual good Sonic game, and it's very much in the style of 1-3&Knuckles. As I said in my first post, if anything it suffers from being too much of a callback to the originals, with not enough new stages, platforming ideas, and boss fights to go around. I'm not sure if I consider it better than Sonic Chronicles, but if nothing else it's now a second Sonic game since Adventure 2 that I can honestly say is good.

Zevox

[Geno9999]

Seriously, they should make a 3D Sonic game based on Unleashed's day gameplay without... well, just about anything else they've done since SA2. I'd pick it up on release day.

Zevox

I've heard that Sonic Colors is like Sonic Unleashed, minus the abomination of night stages.

[Zevox]

I've heard that Sonic Colors is like Sonic Unleashed, minus the abomination of night stages.
*Checks on Wikipedia*

Well, the plot concept is awful, as usual - Sonic Team should really just stop trying to write stories for these games. But yeah, it does say Unleashed-esque gameplay, so it's something to look into. Those "wisp" things and the powers they grant will likely be a deciding factor in whether its gameplay is good or not though - poorly implemented they could easily screw everything up. Well-implemented they might be good.

Plus Wikipedia says only that Sonic will have a similar moveset to Unleashed, but doesn't specify what that means - was something removed? Was something besides the wisps added? - and the source they cite for that paragraph is in a language I'm not familiar with, so it can't help me.

For now I won't get my hopes up. Sonic Team has taught me far too many times that it's always best to be cynical with them. But it's worth watching and seeing what the 'net says about it once it comes out.

Zevox

[Kris Strife]

Eggman is the grandson of Dr. Gerald Robotnik, and Eggman's official given name is the same as his original American one: Ivo Robotnik. Also, it's Shadow who's 50+, but he seems to have been in stasis or something. Or is possibly a robot. Depends on who you ask.

I think he's just an eternal/indestructible angsty canon-Sue because of his connection to Chaos Emeralds/aliens having helped make him/he was supposed to help cure autoimmune diseases. :smallannoyed:

[Lord Seth]

...what

They have not made a 2d sonic game since Rush,Rush Adventure was the last 2D Sonic actually. Both Rush and Rush Adventure were made by Dimps though, not Sonic Team (though Sonic Team still gets their logo at the start of the game).


The real Shadow is as much an artificially-created lifeform as the copies, yes, but the official ambiguity is whether or not the player Shadow is the real one, or just another mechanical copy. I'm of the opinion that it is the original, given his affinity for Chaos Control and how much they bring up the issue without resolving it "officially," but you all are entitled to your own opinions.It's not really ambiguous at all. During the final boss of Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman admits he made the whole "robot Shadow" thing up and that "player Shadow" is the original Shadow. It's like 8 minutes in though, so it's possible to never hear it.

[Dogmantra]

How's the music?
I got to Splash Hill act 2 (listening to the music that is) before I had to go and listen to That's The Way I Like It because it was... not very good.

Jun Senoue what have you done :smallfrown:
Will we never have another Casino Night zone?

[Lord Seth]

I just recently got the game. Am I the only one who thinks the game is too zoomed in and you can't see enough on the screen as a result?

[AtlanteanTroll]

Rush Adventure was the last 2D Sonic actually. Both Rush and Rush Adventure were made by Dimps though, not Sonic Team (though Sonic Team still gets their logo at the start of the game).

It's not really ambiguous at all. During the final boss of Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman admits he made the whole "robot Shadow" thing up and that "player Shadow" is the original Shadow. It's like 8 minutes in though, so it's possible to never hear it.

Thanks for not spoiling that. :smallmad:

[Mando Knight]

I just recently got the game. Am I the only one who thinks the game is too zoomed in and you can't see enough on the screen as a result?

Statistically, you aren't, but I feel the opinion is wrong.

Then again, my first experience with Sonic included a boss fight where you couldn't see Eggman 90% of the time and had to react quickly to his off-screen attacks...

[Zevox]

How's the music?
I got to Splash Hill act 2 (listening to the music that is) before I had to go and listen to That's The Way I Like It because it was... not very good.

Jun Senoue what have you done :smallfrown:
Will we never have another Casino Night zone?
Music seemed fine to me. Nothing spectacular, but good enough.


I just recently got the game. Am I the only one who thinks the game is too zoomed in and you can't see enough on the screen as a result?
Not really. There were a couple of times when I wished it were zoomed out a bit more so I could more easily see certain enemies, but not many, and other than that I only have any issues with such a thing in the final boss battle, and the problem there is that the arena for it is so huge, not that the screen is too zoomed-in.

Anyway, I got the fourth emerald. Haven't tried the fifth yet.

Zevox

[valadil]

Tried the demo. I actually liked how close it came to the originals. I've been in a retro game kind of mood lately. But when I actually go to play old games I get bored because I've already beaten them. Sonic 4 hit the nostalgia factor but gave me new levels.



-Some of sonic's animations seem a bit...off. When he's walking, specifically. Also the lack of inertia when jumping.


And here's where I had problems. When he walks, Sonic's feet don't line up with the ground right. He does a kind of forward moonwalk. I could live with that, because how much time do you spend walking in a Sonic game, but the jumping physics were just wrong. Try jumping while moving forward. At the height of the jump, release the d-pad. Watch Sonic drop like a rock. Dislike.

[Dogmantra]

Nothing spectacular

Righto, so I guess I'll not be getting it.

[Lunix Vandal]

Statistically, you aren't, but I feel the opinion is wrong.

Then again, my first experience with Sonic included a boss fight where you couldn't see Eggman 90% of the time and had to react quickly to his off-screen attacks...Ah, StH2 for Game Gear. Years ago, we blamed the problem on that they had ported it straight from the Master System version, which had a larger screen resolution (and thus could show more of Underground, Green Hill, and Crystal Egg Zones' battlefields). I've since played the Master System version -- which gives you all of an extra quarter-second to react to Robotnik's attacks in the Underground. Fun times.

[Zevox]

Righto, so I guess I'll not be getting it.
:smallconfused: Odd. So you only play Sonic games for the music or something?

Zevox

[Dogmantra]

:smallconfused: Odd. So you only play Sonic games for the music or something?

Zevox

A large proportion of my enjoyment of Sonic games does come from the music, yeah. I'd say over 50%.

[Kris Strife]

but the jumping physics were just wrong. Try jumping while moving forward. At the height of the jump, release the d-pad. Watch Sonic drop like a rock. Dislike.

Honestly, I like it, just for the added control it gives you. Over jumping a platform and falling down a bottomless pit is a bit less common now.