Sonic the Hedgehog 4

[Neon Ignition]

That's probably the deciding factor, Sonic 4 should be better than it is and fans should expect it to be so in a sense. On the flip side however it's been over a decade and a half since a Sonic game came out that was almost universally accepted. I was simply hoping for a Sonic title that jetisonned the padding that the series has suffered under, focused on Sonic and was more in line with the Mobius era titles whilst being an improvement on the wave of poor titles we've suffered which this meets. All I'm going to hope for Colours is that it's better than this, if Sega can improve on each installment they'll get there eventually. We were never likely to get a miraculous amazing title this time around, it's mainly a shame they played it so safe.

[saturn-gamer]

Sega's completely to blame. They decided to slap a 4 behind this title.

If this would be Rush HD, it wouldn't be such a big deal I think. But then again, I would skip the game in that case.

Sega has raped Sonic so bad over the years that fans are happy with even mediocrity or being just decent. Thats how far this franchise has fallen down.

Nintendo treated Mario so much better. They do put him into every game they can but 64, Galaxy etc are all classics. Even Sunshine who I thought was underwhelming is still a lot better than those Sonic games from the last decade.

[Skull Commander]

I played the trial and enjoyed it more than I was expecting after reading some of the negatives on here. It looks lovely and most importantly it feels like a 'proper' sonic game.

Yes there are some niggles (seems to be able to stand on vertical pieces of platform and I'm not sold on the 'slow start'), but based on the trial I think I would enjoy it more than Sonic 3 and CD.

The only thing putting me off buying is the 1200 tag for 'Episode One'. How big is this game and what's going to be in future parts?

[Sketcz]

Played the demo. This isn't a Sonic game - and I am slightly disturbed by the apologetic nature of posters here. It's not perfect / I know it has niggles / it's not that bad / ETC ETC TEC.

You're right, it's not that bad, it's utterly ****.

Who coded the physics to this? The work experience kid? Why is it when I stop pushing the direction button Sonic falls vertically down like a lead pipe? Where is the momentum or any semblance of physics? In the original game he bounded around like a rubber ball full of ZING and ZIP and ZAPOWEE energy.

The whole point of the early Sonic games was that simply pushing the jump and move buttons was an enjoyable experience. Go back and try Sonic Jam, or the ROMs if you don't have any of the earlier Sonic games. Innately controlling him was a joy.

Here he's like a brick with legs that has superglue on his feet. The second I stop pushing the d-pad he freezes and falls. Seriously guys, WTF is up with that? He freezes even on steep slopes, and controls turgidly. There's no sense of movement, or momentum, or kinetic energy. It has some of the worst physics I have ever seen - and it's just not fun.

I can only assume they got focus group idiots in who complained about older Sonic's perpetual movement. So to compensate and appease the lowest common denominator, they stuck toffee on his feet so now he sticks to everything like **** to a blanket.

I wouldn't but this if it was £2.50, let alone full whack. Utterly, utterly terrible.

[vanpeebles]

Are you Prinny in disguise?

[Skull Commander]

I get that some people don't like the way he controls etc, BUT that first zone in the demo has better level design than the whole of Sonic CD and Sonic 3 put together. Personally I'd take the not quite as they were physics with well desinged levels (providing that first one isn't a fluke), over the ****fest levels that were in 3 and CD any day.

[rmoxon]

The movement speed is actualy exactly the same as in the early sonic games, he always starts off running like he has bricks on his feet, its part of what Sonic is.

Some people will complain about anything, probabaly becuase they really want to hate this for some reason and are grasping for reasons.

Fact is, its really good, plays well, and has some of the best level design in a Sonic game ever.

[Sketcz]

The movement speed is actualy exactly the same as in the early sonic games, he always starts off running like he has briocks on his feet, its part of what Sonic is.

No, no, no, you've missed what I said.

I realise all Sonic games start off with him running slowly, but when you build momentum it stays. In all the games I've played, once I'm running I can tap jump and he sails through the air.

Here, I tap jump, he lifts off the ground, and unless I keep the d-pad pressed he falls like a sack of bricks.

He IS more turgid than before, and there is absolutely no sense of kinentic energy. Once you stop holding the buttons he becomes and immobile sack of bricks. This is my point. Earlier games had him bounding about like a kid on ritalin. You start running, you jump, and then let the physics take over.

here I run, I jump, I sit back to watch him fly through the air - EXCEPT NO. There he is, standing rooted to the ground like a 100 year old oak.

I really can't describe this more plainly. If you cannot see what I'm saying, I will have to assume you've never played previous entries in the series.

This isn't a mild thing. This isn't slight where you could miss it. This is balls to the wall madness. Let me put it another way. Look at the 2D Mario ttiles. Notice how after jumping forward you can hold back, change his momentum and, defying normal physics, make him travel in the opposite direction once in the air? Allowing you to jump from a block and land on one directly above you? Well imagine if they made his jumping linear, so that once you started going in one direction you couldn't alter it. Everyone would say Mario's jumping physics had been ****ed.

That is the kind of drastic change Sonic has undergone.

It's not about running animation.

It's not about slow starting speeds.

It's about him not having any sense of momentum.

It's about the fact that once you THINK you've built up some momentum, a momentary ceasing of holding the buttons CANCELS ALL MOMENTUM. This isn't real momentum or physics, it's crude and sloppy, and frankly I've programmed better physics engines in QBasic. This isn't just a travesty for Sonic games, it's a shining example of utter ****-my-brain **** coding.

Physics people. Mother ****ing physics. They use physics in WHAT?! Say it again, I dare you. I double dare you. PPPPHHHHYYYYSSSSIIIICCCSSS! Where are they, that's what I want to ask the Chilean orphans of the world. Does Chile have physics? It's MADNESS.

[Sketcz]

For the record, I first played the Sonic games on the Mega Drive, at their time of release. I now play them via Sonic Jam, for convenience. I have never played the Rush games.

I am not alone in my thinking:

Don't like this demo. Graphics are great but the gameplay seems borked to me. I don't remember jumping was so bad in classic sonic. When you let go off the pad you go stationary right away.

[randombs]

@ Sketcz and the others: I think you've nailed it regarding the momentum. The problem with him dropping straight down when you let go of the dpad is that it leaves hardly any room for correcting your jump. I've figured out what to do, though:

Jump as far as you like and when you're above the platform you want to land on, just let go of the pad and he lands on it.

Question for those that have bought it:

How much game is there for episode 1? I know it 's four worlds but on a scale of Sonic 1 to Sonic 3, what are we looking at? I won't be too interested if episode 1 feels like a quarter of a typical Sonic game because that would be almost ?40 for what's basically a graphical rejig of the older games(we would be in uproar if they tried to charge ?40 for an HD remake of Sonic 1...).

p.s. I take back my comment regarding balancing animations. I must've been standing on the wrong sort of platform

[SuperBeatBoy]

Not long at all, its probably quarter of length of Sonic 2. I've already finished it including getting all the emeralds.

[Skull Commander]

Oh well, in the words of Bannatyne, "There isn't enough meat on this for me. I'm Out."

[saturn-gamer]

Only 4 worlds, levels are about the size of Sonic 2. Without tails co-op, knuckles stages, 2 player race mode as found in subsequent MD Sonic games.

Even Sonic 3 stand alone was likely bigger than this.

[Sane]

But the old Sonic games were full price retail releases, this costs what, 20% of that?

[Legendary Wolf]

I haven't played it yet and was really looking forward to it. I have always said that Sega needed to go back to the old style 2D gameplay that made Sonic great. A new game with HD graphics, 5.1 sound and excellent level design, taking Sonic back to his glory days would be perfect.

It seems they have kind of done that but still not got it right. From what I have seen it looks ok, not as good as I was hoping for although at least they tried to recreate the MD sound style but my problem is that so much seems to have been ripped from earlier games. It's closer to a Sonic 1 or 2 re-imagining rather than an actual sequel. I've seen the boss fights and they are almost exactly the same as before. It looks like it has gone backwards from 3 rather than forwards.

As for the controls, I cannot say just yet but they should have left that part alone going by what others have said. It's such as shame really, Sonic has always been one of my favorite gaming experiences but the last good game was SA2 and the great ones are all from the MD era.