Retro|Spective 061R: Sonic the Hedgehog

[Neon Ignition]

I'm going to lay it out here, I never liked the dual screen set up of the DS much. There were some inventive titles on the device but in general many opted for touch screen elements from the lower screen that added little. Others opted to expand the screen image across both displays and that not only added little but actively annoyed with the plastic divide between the two.

It's another discussion for another time toward how out of Nintendo's handhelds I broadly regard the NDS as the weakest but this Sonic felt like it rested on that aspect whilst presenting an overall weaker entry

[Asura]

Game 16 - Sonic Rush
The last entry to have Naka's involvement was the the one that saw the franchise migrate to Nintendo DS. Rush spread the action over the dual screen display and introduced Blaze the Cat to the series. It also made use of 3D for the boss battles as well as stylus operated special zones
Did this entry give you a Rush?

I enjoyed this one. It didn't feel much like the Megadrive originals but as its own beast, I thought it was really fun (though actually, remembering it, I wasn't a huge fan of the bosses).

Hated the sequel.

[Dogg Thang]

I think probably my biggest issue with these games is that the Mega Drive versions had evolved from the first to the third to remove what felt like unfair bottomless pits. They still existed in some stages (the air stages I think) but generally they were gone in most levels and very controlled and made clear in others.

The Sonic Rush games just turned everything into a leap of faith and you could have no idea if there was going to be something on the other side of your jump or if this would be yet again another miss and a bottomless pit. And that annoyed me.

[Asura]

I think probably my biggest issue with these games is that the Mega Drive versions had evolved from the first to the third to remove what felt like unfair bottomless pits. They still existed in some stages (the air stages I think) but generally they were gone in most levels and very controlled and made clear in others.

The Sonic Rush games just turned everything into a leap of faith and you could have no idea if there was going to be something on the other side of your jump or if this would be yet again another miss and a bottomless pit. And that annoyed me.

I found I didn't have that problem as long as I had the "rush energy", or whatever the resource was called. But that's a really bad design.

It makes me think, why has there never been a Sonic game that's a rhythm-action platformer? That just seems a bit of a slam-dunk.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 17 - Sonic Rush Adventure
Alternate dimensions, robot pirates and sea travel. The sequel to Rush moved the side action platforming further from its roots but the core gameplay remained 2D levels mixed with 3D bosses. Despite the change in elements it was seen as a solid but very familiar entry.








Was the second DS entry a worthy one?

[Asura]

Game 17 - Sonic Rush Adventure
Alternate dimensions, robot pirates and sea travel. The sequel to Rush moved the side action platforming further from its roots but the core gameplay remained 2D levels mixed with 3D bosses. Despite the change in elements it was seen as a solid but very familiar entry.
Was the second DS entry a worthy one?

I really wanted to like this after Rush, but it just had too much padding.

If I remember rightly, there was this jetski minigame with which you had to engage, which wasn't great and formed a large segment of the game. You had to navigate the world like in Wind Waker.

To relate an example, Sonic Adventure had the levels with Big the Cat, but those were few, and you only had to do them at the very end of the game, and back-to-back took under half an hour. This jetski thing was throughout the game, unskippable, and incredibly dull.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 18 - Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Originally intended to be a mobile phone spin-off, the project was retooled into becoming a belated true sequel to the Sonic 3 & Knuckles project with Sonic Team and Dimps working on it as a three episode long title. The third episode would go the way of a Valve franchise and never come to be after this initial released episode received a very lukewarm reaction. Solid reviews and strong sales meant Sega would go on to make a second episode but initial complaints about the physics engine have raged on in subsequent years leading to a poor reputation today.






Does Episode I deserve its reputation?

[Dogg Thang]

For a game that got a proper entry number, I never really remember that this game exists. I think it was okay. The second episode was probably a little better. But both nothing special and very forgettable.

[wakka]

I hate this game. It suuuuucks, so so badly. I remember looking forward to it. New numbered Sonic entry? Can’t go tits up!

And everything was wrong. The physics were wrong, so wrong. Terribly floaty and not at all how Sonic should be. The 2.5D graphics were totally uninspiring. And the left design boring, with less depth than prior games.

I would play a thousand Advance and Rush entries over this. Bad bad bad.

[Asura]

For a game that got a proper entry number, I never really remember that this game exists. I think it was okay. The second episode was probably a little better. But both nothing special and very forgettable.

Was going to say exactly this. It was bad, though the second one did suggest a trend towards better things which were never explored... But who knows? It might've just gone the other way.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 19 - Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
Though an episodic follow up to the prior release, this installment even had a Metal Sonic focused DLC episode of its own players could access of they owned both episodes on the same system. Reviews and players found that the physics had been improved for this entry but the player base was dampened from the previous effort enough so that a planned final third episode entry to Sonic 4 was cancelled.







Did Episode 2 improve things?

[Asura]

Did Episode 2 improve things?

I sometimes fail to get how certain people get to work on things, or how some things happen.

In my own experience working with big companies on stuff, I know that they can be very protective of things. Marques, emblems, key visual features... You don't screw around with those. The fun stuff is what happens with that limitation in-mind.

Sonic's run cycle in Sonic 4 looks bad. That weird squashed-donut-slo-mo-feet thing. It looks bad. I don't think anyone would look at that and think that looks good.

And this thing is going to be onscreen nearly all the time in-game. It's going to be in every trailer, almost every screenshot, and it's an iconic part of the character.

Disney wouldn't let you make Mickey Mouse green.

[Dogg Thang]

I vaguely remember this being a bit better than Episode 1 but that's really all I remember. Couldn't tell you anything else about it.

[Neon Ignition]

With Ep1 it does feel off much of the time and feel bland. I recall Episode 2 feeling better to play and the levels being more appealing too. It's a shame of sorts the third ep didn't come out as with a similar level of improvement it might have been pretty decent.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Sonic 4 is one of the painful ones. The other **** sonics are just straight up ****, like after a couple of minutes you know it's **** and you know why.
But sonic 4 looks the part and kind of works but the gameplay is just off. Its like one team did the design and then they just slapped some other games play style on it.