Sonic 4: Episode 2 Screens & Media Topic

[Balding Spider]

Homing attacking a platform? weird...

and It looks like a redesign of Sonic 3's badnik Mantis made it in.

That is one derpy looking Cricket.

Sonic did accelerate down a hill on 3DS

That right? I recall hearing complaints about how he never gained speed when going down slopes. Oh well.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Balding Spider

[Stritix]

The game looks great.

[Pawn]

Poo. I'm a bit disappointed by the trailer. I wanted to see some evidence of better level design and rolling at least. Like Alexander the Swell said, it looks similar to Episode 1 in a lot of ways. Oh and the bear takes multiple hits? Sigh. I'm not too sure about the whole tag team attack either. It appears to break the pace somewhat. Still, hopefully it plays better than it seems to in that trailer.

[JezMM]

Was super cool, but then I liked episode 1, so it's only uphill from there for me. Good stuff.

[Salamander]

Not really sure why people jump on Dimps as if SEGA has absolutely no control over what they end up making. Seriously, SEGA and Dimps are making the game together.You can't shift blame onto just one of them.

No, you don't understand! Dimps held a gun to Sonic Team's head and forced them to sign off on it! There was nothing they could do!

[Badnik Mechanic]

So my thoughts on the trailer... if anyone here is remotely interested.

The trailer didn't exactly blow me away, but that doesn't mean it was a bad trailer at all, it looked a hell of a lot better than any episode 1 trailer did, the stage themselves also look a lot better.

I'm not buying the whole lolz springs/boosters everywhere! Since the trailer was pretty much a mass jump cuts of different stages at different points. But there were moments that actually show Tails having a use other than 'follow me.'

At moments he seems to actually be leading Sonic, othertimes he was carrying him and of course there is that duo/team attack move. Although one thing about the team attack move... is this going to be a 'use at any time' move? Only in all instances when it's used, the ring count didn't go down, nor did points, in fact I couldn't spot anything that would have a harmful effect on Sonic/tails when it was in use.

But yeah, good trailer, looks quite nice, just didn't exactly blow me away too much... .. .. .well that all seems to be in order, I'm off to play LA-Noire for a while. ta-ta.

Then why the fuck does Sonic still not accelerate when going down a fucking hill?

Because it's dangerous! The highway code says you should always apply gentle breaks when moving down a hill, otherwise he might fall over and hurt himself.

[JezMM]

I'm really surprised so many people are actually using the boosters and springs clips as evidence the game will have crap level design as if every other Sonic trailer ever wasn't mostly composed of such bits.

[OlenJimi]

The physics look the same, you can see after Sonic homing attacks Snowy, Sonic turns around in mid-air and cancel all momentum.

[Solkia]

Tails better fuck me over in the boss fights or I am disappoint.

[Tiller]

How do they do so much right, add new meaningful abilities, create pretty backdrops, and then completely fucking miss the point of slopes in Sonic's base gameplay?

What seriously goes on in the minds of the developers? This isn't that goddamn hard. When Sonic goes down slopes, he increases his speed. Simple no?

Can't say much about level design, but I hate the way they implemented springs in E1, which made them little more than auto segments. This doesn't inspire confidence.

So yeah, I mad. Everything else is a massive improvement. It's just the tinest thing that SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST THING TO BE FIXED was obviously overlooked.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Tiller

[Phantomime]

That carnival level's background is so lit up and colorful and eventful.

Ep 2, I believe you and I are gonna be gooooooood friends.

Also, I love how when Sonic bounces off a spring, his eyes get all big and shocked.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Phantomime

[Uklo]

So I'm now gonna call that you can either select Sonic or Tails as your character, but the other follows you anyway (Sonic follows Tails in a few instances in the Trailer).

I'm very interested to see if Tails will just be able to fly, since he never uses the HA in the Trailer, but also Tails never flies alone in the trailer, everytime he has to drag Sonic along.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Uklo

[Diogenes]

I'm really surprised so many people are actually using the boosters and springs clips as evidence the game will have crap level design as if every other Sonic trailer ever wasn't mostly composed of such bits.

When they need to prove that a game isn't overly reliant on those elements, but stuff the trailer full of them anyway, it doesn't do much to change people's expectations. Plus I'm getting a lot of deja vu with the way they're being used that reminds me of S4E1.

[Barry the Nomad]

Tails (and eventually Knuckles?) not being able to homing attack would actually be very cool! That way each character has their own "power". Sonic has homing, Tails has flying and Knuckles has gliding. Back in the Genesis days the only thing that made Sonic special was the insta-shield, which I never thought was all that, and the *true* ending to the game.

[KrazyBean]

MUCH better than Ep. 1...I liked Ep. 1 so I really don't care how this turns out, but this will obviously a better game.

[JezMM]

When they need to prove that a game isn't overly reliant on those elements, but stuff the trailer full of them anyway, it doesn't do much to change people's expectations. Plus I'm getting a lot of deja vu with the way they're being used that reminds me of S4E1.

That's fair enough, just drives me nuts when people say "look some springs entire game is automated".

...I mean not even episode 1 was highly automated. No physics but still plenty of decent bona-fide platforming.

[OlenJimi]

Well then we'll probably get a demo soon too.

[Penny]

Well then we'll probably get a demo soon too.

That would be a nice gesture but I highly doubt it since we are already close(a few months) to the release date.

[Solly]

Truth be told, I never really expected Sonic's episodic venture into digital distribution to be able to capture the feel of the classics at all. I'm just enjoying this for what it is the way I would any other modern Sonic game. I would like to see SEGA make a better attempt at doing a true sequel to the classics, but I'd rather see it as something a lot bigger than this, like a full game..

[JezMM]

Well then we'll probably get a demo soon too.

Nope. XBLA arcade games don't get demos, only trials (which contain the whole game but with the majority locked until you pay). I.e. not until the full game is out anyway.

This is strictly XBLA's workings of course but I have no reason to believe they'd randomly do a standalone demo just for PS3 (and portable devices/PC?).

Edited February 23, 2012 by JezMM

[OlenJimi]

Nope. XBLA arcade games don't get demos, only trials (which contain the whole game but with the majority locked until you pay).

This is strictly XBLA's workings of course but I have no reason to believe they'd randomly do a standalone demo just for PS3 (and portable devices/PC?).

Oh. Well that's good to know. If it does come out on PC I'll grab it when it's on sale then.

[EXshad]

Well, I honestly have mixed feelings towards what I just saw, though they're mostly positive. For one thing, the level design looks crazy, frenetic, and innovative, especially with segments like the wavey platforms in the ruins-themed stage, or the large wheel-like structures in the Christmas Carnival. Definitely a major improvement from Episode 1 and Generations 3DS right there. It also helps that these levels just seem a lot more lively than the environments from Episode 1, as everything just feels more organic and natural, rather than fake and plastic-like.

The team-moves also look like modified versions of existing attacks (spin dash, homing attack, etc), but they have more "oomph" to them, which is very cool, especially with enemies that take multiple hits to take down and the like. Graphics, again, are incredibly smooth, natural, and is what Episode 1 should have looked like; I really love it. Hell, even some gameplay elements from Generations appear, like those cute little signs warning of bottomless pits, and really I appreciate touches like that. And of course, we got no uncurling after Sonic launches into the air.

Also, I like how "Snowy" takes multiple hits, it seems like it's a small nod to the mini-bosses from Sonic 3. Nothing wrong with that in the slightest, imo

Now for the negatives. The physics themselves don't look fixed at all. Sonic moves at the same speed running in a horizontal path as he does moving downwards at a 45 degree angle. This is a big negative for me; they've improved everything surrounding the physics, but if the broken physics themselves aren't changed, people are still going to feel the inequities between this title and the originals. Myself? They don't even have to be identical recreations of the physics from the first few Sonic games, but I just want to see the momentum-based elements that definied the original trilogy at the front and center. That was the whole hook to the classic games, and taking it away just keeps the game from being a truly authentic sequel to the originals, in my eyes.

Also, I was hoping to see some more original power-ups this time around, perhaps some new elemental shields or something. Still, just because they're not in the trailer doesn't mean they don't exist, but I won't hold my breath. In the end though, it's really not a big deal in the slightest.

Overall I'm rather pleased, it seems as though they've really taken attention to fixing almost all the complaints with Episode 1.... except for the physics themselves. And to me, that's a major let-down. Still, the freshness of the overall title is looking great, and just from watching that trailer, it just feels like a lot more love is going into this than Episode 1.

Also.. what's with the music? It sounded like Jun Senoue's work.. will it be a track from the game? If so.. thank you Sega for using REAL instruments. I'll cry if the soundtrack is composed by the Meow-Mix Quartet Featuring Axel Rose.

Edited February 23, 2012 by EXshad

[C.J]

Just saw the trailer it looks awesome the levels look fresh and unique even better than ep 1 though I only played the demo of ep 1.

[TheCongressman1]

...I mean not even episode 1 was highly automated. No physics but still plenty of decent bona-fide platforming.

What? All Ep 1's springs were scripted. They either send you into another spring, or they simply don't let you move off the flight path, thus severely limiting gameplay. Half of the game was the player being funneled around.

From the looks of it, that is how this game is going to go as well. Prove me wrong, Sega.

[SilentDoom]

Saw the trailer

Rejoicing that uncurling is gone and that you can actually properly jump off inclines to get height. Though it still looks like some of the Ep 1 flaws remain. Is HA necessary? No not really. But if the game has proper bounce physics then it won't matter anyway. Are those stupid spring formations where you just bounce off 5 times off walls really necessary? No, not at all. And something about the way it flows just seems a little off. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Still very hyped though. Looks much much better than Ep 1