Sonic 4: Episode 2 Screens & Media Topic

[Balding Spider]

Wait...Tails isn't playable, but he has his own shield?....lolwut?

Makes as much sense as keeping the shield when in Super Sonic mode.

[krazystitch]

A reason I could understand with Tails not being playable i the fact that he might be able to get across obstacles by himself that Sonic would normally need help from Tails to get past, so the player will just be able to play through the game with Tails himself and not worry about the whole co-op mechanic, but..I'm sure there has to be some way for SEGA to be able to work around this or something.

A lot of fans are disappointed about Tails not being playable in Single Player, SEGA should have really put that in. I don't think I would have used it myself, but..

[Gamerguy21]

Even though I usually played as Sonic in the classics, Tails not being playable by himself really is a big disappointment, especially since they were pushing "TAILS IS BACK!" so much. But meh, I'm not gonna let it ruin the game for me. I remember that I was also similarly disappointed when Diddy was confirmed to be co-op only in DKCR (even though Nintendo didn't tease about Diddy's "return"), but I got over it and still enjoyed the game. I'll probably do the same here (y'know, assuming the game turns out fun). Although, this does suck a bit more since Diddy never really did much to change the experience of the original games, but Tails did with his flying ability.

[Machenstein]

Where's all this talk about not being able to play as Tails alone coming from?

Edited February 24, 2012 by Machenstein

[Gamerguy21]

Where is all this stuff about not being able to play as Tails alone come from?

Kellie on the Sega forums.

[Machenstein]

Kellie on the Sega forums.

From what I gather from that, there's a Sonic alone single-player mode, a Sonic and Tails single-player mode with Tails as a CPU, and a Sonic and Tails two-player mode, but no Tails alone single-player mode. Is that correct?

Edited February 24, 2012 by Machenstein

[Gamerguy21]

From what I gather from that, there's a Sonic alone single-player mode, a Sonic and Tails single-player mode with Tails as a CPU, and a Sonic and Tails two-player mode, but no Tails alone single-player mode. Is that correct?

From the way Kellie worded it, it seems like there's no Sonic alone mode as well, since she makes it seem like the co-op with Tails (CPU or human) is mandatory.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Gamerguy21

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

*sigh* I was gonna save and celebrate my 1000th post on this hoping that this trailer's gonna kick ass. But it didn't. (And sorry, I can't spend another week without posting!) I'm not saying the trailer's bad, but it's not good either.

My hype train didn't go down, but it certainly didn't go up the slightest either.

Also:

I knew it, I KNEW it. You CANNOT assume things, and I was right. Just because Tails is in the game doesn't mean he's playable. People assuming things has got to stop, because it will just lower our expectations in the end.

Still though, Sonic 4: Ep 2 is decent enough to play and I already stopped looking at this game as a "RETURN OF THE CLASSICS!" game if you know what I mean. Not that I want to assume, but I think it's pretty safe that Sonic 4 will never have that physics feel the classic Sonic fans are looking for.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Spice on the Starlight

[Autosaver]

Like I said in my status, it seems like the COOP feature will be forced. As shown in the trailer, both Sonic & Tails "Drilled" underneath the ground. Tails was also shown carrying Sonic across a bottomless pit.

The real reason why Episode 2 is hated. Totally true!

Edited February 24, 2012 by Autosaver

[EXshad]

Y'know, while the lack of fixed physics and the return of spring-and-boost-spamming as a result of the lack thereof bothers me a lot and really brings down the excitement for me... is it wrong that the news of the co-op gameplay being the only option in the game doesn't? I mean, the way the game is designed, and based on what we've seen, it seems like the game is structured around Sonic and Tails's joint moves, from Tails carrying Sonic in flight to the conjoined combat moves. And you know what, considering I was hoping the co-op would be a major focus of this game from the get-go, given the surge in popularity of co-op-based platformers, I don't mind one bit.

What I DO mind though is how you can't play as Tails in single-player mode, instead being forced to use Sonic. I mean.. why? What purpose does this serve? As long as both characters are on-screen, you can still use all the fancy moves and shit, so what's the problem? Why is Tails reduced to being the tagalong, when even in the game he debuted in, you could select him as the primary playable character?

Phew.. is it just me, or is it getting Dimpsy in here?

Edited February 24, 2012 by EXshad

[Nintendoga]

So I was gonna post some interesting things from the trailer, but someone on Retro already saw it, so here's the quote.

From the trailer I was able to decipher the following:

- Sonic has new "spring" animations (spinny ones show him panicking, which I approve of)

- some enemies require multiple hits (it's a challenge, get over it)

- Sonic and Tails can team-travel underwater (something that was much harder to pull off in Sonic 3)

- some paths require skillful usage of Sonic and Tails' buddy system (see the rotating bridge)

- interaction between the foreground and background is much more prevalent than Episode 1

- you can still break walls with your face (lol)

- bottomless pits are accompanied by Generations' warning sign

- Sonic can "summon" Tails back to him (it's around 0:49, sonic twirls and tails comes back to him)

- the Homing attack comes with new "bounce-off" animation(s)

- power-ups can be shared (such as shields)

- the Steelion (sea lion badnik) seems to have various attack moves

- the Team-Spin is fully-controllable (and its control seems quite fluid as well)

- pathways intertwine with each other (see the Sylvania Castle loop, there's a pathway right through it)

However, there are two more things I want to point out.

1. About the Tails not playable thing. Yes, that is extremely disappointing, and a big step in the wrong direction by making this game technically "Sonic Only" once again. However, as DKCR has shown us, this can possibly work in our favor if the level design is created with this in mind. Ex: Sonic can grab onto Tails willingly and have him carry him up to higher routes, or fly over a pit that leads to a lower route, by holding the A button.

But with the design shown in the trailer, it's hard to tell if it can work around this or not. Gonna have to wait for more footage to see so.

2. About the whole "Physics aren't fixed because of the part at 0:18 where sonic doesn't gain speed running downhill" junk. Well actually truth is, at 23 seconds looking at Sonic, he leans forward more to indicate that his is going at full speed, by running for awhile to gain speed just by running across a strip.

Again at 27 seconds, he starts running across water after coming out of ball mode from a speed booster. weather he keeps his momentum or is because of the speed booster, is up to you.

But finally, at 29 seconds when he is running away from the avalanche, you can clearly see Sonic going into his "full speed" animation from running down an incline. So yes, believe it or not, Sonic does gain speed and momentum from running downhill.

So why doesn't he seem like it at 18 seconds? I have one theory, the speed gained from running down an incline takes longer then it did in the classics and Sonic 4 even. Looking at those games, they took a couple of seconds to gain the speed, but not as long as this. Why Dimps made it like this, I have no clue, but I do know this,

THE PHYSICS ARE FIXED(Or as Dissident puts it, made less offensive)

Several scenes indicate that, as the ones I mentioned above, and the second scene with Sonic and Tails going off an incline (which btw, for some reason Tails goes higher then Sonic....interesting) shows this. Stop saying no physics have been changed, when the trailer shows the momentum based physics and Taxman's confirmation about the momentum losing inertia and uncurling gone.

I don't give a crap about whatever else you can say about the game, whether it be graphics, music, or level design wise. But don't say the physics have not been worked or improved on when, yes, they have.

EDIT: Except for rolling, we don't know if that's been fixed yet or not, but hopefully it is.

Unfortunately with Sega telling us the shit we want to know isn't always simple, sometimes we have to go instigating ourselves to find the answers.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Mike Dawson

[Sami]

The physics aren't "fixed" if they're still inferior to those of the classics. They're just less offensive.

[Crazizzle]

I realize the game only has 4 zones, but maybe they should have made a teaser using primarily onr of them? I felt like Unleashed/Colors gave you a better grasp of individual levels for longer spurts...the small clips don't cut it.

I'm optomistic still, nothing confirms or denies bad physics. DKCR's physics weren't pixel perfect though, you can overcome that stuff through excellent gameplay in other areas. We'll see.

[Nintendoga]

The physics aren't "fixed" if they're still inferior to those of the classics. They're just less offensive.

Yeah....I guess we can't really say it's been "fixed" till we see some proper game-play, but at least we can tell they been improved on from Episode 1's horrendous physics.

[Dantemustdie00]

Wha...? You can't solo the game with Tails? Well that's kinda a bummer, no game breaking this time eh?

Can't say the physics or whatever are "fixed" till we have some actual long footage rather than just 2 second clips.

lol, got the urge to plat DKC: Returns now, cause this is greatly reminding me of that work of art.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Dantemustdie00

[Balding Spider]

Honestly, I’m not so impressed with it, but not because of the gameplay. It’s more because of the editing. There’s just WAY too much going on with quick jumping from one scene to the next. It makes the trailer really overwhelming to the point where I can’t make a clear, concise first impression.

Would this help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCzjnEwS2ds

[ArtFenix]

Wait, no playable Tails in single mod?! And after this you dare to call this Sonic FOUR?! Fuck this game.

Seriously, this is the worst thing I found out about the game so far.

TAILS IS BACK

Yeah. Like literally. Tails is your BACK. I see what you did Sega. Edited February 24, 2012 by ArtFenix

[Red Cap]

Wait, no playable Tails in single mod?! And after this you dare to call this Sonic FOUR?! Fuck this game.

Seriously, this is the worst thing I found out about the game so far.

This game can still be Sonic 4 without having Tails be playable in single player mode. Afterall, Sonic 1 didn't even HAVE Tails in it.

(And yes, I agree that it sucks that we can't play as Tails without a friend, but it's not going to ruin the whole game)

Edited February 24, 2012 by Red Cap-Blue Spikes

[LoseR]

This game can still be Sonic 4 without having Tails be playable in single player mode. Afterall, Sonic 1 didn't even HAVE Tails.

(And yes, I agree that it sucks that we can't play as Tails without a friend, but it's not going to ruin the whole game)

Although I agree with your statement, I think he was trying to be humorous...

[ArtFenix]

This game can still be Sonic 4 without having Tails be playable in single player mode. Afterall, Sonic 1 didn't even HAVE Tails in it.

(And yes, I agree that it sucks that we can't play as Tails without a friend, but it's not going to ruin the whole game)

Sonic 1?! This is not Sonic 1. It's Sonic 4, a game that's going to be released in 2012! Sonic 2 had playableTails. Sonic 3 had playable Tails, Sonic and Knuckles had playable Knuckles, Sonic 3&K had all three characters playable. Sonic 4 has only Sonic. AGAIN. There is no excuse.

And it won't ruin the game, but playing as Tails was the biggest thing I was looking for. It's a massive disappointment.

[Sami]

This game can still be Sonic 4 without having Tails be playable in single player mode. Afterall, Sonic 1 didn't even HAVE Tails in it.

(And yes, I agree that it sucks that we can't play as Tails without a friend, but it's not going to ruin the whole game)

Um... the fuck?

This is the sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and therefore shouldn't be regressing gameplay mechanics to Sonic 1 territory. That would be like if the 6th Generation of Pokemon cut the roster in half, but it's okay because it's still more than Red/Blue/Yellow. Just... no. That's completely illogical.

[Big Boss (legendsneverdie)]

I don't expect Sonic to gain much speed running down inclines, but I still think he'll go faster when rolling downhill.

[Eternal EX]

Kellie on the Sega forums.

Sooooo who is Kellie again? I think i'm the only one who has no idea who this person is.

[Semi-colon e]

I can see why they did the whole Sonic only thing because of the whole co-op moves thing, but that doesn't make it a good design choice. It also kind of concerns me because the forced co-op means we'll need them - hopefully they are fun, and not spammed to all hell. This is why Classic Planet Wisp pisses off so many people, folks. They took decentish level design and ruined it by spamming the gimmick over and over again. The fact that might happen here worries me more than not being able to play as Tails fully. Not that Tails here would have hurt though! I genuinely don't understand though, especially after the new CD port.

I really want to like love this game. I mean the ice carnival level still looks fucking awesome as a level concept, but they aren't giving me much hope yet. Granted, it's gonna be a shit ton better than episode 1 (I suspect, I hated episode 1), but otherwise the little we've seen so far is pretty much on par with my reasonably average expectations, which is where the disappointment comes in.

I expect a reasonably fun but unmemorable game, ultimately.

[Hyper-Shan]

Epic trailer is epic - I'm a bit late, I know TL:DR (for some parts of after the lockdown), but it was locked down before I could post! I really love the following:

- Interesting combination of zone tropes.

- Sonic's running Animation.

- Tails & Metal Sonic being featured (although I would have to say that I am really disapointed in the fact that Tails isn't playable in normal fashion, but it would most likely that me & my friend would play co-op on this often)!

- The Combo moves

- Just like in the screenshots, the graphics are gorgeous! =D

- The 3D depth in zones allowing some background interaction/platforming.

- & a few more, such as Snowy taking more than 1 hit (reminds me of the S3&K mini-bosses & eggpawns), 3D character models, Little Planet/Death Egg hybrid thing, uncurling, etc.

However, I can't comment on the physics UNTIL I had properly experienced the game myself - But I would like to point out something;

0:21 - Look carefully at how Tails seems to be falling back as Sonic runs down the hill. That, & Sonic is running much faster down the snowy hill at 0:29, compared to at 0:21 where Sonic just curved downwards of the hill (so it's possible he couldn't have built up the momentum just yet). It could be that it takes a little while for the momentum to built up like SCD-3&K (S1 had no acceleration downhill as far as I remember - bloody speed cap) but there isn't much to tell from such short clips (I could just be wrong overall, seeing that the Christmas Island mountain decline is somewhat zoomed in).

Just trying to think positive (I did enjoy E1, so this is going slightly uphill for me).