Sonic 4: Episode 2 Screens & Media Topic

[OlenJimi]

You can see the Death Egg thing in the background of the new screen shots!

Edited February 24, 2012 by OlenJimi

[Blue Blood]

So then, Sky Chase Wing Fortress Zone sounds interesting. I'm fully willing to believe that it won't be the rehashit's name implies, because Ken said there was only one 'throwback' zone and that's quite obviously Sylvania Castle. White Park and the desert stage both look perfectly original.

EDIT: Lol at the Bubbles

Edited February 24, 2012 by HYDROCITEE

[Cortez]

It would be funny if SEGA were totally oblivious to Sylvania Castle being an Aquatic Ruin rehash and it was infact another unseen Zone that is the rehash stage.

[Pawn]

I'm hoping that this battle with Metal in Sky Fortress Zone lives up to my expectations, unlike the Madness that ensued in Final​ Fortress.

So then, Sky Chase Wing Fortress Zone sounds interesting. I'm fully willing to believe that it won't be the rehashit's name implies, because Ken said there was only one 'throwback' zone and that's quite obviously Sylvania Castle. White Park and the desert stage both look perfectly original.

I wonder if the background in the achievement is anything to go by. It's more likely just a generic fill for the icon or an element of the boss fight I suppose.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Lungo

[Komodin]

Defeat the final foe after collecting every Red Star Ring.

Hm, it looks like the Red Star Rings will be a mainstay as far as optional collectibles are concerned. Not that I have a problem with it, though: they actually fit the series quite well, if you ask me.

[Eternal EX]

You can see the Death Egg thing in the background of the new screen shots!

Damn. That is a freaking huge dashpad.

[OlenJimi]

Damn. That is a freaking huge dashpad.

You gotta speed!

[Nintendoga]

Ooh nice.

Also I guess the Red Rings are now the staple "MacGuffins" of the series. I wonder what they unlock, artwork, cutscene, a teaser for Episode 3? who knows.

Plus that SkyFortress Zone achievement where you defeat Metal Sonic, he's running away with the rocket in Tails Park, so I guess that's a cutscene after you fight the White park boss.

From the official Sonic 4 Ep.2 Sega page,

New and Improved Sonic Stages in HD: Armed with a new graphics engine, explore 18 new stages!

18? Four Zones, Four Acts (including Boss acts) plus the special stage, so that means the Egg Station Zone of Ep.2 is in the game, that or a Super Sonic final level.

Hogfather is probably right, it was rated by ESRB last month, and with the achievements we got now, this game may be alot more closer then we think. Probably April, or still the rumored May

Edited February 24, 2012 by Mike Dawson

[OlenJimi]

You can use Super Sonic at the bosses so maybe you can keep the rings you got from Act 3 to the Boss Act?

[Jetronic]

I'd honestly be pissing my pants if they did have an online multiplayer mode. (Because I don't have any friends....I MEAN, everybody else is busy.)

What's your system o= ?

Also dat Super Sonic achievement, I will destroy all bosses.

Also, pointless, but I want to know how Sonic lost the emeralds so soon.....SO SOON.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Jetronic

[TheOcelot]

^{It was actually I who first spotted the 7 screenshots on the SEGA website (which by the way are awesome) as per my comments on the TSSZ and TSS main news items earlier.}

^{At least I have finally done something useful.}

^{I love the number of achievements. There should have been this number of achievements in the Sonic CD re-release.}

[Barry the Nomad]

The screens also have the zone and act labels ("z1a1" etc., no names) So here's the progression:

Edited February 24, 2012 by Barry the Nomad

[Soniman]

Water, thats another thing this game has. Lots of night time and water.

[TheOcelot]

^{I am definitely going to buy Ep2. God yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

^{It really does look great}

[Spooky Mulder]

Homing attack, dash pads, spring spam, multi-hit enemies, bottomless pits, warning signs, tutorial screens, green eyes, and red rings...

This game is not a Classic-style game, and there's really not a lot to justify calling it Sonic 4 other than from a marketing perspective. That doesn't make it a bad game though, at least not as far as I'm concerned. I actually like what I'm seeing here and I think it's the right direction for 2D Modern Sonic.

[Soniman]

I think its going the way of the Advance games, that is to say, a modern feeling and looking classic style game.

[Solid SOAP]

I think the end product will be alright, I like the concept of team attacks but only if they're either optional or not the main focus. I like Tails helping Sonic to swim under water, that's a legitimate evolution of the water sections from the classic games that I like, and I do kind of like how you have Tails helping you fly and whatnot. What I'm not too excited about are those like, 69 spindash attacks. Why? What's the pointa/

[TheOcelot]

Homing attack, dash pads, spring spam, multi-hit enemies, bottomless pits, warning signs, tutorial screens, green eyes, and red rings...

This game is not a Classic-style game, and there's really not a lot to justify calling it Sonic 4 other than from a marketing perspective. That doesn't make it a bad game though, at least not as far as I'm concerned. I actually like what I'm seeing here and I think it's the right direction for 2D Modern Sonic.

SEGA only marketed the game as 'Sonic 4' so that it would sell well. And it did, it sold over a million, and I think Ep2 will sell even better.

Calling it Sonic 4 is an insult to the brilliant Megadrive/Mega CD Sonic titles, as Sonic 4 is very different to those games.

Ep1 was a good game though, and co-op in Ep2, at least SEGA is trying something new.

Edited February 24, 2012 by MilesKnightwing

[Solid SOAP]

I hope that those tutorial screens can be turned off, as well as the warning signs. I liked them in Generations, but too much new stuff is entering this game. I like Red Rings, however. Even if they've just kinda become the cop-out Macguffan of the series since Colors, finding them is fun and adds to replay value. It'd be nice if they functioned like they did inn Colors, in the sense that they add to your score and are essential to getting the best one possible, I liked that element in Colors' challenge mode.

[Scar]

A Sonic 4 of today was never going to be completely "Classic", even if the physics were down to a T. Just as a Sonic Adventure 3 of today wouldn't necessarily be exactly like either of the first two. Perfect "Classic" wasn't what I was expecting. I just wanted a game which was as engaging and interesting visually and gameplay-wise to hold my attention till the very end.

Episode 1 was not only technically incompetant, it was just boring. Boring visually, audibly and mechanically. Technical misgivings can be forgiven if the game was at least enjoyable, but it wasn't. It was so empty and devoid of any entertainment value that it couldn't possibly be a Sonic 4.

I hope Episode 2 is a case of not quite being perfect, but still being fun in its own right. I don't want another E1 sterile borefest.

[Blue Blood]

I hope Episode 2 is a case of not quite being perfect, but still being fun in its own right. I don't want another E1 sterile borefest.

E2 looks like it might very well be a good game. The annoying thing is that despite having the right new ideas for S4, it's still got many of the problems from E1.

[sonfan1984]

SEGA only marketed the game as 'Sonic 4' so that it would sell well. And it did, it sold over a million, and I think Ep2 will sell even better.

Calling it Sonic 4 is an insult to the brilliant Megadrive/Mega CD Sonic titles, as Sonic 4 is very different to those games.

Ep1 was a good game though, and co-op in Ep2, at least SEGA is trying something new.

Honestly, I wish that they never called it Sonic 4. The game will probably still sell well if they gave it an original name and I would've look at it in a whole different light.

[EXshad]

As a sort of reassessment, I really think the best way to describe this game is probably that it's taking three or four steps forward, but one hop back. On the positive side, the graphics look stunning and organic as opposed to the absolutely lackluster and fake-looking graphics that permeated Episode 1, the uncurling has been completely fixed, the levels and badniks are extremely creative, co-op makes a triumphant return as the focus of the game with brand new joint manuevers that you use to tackle engeniusly-designed challenges in the levels (such as the rotating bridges and the underwater segment), and the levels themselves seem to be more lively and feature much smarter and more classic-inspired designs with these new gimmicks.

On the flipside however, for the most part (and that's the keyword), the physics still seem rather non-existant, and subsequentially, we're also seeing the return of those semi-automated sections that are permiated with a needless amount of springs and boosters. Plus, now we know that Tails can't be selected as the primary playable character.

In short? These are big flaws, and I'm disappointed in Dimps as a result of them. However, in the end, this truly DOES look a lot more like what I'd expect of a game entitled Sonic 4. It's got great graphics, brand new concepts that push the franchise forward, and it seems to actually be building on the story of the classic games. There's definitely love going into this game, and I think it's going to show in the final product. Nonetheless, these are big flaws that, like Episode 1, just come off as the result of laziness considering that momentum and the option to play as Tails were features that we got in games that are almost 20 years old. I truly feel like these problems shouldn't still be lingering, considering how fan-games with no budget whatsoever have done a better job of replicating that classic momentum-based gameplay even better than Sonic 4 has.

Just my two cents tails, though.

Edited February 24, 2012 by EXshad

[Tornado]

I think its going the way of the Advance games, that is to say, a modern feeling and looking classic style game.

I would love this. I like Sonic Advance more than one of the games it was designed to ape (namely, I like it more than Sonic 2).

The problem is, I still don't think I've seen anything that implies that to be the case.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Gilda

[Dantemustdie00]

Sylvania Castle is a cool name, but Whte Park, meh... could've had more of a zing to it.

Regardless, this is looking very juicy, plenty of water travel and Dusk to Dawn sequences.