Sonic the hedgehog 4 - previews, interviews, and impressions topic

[-Mark-]

Blue Blood, weren't you praising the hell out of Ep 2 when it was first leaked/ launched? What happened, come to your senses and back to your old self?

[Blue Blood]

Blue Blood, weren't you praising the hell out of Ep 2 when it was first leaked/ launched? What happened, come to your senses and back to your old self?

Believe me, I enjoyed the game first time over due to rabid excitement (game leaked legally, andI got a chance to play the full thing completely out of the blue) and the fact that there's some genuinely cool stuff in there. It's got good ideas wrapped up in shit. Sylvania Castle 1 is balls, and I was saying that right from the start. Then SC2 and 3 came along which are genuinely good stages. So the surprises there really set me off. It's better than E1 no denying that, but it's still pretty poor.

If I go back my statuses from then...

Super impressed iby E2 so far. Very Dimpsy at times and SC1 is horrible. But From SC2 it's been very good.

I think at this stage was in White Park 2.

Not trolling. £10 well spent. But fuck why so many speed boosters?!

I stand by this comment. If you liked E1 or atleast weren't too bothered by it, it's £10 well spent. But I don't think I would have wanted to buy the game at that price under normal circumstances. It got leaked a month early, and couldn't resist trying it out

E2 is full of boosters, spring chains, pits and trollish end of stage sections. But I really, really like it. Bloody fun game.

Eeeeh, excitement talking here. As something so unexpected (honestly, I didn't think the game would be improved for E1 in any way other than visuals), it really threw me off the mark. The bad level design was really obvious form the start though.

Those new Orbinauts are very clever.

Scarabesque is a fantisically ultilised Badnik.

Fun ideas in Oil Desert, the sort of thing that really made me smile.

Episode Metal is shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. But I did smile at the intro.

Yep

Oil Desert Boss Spoilers- You play Tetris with the SK final boss made out of scrap metal.

Another cool idea. This one did start to bug me with how drawn-out it was, especially when I kept dying near the end.

Sky Fortress is a really bad level. It doesn't try to hide the fact it's a rehash (like Sylvania Castle), doesn't do anything original (like Sylvania Castle) and has a terrible layout (unlike Sylvania Castle). Due to the simplicity of Wing Fortress' tiles in S2 and the fact that Sky Fortress is exectly the same thing rendered in 2D, it's conpletely uninteresting visually.

This is after I'd played Act 2 IIRC, an act which people still praise. I don't like Act 1 or 2 (the first being downright awful), but 3 is actually good for the most part.

White Park 2: It's like I'm really really watching a cutscene!

Yep.

E2 is the first Sonic game since SA1/2 that I've played without knowing what to expect, so everything was ridiclulously exciting. All you people who have spoiled it beyond SC1 and WP1 or are going to do the same for future games, well, ur doin it wrong. Games are so much more fun when your first time playing it is your first time seeing it.

And this I stand by 100%. I don't absolutely hate E2 with the firey insensity I do E1, far from it. It's just a poor game. A few cool ideas scattered around here and there, and a couple of good stages. It's got a a lot more stuff that's really quite bad, and plenty more in a fairly indifferent ground. The surprise and excitement will make you look at things differently to how you would otherwise (general opinions about Colours have dulled somewhat since it's release for example), but I think that's a good thing since it will really let you see and apprecite the positives you'd otherwise gloss over.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Blue Blood

[-Mark-]

I think my overall opinion of Episode 2 is that it doesn't do anything particularly badly, but at the same time doesn't do anything particularly outstanding, either. It's just an inoffensive, 'good' game. Maybe that's why I get a fairly strong Sonic Advance vibe from it, because that's largely how I felt about that game, too.

[TheOcelot]

I have just been playing Oil Desert Zone in Ep2 and I noticed something that also occurs in Ep1 which I had long forgotten.

As Super Sonic in both Ep1 & Ep2, when you come across an item box which is normally an invincibility item box when playing as Sonic, if you are Super Sonic then the item box is actually an extra life instead of an invincibility box. Makes sense as the invincibility box is useless when you are Super Sonic.

It's not much but it's a nice touch.

[Barry the Nomad]

Ken Balough and Kellie joined our Sonic Talk podcast for a Sonic 4 Episode II after party interview.

Lots of stuff covered, such as the absent perfect ending, the names of the unnamed bosses, the name of the island/islands in Sonic 4 and Ken's thoughts on a certain fan site. Check it out!

http://segabits.com/blog/2012/06/07/sonic-talk-9-sonic-4-episode-ii-after-party/

[Detective Shadzter]

Ken Balough and Kellie joined our Sonic Talk podcast for a Sonic 4 Episode II after party interview.

Lots of stuff covered, such as the absent perfect ending, the names of the unnamed bosses, the name of the island/islands in Sonic 4 and Ken's thoughts on a certain fan site. Check it out!

http://segabits.com/...ii-after-party/

[Barry the Nomad]

lol, hey, they approved the question! We were surprised ourselves!

[Blue Blood]

I'm listening to it now, and can't believe how Ken is pussyfooting around the Super Sonic physics. People didn't have a specific problem with Super Sonic's physics in E1 because they were bad all round, Super or not. Wow... He totally called this reaction but fuck. It's just so daft.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Blue Blood

[Badnik Mechanic]

I quite like the question at 1 hour 41 min...

New Sonikku?

[TheOcelot]

I have listened to it. Really interesting.

So Angel Island in Sonic 3&K was actually named after Angel Island which is located in San Francisco Bay. Wow, I never knew that!

[Blue Blood]

Listened to the whole thing now, thanks a bunch guys. It was great!

Here's some of what was said, and my thoughts too (the quotes aren't quotes, but summaries etc):

When the team wanted to make a digital Sonic game, they asked a lot of questions:

Should we make Sonic 4? Is it the right thing to do? Can We do it right? It's something that we'll put all our heart into.

> Put all their heart into

> Episode 1 happened

Ken talks about rose-tinted-glasses and generational gap. Biggest triumph was actually making Sonic 4. Comsumer never sees all the internal struggles and everything so we don't understand the scope of the project.

Ken wishes he knew about Tails being single player was such a huge issue. Not a regret but a learning opportunity.

I'm quite surprised this wasn't more obvious, or at least that people would want to be able to choose the leader if co-op was essential to the game they wanted to make.

Ken talks about patch for Tails. The only thing you could possiby do at this point (MAYBE) would allow you to choose whether Sonic or Tails is the lead, not either of them alone.

But that's fine, right? It's a co-op game, so I don't see why anyone would ask for that.

All red rings are for is an achievment, nothing more. It's good feedback that the Red Rings should be for something.

Erm... Generations and Colours off you rewards for finding them, so why not this? In general people aren't a fan of cellectables with no prize.

There is an actual quote in here:

Collecting all the Emeralds doesn't change anything except getting rid of the try again screen. "That is something that... there is the real answer that I can't announce yet or may never be able to announce. But I hope I am able to tell the consumers at some point. Sorry it's very vague, but if I ever do get the opportunity to say something about that you'll be thrilled".

It's a shame he wasn't pointed in the direction of all those ripped assets

Can't say specifically how it's selling, but it is doing well. In top 30 apps on iPhone. No official numbers. On iOS it's actually doing better than E1. If it continues, he'll have the "ammunition" to push for future projects. A "certain site" that has misinformation

Talk about bosses:

Egg Serpentleaf

*more on Blogs later*

S1- South Island

S2- Westside Islane

S3K- Angel Island (name is from Angel Island Bay in San Francisco)

S4- It's a different part of Westside Island

Huh... I don't know really what to make of this. I suppose it means Casino Street, Sylvania Castle and Mad Gear can all be pawned off as being the same levels as their S2 counterparts, with Splash Hill being near Emerald Hill, Oil Desert near Oil Ocean and Sky Fortress' location making sense too. It's interesting, but why didn't anyone think it necessary to say this back during the E1 story? The map doesn't really make too much sense either when you think about all that's in S2 as well. I think I like the idea of it being the same island. I just wish they said something sooner.

Episode 2 lacks rotation support on iOS. Several updates coming for several versions, including PC, so it will probably be one of them.

Are you 100% satisfied with the physics?

"No but I never am." He wanted another cutscene where Metal Sonic picks up another piece of himself but it wasn't possible with the budget and time. Really happy and proud with how far the physics have progressed, but wants to hear about what else the fans what changed. Miles ahead of E1 and even over-delivered.

Next time, they ought to fix this:

Fan reviews are most important to Ken.

I still think there was a hell of a lot they didn't listen about, like about originality and level design. But they clearly went ahead and got some things right this time. It feels like a very slow process that's impeeded by that fact that this is all supposed to be the same game. I wish they'd stop S4 now and move onto something else where they can start anew.

"It seems like Sonic Team/Dimps really listened in terms of physics. How did it happen?"

Ken had lots of meetings with Iizuka, and physics was one of the many things that came up. It one of the early builds of E2 there was no picking up speed on hills. Ken says everything has to be very clear .

I'm surprised rolling wasn't one of the first things they even just tried to fix during E1's delay, but at least they got that mostly sorted by the end. And I'd guess Tails' limited playability is an example of fan feedback not being clear. Heck, S4 in general being so far from what lots of people wanted in S4 is an example.

Kellie "We cant address everyone's feedback". Not all of the Sonic fans want the same thing, but they really do take the feedback very seriously.

You can't please everyone, but I think there was a lot more that could have been done with both Episodes to please a wider audience.

Big really isn't going to be in anything else for the foreseeable future.

Ken went into some detail about this and character selection, after it turned out that a that little April Fools joke is true. It was apparently Iizuka's decision. I'm disappointed about this. For party titles and whatnot (looking at ASR, Riders), what's the harm in Big?

It was always the plan to link S4 and CD. It wasn't a result of the CD port or conceptualised after E1's teaser ending was made.

What would you say to people on the fence about buying E2?

> BUY IT!

> If you're on the fence, then this is one of the reasons we added Episode Metal. EM is there as a thank-you to the fans.

I totally disagree here, at least as far as the development goes (Ken's intentions are another matter). The 'free content' is a piece of shit.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Blue Blood

[Indigo Rush]

Not Sonic 4 related, but in that very interview, Ken said that Iizuka has retired use of Big the Cat. That's a real bummer.

[Sean]

I'm done with the series.

[Soniman]

And nothing of value was lost.

[Dummy Bear]

R.I.P. Big the Cat

1998-2012

Hope the haters are happy...

[Linkabel]

Well I'll always wanted another game in Westside Island so I guess I got my wish

Though does that mean that little planet appears in Westside Island? Can the Sonic CD before Sonic2 theory be true now, with Sonic arriving to the island first and before meeting Tails he went to Little Planet?

[TheOcelot]

Made me laugh in the podcast when Ken Balough pretty much slagged off TSSZ (without actually naming them) over the sales figures of Ep2.

Edited June 8, 2012 by MilesKnightwing

[supersonikku]

I've always said that Sega wouldn't listen to fan complaints, never did I dream that they would produce a sequel based SOLELY on them and addressed to the minimum possible effort.

-You want better physics for Sonic? Ok done. What Supersonic too? Well you didn't specify that

-You want other characters to be playable? Ok here's Tails. What you want to be able to play as them on your own? You didnt specify.

-You want lock-on content? Sorted! Oh, ACTUAL shared content between both episodes similar to S3&K? You didnt specify that either

-You want levels that aren't rehashes? Hm well I guess the bare minimum for the plural "levels" is 2. Here's 2 new(ish) levels. Oh you wanted it all to be new? You. Were. Not. Specific. Enough.

Sonic 4 is a joke so far, basing literally everything around feedback clearly isn't working and is frankly an embarrassing thing for a company to be doing.

[TheOcelot]

Sonic 4 Episode 2 was the 5th best seller in May 2012 for PSN.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/06/13/may-2012-psn-top-sellers-the-walking-dead-invades-the-charts/

Not quite as good as Sonic CD on PSN for December 2011 which was the number 1 game sold for that month.

[Nintendoga]

Oh WOW, that' AMAZING

[Blue Blood]

Eh, that's bitter sweet. Yay Sonic is selling, boo that Sonic 4 is selling.

[Komodin]

Hm, I wonder if this would've still happened if Sonic 4 was a 3D Sonic game...

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Hm, I wonder if this would've still happened if Sonic 4 was a 3D Sonic game...

They'll use it as proof that Sonic is bad in 3D and that the Genesis Era is the only era worth giving a crap. Just like every other "Sonic is only good in the Genesis Era" argument on the internet ever made.

[sonfan1984]

They'll use it as proof that Sonic is bad in 3D and that the Genesis Era is the only era worth giving a crap. Just like every other "Sonic is only good in the Genesis Era" argument on the internet ever made.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I like how before that it's "Sonic is only good in 2D" to "Sonic is only good in the Genesis Era" now...

Did I forget a previous post or something?

I guess 2D and Genesis are used so often in the arguments that to me they just sorta blend together nowadays...

Edited June 14, 2012 by Enigmatus