Sonic 4: Episode 1 Impressions, Thoughts, & Help Topic

[-Mark-]

...I JUST FOUND THE CHEAPEST THING EVER.

RIGHT before you lose a Special Stage, (like RIGHT before time runs out or RIGHT before you hit a "!" block) pause and click restart and you start the Special Stage over from the beginning without even needing to go into another Special Ring.

Seriously SEGA? XDD

I don't think it's cheap, personally.

Okay, it's a little tacky in some of the easier stages, but considering the last few have you pinging off bumpers left, right and center, half the time you get flung into a goal block before you can even react to pause the game and retry.

[Barry the Nomad]

The Special Stage restart may sound cheap, but in practice it rarely comes into play. Often I'm so close the the emerald that I think "this is it!", only to hit a bumper and fly into a game over circle. Unless you have lightening fast reflexes, the only time restart comes in handy is if you think you won't have enough time to get to the emerald.

[Blue Wisp]

Now I learn about the Special Stage thing :F?

4th Chaos Emerald took me 20 tries, the 5th I got it on first try WHAT THE HECK?

[Detective Shadzter]

Ok, so I've just been having a small play with the curve physics (e.g. ramps & loops) in Splash Hill Zone Act 1 on the Xbox 360 and I really can't seem to do any of the things people have been doing on the Wii version (haven't seen any playthroughs from forumers of the other 2 console versions yet). I get half way up the curve and I can stand, but any higher and he automatically walks back down Is my copy special?

[DistantJ]

Same with me on the iPhone version.

I think it's only natural that we have this split. Sonic means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and blah blah blah. Some love it, some dislike it. That's cool.

When it comes to the minor things like sticking on walls though... I mean, that's really more rare than a lot of people are making out, honestly. And the twice that it's happened to me I've just sat there and laughed. I don't think it's worth getting RAEG'd up about it, honestly, because it doesn't affect how fun the rest of the game is to play. It's a bit like those cute glitches on Sonic Adventure, or some of the more weird shit that people found in Sonic 2.

Hear hear!

...and for crying out loud when will EU PSN update already?

[Blue Wisp]

Anyone beated E.G.G Station?

Edited October 13, 2010 by Blue Wisp

[Rusty Spy]

So yeah I only made it to page 13 before I nearly castrated myself from all the fan wank about B'aaaw fisiks.

I already finished the game 100%, all chaos emeralds and played through it twice, once normally, the second time with Super Sonic. My initial reaction to the game was that I was thoroughly surprised.

B'aw Fysiks:

Well, I guess I might as well talk about THIS one first since I'm gonna be referencing them throughout this. After playing through the game, I can safely say that my only complaints concerning the physics are that Sonic accelerates a little too slow and the inertia is fucked. If you aren't holding the direction your going, you WILL stop on a dime, and this can get annoying at times. His acceleration makes it a little hard to move around without launching yourself full tilt at something, making the slower sections feel a little awkward at times. Other than that, aside from rolling not being effective .....like at all, the physics are hardly offensive. (and shut up)

Splash Hill:

Nothing particularly note worthy, it was all fun and enjoyable, really gave me a good time. One thing I noticed was that I found myself running smack into enemies out of nowhere. It was really annoying, but I hoped it wouldn't be a recurring thing. Boss was easy as usual, though using the HA was more of a hindrance, since you lose control using it. It was a nice balance, though he did get a cheap shot on me once. Not used to the game's hitboxes I assume.

Casino Street:

Didn't know this level was the second zone actually, I always assumed it would be LLZ, but whatev. This zone was also nothing offensive either. Although, I knew I was playing a classic Sonic game because I was getting pretty bored with the slow moving I had to do, something that's always stuck with me since Spring Yard. Though it wasn't all for naught, act 2 was really fun, getting all those bonuses felt very rewarding, and those THREEE DEEEE card running sections were nice. Act 3 gave me a bit of a challenge trying to find out where I was supposed to shoot off to next, so that was ok. I never noticed the cannon momentum thing either, half the time I wasn't even holding down a direction because I didn't want to slam into a bumper. Oh yeah and the boss was nothing special, I kinda wish their pinch mode forms were the initial bosses instead of the unexciting normal versions, especially since I kinda felt bad for beating Eggman so quickly, since I know there is a programmer who probably worked hard to give Eggman those new moves which you hardly get to see since he goes down so quickly. I partly blame Eggman himself for taking his sweet ol' time to actually DO something.

Lost Labyrinth:

It was around this time that I really started getting into the game. the second and third acts really took me for a ride, and solving those torch puzzles really felt good. I was genuinely impressed by the design of those acts; the advancing wall of doom caught me by surprise and was quite a rush. Only major problem was that the second water chamber thing where you have to tilt the screen to make the water come out, I could not for the life of me figure out how to get by without getting hit at least once. I honestly did not understand how to move Sonic out of the way. The boss was really sweet, though pretty cheap at first since you don't know where the safe spots are, and the moving pillars hardly give you a good enough indication, it's still fund once you know what to do. So far this is where the game start become difficult, which I honestly did not expect.

Mad Gear:

This is where the game started going from being challenging to being cheap. Enemies in your directly path, pistons you had little time to react to crushing you, a few instances where there was a trap that was impossible to see coming without memorizing (e.g this once piston that shoots you upwards which was lying below a row of spikes just above that you couldn't see. If you stood on the right side of the piston, you'd get hit, no way to tell that there's danger above, fake difficulty gets to fuck off). This is a very visually busy level, my first time playing through I had a hard time telling what was a platform, or a wall, and what was just scenery, which got very annoying. But by far the worst offender in this level is act 3's advancing wall of doom. At the very start of the act, right before the end of the first wall section there is a slow moving piston closing your exit, every time I get to that section the piston is JUST ABOUT to close, literally in less than a second and if you aren't quick enough to get squeeze past it, it WILL NOT OPEN and will result in instant death, BULL. FUCKING. SHIT. The level was more cheap than than hard and got in the way of enjoying the level's strong points. The boss is a real doozy getting hit by it is all too easy, the mini eggmans are now EXPLOSIVEOMGWTFHAAAX. It was pretty tough, but since it's still not as cheap as Sonic 2's Metropolis boss, I'll let it slide. The pinch mode was my favorite though, I really liked the pseudo-Advance 2 style running section, and it was genuinely DIFFICULT, but not CHEAP.

Final Boss:

I had underestimated this game for the last time and paid dearly; almost 10 lives to be exact. When I fought his first form I was thinking to myself "is this it?" boooooring~...... then he started sparking. On my first run, I had run out of rings by that point and when he started short circuiting, he swung his first foot right over me and crush me to death... Unhelpful, but fucking funny. Honestly, while this boss was mostly trial and error, it was still very intense, very challenging and really kicked my ass. Took me a while to figure out that you had to hit his detached claw back at him, but once I got his pattern down, things really started getting real. Once the sirens started going off, I was really getting pumped with adrenaline.

Special Stages:

These special stages, as usual, were sadistic, almost passive aggressive evil. I started out using the motion controls (btw this is the PS3 version) and they work quite well. It was a bit of a rush, trying to maneuver Sonic around, flailing my controller as the timer slow went down. Despite being based after Sonic 1's stages, it really felt totally fresh. It was more like a mix of both 1 and 2's special stages; navigating a maze while collecting X number of rings to advance. It was a fresh experience and really tough, especially at that last Special stage, continuing the traditional 0-Mount Everest spike in difficulty.

Overall: I really enjoyed this game. The visuals were great, the music was superb, the levels were more than I expected, and the special stages gave me a run for my money. The game is safe; doesn't push any boundaries, doesn't particularly ruin anything, overall a very fun experience.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Black Spy

[Carbo]

I've played the game up until Casino Climax right now, and the game definitely grows onto you after some time.

The game didn't start too well I felt, Sonic was a bit too sludgy/floaty for my taste, but I eventually got quite used to it and now I'm having fun with it. I might have encountered one or two poor ramp physics but as Dread said, these are only minor that you very rarely ever get and which are only apparent if you forcefully fuck around, and they barely piss you off, they're pretty funny actually.

While people might say that "Sonic 4 doesn't exactly deserve said title", I have a bit of a hard time imagining what else it COULD be called. It is nothing like Sonic Rush and it doesnt feel like Advance either. This game so far gives me exactly what I've come to expect from an old-school style Sonic game, the sense of always being on the run with a thrill of survival, and I have to say the level design is a bit better than I imagined it to be. The design might be what feels in alot of ways alienating, but truth be told it doesn't pull off a shabby job in modernizing a classic formula.

Also, the Road Of Cards gimmick is really fucking cool.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Columind

[Barry the Nomad]

Not to get too into a title debate, but I think the Sonic 4 title is important in that it dictates the rules that the game will follow. Not talking about physics, but more talking about act structure, special stage access structure, visual aesthetics and playable characters. With the title "Sonic 4" the game is expected not to feature hub stages, melee moves, odd "collect the chao/stars/medals to access the special stage or new characters (Sylas the Skunk and his laser eyes!). Being 4th places it firmly after 3 and before SA1, thus freeing it up of much of the last ten years. While I enjoyed a lot of the post Genesis era cast, I'm glad that Sonic 4 is assured to stick with Tails and Knuckles.

[EXshad]

Basically, saying Sonic 4 > MM9+10 because "it dares to take a classic formula and update it for modern times" is complete bullshit. Seriously.

That's funny Really hilarious, actually. So pre-rendered graphics, the inclusion of the homing attack, and new gimmicks such as navigating through the darknss is less original than a remake of Mega Man 1/2/3/4/5/6? Granted, a lot of Sonic 4 is pulled from other games, but the implementation is what sets it apart. Mega Man 9 was formulatic of the other games to a tee, whereas Sonic 4, love it or hate it, actually stands out thanks to new mechanics not present in it's 4 successors that have an impact of the game.

That's a fact, regardless of your opinion on the game. Mega Man 9/10 might play better to you, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I was talking up. Also, it's important to accept that other people have differing opinions than you, it's a crucial life skill 'cause personally, I had way more fun with Sonic 4 than I did with Mega Man 9 because, besides actually feeling like a new game, the difficulty curve wasn't brokenly unfair.

Edited October 13, 2010 by EXshad

[Balding Spider]

Just beat the game, and although I had fun there's no denying episode has it's share of problems. Sonic felt slow and clunky when I first played, and took me some to get used to it.

[Sean]

It's not people disliking it which winds people up. You've seen me talking with a few people with a different reaction to the game than I had and being mature about it, debating, not arguing etc., but people get wound up when such strong words are used, like 'horrible' etc. to describe something which clearly hasn't affected anybody else but those obsessed with the classics, or those who already had an agenda, and I'm sorry but you are included since you had constantly said you wouldn't play it, now you do and you use strong adjectives to express your disappointment.

Sonic is back, and a lot of people are really happy, you can't blame them for reacting when a few people go all negative about it.

So you think I'm just a classic fanboy or that I've only played this game just to prove something? Disgusting.

I use strong words all the time, no matter at which end of the positive/negative spectrum I find myself. My dislike for Sonic 4 isn't a seething vat of acid that I pine over all day long; I may bitch about it, but I don't even think about the game after I get up and leave the computer. And at the same time I'm also not even trying to set up an argument with anybody about the quality of this game. It's no business to me if people and critics are enjoying it, and they probably have just as legitimate reasons to love it as I do hate it. I don't get worked up over the game's positive reception, so why anybody should complain about my way of expressing my dislike is beyond me. I mean if people have a problem with it, they must not know the kind of person I am on the forums.

People have said this game is wonderful, and that's honestly what they feel. I'm allowed to turn around and not hold back by saying it's horrible, because that is honestly what I feel. I'm not banging on the people who enjoy this game, so y'all can just take it.

[Scarecrow]

Not to get too into a title debate, but I think the Sonic 4 title is important in that it dictates the rules that the game will follow. Not talking about physics, but more talking about act structure, special stage access structure, visual aesthetics and playable characters. With the title "Sonic 4" the game is expected not to feature hub stages, melee moves, odd "collect the chao/stars/medals to access the special stage or new characters (Sylas the Skunk and his laser eyes!). Being 4th places it firmly after 3 and before SA1, thus freeing it up of much of the last ten years. While I enjoyed a lot of the post Genesis era cast, I'm glad that Sonic 4 is assured to stick with Tails and Knuckles.

Although that intself makes it DIFFERENT to the classics as ALL the main games at that point had introduced a new character, whethere Amy Rose or Knuckles. So technically it's less accurate to the naturla progression of the classics. But of course, i'm being pedantic, get your meaning.

Still, I kind of wish they'd used the hidden gold rings liek S3&K as that was my favourite special stage access system.

[Jetronic]

Ugh, It's going to be really difficult to beat or come close to my time on that last special stage on the 360 version from what I got on the Wii version.

BUT I MUST DUE IT! DUE IT HARD!

Edited October 13, 2010 by Jetronic

[Barry the Nomad]

Although that intself makes it DIFFERENT to the classics as ALL the main games at that point had introduced a new character, whethere Amy Rose or Knuckles. So technically it's less accurate to the naturla progression of the classics. But of course, i'm being pedantic, get your meaning.

Still, I kind of wish they'd used the hidden gold rings liek S3&K as that was my favourite special stage access system.

I know, i know!

Though rather than introduce new characters, I think Sonic 4 could reintroduce characters that have never appeared in the numbered series, yet did appear in the Genesis era. I'm talking Fang and Metal especially. I would mention the Chaotix and Amy, but I wouldn't really want their modern designs to appear in a numbered Sonic game.

[Tornado]

It's not people disliking it which winds people up. You've seen me talking with a few people with a different reaction to the game than I had and being mature about it, debating, not arguing etc., but people get wound up when such strong words are used, like 'horrible' etc. to describe something which clearly hasn't affected anybody else but those obsessed with the classics, or those who already had an agenda, and I'm sorry but you are included since you had constantly said you wouldn't play it, now you do and you use strong adjectives to express your disappointment.

So what you are saying is, "Opinions are to respected, unless you disagree with the reason that the person came to them."

[mark]

I just downloaded the trial just then on 360.

Dont want to buy it yet as cant be bothered spending the money

But i bought the iPhone version on day of release....

and wow.. the physics on the console version are like... MASSIVELY superior over the iPhone. Like honestly it feels completely different. iPhone feels horrible in comparison. Id love to refund my iPhone version and buy the 360..... >.<

But yeah having played through the iphone version, and experienced the 360's beautiful physics, its a great game. I woulda just liked to have seen something building upon the (in my opinion) better game that is Sonic 3 and Knuckles , rather than the first 2. Still..

Its Sonic, its 2d, it feels similar to the first 2... instant seller and bound to get good reviews, regardless of whatever. They knew what would appeal to a larger crowd I guess

Edited October 13, 2010 by mArK

[Marcello]

Just collected all the emeralds =D I'll beat E.G.G. Station again tomorrow, so I can watch it on our HD TV.

I really like this game. I like Sonic 3 & Knuckles more, though. Still I had a lot of fun today with it and can't wait for the future episodes.

[Carbo]

Lost Labyrinth is really fucking awesome. Certainly one of the more true blue Sonic zones as of recently, and the gimmicks of the level are really cool. Torchlight puzzles was a real nice touch.

This game is growing onto me fast. I didn't like the first zone that much but once I returned to it, I had alot more fun playing it.

Also Special Zones are really fucking hard.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Columind

[Sean]

Okay, since I finished the game entirely last night, it's thoughts time. I'm going to steal Wolfy's format because I can't think of a better one! Plus, they are conveniently ordered by importance.

Gameplay

Bad.

Levels

These levels are... well, okay. That's right, I found the levels themselves to be the least offensive aspect of the game. And that's pretty much all I can muster up to describe them: "inoffensive". They're still not all that fun, and there were some minute parts where I got really frustrated with the game. Playing them wasn't particularly exciting, and even though I've played most of the acts multiple times, I can't think of anything that really stood out to me.

Bosses

None of these were any fun. Even Robotnik's pinch mode in every one failed to wind up my excitement. Lost Labyrinth's boss was way too frustrating, and the final boss took too fucking long. Unlike the regular zone acts, I didn't replay any of these, since I didn't find much of a point to it. I guess I don't really care what extra sugar coating is laid on top of these bosses when in their heart, they're still rehashes.

Music

This is probably Jun Senoue's best effort in years - and I do mean that literally. It's a disappointing, mediocre soundtrack as a whole, but hey, can't blame the guy for trying, right? But there are a few gems that I do like, however. Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear had some memorable pieces, especially the latter, which rips off Mega Man X. Splash Hill's music sounds like it belongs on the main menu or the title screen, not in the level. Plus, I would have preferred a better arrangement.

Graphics

Not all that great. I'm not a fan of the pre-rendered foregrounds and objects, and the only remarkable thing I can note in this section is that some of the level backgrounds are eyecatching, such as the bright city in Casino Street or the lovely Roman ruins in Lost Labyrinth. I sort of wished I could go explore them as opposed to the dull stages I had to traverse. I thought the level map looked okay when viewed from a distance, but scoping for details isn't much fun.

I complained about the game a fair amount before it was released and I've said many times I wouldn't go out of my way to play it, so I pretty much ate my own words in that regard, especially since the main reason I changed my mind and decided to play Sonic 4 was so that I could talk about it with some people I know, and because I had an entire day to kill. But I really could not bring myself to like this game; I've played the zones several times and tried to look past every ounce of hatred I have for this game's shitty engine, and I still see a dull, although definitely not offensively wretched, game. As for the game's use of reworked nostalgic level themes and bosses, it's an annoyance and I don't care for it. So my personal verdict? I think the game sucks, and it could have been better. A LOT better. I don't even want to try to excuse this game, all I can say is, "Better luck next episode, Sega". I severely doubt they will address the physics issues in later episodes, so I imagine my enjoyment will be pretty weighed down.

[Vic Boss]

Can someone please help me? I'm stuck on LLZ act 3. The second water chamber. I can't get out and keep dying!

Thanks :S.

[Agent York]

Can someone please help me? I'm stuck on LLZ act 3. The second water chamber. I can't get out and keep dying!

Thanks :S.

The block only moves out, so tilt the water only slightly to let the block fall out some but when nearing the spikes turn the water the opposite direction by a lot and let Sonic go away from the spikes. Then tilt slight again. Repeat until block gets loose and be quick on your toes as Sonic can drown in there.

[Barry the Nomad]

^ try tipping the other way first before tipping to the right to empty the water. Sonic lowers a bit when tipping to the left, allowing him to clear the spike when tipping back to the right

edit: or what Dusk said, though I've been able to do it without going back and forth

Edited October 13, 2010 by Doctor Eggman

[Vertekins]

The Special Stages are harder than I thought they'd be. It takes some time to get the exact gist of perfectly rotating for swift movement through the stage and those time limits are utterly brutal even with time extenders.

I think the game is awesome and the acts last longer than I thought they would. And the gimmicks are appropriate and original. The part if Lost Labyrinth Act 2 with the 4 torches was a tad frustrating but satifying to successfully bypass. And the graphics are pure eye candy, some seriously lovely effects like the ferris wheel in Casino Street's background (Is it just me or is "SONIC THE PORTABLE" written on it?), tearing up grass when running in Splash Hill, rather nice water effects in Lost Labyrinth...

Sonic definately feels "Heavy" to control, far heavier than he ever did in the Mega Drive titles but I think it adds realism to the physics. I also noticed his initial sluggish acceleration. Not once did I ever feel that the homing attack was stilting the experience or was being overused. I think it's used fairly cleverly in harmony with the great level design.

The music I love. They are memorable to the point of being earworms godammit. I like the usage of classic sfx too.

I regret nothing downloading this gem. It's surpassed my expectations and is highly fun.

[Vic Boss]

Okay thanks. I can't beat the Mad Gear Boss now. The stupid second stage is doing my nut in.