Although it's not all sun and berries with the mobile devices when some people on the Sega forums have reported their games lag. Well, I'm not a mobile gaming expert so I can't say much about that.
In a previous entry, I had said something along the lines that there were only a few people who's review of Episode 2 actually mattered to me. Well, I've finally gotten around to reading one of the reviews which I was looking forward to the most as I expected this individual would cover as many angles in the game as possible, and he delivered. Nope, I'm not going to throw down the url to his review (yet). This is something I want reproduced in all it's glory right here, so... grab a splash of something to sip on, for this is not short and sweet. In fact, you may want more than a splash if it's hot where you are.
btw, I thank Copley for allowing me to post this.
Sonic 4, Episode I & II Review & Analysis
Critique is based on playthroughs of the Wii, iOS and PC
(including the Beta 8.0) versions.
Disclaimer:
The following is my own opinion of the games and their overall marketing campaign. Feel free to deconstruct, criticize and otherwise discuss the following at your leisure.
SPOILERS FOLLOW.
Episode I
What can I say about Episode I? The game was meant to hail a return to the classic gameplay. The spiel in the videos, commentary from community managers and others was such that you expected this. What actually happened was something very different.
A game where most of the ingredients and ideas were right (reintroducing the classic series, a return to tropes and badniks of previous games, and bosses), but the fundamental design decisions of the game let down the whole.
The positive and negative points of this game, as I see them, are related below.
[+] Graphics. I actually enjoyed these graphics. I know they divided opinion, but I liked the overall textures and graphics. The cel shaded look of the Badniks and Sonic/Robotnik/Eggman looked great to me. The level tropes – mostly rehashes of previous Sonic levels (Emerald Hill, Labyrinth Zone, Casino Night Zone, Metropolis Zone) were still very beautiful, particularly background and foreground components.
[+] Super Sonic. Self explanatory – he was playable in different levels for the first time since Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Well done Sega, you listened to the calls to bring him back properly, and you provided on this one issue.
[+] Level Design: Specific Gimmicks. I liked the Zip Lines, the Cards, the boulders and the Cogs. All well thought out and carefully placed within their acts. Mad Gear Zone Act 3 was the best act, because it used all the previous gimmicks of the two acts before it, in a well designed level with a sense of urgency.
[+] Physics – Accelerating downhill. Now whilst it was clear that there are other portions of the game’s physics engines which were poor, they nailed accelerating downhill while running.
[+] Music – I felt the music was very strong in the game, although I would have preferred the S3&K take on remixing tracks for the next few acts, giving a greater consistency to the overall level trope. That said, Mad Gear Zone acts 1-3 are exceptional. I didn’t particularly agree with the “dying cats” mantra the game became known for, as I felt the music just worked for me. It’s a more personal, less objective “plus” I feel here.
[+] The concept of going back to basics, revisiting Sonic’s “Genesis” as it were, and continuing the story of the Genesis series.
[-] Graphics – Character Models. I simply don’t understand why we were spun a line saying “Classic Sonic won’t return”, “re-design” blah blah blah, if they knew Sonic Generations was coming. I know it’s established now, but the use of a Classic Sonic, Classic Robotnik set of models would have given the game a real thrill of nostalgia for me. It’s not bad for having the modern interpretations of these characters, but it would have been a nice gesture to the older fans.
[-] Physics – Rolling & Lack of Momentum. Rolling was pointless in this game. Sonic did not hold any horizontal momentum once the D[-]Pad was released. This meant that you would press down to roll, and Sonic would immediately stop. The momentum issue meant Sonic had to run everywhere by holding the D pad down all the time, even though the boosters throughout the game forced him to roll!
[-] Physics – Jumping. Jumping was difficult in this game, because Sonic did not hold any momentum once the D pad was released. This meant that you had to hold the D pad in order to get Sonic over bottomless pits. See Casino Street Zone Act 2, where the cards that flip over are, for a sense of frustration with this particular problem with the physics.
[-] Physics – Uncurling. Whether you rolled off, or ran, off a ledge, Sonic would “uncurl” into a position ready for a homing attack. This, when coupled with letting go of the D Pad, and the literal no horizontal momentum Sonic had, would cause much frustration. See “Sonic 4 Corale” on Youtube for further examples of this problem.
This also caused some eyebrow raising when he would “uncurl” after running at high speed, down a slope, and come off a ramp. The reason being, Sonic would just go straight up in the air, without any horizontal momentum.
[-] Physics – Homing Attack. This has been seen as the “root of all evils” and it’s not difficult to see why. It is a move which allows an easy kill of most badniks in the game, serves to be used to forgo platforming in favour of “spring corridors” (which we will return to later) and make bosses easy to hit and defeat, time and again. People have cited touch pad consoles (iPhone, iPad) as the reason for the move’s existence, but I point to the Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD re[-]releases on those consoles as examples of the same genre that work perfectly well without the need for a homing attack on those devices.
The homing attack also led to “Bubbles Bridges” over bottomless pits being re[-]used in every single level of the game. This move, and the Bubbles Badnik, were two of the loudest complaints related to this game.
[-] Level Design – U shaped undulations. We all like U shaped undulations for rolling situations in the classics – where you would roll back, and forth, gaining momentum until you could roll your way out of the pit – but in Sonic 4, Episode I, u shaped undulations were everywhere. There were very few actual slopes, it was either block to block platforming, “spring corridors” or U shaped and inverted U shaped layouts everywhere.
This caused two minor problems. One: it’s boring to see the same shape in every level (Bar perhaps Lost Labyrinth Zone, which was probably the best in terms of overall level design, but the one which suffered most because of the physics), and two, the physics engine’s lack of momentum prevented rolling from being used – Sonic has to run everywhere in order to keep up his speed. Or spam the rolling combo. Either way, the 90 degree undulations are still absolutely everywhere and now with no momentum gained down slopes (with a low speed cap in place anyway).
[-] Level Design – Boosters. They are everywhere. Placement of boosters was clearly to compensate for the physics and momentum being very “off”, but there were one or two occasions were you just had to scream out “WHY?” – best example is the booster placed literally two paces away from a boulder you get on to roll over a bottomless pit in Lost Labyrinth Act 1. Not the only example and throughout the game, the same booster design was repeated and placed badly everywhere.
Felt like automation after a while – not helped by a bizarre design decision to make Sonic roll every time he went through them/ Certain levels used this as a way of destroying badniks – Sonic goes into booster, rolls, and then rolls through three badniks conveniently placed just after the booster.
[-] Level Design – Springs. These were used to move Sonic through corridors he could have run along! Spring Chains were unnecessary, annoying, and were the same in every single level and act. Used sparingly they are excellent additions to the gameplay, but in Sonic 4 they served to give that feeling of automation that the boosters gave too.
[-] Level Design – Badnik Placement. Bubbles Chains over bottomless pits are uninspired, homing attack centric segments which detract from the overall flow of a side scrolling Sonic platform game. Fans asked specifically for these to be removed in Episode II along with the Homing attack, and improvements to the physics engine, when feedback was for asked for.
[-] PR & Brand Managers – Lack of consistency. Is it or isn’t it a true sequel? Are they trying to make a game which brings back the nostalgia, look and gameplay, or not? Mixed signals from the game, which professes to be a sequel to the classics, but swings, misses and falls down on the most crucial aspect – the overall gameplay – served to frustrate many fans, ranging from derision to exasperation with the game.
Episode II
Episode II was designed to tie in to Sonic 2 and Sonic CD, and in the case of the latter, this was pushed very forcefully by the use of similar trailer styles for the recent Sonic CD re-release.
Metal Sonic, little planet, everything was designed to bring Sonic CD into the Genesis arc and in some respects, right the wrong that the superb Metal Sonic character was never a part of the Genesis saga.
Tying this idea in with a re-imagination of the Sonic 2 Death Egg saga is genius. Episode II for me, is full of great ideas, but significantly, it falls down on the execution of many of the game’s basic design principles.
Level design, combination moves, homing attack and combination move centric gameplay all serve up an astonishing contradictory image of the whole game.
Moving away from the Classics by more or less ditching the things the Genesis titles are still universally praised for (rolling physics, intuitive level design, momentum) but using as much of its aesthetic qualities as possible to try and sell the game.
The first episode was meant to hail a return to the classic gameplay, but Episode II fails to deliver on that promise and instead moves even further away from that which was desired after the more or less mediocre final result of Episode I.
One of the few genuinely good ideas about Episode II was bringing back Tails as a playable character, and Metal Sonic as a new playable character. Neither character really had justice done to their unique movesets, as I will explain later.
The positive and negative points of this game, as I see them, are related below.
[+] Graphics. What can be said other than Sega did brilliantly for Episode II. The levels are gorgeous. The best I’ve seen in a Sonic side scrolling platform game. This is Sonic 4 as it should have been from the start.
[+] Level Transitions - okay, not quite the S3&K move directly from one act to another, but it's a great start Sega. Much improved from the single transition section of Episode I. Particularly impressed by the cutscenes towards the end of the game, and the ending itself.
[+] Level Design – some specific Gimmicks are good (oil slicks, fans), but so far nothing beats Sky Fortress Act 2. Just amazing to watch, and good to play I’ll bet with what is so very, very close to Classic level design.
[+] Level Design – The Special Stages. I was a bit dubious having played them on the Beta 8 originally, but they have grown on me. I like the fact they’re a reinterpretation of the Sonic 2 special stages, and the new additions to this gameplay in the form of the boost and boosters enhance it greatly. I loved the last episode’s Cameltry-esque levels too, so here the improvement to the special stages is expected and welcome.
[+] Team Moves – the ideas behind the team moves are sound principles, but (as we’ll return to later) it has implications on level design and options.
[+] Ideas and Innovation – there are some tremendous ideas in Episode II. The Death Egg being rebuilt around the little planet, to tie in with Sonic CD.
The Oil refinery in a desert, a natural location. The rollercoaster in the snow covered amusement park. The complete reimagination of the Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic 2, incorporating jet engines which fire up, and two run along the wall segments which really hit the Genesis gameplay ideals whilst offering something new.
In theory, the idea of Player 1 controlling Tails’ moves in the single player mode. Metal Sonic as a playable character is a terrific idea and a freebie, no less.
Some of the new badniks work brilliantly. There are a lot of returning Badniks, I hasten to add, some of which have been dealt with well, others poorly, and in Bubbles case, same as the last episode.
[+] Music – I’m in love with a few tracks, Sky Fortress Act 1, Oil Desert Act II and Sylvania Castle Act III are my personal favourites, but...
[-] Music - it’s still hit and miss for me overall. Too many short loops, pieces which don’t fit the act they’re attached to (All of White Park), and I don’t like the Stardust Speedway remix. The boss music is abysmal. Utterly, utterly abysmal. The much maligned “clown” music at least was less repetitive and less annoying than this one track and its repeated incessant noise.
[-] Monitor screens – simply, why?! I can understand them in the first act of the first level to explain the combo moves. They are everywhere. If you haven’t understood how the moves work after the first act of the first level, you shouldn’t be playing videogames. Kids as young as 5 will have picked up the controls, understood the moves, and carried on without needing prompting. It’s a waste of resources, they are hugely distracting and ugly, and frankly are completely redundant after White Park anyway.
[-] Bottomless Pit signs. Saying we didn’t want millions of bottomless pits last time around, Episode II has more and now ridiculous red warning signs everywhere for them. First seen in Generations, this sign outrageously overpopulates the levels in the same manner as the bottomless pits.
This more than anything makes me question how far any feedback was taken on by Sega after Episode I. Putting warning signs over bottomless pits doesn’t fix the problem that they are there.
Why are there bottomless pits in a temple, snow and a desert level trope anyway? Sonic 2 didn’t have bottomless pits in Aquatic Ruin or Oil Ocean, and the only bottomless pits in Sonic 3’s Ice Cap Zone came in the bottom of the level, underwater segments.
It’s lazy, it’s poorly implemented, and it makes it awkward to get through levels since you are always looking out for the next cheap bottomless pit. Like in the first Metal Sonic boss fight (which, by the way, is out and out cheap overall).
[-] Graphics – Character Models. I simply don’t understand why we were spun a line saying “Classic Sonic won’t return”, “re-design” blah blah blah, if they knew Sonic Generations was coming. I know it’s established now, but the use of a Classic Sonic, Classic Robotnik set of models would have given the game a real thrill of nostalgia for me.
It’s not bad for having the modern interpretations of these characters, but it would have been a nice gesture to the older fans. Agreeably, they’re not going to have changed it from Episode I, but Metal Sonic’s model is very odd looking and not quite as awesome as his Sonic CD incarnation, which we were reminded of an reintroduced to in Sonic CD's re-release in November last year.
[-] Characters. I’ll start with Tails.Tails has become nothing more than a tacked on gimmick of the single player mode, and in co[-]op mode, sadly gets a very poor deal by sharing a screen with Player 1. He’s teleported about, two out of three combo moves can be activated by Player 1 anyway, and overall the feeling of redundancy you get when playing as Tails – say in comparison to playing Rayman Origins’ co-op mode – is palpable.
Tails also does not get his own single player mode, because Episode II has seen fit to make the use of the co-op moves more or less compulsory for getting through the game.
You can’t get through Oil Ocean or White Park without Tails. If you were Tails on your own, you can get through most of the game on your own, but not where you need the combo roll with Sonic. This is poor level design, and poorly thought out for the replay value of the game.
Metal Sonic, on the other hand, is a playable single player mode character, albeit for four paltry acts, one from each of the four zones in Episode I, in reverse order. His physics and gameplay are more or less identical to Sonic’s, and that’s where the idea falls down.
Metal Sonic has never had a spin dash, nor a roll, but had a shield and limited boost in Sonic CD and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. Incorporating the best of these ideas into a playable character would have introduced some truly invigorating new takes on the gameplay of Episode I.
Using the shield to destroy enemies, along with a limited boost doing the same thing, would have made Metal Sonic unique and also give us an opportunity for a multiplayer versus mode, whereby you have the three main characters of the two Episodes, all with their own unique abilities, blasting through levels and generally balancing out their abilities by all being different.
Imagine an online multiplayer mode whereby you have Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Metal Sonic as playable characters, going hammer and tong through specially designed multiplayer maps to get to the finish line first whilst collecting as many rings, breaking as many item boxes, and badniks as possible to up their score. Sonic 2 esque, but designed for the modern day and giving players that option to duke it out as their favourite character. That’s the potential Sonic 4 had as a retail release.
What we got was a slight variant on the Episode II physics engine, combined with Episode I levels thrown together with a ton more spikes and badniks. It’s a missed opportunity. A nice enough freebie, but not a “must have” nor is it particularly well designed. It’s like a taster of what could have been, and it’s a shame more of Metal Sonic wasn’t seen or utilized well enough through Episode II as a result. His death at the end of Death Egg MkII Zone (or is it? Probably) is a great oversight for the potential of the character.
So to sum up the two characters, both secondary to Sonic, both utilized badly but both in theory had the potential to be so much more than they are.
[-] Bosses. Some are brilliant in their aesthetic design, but they are – every single one of them – awkward to hit, sometimes thoroughly cheap, and you don’t beat bosses so much with skill, but with sheer luck and persistence. There’s a reason why lives are so easy to come by in this game – the overall cheap way of killing Sonic at every turn in every level, act and boss.
All said, I found the final boss to be a very interesting idea, and rather well implemented. My issue with it is that it didn’t feel like a final boss. It seemed too linear in the idea and it was hampered by a physics engine which still isn’t up to scratch.
[-] Physics – Speed Caps. They “fixed” the momentum issue by introducing another problem. When Sonic runs downhill, there is a specific, rather low, speed cap in place. This speed cap is the same whatever terrain Sonic is on. Sonic will actually spin through a booster, and slow down when he starts running.
Rolling now has a further odd effect in that whatever speed you are running at, if you roll, the roll will stay at that speed whether going downhill or uphill. In some respects, this speed cap prevents the hilarious heights the “uncurling” was capable of when running downhill in Episode I, but also severely restricts Sonic’s top speed.
[-] Physics – Uncurling. Whether you rolled off, or ran, off a ledge, Sonic would “uncurl” into a position ready for a homing attack. In Episode II, they’ve cured this for rolling, but Sonic still does this when running, and it results in momentum lost, and Sonic will just just go straight up in the air, without much horizontal momentum. This is an improvement which has been hampered somewhat by the introduction of the speed caps, because Sonic no longer goes flying, however…
[-] Physics – Super Sonic. I can’t get my head round this one. The physics are almost identical to Episode. I say almost; because the uncurling off a ramp when in a roll has been fixed. However, you won’t know this as momentum is the same as it was in Episode I: non-existent. Sonic goes off a ledge and just plummets straight downwards with no horizontal momentum.
You absolutely must hold the D pad to go everywhere, and the same tired problems of Episode I with landing, and judging platforms as a result of this oversight continues. Nobody knows if this is being deliberately implemented now, or whether it is an actual oversight on Sega’s part, but the fact of the matter remains that this was a fundamental, basic complaint of Episode I.
Further proof, if it were needed, that the “all new physics engine” (which by the way, is part of their advertising – and is pretty much an outright lie) isn’t all new. The difference is fundamental: Super Sonic is a different object with different values to Sonic & Tails, and retains the Episode I problems.
[-] Physics – Tails Combo moves. The first I’ll tackle is the combined roll.
The move can be started, stopped, and turned about, very easily with the press of a button. Why run if you can combo roll everywhere? There’s little to do with physics, momentum, slopes or whatever as it gives an instantaneous boost to the player.
It’s also impervious to spikes still, not a change from the Beta 8. In White Park, this move can be abused rather badly and is also compulsory for getting past the snow sections – there’s few if any alternate routes.
By far the worst part of this, however, is the final Metal Sonic boss, where the combo roll eats up the level and wins the race with ease.
This makes a mockery of Metal Sonic – whose whole role in the game is built up and built up, and then he’s killed off just as easily (if not more so) as in Sonic CD. It’s a tremendous disappointment. His role as Robotnik’s right hand man is understated, underplayed, and killed off by the overpowered combo roll.
The swim move was a great idea, but unlike the swim move of previous games in the Genesis series, you need to hold a direction and press the jump button to swim. The subtle difference here means you can very easily – for an inexperienced gamer – get tied up in knots trying to get Tails to swim you around the narrow passages of White Park Act 3.
If swimming upwards had been left to pressing the A button, and the left and right buttons on the D pad for adjusting the direction, and by simply not pressing the jump button, they would sink quickly, Tails would have controlled better overall.
This is particularly noticeable on the iOS versions as there is a section of the level which contains four of the walrus badniks which freeze the water around them; and again, this is a very cheap kill for an inexperienced player. My recommendation for that section is to use the combo roll!
Flying is just not smooth enough, nor does Tails fly for long enough. The days of exploration by flight in Sonic 3 are more or less gone in Episode II. The move is not powerful enough, in contrast with its compatriots, and more or less becomes a chore when using it to overcome obstacles in the earlier levels.
The move can be used to save Sonic from a bottomless pit; but with bottomless pits more or less in every single level and in one particular Act (Oil Desert Zone…!) you have to rely on the wind to get you across the gap, because the flight ability itself wouldn’t manage it with the number of button presses you get.
Tails’ lack of momentum once he runs out of breath is astonishingly poor as it means you will die a good many times from expecting to be able to glide, as you did in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
The flight and swim moves are good ideas, badly executed. They are good ideas because allowing Player 1 access to these moves in the single player mode is a positive idea, and could have been considered the “easy” mode for this Episode (Sonic alone could have been the hard mode, forcing Sonic to use specific routes, and so on and so forth). The rolling combo is an overpowered move which remains the purpose of running and rolling (not that normal rolling has any role to play in Episode II anyway).
Then all three have that two second animation which freezes time in the game, and slows the pace of the game down for the player. Frustrating after a while, and very repetitive. Would have been better without the animation. It wasn't required in Sonic Heroes (!!!) or the Genesis games, so why is necessary here? Answer: it isn't.
[-] Physics – Homing Attack. This has been seen as the “root of all evils” and it’s not difficult to see why it continues in this vein with Episode II. It is a move which allows an easy kill of most badniks in the game, serves to be used to forgo platforming in favour of “spring corridors” (which we will return to later) and make bosses easy to hit and defeat, time and again.
People have cited touch pad consoles (iPhone, iPad) as the reason for the move’s existence, but I point to the Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD re[-]releases on those consoles as examples of the same genre that work perfectly well without the need for a homing attack on those devices.
The homing attack also led to “Bubbles Bridges” over bottomless pits being re-used in every single level of the game. This move, and the Bubbles Badnik, were two of the loudest complaints related to this game in Episode I, and nothing changed for Episode II – in fact arguably, it got a lot worse, particularly if you go into White Park Act 2 or Sylvania Castle Act 1.
[-] Level Design – Boosters. They are everywhere and more so than Episode I! Placement of boosters was clearly to compensate for the physics and momentum being very “off”, but there were one or two occasions were you just had to scream out “WHY? AGAIN?!!!” – the best example is the literal stream of boosters placed throughout White Park, but particularly in Act II. Not the only example, and throughout the game, the same booster design was repeated and placed badly everywhere.
It is essentially automation – not helped by a bizarre design decision to make Sonic roll every time he went through them/ Certain levels still use this as a way of destroying badniks – Sonic goes into booster, rolls, and then rolls through three badniks conveniently placed just after the booster. Episode II worse than Episode I in this respect.
[-] Level Design – Springs. These were used to move Sonic through corridors he could have run along in Episode I, and it has somehow got worse in Episode II! Spring Chains are unnecessary, annoying, and are placed in the same manner in every single level and act. Used sparingly they are excellent additions to the gameplay, but in Sonic 4 Episodes I and II they serve to give that feeling of automation that the boosters give too.
[-] Level Design – breakable scenery. Now able to be broken simply by Sonic running through it. Uninspired, looks pretty poor when it happens, should need to at least spin, but spindashing is, thanks to the combo roll, pretty much irrelevant.
[-] Level Design – Badnik Placement. Bubbles Chains over bottomless pits are uninspired, homing attack centric segments which detract from the overall flow of a side scrolling Sonic platform game. Fans asked specifically for these to be removed in Episode II along with the Homing attack, and improvements to the physics engine, when feedback was for asked for.
There are some positives – returns for old Badniks and a few new ones, including the giant Polar Bears – but overall the Bubbles Badnik placement is akin to water torture. Constant and irritating.
[-] Level Design – Red Rings. They literally do nothing but unlock an achievement. I find this to be one of the emptiest ways to add “replay value” to a video game. They’re not difficult to find or reach in most cases.
[-] Level Design – U shaped undulations. We all like U shaped undulations for rolling situations in the classics – where you would roll back, and forth, gaining momentum until you could roll your way out of the pit – but in Sonic 4, Episode I, U shaped undulations were everywhere. There were very few actual slopes, it was either block to block platforming, “spring corridors” or U shaped and inverted U shaped layouts everywhere.
This caused two minor problems. One: it’s boring to see the same shape in every level (Bar perhaps Lost Labyrinth Zone, which was probably the best in terms of overall level design, but the one which suffered most because of the physics), and two, the physics engine’s lack of momentum prevented rolling from being used – Sonic has to run everywhere in order to keep up his speed.
In Episode II, you now spam the rolling combo and momentum is nonexistent anyway. You don’t gain speed past a specific, low speed cap, on any slope, in Episode II.
Either way, 90 degree undulations can still be found in most acts, as part of the “normal” terrain, and this when combined with the poor physics engine, can be frustrating. Sonic will go up, down, up, down and then go into a spring chain followed by a booster. Same old, same old.
[-] Level Design – Combo moves. In practice, terrific, but why are these sections almost compulsory for certain levels in the game (White Park with the snow drifts, Sylvania Castle with the flight and swim sections) and perfectly balanced for others (Sky Fortress Act 2). The actual idea is sound: allowing player 1 to use Tails in first player as a co-op buddy is a terrific idea.
The execution of it, whereby they have removed two fundamentals of the Classic games – Sonic alone and Tails alone mode – is appalling and unfathomable. The multiplayer mode also looks to be incredibly slanted in favour of player 1 – why would you bother having a friend play if he a) can’t keep up for the most part and b) is literally just there to push a button?
But by far the worst loss as a result of this odd and pigeonholing design decision is the Versus mode, where one player can “win” a set of multiplayer matches, blasting through the levels. This should have been possible – if split screen gameplay is possible with all the other HD games for the PS3 and Xbox 360, then why not with Sonic 4? Given how utterly gorgeous some of the levels look, and how some of the levels work extremely well, this sort of multiplayer mode would have worked brilliantly.
This was something asked for in the last round of “feedback” and would have been a great, perfect nod to Sonic 2.
The reason it wasn’t included or considered, I suppose, is that the combo moves are more or less mandatory. Which is a shame, given that with a playable Metal Sonic, the opportunity to introduce a “Metal Tails” or similar as a sidekick could have produced a sensational versus mode opportunity, one team against another.
Of course, it also commits the cardinal sin of producing a very powerful move – the combo roll – which has no limit to its use and also renders the spindash completely obsolete.
[-] PR & Brand Managers – Put simply, get your stories straight. Claiming things about this game which later on are proven to either have been deliberately misleading due to design shortfalls (lack of single player Tails) or outright obfuscating the truth (is it or isn’t it a new physics engine?) make you look one of two things: incapable of selling your product without resorting to telling porkies, or incompetent because you keep getting things wrong.
The difference between Sonic Generations PR campaign and Sonic 4’s is simple. For Generations, minute and a half long trailers showcasing as much of the gameplay as possible, and clearly, was utilized alongside catchy music. In Sonic 4’s case, as little of the gameplay was shown by cutting it into 1 or 2 second sections of footage was shown, with a huge change in emphasis from Metal Sonic, to Tails, and back again.
Generations practically sold itself on its gameplay, and Sonic 4’s PR has been trying (and failing) to hide most of it in its trailers. Ask yourself this – which looks to be the better game, and which was the better campaign?
Then of course, we come to my major complaint with Episode II; the outright obfuscation and misleading advertising campaign. For example, we have been spun a line of a “new physics engine” when this has more or less been debunked with careful and considered study of the Beta 8.
(By the way, Beta 8 was more or less the final Beta. No significant changes from that game were registered).
That the major change to the “new” physics engine was to the values of the objects which make up Sonic and Tails – and that the so called “fixes” were not also implemented for Super Sonic shows what a sham this “new physics engine” spiel is. My advice to Sega: remove that piece of advertising; it’s a lie. You know it is. You have admitted this. So to keep pumping out spin and spiel that it’s new is misleading and potentially legally dangerous for you.
Yes there are minor improvements, and it’s a relief that Sonic doesn’t completely stop dead when you let go of the D pad in the air when jumping, but Super Sonic still does; there is, of course, more problems with the physics engine still than just the uncurling.
Also; saying that something is “all new” and then admitting it is based on the “framework of the original” – extremely poor marketing and outright outrageous that you’re still putting out this spiel when you’ve admitted otherwise.
Overall Conclusions:
You never know where you are with Sonic 4. It’s a sequel to the classics and a rehash, and then suddenly, when it suits the PR or the designers, it isn’t.
The fact remains, Sonic 4 as a whole reuses level tropes, characters, badniks, storylines and portions of level design in its overall makeup. You can’t get away from the Classic series because so much of the game is based on, or ideas ripped directly from, them.
Where Episode II does brilliantly, in comparison to Episode I, is rehash certain ideas, but then put in some truly terrific level design – Sky Fortress, Act II. Looks almost perfect, bar the physics and overuse of Bubbles and Speed boosters. The right amount of platforming, speed sections and overall, just looks fun. That’s how Episode II should be as a whole.
Then you look at the first two levels and the smile fades away. In trying to fix one problem with the physics, they introduced another (speed caps), and in introducing the combo moves, they created more linear gameplay and levels which undo some of the good work Episode I did.
Then you look at Sky Fortress Act II again, and wonder – why isn’t the whole game designed like this level? What changed when they designed this level? Why are the levels (not acts) directly before and after Sky Fortress so full of linear level design and some blatant, unimaginative, rehashes? (Like one of the final zone bosses).
Overall it’s clear a lot of work went into Sonic 4, Episode II’s presentation, and that is great. It looks beautiful. Then there’s the new and returning badniks – all great, bar the constant reuse of Bubbles for homing attack fodder – which I challenge, given what we saw in Sky Fortress Act II, wasn’t necessary.
I think Episode II is a magnificent step forward in graphics, a strange sideways step in physics, a step backwards in the music, and three steps backwards, two steps forward with the awful linearity of White Park to the genius of Sky Fortress’ level design, and to wrap it up having played the final version of the game on PC and iOS formats, a big missed opportunity in terms of taking the series forward by developing the fundamental basics which make the Genesis titles universally acclaimed.
Sonic 4 still has no idea if it’s a Classic title, or a new title, or what, but overall it is doing it better in the aesthetic areas than Episode I, missing the mark in the gameplay and physics; just confirming that Sonic 4 as a whole needed a more cohesive, consistent vision in its conception two, nearly three years ago, and above all the budget for a retail release.
Previously on the basis of the Beta 8, I had felt that the game was overall marginally better than Episode I. Playing back through the PC and iOS versions, I have to take that back. The whole game is a side step. Sega side stepped many of the fundamental complaints of Episode I, tried to be clever with new gameplay ideas and ended up executing them badly.
I can’t begin to describe my frustration with the majority of the level design and Tails combo moves implementation, despite the clearly improved and gorgeous graphics combined with some sincerely decent level trope ideas and developments of previous ones.
Sega, some consistency in the level design brief, and use all of the feedback you are getting for this game. Sonic 4, Episode III could be absolutely brilliant if you use and act on all of the constructive feedback being aimed at you.
And if they do act on the feedback – they won’t need to obfuscate the truth in terms of the PR to sell the game. It’ll sell itself.
My final word on the game – I can’t in all good conscious recommend it. It has too many flaws, too many niggles, is too automated and too reliant on gameplay gimmicks to be an invigorating platform game experience.
It’s too short, there’s little replay value, the co-op mode has moments of brilliance but can be very frustrating, and both the PC and iOS versions have issues with their loading times, loading screens, a few graphical issues including resizing of 3D models, and generally feel much lighter in effort than what should be more or less identical games to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.
Sonic 4 could have been stellar. Instead it’s always an also ran, far too many niggles for the casual gamer, far too many questionable design decisions throughout, and far too flawed and poorly thought out for the hardcore fan. It’s a mediocre title in a sea of literal thousands of downloadable games, most of which offer more replay value and content for their RRPs than Sonic 4 does in comparison.
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My man... when he puts it down, Copley puts it down. Of course I don't agree with everything he says, especially in regards to the music for example, I think it's all executed with the intention of harming small animals that aren't children. I was really just looking for a review that would really go in-depth about this game. Some reviewers will state something like, "they fixed the physics but the magic is still gone" or something like that. No one really touched up on the fact that the Rolling Combo and it's miracle making ability which wasn't difficult to see in beta 8, made the spindash obsolete. But rewinding back to the physics... perhaps the Ep2 physics were good enough for certain players who wanted jumps with momentum and a roll that didn't uncurl as that's what seems to be the case here. I don't believe I found one who even pointed out that Super Sonic was bestowed with Ep1 physics, so the complaint was barely addressed.
And for a metacritic update, we're at official review score: 63/user review score: 6.4.
People still hope for an Episode 3. I mean, I'm at the point of questioning Sega's actions here as I'm in no way, shape or form, able to believe that if they make an Episode 3, it's going to mean that they will do better when overall they've brought more to the table in Sonic 4 Episode 2... and have seemingly made it worse than the controversy that Episode 1 was. This is more than just the issue of not listening to the fans as even their new ideas and overall presentation left the building looking like John Edwards.
Really, fanbase? IMO, this monstrosity of Sonic games that attempt to sell itself off of it's forgotten roots needs to end.
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