SEGA~ Sonic Team Presents... PS4/NextBox720

Watching SGB's Sonic 06 Let's Play, which offers more insight on SomecallmeJohnny's view on Sonic 06.  Currently on Shadow's playthrough and Johnny makes some really strong points about this game and more importantly SEGA's decision making abilities - the root of this entry.  How will it affect future Sonic games for future systems to come?

When I think of Sega's decision making with Sonic 06 with stupid small tidbits like the spindash only being able to be used being at a complete stop, the fact that you can't jump out of it, the fact that the spin attack is no longer an attack, it's like... who programmed this shit?  The point that Johnny made about SEGA was that they try to make Sonic do everything.  They make Sonic games where they try to make Sonic and his friends do something unrelated to what made Sonic good to begin with.  Now, we can look at the Adventure series and find that the gameplay styles outside of Sonic's gameplay were generally met with more negative criticism than that of Sonic's.  Or you can look at other Sonic games such as Sonic The Fighters, or newer titles like Sonic & The Black Night or Sonic Unleashed.  Agreeing with Johnny again on that it probably would have been better instead for Sega to incorporate these ideas (and further develop them) in different games... no game in the franchise speaks louder about how overcompensated the programming is than Sonic 06.  Speaking of other games, Johnny also pointed out that when you play a Sonic & All-Stars Racing game, how many of the other Sega IPs do you recognize that aren't Sonic?  Me?  VERY FEW.

For myself, it really does beg the question again why Sega would re-release Sonic The Fighters.  If there's one thing about Sega that hasn't really changed, it's their own unlaced ideas for promoting Sonic in ways that further his unpopularity through his weaknesses, opposed to promoting it through his strengths.  Since Adventure, we've been given so much nonsense in one game, it totally makes sense to me now why:

• a) Sonic Heroes was such a financial success outside of it's accessibility, and
• b) why Sega can't please their fanbase.

Heroes was kept simple with two gameplay styles which gave players the access to characters they (more than anything) simply wanted to play as, even if their playstyle didn't completely reflect their actual abilities (i.e. Amy being speed based... Big being... okay, he was being big.)

But thanks to games like Adventure 1 and 2 and it's successors, the fanbase wants more story, more story that's edgier (SA2), more story that's dark (Shadow The Hedgehog), more Big The Cat (SA1), more hub worlds, more playable cast, more playable cast that has it's own gameplay (SA1/Sonic 06), more Chao Garden, another Shadow The Hedgehog game, more Sonic The Werehog, another storybook title, another isometric Sonic game, another Sonic RPG, a sequel to Sonic R, another Tails game, more Silver The Hedgehog, a successor to Knuckles Chaotix, a THIRD Sonic 4 episode, and the list goes on.

The problem with everything I've listed is that it is all the pinnacle of Sonic mediocrity or worse.  There is a group of fans out there who likes these things, and all Sega can do is say to themselves from their efforts, they have made this little blue hedgehog famous and simultaneously infamous.  It makes me wonder if Sonic's popularity will outlive Sega's financial stability because this strategy of popularizing Sonic's image over his gameplay that made him good in the first place doesn't seem like a long lasting tactic.  What better example of this could you find of this fact that's not Sonic 4 Episode 1 & 2 from the marketing to the music and the meat and potatoes of the gameplay.

And now, I appreciate Sonic Heroes a bit more because even though I found it's story weak and disenganging, it took the Adventure gameplay and streamlined it.  It was probably better on paper than it was when the game was finished, but I can honestly say it had much less to fix because it was... simple.  A lot of people were pleased.  Unfortunately, I wasn't among them, but look at the sales #s.  Someone did something right, obviously.

Sonic really has no need to try to go head to head with Mario anymore, but to some extent maybe he should for the sake of an almost futile comparison.  I do not closely follow the franchise, but I am a huge fan of it.  It is a wonder why there are no fully 3D Mario titles for the Wii systems as of late.  Everything has seeming fallen back to it's SMB1-3  2S roots.  I don't know if Nintendo is trying to save money or what, but it's easy to say the franchise has made some smarter decisions be it transitioning from 2D to 3D and back to 2D, some racing games that were mostly successful, and some RPGs to go down in RPG's history of great RPGs with successful spin-offs starring Luigi or Princess Peach without turning the cast into something it wasn't.

Whereas Mario's identity was established and streamlined literally by Super Mario Bros, Sonic was an identity crisis once he landed in the Adventure series.  Where Mario remained simple, Sonic tried being complex and wound up being complicated.  No Luigi in Mario 64?  Welcome to Sonic & The Gang.  1 hub world?  Here's 3.  No mini games?  Oh we've got plenty in Adventure, from pinball, to shooting an airplane, to raising Chao and even playing Frogger.

You see, Sega forgot one thing that made Sonic a worthy competitor to Mario.  Maybe you've seen it on YouTube when Sega reps were comparing Sonic to Super Mario World graphically.  Some Sega reps (or maybe it was Naka, idk) said something on the lines that Sonic was able to look just as impressive because they made the most out of their system in spite of the fact the Genesis was technologically inferior to the SNES.  To their credit, they called it "Blast Processing" (and I know, for Sega it was a challenge to make Sonic work the way it did), but Sega made no commercial comparing Sonic to say... F-Zero.

My point here is that less was more with Sonic's success from day 1 to today.  If you look at the main series console titles and their success from each predecessor, the evidence is clear.  SA2 was more successful than SA1 because it streamlined the gameplay from the first game.  Sonic Heroes was more accessible than SA2 was, but it lacked the excess of SA1 while offering a little bit of everything while being even more streamlined.  Sonic Unleashed succeeds Sonic 06 for offering a promising 3D AND 2D Sonic experience (non-werehog), more hub worlds, just 1/10,00th of the sizes offered in 06 that are full of optional things.  Sonic Colors rids the hubs, rids the mandatory non-Sonic gameplay all together, focuses on 2D through a condensed and modified Unleashed style gameplay.

Sonic Generations? Generations brings back an alternate gameplay that reflects the classic 2D gameplay, brings back 1 hub that accesses everything on a 2D plane, makes use of the cast in a non-invasive way, dumbs down the Unleashed style controls (a positive for the most part), but condenses the level design making it more about speedy platforming in open  3D areas with 2D areas that don't take advantage of Sonic's abilities enough.  Generations was as much of a small step forward as it was a small step backwards where there is a flexibility a lot of Sonic fans are all too familiar with.  It's a safe game that offers our favorite dishes of Sonic microwaved instead of freshly cooked or served edibly raw.  After what's derived from Unleashed be it Sonic 4 ep1, ep2, Colors and Generations, it's about time for a new recipe or to expand/ improve these foundations instead of making their portions (of the gameplay) smaller and refined to a fault .

And finally, what do I expect of Sonic for the next Gen systems since the PS4 has officially been the talk of the Internet town?  At first, I thought SA3.  Really?  Sure, why not?  They've had over a decade to get it right and I can still have some optimism.  However, after what a Sega forum mod said about their financial standings being that chances are there won't be a Sonic game that takes full advantage of the new graphics capability, perhaps it's time that Sega... like Nintendo has done with Mario - really go back to his roots?  If 2D, I hope Sonic Team makes a real 2D Sonic game and doesn't bite off more than they can chew for crying out loud.  Generations focuses on what works well with Sonic, but there's so much more that could have come out of both gameplays that's easily found from the games they originate from, being daytime Unleashed and the Genesis titles, or even the Advance series most people overlook.  I know Sega wants to popularize Sonic through other mediums, but he's a video game character.  He needs good video games to be worthy of being morphed into a stuffed toy or an action figure or an energy drink.  I feel like everyone is going to lose if the next Sonic game doesn't do better than Generations did, but Sega usually succeeds when it means bringing something new to the table that's Sonic related.

After 06, how can a fan not worry, though?

btw, Johnny's playthrough is making me change my mind about wanting to play 06.  Gamegrumps makes it look bearable, but Johnny?  I think it's because I've watched his Silver playthrough while the grumps are still on Shadow's with an incomplete Silver run.  The missions look atrocious and redundant, Silver's gameplay look redundant and uninspiring.  The story promotes anti-thought and when it tries to promote thought, it's not even thought provoking (yet I can understand how that aspect holds allure to some).  Johnny responds with the question, "What were they thinking?" towards a lot of things in this game, but it makes me ask...

"Were they even thinking at all?"

*drops mic startling everyone he put to sleep*

Just when I thought I was done with Ep2... and Let's Play?

(Thanks, Kokonoe.)

Seeing how I forgot to publish this post many stars ago (meh, I'd say roughly 6 hours+ ago) and I just got done playing through Generations, I think I'll share some of my thoughts of the game.

No, it wasn't me practicing or recording for a speed run.  This time, I thought for the second time since I've owned the game (which was on it's Xbox/PS3 release date in the US) I decided to run through the entire game from start to finish.  While in the midst of playing, it had made me wonder if I should saturate YouTube with my own "Let's Play" of it.  I honestly have no idea how that would even work out.  Pulling off commentary for instance - I'm not that big on the idea of performing it, but I do appreciate it when I know it could be helpful (and I won't be vulgar or say completely unnecessary things).  However, I don't think I'm that great at explaining things verbally.  Reason why I'd do it is because from start to finish, I must say, it is a very enjoyable game (didn't die to Time Eat once! *success kid image*).   It wasn't as enjoyable running casually as Sonic Colors was, and I mostly feel this way because I don't get a kick out of classic Sonic in Generations.  The best way to sum up Classic Sonic's gameplay is this: It is a slightly dumbed down version of the classic games.  It's not bad.  I'll gladly take this form of 2D gameplay over Sonic 4 in a Sonic second.  It has the fundamentals down pretty good, but I can't help but feel like the Generations version comes off as a whole, a gimmick.  It's much too simplified for me to take seriously.  Although the 3D/modern gameplay technically is a dumbed down version of Daytime Unleashed, for me it's offers some refinements to make up for it. Things such as the new level design and a Sonic that's easier to maneuver (for better or for worse, this one actually STOPS when you want him to) is something I can appreciate but I'm sure was a given.  I'm not praising the controls of Generations.  If you play Generations hard enough, you will eventually realize that sometimes the controls don't want to work and all you can really do is find ways to work around them next time.

Well, LPing the game is not really something to consider, but just a thought.  Come to think of it, I'm sure what would be even more appreciated would be LPing Sonic Unleashed HD because I don't think there are any HD LPs of the entire game on YT... at all, and if there are any, there aren't many.  However, I really suck at the game.  Like Generations, I've only ran through it twice and I don't find the game outside of it's Daytime stages all that entertaining.  The story is quite bland and I never really felt a sense of completion for beating the game (could be worse *coughep2cough*).  The werehog stages for me were just the worst gimmick in a Sonic game I've experienced.  Still, the game is aesthetically charming to the point one can only yearn for more... or if you're like me, personally would just wife Sachiko Kawamura. Don't know who she is?  She created one of the most loved and hated things in the Sonic franchise.

Yep, the Chao.

But yes, she is why Unleashed (and Generations) look as amazing as they do on your PS3/360.  I just checked YT and there aren't too many Sonic Unleashed LPs.  Well, that's definitely an option.  Even though the game is shunned by many reviewers, many fans... even Sega themselves, it was a step in the right direction from the previous main series game.

Between Unleashed, Colors and Generations, Unleashed seems to be favored among speed runners and it's really not difficult to see why.  Generations is still a game meant to be played hard, and Colors?  Yeah, not so much.  I see so many TAS runs on it.  It's difficult to appreciate TAS runs.  Entertaining, they can be... yes... but, it's like watching a robot that knows exactly how to do perform everything and it winds up being better than human play.  The sense of challenge seems to be dumbed down.

Wooo, this has gone on for too long and it's quite late... so I better stop while I still can.  Oyasumi~

Sonic 4 Episode 2, Week 1 - Sonic going backwards.

With my youtube subscriptions predominantly filled with people from the Sonic fanbase, there are tons of LPs and... not as many speed runs of Sonic 4 Episode 2.  After looking at some, it actually led me to agreeing with what Copley said about Sky Fortress Act 2.  It's not hard to see that the level design here was actually... WELL THOUGHT OUT.  I mean, aside from it having the worthless spring/speed booster placement, the level itself is actually interesting as you're not faced with a huge wall, repetitive design and 360 loops.  Flaws of the game aside, this is a good stage.

Why didn't I notice this out earlier?  I've only watched one LP of the game (Beta 8) and the gameplay was so boring I fell asleep in the middle of it.  By the time I woke up, the player had reached the midst of Sky Fortress... Act 3. lol

So the first week of Episode 2 as far as Sega's ever so seemingly valuable metacritic score is concerned... hasn't at all improved very much.  If Sega employees are just sitting around their desks in Japan, pondering, "Well, what went wrong?"  But what went right?  Seemingly the sales on the iOS platforms were a success (I do not understand how they work and didn't look into it deeply if deep at all).  As of today, the PS3's score is 62 out of 100 and the 360's is 61 out of 100.  This game is stacking up to the likes of Sonic Unleashed HD's score (I have no problem with Unleashed HD's scores.  Based on my own experience, it really was not that great the first time around, but after finding the enjoyment of the Daytime stages, that just leaves half of the game left to be desired through the Nighttime stages.)  However, I find it ironic that both of these games suffer for the same reason, and it's that in their own way (in spite of their huge budget differences), they tried too hard to be casual and please the masses.

It's not that there were bad ideas implemented, just poorly executed ideas.  In Unleashed, the evidence is clear.  Most people found the werehog stages super tedious from it's ridiculous length and some poor design (where is the shadow below him when he platforms?  The camera in this game is far from being completely in your control).  When I played some of the DLC stages, I was surprised to find that they were A LOT BETTER.  They made sense as they were a lot shorter with better designs as a character that moves so slow should not have to feel as if they are getting from New York to London on foot.

Ep2 is just filled with poorly executed ideas... so many, there's really no point in going into detail with them as a lot of them are found in reviews here or on metacritic's bag of mixed reviews.  The co-op, the level gimmicks, the team gimmicks, episode metal (or episode re-colors), the physics (which I will get into) which a lot of reviewers state are fixed, but only seem to have tested them based on simply jumping forward and walking up a hill while overlooking the roll/spin dash and downhill momentum.

I would probably be prone to purchasing this game if everything I saw was an outright visual work of art depicting Sonic and Tails running through the pretty scenery - worthy of hanging on my living room wall that said, "It looks fun."  But I can't be so blind to it's purpose as most of the effort put into it are just further steps backwards than the backwards steps Episode 1 took.  Really, this game is such a tragedy.  To think that Sonic is sold merely for being a blue hedgehog that runs to springs and speed boosters is like Aston Martin selling a DBS because of it's beautiful shell, and not it's engine for it's purr as it escapes from the exhaust or it's suspension for it's comfort and sportiness or it's interior to remind you it has a sense of value... or even heritage.

Do you know how you can tell the difference between a good Sonic (in this case, 2D) game and a bad Sonic game?  The ones the fans base their games off of.  To say the least, some of them have made better examples of how the series could move forward.

From here on out, this is where I want to shift my focus away from Ep2 in my blog (really in general).  Certainly, things can change (and yes, I've ragged on the game for long enough), but I'm convinced here that what's done is done.  What Sega plans to do next with the series seeing that the reception is weighing in less and less further from what Episode 1 reached is but a timely (hopefully not a timeless) wonder.

With Sega's huge financial loss from last years sales as their company heavily relies on Sonic as their main source of income seeing that Episode 2 may not make it to it's usual financial success in the franchise, one wonders just how much longer Sega can afford to ignore their fans.

I just read what is so far the lowest rated review for Episode 2 and... it's pretty brutal... and funny... and truthful.

Sigh.  This is such a bittersweet time in the Sonic franchise.

Oh, the reviews...

Well, it has been reported that in spite of the mobile version of Ep2 receiving more positive reception, it's sales don't seem to reflect it's success with reviewers.  Less than 500 downloads over each mobile platform?  I must say, for Sonic, those are some frightening statistics.

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.

Source


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.

... well, that was easy...

My goal was to get into 1:40 in GHZ and...

I didn't even try.  The only difference was getting off the boost on the rail in the cave, and next thing you know, I'm 1:30 in the green by the next lamp post lolol.  It was a really sloppy run and I decided I would just practice without recording.  That's probably going to be a bad habit because I'll never know how I pulled off the rail glitch (people have said the cave rails are not easy.)

When I said Speed Highway 2 was the easiest... apparently, I was wrong.  I suppose SH2 is more involved, whereas GH2 has more room for exploitation (as far as I know).  You can exploit the super speed glitch up to two times in the first 2D section and once in the second 2D section.

So now my goal for this stage is 1:39 or less.  I have been practicing super speed, but it's still very much a challenge.  Not sure if I'll try and record a run tonight.  Don't even have the music I want for this stage yet.

Dunno why I decided to take a picture with my phone still knowing PVR is forever plugged into the 360 and TV - and is turned on.  I could've tried seeing how taking pictures with the recorder works.  Soon enough.


Episode 2 is still getting the smackdown by reviewers (both official and consumer) on metacritic.  I'm a bit surprised just how many of these "official" reviewers are finding this game mediocre at best.  It's probably just me being in the midst of all the hype.  GameInformer showed no mercy in their review.  Look at the sub title: "Sega Desecrates The Corpse Of Sonic 2 With Inane Co-op."'

Using Sonic as a marketing tool... oh!  Speaking of reviewers who show no mercy...

This guy, lol.  Not the best reviewer, but most of what he says is pretty accurate.  Personally, I wouldn't mind reviewing this game if it meant I could get the game for free.  I'm totally against buying this game if it supports a future episode which is the case of this 4 series.  However, I'm not sure if PC sales count (I don't really know if this computer can run it, but I assume it likely can.)  Well, that's all for today.

Sonic 4 Episode 2, Day 2.

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again.  Although I'm not a fan of Episode 2, I am paying close attention to it through the people who've played it as much as I can.  Why?  Because I want to know how this will affect the future of 2D Sonic games.  The future of the episodic 4 games seems to depend solely on sales, yet Sega has claimed they will de-list Sonic games with a less than positive metacritic score by "professional" reviewers.  If I'm not mistaken, basically the result will just state whether Sega will give us more of what they want and a bit more of what fans want.

Right now, Ep2 on metacritic is looking less than positive from receiving a predominant amount of mixed reviews, however the score itself is climbing slowly closer to positive (going from 64% to 66%.)  The user score (which doesn't matter to Sega) has went from positive (high 7s) down to mixed (5.5) from receiving a few negative reviews overnight.

For those of you who may not know, a positive in Metacritic is a game that receives an overall score of 75% or more.  The world has only had access to the game for a mere 48 hours now, so whether this game will hit the "de-listed" list is still up in the air... if Sega's actually still doing that.  I'm hearing that not many people are online playing the co-op on Steam or PSN.  I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with Blizzard.

Out of all the official reviews listed on metacritic, I actually found most of them decent, although it's not free from reviews that are simply not reviews at all, there was one that I found rather interesting.  Is it Jim Sterling's from Destructoid?  Actually, I'll say this - his review of Ep2 is not bad.  Most people just figure he's full of shit because he enjoyed Episode 1 and swept Sonic Colors further beneath the rug than he did with Episode 2, but he actually sums up what the game is lacking quite well by saying,

"A solid applause for the effort, but it would be a real shame if Sonic 4 ended on this note, because I want Sonic Team to try once more with feeling."

(Not to mention, he does make a lot of solid points in his review.)


As for the review I enjoyed the most, it was by metro.co.uk's Roger Hargreaves which is shorter, but... sweeter simultaneously.  The irony he points out in the Sonic franchise somewhat opened my eyes to how fans are reacting to game now.  When Sonic Adventure 1 was released, a lot of fans were saying that the 3D games sucked and Sega should just stick to 2D games, but now the 3D games are good and the 2D games are the ones that are bad.

If Sega is trying to destroy 2D "classic" Sonic gameplay, then they're... seemingly doing a really good job.  Back then, the classic fanbase at least had the classic fundamentals within the Advance series.  The chemistry between Dimps and Yuji Naka was something that hopefully gets revived one way or another.  A lot of people dismissed the series because they were handheld titles, but... they were definitely worth the effort put into them IMO.

Another thing I wanted to point out was a post of a post (yeah, weird) that I ran into on the Sega.com forums which I found interesting regarding why Yuji Naka left Sega as I... really don't know!  I assume it's off of Taxman's site in regards of the Sonic CD DLC that was announced by Sir Whitehead:

This is why SEGA fails. They NEVER accept what fans want. Even if it is one that they hired for a project. It is what they want and nothing more, nothing less. No extra levels in Sonic CD, no changes in the amount of springs and dash pannels in Sonic 4 Episode 2. No change in the music or the worker composing them. 

This is the exact proof that they do not care what anybody but themselves want. And a very likely reason Yuji Naka among so many others have quit. They are sick of the guy’s up top ruining the series and denying any idea’s and plans they make. 

Remember, in the interview included in Sonic Generation’s, they clearly said how upset Yuji Naka got when they tried to do what they wanted with his work instead of what he wanted. 

So SEGA is just a piece of… Many thing’s you could say. No… Not SEGA. The poeple higher up and in control who are the one’s ignorant as an Ostridge with it’s head stuck in the ground. But they don’t even use the ground. They just stick there head’s up there own… Unmentionables… 

Ken Balough even said it himself in an interview proving what I say to be true. 

“Wait… What?! Fans don’t like the bumpers?!” 

His words. Our proof. That’s all there is to it.

Strong words from user "Chris K".  This interview, though... I'd like to see it.

Episode 2 Demo.

Who actually reviews a demo?  I'm not gonna go too deep in it, but the Xbox demo has a 2 minute timer and you get White Park Act 1 to fool around with.  The physics feel better but it's really just a bit less derpy (emphasis on the word bit).  There are a lot of areas where the Rolling Combo is just all you need to do for speed and most of the time, you don't have to input anything to progress (and still not liking the fact that it is fully invulnerable to damage unless you just so happen to uncurl from not being able to move forward.)  Flight is strange, but perhaps I'm just not feeling the stop time and everything else dramatization that goes in with performing it.  Just seems to slow down everything and looks/feels wacky.  There's so much automation in the level and it's unwelcoming that if you really want to go fast, all you have to do is press one button and drop the controller - seriously.

Then I went back to Ep1 for a bit to compare the feel of the Sonic.  Episode 1 really, really - really feels bad.  It actually makes Ep2 feel more like a missed opportunity as it was remotely enjoyable (yeah, story of the franchise, I'm afraid).  I say that because as Ep2 feels better (but still suffers the same way as Ep1 did) the game really doesn't seem to capitalize on those improvements.  It only seems like it conveniently has an opportunity to get in touch with it's feel through the new Sky Chase Zone (quite possibly the only area where automation is legitimate because you're standing on top of an airplane - no speed boosters, no springs, no lame team gimmick other than using the airplane as a weapon which is actually nice, and yeah we got bubble chains by the dozens but this is their hometown!)

Even if Episode 2 is better than Episode 1 in overall feel through controlling Sonic (when Tails isn't directly involved) it gets over-shadowed by all these poorly implemented gimmicks.  Although my opinion could change from playing the entire game, I'm actually somewhat confident that the game is an improvement from the first because getting feeling the gameplay through your hands was really the biggest issue in Sonic 4, and ultimaltely it still seems to be that way.  It shouldn't take a multi-million dollar budget to make it happen.

YEAH, GRAPHICS LOOK GREAT, who in the right mind would disagree.  I'll save your eyes the nitpicking of the animations.

What I'm hearing about Episode 2, Day 1.

Well... all that really can be said is, "I told you so."

Even though it's only been some hours since it's release and players have gone so far as to unlock Super Sonic, the physics have not changed.  He still has Ep1 physics... and those physics exploit every script put in for normal Sonic.

The only noticeable changes are the two issues Beta 8 had which was a graphical error in the first stage and the 1 button 99 ring glitch.

There is no anti-aliasing option with upscaled resolutions, so unless you own a computer that can force the option, you're pretty much playing with Ep1's issue.

No 1080p option... on a PC game.

Red rings don't do anything, just like the beta.

There's no "ending," per se.  Or rather, it hasn't changed from the leaked beta 8.

I have a feeling that the release of Diablo 3 is going to contribute a lot less to why this game is likely to fail


Okay, let's talk about the good things about Episode 2.  The graphics look nice.  And that concludes the discussion of all that's good about Episode 2.  Actually, let's not until I actually get my hands on the demo.

And yes, I'm sorry to say as a hardcore Sonic fan and supporter of Sega, I hope this game does fail.  Why should it succeed when it's just Ep1 with a worse level design that works with poorly designed forced gimmicks, terrible physics all governed by an over-hyped/false PR?  Everything about Episode 2 screams cheap to me.  It just... really makes me wonder for the first time what is going on over there in Japan with Sega (because I wasn't paying attention to Sonic during Shadow->06 years).  I come back, hear how Sega wants to "increase the value of the brand."

(Of course the value of the brand is based on metacritic, nothing more, nothing less.)

But how is this increasing the value of the brand?  The most profound issue with Ep1 were the physics and Sega addresses them with some patches and scripts.  Automation was an issue and they add more of it.

I really see this game falling off faster than Ep1.

Well, I'll be back doing the whole Generations thing, and I definitely look forward to trying out the ported Unleashed stages.  More on that later.

Bah, youtube... I am disappoint.

Really wonder how in the world my speed run playlist got de-sorted.  All of the videos are there, but it's like the order reverted to an old order, so all the videos I added at a certain point wound up at the bottom.  Damn this first world problem.  There are 160 videos and I assume it occurred when I told it to auto-delete some files or maybe from me logging on to youtube via xbl, idk.

Oh... so, anything worth talking about in the Sonic world?  Of course there is.  I just didn't plan on making an entry... just needed to vent.  So now that that's over...

Ep2 has been "professionally" reviewed lately.  Yeah, I haven't heard much about this guy until recently, but me personally, I'm not big on reviews.  Some people can do it, while most simply suck about being objective and going into detail though they can make good points.  In the end, I don't really base my judgement for getting games based solely on reviews.  Sure, I look at them - lots of them.  Another thing I prefer to do is watch people play the games as well as commentate them (if possible) so I can learn even more about the game.  Demos are nice, though sometimes I'm convinced that one level demo wound up being better than the full 7 level product.  (I used to think this about Unleashed after my first playthrough.)  When it comes to Episode 2, reviews are really at the bottom of my priority.  Getting my hands on the demo is really all that matters as well as hearing the opinions of a select few people who I see eye to eye mostly about Sonic 4 as a whole.

It is pretty easy to sum up everything I liked about Episode 1 because there were only 2 things I liked about the game and that was:

• the sound effects
• the special stages

And sadly, that's it.  Everything else weld up the entire experience as an utter bore.  The release of Sonic 06 - a severely unfinished product, was a time when everyone paid for Sega's struggle with themselves and with Microsoft.  It was supposed to be... a lot better than it turned out when it was released.  Sonic 4 Episode 1 was just a slap to the face of the classic fanbase through false marketing tactics.  It wasn't like Chrono Trigger->Chrono Cross where the latter was deserving to be Gamespot's GOTY in 2000 even though the former still upheld its legacy.  Sonic 4 Episode 1 was Dimps/Sonic Team simply looking at pictures of Sonic 1 and 2 and making a Sonic game around Rush's level philosophy and physics.

And there goes the classic fanbase in an uproar.

The only time I remotely enjoyed playing Episode 1 was when I put on some real Sonic music.  To this day, I disliked every single track Ep1 had and I was convinced the instruments were likeable, but the composition was trash.  A lot of people who didn't like the music felt the exact opposite.  It wasn't until recently that this was brought up again in regards to episode 2 and I realized it was even more prominent that the instrumentation really sucks.  Ep1's Splash Hill sounds disgusting to me... but in the midst of replying about Ep2's instrumentation, I decided to imagine how Splash Hill would sound if it happened to be played as a piano solo...

And WOW...

I mean, I don't really need to actually hear it played by someone, but I just had that realization face Lightning (from FFXIII) had where it all made sense. O_O  Guess that explains why the theme itself is difficult to forget.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go on an all-out anti-Episode 1 rant about everything else I disliked about it, but this is probably the most I've actually said something good about it.  Don't really need to go into detail about the Special Stages.  It was a fair challenge and it didn't feel as bad as the rest of the game.  I can't say it was much better or worse than Sonic 1's special stages, so progression of it was rather... minimal.

Man... 4 is so controversial... and I feel Sega will continue to keep it a controversial game even if it means core fans give up the hope that things could be different.  If Sega's not getting paid from 4, then surely it isn't worth it.  But if people are talking about it (like myself) en masse, then there's that possibility it'll be worth the few dollars its sold for.

Episode 3?  Shit, I've got better things to worry about... such as if the next console Sonic game will be on the current systems, and if they are, how will they have evolved the gameplay from Generations?

Seems legit.

If Classic Sonic found himself in Sonic 4, without waiting 3 minutes but 3 seconds, he'd jump off the stage and say, "I'm outta here!"

Stuff, lots of stuff.

Wanted to do this last night, but no time!

Where to start... well... I was thinking about going into further comparison about Sonic 4: Episode 2's "all-new physics engine" that the PR manager so proudly announced weeks ago as something closer to the classics, but I'm not going to say anything about it.  Sega's PR speaks for itself, and though it may be the PR's words or he's just told something to relay... the whole customer relationship with Sega with their promotion of this game is about as solid as wearing clothes made of red vines in 100 degree weather.

Now, with that out of the way, we can get on to some of the good stuff.

(Take a gander inside.)

Some details I found worth pasting:

• # of pages: 296
• Size: 21 x 23 centimeters
• Quality: Carboard cover with hot foil – 170 grams paper – 100% color print

Exclusive “Collector” version Available on pre-orders only!

• Cardbroad cover with an exclusive illustration
• Gold hot foil typography
• Blue thread linking the pages, as Sonic’s colors
• Numbered

Attention, this limited print is exclusively resevered for pre-orders!

One of a kind official 300 pages book in colors realized in partnership with SEGA Japan, it relates the adventures of one of the most appreciated characters in all the video-games story. Born in 1991 with ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ on Mega Drive, the blue hedgehog has immediately been adopted by millions of players and has been propeled in a spark to the ‘Superstar’ rank.

June 23rd, sooner this year, SEGA’s blue mascot celebrated it’s 20 years. 20 years of history, 20 years of glory, during which Sonic excited every player whom tried vainly to tame him! 20 years of joy and pleasure, but with technological innovations and creativity as well.

‘The Story of Sonic’ describes this fifth of a century from it’s early begginings on Mega Drive to his Aniversary game – Sonic Generations – which is a really vibrating tribute. Through some anecdotes, interviews, artworks, and never-seen-before artworks, this book will unveil a hidden face of the hedgehog and will open the doors of his uncommon universe and boundless imagination.

Problem?  This book as you can see has been translated from Japanese to French.  They have made it in English, but is looking for more demand from their non-bilingual English speaking Sonic fans so they can publish it.  I mean, come on, Sonic fans.  Europe and Japan always gets the coolest shit.  Sometimes, Australia!  If you like this, give yourself a chance to support this book to be published.  How can you do that, readers?  Easy.

You can:

1. Like/Share this YouTube video

2. E-mail them (http://www.pixnlovepublishing.com/contacts/contact.html)

3. Like/Express your sentiments on their Facebook page

4. Spread the word to Sonic fans!

5. Show it off!

Whew, okay.  Now for the last bit of fun.

sobatsuyu100 is at it again, but this time in Generations instead of Unleashed.  So far, I believe he has the fastest skilled Green Hill 2 run and the fastest Planet Wisp 2 run.  However, the run that nearly blew my mind was this.

I had no idea you could drift up the incline in the barrel area.  How good can this run get, seriously?

And, that's all folks!