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.

Sonic CD.

Yeah, I like Sonic CD... a lot.

And Taxman apparently has some extra content for his Sonic CD release which he is willing to give access to the public if there's enough demand for it.

... just put it out already.

Green Hill Zone.

GHZ is probably my favorite zone in the entire Sonic franchise.  I just feel like my love for Sonic games is really rooted within that stage.  I think the Generations renditions (both classic and modern) are okay, though it's really pretty, I feel the classic version could've been a bit better... emphasis on the word bit.  Well, no complaints.  You take what you can get.

The modern stage isn't too bad.  My personal best is a rather unremarkable 1:41, and I wanted to do that for the longest.  Honestly,  I haven't touched the stage since 2011, but perhaps it's time to try again.  All I wanted was 1:40 or less anyway.

This year, I've kept track of a lot of speed runners and yet one of them seemed to get by me who goes by the [youtube] name ZakuranHD, or Zakuran121 (gamertag), and I've gotta say, this guy is one of the best Generations speed runners I've seen, as this year, he's placed 1st in a number of his runs, even besting Kakipi1000's times.  Ah, I remember now.  Yes.  The first time I encountered him was through his Seaside Hill mission speed run... you know, the one where you use Rouge to send some good ol' sweet lovin' to Eggman's most loyal and advanced army of pawns.  In my playlist, he owns the fastest time.

And as far as I know, he also owns the fastest recorded time of modern Green Hill (and I'll have to see where else he's exposed his dominance and yes, I know, he's first in Sky Sanctuary and probably no further down in his skilled run.)

... I seem to have a habit of realizing too late that some YouTube videos cannot be posted through blogspot, so if you would like to see his amazing Green Hill Act 2 run - Ready.... GO!


... but, I'm not satisfied because I really want to put a video in here, so...

I really like this video.  Not sure if it's because of the quality it was uploaded in, or for the simple fact that craigolette pulled off some of those amazing air boosts and M-speed jumps (correct me if I'm wrong) that just tear through the stage... uploaded in amazing quality.  Seriously, it just drew my head in.  It's just one of those straight forward examples of why Unleashed is awesome.  Shoutouts to him btw (and thanks for the follow!).  Check out his runs if you haven't.


And what about me?  Well... I'm probably not going to focus on running Unleashed until I do a Crisis City Act 2 run (because as insane as that stage is, it is my favorite... no, I'm not a masochist).  Like Green Hill 2, I want a 1:40 or less in it.  Also, I may speed run some missions from Generations since that's why they seem to be in the game, but that's yet to be determined.   But which stage will I attempt to speed run next?  I'm probably going to let the music decide.  Until next time~

City Escape Act 2 Speed Run

Yeah, I could at least make it to 2:05.

It's been a while since I've touched this stage and I think the challenging parts are hitting the speed pad while on the board over the house.  It's weird.  I don't want to say it randomly wants to send Sonic in various directions, but for the most part, I can control it.  Getting the most out of it seems to mean getting Sonic propelled far enough so that he lands early - that is kind of tricky.

Second challenge on foot during the 1st 3D section is the jump into the trick ring.  Not so much the jump itself, just placing Sonic in the right spot so that he can jump.  If he runs into the low wall to the left, it tends to fling him right into the springs and if you're over to the right, well you'll just run into a tree.  Not too difficult, though my particular jump was so high I landed in the ring.  Alternatively, I could've boosted early before I reached the peak height of my jump.  I just didn't expect it to go that high.

Third, the section before the first 360 just before the 2D transition. I try to avoid hitting ALL of the speed boosters except the last (which you have to hit) or second to last usually, so that's how it worked out.  That was due to the angle of the drift from leaving the grass area.  In fact, there are two rows of speed boosters after making that left from the grass and it seems like if you're gonna hit them, the left ones push Sonic faster.

The only challenging part about the 2D section is boosting immediately after killing the last enemy in 2D.  If you don't, you'll land on the yellow platform and that will just... not help.

In 3D, after hitting the springs, I could've boosted to the stairway immediately, but this was something I realized much later.

Like most stages in this game, the last bits are the least demanding and for now, it seems like luck if I don't get tagged while drifting from the gun truck (or maybe I'm not starting it early enough when I do get hit).  Definitely wanna remember to hold RIGHT when you do it.  Yeah, I missed a LOT of rings and twice I actually ran out of boost in that area while recording.

And holy crap that truck came CLOSE. O_O

And that concludes that.... !  Maybe I'll run it again.

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.

The truth about recording speed runs.

For most people, it's just a process of hurry up and wait.

But since I got my PVR, it seems like there's a lot less hurry up and a lot more waiting, lol.

And while I'm at it, let me elaborate a bit more on the waiting part.  It's inspired me to include some of the "waiting" events that go on until the "hurry up" part is complete... if... you know what I mean...?  Yeah, I wanna throw in some speed run BLOOPERS/FAILS, call it what you'd like.

Most people just throw in speed runs of them doing a godlike run and I notice the comments in some of these videos, people ask, "How long did it take you to do that?"  I don't think anyone really wants to answer that, however, I don't want to give people the impression that it's easy for everyone.  It's like when I was playing Capcom fighters for the past few years (I'm on hiatus atm).  People I played with in person would often tell me, "To be good, you really have play this game everyday."  When it comes to Sonic and speed runs - I feel that sentence rings true (even moreso for Sonic than Ultimate Herp vs Derp 3.)  Well, that's probably the case because more information about how those games work down to the frame is talked about and recorded for the purpose of competitive play, and this has been going on for quite some time.  Everything I've learned about speed running within the hedgehog and havoc engines has come from paying close detail to other speed runners and trial and error on my own with a little bit of level breakdown of finding what you can and can't do.  Unlike fighting games, I don't have much in the way in terms of fundamentals, though I assume that list is much shorter here.

I realized that I'm not really recording speed runs to be competitive as I really don't think I'm all that great at it.  The best part about recording is just getting the opportunity to put together a video of Sonic running to some music.  Is that all?  I think that's just the start.

Should be asleep by now, but I've got my next speed run video coming up.  Still have to further explore the music options.

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.

Well, damn!

Shoutouts to the keyboard speed runners!

Also was able to take a bit from this run.  It didn't occur to me to use the homing attack when you're just over the button that opens the passage/operates lifting bar.

Another thing I must throw in here is roman's video of the speed glitches in Unleashed, but more importantly the Break Jump Glitch which had been recently discovered.

He said he plans on doing a video on how to reach the skies like he did.

WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Not sure if legitimately illegit.

Or illegitimately legit.

Crisis City or City Escape is next.  I'm probably gonna go for City Escape.  Most of it is just boarding and boosting.  Crisis City... admittedly, that could take a while, but there's nothing within the normal realm of things that makes it have any sort of challenge that rivals that one platform in Sky 2.  Yesterday/today I think I visually got it down after 564524845348443848545 deaths. :3

And we are live~

Live as in, it took me over 24 hours to make my first speed run video.

I needed a test video so I decided to run Speed Highway Act 2 and find out my options for editing it.  A somewhat tedious process.  The run didn't take long, however, Windows Media ANYTHING doesn't seem to be very useful for me, but I won't go into all the details about why this particular computer (AND my previous computer) just don't have a good chemistry with Windows Movie Maker and Windows Media Player... and Windows Media Center.  Yeah...

Because the run was relatively close to my original time (as I made a few mistakes) I decided to just label it a speed run video.  Hopefully my future videos will have a higher quality (I won't be uploading it in a ridiculous 1920 resolution again most likely).  I don't think I'm all that interested in performing that level skip glitch in this particular stage atm.  Who knows, it might wind up being an interesting challenge to take, knowing that it's not exactly the easiest level skip glitch.