Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is the first new 2D style Sonic game since Sonic and Knuckles from Sega. Sonic games haven’t exactly been garnered with lots of praise recently and fans of the series have asked for a new 2D Sonic game for quite a while… and finally Sega have answered with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is being developed by Dimps alongside members of Sonic Team and is intended to be a sequel to Sonic and Knuckles. It is also intended to be an episodic game meaning that this is episode 1 and episode 2+ will be released in due time via the same platforms that episode 1 have been released on.
Sonic 4 was released on the iOS, PSN, XBLA and Wiiware platforms so there may be minor differences such as the ability to use the iOS touch screen abilities but for the most part, the games are exactly the same regardless of the platform you play it on.
In Sonic 4 we play as the star of the series, Sonic who has just finished defeating Dr Eggman (also known as Robotnik to people who have played the original Sonic games) and he has decided to take time off and explore new areas. However Eggman survived yet again and plans to take down Sonic using some of his best creations.
The graphics in this game are indeed very nice, we get to see what looks to be a darker coloured Sonic (at least compared to the Sonic we see in the original games) along with environments inspired by the older Sonic games. The badniks are also reminiscent of some of the older games badniks which you may remember either jumping on throughout the easy levels or screaming in frustration at losing all the rings you have built up so close to the end of the level.
The bosses also deserve special mention as they may indeed be recycled from older sonic games, they also have some slight variations in the way they attack and some of the later bosses being so difficult that you’ll wonder how you could have defeated some of these types of bosses when you were younger and playing through the older Sonic games. I’m sure once you see some of the bosses, you’ll automatically recognize who they are and what you need to do.
I however have less praise to give the music in this game. There may be some rather nice tracks and even some remixes, the music in this game is largely forgettable but at the same time they are perfect for the zone that they play in. While I know music taste is subjective, if you’re an old school fan like me then you’ll probably hate the invincibility music when you pick up the power-up.
Now the gameplay is where the old Sonic games are supposed to shine and indeed Sonic still shines in this department in Sonic 4: Episode 1. We can do everything Sonic did in the old days but this time we also have the addition of the homing attack and I’ll be honest, I thought the homing attack would ruin the game when I first found out it would be in but did it ruin the game?
The Answer is no it didn’t, the homing attack actually fits quite well once you get the hang of it. It uses a lock-on system where when you jump and a lock-on target will appear allowing you to press the homing attack button to either hit the enemy it’s targeting, hit the power-up or hit the bit of the level that it’s locked onto.
The only real problem with the homing attack is, sometimes there is too little time to actually hit the homing attack button or you have to be really close to the target or enemy for the lock-on to appear. That said, the homing attack is a great addition in this Sonic game despite the problems I have previously mentioned.
The level design is also pretty good although the levels (at least the first act of both Zone 1 and Zone 2) will feel very very similar to zones in older Sonic games. Of course as the game goes on, the levels start to feel different and you won’t think of yourself as playing new HD versions of old Sonic levels from older games which you may feel when you first start playing Sonic 4.
The special stages are also very similar to the special stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 1 except for a few differences in that, you rotate the level around (allowing Sonic to fall in the appropriate directions) and it has a time limit.
There is however a few rather big problems with Sonic 4 which while I may have enjoyed the game very much so; the problems do hamper the experience.
The first of the two big problems is mainly in regards to the physics. They feel very different compared to what you might remember from the older games and while some people may think different is good; I would disagree with the physics as they just don’t feel right, not to mention if you stop on the side of a hill, you stand there and don’t fall down it. Yes imagine the new Sonic, standing on the side of a hill when you decide to stop running.
The second of the two big problems is the severe lack of momentum. It takes Sonic a long while to get going when you run and when you stop holding right, he just stops. Not even a run down animation or anything similar and similarly when you do a spin dash and you don’t hold right, he stops very suddenly and quickly as if he has no real momentum whatsoever.
That said despite the two problems listed above, I still really enjoyed this game and would recommend it to new fans or older fans although older fans will probably get more out of it unless the newer fans have tried the Sonic Mega Collection or XBLA versions of the older games or similar.
8/10
