What YOU Thought of Sonic 4: Episode 1

This topic is for those who've played the game and want to share their thoughts on the game, in general.

I tried the demo and....it was hands- down(or on!) AMAZING. There were a few issues I had with the whole dashing forward after jumping, but it's a minor nitpick in general and I still felt great playing it. It had everything from the old days, with a new feature of the homing attack. And when you did that move, it felt pretty sweet.
While I don't feel that it was as great as Sonic 3, my favorite Sonic game, it still felt exhilarating nonetheless.
The Splash Hill Zone act 1 looked amazing, and reminded me of Emerald Hill and Green Hill Zone, with some Angel Island Zone(without the flames, of course), except a bit more lively.
The Splash Hill act 1 music was okay this time around, with simple, upbeat sounds. However, all the sounds from the old days(the rings being dropped, being hit, jumping, bouncing, spin dash) were there, and it was pretty spiffy.
Overall, the first act of Splash Hill is, in layman's terms, pretty freakin' awesome.

I hope to get this whenever I get the funds.

- I add, for the record, that while the game isn't perfect, it's pretty darn good.

I also tried the demo.

I gotta agree with you, Sony, it is awesome. Like you, I liked the attack. And what they've done to Splash Hill is pretty damn good.

I liked it a lot. It's really fun, and the music is epic.

I've only tried the iOS version. I'm gonna get the PS3 version... but regarding the iOS game:

Awesome.
I wasn't waiting for "sonic's return" as I've enjoyed alot of the recent games... but seriously, this is an awesome game. Best game on my iPhone. Best game on the app store xD
The graphics are crisp (but waiting for retina xP), the moves are great- especially the homing attack.
And the level design is lengthly and fun... not to mention the music ^^
My only beef with this game are he special levels. They are HORRIBLE on the iPhone/iPad. The sensitivity is so high, it's almost impossible not to fail. I've gotten 4 chaos emeralds... and I've been playing continuously non-stop for a week.
Sega should fix this issue. Hopefully it's not an issue in the console version :)

But all-in-all awesome game :D
I can't play sonic 1 or 2 now :(
I keep thinking I have homing attack...

I thought it was pretty good. One thing that bugs me though is the rate of acceleration. He just feels so sluggish if you start running from a standstill to the point where if you get slowed down, it feels faster to just stop and spindash.

Edit: Really, the physics in regard to acceleration are really wonky and unintuitive in general IMO.

I thought it was bloody brilliant! Really, really fun! It's not my favourite Sonic game, but I think it's probably equal to Sonic & Knuckles.

I've given up hope in Sega... If they can't make a good 3d game in the 3d era of gaming then they should just stop trying, sell their company to Nintendo or Namco (or at least a company that TRIES) and with the guidance of a bigger brother make games that are fun instead of "I'm going to shoot myself" awful. But the game is good I guess even though it's just Sonic 2 minus Tails to me...

Auflodern wrote:I've given up hope in Sega... If they can't make a good 3d game in the 3d era of gaming then they should just stop trying, sell their company to Nintendo or Namco (or at least a company that TRIES) and with the guidance of a bigger brother make games that are fun instead of "I'm going to shoot myself" awful. But the game is good I guess even though it's just Sonic 2 minus Tails to me...

Um... you know 3D gaming technology has just started? I know the 3DS is on sale and stuff, but still, you should give them a few years to start making a proper 3D game (with 3D technology).

Er, I think what he means is 3D as in 3D movement in 3D game-space, as opposed to a 2D side-scroller. Then again, I usually take what Auflodern says with a grain of salt.

Regrettably, I have yet to personally experience S4 myself, as my Xbox Live connection is limited to say the least. From what I've gathered so far, it does appear to be confirming my hopes for a great game, in spite of some rumored physics issues. Warts and all, I can't wait to play this game.

Sweet Mercy wrote:

Auflodern wrote:I've given up hope in Sega... If they can't make a good 3d game in the 3d era of gaming then they should just stop trying, sell their company to Nintendo or Namco (or at least a company that TRIES) and with the guidance of a bigger brother make games that are fun instead of "I'm going to shoot myself" awful. But the game is good I guess even though it's just Sonic 2 minus Tails to me...

Um... you know 3D gaming technology has just started? I know the 3DS is on sale and stuff, but still, you should give them a few years to start making a proper 3D game (with 3D technology).

He's talking about games that take place in a three dimensional environment where you can move on the X, Y, and Z axes. It's kind of common sense considering that Sega hasn't made any "3D" games. Please reread his comment with that in mind.

Edit: I was beaten to the punch. That's what I get for watching TV as I typed this.

Super Racer Z wrote:

Sweet Mercy wrote:

Um... you know 3D gaming technology has just started? I know the 3DS is on sale and stuff, but still, you should give them a few years to start making a proper 3D game (with 3D technology).

He's talking about games that take place in a three dimensional environment where you can move on the X, Y, and Z axes. It's kind of common sense considering that Sega hasn't made any "3D" games. Please reread his comment with that in mind.

Edit: I was beaten to the punch. That's what I get for watching TV as I typed this.

Oh, I understand. It's not the one with the Nintendo 3DS technology, but one where you can move in the X Y and Z axes. Sorry, I misunderstood.

Schnickelfritz wrote:I liked it a lot. It's really fun, and the music is epic.

I don't really like them musc. It's mostly just 10 second long tunes looped over and. I haven't played it yet, cuz I don't have Wi-Fi of anything so that I can download it.

sykog wrote:

Schnickelfritz wrote:I liked it a lot. It's really fun, and the music is epic.

I don't really like them musc. It's mostly just 10 second long tunes looped over and. I haven't played it yet, cuz I don't have Wi-Fi of anything so that I can download it.

Most Sonic games though have got 10 second tunes looped over. It's not exactly new.

Going by the demo alone (because I can't be arsed to spend 15$ on 4 zones), it's merely okay. I have tons of things I can complain about from the demo alone, but I'll just mention the music to save myself time.

The music in the first stage is decent, but both of the menu themes are annoying as hell. The way the music is synthesized just sounds unpleasant and literally any other Sonic game ever has had better sounding music.

What do I think? (excuse my english, if there are any spelling errors) Graphics: AWSOME! Music: alright, Game play: great.... acept for the SPEED, its gone! I can run as fast or even faster! What happend!? This is no sequell to the past, characters are gone, meaning no co-op or multiplayer, not to mention the game is short, and everything has just been recylcled. I know they were aming for "kid frendly" but in the classics wayyyy back when i was young, I played it non-stop alone and with my sister, it was perfect. I'm glad they put it up on XBLA =] But calling this a "sequel?" get real, this is like a HD Remake! and just saying that is generous.... wait i get it! sonic is moving slower because he's too old! He needs to retire and let tails take over!! 8D

I think the new sonic game fell a bit short of the original games awesomeness. Number one, as others here noticed but the controls are kind of wonky. When you first start making sonic move, he's kind of slow compared to the originals. Not cool, but passable.
What I really don't like in this new Sonic game that almost makes me regret buying it is... THE LEVELS SUCK. Besides the classic daytime green and ocean levels, the other levels are terrible. My favorite original levels, the casino levels, have been RUINED. Why are they ruined?

The levels are poorly designed. It feels like they made this sonic game more of a maze than something where you are suppose to just blaze through the levels, which is a bad thing. I want to fly through the levels and have fun. The old sonics had some tough spots, but this one, they just seemed to push the confusing parts of the level a bit too far.

Okay, now it's my turn to really say something about this game, now that I've actually played it to (near) completion...

Get ready for a TL;DR here.

Right from the get-go, this is a Sonic game done up in the style of the "classic" Genesis games. Side-scrolling from left to right, with tons of enemies, traps and gimmicks standing between you and victory. At the end of each Act, if you have enough Rings, there's that Big Ring that I've always looked forward to. If it seems familiar, then you're right. It takes almost all of the tropes and mechanics from Sonics 1 through 3 and runs with them.

That's not to say it's a "rehash," otherwise there would be carbon copies of the older levels verbatim, and there's plenty of new things to play with, from zip-lines to rolling boulders, and running on a track made of flying cards is something truly inspired. I also really like the Special Stage, in which instead of the maze rotating on its own, you rotate the maze itself. There's also a time limit on that and some gates that demand a toll of yea many Rings to pass, so that mixes things up a bit. There's also a very nasty puzzle in Lost Labyrinth that took me a while to figure out, maybe too long of a while (but at least I didn't need to resort to GameFAQs for the answer).

Boss Fights also have some familiarity, but there are twists as well. One Boss went from a cakewalk to brutal after a few hits, and predictability goes out the window with some in particular (like the Mad Gear Boss).

And now the one thing that people seem to be ranting about like it's a cardinal sin of some kind: the physics. I didn't really notice much until later in the game, when I took my thumb off the D-pad, and Sonic came to a gradual halt. In midair, it took all the momentum away and he dropped like a stone. I considered that a mixed blessing of sorts, because it was helpful to make pinpoint landings, but when I'm fired from a cannon, after I reached the apex of the shot, it meant that I had to do the rest of the work to keep going in that direction. In addition, it did look rather silly to see Sonic propelling a gear that moved at a different speed than he himself was. It took some getting used to, Lord knows I've had a lot worse in games before when it comes to controls, but after a while I lived with it. Still, it is something that could do with a patch.

I don't quite understand Kuriboh's problem with the level designs. Many of them have alternate paths, and if you missed landing after taking out a row of baddies with the Homing Attack, fear not, for sometimes there's a different way through. If that's not the case, well, it's not the first time in a Sonic game one would have to backrtrack (bearing in mind the pyramid from S&K with the switches that opened doors--I've had to backtrack and re-open the doors many a time). Lots of levels in this game encourage the use of running really fast (and for some in particular, it's imperative), but like all Sonic games, there's a time to run and a time to walk--very dangerous places require accuracy in jumps else you miss a platform or become a blue grease splatter.

Overall, I'm liking it. From a critical view there are things that appear out-of-place, but it's functional and above all, it's fun. I would, however, recommend it only to seasoned Sonic players, not so much for Sonic rookies, though.

Im waiting for the Wii Version before I play it. It is supposed to have I think 3 levels in it.

Bought the game, and I have to say, my only regret is the game was short. The levels are great, some even make you think (you've probably heard enough of Lost Labyrinth by now), although they don't really get hard at all until Mad Gear, and even then its not that much. The Chaos Emeralds, now...
Surprisingly, I love the music. I constantly have the first two acts stuck in my head, and occasionally Lost Labyrinth, and I hope they make the songs longer next time, because there's only so much looping a song can do in your head.
Currently working on my last Emerald, it's rather difficult to obtain, and I look forward to this secret ending that people say is absolutely amazing. And of course, Super Sonic