Sonic 4: Episode 1 Discussion

While I have stated that I like the game I am in 100% agreement that even with how much I play the game it's price is fucking ridiculous. I mean even $10 was pushing it. Sega is really bad at pricing digital downloads for the sole fact that they're charging like at least 50% more than anything they're selling is worth.

 

Count me in on that one. I boycotted it because I know I will be disappointed playing it. And the same goes for Episode 2 if they half arse that one as well.

 

I honestly thought that I wouldn't have to re-explain what I already had done in my other post. Sonic 4 was a step in the right direction, and of course I'll expect shit to be fixed. I've already said I enjoyed Sonic 4. Metaphorically speaking, I will be out the door if I don't like the look of ep II before release, I'll just avoid it. Jesus Christ.

In future, I'd prefer you to read my posts as a whole, instead of quoting odd parts in random order. I've just gone back to my original to ensure it wasn't lacking in coherence. It wasn't.

 

Episode 1 is a complete game.

 

I bought the iPhone version while it was on offer and as soon as began playing it in knew it was a mistake. The music was simply ear raping and the level design full of bottomless pits was fustrating. I deleted it of my phone, I considered it to be that terrible.

Now I own a Wii I would consider purchasing it again but only on an all episode compilation disk at a knock down price.

 

If you really hated a game and have no intention of playing it again, I don't see why keep it. It's just a waste of space.

 

You sure can, at least on the iPod/Wii. No matter what 'spots' Sonic 4 didn't tickle for you, it's in no way a bad game though. Anyone who thinks it's terrible either hyped themselves up to critical mass without taking Sonic Teams recent outings in to consideration, or all the games they've ever played have been gold.

 

No actually, in many ways it's a bad game. Not even as a Sonic fan, but in general there are a ton of issues with the programming, the audio, the controls, and visuals. There isn't really anything well done it it honestly. It is a bad game, and that's all there is to it. You can enjoy it all you want, but that doesn't mean it is a well put together piece of software.

 

I don't play Ep1 anymore, I got bored quick (still haven't completed it), but I will buy Ep2. Dunno how quick I will bore of that though.

 

I wouldn't call Episode 1 outright terrible, even though it has its many issues. It's pretty mediocre, just that.


Also, answering to AerosolSP: I think that since fun is very subjective and when we avaliate something we need to be as unbiased as possible - I'd say that yes, a game that might be fun to many people can still be a technically bad game. For instance - I could have a lot of fun with Big Rigs for all of its hilarious horribleness.

 

I'm perfectly willing to admit that Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was a mediocre game, despite the fact that I put 200 hours into it.

Sonic 4 on the other hand.. Just bad.

 

Every time I click this thread, I think I'm watching The Flintstones with all this looping.

Let's stop this Sonic 4 is a bad game discussion #49 please.

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I bought the game the moment it was released, played it all the way through and have never picked it up since. I have never seen a game so dismally put together and shipped out, all the while labeling it as a return to the classics. Your opinion is your own, however, and I respect that. If you think it's a good game and you can have fun playing it, then more power to you. I'm a retrofag and haven't played many newer series of games at all (Sonic or otherwise), yet millions of people enjoy them and that's great.

I guess I just figure that if Capcom can get it right twice with a retro revival, then Sega should be able to do it at least once with Sonic without fucking it up this badly. If Episode II manages to correct the dozens of glaring issues facing it, then perhaps I'll give it a try. Until then, however, we can only wait and see.

 

I played the entirety of Episode I at my friend's house, although I did not buy it, I found it enjoyable. The stiff controls and bizarre physics (Which, while not nearly as good as the Genesis games', are a little exaggerated in their quality or lack there of) took a little bit of getting used to, but in all honesty I found the level design to be top-notch and the graphics to be colorful and very appealing, even if their simply HD-ups of classic Sonic sprites/textures. The music pieces were good, but the instruments were pretty shot for the most part. Overall I found Episode I to be fun, but not quite great. It's too short for too high of a price, I'd give it about a 7/10 thus far. Good, not great. An above average amount of work was put into the level design and it looks great in HD, but other than that it needs a lot of work.

 

I respect that, but I have to disagree. If you're talking from a technical standpoint, I can't really comment because I have no contact with that sort of thing, but I thought the music was really good, I thought the graphics were sweet, the level design- for the most part- was fine too (not top notch, but fine), and I felt that in many ways they hit the nail on the head. I certainly wouldn't have imagined Sonic 4 as it is today, but for the game it is, which is Sonic 4 part one of god knows how many, I felt it was alright.

Having played a 100+ hours though, there are glaring issues.

*The item box collision detection, as well as some enemies is sometimes a little off, and it appears Sonic doesn't actually touch the object he's hitting if you're to look quite closely.

*That whole wall standing thing is just hilariously stupid- not game breaking, but stupid. As stupid as that end-of-level Super Sonic glitch in Sonic 2 that causes Sonic to float, causing the player to reset the game, but without that game-breaking effect.

*The game basically cums lives all over you- which is stupid. Either I'm just amazing good (Which I always have been at Sonic games), or the game is really making you NOT get killed. Personally, I think it's both.

*That inertia thing- it's intentional, and actually, it feels fine after an hour of play, but it just doesn't sit right at all, and although it's fine for the most part, spinning off an edge to stop instantly is damn irritating. It also feels wierd to have to hold the way you're heading.

*The spindash is fine from a game-play perspective, but it just doesn't feel right. Yeah, it actually doesn't hinder the player as much, but on those occasions you just wanna flip about up and down curved cliffs, it just 'nerfs' it completely.

And from all this, what you can see is that Sonic 4 is a game meant to be played the 'normal' way. You can't go off on your own tangent like the other games allow, even the Advance games. This is what irritates most people, and also, the inclusion of boost pads doesn't help either. It's not a bad game, it's the basic Sonic, with some things which make you wonder why it was needed at all. It's utterly playable- hell I've spent hours on it, running through the zones and doing all kinds of crazy stuff and improving my scores and times. I guess once you realise the game for what it is, it's really enjoyable, though many can't get over what it isn't, I never had a concrete idea of what it should have been in the first place.

I enjoy the game, see it's shortcomings, and enjoy having some banter and a moan about it.

I can see both sides, and I see why people like/love it, and why people dislike/hate it.

I actually feel like everyone's spoken about this a billion times, I'm not sure what it is about Sonic 4 that drawns people into such in depth discussions, including myself- perhaps it's the way it splits people in half. It's not often you buy a game and feel real nerdrage, but still enjoy the game. I would write an essay about this, and still not sum it up. Sonic 4 is a good game, a really good game, but it has odd things which lower it. I just can't explain. It's nothing to do with liking Sonic- I'm not a sucker for everything SEGA coughs up. Just;



On another note to change discussion;

I'm actually a bit intrigued by the way they brought Sonic 4 up. I'm guesing that by the time the next generation of consoles rolls up, SEGA will be plotting Sonic 5. I can feel it sooner or later. I had a feeling they'd one day bring up Sonic 4 anyway. All of these collections and things, it was bound to become a reality sooner or later.

 

The music is all 15 second loops with bad instruments, and the art is not sweet. Not even close. It's very hastily put together with a huge lack of quality.



Pay attention to the ground tiles. The lightsource is coming from the top, top left, and top right all at the same time. the reason for this is Dimps were too lazy to actually make the art tile properly so they just mirrored it. Maybe you don't have an eye for art, or you just don't care, but to me it's a glaring issue and I can't even stand to look at the game. Nearly every piece of art in the game has issues like these, and that's without even the fact that all the art clashes badly as it's all different styles. Some level manage to look "decent" but are still put together with about the same skill level as someone who is in their first week of 3D art training.

The other points you can have your opinion on, but both of these things I just mentioned are facts and can not be disputed.

 

To clarify why I deleted it, I didn't want to waste space my iPhone is only a 8GB. If you really want my opinion on S4E1 you can read my app store review, it's the one which discribed the music as ear raping.