The Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Megathread

So instead of putting in the time and effort to work on more effective badnik and obstacle placement, they're holding your hand and giving you auto-kills to cast the illusion that a problem has been fixed! BRILLIANT! :specialed:

 

This completely. All this autoplay bollocks really pisses me off. It started to seep into gameplay during S3 (Iizuka's doing I'm guessing). It's one of the many reasons why I prefer SCD. I can think of more autoplay moments in the modern games than solid chunks of unspoilt gameplay. It steals control away from the player for what the designer must think is some cool cinematic piece, when in reality it's just as monotonus as fuck. A good example is the killer whales trying to get Sonic in SA1's Emerald Coast, once you've seen it once you don't want to see it again. There is no excuse for it in the 2D games.

 

The whales in Emerald Coast (or Cool Edge) aren't the sort of thing that only happens in Sonic games, mind. Having scripted cinematic events that do absolutely fuck-all to effect the gameplay has been a really common thing across all 3D franchises. And it's fine, as long as it's not too dominant, I think. It's also a bit of a different case from Sonic's usual booster-booster-loop-spring-spring-spring-booster-loop-loop syndrome, which is purely a "Sonic" thing.

Although "chase" sequences in Sonic games never really graduated past the point of "cool cinematic moments" until Unleashed finally did something worth doing with 'em.

 

Okay, seeing this booster talk got me to watch the leaked footage again.

What I saw, was in Casino Street 1, I saw six boosters, but one came literally, right after another, so really, only 5 were needed. Lost Labyrinth 1 I couldn't find a video of. Sue me. And in Mad Gear 1, I counted all of 3 speed boosters. The frst one was a minute into the stage, the second 30 seconds later, and the third was that one that started the whole slope physics debacle. So, perhaps there's some insane possibility that Splash Hill will be the only stage that's, as you guys are saying, "littered" with speed boosters?

 

I used to feel good about Sonic 4. The leaks got me excited. But when I looked back at the leaks and looked at all the problems, it's just made me a dissapointed person.

I'll still buy the game. I've been waiting for a game like this for a while and I've got Wiipoints to spare. The problem is that by calling the game Sonic 4 they've set an incredibly high target they could have never lived up to. It would have been better for SEGA's image to call this a remake instead of a whole new story, or a new 2D game NOT in the classic series, but now they have to live with the consequences.

I suppose the only good thing is that they're fixing the shitty jump physics for Episode 1 and wall standing for Episode 2, although it brings into question HA, dash panels and uncurling. (AND MINE CART.) HA could work but not like this. I'll have to see final version gameplay though.

At least they're on the right track, although it seems SEGA took that saying too literally and made the Mine Cart.

 

Thing is, in the classics they were just level-specific gimmicks that were presented in imaginative forms that differed in all the levels they were used in. So at least there was some thought put into them, not to mention that only certain stages used them. Just think of the variety seen in Sonic 3 & Knuckles: That glove that grabs Sonic in Hydrocity, those trap door things in Launch Base, the hidden springs in Sky Sanctuary, the launchers in Death Egg or even those passages in Carnival Night if they count. All of them are different and fit the level they're in, and they didn't even have to reuse those from Chemical Plant. When they didn't think a level needed a cool boost-gimmick, they just moved on and thought of something else to add.

In Sonic 4, there's just some basic boost pads based in the Chemical Plant ones (with no special actions attached to them), thrown everywhere in the game in places where they're not needed at all, so they're just a big annoyance to anybody who wants some control over the game that's being played.

The difference should be clear, hopefully.

 

Kinda agreed, agreed particularly due to forced rolling, hugely agreed, almost definitely changed to iPhone-only.

 

That's not really what I was meaning to get across, but you are correct, sir. What I was trying to say was that people were going on saying "suddenly boost pads, THOUSANDS of them," and, yes, the boost pads are in every stage in Episode 1 (and I hate that as much as the next person), but after Splash Hill, the number of the DO decrease.

Let's hope that with the slap DIMPS is getting with the development of Episode 2, they'll cut back severely on the presense of these speed bosters.

 

How much longer til this is out?

 

Sept, Oct or Nov.SEGA usually has their Christmas Sonic game out in November, and I don't think they want to pit 4 against Colours, so I'd guess Sept or Oct. Probably the former.

 

Pit 4 "against" Colors? What, you think a ten-to-fifteen-dollar multiconsole title is going to have trouble selling at the same time as a full-priced retail Nintendo exclusive and its handheld knockoff?

I don't think "competition" between games is such a worry that there'd be a significant gap between the two releases, personally.

 

No, but I doubt Sega is going to let the person who wins the contest get to play the final game 3 months early. It should be a September release.

 

Well, there's Colours Wii, Colours DS, Free Riders and Sonic 4. Considering that people will need to buy Kinect in order to use FR they will want to space things out a bit. If it was just Colours Wii and S4 it would probably be a different situation.

Also Jimmy, do we know when the trip to Japan is supposed to be? Cause if it's August that people get play the final version of the game then it should be out September. But if it's in Sept or Oct then the game could come later.

 

Unless they're adding more while developing the game.

What better way to fix a game you're delaying? :specialed:

 

...Touché.

 

Assuming they're even allowed to take the trip "three months early." All I've heard on that score is that the trip has to be taken sometime before July 2011.

I won't necessarily be surprised if the game does get released a good distance away from Sonic Colors, my only point is that I doubt it will be for that particular reason.

 

I thouht they would just schedule a time for the winner and provide transportation for them. If not, that's a little douchy since air travel is expensive.

Not that I care, the only thing I would want out of the contest is that Sonic stuff - and that's only if it includes classic stuff... Which I thought it did but it doesn't look like it now that I look at the picture again. =(

 

I'd guess Oct. or November. Halo: Reach releases in September, and if SEGA wants to maximize their profits from Sonic 4, it may be wise to keep their titles away from Halo. Of course, there's the possibility that the markets are different enough for it to not matter, but, I don't have the statistics, so I'm just making thoughts.

 

I'll restate what I said before: 19921124

It'd be an awesome day to release a new retro-style game.

 

+ - Mad Gear has those tubes that fling you out, the ones that you basically just run into. It's just a different way of having the level play itself. launch out of one tube, do a homing attack chain, airboost off the last one into another tube. That's basically what I saw of the level.