Some things just don't fit. The mash up was spot on, but I don't feel like it matches the melody at all.
I personally rate Sonic 4: Episode I at just about the same level as Sonic 2 SMS/GG. I find them both fun, but both flawed. And both a lot more fun than nearly all of the 3D Sonic games.
In regards to the Sonic 1 bashing, I actually prefer Sonic 1 more than Sonic 2 mostly just due to level design and the fact Sonic 2 felt more linear and hold right in a lot of levels. That, and I've just never been very big on some of the zones like Casino Night. I think part of the problem is that I while I played Sonic 1 first, I played S3&K before Sonic 2 and a lot of zones with similar ideas were so much nicer in S3&K. -Angel Island is definitely a better first act than Emerald Hill Zone and I just like Green Hill Zone more than Emerald Hill. -Chemical Plant is really well made except zone 1 is too short and I always beat it too quickly. -Aquatic Ruin is both Sonic 2's water stage and ruins stage with types of stages being pulled off much better in S3&K. As for Sonic 1, Marble Zone is my favorite zone from that game and for good or bad, Labyrinth Zone is vastly more memorable than Aquatic Ruin. >_> -I could never understand why Casino Night is so praised but I blame the fact Carnival Night is a much better stage. -Hill Top is Sonic 2's fire stage and the Sonic 1 and S3&K fire stages were much better. -I never liked the appearance of Mystic Cave. -Oil Ocean is a well made zone but it feels much more linear compared to than most of the zones and when I played Sonic 2 for the first time in years some time ago, reaching this zone made me all, "I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THIS ZONE!" -Metropolis Zone is awesome. -Sky Chase is cool. -Wing Fortress is a solid stage but I think Flying Battery is a much better ship stage. -I hate the last boss on Death Egg because it's the only Sonic boss in any game that I suck at. <_< Like I could play through the entire game, die barely any times, and yet lose over twenty lives on that final boss. Another thing I really dislike about this game is that the special stages punish you for entering them. After entering a special stage, you lose all of your rings and your shield which was a dirty fucking move for the Mystic Cave boss. This results in me having less lives and continues. While this wouldn't be a huge problem in Sonic 1 and 3&K, I have always sucked at Sonic 2's boss so it's a huge problem for me. >_> Not only that, but entering a special stage should not be a punishment. Another flaw about this game compared to Sonic 1 is that I find the zones from Sonic 1 to be more memorable and less random. Since Sonic 1 has less zones, it helps with the whole remembering thing while with S3&K, the level transitions make it all feel like a natural progression. Now, in comparing Sonic 1, 2, and 3&K's levels to episode 1 of Sonic 4, Sonic 4's stage ideas were pulled off much better in the older games. <_<
I didn't put too much thinking into it more then "let's sync these two", and even though I can enjoy it more then most people should, I'm glad that people could find some positives out the thing. Thanks!
Sonic 4 Episode 1 was pretty much the best classic Sonic game that's come out since 20 years go. At least when you compare it to Rush and Advance. So much of it takes me back to the first games, which were great fun, and the game manages to bring that fun back even with different, arguably inferior physics, design, and mechanics like speed boosters, bumpers, and the homing attack. It's fun, but when compared to other games on the market now, it's clearly underwhelming and not worth the $15 I paid for it. $10 would've been far more reasonable, but looking back, I think I would've valued Episode I at $5-$7 judging from sheer amount of fun and immersion into the experience. Too short, blandly reused stage themes, and a design that lacks depth and makes poor juxtaposed uses of the homing attack, bubbles chains, and bottomless pits. That needs to stop. I'd love to play an Episode II that's as smoothly and uniquely designed as the previous games, and perhaps even as large as a Sonic CD stage. Go all out, SEGA. Spare no expense. I like how Sonic 1 introduces the idea and implements the mechanic of momentum into a simple left-to-right platforming game. It was fun, novel, and a blast to play. The levels got successively tougher to clear while getting the Emeralds, and while the pacing was erratic for the first 2-3 levels, I still found the game very enjoyable and worthy of being called a classic. That said, there are parts of Spring Yard Zone a really didn't care for at all: the many elevator segments. YAWN. Those did not need to be there. More springs please. Collision Chaos ended up being a better "Spring Yard" zone.
Ignoring the fact that "since 20 years ago" isn't quite right, you can't consider Rush as an attempt at a classic game, nor the second two Advance games. They were new ideas for Sonic gameplay in 2D.
By that logic, Sonic 3K would be seen as an attempt at a classic game. Look at everything it added. It built upon what the last two games did. Sonic Advance has a right to be called a game in the classic sense (not because of its age) but in that it built upon what S3K did. Some of us just happened not to like those new gameplay changes, the level design usually being the main culprit. Unfortunately, the Advance games never felt as large scale as S3K did, despite some of the level art fitting right in.
What Ross said. Also, they were essentially 2D Sonic games. I doubt they were advertised as "New Sonic" or "not-Classic Sonic" upon their release. They were advertised as a 2D Sonic experience, and were lauded as such in spite of its differences to the classic games. Same goes for Advance. The difference between those and Sonic 4 is largely art style, presentation, music, and overall game design. It was tailored to look and feel like a classic title, and for the most part, it nailed it while still being quite fun. That's an accomplishment. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.
Personally, I think Sonic Advance feels a lot more like a true sequel to S3&K than what we got with Sonic 4: Episode 1. Not necessarily a worthy sequel because of its length, mediocre last zone (excluding the Super Sonic stage), no ability to turn into a Super form without it taking place in the final stage, etc. It's a great game that did feel like it tried to progress the series but at the same time, Sonic 1, 2, and especially 3&K were much better games.
Personally, I've had more fun playing Sonic 4 Episode 1 than Sonic Advance. The level design in the latter kinda bores me, and I don't care for the music. The Special Stages are rad, but they're too damn hard to find and get to. Almost as hard as collecting all seven rings in each stage in Sonic Advance 2.
I don't understand why people compare the advance games to S1-3K. They're hand held titles not developed by Sonic Team rather like S1-2 8-bit, Sonic Chaos and Triple Trouble, surely that's a more accurate comparison.
Except the 8bit games were using far less superior technology compared to the Genesis games where as the Advance titles used hardware that was more powerful except when it came to music and resolution. In some ways, the Advance games tried to progress the Sonic formula where as the 8bit games weren't possible of accomplishing that.
New things were tried in the 8-bit games. Minecarts, hangliders, vehicles, and guns were all 8-bit firsts. What I mean is both sets of titles were outsourced and were not given the budget or importance of a main series game. Regardless if Dimps and the GBA were capable of producing another S3K, they weren't given the time or the budget.
You know what else was outsourced and was not given the budget or importance of a main series game? Hint: It's in the thread's title.
I wonder why Dimps was given the power to make pretty much every 2D Sonic platformer game in the past 11 years. They're a good company but it's strange that have been given so much power in Sega's most important franchise and why they were chosen over other companies would be a really interesting explanation. My only assumption is that because their Sonic games are always very well received except Sonic 4, Sega just continues to let them make all their 2D Sonic games.
After having Sonic 1: Episode 1 for a while now, getting used to the physics isn't hard and the game becomes more fun. It's the closest thing we have to the old Sonic games, and we are getting more! Thats good news, right?
You know, that sentence almost sounds like those wives who get beated up by their husbands if said like this.
