To get the achievement, you have to beat the game twice: Once on Score Attack Mode, and again on Time Attack. Then, go to the Leaderboards, and then cycle through every list, making sure to switch to the other mode once the first is done. It takes forever to "Registering with Leaderboard", so you know.
Why is there even a time attack mode? Wouldn't it have been better if they just kept track of the highest times in score attack mode?
Time attack turns off star posts, so if you die you need to retry from the beginning. I guess it's more intuitive than trying to figure out a way to tell the player their time attack attempt failed and they need to restart. *shrug*
They could just say your total time playing a level in the stats even if it's way over ten minutes because of deaths. >_>
Oh man. I just tried playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles after nothing but Sonic 4 for a week, and I got to Marble Garden Zone. Now all I can think when I see a Bubbles is "homing attack" but of course there isn't one and the insta-shield's protection is insufficient against their spikes.
I actually like the lack of goal posts. I guess it comes from me totally restarting a level in the past if I do a speed run. A speed run where you have to return to a goal post to complete it just doesn't seem like a good speed run to me.
I went back and played my favorite of the classics, Sonic CD. Now I feel mildly disappointed about the physics problems. Nevertheless, Episode 1 of Sonic 4 is good, but not great, as there room for much improvement in terms of physics and level design. The game is short, but given that this is only episode 1, we're bound to see changes in episode 2 such as more than four zones and no more rehash. Given that this is Sega we're talking about, I doubt they'll do anything about the physics.
They had better at least try to do some sort of lock on. Even if it's only detecting the other episodes.
I didn't completely hate the game, but it was far from perfect. I give it a generous B-, barely. the special stages are terrifying to me (I don't like the ones they are based on, either), I don't understand why there are 2 levels with a damn doom wall, and I feel like it hints a little too much at Sonic 1 and 2, and not enough at Sonic 3. the redesigns of the badniks are awesome, I have no problem with them. I don't mind the homing attack thanks to the Sonic Megamix (I know they don't work quite the same, but still), and I see it as replacing the insta-shield. I feel that the game is better then Sonic 1, almost as good as Sonic 2, and no where near as good as Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I can't really make a final call on that, yet, as I have only played Episode 1 (or course), so who knows, that may change. also, I do agree that the physics feel weird right from the beginning... I felt that everything was much slower then it should have been. Also, Special Stage 5 was the worse special stage I have EVER played. I would love to see community members take the layout of this game and just redo it with retro look and feel. that would probably end up being a better game.
Unless there's a patch, I really hope there isn't a lock-on. If Episode 2 hypothetically runs on a new engine for these changes to take place, would it make sense to make it lock-on with a game that's running on a different engine? I'm saying new engine because apparently they have to make a new one to do all the changes we want to happen.
The feeling of drag in Sonic's acceleration is really mystifying to me, because Sonic doesn't actually take any longer to speed up than he did in Sonic 1... is it the walking animation? Just the general feel of the momentum physics? What?
A user at the Sega-16 forums provided me with this link comparing Sonic 2 to Sonic 4's time till full speed animation. http://www.gameblurb.net/more/misc-gaming/...howing-his-age/ And for some humor...a pic related to Sonic 4 that I made in like 5 minutes....
I will admit my post is premature as I've not yet finished Sonic 4. But ugh the physics hurt. Sure running is alright but have you guys felt the spin-dash? It's weaker, and apparently rolling into a ball does not allow you to gain more height (Ala Spring Yard zone) you would have more luck running back and fourth in those huge U loops in Spring Yard Zone using SOnic 4's physics rather than Spin-dashing and rolling. The other issue I have with Sonic 4 is that he slows much faster, but I guess that will just take some getting used to.
For the ones who loved classic Sonic games for the awesome slope physics and the level design made to show them, like me, will think Sonic 4 is far from deserving that name. Sonic 4 is to me just a platform game featuring Sonic. Its a good game... but I get really angry when I think that just changing the rush engine to a classic one the game could be a lot better
Oh, the irony. I was looking back to the "How would you redesign Sonic" thread, and by chance I found the motive for slight different Sonic 4's physics (look at the first answer). :v:
Right, I'm playing Rush right now. I'm specifically trying to pull off the same thing as in my sig. Crouching on walls/steep ground from dry land if you come out of a roll is possible but difficult. It's an easier task from underwater but definitely not S4 easy at any time. I can't make Sonic just stand on them though. The other thing is that Sonic's acceleration in Rush is so much higher than in S4. It makes him feel so much less sluggish and heavy. Sure he can scale walls ridiculously easy, but that's to be pinned on something other than acceleration really. It is odd though.
EDIT: Oh, Time Attack? Well, why not have Time Attack? It lets you practice speedrunning without having to worry about losing lives. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the odd slope physics issues became more prominent during whatever re-tooling they did to make the Rush engine play more classic-like. Although honestly, if Sonic's acceleration were ramped up to Sonic 3's level it might feel less irritating, but I think the main thing is that whenever you try to precisely land a jump—by which I mean "letting go of the d-pad and dropping like a rock"--you return to minimum speed, so the acceleration is only annoying because no matter how skilled you'd normally be at maintaining your flow on-the-fly in a platforming sequence, the only options Sonic 4 gives you in regards to that are to break flow entirely, memorize and longjump, or to make leaps of faith and hope you land on something helpful. If they fixed the air physics, most of the acceleration issues would actually be fixed right along with them.* [* While this still leaves the optical illusion generated by his walking animation, the main problem is still the momentum physics themselves. Aesthetics should, naturally, take a back seat.]
Srs? You didn't get any Emeralds, right? I'd almost be tempted to try that, but whenever I play the game next I'll have the much less ridiculous-yet-impressive goal of simply getting the good ending (not sure I ever have)—which, admittedly, should be rather trivial without the bag o’ rabies following, as was the case last try.
I once tried to play some Sonic 2 with my eyes closed, as my friends think I should be able to due to my apparently godly abilities. I didn't get much past EHZ Act 1 haha. I also played some Mario 64 with my feet once. It's funny the other day I finally played Sonic 3 with someone else. He was Sonic and I was Tails, and it was fun seeing someone play who doesn't know what they're doing like it was breathing. But to be on topic, I have no trouble going back and forth between Sonic 4 and Sonic 3. They play differently but I can compensate for that.