Sonic 4: Episode 1 Discussion

Don't just tell them to ditch the homing attack. That'll make them mad and want to keep putting in more of it.

That being said, I really wouldn't miss it either. :P

 

Don't even get rid of it, just get rid of the fucking bubbles everywhere. It's a good attack it it's not required.

 

actually, I liked the bubbles everywhere but I hate the homing attack. They're neat little shortcuts if you can hit them right.

 

Oh they're great sometimes, but it's when they're just there to pointlessly make you use the homing attack when you could easily hold right and land on the platform after hitting a spring, it's just unnecessary.

I say let Sonic keep the homing attack, and make some use out of the bubbles so when future characters are added, they'll make good Sonic exclusive short cuts, while Tails and Knuckles can go on their own path.

 

I'd rather have enemies that take a well-timed air-dash than HA spamming, but ideally there'd be proper bouncing. And no HA, full stop.

 

I rather wish Sega just made it an air dash rather than a homing attack, because timing your distance from the Bubbles chains and dashing straight through them in an upwards, bouncing motion is fun. I don't like the way the homing attack works in this game; it's too much like the Heroes one. It's uber-long distance, it makes you rebound straight up off the enemy meaning you last all forward momentum, it forces you into uncurling, and it even has the same bloody sound effect as the Heroes homing attack.

If the homing attack would have been somewhat nerfed to the way it functioned in Rush and SRA, it'd probably feel much better.

 

I'd rather the HA be like in Sonic Xero and/or Sonic Megamix, frankly. It feels so awesome and not quite as uncomfortable as in Sonic 4. It's perfect, actually. All that would need to follow from that is good game design that's just like the Genesis games, only better and original.

 

Sorry if this was mentioned before or if I'm missing something obvious here, but does anyone know what happened to the PSN Demo on the Playstation Store for this game? I could've sworn there was a demo at the time of release, but I can't find it anywhere now. The same goes for the Sonic Adventure PSN port, if that demo ever existed either.

I apologize if I'm missing something since it's been about 5 months since I jumped on the Playstation Store (don't ask why, I just don't think there's anything worth buying on it these days when I have a 360 as well).

 

The demo has probably been hurting sales, but that's just a guess.

 

And demote the significance of it in the actual level design. I say they go for it. They already know for sure that optional powerups worked for Colors, so why not do the same in Sonic 4?

 

I agree that the HA should've been a shield if they insist on using it. Mainly because the HA clashes with the whole elemental shields thing (which I'd like to see re-introduced). Since the HA is a fairly spammable/powerful move, it'd be much more balanced if it was a reward that could be taken away from you if you're not careful like any of the other shields. As Super Sonic, it could be a move by default.

 

Possibly, but I much prefer Hyper Sonic's catastrophic double-jump. That, and the Homing Attack being demoted to powerup status. And improved to be a little faster.

Speaking of faster, what about the airdash? Should that be daisy-chained to the Homing Attack powerup?

 

I played through Splash Hill and Casino Street this morning, after not having touched the game for two months. I got kinda bored during CSZ Act 3.

I quickly went back to the Wii menu and started an Egg Shuttle run on Colors. It's kind of sad really. Poor dull, easy, sluggish Sonic 4. Maybe next time.

 

I did a rough playthrough of it earlier. I enjoyed it for the most part, save for a few things:

1. Fuck the Road of Cards, CSZ Act 2. The only nice thing about that stage are the flying cards. The rest of it can go to hell.
2. Overabused gimmicks. I enjoyed the cannons in CSZ Act 3, but for God's sake they're about as abused as bumpers and speed boosters. Enough already!
3. The bottomless pits at the end of most every act, among other cheap design choices meant to piss you off.

By the way, I never realized how awful the physics and controls were programmed until I played LLZ Act 2. Remember when you're being launched to the next minecart? Ever tried letting go of right on the d-pad? Try it. You'll fall to your death. That one instance just left me gobsmacked.

 

Haha, I'm pretty sure that was the first time I died on my first playthrough.

 

Exactly. Hell, this was how it was back when the homing attack was first introduced in 3D Blast!

If they were to bring back the elemental shields for Episode 2, it would be the perfect opportunity to nerf the homing attack and reintroduce the Gold Shield.

 

If that happens, and the game ends up sucking for some unforeseen blunder because of it, cue Jim Sterling whining about how "real Sonic fans" shouldn't be listened to.

It's not that I wouldn't want the homing attack demoted or removed. It's just that I get the feeling something like that might happen with Episode 2. And it'll probably be DIMPs' fault.

 

The same could be said for any of the other areas of criticism be it physics, art style, level design etc. If any of these things are changed for episode II, poor implementation could cause anyone not intimate with the old games to either go:

1. "WELL THEY ADDED WHAT YOU WANT AND YOU STILL DON'T LIKE IT!!! YOU'RE JUST UNABLE TO BE PLEASED!"
2. "THE OLD GAMES WERE OVER-RATED ANYWAY! YOU'RE JUST LOOKING AT THEM WITH NOSTALGIA GOGGLES"

Both points aren't true of course, so we can only hope that something of a miracle happens and things are set right :P