The Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Megathread

That doesn't put an end to it at ALL. They were given a developer build, simple as that.

Now, let's say you CAN pick any stage, in any order. So you can just pick the last level, and then beat it, which automatically takes you to the final stage? Why are the zones numbered? Seriously, this "pick in any order" thing is bull.

 

Yep, those sure are numbers right? I can count to Mad Gear Zone too.

 

It has already been explained. Apparently, you have to do SHZ1 first, then you can pick from SHZ, CSZ, LLZ, or MGZ, Acts 1, 2, or 3. Upon completing all Acts in a Zone, you can then select the Boss Act for the Zone. Upon completing all Boss Acts, you can then access E.G.G. Station Zone.

 

Bleh, that sucks. I still hope they change it for the final version. I just don't see the point.

Edit: And polygon Jim, I said "numbered" because Lost Labrynth's song is listed as "Zone 3" on the website, and Sega constantly says things like "the second zone" or "the next zone.

 

I don't think its too bad, you still have to play/beat all the levels to get to the final boss fight.

 

The way I'm looking at it, the order in which the zones are listed, is probably what they meant. Besides, it makes more sense, from a practical standpoint, to 'number' things to put them in order, whether that order directly effects the gameplay or not, it's obvious to me these zones are intended to play in order, because I have a feeling the difficulty curve will make new players want to, but you can skip a level you're having a hard time with and try another.

...But I would like the zones to have forced progression anyway, this seems like it breaks the classic platformer formula anyway.

 

In Rush Adventure the stages are numbered, but you can complete Zone 6 (Sky Babylon) before Zone 5 (Blizzard Peaks) if you want to. It's not an oversight in design as you could expect form the map system though, Blaze actually tells you that you have the option.

I dunno, I'm not really opposed to the pick-n-mix system since I can play from SHZ1 to MGZB in the correct order if I want to. The downside to it is that it breaks the flow, the same problem we've had in most 3D Sonic games.

 

So basically, it's kind of like pulling a Mega Man on us. Hm, ain't that big of a deal though, I hope for Episode 2, they go back to the original one way stage progression. Does this mean you can just go back to the previous stages you've beaten and get a Chaos Emerald at the same level numerous times? That would be pretty cheap, but I guess if that's your thing...

 

You can only get a single Chaos Emerald in each act, if you go back you can't do the special stage again from what I remember.

 

From the looks of it, no. When you get an Emerald you can see it's picture on the menu next to to the act where you found it. I've had no confirmation, but it would be logical to assume that you can only get one Emerald per act no matter how many times you play it.

EDIT: Ninja'd

 

Oh right. I totally forgot about that picture of the Emerald appearing. My bad. Well, at least you don't have to do all the stages to get the Emeralds like certain games. Something tells me though that Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear are going to be a bit of a bitch to get 50 rings from. We'll see, I suppose.

 

Well in that case you could get all the special stages but one at the first 2 zones.

 

If Casino Street is anything like Casino Night in terms of obtaining and keeping rings, then you could just zip through Splash Hill and then Casino Street to have 6 Emeralds, since the boss act is separate from Act 3 now.

 

At least to me, it's not that you can play stages in order, it's that you can't just play straight through from SHZ1 to E.G.G. Station without going to the menu after every Act, disrupting the flow of the game. They may change this before it's released; we don't know.

 

Well if that's true, then I'm actually disappointed by this, I used to like starting in one zone and flowing into the next, etc, kept the feeling that the game was a journey, even more ironic considering Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles really tried hard to connect all the zones as one journey. Feels kinda one step forward, two steps back kinda thing.

 

^ This, but I guess it's a good thing Dimps didn't bother with level progression or I would be doubly disappointed.

 

In Knuckles' Chaotix, you could play the zones in any order as well. I could not care less.

What I don't understand, however, is why you all are making such a big deal about this.

I thought it was already been established that this is not the Sonic the Hedgehog™ 4 that we expected. It pretty much deviates from everything we'd expect in a true successor of S3K, therefore creating it's own formula. I've already came into terms that this game is not and will not be like the classics. I don't know what's so surprising there.

 

Maybe you haven't realized I still feel that the game is close to the classic games? It may not be what a true sequel would have been, but it's not going for that. It's going for gameplay similar to the classic games though. This isn't something completely and wildly different from the classic games. Perhaps it's a different take on them, but it's closer than anything in the past 15 years. Closer than the advance series and rush, even. I find this annoying just from a game standpoint in general, I think it's stupid design. Even if it was in the genesis games, I wouldn't like it. It's honestly pointless. The difficulty curve is still the same. So why even give the option? There's no reason, really.

 

I understand your position.

Though, there's no "difficulty curve." Every act of each zone pretty much plays the same way. That's probadly why they went on using this game progression structure, or the other way around. That, and because "it's just a fucking arcade game. Who cares?" Granted, the third acts of each zone are harder, but even then, at the end of the day, they all have the same difficulty level (except that I personally find LLZ's and MGZ's ACTs 3 to be harder* than SHZ's and CSZ's ACTs 3, but the blame is on the badly programmed wall chase gimmick).

*read: "it's not my fault" deaths.