The Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Megathread

Everyone knows that this is a rehash of Casino Night Zone with a slice of Carnival Night and Spring Yard Zone. Just with playing cards.

So um, basically there's a gimmick involving cards, pinball machines seem to be in different places now, more speed boosters and misplaced sound effects and Ken Balough talking shit again. Sounds fun!

 

I actually don't like Sonic Advance much, despite the tight physics. It's the level design, it's kinda meh. Bottomless pits, floating platforms that are too difficult to get to the farther you are in the level (unless you're Tails or Knuckles, but then it's still a bitch) and levels that generally make Sonic feel a lot slower and more plodding. The music's okay, and I did like the showdown against Metal Knuckles, that was pretty fucking rad. Too bad it was short-lived, though, and it lacked the same impact as Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic. If you can manage to find the Special Spring, the special zones are also pretty awesome, even when you lose. "AAARRRGH!!!"

I actually enjoyed some of the levels from Sonic Advance 2 more, given that they're slightly more slanted and speed-oriented. They're a slightly more fun experience than what Sonic Advance delivered, even with their flaws. One of the things that ruined Advance 2 is collecting those fucking special stage rings, and even if you do, the special stages aren't that good, so that's just a waste.

Having said all that, I think I'll enjoy Sonic 4 than any 2D games DIMPs put out recently. I think most of you know how I feel about Rush already.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Casino Night Zone. Looks all right. The playing cards are a nice addition to the trope, and the Joystiq preview seems to indicate that the HA will actually be more fun this time as opposed to previous uses of the HA. That sounds pretty good.

 

So.
I haven't been paying attention to S4. Did they ever say whether the music would be revamped or not? Or is it No Major Changes Necessary™?

 

That's hilarious, it makes me wonder if Ken Balough has ever played the classic series before or not.

 

This video shows something that somewhat bothers me about S4. There aren't really many feature shared between all the acts in one zone. Water only appears in LLZ1, the S-tunnels only appear in SHZ1 and the slot machines only appear in CSZ1. Act specific gimmicks are cool so there definitely no complaints there, but a few more zone specific ones (wheels in Marble Garden, pulleys in Mushroom Hill and fans in Starlight) would really make a difference. I have to wonder why they don't really work like this in S4.

 

RubyEclipse said that the songs got minor touches and one track (possibly CSZ2 since it was the worst out of the lot) got heavily revamped. A few more could've been looked at though. *cough* + - Final Boss   *cough*

He hasn't talked about much yet, hopefully it'll be talked about in Update 2.0 soon.

 

Well, if speed boosters were relegated strictly to a Chemical Plant Zone ripoff, that might be all right, but it seems they're going to be a permanent fixture of every level. I see where you're going with the zone-specific versus act-specific gimmicks though. That would be much nicer.

 

Why couldn't they do a proper mash up plus some new gimmicks for Splash Hill, like they did here and the labyrinth level? Those two look heaps better than Splash Hill.

 

Well, that's rather disappointing.

 

Splash Hill's kinda boring. It was beautiful at first, but then they just kept showing it again, and again, and again, and again. It's the same hillside-on-the-coast trope that's kinda been beaten to death in 2D Sonic games. That's why I liked Sonic 3's intro better: it replaced the hillside with a huge detailed jungle.

 

Friction is probably the reason Sonic can stand on an 89 degree incline without falling down, but I get the feeling they've increased the power of Sonic's running to compensate for the increased friction, meaning that Sonic can now run up walls more easily.

And yes, it seems to be that simple. Still looks fun, though.

What? You mean they actually put something related to a casino in a casino level?

(Yeah, I know slot machines have always been in there, but still... CARDS)

 

The new levels look like so far the most creative ones in the entire game. Glad they scrapped LLZ act 2 and CSZ act 2 in favor of these new ones

 

Mafia - Miniboss fight a bunch of enemies rage if you don't pay the rings on time.

Roullete - Different random power ups.

Russian roullete - Like roullete, without a gun, though instead there's an insta kill.

There are a lot of possibilites for a casino night act 2.

 

Casino Street looks nice. I really can't wait for this game. I take it no release date with this update?

 

For a zone that "hasn't been inspired by any previous zones in Sonic games"

what a coincidence!

they even have the same flower... thing



those floating cards are, however, original. The first original thing I've seen, in fact.

 

Don't forget the torch in LLZ Act 2

Also running on the ball in LLZ

 

Did you miss the whole Lost Lab 2 flaming torch thing, then?

EDIT: Damn you ninja.

 

Well, after the whole torch thing.

 

My bad. I should have worded it "the only original thing in this zone" (though there's nothing original in Splash Hill either).

 

The thing I find funny is the two acts they remade look a lot more original and fun.

Gives me hope on episode 2.