Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

http://kotaku.com/5463913/project-needlemo...nic-4-episode-i

There's only like three seconds of actual gameplay in this video, but those three seconds sure look pretty. I never got that far into the Sonic games because I never had a system that had any Sonic game on it (except for the XBLA ports, which I never got around to getting). However, I have to admit I'm at least a bit interested if they do in fact make this what is essentially a twenty-years-newer version of the original few games. And if they can avoid throwing buckets of bonus friends in there, besides Tails and Knuckles at a maximum, so much the better.

--------------------

"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I'm not sure I like the new Sonic model, but I want this game. I'll probably end up getting it on WiiWare. Although I think "Episode 1" was a bad thing to add, since that just reminds me of Half Life 2. And Sonic 4:Episode 3 will probably come before that, too.

Oh man. Just from hearing the original "Sega" voice in the teaser, I was already frothing at the mouth for this game. I pretty much disassociated myself with everything Sonic that happened after Sonic & Knuckles. I never got into the Dreamcast or Saturn generation of games at all, and from what I've come to understand, I've been dodging a bullet there.

A return to the old formulas means a rekindled interest from me, to be sure. If not for the nostalgia of playing a 2D, platform Sonic game, then for the sheer ability to play a game in the genre at all, one that has been sadly neglected over the last few years.

Definitely going to pick this up on the Xbox Live Arcade when it drops.

--------------------

Okay, but there was a goat!

Exciting in the kind of way New Super Mario Bros or Mega Man 9 was.

The only thing I truly dislike about the trailer is how Sonic runs in the updated graphics. I mean, you can see his legs moving as if he's casually jogging. That just isn't the kind of extreme, you-can't-catch-what-you-can't-see Sonic I want to see.

--------------------

I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Maybe this will revive the slowly dying but impossible to kill Sonic franchise. The last few entries in the series have been marginal at best, and it seems that the developers were doing everything in their power to finally finish off our beloved blue varmint.

Also of note is the fact that the newer games have tried to involve more and more of the TV series and comic characters, and that by design have altered the fiction that stands alone in the Game series. It's just not good practice to slap continuities together and hope for the best, at least not without an appreciable margin of error. Look at KH, for example. Squenix slapped two totally unrelated continuities on top of each other and the result was brilliant, but every iteration of the Sonic series after S&K was a hodgepodge of terrible ideas and aborted concepts.

I'm not happy about the fact that instead of originality they are simply rehashing what worked before, but anything to trim the fat off of the Sonic fan base is appreciated.

--------------------

This is a webcomic and gaming blog where I rant about nonsense. Enjoy.

I was a soldier, now I just play one in video games.

I'll give it a try, but I'm not holding my breath.

Sega seems to be making an effort to listen, but I think it's latched onto the classic concept without fully understanding what's needed.

In particular, we still have daft-looking, massive-legged, tiny-faced post-Adventure Sonic involved, and concept art and a trailer proudly displaying zones and badniks we all remember verbatim from Sonic 1, rather than new designs in the classic style - which is what I would really want from a "Sonic 4". Come on, Green Hill again? Is it seriously the case that nobody can remember anything else about classic Sonic so we just need to remake that ad infinitum when we need to look "classic"?

From a presentation point of view, the fusion of the classic Sonic ribbon with the US Sonic 2-style logo is weird too... Sonic 3 already made a cleaner looking job of fusing the ribbon with the boxart logo. In 1994.

Still, the direction is about six hundred times more interesting to me than anything I've seen Sega defecate out of the Sonic franchise in about 16 years, so I'll give it a chance.

(While we're talking about Sonic, I'll take a moment to shamelessly plug my modifications to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which bring back the music and branding from Sonic 3 alone along with some tweaks and bugfixes. If that sounds like something you'd like, give it a go.)

I'm actually extremely interested in this. I dare say I'm excited against my better judgment.

There was a time that the Sonic games were my favorite video game franchise. Let's see if Sega can bring out those nostalgic feelings and actually deliver the game they deserve.

This post has been edited by Squall of SeeD on 6th February 2010 18:52

--------------------

My Final Fantasy VII Plot Analysis

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" — Edmund Burke

Well, all I can say is that my cousin is ecstatic. He's a Sonic fanboy to say the least.

And personally, I think they are making the right choice, to go back to the roots of the series. It looks like it will be fun to play.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

I am getting tired of hearing sega always say that the next installment in the sonic franchise will revive but I am very interested in sonic 4.

just keep werehogs out of it.

--------------------

Xbox live gamertag: gungrave45

Psn id: colinmahovlich

Wow, Sonic is slow. I guess Sonic games just don't work without Genesis blast processing technology.

This post has been edited by MetroidMorphBall on 8th February 2010 01:14

Quote (gungrave45 @ 7th February 2010 20:02)

just keep werehogs out of it.

i always thought that this name they gave him was really stupid, seeing as "were" means man. he should be a hedge-wolf, not a man hog.

anyway, im indifferent to the sonic franchise, but this looks interesting

--------------------

Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

Quote (dont chocobos rule? @ 8th February 2010 00:56)

Quote (gungrave45 @ 7th February 2010 20:02)

just keep werehogs out of it.

i always thought that this name they gave him was really stupid, seeing as "were" means man. he should be a hedge-wolf, not a man hog.

anyway, im indifferent to the sonic franchise, but this looks interesting

Semantics wasn't the only problem with that gameplay aspect!

I am personally not a really big fan, but I respect the classic games of the series.

--------------------

Praise Be To Helix!

Most of what I could say has been covered by Tiddles, aside from some semantical differences and the fact that I feel a Green/Emerald hill type zone is obligatory for a sonic game. I'd also like to add that Sega never really stopped with the 2D platformers; they just recycled the basic concept to their handhelds. For this reason, I doubt this'll be any better. Aside from that, there's also this one little niggling detail to address:

Quote ("Kotaku Article)

The game will feature traditional Sonic mechanics like spin dash, power sneakers and whatnot, but also an added "homing attack".

I feel that feature is the biggest bit of what ruined the Sonic games to begin with, in my opinion. I think its inclusion will likely mean hard to control jumping mechanics and bits where the auto-aiming is mandatory, taking most of the fun out of the game, in which case count me out. Well you'd have to anyway, since I don't have any of those platforms but if SEGA's trying to please the purist fans, they'd taking out the most involved part of the interactive experience with bad jumping physics. It ruins the pacing and puts the player on rails to the extent where the game may as well be playing itself like a movie. It's boring to not have to think at all in such a manner.

I know, I know, some of you may be thinking something like "But Tonepoet, I thought sonic was all about the running at high speeds through obstacle courses and loop de loops!" You'd be right in a sense, in that's what makes it unique in comparison to other side scrolling platformers. However, as a side scrolling platformer the only thing you're really doing without the jumping is holding right on the d-pad, especially in a fast paced game such as Sonic's where you want to keep the built up momentum. It's how you attack, it's how you choose different paths, it's how you get around most obstacles and in other words, it's basically everything.

In short; please don't screw up the jumping Sega. It's the most bloody important favor you can do yourselves. The original Genesis games had near perfect bouncy mechanics; even better than Mario's to a degree! It's what made the pinball based levels like Casino Night Zone so fun. Any change from that degree of perfection is going to leave a bad taste in the target audience's mouth, I guarantee it.

Also, don't skimp on the enemies like you did in the Advanced series; since there are no RPG type story elements, the void of action makes things, as the ol' chilli dog gut would say "boo-ooring!" Speaking of which, am I the only one who thinks it looks rather odd to see Sonic back in this sorta setting without his circular stomach?

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 26th February 2010 18:20

--------------------

Role reversal at its finest.