As grim as it may sound I have been sitting here dreading writing this review. Nothing splits opinion like a new Sonic game, and I have a feeling that any score I give will please/upset in equal measure. A lot has already been said about Sonic 4: Episode 1; Sonic’s the wrong shade of blue, his eyes are the wrong colour, his legs look weird; repeat to fade. I won’t be focusing on any of that malarkey; I’m interested in the important stuff; the stuff you want to know before logging on today with your credit card in hand – so here goes.
The game starts ticking the right boxes from the off. Highlight the Sonic 4 icon on the XMB and you hear the familiar sound of rings being collected. Boot the game up and you will be greeted with a “SEGAAAAA” that will cause those over a certain age to give a knowing little smile. Those were the days eh?
Straight away you are thrown into Zone 1: Act 1. There is no fluffy back story; Sonic isn’t hanging out with his ‘friends’, and there are no dodgy cutscenes or voiceovers. So far so win. The visual style of Sonic 4: Episode 1 screams old school Sonic. Somehow SEGA has dragged the game back to its roots, whilst simultaneously making it feel fresh and modern. Everything looks fantastic, bright and vibrant; even in the Lost Labyrinth Zone where you head underground. The kindest thing I can say about the music is that it definitely brings back memories of the 1990s; whether that’s a good thing or not I’ll let you decide.
After completing Act 1 every other Zone and Act unlocks for you to play at your leisure. The game is comprised of four Zones; Splash Hill, Casino Streets, Lost Labyrinth, and Mad Gear Zone. In every Zone there are three Acts and a boss battle and they can all be played in ‘Score Attack’ or ‘Time Attack’ mode. Each Zone has its own visual style, and top marks have to be given to the Casino Streets Zone for some fantastic little details and fancy effects. I won’t ruin them for you, but you’ll understand when you see them.
The retro heads among you will also be pleased to hear that the ‘Special Stages’ from the Mega Drive era make a return. These involve navigating Sonic through a ring filled maze to try and retrieve a Chaos Emerald. It’s not as easy as it sounds, as there is a strict time limit as well as bumpers scattered throughout to try and push you the wrong way. Teeth = clenched.
Old Sonic game traits also make a return, such as running into spikes/traps that appear without warning; and overrunning parts of the level and falling to your death because you were going too fast. These will either fill you with rage or overwhelming nostalgia depending on your mindset. In terms of moves Sonic hangs on to his faithful ‘spin dash’ where he curls up into a ball and dashes off at top speed.
Also carried forward from previous Sonic games is the ‘homing attack’ where Sonic locks onto an enemy and homes right in on them; it is also handy for reaching springs. Sonic can also do a little forward dash in mid air to help him get to hard to reach places. In my opinion the controls are spot on and feel just right and suit whatever style of play you want. If you favour speed then you can quite easily zip through levels with very little interruption; but those who prefer the exploration can slow it down and eek out every ring and power up a level has to offer – just be wary of the ten minute time limit!
In terms of longevity I would have preferred a beefier game to sink my teeth into. Sonic 4: Episode 1 is launching at a premium price, but you’ll be lucky to get three hours out of it. Yes the Score Attack/Time Attack does add some replay value; and the Trophies pretty much demand multiple play throughs but it still leaves you wanting more bang for your buck.
The game is also fairly easy bar one or two of the boss battles. Seasoned Sonic veterans won’t have many problems here. A massive thumbs down also goes to the very last boss which I found to be such a cop out and left me feeling disappointment
Pros:
- Lush visuals
- Very strong platforming
- Sonic back to his best
- Nice variety of Zones
Cons:
- Slightly easy
- Questionable length
- Poor final boss
Overall Sonic 4: Episode 1 is the best Sonic game I have played for a long time; and I absolutely loved it. While it lasts it’s the perfect example of how to a 2D side scrolling platformer. No doubt some will want to mark it higher, and some will want to mark it lower and that’s fine. All I can say is bring on Episode 2.
Score: 9/10
Version reviewed: PS3.
TheRook21
What is the ‘premium price’?
Nice review good read – I thoroughly enjoyed the old sonic games back in they day (some of the earliest games I played – not counting NES and spectrum)
TheRook21
OnlineAssassinUK
Defo buying this been waiting for it i think its not bad price wise for 16 levels and just over 3 hours of playthrough time. The originals had around the same amount of levels but seemed to be over in less time than 3hrs seemed more like 20min an they where 40 plus quid but i batterd em loved em.I have many fond memories of oldskool sonic especially while playing my toshiba msx (yes i did say toshiba msx) the white arrow deliveryman dropped off a parcel and inside was a shiny new mega drive and the little blue hedgehog id never witnessed graphics like it as a child who had commodore 64s an a toshiba msx i was blown away and on that day my gaming life and addiction where born… thank you sonic you got me hooked…p.s i thought this was due today but the start of the review says tommorow mmm
OnlineAssassinUK
In the words of jim bowen You cant beat a bitta sonic. mooo
Dan Lee
It is today – my mistake
OnlineAssassinUK
Today Hoorah thanks for clearing that up dan.Bring it on…
bunimomike
Never enjoyed Sonic games but am chuffed to bits that fans of the franchise have a new title that’s scored so highly. Makes the world a safer place with you lot indoors. ;-)
cam the man
For all the years I’ve been into gaming I’ve never played a Sonic game, or wanted to.
Lymmusic
downloaded the sonic 4 demo from the us store and would have to say i’m thoroughly disappointed. glad i tried the demo as its saved me a ternner.
i’ve been a sonic fan ever since the megadrive days, got to play sonic 1 on the sega bus that toured the uk to promote the release of the megadrive.
the music is dreadful, with poor quality samples straight from the sound test menu and short, poorly composed melodies.
the visuals are vibrant, but the main sprites don’t match the backgrounds, and the main sprite animation is iffy.
by far the worst problem though is the gameplay. the handling of sonic is poor, the momentum that gave sonic his trademark speed and abilities is non-existent. The decision to include the useless homing attack could be forgiven if the character played “correctly” but it just feels wrong.
The speed of the game (in the demo at least) is very low – when i got the speed boots power up it felt like normal sonic speed…
To say i’m disappointed is an understatement, my housemate is also an original sonic fan so i thought i’d see what he thought… pretty much the same as me, except he hasn’t really played any of the recent sonic games in 3d so had no frame of reference as to why not having cutscenes, bigs the cat, and werehogs was a good thing. He looked like he was going to cry…
I thought i’d show him the demo of sonic unleashed just to show him why people were so excited about it being in 2d, and although it was flawed, he enjoyed it more (I didn’t have the heart to ruin his fun by mentioning werehogs, he’d have had a breakdown).
The problem being, 2d sonic is trying to live up to the old days and just cannot manage it. Of course, things have to evolve, and they have, in 3d. The 3d games aren’t as good as the old 2d games, but the new 2d game is insultingly bad because it tried so hard to cover old ground.
Mario worked in 3d, and so will sonic. Sega just need to spend the time on it… unleashed was ok, but ruined by the slow stages, which were necessary as full 3d levels need to be huge to allow for sonic’s speed. If they just spent the last 5 years building one full sonic game rather than giving up and bulking it out with tat they’d be fine.
lewis815
Hmmmm… I hope I don’t agree with your points come tonight ! Otherwise I will be a very saaaad panda.
Lymmusic
its on the store now…
CrawFail
Every single word Lym wrote up there I totally agree with.
I strongly encourage anyone thinking about buying this game to get a US account and download the demo over there first.
cc_star
Excellent to hear considered opinion, but I don’t think I can align myself to your way of thinking, so I’m not sure I can bare it in mind, I didn’t see a single redeeming feature in Unleashed, it had nothing to do with Sonic, the best bit were the brief 2D bits which lasted mere seconds, the 3D bits were poor and the Werehog was obviously impossibly shit.
sonic is a 2D game, they maybe able to graft in some 2.5D gameplay like LBP or some weird depth based stuff like Paper Mario, but 3D isn’t Sonic
Lymmusic
agree cc those 2d sections are the only bits in unleashed that stand out as good bits, the lack of sonics momentum does make this feel less like sonic though.. having played it more i think the additional animation cycles in accelerating,turning and flying off ramps are a main factor in damping the experience… and the lack of momentum feels like he’s got sticky shoes or gravity is turned up too high..
there is some solid platforming to be had though…
nearly sega, nearly.
OBBICH
I want this so bad, I bought Sonic Adventure and was very disappointed.
CrawFail
Sonic Adventure is LOOOOOOOAAADDDS better than this game.
Sonic adventure is by far the best 3D Sonic game, Sonic 4 is by far the worst 2D Sonic game.
cc_star
3D Sonic isn’t Sonic (IMO, of course)… they may as well stick another character in.
Not a single one of the 3D games is a tenth as good as a proper Sonic game
CrawFail
True, but Sonic Adventure is quite a lot better than Sonic 4.
How isn’t 3D Sonic not Sonic? Is 3D Duke Nukem still Duke Nukem? Is 3D Metal Gear still Metal Gear? Is 3D GTA still GTA?
Their best games are 3D.
CrawFail
What I mean is I adore the 2D Sonic games but this one doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s more to do with pacing than anything else. The speed isn’t there.
Quinlank
Played the demo and it was actually really nice, but the animation on Sonic is really rubbish looking.
Not sure if I’ll pay a tenner either. Bit much.
Kennykazey
This game is a bliss. The music, graphics and gameplay all feel oldschool but with a modern twist and stirr.
It has my seal of approval. d’-‘
longyon82
Just had to stick on wizards of the sonic on youtube. Such a class dance version of robotniks theme music on sonic 2. Still cant believe the bloody price of this but guess thats the price for retro happiness!!! lol