Sonic 4 - Episode 1 (XBLA)

Well well well, if it isn't our good old friend Sega! with their colourful graphics, friendly sound tracks and addictive gameplay with some of the most annoying video game Artificial Intelligence ever created!

Yes we love you Sega, but we are sad because you are no longer a manufacturer of top video game consoles. Still you bring us titles which scream 1st class and it seems as if you are trying to spread your seed onto every platform out there, because I don't think there's one console that doesn't have one of your games ported over to, or created for it?

Sonic the Hedgehog Part 4 you say? after how many years? We all thought 2D Sonic had died along with the Sega Megadrive (or Genesis as yanks call it).

So is Sonic 4 actually comparable to the old classic 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog? Yes, in ways it is the very classic game we all know and love, but sadly in other ways it has been butchered and stretched with un-necessary additions. The first thing you'll notice about this game is that the old 2D style sprites have been replaced with 3D models, which give the game some fancy new graphics... but as with all upgraded games from the beginning of this generation, the 3D aspect has totally ruined some of the gameplay factors because it seems as if Sonic Team have worked more on making the game look good, than actually play good.

What do I mean? well, compare this new game to Sonic 3 and also Sonic & Knuckles, you'll probably feel it straight away. When you jump and let go of the direction you're jumping, Sonic seems to be totally out of sync with gravity and physics because he somehow stops himself dead in the air and then falls down. WTF? that was one of the coolest things about Sonic the Hedgehog, the fact that you could let go of the direction and get ready to press down for a spin when you hit the floor. Seeeeeeeeegaaaaaaa! how could you?

Roller-coaster..... of love! Roller-coaster..... of love!


Another thing that really ticks me off about this game is the speed at which Sonic runs. I don't think its realistic to call him Sonic anymore because he is far from Sonic, I think the name Quicky the Hedgehog suits him better because he is nowhere near as fast as before and it just feels like he's been nerfed to death. Good job Sega, one of the reasons your game was so successful was because you gave the player a choice of how fast to tackle the levels, now they have to constantly spin dash to even get close to how it was before.

But hang on, what about speed shoes??? yea? what about them? they are placed in locations that do not benefit speed and they do not last long enough to be effective, the same goes for invincibility (flower power) because it is mostly located just before a series of timed jumps or a long stretch of ramps where there are no enemies. Nice work Sega, you ruined yet another brilliant feature which your fans used to look forward to in the 16-bit gaming era!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Thankfully, the special stages have been tweaked in a good way because now, you don't need to depend on which way the level is turning or aim for switches to change direction! You simply control the level and allow Sonic to bounce around, collecting rings and avoiding the goal while searching for the elusive chaos emeralds. I think this is how those original special stages should have been all along because even though this is easier in ways, its actually more difficult in other ways and it will probably take you a few tries to grasp how it works.

The special stages are not only fun to play, but they are also challenging because there is a time limit and you have the option of straying off track in order to collect extra bubbles of time. OK so the special stages aren't as good as the Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles special stages but they are decent, and a major improvement over both Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 put together.

Whoah! Could somebody show me the exit please?


How about the bosses? well, they seem very similar to the bosses on the older Sonic games and you'll probably have no problem defeating them all on your first try, if you are a veteran Sonic player that is. I get the feeling that Sega are trying to target today's generation of youth with this game because its really colourful and there's no difficulty to it what-so-ever, which is disappointing because it seems as if the older 16-bit games are more of a challenge.

The only boss which posses any threat is the very last boss, mainly because he just wears you down and you end up becoming frustrated with the length of time you are actually attacking him for. Basically you face every boss from the end of each zone, one after the other, with a slight break in between to gather a couple of rings and transport to the next boss form. Finally, the evil (and ultimately lame) Dr. Robotnik enters a giant metal robot and continues to try and crush Sonic with various parts of the robot's body. If you didn't spend enough time collecting rings to stack up all those extra lives, then you'll likely fail on this part and have to go back!

Hmm, seems familiar! Have we been here before?


Overall I am quite disappointed by this game, perhaps I shouldn't have expected it to be a follow-on from the 16-bit series, which is what you would expect seeing as it is called Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (the title of a sequel). Sega are clearly targeting kids who have no clue what Sonic the Hedgehog is, who would not expect all the cool features from the past which made this character famous in the first place. To me, this game seems like a rehash of many, many, many old ideas and it doesn't bring anything new to the Sonic table, which is a shame!

Sure this game is OK to waste some spare time with but you don't feel as if it is trying to entertain you, with certain parts just frustrating you and making you think "Sega, WTF have you done to this game?". There are elements from other Sonic games here which redeem it slightly, but its not enough for me to say "yes, this is a classic sequel" because it seems more like a botch job which has failed. Sorry Sega, I think your creative days are numbered!

Watch the video below to see a short demo of one act, one special stage and one boss.



To buy this game, please click on the XBLA image below and purchase it online right now!