For a child of the ‘80s it’s almost a universal understanding that you spent your youth in front of the television, playing either Mario, or Sonic the Hedgehog. For those of the Sega persuasion you spent your days running through iconic levels at a breakneck pace, enjoying beautiful vistas wizz past you as you destroy robots, avoid imminent drowning, and save fluffy bunnies from certain doom. This memory from your childhood, if you’re anything like me, has stuck with you your entire life, you look back on it with fond memories and wish to relive those memories.
Plenty of games seem guaranteed to get sequels. But sometimes, companies surprise people and give them the additional installments they didn't know they needed.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was something many wanted to see for a very long time. Continuing the story from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, many had lofty expectations for this title. When it finally released, many were split on the project. From it’s episodic nature, different feeling controls and changes that felt strange to fans of Sonic’s classic adventures, Sonic 4 Episode I and II were divisive games to say the least.
I feel like if they could keep improving on the Sonic 4 physics, formula and level design they could have gone from the good Sonic 4 Ep II to something genuinely great for Sonic 4 Ep III.
Strange games. Definitely shouldn't have been "Sonic 4". Seeing as it re-used alot of ideas, level themes enemies and bosses etc, it really should have been called "Sonic Megamix" or something and the levels should have been named after the originals. This would have given SEGA a chance to see what fans reaction was to this style of game, before going in for "proper" Sonic 4. Sonic Mania feels far more "Sonic 4" than the actual Sonic 4 does haha
Carl Williams writes, "Retro gamers are usually left out of the fun when it comes to newer platforms, most companies don’t see any value in catering to this niche market. In this new article, Retro Gaming Magazine will take a look at a collection of games that cater to a different area of retro gaming. Starting the festivities off is the “action” category which encompasses titles such as Sonic, Mario and more. Devices with physical buttons are obviously the choice of play with these games."
This blue piece of shit that few still care about is causing Anarchy Reigns to be delayed until 2013.
I don't buy that Sonic the Hedgehog is past it's prime. As a 2D platformer? Definitely. In the world of 3D... no. I agree that it has been mismanaged by Sega since taking the leap to 3D. But if Mario, Zelda, and Metroid can survive the change... so can Sonic. It's just a matter of doing it right.
Unfortunately it would have to be done *very* right to overcome the stigma Sonic has developed... and Sonic 4 has failed at that miserably. I played Ep1... or tried to. I was not pleased.
Ep1 didn't have physics problems. "Problem" is far too mild a world for it. More like it was just flat simply a completely different game than the first 4 Sonic games in the series (Sonic 1-3 and Sonic & Knuckles). Like comparing Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and Super Mario Brothers 1. That's not a "problem"... that's a slap in the face for fans of the series.
They say Ep2 fixes that... I gotta say I'm skeptical. But that's still beside the point. As the author of this article rightly points out it's not the '90s any more. But that doesn't mean we need to do away with Sonic... but rather we need to do away with the 2D sonic and re-invent sonic for 3D.
Maybe it's too late to save Sonic. My inner child weeps at the thought. But maybe it is. But if it is too late... then it will be because Sega has mismanaged the series... not because Sonic couldn't be brought to 3D.