"I remember when Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was first announced, a range of emotions swept over me. As with most Sonic games that are announced, I was very excited over the promise it had, but this was a special case. SEGA's intention was to pick up on the formula from Sonic's earlier Genesis days and modernize it. Needless to say, because of my emotional connection to those games from the past, I had high hopes for this title. I'm really sorry to say, though, that the end result has led me to feel kind of disappointed. Despite Sonic Team's enthusiasm for this project, ultimately Sonic 4 is underwhelming and simply not that enjoyable in retrospect." -- Wiiloveit.com
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
After today’s leak, Microsoft just confirmed via Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb that a bunch of new games are going to be compatible starting today with Xbox One’s backward compatibility feature.
Casually Hardcore takes a detailed look at sonics 25 year history. This video covers Sonic's 25 year history from the birth of Sonic all the way up to Sonic Boom, covering all the major Sonic games as well as how he changed the gaming landscape both with video games and non video game things.
It was a big letdown.