Mediocre. I played it on my brother's 360, and I glad I didn't buy it. The music is really grating, and the game in general seems to be lacking any original ideas.

 

Only played the demo so far, but it feels like they just polished up one of the many fan-made flash games. It's almost like Sonic is on a treadmill in front of a green-screen, because the speed he's running at never matches the speed he's actually going.

 

Considering this is the game where Sega responded to the fans' cries of 'stop trying new things', I think that's a good thing.

 

This video sums up my thoughts since no one is going to look at text.


YouTube - Sonic 4 physics and gameplay complaints


I'm a longtime follower of Sonic. New and old. Sonics 1-3&K were my bread and butter. S3&K is up there in the list of my favorite games ever. I enjoyed the Adventure titles and am currently looking forward to Colors (as it looks to be the best thing that has happened to Sonic in recent years).

Now when you make a game and call it Sonic 4, I expect Sonic goddamn 4. What I got was Sonic the Physics Failure, Rehash Edition: feat: Electric boogaloo. The game plays like an attempt to make Sonic Rush feel like Classic Sonic, only forgot the Classic Sonic and just left the boost and super momentum out.

Sonic fails at conserving and adding on to his momentum. He reaches a maximum speed without it as slopes are set to a predetermined speed and you are given handy caps and basically a spider man ability to literally walk up them, and spin dashing actually stops you from going up inclines. Jumping while not holding anything halts your movement completely, the over abundance speed boosters are there to keep the pace because Sonic controls like a boulder rather than a ball. He literally can't do much on his own. You can't experiment with the game too much because then Sonic won't function right and you can't make it up that hill or you come to a dead stop for no reason. You have the play the game "right," which means your game isn't robust. That and those boosters send you into a spindash for no reason, which killing enemies placed in front of them for you.

Then you got the less than stellar physics, awkward animations (look at the jumping one), rehashing acts to play on nostalgia instead of pushing new boundaries, level design that takes away from the player to bounce around for no reason, set speed loop de loops, questionable mechanics such as uncurling while in spinball mode (for the love of god, who though this was a good idea?) and the momentum killing homing attack that's mandatory as it is annoying thanks to uncurling in the air. That an its used a crutch for normal platforming since you can mash A to home in on springs or enemies. Enemy chasms aren't fun either. The homing attack doesn't even work right some of the time when you want to be using it.

The whole game is a rehash, rehash rehash. Down to every last enemy, down to every area, down to the freaking boss fights. They may do one or two different things than before, but that doesn't mean you've made a crazy original game. Lost Labyrinth is the only area that feels fresh.

I wouldn't give a crap if this was Sonic Arcade or something, but to call this game Sonic 4 is an insult to the classics. It's can be a fun game when you play it right, its mostly smoke and mirrors, but its hardly Sonic 4.

It's a good thing Colors is on the horizon. It's not trying to be classic Sonic and failing miserably.

 

Just finished the demo, and Holy Toledo that sucked. This is hands-down the biggest disappointment of 2010 for me.

Did anyone else notice how the expanding gob of rings that appears when you get hit inherits no momentum or acceleration or whatever and instantly plummets?

 

I'm surprised that players can notice the subtle differences in the physics engine. Was rather surprised by the changes. It really isn't the same game if it has those differences, and I agree with anyone who feels it's not the same. It just isn't.

 

Thanks, that's a great video explaining what I was talking about. I'm not quite as offended as this guy, but it's a dissapointment to anyone who's familliar with the old games.

 

I don't see why people are shitting on this. Sure it's as different as Sonic 3 is to Sonic 2, or Sonic 2 is to Sonic 1. It's been like 15 years of growth and there's bound to be some changes. When I hear the SEGA at the beginning I know I'm getting something good, and I think I did.

I like it, and I intend to continue buying the series.

 

It would be awesome if there was actual growth though. As is, it's actually a regression. To simply forget about the basic physics that were present in even the first sonic game is a huge misstep. It doesn't make the game bad or unplayable, but it's certainly feels unrefined.

 

Thats completley wrong it. Sonic 1-3 (and S&K and Sonic CD) aren't very different, they've added a few abilities here and there but the overall games felt and played the same. Sonic 4 plays, feels like and looks like a different series of games. They have stated all the time that it's a throw back to the Genesis classics, the only throw backs are the bosses and stage graphics.

Its so frustrating when you pop out of the ball in mid air to hit an enemy and lose your rings. I've had the great new addition of the homing attack actually cause me damage and/or drop me in to a bottomless pit. I died riding the minecart, it launched me across a chasm and I expected to completley make it by force, like the old games would have. Instead I fell to my death because I wasn't holding Right. I got stuck on the casino stage trying to spin dash up a wall, when all I had to do was gingerly walk up it, defying gravity and basic physics. I've fallen into so many bottomless pits, a problem I never had until Sonic Adventure 2 and stopped me from finishing Sonic Heroes, the first console Sonic game I didn't finish.

This is a classic Sonic game in name only.

 

lost labyrinth is the only stage with good music so far (only played the first 3 stages).

one thing that's disappointing is the lack of a storytelling element, like in sonic 3/knux. Each stage was connected in some way, you got a feeling that Sonic was actually traveling w/in a single world. Even the 3D games have this element down. It's a big step backwards to have isolated worlds again. And no, that weak overworld doesn't count.

 

I understand what you mean, but I was hoping for an evolution from Sonic 3 and Knuckles, much like Sonic 3 was an evolution of Sonic 2.

Having said that, Sonic 4 would've always had a hard time comparing to Sonic 3 and Knuckles for me.

 

Haha, I got to that stage last night and agree, it does have some good music.

I wanted to comment on the bottomless pits... I hate them. So far it's my main source for death, and that was actually one of the main problems I had with the Rush games since I practically gave up thanks to bottomless pits. Classic Sonic games had them here and there but it was pretty rare. Maybe putting them at a slower paced platforming part makes sense, but at the end of a "speedy" section where one little wrong move makes you miss a platform or you miss the enemy you needed to home in on just feels frustrating.

 

The one thing about Sonic games that I wish was taken from Sonic Rush most is the music.

That game had one of the BEST Soundtracks, and a good few of them were catchy as all hell...

 

Dude made a part 2:

YouTube - Sonic 4 physics complaints - Part 2

 

His first video had a point. This video just seems like he wants to show how he's memorized the layout of the first worlds of Sonic 1 and 2. I agree with his points but again I'm not so upset. Like me, he was much younger and probably had a lot more free time to explore the levels in the old Sonic games. No matter how good or bad Sonic 4 turned out, I would never have the time to learn the levels like the old ones.

 

Oi. Okay, everyone who expected this the be a triumphant return of Sonic is an idiot. I mean, it's certainly a step in the right direction, with level design returning to its roots, and gimmicks being really impressive. The physics are a little strange but what I don't understand is how everyone is complaining how "broken" they are. At no point in the game did I feel that a fault of the physics caused my death. My deaths were caused by three things:

a) A reliance on the homing attack
b) Unawareness of what would come next
c) A mindset based on the Rush Games.

Now, reliance on the homing attack was actually the "non-homing" portion of the homing attack, where Sonic simply thrusts forward, because the move caused a build in speed or helped throw Sonic further. In platforming areas, the "thrust" wasn't a good move to use at all because in overshot platforms you had to jump to. That sucks, but that's what happens when you get used to using it as a momentum starter.

Unawareness of what would happen next was just foolish on my part. If they launched you into the air, you had to be ready for an enemy or spring or something- enemy placement was also crucial- if you felt there weren't a lot of enemies in a certain part, you had to be ready for some later on. If you saw the gimmick at the start of the level, you should be sure that there's going to be trip-ups later. It's more of a platforming game than it is abut speed.

And the Rush mentality is just from being an idiot and thinking the game is all about speed, when there are areas that require a lot of precise platforming.

Anyway, it's but no means a terrible game, and it's a great homage to the classics. That's all that it is right now, though- a homage. Until Episode 2 comes around with some more original ideas, I won't use the term game. However, I think it will be a better game when all the parts are released together.

 

Amen to that (and Sonic Rush Adventure). I have, like, a dozen of those soundtracks on my playlist. "Big Swell" and "Bomber Barbara" are the best.

 

Rush's music wasn't bad, but I don't think it had the catchiness and fun of the the classic games.

 

YouTube - Emerald Hill Act1 - Sonic Fan Remix


Yeah....I'm not caring about Sonic 4 any longer. That's a fangame with a demo set to release this very week. The first act may just be Emerald Hill, but the others are unique.

I mean, holy crap. This is EXACTLY what Sonic 4 should be playing like. This is probably what the game should have ended up looking like.This is just leagues more impressive than what we currently have.