Episode 2: One Year Later

[Jeffhog]

The game is a fun distraction for me, at the very least. I come back to it when I've got nothing better to do.

 

Still, that "Play as Tails 50 times" achievement is cruel. 15 on mobile, and at least the 7th Special Stage is nerfed there, but come ON! 50 times on consoles!?

 

I'd be lucky to find someone to play with me online these days, stupid Microsoft charging for online why... D;

 

HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT ​HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT ​HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT ​HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT ​HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT

[Solid SOAP]

Very okay game, nothing special about it. It was nice looking and actually had some good music, some level design was okay, but otherwise it wasn't anything to sneeze at.

[Chaos Warp]

The difference is that Sonic 06 was trying to re-invent Sonic and failed miserably to do so where as Sonic 4 was claiming to be a direct sequel to arguably the best Sonic game of all time.

 

This is a game that was programmed in 2008/9 and can't even compare to games made more than 16 years earlier.

 

There's no excuse for this lazy mess.

There might be no excuse for it, but is it worse? IDK, personally I'll take a game with bad gameplay that at least plays competently over one that doesn't.

 

Not saying Ep 1 is good, I think they both suck, I just thing 06 sucks more. 

Edited May 15, 2013 by Generations (Chaos Warp)

[JezMM]

I'm as flummoxed today by all the seething hate and 2006 comparisons it gets as I was last year.

 

 

It's a good game, I had a lot of fun with it, almost everything I dislike about Episode 1 was removed, and every act had something new and unique to it, which I liked in Ep 1 as well.  It looked great and had really good music.

 

The only things that disappointed me were the lack of any new rewards for post-credits completionism, and the fact that the great fun new boss designs were ruined by soul-crushingly hard final attacks that made replaying the rest of the boss every single failure become a total chore.

[Chaos Warp]

Just because Episode II is technically better than Sonic '06, doesn't mean that someone can't think it's worse.

I happen to agree, because I'm looking at it on a more personal level. Sonic '06 is a piece of shit, but I actually got some enjoyment out of it because of how bad it was. It was a great game to pop in with a few friends over and totally riff on. Sonic 4? That game was touted as a sequel to (like it or not) games that are often considered some of the best of all time, and it was a half-assed, slapped together turd. I'm sorry, but that's just a slap to the face. Call me a "retrofag" or whatever other terminology you wanna use, but the classic games are my favorite Sonic games, and the only ones I consider technically good, so for them to quickly throw together a lazy sequel that was outsourced to another company on top of it, yeah, that kind of blows.

Wait.

 

You don't consider Colours and Generations technically good? I know this is slightly off topic but elaborate please. 

[Dandp]

My problem with Sonic 4 episode 1 AND 2?
Its name.
Why call it Sonic 4 and have it play nothing like the games that came before?
That would be like if Sonic CD decided to switch it up and remove rings. And replace them with coins. (okay it's nothing like that)
 
But still, in a franchise about physics, being able to stand on walls so long as a speed booster doesn't boost you past it is stupid.

 

Level design?

 

Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Spring Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Spring Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster Booster

 

This is not an expectable level design mentality!

[Soniman]

Wait.

 

You don't consider Colours and Generations technically good? I know this is slightly off topic but elaborate please. 

 

I don't think this is the topic to into this for the 32nd time, like at all.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Soniman

[Chaos Warp]

I don't think they're bad, but the way I see it, the classic games were the only ones that could actually compete with what was out at the time, in terms of quality. This argument probably gets tossed around a lot, but put Mario Galaxy and Colors next to each other, and I honestly don't see much of a comparison. I think Colors and Generations are good, but not the best they could be. Sure, they cut corners on things with the classics as well, but it's just so much more obvious with these games.

If you wanna discuss it further, feel free to PM me. I don't wanna derail the topic anymore.

Oh okay. I'm busy right now, I might PM you later. 

[Guest]

You know, i always expect myself to play this game as if its a downgraded Sonic Generations for mobile/tablet platforms since Gens wasn't released or ported to mobile/tabs. So yeah, as a tab game, its a good game, as a true sonic game, meh....

[a mystery]

Okay, I think I know why Steve thinks 06 is better than Sonic 4.

The music.

 

Case closed, no need to thank me.

 

 

Jokes aside, while other bits of the games are a mixed bag when it comes to comparison, when it comes to music, there really is no contest - Sonic 06's music as a whole is much better than the best of Sonic 4's tracks.

[sonfan1984]

I still don't think Ep 1 and 2 is horrible games but I do find the whole episodic Sonic 4 saga to be pretty forgettable.

[Gabz Girl]

Only good thing about this letdown of a game? Well I suppose the graphics were aight and the levels were more original than the ones in Episode 1.

 

Oh, and Dimps...you suck. I hope SEGA ditches you one day, 'cos you're ruining Sonic's gameplay more and more. What happened to the good old days huh?

[Jango]

I was kinda hyped(?) for the game when I saw the leaked screenshots from the MS website(the graphics got me), but when they showed actual footage... eek. I had some fun at first, mostly due to the multiplayer mode, but I can't give a fuck now. It's a mediocre game that tries to take a ride on the nostalgia train while offers new stuff that feels wrong and broken for the most part. The visuals and music are hit or miss and the gameplay, while is better than Ep1 and actually "works", is just not as fun as the classic games.

[Burnt Ash]

It was okay. I look at it with extreme dislike for its apparent backwardness in the face of the previous classic Sonic games, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't at least have some enjoyment out of them. If the classic games series continues though, I would hope that the direction is considerably different than their direction for the Sonic 4 games.

[Kamakai]

I played it yesterday for the first time in a good few months. When I put the controller down, I really didn't know what to think. I didn't hate the game, but it felt so... empty, and hollow. It played well enough (debatably,) but... eh.

[Sean]

I don't remember it being that bad but I didn't think it was particularly great either, and I forgot about it after trying out the leaked version. I honest to god had forgotten about its existence until I noticed this topic.

 

I also spent most of my time playing single-player co-op as Tails with a floating Sonic behind me at all times.

[Red Cap]

I still really like this game. The level gimmicks were fun for me. The soundtrack for this game also hold some of my favorite tunes in the series such as the themes for Sylvania Castle Act 1, White Park Acts 1-3, Oil Desert Acts 1-3, and ESPECIALLY Sky Fortress Acts 1 & 2.

so yeah

[spinny]

I still don't think Ep 1 and 2 is horrible games but I do find the whole episodic Sonic 4 saga to be pretty forgettable.

 

I wouldn't classify Episode II as a bad game at all, but Episode I... I would.

 

To me, Sonic 4: Episode I IS a bad game. Yes it can be 'fun', sure, but this is a game trying to be a sequel to arguably the pinnacle of Sonic's history, and what do we get? A Sonic 1+2 rehash with NO sense of physics, the MAIN FEATURE OF THE CLASSICS! Episode I is not worthy of being "Sonic 4"; if they called it "Sonic Rush with Sonic 1+2 levels and no boost", fine. But "Sonic 4: Episode I"? Intolerable. Episode II does a better job, but it's still not really worthy of the Sonic 4 title.

 

I'd rather SEGA just end their relationship with Dimps already and just make Sonic 5 themselves. Judging by Generations, that would be fantastic.

[sonfan1984]

I'd rather SEGA just end their relationship with Dimps already and just make Sonic 5 themselves. Judging by Generations, that would be fantastic.

 

I'd rather not see anymore of these 2D Sonic games claiming to be sequels to the classic series period. I'd rather see something new and fresh like the Advance and Rush series. 

[Milo]

I meant to tear Episode II a new asshole in this thread with a post last night, but last night I had to bail early and finish some homework. Anywho...

 

My thoughts still have remained virtually unchanged.

 

It's (still) a half-assed game that's a shit sequel to the classics and is hardly any better than it's predecessor (and if the implementation of Tails and co-op and/or automated level design is anything to go by, I'd say it's worse) because it (and it's PR as well as it's developers) pulled all of the same bullshit the first episode did (and, as seen with the "new physics engine" claims, the whole clusterfuck that was the implementation of Tails and co-op, and sudden 180 in advertising that it's not a game for classic Sonic fans; had some new ones), even at a time when everyone else who wasn't completely alienated for Episode I, had played Colors, Generations, and Sonic CD 2011, took off their rose-tinted nostalgia goggles, and/or stopped Sega's/Sonic Team's/Ken Balough's cock(s) for a few seconds to wake up and smell the bullshit-scented flowers for once prior to the game's release expected it to be a massive improvement from Episode I.

 

To borrow and expand on one's car analogy of the Sonic 4 saga in comparison to the Genesis games in terms of progression, in terms of progression you get the Genesis/CD Sonic games (BMW 5 series)...

 

 

...followed up by Sonic 4 Episode I sixteen years later (same type of car, but...):

 

 

 

...then after Sonic Generations (HD) in 2011 (BMW 3 series) in 2011... 

 

 

 

...later followed by Taxman's Sonic CD a few weeks later (BMW 5 GT)...

 

 

 

...you then get Episode II some months later in 2012:

 

 

 

Ugh.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Gabe