Sonic the Hedgehog 4

[Marcello]

I'd dont think SEGA's concerned enough about the Sonic timeline to set this before modern games- I imagine it will retain all events heading up til unleashed, and if not that and it is set after S 3 & K yet before the rest, I think we can expect some serious retconning of the later cast.

Wasn't big already eliminated as a character in that teaser the other week? rouge too?

As playable characters. They can still appear..

[Frozen Nitrogen]

UNSUBSTANTIATED SPECULATION TIEM

I'd dont think SEGA's concerned enough about the Sonic timeline to set this before modern games- I imagine it will retain all events heading up til unleashed, and if not that and it is set after S 3 & K yet before the rest, I think we can expect some serious retconning of the later cast.

Exactly. I'd bet money that this isn't going to be given any explicit place in the "timeline" (if we can call the mangled mess of continuity a "timeline"). The only games that ever really HAD linear plot progression were SA2-Heroes-Shadow, showing the Ultimate Lifeform's angsty journey of self-abrogation (and we can vaguely glue SA1 on the front of that in terms of the Eggman-Tails-missile-newspaper connection).

So, as with most games, the only thing that'll potentially place it is which characters are present; and even then, this only sets a lower bound on its sequential place in the series, not an upper one.

Now, given that this is a game to appease the retro lobby, I would again be willing to bet money that anyone introduced after the transition to 3D (that is, Big to Shade) has no chance of being in the game at all. There's a chance of Tails / Knuckles showing up non-playable somewhere, but frankly I expect this game to be a plotless, super-boiled-down Sonic-1-esque affair of mano-a-mano Sonic vs. Robotnik.

In fact, if any character were going to supplement the 2-man protaganist-antagonist formula, I'd expect it to be Metal Sonic. He's the only supplemental villain that the great mass of bitter nostalgists actually like.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Frozen Nitrogen

[Stasis]

I think I'm ready for all that glorious info now. I can't look at food again

[Indigo Rush]

Anton from Sonic CD. I was going to color him in Gimp, then I realized that I can't figure that blasted program out for the life of me.

[gato]

In "HIs World" food eats you D:

Anyways, YAY for the super power of teamwork , I will tell my nephew now

[bolt7]

Awesome, so we're going to be seeing some new Concept Art on Tuesday and there's going to be an even bigger announcement by the end of the week? Whatever could it be? The title 'Sonic 4', perhaps? Or maybe it's something even as big as a release date... if February is going to be such a good month, surely it can't be coming out by the end of it? XD Actually, they're probably referring to Sonic and SEGA Allstars Racing coming out at the end of it, too. Guess it's just going to be a load of promotions then, but you never know.

Edited January 30, 2010 by bolt7

[VexusVersion]

I decided to draw a Modern-era Eggrobo... with ARM LAZER.

*changed to thumbnail size*

If the robos are going to continue being in Eggman's likeness, they were gonna need a costume change... and arm lazer.

Edited January 31, 2010 by VexusVersion

[Doctor MK]

Wow, there are some seriously good fan drawings being entered here!

Perhaps some of you could put your talents to a certain charity fundraising campaign going on at the moment... *shot for shameless plug*

Anyways, on a more serious note, I cannot wait for next week now! The Week of the Hedgehog shall hopefully go down in history as the beginning of Sonic's glorious return to gaming goodness.

I'm expecting some or all of the following to be unveiled during the next week - debut trailer, screenshots, confirmation of what platforms that the game is coming to (please include Wii! ), basic story synopsis... yeah, all that sorta stuff.

A trailer would be the nicest of all those possibilities though. Obviously.

[Hazuki Heartwood]

OH MY GAH

There were things man was not meant to see. Modern era eggrobo is one of them.

[Yong]

Come off it, Yong. It doesn't need new characters to not be a rehash. Your logic makes no sense.

Actually it is logical, or at least expected, given the low percentage of new Sonic games that did not have some form of new character, playable or otherwise.

Also it was mainly a joke.

[Stasis]

I'm expecting some or all of the following to be unveiled during the next week - debut trailer, screenshots, confirmation of what platforms that the game is coming to (please include Wii! ), basic story synopsis... yeah, all that sorta stuff.

A trailer would be the nicest of all those possibilities though. Obviously.

Surely next week we will get a debut trailer featuring gameplay and confirmation on what platforms it'll appear. This whole thing constantly reminds me of the new Rocket Knight game. Both are going to be download only (from what we know), both are based on 2.5D games, both are seen as the rebirth of a franchise, and both are coming this year. However, While Needlemouse was announced in September, Rocket Knight was announced in October with a gameplay trailer to boot.

@VV - awesome Eggrobo!

[Indigo Rush]

Actually it is logical, or at least expected, given the low percentage of new Sonic games that did not have some form of new character, playable or otherwise.

Also it was mainly a joke.

And those games that had no new characters were remakes...?

Also, didn't know it was a joke. Apologies.

[Sponge]

I made a paperdoll of Noro Noro from Sonic CD for the contest

[Detective Shadzter]

Just found a funny article at Snack Bar Games about what they would do if they ran SEGA -

After years of running the Sonic series into the ground, we're ecstatic that Sega is (supposedly) taking things back to their roots with the horribly-named Project Needlemouse. If we ran the company, we'd ban all characters introduced after Sonic 3 (we're okay with Tails and Knuckles) and make sure Needlemouse is a true Sonic 4. In fact, we'd name it that. The game should also be in 2-D, and heck, we wouldn't mind a retro art style either. Also: Ryan Drummond would be reinstated as the voice of Sonic.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/features/if_we_ran/if_we_ran_sega-282.html

Ryan Drummond? Who said this game even needs voices?

[Diogenes]

If we ran the company, we'd ban all characters introduced after Sonic 3 (we're okay with Tails and Knuckles)

God do I hate seeing this. I honestly believe this is the surest sign that the person has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

[Yong]

Do classic games, Ryan Drummnad hybrid fans actually exist? Isn't that like an oxymoron of interests?

[jeremycarrier]

God do I hate seeing this. I honestly believe this is the surest sign that the person has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

Yeah, as much as I want Sonic 4 to pretty much be Sonic 3 and Knuckles 2.0, I'm not AGAINST the idea of new characters. I am, however, against the idea of poorly-executed characters with annoying voice acting and serving no purpose to the plot except to be filler(which the vast majority of the Sonic cast has become at one time or another).

[Indigo Rush]

Guys, listen to Snack Bar! They're a highly reputable company and know what they're doing!

...oh wait.

[psikeout]

Ahahah. Look at that joker trying to be all retro-elite and then bringing up Ryan Drummond. Nothing against Drummond personally, but he was just as ass-quality as Jason Griffin, or Griffith, or Andy Griffith, or whatever the hell his name is. I wish Sonic would just keep his mouth shut, and communicate by breaking things. That's how classic gaming characters used to convey messages. None of this girly "word" business.

Now, jesting aside, please forgive me if someone has already brought it up (this thread is too big for me to scour), but look at this Amy plush on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Classic-Sonic-Amy-Rose-the-Hedgehog-9-Plush_W0QQitemZ390133187080QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad5c00208

It's officially licensed, new merch, reissuing a design that is at this point around 18 years old. Anyone want to read too far into this with me, in the context of what it may mean for Needlemouse's non-playable characters (or at least one of them)?

[Ferno]

It's officially licensed, new merch, reissuing a design that is at this point around 18 years old. Anyone want to read too far into this with me, in the context of what it may mean for Needlemouse's non-playable characters (or at least one of them)?

*raises finger* It MeAns!...

....

Um, I've got nothin, guys, help me out here.

[Vertekins]

Now, jesting aside, please forgive me if someone has already brought it up (this thread is too big for me to scour), but look at this Amy plush on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Classic-Sonic-Amy-Rose-the-Hedgehog-9-Plush_W0QQitemZ390133187080QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad5c00208

Her tag looks practically identical to the tags of the plushies Gamestation's in my city are peddling, 'classic' style and all. Me think's she's the 5th in the series, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman came before her.

One things for sure, she looks better than the Tails in her series. That Tails has a distracting, flat 2D piece of felt for bangs that deviates in it's color from the rest of the plush.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Verte

[Octarine]

So... by "get Project Needlemouse on track" they basically mean "make no changes to Project Needlemouse"? Well, that was worth the mention.

Also, the Drummond thing is just stale at this point. Every time someone brings it up, I'm reminded of this guy.

Now, jesting aside, please forgive me if someone has already brought it up (this thread is too big for me to scour), but look at this Amy plush on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Classic-Sonic-Amy-Rose-the-Hedgehog-9-Plush_W0QQitemZ390133187080QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad5c00208

...I do like Amy's old design, and that plushie is adorable. The only problem I'd have with it returning is that it would probably mean that Needlemouse is some kind of pre-Adventure interquel. I'd rather not get into a situation where the "present day" of the timeline is all Eggman summoning giant monsters, y'know? It's a minor niggle, though, admittedly.

[psikeout]

...I do like Amy's old design, and that plushie is adorable. The only problem I'd have with it returning is that it would probably mean that Needlemouse is some kind of pre-Adventure interquel. I'd rather not get into a situation where the "present day" of the timeline is all Eggman summoning giant monsters, y'know? It's a minor niggle, though, admittedly.

I share your sentiment. As awesomely well done as that plush is (Amy's old design is goofy but cute), I'd rather not see the series step backward like that. Gameplay-wise, sure, but going back to the old character designs?

I guess it wouldn't ruin anything for me, come to think of it, but there's an irrational tugging that makes me want to say I wouldn't like it, even though I have no foundational reasoning.

[Detective Shadzter]

That plushie is awesome, that's dedication right there though I do wonder why they never released the Eggman one. I don't think this retro Amy design has anything to do with Needlemouse though but I think it's possible that it's connected with everything that's going on for this whole Sonic re-launch though. It's natural that we'll see more merchandise for this re-launch, I mean the Jazwares figures are releasing in the UK pretty soon thanks to Tomy and we've got the rideat Alton Towers too. So yeah, this party is going to get thumping

[brobotnik]

I don't think ANY of the games have had a "canon" that is solid enough to warrant adhering to.

They reshaped the entire series with Sonic Adventure by not letting any of the established settings or canon tie them down, and I would absolutely embrace Needlemouse (ha, one of the last times we'll be calling it that before Tuesday) as an opportunity to do the same. I'm genuinely hoping this game changes things around to gives the series some solid footing to build up from once again. Starting with Sonic alone would give them plenty of room to do that before cranking out sequels and adding other characters. Change doesn't necessarily have to be for the worse.

The 2D-era had seven years, then a reset. The 3D-era has had twelve, and now, potentially, a reset. I think that's fine. And, considering how stale and confusing most of the 3D-era's story telling and "canon" has gotten, necessary.

...And, if they truly are re-/retro-designing characters, I'd really like to see them take Eggman's forehead goggle-things off. They don't really serve a purpose and the guy just looks better when he's showing off that chrome dome of his. Be bald and proud, Ivo.