Sonic the Hedgehog 4

[Luke924]

I like what I've seen so far.

But...I haven't seen anywhere near enough content to make a firm judgement about weather this game is good or not yet. I can't really form an opinion based on five seconds of game-play footage. But I'm looking forward to finding out more about the game though. And I like how it takes place after Sonic 3 &Knuckles. That's pretty awesome.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Honchkrow

[Detective Shadzter]

S&K FINALLY coming to VC

I see what you did there SEGA

[Candescence]

Looking at that screenshot, now...

... Yeah, it still looks iffy to me. There's something incredibly off about it.

[Dreadknux]

That's not really any different from what I'm saying, except the Sonic 5 (which no one was talking about )

Oh no, I wasn't agreeing or disagreeing with anyone. Just trying to stop whatever argument that was happening from... er, happening. :3

Even if he was meant to be dead, it's silly to think that there was absolutely no way to bring him back if Sonic Team were to revive him. A simple falling out of the sky would've solved everything, and would've prevented his game from coming all while having a greater possibility of keeping a decent character. Things aren't always in one simple path.

My point is that if Sega/Sonic Team can revive Shadow the Hedgehog just out of thin air and take two whole years to just think of a reason that ended up being piss-weak at best ("Oh BTW Shadow, you fell and I picked you up and shit. Just FYI. You can carry on killing the final boss now"); I don't see why they should worry too much about bringing Nack (or anyone else) back for no logical reason.

Sonic looks slow, the animation's kind of crappy, it's yet another uninspired GHZ ripoff...is this it? Is this all "classic Sonic" is? Or all that they can do with it?

I wasn't sure what to think of it at first either, it appears different to what we remember and are used to in a "classic Sonic" game after all. But needless to say there's bound to be a LOT more content, environments and enemies than what we've seen already. I wouldn't throw in the towel on it just yet. We haven't even seen the entire GHZ-esque zone yet, or what it's even called.

One thing I do wanna know is this. On the site there's a MYSTERY console. I'm curious as to what it'll be, given the DLC aspect of it I wanna say PC, but I get the feeling it'll end up being something silly like the DSi

It's the iPhone.

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Also, I dare not go to Retro right now. I don't know what's going on over there, but I'm pretty sure it's going to take more than an umbrella to protect me.

O yes. Verily. The banhammer has been hard at work smiting anyone with the temerity to say "Chill out, guise!". On the internet drama hath taken aplace and the affairs all a huggermugger!

Surprising no-one, my blind predictions about the RAGE reaction were entirely correct.

The vibe I'm getting from that trailer is that Sonic 4 is Sonic Rush but slower, which basicly means laser-beam linear levels that amuse no-one, except this time, you haven't got the ability to end the tedium quickly by just closing your eyes and spamming boost.

Hahaha Phos you said exactly the same thing about 3 seconds after the trailer went up.

It's sad but true.

[The-Master-Board]

Well, someone obviously missed the part where I said was joking the whole time...sonny. I made that clear the moment you quoted me on it. Funny how that went over your head, isn't it.

And on top of that, that comment wasn't even directed anyone in the first place. You took it upon yourself to speak out against it.

And I'm just saying that I don't care about the name. I prefer Eggman, but I couldn't care less either way it goes.

How did I miss the part? I can tell the difference between a joke and a retort, if it wasn't directed at anyone in particular then why did you quote it directly after I said "Minus points calling him Eggman instead of Robotnik" and you said "Extra points for using Eggman, Robotnik is shite"? Sounds like direction to me.

I know for certain that I and many people have come to know that the Classics came before the the Modern games, and that this game is said to take place after S3&K. That's not saying that this game isn't going to stand alone, but that this new adventure is taking place after the events of S3&K and, based off of the references in the first Adventures, will take place before SA1.

These three references alone are enough to show that SA1 takes place after S3&K, and if Sonic 4 is said to take place after S3&K, then where else would it fit but inbetween the two games? Believe it or not, there is somewhat of a set chronology with these games.

Not neccessarily. Try and piece together evry bit of Sonic gaming into a chronolgy, and don't cheat by ruling out ones that you find hard to place as "non-canon". It can't be done because Sonic Team have royally F***ed up the ongoing storyline. Just because this is said to happen after Sonic3&K doesn't neccessarily mean it will be before Sonic Adventure 1. Continuity in the Sonic series is a mess and therefore is subjective to the individual. I like to think the games are all one big story, but I know that that can't be possible due to so many paradoxes.

All that said, I still see no correlation to this and Nack not having a chance in Sonic4???

Based off of what I just gave you. He wasn't in S3&K and he wasn't in SA1 or any of the the games afterwards, and this game takes places after Sonic 3 & Knuckles and continues afterwards. If Nack isn't in any of the games between those periods, I doubt he will be in this one.

He's barely referenced in any of the games since Sonic 3 & Knuckles, I doubt this game will even make any consideration of him being in this game, regardless of his classic status.

So why does Nack have to have been in games ranging from Sonic3 - SA??? What's stopping them from having him in Sonic4?? I don't follow. Why does Nack need the crudentials of being featured somewhere in between those games to be in Sonic 4. This baffles me.

This is a new game set in a classic time period, as Dreadknux said: any character could be a possiblity, hell Sonic 4: Episode 2 could be about Knuckles and have Rouge in it, afterall they seemed to have some history in SA2 yet this was the first we'd seen of her - and Rouge doesn't fit into your category of between Sonic3&K - SA.

I said that he has a better chance of appearing in a new game than in this game, so stop twisting up the words please. It's not helping your argument at all.

But yes, I am assuming that he can't be retconned for this game in particular. There's barely any hints for him to be in this game at all.

No what you actually said in response to me saying that the Chaotix came back from what you refered to as the "being killed off" was "They thought the Chaotix were scrapped until they returned in Heroes. But they were uninvolved in anything except Knuckles Chaotix, and were practically retconed in Heroes as new characters." Hence why I asked if you meant Nack can't be retconned therefore can't be in Sonic 4, I'm not burdening my argument at all, I'm trying to figure out what the hell you're on about. What is so different about the Chaotix from Nack? Why couldn't he make a return like they did? and further still, wouldn't it be the more optimal time, if any, in a classic game to have a classic character's return rather than in a new 3D title? I don't see why Nack would need to be "killed off" as you put it in this game just because he doesn't appear in SA and for that to make sense...The Chaotix weren't killed off after not appearing in a game since Shadow.

So please don't twist my words, and rather make yourself clearer about what you mean.

Are you really going to stir this crap up on the 3D games? It's funny, because in one of those 3D games it actually retconned the Chaotix. So if they can do that for the Chaotix in a 3D game, they can likely do it for Nack in a 3D title as well. So lets not drag this "Generic the Hedgehog with ten of his buddies" crap into this argument, because if anything they could've thrown in "Generic the hedgehog" for this game and not give a crap about harking back to the classics.

Call it my obligatory jab at the crappy new games, but I'll give you this one. Yes Sonic Heroes is a 3D game and yes it did introduce back not only the Chaotix but also Metal Sonic, hence why Sonic Heroes (also because of the surreal whimsical colourful style of old) is my favourite 3D Sonic game. This still doesn't change the fact that Sonic Team would consider some random "edgy" new character over Nack the weasel for their new 3D Sonic game. Hell they proved that they don't even know who Nack the weasel is after that Sonic Unleashed interview.

Whatever. I'll be happy either way if Nack makes his return, 2D, 3D or between a pair of Double 'D's As long as he's back I'll be happy, all I'm saying is that it makes the most sense in Sonic 4, but that still doesn't mean he has much of a chance at all, but in a game clearly all about fan-service I'd say that chance is higher than some gimmicky big budget title with sonic and his amazing battle axe or sonic turning into a vampire and his new phychic friend from the future!

Edited February 4, 2010 by The-Master-Board

[Tiller]

Ehhhhh. Sonic's running animation looks silly and I need to see if the level design isn't as stupid-busy and clustered as the advanced/rush games. I'm afraid people will just see "ZOMG 2D" think its the best thing ever, and totally forget about quality, since anything 3D is already labeled crap by many.

On a positive note: No boost and the spindash is confirmed. Can't wait to see more...and hope for some catchy ass music!

[Tyranno]

You know, I had this big reply written up, and... I realized I was just freaking tired of all this.

This is a trailer. We've barely seen anything, and what we have seen can move us in multiple directions. It could play like classic Sonic. It could play like Rush. We need more than four seconds of actual gameplay to know for sure.

But Sega shouldn't be expected to divorce Sonic of stuff from his modern identity anymore than he should be expected to be divorced of aspects of his classic one. That's not fair; you're cutting off one aspect of the franchise for another. That goes for green eyes, homing attack, whatever. These are the only true, solid opinions I can discern about this situation.

And with that, I'm going to bed.

Oh, and the run animation doesn't bother me.

[Detective Shadzter]

Sonic 4 coming to Europe WINTER???

What happened to Summer?

TBC in U.S.???

I'm confused.

[DaBatGuy]

Alright, now let's talk accessories.

I want them to make a controller shell for the Wii remote that's in the shape of a Genesis controller, or release a classic controller modeled after the 6 button controller.

Or get one of these beauties and play it on your PS3.

[Barry the Nomad]

THIRD! A Nomad Junkyard non-exclusive! StH4 hitting the iPhone:

http://the-nomad-junkyard.blogspot.com/2010/02/sonic-hedgehog-4-on-iphone.html

Notice this?

Cel shaded

Not cel shaded

I wonder which one is the final?

Edited February 4, 2010 by Doctor Eggman

[Spark]

Sonic 4 coming to Europe WINTER???

Don't know there you see 'winter', I see 'Sommer' (=summer, I know German is a tough language...)

[Agent York]

I'm sure I'm going to get an "A-Duh!" for this one, but no one here's mentioned it to my knowledge... Has anyone posted the image on Gamespot with the HUD?

[Detective Shadzter]

Don't know there you see 'winter', I see 'Sommer' (=summer, I know German is a tough language...)

Oh is it Summer on the German page? If you change the flag at the top right to UK it says Winter and TBC on the U.S. page. Thought the other European regions would have the same as the UK page, weird.

[SykoTech]

Like I said, laughs all around. Gonna head over to neoGAF later and watch everyone slit their wirst over green eyes.

Anyways, I've got some crying of my own to do.

First off, the running animation. I haven't read the posts, but I'm sure a lot of others are complaining about that to. It reminds me of Sonic Rivals....and that's REALLY bad. Then there's the goal post. It's nice for nostalgia, but I want my mini-bosses and stuff. Goal post makes me think otherwise. Finally....it was just another teaser. Ruby said that Feb. was gonna be a good month, so we better get some solid footage running soon or I'll be raging.

I'm not worried about Homing Attack as it will most likely be like the one in Sonic Rush. In other words, useless and ignorable. And I could care less about Robotnik and green eyes (I actually like the fact the went with an Unleashed-like model).

Also...the game looks friggin' beautiful. I could stare at that screen all day long. <3

All in all, I'm probably more exited about this game now than I was before. My only real complaint is the crappy running style. Otherwise, I'm good. This doesn't look to be topping S3&K as my favorite Sonic game, but it should be good fun nonetheless.

[Badnik Mechanic]

They all told me to shut up and stop being silly when I told them that it would be called Sonic 4 and be episodic in content....

Next time yo' should be listening to me!

Not to happy that it's episodic though, I'd much rather it be a full game and not episodes, I hate it when games do that, I want the full game.... oh well heres hoping it'll be good.

[Burning Neoxor]

Everything looks good so far from the short trailer we saw. However, I'm still wait on finer details before I get my hopes for this game. To me, the amount of effort they put in level design will make or break the success of Sonic 4.

[Barry the Nomad]

To be fair, the running style looks MUCH better in the in-game footage. I'm sure the running seen outside the footage was pieced together by the trailer company. Note how the badniks fade away when hit, totally WIP.

Again, chill. July is 6 months away, and for all we know the trailer began production in December 2009.

[bolt7]

THIRD! A Nomad Junkyard non-exclusive! StH4 hitting the iPhone:

http://the-nomad-junkyard.blogspot.com/2010/02/sonic-hedgehog-4-on-iphone.html

Notice this?

Cel shaded

Not cel shaded

I wonder which one is the final?

It looks a tonne better cell-shaded I think. I remember someone from this board saying that the Sonic Shuffle models were perfect- I think they'll be happy with this one. XD Maybe the bottom model is from the Wii Ware version? Either that or they just didn't apply the shading.

[cdrom1019]

well...isn't this interesting? so it's officially been named sonic the hedgehog 4......and it's only for download? now I understand why they were making another 2d game.....honestly...i'm not impressed...and a big part of that disappointment is probably because it's not a full game........as far as i'm concerned...this just looks like a better looking version of sonic rush.....but that's probably being generous....they probably removed the trick system that made sonic rush so great.....oh well....here's to hoping the next GOOD 3d game comes out very soon.

[Candescence]

Oh, God, I think I've figured out why the visuals seem so iffy. It's all the pre-rendered crap. It would actually have charm if it were hand-drawn or looked like high-quality sprites. I'm sorry, the stage just lacks the charm of the originals.

Sega, I am disappoint.

Edited February 4, 2010 by The Sniper

[Delta Starfire]

So I was on deviantART earlier, doing my regular checks to see if there was anything new and interesting, and I stumbled upon a journal entry by one of the folks on my watch list announcing the title of this new game. I read the journal, I looked at the screenshots, and thought; "Hmm. Interesting." Evidently it's interesting enough for me to return from obscurity briefly to comment on it on the only Sonic message board I have any time for these days with my rapidly declining interest in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Could Sonic the Hedgehog 4 salvage my interest? Probably not sufficiently to restore it to where it was, oh, nine years ago, when I first discovered that there were such things as message boards on the internet devoted to the discussion of Sonic the Hedgehog, or to the point where I actively went in search of Sonic fanart, drew much of my own, and wrote (bad) Sonic fanfiction. Hell, even my webcomic (which I'm still writing, and I'm procrastinating over right now, even as I type this post) no longer follows the exploits of Sonic the Hedgehog to anywhere near the same degree that it did when I started it in 2002, despite the fact that it began as little more than an uninteresting, badly written, and visually unimpressive Sonic fan comic. Without the occasional reminder (such as Robotnik's inglorious return about a year ago), you wouldn't necessarily know that Eon's Comic had anything to do with Sonic.

But I digress (and plug, rather shamelessly I might add). I may have said as much before on SSMB, and perhaps the relevant post is buried somewhere in this colossal topic, but I have not enjoyed any of Sonic's console games since Shadow the Hedgehog (which I enjoy for the gameplay, despite the fact that I despise the character Shadow and find the story to be tremendously bland), with the exception of half of Sonic Unleashed (I shall leave you to guess as to which half that is, but if you need a clue, it's the half that proves, in my not so humble opinion, that a return to 2D is completely unnecessary); aside from that, I have only really enjoyed the handheld games.

Around about October 2008, I was considering getting myself a Wii, so my flatmate generously lent me his in order to help me decide. The first game I played on the Wii was Sonic and the Secret Rings. I played it for one evening and have never touched it since (well, except to remove the disc from the console in order to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl). To say that I disliked the game would be an understatement; it is by the far the worst Sonic game I have ever played. Since you can't do much more than move Sonic from side to side and jump, it plays more like an interactive movie than a game, and if I wanted one of those I'd play Metal Gear Solid 4 (sorry, Snake fans, I'm not impressed). Just over a year ago now, I bought myself a Xbox 360 (I was thoroughly unimpressed by the Wii and the 360 had more games on it I was interested in), and the first game I played on it was Sonic the Hedgehog, or Sonic 06 as fans seem to call it. While the game had promise, I'm sorry to say that it was so fundamentally broken that I gave up after about my third GAME OVER during the jungle level (and I don't know what drove me to play it that far). While I got Sonic Unleashed a couple of months later, and it's not nearly as offensive as the two previous console games I played, I doubt I shall be picking it up again any time soon, not while I'm still enjoying games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 so much, and I've still got Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Ultimate Sith Edition to play -- if I can just tear myself away from Oblivion long enough, that is.

So, to cut a long story short, I've pretty well stopped looking forward to new Sonic games. It doesn't look as if a sequel to Sonic Chronicles is ever going to be on the horizon, and there doesn't seem to be a new instalment in the Sonic Rush series in the works either. Am I looking forward to Sonic the Hedgehog 4? Well, perhaps it's the nostalgic effect of a sequel to the original "trilogy" (if you take Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles to be one game in two parts, that is), but I think I am starting to, if only a little. Will this game save the Sonic franchise? Honestly, I don't think the franchise needs saving as long as there are hoards of loyal fans around the world who will buy whatever rubbish SEGA puts out, despite how much they complain about how terrible Sonic games have been for the last decade. Will it renew my interest in Sonic? Probably... for about as long as it takes to download and play the game. But it will take something truly spectacular at this point for Sonic to become as relevant to me as he was nine years ago, at the height of my interest.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Eon

[SykoTech]

Strangely enough, neoGAF seems to be really hopeful. Still some raging of course, but a positive response overall. Same with other sites (Destructoid, Kotaku, etc.).

The Sonic fansites seem to be doing the most whining...I'm scared.

@ Doc Eggman

Well, seeing as how the gameplay footage of the trailer had the cel-shaded look, I'd go with that. I sure hope so, it looks much better.

[Indigo Rush]

Made a quick glance at Retro. Wow, Tweaker's having a tantrum over the homing attack. Funny considering he made Megamix (which HAS the homing attack)

But I digress... we all have a right to be either excited or disappointed, but some of the reasons for being upset are so trivial... seriously guys: Green eyes? You kidding me?

[Barry the Nomad]

I combined the trailer footage with the music clip recently released.

I also added some sfx.

ENJOY!