Sonic the Hedgehog 4

[Agent York]

Read the post with Sonic in front of the Sega logo. That game never happened. I also feel that I have to mention again that his post about "four Sonic Teams" was out of date by almost a year when he wrote it.

And no, they didn't have this planned out from the start. The continuity wouldn't be so fragmented and discordiant if there was any method to this maddness. Iizuka can barely keep the story straight within a single game, much less as many as we've had.

Or could be what we're looking at right now?

I still firmly believe future episodes will make Tails and Knuckles optionally playable. We'll just have to wait and see.

(to note I actually think Wentos is full of it, but someone mentioned it, I remembered the post, maybe it just coincides exactly with what he said by mistake, but the other thing is that the Sonic Team being split into 4 has not been disproven, especially if my close paying attention to the credits in Sonic games says anything.)

Edited February 5, 2010 by Dusk The Hedgehog Keeper

[RainbowLizard]

The Sonic sprites used don't seem completed at all really. I mean, the standing pose is quite ugly and the running isn't very smooth. Hope that the guys making it will sort that out and give us a pretty game. Overall though, looks good I guess, but a bit average considering its supposed to be an 'amazing, super 'classic' 2D game.

[Unholy Sonic]

I just realised something great from that tiny bit of gameplay from the trailer....

Just like in SA and SA2, we'll be able to switch from running to rolling at will!!

Not just running then curl into a ball but also rolling then get back on foot without jumping!

I say that that alone is a great improvment on keeping high speed pace and have full control on your speed:

Roll down a hill but then you missed a floating item... what to do? not jump and get 234897km away from where you wanted to stop... at the risk on falling into a pit/spike/fire/other road you didn't wanna take/(insert something frustrating you want to prevent from happening) but rather get back on foot and brrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, then get back on track to pick up that item.

Spindash up a hill and instead of rolling back down cause you didn't reach the top, you get back on foot and use the speed you gained from spindashing to run all the way up the hill.

More possibilities to fight RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRobotnik properly?

Have fun rolling and running non-stop like we did in SA & SA2:P

With that alone, there's so much we can do to make each zones more interesting to complete & explore, there's gonna be lots of replay value.

[Agent York]

I just realised something great from that tiny bit of gameplay from the trailer....

Just like in SA and SA2, we'll be able to switch from running to rolling at will!!

Not just running then curl into a ball but also rolling then get back on foot without jumping!

I say that that alone is a great improvment on keeping high speed pace and have full control on your speed:

Roll down a hill but then you missed a floating item... what to do? not jump and get 234897km away from where you wanted to stop... at the risk on falling into a pit/spike/fire/other road you didn't wanna take/(insert something frustrating you want to prevent from happening) but rather get back on foot and brrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, then get back on track to pick up that item.

Spindash up a hill and instead of rolling back down cause you didn't reach the top, you get back on foot and use the speed you gained from spindashing to run all the way up the hill.

More possibilities to fight RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRobotnik properly?

Have fun rolling and running non-stop like we did in SA & SA2:P

Watched and you're right.

This game might have a roll feature like Sonic Adventure! Not a spin dash, and not exactly like he originals "press down to roll" thing, basically the whole deal where you press a button, roll up into a ball for a second and get a small speed boost then unroll and you're running faster. Paying attention to the footage, it does look like that, and this could be a blessing and a curse. It's a new mechanic that could very well change the way people play Sonic 4, it's not a "SPAM RUN" like Sonic rush or Unleashed where you blast through all of your enemies. In fact, if it's like Adventure running into enemies while doing this will actually get YOU hurt, but this would mean abilities to quickly dodge something, get a boost start on speed, or maybe they could even do a brawl route and let you use it in midair for in air dodging... Like a homing attack... Maybe that's what they mean, it may home in on enemies in the air, and on the ground it gives you a quick roll ala' Sonic Adventure for a quick speed jerk.

Actually, that sounds pretty nifty.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Dusk The Hedgehog Keeper

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Wait Wut!? Knuckles' story happensDURING Sonic's ?

This just made me angrier than any of the information about the actual game. It took this to disappoint me; how weird.

If they can't even get a 16-year-old story right, I'm...

...I'm gonna need a minute.

I'm a little late to this datum (having only just woken up)... but I wake up to THIS?

O, MY RAGE BURNS HOTTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS

Edited February 5, 2010 by Frozen Nitrogen

[Patticus]

Pedantic bunch, aren't you? It's not as if anybody's even gonna care what the website says once the game's launched.

It'd sure be nice if the game's (skippable) intro sequence was 16-bit, sort of a "The story so far" kinda thing recounting what's just happened, with the visuals changing bit by bit through the course of it so the new game's visuals seem a natural progression from the 16-bits of yore.

Edit: In fact, scratch that. A Sonic 2 ending-style art slideshow would make the best intro.

[Agent York]

Guys, I was messing around with the tab key, and when you go to Features with the Tab Key, then try to use the Tab Key and Enter on the selection combining Sonic and the other mystery slot, it will try to load something but not be able too. However, I checked the link it was trying to load, and right now it is blank, but maybe sometime soon it will be updated with something, like the 2nd character.

http://segainc.112.207.net/

Watch that space.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Dusk The Hedgehog Keeper

[AdventChild]

Meh, I don't care much about the story anyways, just hoping that the gameplay is good and fun, and you just play through it with little to no cutscenes/story to stop the action like the old games.

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Meh, I don't care much about the story anyways, just hoping that the gameplay is good and fun, and you just play through it with little to no cutscenes/story to stop the action like the old games.

*Makes noises like a man trying to physically chew his way through the boiling raeg*

Edited February 5, 2010 by Frozen Nitrogen

[Dreadknux]

Eh, I wouldn't pay much attention to that intro. It's not worth getting worked up about, it's likely just some Sega America pleb writing some cock-handed summary in his lunch break (snapshots of Mega Drive Ultimate Collection as usual, I see).

[Detective Shadzter]

Another mindscrew from the 1337 h4XX0rz over at Retro (for those of you who don't lurk there anyway):

These are stills from the trailer, where Sonic's doing his walking and jumping and stuff amidst the lightless black before "Splash Hill" cuts in. Look closely. Look VERY closely.

INSIDE Sonic's model you can see a video - a video of the stage thats shown for 5 seconds! What you're seeing there is the gameplay (and bits of the level) before it actually cuts to the full reveal bit!

In the bottom right you'll note that Sonic's riding a pulley system similar to the one in S3 Launch Base Zone. And in the top left (across the spin-dashing Sonic) there's black/yellow hashed markings of the kind that were on the floor in S2's Death Egg.

Mind.

Blown.

Talk about Eagle Eyes, that is f'in awesome. My god I go to bed and the topic jumps 9 pages.

[JEV3]

Does anyone want to tell me when the intros and backstories to the Sonic games ever made sense? I don't recall actually being able understand the backstory of Sonic 2 or 3... in fact, I'm pretty sure I just watched what happened in game and then made up my own.

Enjoying this banter of sarcasm and amusing remarks. Maybe this isn't an intelligent sonic discussion between mature fans, but at least its more friendly than the drama that came with Unleashed.

At any rate, I'm sure this has already been discussed, but since I'm probably late to the party...

We're going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire. This means [the fan] gets to judge us on our work each step of the way, and we plan on delivering that goal in a big way.

(From the Gamespot Q&A)

This sounds like an interesting plan, but being the cynical (lol) person that I am, I have to wonder if they'll be able to filter out our valuable input from the drama (I always assumed this is the reason why they never got the "momentum" message) and if its altogether wise to count on being able to work with future episodes pending criticism on current episodes. I would think the most they can change once we give them our two cents is their PR.

I don't mind if this is just Sonic Rush without boost. Anybody who's expecting "Sonic 3 Mk II" is probably going to disappoint themselves even if this turns out to be an outstanding game. I do hope for Sonic Team's sake they find ways to make the classic fans more forgiving of what is different. Bringing back Green Hill Zone is a great start.

Yeah, I like looking at this from a sales perspective, because I've already played the role of angry sonic nerd for most games and casual "lets all be friends" sonic fan for the most recent ones... besides, I find it more interesting in the long run.

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

Are we absolutely certain that Angel Island is in the air at the start of Knuckles' story? Afterall, Sonic & Knuckles picks up where Sonic 3 left off which is when you saw the Death Egg plummet back down to Angel Island again, presumably keeping it in the ocean.

[bolt7]

Is it me, or is it now impossible to view the intro on the official site? I click it, it makes the sound... and nothing happens. 8/ I was expecting the story behind the fourth game at least... or the actual intro to the game. I am disappoint. 8( Glad I didn't wake up early for this reveal anyway, at least. XD

[Barry the Nomad]

I know this had been made by another poster, but I made a cleaner version thanks to an asset from the Japanese Sonic 4 site:

[Indigo Rush]

But did yours include a fancy "Press Start" screen?

You and me, Barry. We be rivals in the art department round these here parts.

(seriously, first 1920s ASR and now this! )

[Barry the Nomad]

Bah, "press start" went the way of the dodo since Sonic 1. Check 2-3&Knuckles, not a press start to be found

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Are we absolutely certain that Angel Island is in the air at the start of Knuckles' story? Afterall, Sonic & Knuckles picks up where Sonic 3 left off which is when you saw the Death Egg plummet back down to Angel Island again, presumably keeping it in the ocean.

That's the best "proof" there is, but that's not the start, it's the END (which I presume was your point).

But as has been mentioned before, if Knux's S&K story takes place at the same time (or just slightly behind) Sonic & Tails' S&K story, how does Mecha Sonic get the ME? And why isn't the Sonic vs. Knuckles HPZ fight in Knuckles' playthrough?

[Indigo Rush]

Bah humdiggory, the Press Start is still cool.

[Barry the Nomad]

I stuck the extended theme on youtube:

[Gatestormer]

I stuck the extended theme on youtube:

That made me feel all happy inside <3.

[Paul Str337]

I always assumed Knuckles story in Sonic & Knuckles happened after Sonic's. The Death Egg is nowhere to be found and neither is Eggman for that matter. I got the feeling it was all about Knuckles cleaning up after the main adventure, destroying the remaining badniks but being hounded by the Eggrobo and the Mecha Sonic.

Those images hidden in the trailer are good and all but all I want to see now is a substantial amount of gameplay; 30 seconds or so, just to check out what the physics are like and how Sonic runs properly in the game. I also want to know if Badniks still house animals, if there's a capsule to set animals free from after a boss battle and what the into to the game is. But mainly I just want to see more normal gameplay footage.

[Barry the Nomad]

I think the music we're hearing is not from the first stage, but rather from the opening title screen. The drum beat is an obvious giveaway, not to mention how close it is to all the other intros.

[Iceman Etika]

That made me feel all happy inside <3.

You and I both brother.

You and I both.

-Iceman

[Arioch]

Oh oh!

The game could have 2 options:

Auto-save game:

You can choose 5 save slots

No save game:

You play directly so it will never save

Like that both camps are happy, no?

Late post, but I beleive the save feature is going to be similar, if not, the same as Sonic3.