Do people actually like sonic 4?

[Nathan]

I start to play sonic 4 and I thought it was very sucky And stopped Because I found it boring but is there any good hidden in this game?

[MetalSkulkBane]

Back then I found it "eh, good enough", but problem is that whatever was considered good in this game, was now done way better in Mania.

- I guess ep 1 has refreshingly hard final boss. Also I consider it special stage as one of better ones in whole series, not that it's saying much

-Ep 2 had kinda neat buddy mechanic, basically playing both Sonic and Tails at once

- Ep 2 and Ep Metal have well, Metal Sonic, a lot of him. That's something metal fanboy like me likes a lot. Although to be fair, episode Metal kinda sucks.

[JezMM]

There's no reason I'd recommend continuing playing if you aren't having fun.  Personally I enjoy Sonic 4 as an ordinary platformer - it's a terrible "classic style" Sonic game that should've been called something else, but as a standalone 2D Sonic platformer that ISN'T trying to ape the classics (if you ignore the stage theming and recycled enemies etc) I like it.  It kinda plays like a more platforming focused offshoot of Sonic Rush.

I like that every single act has a unique, memorable gimmick that sets it apart from every other act, rather than each zone just being three different arrangements of the same gimmicks and set-pieces.  While the foreground visuals in Ep 1 are cack, the backgrounds are very pleasant, Casino Street and Lost Labyrinth in particular.  Ep 2 looks very nice generally, I'm a REALLY big fan of how the steadily-robotocised Little Planet looms in the background of certain stages to remind you of the stakes, Sonic could do with more atmospheric/narrative-driven set dressing like that.

The only thing that sucks every time I play is having to re-learn how wonky the physics are during the first few stages and get into the habit of keeping movement buttons held down so Sonic doesn't drop like a rock during momentum-based flings, and I also hate how the visual design and the sound design don't match up.  There are some really good tunes in the game, particular favourites being Splash Hill 2 & 3, Lost Labyrinth 1, and to be honest most of Ep 2's soundtrack (Metal Sonic and Death Egg Mk. II being highlights), but the very uninspired usage of Mega Drive quality music with a few synths over the top really doesn't give them any space to shine.  Retro-style games are one of those weird cases where I'm okay with the music exceeding the visual quality, but not the other way round.  Modern music on old graphics can add to the atmosphere, but old music on modern graphics just strips away atmosphere to me.

 

Anyway yeah, the Sonic 4 games are "okay" to me.  They fill a niché that I sometimes fancy when I don't want to play a momentum based 2D Sonic but I don't want to play the Rush games either since they tend to not be platformy enough.  Sonic 4, and I guess Advance 1, are the only 2D Sonic games that fill that craving, but sometimes in particular I want 4's more focused platforming challenges over Advance's slightly more sprawling classic styled stages.

[E-122-Psi]

I personally didn't mind Sonic 4, it was good enough as a simple little digital purpose game even if it wasn't breathtaking.

But...it should NEVER have been called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It reminds me of the recent divisiveness over Crash 4 in that trying to market a game as THE big sequel to the old classics is going to leave it with VERY big shoes to fill, even if it's okay standalone, pretty much every aspect of it will then be compared to those previous games.

[GentlemanX]

I've only played a little of Sonic 4 - demos of Episode I and Episode II's mobile version after it became free. Neither really inspired me to play more. I do like some of the aesthetics of the zones, and I actually really like both games' soundtracks. So not one of my favorites by any means, but largely inoffensive to me personally. I will of course acknowledge the problem it was for everyone wanting something that felt more like 1-3&K though.

[Dr. Mechano]

Obligatory:

Sonic 4 is a bland, joyless experience for me.

Episode 1 has no soul or originality. It just takes a bunch of zone and boss ideas from Sonic 1 and 2 and makes them worse. Episode 2 is clearly the superior of the two games, as it does have some original zone aesthetics and boss fights, but it's still a funky finicky mess full of bad level design and half-baked ideas.

The game has the audacity to call itself Sonic the Hedgehog 4 despite demonstrating only the shallowest understanding of what made its predecessors great. The classic games were fundamentally about using momentum and physics to your advantage in order to achieve high speeds; Sonic 4 is just about being fast, with no regard to physics at all. Sonic loses all momentum if he rolls off a platform and can take leisurely walks up 90-degree inclines. The homing attack - a necessity in the Adventure games due to being so difficult to aim Sonic into enemies in 3D space - feels redundant and unnecessary in a 2D game as well.

If any game deserved to be called "Sonic 4," it was Sonic Mania, the true successor to the Genesis originals. It innovates on classic Sonic gameplay - adding new abilities such as the Drop Dash and new playable characters (for a traditional 2D Sonic platformer) Mighty and Ray - while still sticking true to the fundamental gameplay mechanics that the franchise had built up to that point. Despite being mandated to use prior zones, it does some truly original and memorable things with those returning zones, giving their Mania incarnations identities all their own. Sonic Mania is not an imitation of classic Sonic. Not some hollow simulacrum that paints itself in checkered hills and neon pinball tables but neglects to actually emulate the core gameplay. It is classic Sonic, which is more than I can say about Sonic 4.

[Nathan]

Thanks for replying and sonic maina dose blow 4 away 

[Shadow Chaos Control]

I wasn’t personally a fan of Sonic 4. It felt too late of an installment. I am really not thrilled with the New Super Mario Bros lazy game making that had bled into installments like Sonic 4. 

[Nathan]

But sonic 4 feels so bland and uninteresting and lifeless like the new super Mario games at the time like you said 

[FReaK]

I liked it when it came out, but that was basically because I was starving for a new 2D sonic and the name got me hyped up because the classic trilogy are my favourite games of all time.

Then Mania came out. I haven't touched it since then..and I never bothered enough about it to get all the trophies. It just feels wrong on so many levels.

[batson]

6 hours ago, FReaK said:

I liked it when it came out, but that was basically because I was starving for a new 2D sonic and the name got me hyped up because the classic trilogy are my favourite games of all time.

Then Mania came out. I haven't touched it since then..and I never bothered enough about it to get all the trophies. It just feels wrong on so many levels.

I could just copy-paste this answer because it's exactly my experience as well.

[Nathan]

Yes going back to it it feels,so empty boring and lifeless maina is way better so creative and the style i didn’t like the 3D models in 4 ugly 

[Shadow Chaos Control]

19 hours ago, Nathan said:

But sonic 4 feels so bland and uninteresting and lifeless like the new super Mario games at the time like you said 

Very true. It was developers doing a cash grab with minimal effort. A trend I hate to say hasn’t entirely gone away. 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I thought Episode 2 had some pretty backgrounds and stuff, but found most of the bosses tedious and annoying, and the final stage is like a motion sickness nightmare.

[E-122-Psi]

It was something that was impressive at the time when digital download games were becoming popular and you could buy halfway decent little titles for pocket money value, just again such a project never deserved to be called SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4. Had it been something like 'Sonic Retraux' or 'Sonic Classic' then it might have been okay standalone but making what was meant to be a simple little download game THE Sonic sequel? Bad idea, and it's only aging worse as that market develops.

[Multikaris]

On 8/27/2020 at 12:11 PM, Dr. Mechano said:

Obligatory:

Sonic 4 is a bland, joyless experience for me.

Episode 1 has no soul or originality. It just takes a bunch of zone and boss ideas from Sonic 1 and 2 and makes them worse. Episode 2 is clearly the superior of the two games, as it does have some original zone aesthetics and boss fights, but it's still a funky finicky mess full of bad level design and half-baked ideas.

The game has the audacity to call itself Sonic the Hedgehog 4 despite demonstrating only the shallowest understanding of what made its predecessors great. The classic games were fundamentally about using momentum and physics to your advantage in order to achieve high speeds; Sonic 4 is just about being fast, with no regard to physics at all. Sonic loses all momentum if he rolls off a platform and can take leisurely walks up 90-degree inclines. The homing attack - a necessity in the Adventure games due to being so difficult to aim Sonic into enemies in 3D space - feels redundant and unnecessary in a 2D game as well.

If any game deserved to be called "Sonic 4," it was Sonic Mania, the true successor to the Genesis originals. It innovates on classic Sonic gameplay - adding new abilities such as the Drop Dash and new playable characters (for a traditional 2D Sonic platformer) Mighty and Ray - while still sticking true to the fundamental gameplay mechanics that the franchise had built up to that point. Despite being mandated to use prior zones, it does some truly original and memorable things with those returning zones, giving their Mania incarnations identities all their own. Sonic Mania is not an imitation of classic Sonic. Not some hollow simulacrum that paints itself in checkered hills and neon pinball tables but neglects to actually emulate the core gameplay. It is classic Sonic, which is more than I can say about Sonic 4.

Indeed, 4 is inferior to even the previous Dimps and Backbone efforts in the handheld department. Even those games were better at handling both extant and new concepts. Nowadays, this game is mostly forgotten.

[Iko]

It's a weak game, no doubt.

Though I think that for a cheap mobile game it was ok enough, if you see it as a cheap mobile game and not as "Sonic 4".

I had some fun with Episode 1 (messign with the glitches was part of the fun indeed), though I remember being bored by Episode 2. EP2 was technically a bit better, but in fact it was more annoying IMO: the level design was more strict, less freedom allowed; some places forced you to use the team moves with Tails, that included a complete loss of momentum and a one second-ish long start animation before performing the actual move. Bosses were all annoying and unfair.

Though I disagree at the statement that Mania did everything better and all. Mania is a solid game, but I was unimpressed by it: it felt to me like a "fan remix" of the classic trilogy + CD rather than like an actual new game, yes even with Drop Dash and the new playable characters. The game that felt like a proper "Sonic 4" to me was and still is Sonic Advance 1... it may not be an ambitious project like the classic trilogy was, and it may have some flaws as well, but it's the only game that IMO took the core elements of classic sonic and put some innovation into them to make it feel like an actual new experience.

[DaMan]

Episode 1 is boring and Episode 2 is fine. I like a lot of Episodes 2 ost especially the Metal Sonic fight in the snow level:

[PaperSonic]

It's ok. Bought it for cheap, and it was mildly enjoyable and I'm glad I played it. Looks like crap compared to Mania, but as it's fine. The title is its biggest problem- a game called Sonic 4 shouldn't be OK at best. If any game deserves that title, it's Advance.

I'll play it any day over Advance 2 or Rush, though. Those games SUCK.

[Iko]

I've played it on a smartphone for the first time (last time I played ep 1 on Wii and ep 2 on PC, many years ago).

I'm more than certain that the game has been designed with the gyroscope/tilt controls in mind... tilt controls are unprecise and require some getting used before being able to play the game with them, but if you do, you will understand a lot of those questionable design choices, such as the huge amount of automation and the sticky physics. The game donesn't become better this way (it becomes worse actually), but it feels like you are playing it the way it was intended.

Episode 1's physics work better for tilt controls, while Ep 2 is harder to control but the tag actions with Tails make the platforming simpler.

I've played all the levels and bosses of both episodes in this mode, and they're all doable, but some parts are frustrating, such as the second phase of Lost Labyrinth's boss, or those parts in ep 2 where you are required to fly/swim with Tails and one little error will instantly kill you.

Oil Desert act 2's dying ducks will never stop to make me laugh.

[Eurisko]

I love Episode II.

Episode I not so much.

[Nintenboi]

Ep 1 is garbage but Ep 2 has it's moments.