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Official Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Websites


Indigo Rush

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So this shall be the topic that houses the regular updates and whatnot from the official websites on SEGA America and the Sonic Channel.

So far, what we've gathered from the websites range from hidden gameplay (within Sonic himself) and an extended version of the title screen music.

Coming up soon is more concept artwork and Dr. Eggman the secret character spot.

So, discuss recent findings here and express your opinions!

Hopefully the Japanese site will get more content soon.

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Strewth, bugger and bloody hell. Forgot about that.

What I'm curious about is the section under "Featured Characters."

Possible unlockables? Tails and Knuckles would be a shoe-in. They weren't outright eliminated from the countdown, either (considering they didn't show up at all)

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Strewth, bugger and bloody hell. Forgot about that.

What I'm curious about is the section under "Featured Characters."

Possible unlockables? Tails and Knuckles would be a shoe-in. They weren't outright eliminated from the countdown, either (considering they didn't show up at all)

Either Tails or Knuckles would make me happy., I think they may be keeping quiet on that other character because it would mean unveiling a 2 player mode. 2 player races in Sonic 2 style offline and online would be awesome as long as Player 2's controls work properly unlike Sonic 2 XBLA's online races where Player 2 as Tails doesn't react to button presses until 2 seconds later.

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How about Super Sonic? It'd be cool if he was playable in all stages again!

That would be amazing. Going to bonus stages from checkpoints (or big ring things) and winning chaos emeralds. Then turning into Super Sonic during the stage, just like the classics.

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I do wish they'd fix that background info on the US site. Bad enough they can't get the story straight, but they could AT LEAST get the grammar right (and a bit of punctuation and capitalization correction wouldn't come amiss). It's currently right up there with 'all the happy people on Silver's planet' having mind powers. :rolleyes:

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Has anyone else noticed how spot-on the story is? Sure, there has been indirect acknowledgement since Sonic Adventure when nobody in America really knew what exactly was being acknowledged in the first place. But now, looking on the "Intro" section of the American web site, the interpretation of the original Japanese storyline is officially and directly acknowledged by Sega of America for the very first time. It even explains finer points: for instance, Knuckles' quest in Sonic & Knuckles takes place simultaneously with that of Sonic and Tails (rather than afterwards, as I had originally thought). This is not the first American mention of South Island (Sonic Chaos became a fluke by doing that), but now West Side Island is fully disclosed (something not even done in Sonic Mega Collection). So far as the story is concerned, Sonic Team definitely has their ducks in a row (I for one would have been appalled at any attempted retconning).

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Has anyone else noticed how spot-on the story is? Sure, there has been indirect acknowledgement since Sonic Adventure when nobody in America really knew what exactly was being acknowledged in the first place. But now, looking on the "Intro" section of the American web site, the interpretation of the original Japanese storyline is officially and directly acknowledged by Sega of America for the very first time. It even explains finer points: for instance, Knuckles' quest in Sonic & Knuckles takes place simultaneously with that of Sonic and Tails (rather than afterwards, as I had originally thought). This is not the first American mention of South Island (Sonic Chaos became a fluke by doing that), but now West Side Island is fully disclosed (something not even done in Sonic Mega Collection). So far as the story is concerned, Sonic Team definitely has their ducks in a row (I for one would have been appalled at any attempted retconning).

I was pretty thrilled with the recap they did myself. I was a little disappointed that they didn't mention Mecha Sonic from S&K, since it's never been clear if that was the same Mecha Sonic with a new body or a completely different Badnik (I always assumed the latter myself, like how Buzz Bomber was updated with Buzzer), but that's a pretty petty thing to complain about. Overall, I'm very happy with the treatment of the game thus far, from what little we've seen. I'm crossing my fingers that the explicit mention of Mecha Sonic has something to do with the Badnik getting an overhaul, alongside Shellcraker and Moto Bug!

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Here's the "Intro" section straight from the website, in case anybody has any difficulties accessing it. (Or if you're too lazy to click the link)

Story thus far:

It began as Sonic's animal friends begin disappearing from South Island. Soon Sonic discovers that evil scientist Dr. Eggman has been kidnapping them and turning them into robots to collect the legendary treasure - The Chaos Emeralds. Sonic decides it's up to him to save them and embarks on a quest to free his animal friends. Sonic battles Eggman through many different zones. Sonic eventually pursues Eggman to Final Zone where the first in many epic battles between them begins. In the end Sonic is victorious and Eggman's Mecha fly's away badly damaged. Sonic returns to Green Hill Zone and re-unites with his friends.

Their reunion is short lived however, as Eggman resurfaces and begins kidnapping Sonic friends again, in an effort to create more workers to finish his ultimate Weapon - The Death Egg! Teaming up with the newly met, Miles 'Tails' Prower, Sonic embarks on a new mission through West Side Island in an effort to free his friends and ensure Eggman does not obtain the 7 Chaos emeralds to fuel the Death Egg.

Once the West Side Island is freed, Sonic and Tails eventually board the Tornado and assault the Death Egg itself. After destroying Mecha Sonic, Eggman flees and enters his new Eggman Robot attacking Sonic! After a heated battle Sonic destroys the Eggman Robot and the Death Egg begins to explode.

Sonic and Tails fly down and come across mysterious island called Angel Island. This island is floating by the power of the precious stone called Master Emerald, but now this mysterious island are dropping down to the ocean surface because the Death Egg had been falling on this island. Sonic and Tails are attacked by a Red Echidna named Knuckles the guardian of the island.

Knuckles steals the Chaos emeralds from Sonic, being tricked by Eggman that he is an enemy come to take the Master Emerald.While Sonic and Tails are entangled by Knuckles, Eggman repairs the Death Egg and preps it for launch.

Sonic manages to jump on Death Egg just as it's flying off. After confronting Eggman on the Death Egg, Sonic defeats Eggman once more and the Death Egg plummets back to Angel Island.

Back on the ground Dr. Eggman begins the repairing Death Egg again. Feeling Knuckles has served his purpose, he sends EggRobo to eliminate this potential threat. EggRobo finds Knuckles relaxing in Mushroom Zone and drops a bomb on him but Knuckles manages to survive. Enraged, the Wild Echidna sets off to defeat EggRobo. Meanwhile Sonic and Tails explore the island to find traces of the Death Egg and find out Eggman's fate. After and Epic showdown between Sonic and Knuckles, Eggman uses the opportunity to finally steal the Master Emerald and re-launches the Death Egg. With the power of the emeralds, Sonic goes after Eggman, who has taken the Master Emerald into space.

Sonic and Tails secure the Master Emerald and return it to Knuckles on Angel Island. With it's power restored, the Angel Island lifts off into the sky as Sonic and Tails fly off into the sunset.

But this humiliating defeat only serves to further Eggman's rage, and he has determined once and for all to rid himself of Sonic. Eggman revisits - and improves - the very best of his creations to defeat our spiked hero.

And so a new Adventure begins...

...and what is this i dont even

Why yes, the website's introduction is horrendously pathetic at best. Aside from the crazy grammatical errors and odd need to capitalize non-proper nouns in the middle of sentences, this introduction manages to fail its original purpose to accurately record the story progression that took place between Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic & Knuckles. Sonic and Knuckles' stories did not take place simultaneously - unless there just happened to be two Angel Islands and Master Emeralds lying around (Angel Island wasn't in the ocean and in the sky at the same time, Mecha Sonic and Eggman couldn't have been in possession of the Master Emerald at the same time), Knuckles just happened to have a vendetta against Sonic when not working with Eggman, and Eggrobo just happened to ominously emerge from a scrap heap at the end of Sonic's story for no reason whatsoever.

They seriously need to fix this. How did this even get the green light? Did they not read it?

And thanks to bro-botnik, I can't read the intro without being reminded of this:

Edited by HunterTSF
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It even explains finer points: for instance, Knuckles' quest in Sonic & Knuckles takes place simultaneously with that of Sonic and Tails (rather than afterwards, as I had originally thought).
But it is after, according to all the evidence in the game. Angel Island is back in the air (aside from being obvious in the background of Knuckles' Sky Sanctuary, AIZ's background is changed to sky and I think the water is drained from the lower areas), Knuckles' story doesn't have any of the stuff we see in Sonic's Hidden Palace (vital-to-the-plot stuff), nor any of the other interactions with Sonic, Knuckles recovers the Master Emerald from Mecha Sonic at the end of his story when it should be with Eggman were Sonic and Knuckles' stories concurrent, and in the bad (?) ending of Sonic's story we see the Eggrobo rise from the rubble, which seems to hint at Knuckles' story.

And I really doubt it's an intentional retcon, as there's no apparent reason to change it, and (if you know the little details) it's obviously inconsistent with the games. So they kinda fucked up.

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What I'm curious about is the section under "Featured Characters."

Possible unlockables? Tails and Knuckles would be a shoe-in. They weren't outright eliminated from the countdown, either (considering they didn't show up at all)

I'm guessing it's going to list the Badniks.

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But it is after, according to all the evidence in the game. Angel Island is back in the air (aside from being obvious in the background of Knuckles' Sky Sanctuary, AIZ's background is changed to sky and I think the water is drained from the lower areas), Knuckles' story doesn't have any of the stuff we see in Sonic's Hidden Palace (vital-to-the-plot stuff), nor any of the other interactions with Sonic, Knuckles recovers the Master Emerald from Mecha Sonic at the end of his story when it should be with Eggman were Sonic and Knuckles' stories concurrent, and in the bad (?) ending of Sonic's story we see the Eggrobo rise from the rubble, which seems to hint at Knuckles' story.

The way the site story acknowledges Eggrobo attacking Knuckles means that Knuckles only actually plays through the Sonic & Knuckles portion (at least that is what I draw from it - in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Eggrobo never drops a bomb except after Knuckles has cleaned his clock six times already). After Hidden Palace, Knuckles yields pursuit of the Death Egg to Sonic and Tails, too tired to continue. The Master Emerald is returned to Angel Island, but reacquired by a rogue and persistent Eggrobo who had managed to collaborate with the still-functioning Mecha Sonic. The end of Knuckles' game definitely takes place after the end of Sonic's game, but one cannot automatically assume alternate possibilities are not just that: possibilities.

I am not sure which approach is more confusing. One thing to keep in mind is that, in the traditional two-pronged story sense, Flying Battery destroys itself twice (on the other hand, it could have been disabled and repaired the first time until Eggrobo's overcompensation finished it off for good). Sonic is Knuckles' rescue party after the final Sky Sanctuary battle, which would beg the question of how long he would reasonably stick around.

Two possible events could clear this all up: 1) some editing to be done at a later phase; 2) a fuller explanation in the Sonic 4 storyline.

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They seriously need to fix this. How did this even get the green light? Did they not read it?

Speaking from first-hand experience, you would be both surprised and appalled how often shoddy copy like this slips through the approval processes of some big-business entertainment companies. The perfect storm of intern/Wikipedia/busy workweek happens way more often than you'd think, especially on things that can be deemed "unimportant" to the higher-ups like this "Intro" recap. It's important to US, certainly, but to the company itself it's the kind of thing that's regarded as a bit of fluff to get out of the way while you concentrate on the next press kit, preview or community blog. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if it's something legal has to approve, then it goes through countless rounds of approval. Funny how that works.

And thanks to bro-botnik, I can't read the intro without being reminded of this:

Ha! You are welcome.

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The way the site story acknowledges Eggrobo attacking Knuckles means that Knuckles only actually plays through the Sonic & Knuckles portion
If that's what they had intended, then why change the background of Angel Island Zone? Why take the time to deliberately show that the island is floating if, not only is the level not canon, the island actually isn't floating? Doesn't make any sense; they had to have intended Knuckles' story to take place while the island was in the air, therefore it couldn't be at the same time as Sonic's story, therefore this must be a retcon or a screwup.

After Hidden Palace, Knuckles yields pursuit of the Death Egg to Sonic and Tails, too tired to continue
So why don't we see this in Knuckles' story? If Knuckles' story starts roughly during Sonic's Mushroom Hill and ends soon after Doomsday, we should see Knuckles drop a rock on Sonic in Lava Reef, fight against him in Hidden Palace, get zapped by Eggman, and wave Sonic and Tails on in Sky Sanctuary. And the encounter at the start of Mushroom Hill act 2...

And another point I just remembered: the Death Egg is visible in Sonic's Lava Reef. It isn't there at all in Knuckles'.

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And another point I just remembered: the Death Egg is visible in Sonic's Lava Reef. It isn't there at all in Knuckles'.

you could probs place it after Sonic's then.
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Baron could be right. If we treat this as a retcon not too much changes. Maybe the events overlap with each other, like in the Adventure games.

As a kid I assumed the stories happened together, which is why I was confused by the Eggrobo in the wreckage at the end of Sonic's story. The events would go as follows. Sonic 3 ends and Knuckles goes to Mushroom Hill. Sonic sees the Death Egg crash and heads to that area. Meanwhile Robotnik sends the Eggrobo to bomb Knuckles. Knuckles proceeds to be a total badass by defending the island from Sonic and Eggrobo at the same time. Eggrobo is used as a cover (I thought this much was obvious back then, otherwise Knuckles would get wise a whole lot sooner) for Robotnik, to allow Knuckles to continue stalling Sonic.

We don't need to see Knuckles set the traps off because we see them in Sonic's story. We can also assume the Eggrobo isn't present canonically in Sonic 3 because of the bomb in Mushroom Hill. There's a plot opening in Sky Sanctuary too. After Knuckles opens the way for Sonic's Sky Sanctuary that's the last we see of him. It could be that Sonic destroys the Death Egg before Knuckles' Sky Sanctuary starts, just think of him panting like he does in his sprite. He then goes on to defeat Mecha Sonic who somehow snatched the Master Emerald in the downtime. If the full story of S&K is a mash-up of both stories this makes sense.

Also here's the S&K story page from the manual, off of Sonic Retro. This could actually be why I thought the stories happened together back then.

720px-Sk_us_manual_02_03.jpg

Now Sonic's got two problems. How to protect the Master Emerald? And how to keep Knuckles off his back? He'll have to deal with that wild echidna right away!

Knuckles has problems, too. As Guardian of Floating Island and all the emeralds, Knuckles has a mission - to wage war on all invaders. Whoever threw that bomb is in DEEP trouble. Knuckles is ready with tricks, traps and bare-fisted attacks to keep Floating Island safe.

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So has anyone else noticed that the countdown for the "Featured Characters" section of the Sonic4 website has ended....yet there is no update, nothing's changed???? Tech difficulties? More teasing?

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It wasn't due until 11am GMT anyway. They are probably uploading the content now, else it would have been picked apart already. In fact I've checked the site just now and it's still counting down.

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It's not just me, the image was taken by someone else who has the same problem.

When I refresh the page, it appears as if nothing is underneath the lock. There's, like, 6 minutes left, so I'll reply with an accurate answer after.

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