Leaked Gameplay Footage of Sonic 4!

[Solly]

I've got some mixed opinions of he footage.

To me, the animations, graphics, level design and general gameplay all look good. I'm not seeing Sonic Rush physics anywhere- he's visibly VERY effected by inclines and no longer able to just simply walk up them from a stand still.

On the other hand, the physics look a little wonky, even if they will be the focal point of design, he looks like has too much air time. He's also a bit too quick- at the very least, he accelerates too fast. Hopefully they'll make corrections during the later builds(this is only alpha) but I don't know. Another concern though is the amount of levels. If there's only four, I'll be a bit disappointed, but the initial leak that blabbed about Sonic 4's name and Splash Hill Zone also mentioned there being E.G.G Station Zone, which is not listed here meaning there could be more.

Also, the player was ass. He/she kept trying to use the homing attack off of that spring around the end. And am I hearing a woman laughing or a dog getting ready to throw up? I can't really hold that against the game though. Just felt like mentioning it.

[Agent York]

I've got some mixed opinions of he footage.

To me, the animations, graphics, level design and general gameplay all look good. I'm not seeing Sonic Rush physics anywhere- he's visibly VERY effected by inclines and no longer able to just simply walk up them from a stand still.

On the other hand, the physics look a little wonky, even if they will be the focal point of design, he looks like has too much air time. He's also a bit too quick- at the very least, he accelerates too fast. Hopefully they'll make corrections during the later builds(this is only alpha) but I don't know. Another concern though is the amount of levels. If there's only four, I'll be a bit disappointed, but the initial leak that blabbed about Sonic 4's name and Splash Hill Zone also mentioned there being E.G.G Station Zone, which is not listed here meaning there could be more.

Also, the player was ass. He/she kept trying to use the homing attack off of that spring around the end. And am I hearing a woman laughing or a dog getting ready to throw up? I can't really hold that against the game though. Just felt like mentioning it.

I found myself wondering WHO THE HELL IS PLAYING THE GAME!? It sounds like a little kid... It really does. Which leads to ask what little kid is playing Sonic 4 right now... XDD

Though I think there are more than 4 stages. IF you pay attention, at the end of the gameplay there is just a solid wall. Like, a wall impassable. I am guessing there's a wall there because they haven't developed BEYOND that. See, this seems like an "In-Development" build for testers to mess with. There's even a Special Stage playable off the Level Select Menu. I am convinced this is a playable Alpha Build for testers, and not close to being complete.

[Carbo]

That looks nothing like a Sonic Rush 3. Seriously, the fuck are you guys smoking?

This looks awesome. Even though the physics are a bit wonky I have faith that it will be fixed before retail release, and that's not just typical fan hope. As an alpha that has five months left until release that is a downloadable mini-title no less, there's a whole load of time to fix that stuff.

Title screen was shitty however.

In other news judging from the level select I see that there's a sunset picture on Splash Hill. I like that idea, maybe the Eggman showoff will be in the middle of the night.

[Djawed]

My feeling says this game is going to be total shit. It started with thinking: A sonic 4 eh. It might be more epic than sonic n knuckles.

Then a new teaser came. Drama throughout the whole fanbase about the model. Expectation in general for me went down. It might be better than sonic 1 or 2.

Leaked footage which showed broken physics showed a lot of things about the direction. I expect no shit anymore from this game. No this is not an answer to the physics, but the game in general is not going to appeal for me.

This is not the SEGA quality that i felt for in the 90's. What happened to that SEGA who convinced so many people back then to support them, to be trusted. This sequal will not even be slighly better than any of the classics. Where are the standards we used to have back then?

I need just one more proof before i'm leaving this fucked up fanbase.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Jaouad

[Agent York]

My feeling says this game is going to be total shit. It started with thinking: A sonic 4 eh. It might be more epic than sonic n knuckles.

Then a new teaser came. Drama throughout the whole fanbase about the model. Expectation in general for me went down. It might be better sonic 1 or 2.

Leaked footage which showed broken physics showed a lot of things about the direction. I expect no shit anymore from this game. No this is not an answer to the physics, but the game in general is not going to appeal for me.

This is not the SEGA quality that i felt for in the 90's. What happened to that SEGA who convinced so many people back then to support them, to be trusted. This sequal will not even be slighly better than any of the classics. Where are the standards we used to have back then?

I need just one more proof before i'm leaving this fucked up fanbase.

You've obviously never seen Alpha footage before. Not even just in Sonic, I mean in ANY game. It looks glitched up and wonky because it IS glitched up and wonky, that's how an Alpha works, it's to get the basic design of the game up before it all gets fixed. All I see you doing is saying, "Me, Me, Me" and then blaming everyone else for not BEING you. You blame the fanbase when what I am seeing is you saying this game is shit off no basis. Maybe it's not a problem with the fanbase but a problem with you. It's one thing to be weary or critical of the game, another to blow it out of proportion and say everyone interested in this title are idiots because it doesn't look good to you and then writing off the game even before you try it or even see it closer ot the final product. That isn't the fanbases fault, it's yours.

[Solly]

IF you pay attention, at the end of the gameplay there is just a solid wall. Like, a wall impassable. I am guessing there's a wall there because they haven't developed BEYOND that.

Upon closer inspection, I think it's just a foreground piece. It wouldn't make much sense to end the demo there, even if it is only in its alpha stages.

That looks nothing like a Sonic Rush 3. Seriously, the fuck are you guys smoking?

Agreed. The level design is much more akin to the classics. It basically starts off like Sonic 1. It's got the Motobug under the high-ground platform, followed by the bridge with Mashers, followed by more high/low branching platforms. And it's got enemies placed at the bottom of slopes encouraging you to roll. AND THEN ACTUAL PLATFORMING FOR ONCE. The physics aren't perfect, and Sonic is too quick to reach high speeds, but this definitely quells more fears than it raises for me.

[Phos]

Is this really Alpha footage? Given how long long it takes for a game to get approved, this game is probably less than six months from going gold. I'd like to be wrong, but this is probably very similar to the final game.

[-Mark-]

8D

As other people have stated, the physics do look a little floaty and he does seem to move a little too quickly, but they're minor issues, if you ask me.

My only other disappointment is the apparent decision to bring back the Sonic 1 special stages, which I wasn't really fond of. If you ask me, the halfpipe special stages are, and always will be, the most iconic and memorable ones.

Actually, I've been meaning to make a topic regarding the various types of special stages. This seems like as good a time as any, given this leak.

[Agent York]

Upon closer inspection, I think it's just a foreground piece. It wouldn't make much sense to end the demo there, even if it is only in its alpha stages.

For a demo then yes that would be odd, but I don't think it's supposed to be a demo, but a build. Builds are something for testers to try out. Basically it's like a playground; it's limited but you're supposed to play around in the selected area. They probably made a wall there to let the beta testers test out that section; Hunt for glitches, see what works and doesn't work. The job of a beta tester is to play again and again, try EVERYTHING and make sure it all works. MAYBE the person playing wasn't actually BAD but just trying to PLAY BAD to find problems? That might be a stretch but it's also entirely possible... Play the game like it doesn't want you to play it to find issues and problems to report to SEGA to fix.That person seemed to know the menu well enough... It didn't take them any time at all to navigate... IN FACT according to all the options they have played this before several times. Then why did they play so TERRIBLE here? Well I think they might have MEANT to play terrible to find issues. I might be over analyzing, but it's a thought. That person seemed to familiar with the game to purposely be that terrible. You also notice they seemed to avoid the upper path and go for the lower routes.

Anyways got off track. What I think is the wall is there added for the build to let them test that area in the game to make sure it's alright. How old the build is or when this footage was taken is unknown though, remember that.

[Carbo]

Is this really Alpha footage? Given how long long it takes for a game to get approved, this game is probably less than six months from going gold. I'd like to be wrong, but this is probably very similar to the final game.

It's more than likely an alpha or a beta. The first recorded footage of Unleashed we ever had was an alpha stage as well and it had several issues non-present in the final, along with being an approximate six-seven months away from its release.

This is a downloadable title and depending on content doesnt take near as long to develop as a full length game. I'm thinking this game wont go above 500 megs or so, and they're generally much easier to develop and distribute. They can always add last minute changes to things and with 5 months left 'til release with what essentially looks like becoming a 4-5 zone game, there's a bunch of time fixing up all that stuff.

The levels themselves are probably all done by now.

Edited February 17, 2010 by May

[-Mark-]

Incidentally, has it been mentioned how many episodes there'll be yet?

If there are 4-5 zones per episode, I can't imagine there being more than two, really. Granted, more than three episodes and it's getting into more-than-retail-release territory in terms of cost, but it'd be nice to have more than the typical 7-zone cliche that we've been getting in the Advance and Rush games.

[The-Master-Board]

Complainers need to S.T.F.U

This looks good, so good in fact I almost forgot I was watching a new Sonic game's footage.

It's definitely got nostalgia.

+1 For the level design, it really looks like they are going to have branching paths, the angled spring placement suggests it, plus the "hidden" paths through platforms! Level asthetics look beautiful too, colourful and whimsical, very Sonic-like!

+1 For the moniters making a return.

+1 For decent sounding music.

+1 For badniks! The Newtron remake is awesome! A very good modern graphic take on an old badnik, the way he appears then camoflages again very reminiscent of Sonic 1, yet still bringing HD tech to the game.

+1 For the wheel feet! Do I even spot a figure 8 runrun in there?! YES!

+1 For "been hit" animation for Sonic.

+1 SEEEEGAAAA title with Sonic running past.

+1 Title screen with wingtip logo.

+1 For having acts.

+1 For having Robotnik boss fights at the end of each level.

+1 in general for the whole thing.

Now for the bad.

-1 For lack of levels. I know this is meant to be a "half" of a game, but four levels? Really not enough Sonic old school goodness for me! Hopefully there's a few more or some "unlockable" ones as the story progresses.

-1 For the stupid dust. It's really annoying and distracting and was never a part of classic Sonic OR modern Sonic. Why they added this now is beyond me??

There really isn't much I can nitpick from this. The game looks and feels very much like the classics, and if my only complaint is that it feels too much like the classics then that's a really weak complaint. I do hope that they will include some things that make this not just feel like an amalgamation of old stages though. Lost Labyrinth has me intrigued, it looks a bit like the "ancient ruins" genre of level but still feels new, so if they can do something that makes the levels still feel Sonic-like but unique enough not to be lumped in with the "rehash" claims then that will be good.

Sonic's jumps do seem a little floaty, but this is a leaked early footage and they have time to fix this.

All in all I was very excited by this leak Can't wait to see more!

So SEGA...you may as well release your own professional trailer for it now that we've all seen a dodgy one in action!

Edited February 17, 2010 by The-Master-Board

[Carbo]

@Mahzes: I'd imagine three episodes at most.

Edited February 17, 2010 by May

[Candescence]

Complainers need to S.T.F.U

Likers need to STFHU about us haters needing to STFU. We pessimists don't like how the game looks and/or plays. DEAL WITH IT.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Masaru Daimon

[BlueFlare]

After watching the footage couple times I have to say I am slightly impressed, but there're few things that I hope will be fixed/changed.

The visuals look stunning and the game seems to run smoothly. Music was decent. Not sure yet how I feel about having only four zones in the first episode. I think it will be fine for me, though.

The only things that bothered me a bit were the jumping animation and the physics. The jumping animation seems very slow which makes it look weird. I believe those crazy floating physics will be fixed for the final release.

Anyway, the game is looking quite good so far.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Peter

[jackskellinghog]

Just incase noone has copies of this yet, I amplified the volume of the music samples we heard in the leak..

Main Menu Music: http://www.4shared.c...Menu_Music.html

Splash Hill Act 1 Music: http://www.4shared.c...ct_1_Music.html

[The-Master-Board]

Likers need to STFHU about us haters needing to STFU. We pessimists don't like how the game looks and/or plays. DEAL WITH IT.

I will when I can figure how to STFHU?

Fact is SEGA finally listened to classic fans, we finally got them to create something we'd be interested in - and all people can do is complain!

It's a start. You could've been getting some lame real world inspired drama filled game where yo get to play as 5 of Sonic's new hedgehog friends and maybe a little as Sonic, with the new gimmick of hold boost until you win.

Just give them a chance, the way people complain SEGA might not bother with fanservice again.

[Candescence]

I will when I can figure how to STFHU?

Fact is SEGA finally listened to classic fans, we finally got them to create something we'd be interested in - and all people can do is complain!

It's a start. You could've been getting some lame real world inspired drama filled game where yo get to play as 5 of Sonic's new hedgehog friends and maybe a little as Sonic, with the new gimmick of hold boost until you win.

Just give them a chance, the way people complain SEGA might not bother with fanservice again.

STFHU = Shut The Fucking Hell Up.

I complain with reason. They try to be nostalgic, and it just looks terrible. The visuals are Green Hill 2.0 with hideously-done CGI and parallax, and the rest of the game seems like a total rehash as well. We have yet to see any new badniks. The physics are wonky and more than likely adapated from Rush, as Dimps is working on it. The music is lame, which is especially bad since Sonic games generally have GOOD music. The title screen's finger wave looks horrible. The level design... Okay, I haven't seen enough to make a good judgement, but still. And the Homing Attack is just as I feared.

I want to give them a chance, I really do, but when Iizuka is supposedly directing and Dimps seem to have lost the point of what Sonic 4 should be, not to mention all attempts at looking retro just come off as bad-looking and rehashy, when we should be getting a new game in the classic style with new ideas instead of Sonic 1+2 melded together with the Homing Attack thrown in, I find it extremely hard to give it a chance.

Look, from what I'm seeing, it'll probably be good at best. Not exceptional. This is supposed to be Sonic 4, for pete's sake, yet I wonder why the hell they chose that title, because this game doesn't seem to deserve it. I'll probably enjoy it, but will be ultimately underwhelmed.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Masaru Daimon

[Semi-colon e]

I am a bit disappointed that all 4 levels are very rehashy, I just hope they get more original with the next lot, but it's fine, I suppose they want stuff to remind you of old levels to draw the old fans in who are no longer fans or whatnot. The physics also look really odd, but I assume it's unfinished.

Looks stunning, though, and the level design isn't that bad either. I doubt Sega are just gonna release it much similar to that, it seems very unfinished. Surely they learnt with Sonic 06? And there's no christmas rush this time.

But yeah, some people still expect too much. Most of the old team aren't even there anymore, even if it's not great at least they tried.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Semi-colon e

[Remy]

if they had original levels, you'd be like THIS IS RUSH 3.0 even more so.

[Semi-colon e]

if they had original levels, you'd be like THIS IS RUSH 3.0 even more so.

Precisely. They are making the levels less original and more like classic levels to invoke nostalgia and draw "no longer fans" back in as well. Maybe they'll get more original with the next parts. Though no doubt people would consider those not classic enough too.

Also

Edited February 17, 2010 by Semi-colon e

[Slingerland]

if they had original levels, you'd be like THIS IS RUSH 3.0 even more so.

Uh... what? No.

You can make new levels in the vein of the old games without making them near rehashes. Fangames do it on a daily basis. Geez, "Mad Gear Zone?" It's a green, mechanical zone with long, vertical corridors that are flanked by Asterons (Asteri??). Somebody needs to try harder.

[Remy]

It amazes me that people can't wrap their head around the fact they're employing visual cues like this to convince you it's a throwback game.

[Slingerland]

It amazes me that people can't wrap their head around the fact they're employing visual cues like this to convince you it's a throwback game.

You can have visual cues... and make new shit. Trust me on that one.

[Remy]

... It is new shit though? bahaha