I tried to enjoy Sonic 4 (the premise of the game is simple, right?) but something is horribly wrong with the game physics. There’s way too much emphasis on forward-based momentum. Example: If you charge up a spin in Sonics 1 - 3, and let it rip, Sonic will spin forward really fast. But in Sonic 4 if you don’t hold forward after the spin you’re not going anywhere.
Also if you hold down to start spinning while going downhill in Sonic 4 (so you can kill enemies in front of you) you’ll actually LOSE SPEED because you aren’t holding forward anymore. That’s crazy.
The biggest problem though is the amount of time it takes for Sonic to get from a standing position to a running speed. There’s no way it should be that slow, it’s incredibly frustrating. It’s like no one who played the old games had the balls to tell the developers how annoying it was.
you have to play the game to understand…looking at the speed run he’s not giving you a chance to see it and he’s probably played through that level several different times.
I’ve got 2 more emeralds to get but here are my own thoughts on the game so far.
Sonic 4 likes, dislikes and nitpicks
I really don’t like the homing attack in this game. I’d rather I have the ability to choose to use it or not instead of it being on the jump button for 2-d games. It’s just adding a layer of frustration especially if you’re trying to go for jumps off of edges. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve run off a ledge and was getting ready to jump and accidentally homing attacked myself off the ledge. I’m not saying don’t get rid of it because I see what they’re trying to do with it and I don’t mind having to use it on enemies if they are far spaced apart to get myself to a different area…however I just don’t want it on the same button for 2-d platforming purposes. Also if the circle enemies spike balls around them are going to come back I want to be able to time a insta shield on them and continue about my way.
Physics are still wonky. Dimps…sigh I just want you guys to watch a speed run some of the older titles…specifically sonic 1. I say that game mostly because Sonic’s run actually has a speed cap on it…no matter how many hills, slopes, loops he actually ran on he didn’t get any faster unless he had speed shoes. The only way you actually made sonic faster normally was using momentum from his spin. That’s what I feel is missing the most out of your games. The character is supposed to have ‘weight’ to him. If I perform a spin down a steep slope he should be picking up speed even without my input…this isn’t the case with your game where I actually spin dashed down a 90 degree angle slope and didn’t press anything and he didn’t get any faster. Even bigger example…Sonic is in a half pipe and he goes up one side and then rolls himself back down to the other…He’s supposed to be gaining momentum with each pass through the half pipe. Another example I just came across, if sonic doesn’t have enough speed to go up a 90 degree angle wall THEN HE SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO GO UP IT. I just fuckin walked up 90 degrees with practically with near to no gravity effecting me for at least 4-5 seconds. This is supposed to be a job for the spin dash. There’s no momentum in the air either unless you’re holding forward. If you’re going into a full speed run and then you jump and tap backward Sonic’s momentum nearly dies instantly… Seriously though physics is THE BIGGEST ISSUE with this game. I want Sega to toss Dimps into a room and lock the door and in this room will be several tv’s each with one of Sonic’s games 1-3K. They will be locked in this room for 3 weeks to make sure they have played these games enough to feel the difference between those games and theirs.
Not actually controlling sonic and controlling the stage around him is weird as hell for the special stages lol. It’s definitely different and I can’t say whether it’s good or bad really but personally I’d rather actually control sonic than the stage because that’s how it’s been for the past few games. It’s fuckin with me lol.
You’re given literally like 2 seconds to get into the special stage after you passed the end marker…I wish that was lenghthened a tiny bit considering the fact that most people who play sonic games are gonna zoom past the marker especially if they don’t even know that the end of the stage is coming.
grahics at least look nice.
little touches in the way how sonic interacts with the background while he runs past are nice.
not sure how I feel about the torch/puzzle mechanic in Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2. It’s interesting.
Pleeease fix the run…if you get get the classic run done right then go with the current one (lean forward, hands behind back).
Really like what they did for the end boss and I actually feel he’s best boss battle in the game currently.
I know this game needed to be familiar to try to pull the people who enjoyed the old school 2D games back in so I’m going to look past the fact that this game uh…‘borrows’ so much from the past. Come Episode 2 though I’m going to be looking for something more different in terms of design and bosses.
price is definitely an issue…considering what I’ve played so far I’m not sure I could justify $15 considering the older games that are currently available are better. I think $10 would have been probably been more appropriate.
Why is sonic coming out of his spins randomly and going into a run? If Dimps had decided to place enemies along the strips and I got tagged because sonic came out of his spin then this would have been a negative. If I put sonic into a spin I want him to stay in a spin unless I can make that choice myself.
Tunes are kinda lacking…that’s just imo. Mr. Senoue…I know you can do better than this. There are only a couple of tracks from this game that I’d consider as above average and have the ability to get stuck in your head. Most of it is kinda forgettable.
Dimps took a page out of Capcom’s playbook for boss battles lol…please don’t do it again.
Short jumping should be shorter…my opinion.
They actually do have the crab fist enemies in Mad Gear zone…but they got hit with the nerf stick since they don’t already have the fist ready and waiting for your ass as you’re running along. You can straight up jump them with ease. Mantis sorta got hit with the nerf stick too but they’re still annoying.
I’m not going to be able to finish getting the chaos emeralds till my girl leaves for work but this is my thoughts so far on it. I’m not going to go overboard and say this game is ass because in honesty in the grand scheme of things it’s not. It isn’t great either though. If I was to give this game a score It’d be in the 7-7.5 range. It’s decent game that just needs work…I’d recommend dling it when it goes on sale though.
Bad Sonic physics = no purchase. I’ll get the demo for 360 when it comes out tomorrow and try it for myself, but if it works the way all these other versions work, no dice Sega.
Dr. B’s Spin Dash created the supermassive black hole we’re all orbiting around.
Sonic Colors - Multiplayer Trailer
[media=youtube]ouGYgKum57A&hd=1]YouTube - Sonic Colors - Multiplayer Trailer [HD[/media]
I’m going to lol hard at the situation if Colors actually ends up getting received well by reviewers and fans. It’ll be like everybody is trolling Sega.
God dammit…I mean I didn’t get hopes high or anything but I will say my gut sank at SonicHumans review. I really wanted this game to be good. How can they not get something that was done like 20 years ago right in the modern day? It really shouldn’t be this hard to make a 2D Sonic game that plays like software from 20 years ago. I’m gonna go drown my Sorrows in Castlevania LOS. Mercury Steam some how managed to take CV IV/Rondo of Blood and make it in 3D. It’s awesome.
People’s standards are too high for games nowadays back in the 90s when you’d shell 4 times the amount on a game and it ended up being shit I don’t think people complained so much. From the looks of things it doesn’t seem to be a bad game, I’ll probably download it when I get my bills sorted for this month.
I’M…SO…DAMN…CLOSE. I’m spitting out all types of obscenities right now. Something else that I’m going to add to my list of dislikes is if you’re going to do that whole collect rings to open up different sections in the special stage…PLEASE…GIVE ME A RING COUNTER. And I’m not talking about the counter that’s actually on the gates that tell you how many rings you need to get through I’m talking about a ring total like in the normal game. It’s only now I realize how much I wish I had that shit as I’m SPINNAN around trying to get enough rings to get THAT DAMN 7TH EMERALD.
also…FUCK PINBALL BUMPERS…that’s not going into the list of dislikes but they are the main culprit for my fuckups in the special zones.
I wouldn’t say it’s a shit game, but I was expecting a lot more than what was offered in 4, I honestly feel this would have been a quality 5 dollar title, but definitely not a 15 dollar one. Back in earlier of this generation, games like these would be 10 dollars max, but if episode 2 is just as long at episode 1, then I think the full experience will be shorter than Sonic 2 and will cost more than half of what Sonic 2 did back in the early 90’s.
Hell, even back in the 90’s we had the option of renting games.
