This is part of the Sonic Retrospective and one of the first major 2D platformers in the series to land on home consoles since Knuckles Chaotix! The grad return to 2D Sonic happens with Sonic 4 Episodes I and I......they are okay.

Will cover my full thoughts on the gameplay and stuff in a bit but the reason this is going up before the SEGA All Stars thread is....that is taking a long time to make. Me and Village are covering FOUR games at once, so we have ALOT to comment on with four games to work with XD! It will be up soon, just wanted to explain why this is going up now instead of after the SEGA All Stars thread.

Now that its out of the way........lets roll into action!

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Sonic 4 started life as a mobile Sonic title that was going to be a fun little platformer that, through using the Sonic Rush engine, would of celebrated the old school roots of the series all the while introducing the Sonic IP to mobile phone users with a proper platformer (as around this time Sonic Jump released on mobile devices and Sonic Dash was coming soon).


(Look at the Ferris wheel on the right; says 'Sonic the Portable')

But, SEGA of America saw this game and told SEGA Japan "We want to make this a proper 2D platformer on consoles, not just mobile". SEGA Japan threw their arms up and said 'Why not', giving SEGA of America a lot of control of the games development/marketing all the while giving Dimps (who made the Advance and Rush games) some more time to work on the title.



Early 2010, SEGA America started teasing a project called 'Project Needlemouse'. Needlemouse, was the code name for Sonic 1 all the way back in 1990; this was a MAJOR announcement for fans of the series. We were all hyped up with the news, with more and more code names popping up about who will star in 'Needlemouse'. Then the day finally came where it was announced AND......Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode I....was announced.



It was a big deal as the tease showed enough to get us asking questions; they use the Modern Design instead of Classic Sonic, the first level looks similar to Green Hill/Emerald Hill, and Eggman was back causing trouble. The months went on with more information coming out and then the game was leaked on some Xbox 360's Summer 2010....and we saw a mostly complete version of the game. It.....presented a lot of problems the final game might of had, with physics not matching the Genesis games at all, the level designs being quite uninspired at points, visuals looking kinda odd and two levels having odd gimmicks with tilting the screen (instead using the shoulder buttons).



People got worried then, with SEGA announcing that the console versions will have two exclusive levels, with the announced iPhone versions having two unique levels of its own. In addition o this announcement, the game got pushed back from its summer release too Fall 2010. Then it finally came out on everything (Wii Ware, PSN, XBLA, Steam, iOS)......and response was mixed. Critics loved it but fans hated it. Fast forward too 2012 and we get an Episode II announced and it was going to fix everything; the physics closer to the Genesis games, the visuals looking a lot better, the levels being more unique, and Metal Sonic coming back. Looked great and it (alongside Racing Transformed) were the big games for Sonic in 2012.

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Enough with the history! Lets get into the different zones! We got four zones with three acts for both episodes, adding up too Eight Zones and 30 Acts; that is a lot of levels XD!



The stages for Episode I include knock offs from Sonic 1 and 2:
-Splash Hill Zone (Green Hill/Emerald Hill Zone)
-Casino Street (Casino Night Zone)
-Lost Labyrinth (a new version of Labyrinth Zone from Sonic 1, as canonically, its the same place but in a different location within the zone)
-Mad Gear Zone (Metropolis Zone)

The zones in Episode I are not really that creative with level themes but I like some of the gimmicks each zone has. Act II of Splash Hill has you homing attacking vines that you swing off of, Act II of Casino Street has you playing cards (you run into them) and if you get three, you get rings/1-Ups and the like, and Act II of Lost Labyrinth has you using a touch to light up the ruins to solve small puzzles. They are fun and while not as great as past zones in the Genesis Era Sonic games, they are nice re-visits to old ideas.

Episode II is a bit better with zone line up, as they use Sonic 2 & Sonic 3&K themes but in creative ways.



-Sylvania Castle Zone (Aquatic Ruin Zone but with different time-of-day for each act and really clever underwater bits in Act II)
-White Park Zone (Original Theme; Each Act is a different (Act I is a Snow level, Act II is a rollarcoaster, Act III is completely underwater)
-Oil Desert Zone (Oil Ocean but with Sand)
-Sky Fortress (Sky Chase and Wing Fortress but with some differences for Act II and Act III)

They are more creative then Episode I and I really love Sylvania Castle and Sky Fortress. The latter is hands down one of my favorite 2D Sonic Zones just because of how fun Act II and Act III were to me.

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So, the gameplay is.....interesting. I say 'interesting' but really mean confused :l. Episode I has far more issues then Episode II but will talk about them in sections to not confuse the two games.

Episode I:



2D Sonic done wrong more or less. I mean, is that the core foundation of what made the Genesis games so much fun, the physics systems that allowed Sonic to use rolling as a fun tool to reach higher spots and fly through levels, is gone. Instead, we have Sonic Rush, just without the ability to Boost. That doesn't mean Sonic is hard to control, his control is fine enough. But he takes a while to speed up and level design doesn't really complement the gameplay too well. Instead of having places to use rolling and running well, we got boost pad and spring chains that pop up over and over and over and over.................you get my point .



Sonic has his homing attack from Adventure here and while they marketed the game as this being such a new feature.......Sonic had this ability since Sonic Rush (2005) and while it works better here, the game relies on way to much with robots over bottomless pits being very common. I don't mind its inclusion, as Episode II and some parts of Episode I like Act II of Casino Street use the move to good effect (homing attacking cards to get them flying around, giving them a platform Sonic can run on) but its more of an issue then something I find a good inclusion.



One last thing before I move on to Episode II; we can only play as Sonic here. Not Tails. Not Knuckles. Only Sonic. And he doesn't even have the elemental shields from Sonic 3 X(. I would be more understanding of this omission if the game was called something other then Sonic 4. ........But the game IS called Sonic 4, so I expect Tails/Knuckles + the elemental shields in here. And another fun element? 2D Sonic games past Sonic 3 & Knuckles HAD more playable characters.

Knuckles Chaotix: Knuckles, Epsio, Vector, Charmy, Mighty, Bomb, Heavy
Sonic Advance: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy
Sonic Advance 2&3: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Amy
Sonic Rush & Rush Adventure: Sonic, Blaze

So, what is this games excuse when past 2D Sonic games had a lot of characters to play as? Just....something that bugs me a bit. One more thing though; bosses are just new versions of past fights but with extra gimmicks. That is it. Also, the Death Egg Robot is a cheap bastard in Episode I X(.

Episode II:



I am going to be kinder here, as they made enough changes to make me enjoy the game more .



The rolling mechanic returns and it works ALOT better here, with Sonic being able to use momentum to gain higher heights and allowing him gain more speed. You know, like how a Sonic 4 should be like. Tails is a playable character here too, but only in co-op for some reason. But they do something cool; bring back the Tag Action from Knuckles Chaotix and Advance 3! They turned it into a fun gimmick that allows Tails to make Sonic swim, fly in the sky like in Sonic 3, and turn into a giant ball that allows you to run through objects.



Very fun system and it allows levels to have set-piece sections that push one of the three moves on you. I like this element and hopeful that future 2D Sonic's play with this concept with a larger cast.



Level design is a lot better too, but still runs into the boost/spring chains that Episode I has (but a bit more common sadly ). More creative gimmicks, with fun usage of the homing attack during Sylvania Castle Act III (you homing attack platforms, they move right to create platforms you can land on) and great usage of the tag mechanic for stages like Sky Fortress Act III and White Park Act I.



Episode II just 'felt' better to play compared to Episode I and I really liked how Dimps tried fixing issues that the original game had.

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This section will cover the Special Stages in both games and Episode Metal .

The special stages in Episode I are based on Sonic 1's, which has you in a little maze, trying to collect rings to open gates and get watches to extend your timer. You find the emerald, and its yours! When you collect all seven, you unlock Super Sonic playable for the very first time in a Dimps title and for Sonic himself since......I think Sonic 3&K!



To be fair, Adventure has Takal (one of the main characters) have a voice clip of her talking about activating Super Sonic, so maybe it was a feature cut late in its development. But still, great to see this time-honored tradition of 2D Sonic coming back .

Episode II's special stages are Sonic 2's half-pipe, with you collecting X amount of rings for each check-point until you get the goal; have enough, and the emerald is yours. Just like Episode I, you can become Super Sonic when all seven are collected.



And....you have a restart option for the special stages! So you don't have to worry about failing them this time out; can always retry until you got it .

Episode Metal is more or less a remixed version of Episode I but with a Metal Sonic skin for Sonic (Metal has no new moves over Sonic) and playing the game in reverse (start at Mad Gear, end at Splash Hill). You only go through each Act I and the game has little fixes over the original Episode I. Nice way to experience some cut scenes though .



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The presentation for the game is mixed; Episode I looks good and sounds 'meh', while Episode II looks great and sounds good. Episode I has a cell-shaded style, likely masking its mobile origins. It looks nice enough but could of looked better. Animations looked half-beaked at points and the characters look really washed out in the HD versions (PSN/XBLA/PC).



The last two zones, Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear look great though to me .



The soundtrack sounds good, but it doesn't use the Genesis Instruments well. This is odd, considering the composer, Jun, composed the soundtrack to Genesis 3D Blast and it sounded great.

Splash Hill Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJbkqrl5Iac&index=2&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Splash Hill Act 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUkLJ7JZlp4&index=3&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Casino Street Act 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqX0rcUz6HM&index=8&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Lost Labyrinth Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtDy8revsow&index=9&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Lost Labyrinth Act 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrfyOre6nlY&index=10&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Mad Gear Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb55FDoAEMY&index=12&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9

The melodies are great, just the composition of them is off. Fan remixes sound better compared to the original version, so check them out if you are interested .

Episode II looks great though, with detailed animations, in-engine cut-scenes done in Sonic 3 & Knuckles style (no talking, just character moving around) and the levels having a lot of polish to them. The visual effects to Sylvania Castle for Act III's Night theme is just.....really nice looking .



The music is also a lot better to me, outside of Oil Desert. QUACK QUACK, QUACK ACK ACK ACK.........Ugh X(.

Sylvania Castle Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuJoevb4AZ8&index=26&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Sylvania Castle Act 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlxBx7IBaQ8&index=28&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
White Park Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC9ae88r3Ns&index=30&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
White Park Act 2 (Remix of Twinkle Park from Sonic Adventure): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeK_OdVJ6OY&index=31&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
White Park Act 3 (Remix of Lost Labyrinth Act 3): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCcZ45jay1E&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=32
Metal Sonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfxgZQ2ftig&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=33
Oil Desert Act 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWcuYSkViN4&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=36
Sky Fortress Act 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxRbaUV-HM&index=39&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Sky Fortress Act 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xst_Qe-cmhk&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=40
Death Egg Mk.II Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OatHU0_SQa8&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=42
Stardust Speedway Remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Ule9I4AY0&index=43&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9
Death Egg Mk.II Act 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmyuqNhmFB8&list=PLvNp0Boas722geGGIVi5QDJ9i75ngfId9&index=44

Great soundtrack and some really great themes; Metal Sonic's theme and Act 2&3 of Sky Fortress is amazing :').

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Overall thoughts on this game is.....they are decent platformers. Episode I pales as a proper Sonic game but it holds promise while Episode II is what I expected Episode I to be originally. Both are not proper Sonic 4's, as they lack what made the Genesis games great, so while Episode II came close enough, it wasn't fully there yet. Makes me a bit sad that Episode III was scrapped after poor sales/reception of Episode II but still, nice that they were close enough.

If you want to play a proper Sonic 4, get Advance 1. That is more or less Sonic 4 in everything but name to be honest . I would say, give Episode II a shot if you have a PS3, 360 or PC and if you are really that interested, give Episode I a shot.

I always considered the gba and DS games to be continuations and and expansions on 2d sonic.

Sonic 4 5 6 7 and 8.

I don't know why sega decided... all of a sudden it can't create separate 2d hand held titles anymore. Even though that would solve some problems if they put the effort in, but that is one of many questions that we can lodge at sega regarding sonic.

To the point of this game, eh? I wish it would have gone more places, but I understand people just not wanting anymore of it.

Village said:

I always considered the gba and DS games to be continuations and and expansions on 2d sonic.

Sonic 4 5 6 7 and 8.

I don't know why sega decided... all of a sudden it can't create separate 2d hand held titles anymore. Even though that would solve some problems if they put the effort in, but that is one of many questions that we can lodge at sega regarding sonic.

To the point of this game, eh? I wish it would have gone more places, but I understand people just not wanting anymore of it.

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I'm in your camp Village, thought Advance 1 was Sonic 4 and the other handheld games continued the series.

SEGA is just.....strange, at times :l.

Forgetteable

Just wanted to say.....thank you all for making this Retrospective so much fun .

It has been a blast making these Sonic threads and I can't believe we only have four more threads left to cover. Felt like it was late Feb. only yesterday when I made my Sonic Heroes thread :').

The next four threads are going to be a lot of fun making, and I have plans to make more threads like my Sonic ones with other game IP .

Ratchet & Clank's Retrospective will continue when I finish making my final Sonic thread and starting Monday, you all may see a thread covering a Blue Bomber's Legend .

Thank you all for sticking around and lets keep on rolling to the goal ring!

IronicSonic said:

Forgetteable

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I will consider Episode I to fit this honestly, as I remember far more from Episode II then Episode I.

RK128 said:

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Oh god.. I tried so hard to forget this.

Awful game with terrible physics and making it episodic was dumb.

Real talk: Freedom Planet was the Sonic sequel I'd waited 16 years for

I totally forgot this game even existed.

The way Sonic's legs move while he runs in this game ruins it for me.

Also, he isn't holding up four fingers.

It's not really fair to use the lack of chars other than Sonic against Episode 1 b/c you'd have to understand what it was like at the time; at that particular point one of the chief complaints about the new Sonic games was they didn't focus enough on Sonic and had too many secondary characters to play as, hogging the spotlight. It was a sentiment many people shared at the time and some (but not all) Sonic games of the era supported the notion, hence why Episode 1 focused squarely on Sonic.

A-V-B said:

Real talk: Freedom Planet was the Sonic sequel I'd waited 16 years for

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You know what, you are completely right XD!

Will make a 'Extra' Thread covering that game once I cover Generations . That really is a damn good game and it should be linked to Sonic, considering its origins.

LMFAO at Sega taking some random mobile game they were working on and having the audacity to call it Sonic 4.

They truly have no shame.

jhmtehgamr20xx said:

It's not really fair to use the lack of chars other than Sonic against Episode 1 b/c you'd have to understand what it was like at the time; at that particular point one of the chief complaints about the new Sonic games was they didn't focus enough on Sonic and had too many secondary characters to play as, hogging the spotlight. It was a sentiment many people shared at the time and some (but not all) Sonic games of the era supported the notion, hence why Episode 1 focused squarely on Sonic.

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It is fair, as Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3 had Sonic's friends and they were perfectly enjoyable games :l.

I will not edit that out of the OP, as it shows Sonic 4, is not a proper sequel to the Genesis games. They had Tail's and Knuckles (and Knuckles Chaotix had a VERY large roster of characters) but the games were still fun titles. The extra characters only added, not detracted from the experience.

I understand your point, as it is a good one (and one I'm glad Colors and Generations continued doing), but its something that NEVER applied to the 2D Sonic games.

I played through Episode 1 once and kinda enjoyed it (enough to unlock Super Sonic, at least), but it's hardly what I would call a good game. As a follow up to the classics, it's even worse.

I have no interest in playing Episode 2 despite owning it. The Tails team-up gimmick completely put me off.

Episode 2 was way better but both are decent not bad but not great.

Obligatory

EP2 is alright. EP1 was junk.

The Twinkle Park music caught me off guard. Wasn't expecting a Sonic Adventure remix in a 2D Sonic game. We've come full circle.

balladofwindfishes said:

Obligatory

EP2 is alright. EP1 was junk.

Twinkle Park music remix caught me off guard. Wasn't expecting a Sonic Adventure remix in a 2D Sonic game

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:'). Its amazing, such a great track XD!

People had given a lot of shit for Episode II's soundtrack, but I thought it was above and beyond Episode I's. Easily my favourite in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, second only to Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Blues1990 said:

People had given a lot of shit for Episode II's soundtrack, but I thought it was above and beyond Episode I's. Easily my favourite in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, second only to Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

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I honestly agree with this, as a lot of tracks in Episode II are really damn good.

Will always say this, Sky Fortress Acts 2 and 3 are some of my favorite 2D Sonic Themes of all time. They have a great melody, rock hard and fit the level themes like a glove.

The only bad tracks in Episode II is Oil Desert Acts 1 & 2 and the main Boss Theme. Everything either sounds good or great in my eyes .

Remember when project needlemouse was like the rumor for a while and there was this dude doing a tribute project to sonic or something with that website domain saved and it just had images of green hill zone like maps?

What happened to that

This game was OK. Definitely forgettable. I wish they BC on X1 because I cant get myself to play it again on PC.

I was so hyped for Sonic 4 and what we got was a subpar game. The total lack of momentum in Sonic's movement already turned me off and the boost & homing-attack heavy gameplay finished killing my interest.

And while Episode 2 was an improvement, it still felt like a subpar Sonic game. I never bothered to finish it.

Edit: Most, if not all, most of the music blows.

I played them on PC around a year or so ago. Episode I was downright terrible. It looked really ugly, the physics were really off, the special stages a mess and so forth. Lost Labyrinth oddly worked the best thanks to its slow platforming. But yes. Not that good.

Episode II, however, was pretty great. Great graphical style, catchy music, nice level design, better physis, nice bosses and so forth. Really enjoyed it and don't understand the hate it gets (sometimes I even see those who claim it's wors than Episode I and wonder if I've turned insane).

Wish the games hadn't been so derivative in nature. Why not go for something new? In that sense, Advance 1 is the true sequel.

RK128 said:

Sonic has his homing attack from Adventure here and while they marketed the game as this being such a new feature.......Sonic had this ability sense Sonic Advance

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Incorrect. The homing attack, in a 2D game, was first featured in Sonic 4. The Advance games do not have it.

RK128 said:

I honestly agree with this, as a lot of tracks in Episode II are really damn good.

Will always say this, Sky Fortress Acts 2 and 3 are some of my favorite 2D Sonic Themes of all time. They have a great melody, rock hard and fit the level themes like a glove.

The only bad tracks in Episode II is Oil Desert Acts 1 & 2 and the main Boss Theme. Everything either sounds good or great in my eyes .

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My man!



For me, Sylvania Castle - Act 2/Act 3, White Park - Act 1, Sky Fortress - Act 1/Act 2, & Death Egg MK II are my favourite tracks from the game. I also like the new Versus Metal Sonic theme, as it's a pretty tasty jam.

There is something there in the Oil Desert Act themes, but I agree that Oil Desert - Act 2 is pretty ear-wrenching. Bleh!

Marow said:

I played them on PC around a year or so ago. Episode I was downright terrible. It looked really ugly, the physics were really off, the special stages a mess and so forth. Lost Labyrinth oddly worked the best thanks to its slow platforming. But yes. Not that good.

Episode II, however, was pretty great. Great graphical style, catchy music, nice level design, better physis, nice bosses and so forth. Really enjoyed it and don't understand the hate it gets (sometimes I even see those who claim it's wors than Episode I and wonder if I've turned insane).

Wish the games hadn't been so derivative in nature. Why not go for something new? In that sense, Advance 1 is the true sequel.


Incorrect. The homing attack, in a 2D game, was first featured in Sonic 4. The Advance games do not have it.

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Sorry about that, I meant Rush and Rush Adventure (tap R when near a foe and you preform a homing attack). Will edited the OP now.

Agree with you on Episode II, a good/great action platformer that does the Sonic series justice.

Anyone know anything about getting the PC version of Episode II to run? For me, on Windows 10, the game crashes on start no matter what I do. I bought it a while back so I could play it with my nephew and we were both pretty disappointed that I couldn't get it to run at all.

Blues1990 said:

My man!

For me, Sylvania Castle - Act 2/Act 3, White Park - Act 1, Sky Fortress - Act 1/Act 2, & Death Egg MK II are my favourite tracks from the game. I also like the new Versus Metal Sonic theme, as it's a pretty tasty jam.

There is something there in the Oil Desert Act themes, but I agree that Oil Desert - Act 2 is pretty ear-wrenching. Bleh!

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Great picks for you tracks buddy !

Oil Ocean Act 1 is okay, but Act 2......ugh X(.

RK128 said:

Sorry about that, I meant Rush and Rush Adventure (tap R when near a foe and you preform a homing attack). Will edited the OP now.

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WHAT

THE

mntorankusu said:

Anyone know anything about getting the PC version of Episode II to run? For me, on Windows 10, the game crashes on start no matter what I do. I bought it a while back so I could play it with my nephew and we were both pretty disappointed that I couldn't get it to run at all.

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Know nothing about setting up games on PC's......but maybe you could ask Steam Gaf for help or something .

Sorry that I can't help .

This isn't going to win me many friends but fuck it....Sonic 4 Ep1-2 together are better than Sonic 1.

Sorry guys. Nothing to touch the greatness of Sonic 3 and 3K. But still not the worst in the franchise. Fun game.

Marow said:

WHAT

THE

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Yep . Sonic has the homing attack in both games, with Sonic Colors DS being the first game where its mapped to the same button as jump.

F0rneus said:

This isn't going to win me many friends but fuck it....Sonic 4 Ep1-2 together are better than Sonic 1.

Sorry guys.

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Could you explain why?

I mean, I disagree with you, but I can see where you might be coming from. Both episodes focus a lot more on pure speed, instead of platforming being a big focus.

In my Sonic 1 thread, I commented on the level order being the way speed was split up; fast level (Green Hill), slow level (Marble), fast level (Spring Yard), slow level (Labyrinth), fast level (Starlight).....then it finally get balanced with Scrap Brain.

RK128 said:

Could you explain why?

I mean, I disagree with you, but I can see where you might be coming from. Both episodes focus a lot more on pure speed, instead of platforming being a big focus.

In my Sonic 1 thread, I commented on the level order being the way speed was split up; fast level (Green Hill), slow level (Marble), fast level (Spring Yard), slow level (Labyrinth), fast level (Starlight).....then it finally get balanced with Scrap Brain.

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I've never been a huge fan of Sonic 1. I adore what followed it (on Genesis), but I put it right where I put Mega Man 1. A good idea, poorly executed. But that gave birth to some of the strongest games of all time.

Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone are some of the most unfun, drab levels in Sonic history. A complete lack of understanding of their own franchise basically. Marble is so goddamn slow it's just painfully boring. Pushing blocks around isn't what Sonic turned out to be about. And Labyrinth just forces you to be underwater. It makes the game slow to a painful crawl because the water mechanic isn't a well thought out as in latter games. Aquatic Ruin and Hydrocity are both in my top 10 Sonic levels of all time. The both mix speed, and underwater routes beautifully.

Sonic 4 does Labyrinth Zone right.

F0rneus said:

I've never been a huge fan of Sonic 1. I adore what followed it (on Genesis), but I put it right where I put Mega Man 1. A good idea, poorly executed. But that gave birth to some of the strongest games of all time.

Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone are some of the most unfun, drab levels in Sonic history. A complete lack of understanding of their own franchise basically. Marble is so goddamn slow it's just painfully boring. Pushing blocks around isn't what Sonic turned out to be about. And Labyrinth just forces you to be underwater. It makes the game slow to a painful crawl because the water mechanic isn't a well thought out as in latter games. Aquatic Ruin and Hydrocity are both in my top 10 Sonic levels of all time. The both mix speed, and underwater routes beautifully.

Sonic 4 does Labyrinth Zone right.

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Make some great points and I agree; Marble and Labyrinth Zone are some of the weaker zones in the Sonic series.

But the other zones in Sonic 1 are quite strong . Green Hill and Star Light come to mind .

Also agree that Sonic 4's Labyrinth Zone is a much better way to re-make that zone compared to its Sonic 1 counterpart.

Thank you for responding to my post!

Marow said:

WHAT

THE

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In a game with the boost mechanic that wrecks everything its not useful bar a few situations for stuff like balloon.

Does the iOS version of these support Bluetooth controllers? Might check them out if so

Episode II>Episode I.

Marow said:

WHAT

THE

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You didn't know?

To be honest neither Episode 1 nor Episode 2 are bad games. They're merely decent. The vitriol for both was very unnecessary.

Edit: The music for both, though...absolutely horrid. Worst of the Sonic series by a longshot.

Much preferred Episode 1 over 2 but man were some of the levels pretty looking in Episode 2. The music wasn't up to par for the usual Sonic standards but they were still good. Was hoping for Episode 3 to be an improvement but it was not meant to be...=/

The music... the physics. Just wrong. Not to mention the "homing attack 3 of the same enemies every stage then repeat" for each stage.

I thought Episode I was trite but passable. Episode II not bothering to release on Wii is what filled me with contempt for this whole mess. You give something the name Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and then you completely half-ass it?

I set my expectations low for Episode 1 but holy shit. One of the worst games I have ever played. Just offensive.

I dropped my expectations even lower for Episode 2, yet found that one okay. Wouldn't replay it or anything but I liked parts of it. Surprised people thought the music in episode 2 was bad, was a lot better than what came out of Episode 1. I really like Metal Sonic's boss music. Then they create that weak version of the Sonic CD song, lol.

Edit: As much as I hate Sonic 4: Episode 1. It was responsible for my favorite Bombcast moment. I'm glad it exists.

The debates, the GIFs, the laughter, the despair, the sonic cycle...it was seriously amazing being a part of that back in the day on GAF. Within that huge thread, all excitement died the minute a video that showed the labyrinth zone with the mine cart level. When that was posted omg. :lol :lol :lol

Eventually, someone made an anniversary trailer parody of the Sonic 4 announcement beginning with, 'you've waited 20 years for this!' and the footage of the mine cart level just loops over and over again with this horrible screeched out song. Omfg, its the most hilarious parody trailer I've ever seen. I'm trying to find it, but I'm having no luck. PLEASE tell me someone remembers this :lol

I love Sonic 4. In my honest opinion, the Sonic 4 Saga as a whole is superior than the Sonic 3 Saga

White Park is amazing, Egg Ventricle is epic, Casino Street is fun, and Sonic has green eyes.

Fun fact: this Saga was the FIRST thing I launched on my iPhone SE.

Its just not Sonic 4.

We were robbed of a good game Episode 3.

Sega dropped the ball with Sonic 4, and it felt more like it should've been a mobile title (which it really was, how sad) then a "Sonic 4". It really seemed like Advance filled that roll more than this game did, and makes me think that 2D Sonic should really just stick to handhelds and mobile. 2D fits those platforms much more than home consoles.

Sonic 4 was a mistake, its nothing but trash.