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Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Wii/PS3/360; downloadable episodic release - [Update: $15?]

Iknos

Junior Member
FunkyMunkey said:
there is absolutely no way you're going to get a pure and clean sonic 4 thread.

There is most certainly a way. Make a game that fans of the series want.

The complaints about this game are regular and consistent. Being 2D doesn't make the game vintage Sonic. We've seen plenty of 2D titles that were not vintage Sonic.

Sonic Spinball was a fun game. Have you ever ran around on platforms with Sonic and jumped around? It didn't feel like Sonic at all. If they used that engine and made a platformer with it and called it Sonic 4 you would have the very same fans ranting about it. People would say: "It's 2D and it looks like Sonic but it doesn't feel like it."
 
11.jpg


And the badnik is the fish one, officially called "Chopper".
First seen jumping out at Sonic from under the bridges of Green Hill Zone, this deadly Piranha robot is back and still hungry!
GAF avatars if anyone want them:
sonic4chopperavatara.gif
sonic4chopperavatarb.gif
 

RagnarokX

Member
Looks like a bigger site update next week. There are new menus buttons counting down, one under videos and one at the bottom of the list, as well as the usual badnik and concept art countdowns.
 

Ten-Song

Member
I just got my Game Informer issue in today, so I got to have a better look at the screens in it. Man, the animation quality in this game is so awful. When Sonic grabs the zip line, it looks like his arms don't even exist, but that he just has tiny little nubs and hands that suddenly extend out of his head. Every frame of animation for Sonic is just flat out terrible.
 
So from the Nintendo Power article Iizuka's favourite 2d Sonic is Sonic 2, the most vanilla of all of them and he told the "people making the game" (SUSPICIOUS) to "make it like Sonic 2". In screens you see a homing attack bridge of puffer fish enemies and a speed booster in Splash Hill.

I fucking hate Iizuka so much. He is who I hold completely responsible for the downturn of Sonic. He is a talentless fuck and I don't even know what he does these days if not the level design and his amazing director stance of "make it like Sonic 2?".
 

Zen

Banned
RagnarokX said:
Looks like a bigger site update next week. There are new menus buttons counting down, one under videos and one at the bottom of the list, as well as the usual badnik and concept art countdowns.

10 Dollars that the countdown under 'videos' is 'screenshots'.
 

Sanjuro

Member
SecretBonusPoint said:
So from the Nintendo Power article Iizuka's favourite 2d Sonic is Sonic 2, the most vanilla of all of them and he told the "people making the game" (SUSPICIOUS) to "make it like Sonic 2". In screens you see a homing attack bridge of puffer fish enemies and a speed booster in Splash Hill.

I fucking hate Iizuka so much. He is who I hold completely responsible for the downturn of Sonic. He is a talentless fuck and I don't even know what he does these days if not the level design and his amazing director stance of "make it like Sonic 2?".
At least he didn't make it like the franchise killing garbage that is Sonic 3.
 

RobbieNick

Junior Member
Ten-Song said:
I just got my Game Informer issue in today, so I got to have a better look at the screens in it. Man, the animation quality in this game is so awful. When Sonic grabs the zip line, it looks like his arms don't even exist, but that he just has tiny little nubs and hands that suddenly extend out of his head. Every frame of animation for Sonic is just flat out terrible.

Annnd you're basing this on Screenshots?!!

Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
At least he didn't make it like the franchise killing garbage that is Sonic 3.

Get the fuck outta this thread with that shit.

SecretBonusPoint said:
So from the Nintendo Power article Iizuka's favourite 2d Sonic is Sonic 2, the most vanilla of all of them and he told the "people making the game" (SUSPICIOUS) to "make it like Sonic 2". In screens you see a homing attack bridge of puffer fish enemies and a speed booster in Splash Hill.

I fucking hate Iizuka so much. He is who I hold completely responsible for the downturn of Sonic. He is a talentless fuck and I don't even know what he does these days if not the level design and his amazing director stance of "make it like Sonic 2?".

So now Sonic 2 sucks?!!:lol Wow! You guys just LOVE re-making history don't you?
 
Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
At least he didn't make it like the franchise killing garbage that is Sonic 3.

Actually he took the only awful concept of it, the splitting up Sonic 3 & Knuckles for MOAR PROFIT and then combined it with the safe and boring design of Sonic 2. So yes, he did, you BAD PERSON.
 

Ten-Song

Member
RobbieNick said:
Annnd you're basing this on Screenshots?!!

Yes, because in every shot where Sonic is preforming some action, he looks fucking terrible. The leaked video didn't look very promising either, but the screen shots being still captures of the action point out even more how bad he looks.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
The Nintendo Power article actually redeemed a bit of hope for me. Cautiously optimistic now.
 
So today this thread taught me that Sonic 1 was ok but vastly inferior to Sonic 2 + 3, Sonic 2 was boring, and Sonic 3 was garbage.

So basically Sonic was never actually good? 0_0

News to me.
 

Ten-Song

Member
Obsessed said:
So today this thread taught me that Sonic 1 was ok but vastly inferior to Sonic 2 + 3, Sonic 2 was boring, and Sonic 3 was garbage.

So basically Sonic was never actually good? 0_0

News to me.

Anyone that tells you Sonic 2 is boring is wrong about everything. Do not listen to such people.
 
RobbieNick said:
So now Sonic 2 sucks?!!:lol Wow! You guys just LOVE re-making history don't you?

I think Destructoid is onto something now... :lol

The complaints are getting a little ridiculous now. When someone starts saying Sonic 2 sucks and then starts giving suggestions on how to "better" the game, something ain't right.
 
RagnarokX said:
Looks like a bigger site update next week. There are new menus buttons counting down, one under videos and one at the bottom of the list, as well as the usual badnik and concept art countdowns.

The site really doesn't play well with the way Firefox caches things, those would not show up even after reloads until I tried a different browser briefly. I can see it if I dump the browser cache, but that's the only site I've had problems like that at in recent memory.
 
SecretBonusPoint said:
So from the Nintendo Power article Iizuka's favourite 2d Sonic is Sonic 2, the most vanilla of all of them and he told the "people making the game" (SUSPICIOUS) to "make it like Sonic 2". In screens you see a homing attack bridge of puffer fish enemies and a speed booster in Splash Hill.

I fucking hate Iizuka so much. He is who I hold completely responsible for the downturn of Sonic. He is a talentless fuck and I don't even know what he does these days if not the level design and his amazing director stance of "make it like Sonic 2?".
And here I thought I was the most pessimistic person in this thread! Come on dude, Sonic 2 as "the most vanilla" Sonic game when it practically set the standard for the series? Iizuka as the harbinger of doom even though he worked on games before the series went south and some of his biggest missteps since the downfall weren't fully his fault (NiGHTS)? As convinced as I am that this game is going to be middling, isn't this a tad on the unfair side?
 
wRATH2x said:
Why what did it say?

Contrary to popular belief, the 16-bit Sonic games were about much more than just speed. They placed a heavy emphasis on platforming and momentum based movement. Those same elements take center stage in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, making it truly feel like a continuation of the Genesis games as opposed to other recent 2-D efforts such as Sonic Rush. It's also got mutli-tiered level designs, secret nooks hidden behind destructible walls, lamp post check points, adorable woodland creatures that emerge from vanquished badniks, a spinning leg animation when Sonic reaches top speed, as well as springs, tunnels, corkscrews, loop-de-loops, as well as everything else that ought to comprise an old-school Sonic game.

Q: Many long time Sonic fans have noted that the Genesis games placed a greater emphasis on platforming and momentum-based gameplay than recent installments. Was returning to that a priority with for 4?

A: Of course. Because the gameplay follows the "classic" series, compared to the 3-D games in which Sonic runs at furious speeds in 3-D stages, it naturally becomes more of a platforming game.

.
 

Iknos

Junior Member
Q: Many long time Sonic fans have noted that the Genesis games placed a greater emphasis on platforming and momentum-based gameplay than recent installments. Was returning to that a priority with for 4?

A: Of course. Because the gameplay follows the "classic" series, compared to the 3-D games in which Sonic runs at furious speeds in 3-D stages, it naturally becomes more of a platforming game.

:lol Horrible answer.

The little faith I had in this title being good withered and died after reading that.
 

Ten-Song

Member
So it's the same as the Game Informer preview, in that it's mostly a "so how awesome is your game" article?

I'd like a non-PR soaked preview of the game to emerge at some point before I'll give any credit to these kinds of statements. The Game Informer preview was even positive about the inclusion of the homing attack.
 

RagnarokX

Member
Ten-Song said:
So it's the same as the Game Informer preview, in that it's mostly a "so how awesome is your game" article?

I'd like a non-PR soaked preview of the game to emerge at some point before I'll give any credit to these kinds of statements. The Game Informer preview was even positive about the inclusion of the homing attack.
So was the Nintendo Power article. They were like "We were worried about the homing attack, but we aren't anymore because level design is built around it!" Um... that's what people were worried about :p

Also:
287437m.jpg

Where no badnik has gone before :p
 

RobbieNick

Junior Member
Iknos said:
:lol Horrible answer.

The little faith I had in this title being good withered and died after reading that.

Okay, now I'm convinced that no matter what any good news there is about the game, you'll just thrash it down. There is nothing wrong with what he said here. He wants more platforming in the game. You're just hating on every little thing cuz you wanna look cool. You are BY FAR the worst poster on this thread You need to GTFO.
 

Ten-Song

Member
RagnarokX said:
So was the Nintendo Power article. They were like "We were worried about the homing attack, but we aren't anymore because level design is built around it!" Um... that's what people were worried about :p

Haven't read the Nintendo Power article myself. Hearing that makes me sad... :(

RagnarokX said:
Also:
http://i39.tinypic.com/287437m.jpg
Where no badnik has gone before :p

This on the other hand, does not. :lol
 

RobbieNick

Junior Member
Black_Ice said:
So are these guys ever going to give us a good piece of real info before June?
.....Have you not been reading the thread and news this week? There's TONS of new info because of some magazine previews. Go check out Sonic Stadium for the scans and info.
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
no, I haven't.

But thanks! I just saw those scans, it doesn't look bad at all. :)

NP:"With so many other retro elements included, why not bring back Sonic's original pot-bellied design?"

Iizuka:"That's because Sonic 4 is a brand new game, not a remake...all Sonic character designs were changed in 1998, so since then, all new titles have those new designs"


Hey, fuck that noise.
 

Ten-Song

Member
Black_Ice said:
NP:"With so many other retro elements included, why not bring back Sonic's original pot-bellied design?"

Iizuka:"That's because Sonic 4 is a brand new game, not a remake...all Sonic character designs were changed in 1998, so since then, all new titles have those new designs"


Hey, fuck that noise.

It baffles me that anyone would expect an honest answer from Sega in regards to that. It's not like they'll actively come out and say "this design scores higher in focus groups of tweens." Saying that in the article though is stupid, because they're bringing back so much other old shit. Eh, whatever, Sonic's design isn't really much of an issue.

Just having seen the Nintendo Power stuff myself though, the screens there are even more worrisome than the Game Informer ones in regards to the shit animation quality. The bubble shield can't properly center itself on Sonic when he goes through a corkscrew, and there's weird overlap issues in other shots. Seriously, Sega thought THIS was the best way to present their game in previews?

Also, the Nintendo Power screens make me hate the homing attack more and more. It seems way more obvious in those screens that the game is designed around using it. So much for the game having a "classic Sonic" feel to it. :(
 
Ten-Song said:
...The Game Informer preview was even positive about the inclusion of the homing attack.

*gasp!* Optimism!? How dare they!

But seriously...after playing Sonic Megamix, I too am positive about the homing attack. But hey, since you have a different opinion on the matter, mine and Game Informer's must be wrong.
 

OnPoint

Member
Black_Ice said:
no, I haven't.

But thanks! I just saw those scans, it doesn't look bad at all. :)

NP:"With so many other retro elements included, why not bring back Sonic's original pot-bellied design?"

Iizuka:"That's because Sonic 4 is a brand new game, not a remake...all Sonic character designs were changed in 1998, so since then, all new titles have those new designs"


Hey, fuck that noise.

I mean, we all know the real reasons, but the holes in his logic for even saying that... it hurts me where I think.
 

Ten-Song

Member
HeresSomeWeapons said:
*gasp!* Optimism!? How dare they!

But seriously...after playing Sonic Megamix, I too am positive about the homing attack. But hey, since you have a different opinion on the matter, mine and Game Informer's must be wrong.

It was more to demonstrate that exclusive preview coverage means the people publishing the content don't actually have any opinion. They have to say whatever makes Sega happy to put that stuff in their magazine, so there's no chance they'll actually evaluate the game in any meaningful way.
 

jman2050

Member
There are several roadblocks that may prevent this game from being very good, but the inclusion of the homing attack in and of itself isn't one of them.
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
At least he didn't make it like the franchise killing garbage that is Sonic 3.

Whoah, whoah, whoah. I'm no fan of Sonic 3 (I find it to be inferior to Sonic 1 and 2 in pretty much every way), but 'franchise killing garbage'? That's harsh.
 

Resilient

Member
Just saw the screens and read the impressions, and...looking better? Steps in the right direction, although it could be better :(

:lol at the Sonic 3 hate.
 

Anth0ny

Member
jman2050 said:
There are several roadblocks that may prevent this game from being very good, but the inclusion of the homing attack in and of itself isn't one of them.

Exactly.

If you want to get a feel of homing attack in 2D, play Sonic Megamix. It's great.

However, if they're building stages around the use of homing attack... ehhh.
 

.la1n

Member
FootNinja said:
So speaking solely to the people who liked unleashed. How did you like sonic and the secret rings?

actually sonic and the secret rings was kind of fun once you got all the upgrades going, it was also one of the first games I had on wii so I'm sure that has some effect on how I remember it.
 
I thought Secret Rings was 'okay-ish' once you got past the trial parts.

I hated Unleashed. Just an awful, fundamentally-flawed game.


I doubt I'll bother to play either one of them again, so I guess it's a tie at the end of the day.
 

Sanjuro

Member
SonicMegaDrive said:
I thought Secret Rings was 'okay-ish' once you got past the trial parts.

I hated Unleashed. Just an awful, fundamentally-flawed game.


I doubt I'll bother to play either one of them again, so I guess it's a tie at the end of the day.
...but...but the day levels. There are no glitches in the game it must be your 360!

In addition, if you "Sonic fans" don't consider Sonic 3 to be the decline of the series then you are in some serious denial. We need a nickname for rational Sonic fans. I love the character. Love the original games. There is just no joy to be had in failure and disappointment spanning over a decade now.
 
Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
...but...but the day levels. There are no glitches in the game it must be your 360!

In addition, if you "Sonic fans" don't consider Sonic 3 to be the decline of the series then you are in some serious denial. We need a nickname for rational Sonic fans. I love the character. Love the original games. There is just no joy to be had in failure and disappointment spanning over a decade now.


This is the right answer.
 

Sciz

Member
Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
In addition, if you "Sonic fans" don't consider Sonic 3 to be the decline of the series then you are in some serious denial.
Sonic 3 is only the decline in that it sold less than Sonic 2 thanks to Sega breaking the game in half. If you have some other criteria you want to argue about, stop dancing around the point and say it.
 
Sonic 3 wasn't amazing, but & Knuckles drags it by it's lapels up to legendary status, which is what the game always should have been. So you can take your little one man crusade and stick it Sanjuro!
 
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