Overall 7 Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 5 Story 3 Depth 5 Difficulty 6
8
Worth the wait? Itachi9695
It had been nearly sixteen years since the last 2D Sonic platformer when Sega announced this game. People were excited to hear of the Blue Blur's return to 2D, but was it worth the wait? Let's find out!
Graphics: I really like how all the models look in this game, especially Sonic and Eggman. The stages also look very nice, but they seem a little too "cartoony" in my opinion, especially Splash Hill Zone, but you would probably easily look past this.
Sound: I actually kind of enjoy a lot of the music in this game, it kind of reminds me of the Genesis, but also brings something new. I really like Splash Hill Zone and Mad Gear Zone's music. The normal boss theme is kind of catchy and the "Pinch Mode" music is ok, but it gets a little repetitive during E.G.G. Station Zone. The sound effects are a bit off a throwback to the Genesis sound effects, which is fine by me.
Addictiveness: To be honest, even though it is fun, I don't find myself playing this too often, but whenever I do play it again I tend to find speedier ways through the levels.
Story: It's your typical "Classic Sonic" story, so there's not much to say here.
Depth: There are only 4 zones, 5 including the E.G.G. Station/Final Zone, Splash Hill Zone, Casino Street Zone, Lost Labyrinth Zone, and Mad Gear Zone. All of these stages are "semi-throwbacks" they take themes from past Sonic levels and bring in new mechanics to add a bit of originality. The bosses are "semi-throwbacks" as well, mostly stemming from Sonic 1 and 2 bosses. The Special Stages are also throwbacks, to Sonic 1. To enter a Special Stage, you have to collect 50 rings and then jump into the giant ring at the end of the zone. They take the maze aspect of the Sonic 1 special stages, except this time there are seven and you control the maze instead of Sonic. Once you get all seven Chaos Emeralds, you can transform into Super Sonic.
Difficulty: Once you get used to the controls, this game isn't very difficult. The only things that I still find to be irritating are the Mad Gear Zone boss in Pinch mode and the final boss.
Gameplay: I know it's not part of the scoring system, but I feel like this needs to be brought up. The gameplay is somewhat different from the classic titles in the sense that if you let go of the direction you're going, Sonic will stop and lose all momentum and rolling isn't really a great way to gain speed. It is kind of odd going from the classics straight to this, but it shouldn't take you very long to get used to the new physics. Super Sonic actually controls a little better than regular Sonic in my opinion, he can jump higher, go faster, and is completely invincible. Also new to Sonic's arsenal is the Homing attack from the 3D Sonic games, it can also be used when you're not locked on to an enemy to do an air dash and gain a little speed.
Overall I think this is a pretty good Sonic game, certainly not the best, but it is still pretty good. This is definitely a game I would recommend you have in your collection. I give it an 8 out of 10.
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 7 Depth 6 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-31-12
Review Replies: 2
7
Sonic 4: Episode I- Review dazzsheil
Before Sonic 4 came out people were REALLY skeptical about the Sonic series. Many critics panned games like 2005's
Shadow the Hedgehog, 2006's
Sonic the Hedgehog, 2008's
Sonic Unleashed and 2009's
Sonic and the Black Knight. The value of the Sonic the Hedgehog brand had fallen drastically, and SEGA needed a game to try and get them out of the Gutters. Enter Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, the beginning of a Saga that continues with two other games ( 1993's
Sonic CD and 2012's
Episode II). Does Sonic 4: Episode I capture the essence of the classic SEGA Mega Drive games? It does.....sort of. (This is a review of the Nintendo Wii version, which has different sound to the HD versions)
Sonic's movement is controlled via the Wiimotes D-Pad and Jumps with the 2 Button. You can Spin-Dash just like in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and it's used alot in this game. You can also Homing Attack by pressing 2 in the air. If you played the classic games, you can immediately tell that this game has different physics to the older games. For example, in the classic games, Sonic gained momentum and took about 2 seconds to stop running. In Sonic 4, Sonic stops dead in his tracks. Fans were very displeased at this. Also for some reason Sonic can now just walk up a wall instead of having to be going at a good enough speed to climb the slope, he just struts up like nobody's business! Also, there are a large amount of Speed boosters and Bumpers, which really make the game seem like it's on Auto-Pilot.
The graphics -for a WiiWare game- are pretty good. The game has this whole "shiny" effect to it and it works really well but the Graphics could've been better. The games environment's take their designs from 4 classic Zones from the first 2 games ( Green Hill, Casino Night, Labyrinth and Metropolis) but the problem is that they're all basically 2D cutouts! The only 3D objects in this game are Sonic and the enemies he encounters, which all animate pretty smoothly I have to say.
The game tries to sound like the Mega drive games and in the HD Versions, it sounds like something you'd hear on one of those early CD consoles back in the 90's. On the Wii, it sounds more like the Mega Drive games and it's done really well, although some of the tracks are horrible like Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2's music. Overall, it could've been better.
The story is well, as follows:
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is set after the events of Sonic & Knuckles. With the Death Egg destroyed, Sonic heads off to explore new territories alone. However, antagonist Dr. Eggman has survived their last encounter, and has revisited and improved some of his creations from previous games, attempting to get rid of Sonic as the first part of his new grandiose scheme.[1] Sonic's battle with Eggman culminates with Sonic battling and defeating Eggman in his new base, the E.G.G. Station.
[spoiler] If all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected, a brief post-credits cutscene will be seen, showing a silhouette of Metal Sonic, hinting at the next episode. [/spoiler]
As you can see, the plot is pretty basic for a video game.The game really isn't that deep. Sure, you've the 7 Chaos Emeralds to collect and there's alternate pathways throughout the levels but there really isn't that much left to do once you're done. It's not very addicting either.
Sonic 4: Episode I is not very hard, since you can rack up the extra lives pretty easily but there are some levels that are kinda difficult, like most of Mad Gear Zone.
Overall Sonic 4: Episode I is good, just not the game you remember from your childhood. I don't think it's worth the $15 price tag and sure could've been improved but it's a nice distraction :)
7/10
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 5 Story 3 Depth 5 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 06-23-12
Updated: 06-24-12
Review Replies: 2
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