Sonic the Hedgehog... 4?

[J.T.]

Apparently it was announced in September, but eh, figured I'd make a topic for it.

I came.

Looks like Sega and Sonic Team have learned their lesson and are returning to Sonic's roots:

'Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I features the classic Sonic gameplay style that the community has been asking for since Sonic and Knuckles,' said Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America,Inc. 'Thanks to emerging technologies, we are able to create all-new stunning Sonic worlds combined with Genesis-era Sonic gameplay and make it downloadable across multiple platforms.'

So basically, they're doing what Nintendo did with Mario - a 2D platformer with 3D graphics (2.5D, I believe some call it?). A news page, concept art for some of the Badniks (for the most part they seem to be redone versions of baddies from the Sega Genesis games), a couple videos (which reveal next to nothing about the gameplay :| ), links to blogs, the Sega forums, and some sort of newsletter are all on the site, as well as an "intro" which basically runs down the story of Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles.

According to the website, it'll be available for the Playstation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade, and WiiWare (as well as "???", apparently some sort of surprise console - DS maybe?) some time this summer.

Personally, as a big-time Sonic fan (before Sega lost it), I'm pretty excited to see how this turns out. Granted, I said the same about the shitstorm that was Sonic 2006, but I have high hopes for another 2D Sonic game (I rather enjoyed Sonic Rush and the Sonic Advance games).

 

[Erif]

Eh, I'm more of a fan of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 (oh c'mon, those two games were freakin' amazing), but it'll be nice to see Sega do something that's not complete shit. Returning to their roots is a good way to start.

 

[Aisling]

I was a huge fan of the Sonic Adventure games too (SA2 more than SA, though), but this looks like it could be interesting. I really liked the Sonic Advance series as well and it was very much... roots-returning.

 

[Zuu]

Sega...

I love you.

- Zuu

 

[Aenrhien]

I think I might be in love with Sega again. :D

 

[#1 bro]

anyone who begins to feel the slightest shred of hope towards any planned sonic game is a naive fool. the series is basically over.

 

[Aisling]

guilty as charged

 

[Yarnchu]

They "returned to their roots" multiple times before. I'll wait a bit when they release it to see what others think first before I download.

But IMO nothing will beat Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles. That was one 16-bit masterpiece that I doubt Sega can even match ever again.

 

[Karkat Vantas]

After shamelessly ripping off Twilight Princess, I'm glad to see that Sega has now shifted their attention to ripping off NSMBwii.

In all seriousness, I never liked Sonic. The Genesis games were mediocre, imo, and with a few exceptions (SA2 was pretty good), the series has been rolling out crappy games year after year.

You know what I want? A sequel to Ristar. That game was awesome. Dynamite Headdy 2 would be awesome as well.

 

[fresh fruit for Adol]

Sega should just stop making new Sonic games. The last [strike]good[/strike] decent one was Sonic Adventure, and the series has been crap ever since the Dreamcast.

Sega should seriously start thinking about just leaving Sonic be. Maybe then we might actually see a Shenmue 3 (lol right </wishful thinking>), a new Jet Set Radio, another Panzer Dragoon (lol), or maybe even a remake of Burning Rangers (Yeah, right).

 

[hopeandjoy]

*flees*

 

[#1 bro]

After shamelessly ripping off Twilight Princess, I'm glad to see that Sega has now shifted their attention to ripping off NSMBwii.

right, because nintendo has a copyright on the idea of making a 2D game with 3D graphics? (or if you like to use obnoxious terms, 2.5D). not sure when it was that sega apparently ripped off twilight princess but i don't really care.

Sega should just stop making new Sonic games. The last [strike]good[/strike] decent one was Sonic Adventure, and the series has been crap ever since the Dreamcast.

SONIC ADVENTURE 2 WAS THE BEST GAME EVER and i refuse to admit that it is 100% nostalgia that makes me think this way! never mind that the game was so easy and short i can beat it in four hours or so today. never mind that, when looking back, there really wasn't anything fun about the chao garden... at all. never mind that 1/3 of the levels (the shooting ones) were incredibly easy and stupid! IT WAS A GREAT GAME dammit

in all seriousness, though, can someone tell me exactly what the "glory days" of sonic were? it's pretty widely acknowledged that everything post shadow the hedgehog is terrible, but opinions tend to differ going back from that. lots of people hate all the 3D games and it seems kind of weird to mourn for a series that sucked after like... 15 years ago,when everyone switched from 2D to 3D. that would be like if every mario game after yoshi's island was terrible, and yet people still hoped mario games would be good again. or if every zelda game after link to the past... well, you get the idea.

as a kid, i really liked sonic. i had sonic adventure 2 for the game cube, and like i sort of implied a paragraph above, i was obsessed with it. it took me around two years to beat the game because i was a dumb little kid but i played it religiously during that time. my favorite levels, strangely, were the hunting levels (which remains the case to this day). i really liked just exploring the open environments in the hunting levels, not necessarily caring if there was a goal to reach.

since i loved sa2 so much, i was all pumped for sonic heroes. i hung a poster from nintendo power on my wall with the 12 characters on it and gazed at it fondly for months, anticipating the fun that was to come upon the game's release. but then, when it came out, i was really disappointed by it. i hated the return to sort of the cartoony narrative and graphic style of the 2D sonic games, as opposed to the more darker and realistic sonic adventure 2 which involved like the army and the US president and stuff. i also hated how all four teams' adventures were pretty much exactly the same, while in sonic adventure 2 you had the dark side and the hero side on separate but interweaving paths. and of course, i missed those hunting levels. but looking back, gameplay-wise, sonic heroes wasn't exactly much worse than sa2. of course, it came a whole generation later, so you might expect more, but still. (also it's pretty hard. i still haven't beaten it.)

i also played the original sonic adventure a year or so after that, and i really liked it too. looking back, though, it was probably the worst of the lot. every character except sonic's levels were completely pointless, and even sonic's levels weren't that great. exploring the overworld was fun, but that was about it. honestly i watched a "let's play" of sonic the hedgehog 2006 and it really didn't seem much worse than this game. so, yeah.

i don't really know why i wrote all of that, but in short, sonic never has been all that good and sonic fans are annoying. the end.

 

[Karkat Vantas]

Sonic and the Black Knight was essentially "let's give Sonic a sword lol". It's Zelda, but without the dungeons and weapons that make Zelda fun.

Sega would not even consider this game if NSMB wasn't the success that it was. You need to realize that Sonic was created as a counter to Mario. Sega games in the nineties tended to be copies of snes games (for example: kid chameleon is metroid). In order to make the series seem fresh, they draw inspiration from (read: rip off) the gimmicks in other games. Shadow the Hedgehog? Grand Theft Auto. Black Knight? Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Now, many big companies like Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami are making old-fashioned games. Sega follows suit. Of course, while they get the right idea, they fail when it comes to gameplay.

I might get this. I'm very skeptical, but Sega might surprise me.

(I agree with Zeta, though. Sonic's gone from decent to mediocre to crap.)

 

[fresh fruit for Adol]

Sega would not even consider this game if NSMB wasn't the success that it was. You need to realize that Sonic was created as a counter to Mario. Sega games in the nineties tended to be copies of snes games (for example: Castlevania is metroid).

fix'd

Castlevania became Metroid due to the lack of Metroid, and because IGA's running the show with Castlevania now.

Kid Chameleon was just another platformer with a shit ton of stages and different transformations. It's just Mario as a juvenile delinquent with sunglasses.

Now, many big companies like Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami are making old-fashioned games. Sega follows suit. Of course, while they get the right idea, they fail when it comes to gameplay.

The problem is that while Sega gets the idea, the gameplay ends up being literally the same as any other platformer, be it Classicvania, Mega Man, or Mario, so Sonic has absolutely nothing to make it stand out aside from too many characters and stupid stages.

 

[J.T.]

Sonic and the Black Knight was essentially "let's give Sonic a sword lol". It's Zelda, but without the dungeons and weapons that make Zelda fun.

The hell? How are they anything alike? "let's give sonic a sword lols" was a stupid idea, yes, and I didn't enjoy SatBK much, but to say it's a ripoff of LoZ is a load. What do they have in common? The main characters have swords. The levels look a little similar in certain areas. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. The gameplay is completely different, the controls are different, the story is different, the characters are different... How is Black Knight a Zelda clone, exactly?

Sega would not even consider this game if NSMB wasn't the success that it was.

Well, no shit. You don't keep trying with a failed concept. How many first-person shooters do you think we'd have if the first few bombed, for example? People have been saying "the old Sonic games were better" for a long damn time. Sega tried with Sonic Unleashed, and I think the general consensus is that the daytime stages were good but the nighttime stages sucked. So when they realize that there's still a market for 2D platformers, they'll try it. You act like it's terrible to do something that's been done before to great success.

You need to realize that Sonic was created as a counter to Mario.

Yes, but I'd hardly say that anyone considers him a Mario ripoff nowadays (or ever).

Sega games in the nineties tended to be copies of snes games (for example: kid chameleon is metroid).

Haven't played Kid Chameleon, so I can't comment on the accuracy of that.

In order to make the series seem fresh, they draw inspiration from (read: rip off) the gimmicks in other games.

Drawing inspiration from something is not the same as ripping off something. By that logic, sequels and game mods are the ultimate in shameless ripoffs.

Shadow the Hedgehog? Grand Theft Auto. Black Knight? Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Now you're just being ridiculous. Shadow the Hedgehog's only similarities to GTA were the weapons and vehicles.

Now, many big companies like Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami are making old-fashioned games. Sega follows suit.

Because they know it's working. Again, the market wouldn't be loaded with first-person shooters if the originals had bombed. Besides, this is what Sonic fans have wanted for years. What do you want Sega to do?

And it's not like this is the first Sonic game of its kind. Both Sonic Rush games were 2.5D as well. The first, imo, was a fun game (up until some no-life stole my copy at the airport), and it seems a few game sites have the same feelings as me. I haven't played Rush Adventure, though, so I can't speak for that. I guess Sonic Rush is the reason I think this one could be good too.

Of course, while they get the right idea, they fail when it comes to gameplay.

Well, that remains to be seen.

in all seriousness, though, can someone tell me exactly what the "glory days" of sonic were?

Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD seem to be the most popular ones (for good reason). I'd say that's what a good chunk of people would call the "glory days".

 

[Aisling]

there really wasn't anything fun about the chao garden... at all.

The Chao garden was the whole reason I got a Gamecube and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle in the first place. ): (I had Sonic Advance first and the guide to it, which was a 2-in-1 guide for SA2B also, and I was like I WANT IT when I read the Chao garden section)

since i loved sa2 so much, i was all pumped for sonic heroes. i hung a poster from nintendo power on my wall with the 12 characters on it and gazed at it fondly for months, anticipating the fun that was to come upon the game's release. but then, when it came out, i was really disappointed by it. i hated the return to sort of the cartoony narrative and graphic style of the 2D sonic games, as opposed to the more darker and realistic sonic adventure 2 which involved like the army and the US president and stuff. i also hated how all four teams' adventures were pretty much exactly the same, while in sonic adventure 2 you had the dark side and the hero side on separate but interweaving paths. and of course, i missed those hunting levels. but looking back, gameplay-wise, sonic heroes wasn't exactly much worse than sa2. of course, it came a whole generation later, so you might expect more, but still. (also it's pretty hard. i still haven't beaten it.)

Agreed, though I mostly raged at the gaping plot hole that was Shadow's continued, unexplained existence because I was a horrible, horrible raging Shadow fangirl. At first I was like :D but then I was like ಠ_ಠ when I realized what awful things they were doing to him. (And I haven't beaten it either, the closest I got was to like the second to last game on Team Rose. Gave up because I decided I wasn't having fun anymore)

i also played the original sonic adventure a year or so after that, and i really liked it too. looking back, though, it was probably the worst of the lot. every character except sonic's levels were completely pointless, and even sonic's levels weren't that great. exploring the overworld was fun, but that was about it

Yeah. The controls were more slippery and after playing SA2 first, the Chao Garden was a lot less interesting. I remember ScrewAttack.com did a video on the 5 best + 5 worst Sonic games and SA2 wasn't even on the list, and SA1 was like #3 best or something (#1 was Sonic CD), and I raged at that a lot too, 'cause really the only thing it had on SA2 was the overworlds.


Maybe I have bad taste in video games but the things I want to see back never happen ever again (a real Pokemon Stadium where you don't just have 12 rental Pokemon to choose from, and minigames, and gym leaders; Chao Garden and awesome overworlds in Sonic games)

 

[Mariodjw]

I guess this could be a good place for me to start. If this one is good then I think I'll get it.
________
FIND HEADSHOP

 

[Erika]

As long as their no grinding, no tricks, and Dr. Robotnik is referred to as "Dr. Robotnik" I'll be happy. =3

 

[Yami Angel Christian]

I've seen gameplay footage for it...

AND IT HAS F*****G Dr "EGGMAN", not Dr Robotnik!!!

 

[Yarnchu]

Really? REALLY?

Jeez, IT IS A FREAKING NAME. Complaining about his name is as bad as complaining about Sonic's damn eye color. IT DOESN'T MATTER.

Just continue calling him Robotnik if it matters so much. But Sega just went with his currently established name...big deal.