Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Relax, it'll be released next month.

I'll probably wait for a sale.

So apparently episode 2 was leaked, but the leak was plugged.

Here is a gameplay video though. There are more, but I will abstain.

And some familiar music.

And some awesome new stuff.

edited 23rd Apr '12 12:49:48 AM by edvedd

Not sure I like the sound of the music this time around, and I wish the music was a little more thematic, but I'll get over it I suppose.

Using Stardust Speedway JPN, I see. Not a bad mix either.

The music seems better if you ask me. At least, Sylvania castle is a lot better than splash hill.

The final boss was a bit weird. Not sure if it's the final final one though.

One thing I can tell just by watching some of the leaked episode 2 gameplay is that it already looks far more fluid than Episode 1. There's a much better flow to it.

Just like sonic 1 -> sonic 2, heh.

I'm happy the final boss isn't another giant robot though. It's actually different from the other games, somewhat. It was kind of cool, not sure if I felt it was climatic enough though.

Have you guys seen this game's... interesting... take on Gravity Screw?

Last level spoilers

Oh dear, the last zone is like Death Egg Zone mixed with Crazy Gadget on crack. SO much spinning around I can't tell where the paths converge and whatnot. I wonder what is the high path in that zone.

edited 24th Apr '12 12:38:41 PM by Delvarian

That last level reminds me of this:

Destructoid's Review of Sonic 4: Episode 2: 5/10.

You know, while I can easily understand where Jim's coming from on this, and I actually agree with some of his points, I just can't see myself having less fun with this than with Episode 1. Guess I'll see for yourself next week.]]

Do anyone else want to share their thoughts on this?

Funnily enough, his problems with 2 are exactly my problems with 1. I'll wait and see for myself whether 2 doesn't spark my enduring interest more, however: lots of others we're hearing from are saying it's better in that regard.

5/10 from Desctroid!? I'm buying it then!

Given that he has entries all over Eight Point Eight, it seems like he just does it as front page view bait.

Is there anything from actually credible reviewers yet?*

edited 10th May '12 8:30:06 AM by videogmer314

Despite Sterling's pattern of Eight Point Eight antics, it's a given that Sonic haters/trolls will use that review as "proof" why Sonic still isn't good yet. Even if the rest of the Internet gives S4E2 glowing reviews, they'll keep pointing to the Destructoid review and go "See, Sonic still isn't good yet!"

edited 10th May '12 8:34:06 AM by NeoChaos

Yeah, many of them congregate towards there to gain fuel for their hate-wars and whatnot. Ignore them as usual.

Bought it. Playing it. It's definitely better than the first one: it runs smoother, Sonic's gameplay is a lot more fine tuned and works much better, the level design is much, much better - with fresher setting and much more well designed level gameplay (reminds me of the kind of design I like from the Sonic Advance series) - even the music is a lot better from what I can tell so far.

The Tails actions are interesting. Flying is a lot less free now - you get a few short bursts and that's it, so you can't go circumventing huge vertical distances between pathways (the levels are not as linear as they are in 4-1, so if you don't it the right jumps at the right time, and you won't the first time through, you'll end up on the lower, worse paths. Very classic Sonic skill). The super spin dash is very powerful, but it's balanced out by a lack of precise control over what you do.

As for the stages, Sylvania Castle is one of my favorite first stages in the whole series now. Oil Desert is an interesting mix between Oil Ocean, Sandopolis and Planet Wisp, and has what is in my opinion the best boss in the game.

Episode: Metal is pretty interesting - it's basically a run though heavily altered levels from the first game, with lots more enemies/spikes. Though the levels are altered, however, you may notice that some segements are lifted completely from 4-1. Metal Sonic's gameplay is essentially Sonic's gameplay from the first one. Unfortunately, there's no boss.

The final boss is great. Very interesting, very cool, one of the better of the more creative final boss designs I've seen in the series for a while. [[spoiler: It's pretty much a grinder, where you try your hardest to keep as many of your rings if you get hit. And you will get hit. It's very easy to be caught in a position where the only way to get your rings back is to use your brief invulnerability from getting hit to run into danger, and you can easily get into a position where you're stuck and death is inevitable if you don't conserve your rings well enough: the only rings available during the fight are after all the stuff you have to do to get a hit in, so if you lost your rings at the start of the run you have to go through three rings of traps before you can replenish them.

Tips for the Final Boss:

• Don't take the rings around the boss until you really need them.
• In the later stages the boss has an attack on a timer that will hit you if you take to long to hit it. He can pull a Silver on you and hit your out of the invulnerability you get from being hit, so be careful.
• THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT. If you're going to whiff hitting the final boss, for the love of all that is holy don't miss by a hair - miss by a mile. If you get hit by the boss' electricity and Tails hits him, you will be forced to leave all your rings behind and go through the whole gauntlet before you can get more. This killed me several times.
• I can't reiterate this enough: you're not going to get extra rings as easy. Keep ahold of yours. Run into electricity if you have to.

Random other stuff I noted:

• You still have to hold down-forward to get speed while in a ball unless you're going vertical, which again isn't a problem for me since I tend to do that anyway though at first I was wondering why I was just meandering along in a roll sometimes.
  • In general this game continues the "running > rolling" trend that the first one used - it's a lot like Sonic Advance that way (specifically thinking about Sonic Advance 2 here).
• Sonic is more maneuverable in the air then he used to be.
• You can't really walk up anything now without any kind of momentum: momentum in general is applied a whole lot better.
• Metal Sonic's boss themes (both of them) are awesome. Oil Desert's music is great, as is Sylvania Castle's. White Park's music is meh. The regular boss music is meh too.
• Metal Sonic fights badniks for some reason. Maybe he's got daddy issues.

edited 17th May '12 6:05:37 PM by KnownUnknown

Metal sonic just thinks he's better than every other of Eggman's robots.

Here's my dream cast for "Sonic 5":

Keep every actor except Tails and Shadow. Replace Kate Higgins and Kirk Thornton with Kath Soucie (possibly using her Timmy Turner voice) and Neil Patrick Harris.

The world is happy now.

^ Shouldn't this be in the general Sonic thread?

Given that his game as no voice acting whatsoever.

Having Tails voiced by Kath Soucie would be very awkward considering she already voiced Sally in a series that Tails was in.

As for Neil Patrick Harris, chances are slim since only one acting celebrity has ever had a role in the Sonic series (and it didn't go well, considering).

Having Blaze voiced by Kath Soucie on the other hand...

Come to think of it, it sounded a bit like someone in Generations was voiced by her (I think it was Rouge even though she's voiced by... I forget who).

@ Known Unknown

I agree with everything you just with this game, although have different preferences to the music in the game.

Is it worth buying?