Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Yes, but maybe you better wait for after a price drop.

Meanwhile, not sure if I should buy it or just wait for an Arcade compilation of sorts.

edited 19th May '12 12:10:25 PM by Enzeru

Bought it today, cleared the basic game (I've yet to get all the Chaos Emeralds), enjoyed it. The physics are definitely a step up from Episode 1; Sonic doesn't feel as heavy when moving from a standing position, for instance, and it's easier to regain your bearings on small platforms (in Episode 1, I often misjudged my landing, causing me to walk off a platform just as I land on it). I like the team maneuvers - particularly how they freeze the game (and the timer) temporarily while Sonic and Tails are posing and all, giving you a short chance to decide your next move. The double spin dash is hilariously overpowered in my opinion, though; it makes the race against Metal Sonic near the end a total joke.

I played local co-op with a friend; the 'off-screen call' from Sonic Colors' 2-player mode returns, and is quite useful in surviving botched jumps and misjudged flight distances (normally, you can't use the flight maneuver more than once in any given 'air time'; have Sonic let go of Tails and fall off-screen, and when he warps back to Tails' position, when you press X to spawn him again, he gets a fresh team maneuver to use ). On the other hand, Sky Fortress acts 1 and boss require intense teamwork, as it's pretty easy for either the Tails player (flying the Tornado) to fly Sonic right into the path of a badnik/attack, or for the Sonic player to botch a homing attack and hit the bottom of the screen before he can press the 'recall' button that lets him instantly dash back onto the Tornado.

Also, something I noticed about Tails' flight ability: when carrying Sonic, he has about as much stamina as in Sonic 3 before he gets tired and begins to descend - though he has better speed and altitude gain in comparison. Alone, he can fly for quite a long time. I know this because my partner kept flying at every opportunity, causing me to warp to him (the player who's 'falling behind' is the one who's warped to the player 'in the lead'; it changes depending on the direction of the path you're on) while I'm still picking up rings I just dropped. ^_^;

So, now that Episode 2 is out and general reaction seems to be fairly positive... you guys think there's a chance of us still seeing Episode 3? Knuckles and Amy need a comeback, too!

edited 28th May '12 11:41:07 PM by Demovere

Makes sense for Knuckles since Episode I is based on Sonic 1 and Episode II based on Sonic 2 and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch if they based Episode III on Sonic 3 & Knuckles. If Episode III does show up, I hope they have a Knuckles version of what Episode II did to Metal Sonic if you have the older Episodes.

Gameplay in Episode II felt much better than Episode I. I actually didn't fall down as much as I did the first game and the tag team seems alright. Plus Episode Metal feels like a difficult mode for Episode I, in a good way. I hope Sega decides to release at least one more episode for Sonic 4.

I have the demo (and it's really annoying to be put on a time limit), and I enjoy what that offers me. I'll wait until June 23rd or so and see if they have a Sonic Birthday sale or something. If not, I'll just buy it.

So who wants to play PS 3 online co op with me?