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For those who missed the craze around midnight Pacific Time, a certain blue hedgehog’s next game was announced. Sega revealed the downloadable Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. Yes, more than 15 years after Sonic & Knuckles (essentially Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Episode II), we have a new numbered entry. Now, aside from the title, what was actually revealed?
An interview with CBS’ GameSpot revealed that the first episode of the title will be hitting Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store, and WiiWare in summer 2010. A look into Sega’s assets folder on the website pins it down more specifically at July 2010. A spot with a mysterious question mark is also on the site under the platform list – widely believed to be for Apple’s App Store although the Steam logo isn’t entirely out of the equation. The differences between versions? The Wii and PS3 versions will have motion controls via the Wii Remote and SIXAXIS controller. On the resolution front, the 360 and PS3 versions will run at 1080p while the Wii will output at a maximum of 480p.
As for the game itself, it’s a 2D sidescroller with a visual style that looks like a hybrid of Sonic Rush and Sonic 3D Blast. Very little gameplay footage was shown although the interview reveals that Sonic will be able to use power sneakers, spin dashes, and homing attacks like we’re used to from the 2D and 3D games. Concept art has also been released on Sega’s corporate blog in the past few weeks and the art direction for enemy design is promising. It hearkens back to the enemy designs of the Genesis games – animal robots rather than the purely mechanical ones of the 3D titles.
Also on the corporate blog during the last month was the reveal of which characters would be in the game. Most of Sonic’s friends have been confirmed to not be in the game. Sonic himself will be obviously as will Eggman as shown by the end of the trailer. Tails and Knuckles were mysteriously absent from both the blog post and this trailer.
And, well, that’s it. That’s all that we know. So what can we draw from this information? Most of the extreme reactions being felt by fans are without merit. There is little to be excited by at this point and only a few warning signs of what could potentially go wrong. Let’s look at what people are reacting to.
It’s 2D!
The game is 2D. However, so were the Sonic Advance games and the Sonic Rush series. Not to mention Sonic Rivals. There are people who enjoyed a few of those games, but they really aren’t anything like the classic games and really are not what most would want from a game titled Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It is, however, a sign that Sega is hopefully trying to create a well designed 2D Sonic game before trying to go back to the complicated 3D games.
It’s called Sonic the Hedgehog 4!
Yes, the game is called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. That is just a name. In case you’ve forgotten, dear reader, the 2006 game was called Sonic the Hedgehog. The name card has been played by Sega before and fans were let down harder than ever before.
Ew! Green Eyes? Creepy Skinny Sonic?
As ugly as his remodelling may be, this is the Sonic that Sega has been branding their products with and it’s unrealistic to expect them to change that. Remember, the reason you’re having such a strong reaction is because you dislike the games he appears in and are associating this Sonic with all that crap. He merely represents what you hate: the direction the franchise has taken since the first appearance of this new Sonic and that’s what you need to worry about.
Why is Sonic so slow at the end of the trailer?
That actually looks more like an animation problem than anything else. The speed he is running at during the 2010 portion of the trailer looks like what should be the regular running speed for Sonic, but is animated in an odd way. This will hopefully be fixed for release. If you remember the Genesis titles, Sonic actually ran at a very moderate pace that appeared fast due to the animation of his legs. This made for a controllable experience that felt fast. If they can capture this feeling, they’ll be well on their way to the other broken aspects of recent efforts. Think of this as a good sign!
Homing Attack? WHAT?
This is probably the most logical cause of alarm. It is a game mechanic used in 3D Sonic games out of necessity. It is extremely hard to aim Sonic in a 3D environment in the types of levels that Sonic Team liked to design in the 2000s. It is fully associated with bottomless pits in many players’ mind and that is something they don’t want to see in a classic-style Sonic game. Fortunately, handheld Sonic games have also had the homing attack but it was rarely used in most of them. If this stays an optional feature that is not used as a pillar of the level design, then this is fine.
So how should I feel?
Using this information, your feelings about this game should really be neutral with some slight pull in the positive or negative direction. I, myself, am feeling slightly pessimistic. As someone whose first video game at the age of four was Sonic the Hedgehog, I feel that I’ve been burned a few too many times to be thinking positively. Nothing I’ve seen has done anything to change my mind. I have decided to make up my mind when I see the most important aspect of this project: the level design. Sonic’s levels are what made them some of the greatest platformers of the 16-bit generation. Until I see a full level map or a few complete playthroughs of a level, I will not get my hopes up. I want to see multiple paths with few to no bottomless pits and platforming that requires me to use my momentum to my advantage. Will I get that? Time will tell.