Sonic 4 Episode 2
I remember a time when the world was screaming for Sonic 4. The same tired old arguments were made time and time again. Sonic only works in 2D, why can’t they just follow the formula of the classics, it can’t be that hard to make another game like them. Give us Sonic 4!
Well SEGA gave us Sonic 4 and everyone hated it. SEGA got very little right. It didn’t look all that good, it didn’t sound all that good and it played like a completely different game. It was an embarrassment that shouldn’t have been called Sonic 4.
To start it only had four zones, this would’ve worked if it was episodic content but then they charged full price for it. Jun tried to emulate the classic games’ music but just ended up sounding like a load of cats meowing. The physics were notably all over the place and it took a big adjustment to get over this, too big for most.
Sega of America invited the general public to visit their headquarters and discuss in detail what exactly went wrong. Months later and the second episode is upon us. Have they learned from their mistakes or does S4:II miss the mark again?
Well actually it’s both.
Episode 1 wasn’t that bad it just suffered from a lot of little flaws that became one big one. As a 2D platformer it was fine but nothing special. As a Sonic game it left much to be desired.
Episode 2 starts off well. The physics system feels a lot better. You don’t stop dead when you let go of a direction and everything feels a lot more solid this time around. Still not quite the way you’ll remember it but a big improvement over Episode 1. The only thing that doesn’t work is the rolling, you will slow down while going downhill when you should speed up, otherwise even the slight differences work well.
Visually it is far more impressive this time. The backgrounds are fantastically detailed and each level is a mixture of two classic levels. Slyvanian Castle is a nice blend of Aquatic Ruin and Marble Garden, White Park combines the best of Ice Cap and Carnvial Night, Oil Desert mixes Oil Ocean with Sandopolis, and Sky Fortress pays tribute to the classic Sky Chase and Wing fortress zones of Sonic 2.
The only problem is that you are far too zoomed in on Sonic. A lot of the time you will not see Hazards until your rings are bouncing on the ground. There is some good use of the scenery though, adjusting platforms with homing attacks, running along collapsing pillars, switching between the foreground and the background to open up multiple routes.
This also extends to the badniks. There is one in particular that appears underwater who freezes itself into a giant ball of Ice, blocking your path if you are not quick enough to get past it.
Episode 2 still suffers from some of the major problems from Episode 1. There are only 5 zones which is not enough for a full price game. The music emulating the classics is still a bad call.
But on top of this the bosses, while imaginative, have long Unskippable sequences that occur every time you fail. Some can last 30 seconds and it’s very annoying to go through the same 30 seconds over and over again. The Last boss is notorious for this.
Even with some clever use of achievements this isn’t going to last you long. There’s very little to unlock and getting all achievements is only going to take you a few hours. It really doesn’t feel worth the full 1200 points.
Better than Episode 1 but suffers from some of the same problems, fixes some but then comes up with some of its own. Like the rest of the series these day it’s getting close but still falls short of greatness.
7/10
Well SEGA gave us Sonic 4 and everyone hated it. SEGA got very little right. It didn’t look all that good, it didn’t sound all that good and it played like a completely different game. It was an embarrassment that shouldn’t have been called Sonic 4.
To start it only had four zones, this would’ve worked if it was episodic content but then they charged full price for it. Jun tried to emulate the classic games’ music but just ended up sounding like a load of cats meowing. The physics were notably all over the place and it took a big adjustment to get over this, too big for most.
Sega of America invited the general public to visit their headquarters and discuss in detail what exactly went wrong. Months later and the second episode is upon us. Have they learned from their mistakes or does S4:II miss the mark again?
Well actually it’s both.
Episode 1 wasn’t that bad it just suffered from a lot of little flaws that became one big one. As a 2D platformer it was fine but nothing special. As a Sonic game it left much to be desired.
Episode 2 starts off well. The physics system feels a lot better. You don’t stop dead when you let go of a direction and everything feels a lot more solid this time around. Still not quite the way you’ll remember it but a big improvement over Episode 1. The only thing that doesn’t work is the rolling, you will slow down while going downhill when you should speed up, otherwise even the slight differences work well.
Visually it is far more impressive this time. The backgrounds are fantastically detailed and each level is a mixture of two classic levels. Slyvanian Castle is a nice blend of Aquatic Ruin and Marble Garden, White Park combines the best of Ice Cap and Carnvial Night, Oil Desert mixes Oil Ocean with Sandopolis, and Sky Fortress pays tribute to the classic Sky Chase and Wing fortress zones of Sonic 2.
The only problem is that you are far too zoomed in on Sonic. A lot of the time you will not see Hazards until your rings are bouncing on the ground. There is some good use of the scenery though, adjusting platforms with homing attacks, running along collapsing pillars, switching between the foreground and the background to open up multiple routes.
This also extends to the badniks. There is one in particular that appears underwater who freezes itself into a giant ball of Ice, blocking your path if you are not quick enough to get past it.
Episode 2 still suffers from some of the major problems from Episode 1. There are only 5 zones which is not enough for a full price game. The music emulating the classics is still a bad call.
But on top of this the bosses, while imaginative, have long Unskippable sequences that occur every time you fail. Some can last 30 seconds and it’s very annoying to go through the same 30 seconds over and over again. The Last boss is notorious for this.
Even with some clever use of achievements this isn’t going to last you long. There’s very little to unlock and getting all achievements is only going to take you a few hours. It really doesn’t feel worth the full 1200 points.
Better than Episode 1 but suffers from some of the same problems, fixes some but then comes up with some of its own. Like the rest of the series these day it’s getting close but still falls short of greatness.
7/10
posted by Master hunter at 1:55 pm
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