Console – Xbox 360/Playstation 3/Wii-ware
Game Type – 2D platformer
Players – 1
Publisher – Sega/DIMPS
Price – 1200 MS Points
Reviewer – Iain Stewart

Hume Note ~ This review was played on the Xbox 360 version.

So here we are, folks. The moment many have waited for or dreaded, depending on your thoughts on Sega attempting to continue the original Sonic series with a sequel that's taken well over a decade to appear. The question on every players mind will be the same.

“Is this fit to be called “Sonic 4?”

The answer unfortunately isn't easy, most especially because we have, in theory, only seen a small portion of the entirety of “Sonic 4” thus far due to the episodic content method of delivery. As such, while this review may use comparisons to Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles (henceforth known collectively as the “classics”) to judge Sonic 4's performance, deciding whether or not this game is entitled to bear the name is not the intent of this review. Such a decision is pre-mature at this point.

Sonic 4: Episode 1, taken as a game in it's own right is fairly short, trying to aim more for a “quality over quantity” slant. It includes 4 Zones with 3 Acts plus a boss each, plus one extra boss rush for a final level. In addition there are 7 Special Stages. In total, you are looking at perhaps 2 hours of gameplay with perhaps an extra hour to unlock everything. The plot is simple enough to be summarised in one sentence. Robotnik is being evil in an undefined fashion, Sonic is out to stop him. Depending on your stance on Sonic stories, this will either be what you always wanted or feel utterly empty. However given Sonic 3 and Knuckles and it's use of “cut scenes” with silent animated sprites and almost cinematic presentation of certain scenes, Sonic 4 almost entirely lacks these outside of a couple of very basic scripted moments. As a refreshing release from the over plotted nonsense of the 3D games it is incredibly pleasing. But when one considers Sonic 4 as a “sequel” to Sonic 3 and Knuckles it seems strange for the series to take such a massive step backwards.

In fact, Sonic 4 does this quite a lot. Characters are stripped back to just Sonic and Robotnik. Special stages go back to the Sonic 1 method of entering. There is no multiplayer. The bubble shields come in only their stock basic variety. It almost feels like the game is trying to be Sonic 1 re-imagined than the sequel to Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Once again, this is both refreshing in it's simplicity and yet a little infuriating in that it is not evolving the series it is supposedly continuing.

Graphically it is a large step up...in some places. Splash Hill Zone looks quite dire, visually. As does Robotnik along with his machines. Sonic looks alright, although there is an odd discordance with his environment, he seems layered on top rather than being a part of it. Levels like Lost Labyrinth Zone and Mad Gear Zone however look absolutely amazing in their detail and animation of the environment around Sonic. Mad Gear in particular gives an impression of being inside a vast unending machine that's not a very safe place to be at all, perfect for it's penultimate positioning in the games story. In general, Sonic 4 looks great barring some glaring areas of graphical problems, the final boss in particular which actually made this reviewer wince in disgust. It looks incredibly amateur. That said, the majority of the game does look pretty good, it's mostly the little things that stand out, rather than the overall appearance being bad.

Sound design is potentially the largest marmite soundtrack in the Sonic franchise around already. It uses a blend of chiptune and modern music that sounds quite unique. Whether it is any good however is another matter entirely. Some of the tunes are, to be somewhat blunt, flat out some of the worst pieces in the history of the Sonic series. Robotnik's boss tune in particular which sounds like something a circus band with no budget might play. Ironically, it's an un-used tune from Sonic 3D. It becomes painfully obvious why it never was when heard in a boss fight. Most areas have music that either sounds acceptable to pretty good. Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear especially have great music that elevates their quality far higher than the other zones. Sound effects mostly use old Megadrive sound effects, however the menu uses new age 3D Sonic game effects which can be pretty jarring and severely mars the overall tone Sonic 4 was apparently going for.

And of course, the big one itself. How does it play? While this reviewer would love to lavish that it's just like the old games come back again....it's not. Well, not entirely. On a basic level it plays, functions and behaves like the classics. However there are a few changes which many people may disagree with. In particular, Sonic's momentum stops the moment the directional input is let go of instead of retaining momentum. A player can get used to it but to a classic Sonic fan it can be off putting. The second most noticeable change is the Spin Dash (and by relation, the general “rolling” physics). While it used to be what players used to get a sudden rush of momentum (and indeed it still is to a degree) now it has much less of a retained momentum. Often, running up a wall is better than trying to roll up it. Once again this will probably not sit well with classics players, although is by no means game breaking. It's simply different, the problem only exists in that it being different is against what Sega had conditioned it's fans to expect from this game.

Sonic's new attack, the Homing Attack, replaces the flash shield (or lightning shield, or flash aura, or whatever you called it in your playground back in the 90's!) from Sonic 3 and Knuckles. This at least feels like a step up in evolution, Sonic gaining more abilities and becoming better over his experiences. Although how its used can be slightly entertaining at best or downright lethal to dare use at worse. Levels often don't properly show what you are doing with it while aiming doesn't always follow the target lock on screen...

The levels play out similar to the graphical and sound comments above. Splash Hill Zone is utterly dire in it's design, going from monotonous and generic to utterly stale and forgettable in equal amounts. In theory...yes...it's a starter level. But look at Angel Island Zone or Mushroom Hill Zone, both also starter zones but possessing more flair and imagination than this one. It's not a good start.

Casino Street Zone improves in terms of eye candy, however it's layout and gameplay area is still a step beneath expectations with bottomless pits, some odd jumps and massive leaps of faith via cannons. It introduces a new card mechanic where you can collect cards by running by them, which admittedly is cool (as is seeing Sonic run about on playing cards through the air) but not entirely adding to gameplay due to it's entirely automatic nature.

Lost Labyrinth Zone honestly feels like an entirely different team made it. Every one of it's three acts has a unique style, with the first being boulders and rolling them around, the second being a level shrouded in darkness (with Sonic carrying a torch) and even a couple of simple puzzles. The third finishes it off with an underwater run. It's got a great design to make you slow down and play some more traditional platforming. Levels like this and the next one are what we wanted, Sonic evolving as the series goes and making levels unique and interesting in each act more like how Sonic 3 and Knuckles did it.

Mad Gear Zone is more about speed and danger. It's got some lethal traps and badniks in it (Haters of the Slicers from Metropolis Zone may start crying now) and maintains the “3 Acts, 3 Styles” gameplay with the themes being steam, cogs and “Impending Doom.” The latter this reviewer shall let readers discover for themselves, as it makes for an exceptionally exciting and tense level.

All that's left to mention are the bosses and special stages, of course. The latter is rather easy to summarise and review. You play the Sonic 1 special stages, but control the maze, not Sonic. Collect rings to open gates and try and reach the Emerald in under a time limit. These range from challenging to frustrating in equal measure. Whomever programmed the bumpers to be THAT powerful needs a clip around the ear, that's for sure. The bosses meanwhile follow the “Zone pattern” we have seen thus far. The first two are almost carbon copies of bosses from Sonic 1 and 2. The latter two, while visually the same as Sonic 1 and 2 again, play out differently and can be very challenging. However it is good difficulty and will make a player sit up and remember when games didn't hold your hand all the way. It's a sharp reminder...but a very welcome one. The final boss meanwhile is...not fun. Ranging from absurdly easy to absurdly cheap it makes for a horrific ending to the game.

As worthy of mention. Super Sonic IS in this game. He is awesome fun, indeed this reviewer wasn't that excited about him at all until he played him. Ridiculously fast and with some flashy special effects like sparks of energy surging from your spin dash and a momentary afterblur along with a great theme tune, he makes for a welcome reward for your Special Zone efforts.

The overall tone still feels so akin to wanting to be like Sonic 1 again in this game. Many mentions have been made here as to the game “evolving” beyond Sonic 3 and Knuckles as a true sequel. Unfortunately, despite some little shows, the overall feel is a step backwards in content from Sonic 3 and Knuckles. The levels aren't quite as interesting and unique in their mechanics and flair (although Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear show massive promise if EVERY level showed their polish and tendency to go outside the box) and the story has stepped down from where the old games left off, not giving us any sense of a narrative...even as the credits roll. Without Sega saying there would be an Episode 2, you could be forgiven for thinking the entire story was over.

So...Sonic 4: Episode 1. How does it stack up? It's got two amazing levels, some nice garnishing and flaunting of graphics here and there and some good musical tracks. But for each great level, there's a pretty “eh” one and some graphically weak areas. Indeed, one might say this is a game of two halves or (to be more concise) a game of two extremes. When it's good, it's very good. But when it's bad, it's pretty bad. Although price is not so much what I am reviewing here, the player must ask themselves whether they feel that the games short “good” side is worth it. Sonic 4 is pretty expensive for what you get, very expensive in fact. Although if the good bits were made into an entire game for Episode 2, this could be a good investment.

The ball is in Sega's court, Sonic 4 has arrived and it's first Episode shows both promise and disappointment in equal measure, which will no doubt lead to more fan discussion than any game yet. Whether Sega goes up or down from here will decide whether this game truly is “Sonic 4” of our childhood dreams or not, but for now....I'd not like to put an outright answer to that question.

Graphics – 80
Sound – 70
Playability – 75
Overall - 79


Raves:
Half the Zones are absolutely brilliant!
Some great graphical flair
Shows promise for the future episodes


Graves:
The other half of the Zones are very “meh”
Boss music is terrible!
Can feel like “Sonic 1 HD” at times

Console – iOS (iPhone and iPod Touch)
Game Type – 2D platformer
Players – 1
Publisher – Sega/DIMPS
Price – £5.99
Reviewer – Seumidh MacDonald

In addition to the version of Sonic 4 found on the three home consoles, there is one final version found on the iOS. While extremely similar, the game has enough deviations from the home console versions to warrant its own mini-review. With that in mind, this will be more of a comparison than a full review.

To get straight to the heart of the matter, there is no point in picking up iSonic unless you are desperate for the game on the go (or indeed, on the toilet). While not broken in any way (no more so than the console versions, anyway), the game has an extreme feel of being watered-down throughout. The most obvious example of this is Sonic’s model – gone is the sleek and smooth model of the console versions, replaced with a clunky, jagged model which looks a bit poor, even for the iPhone. In addition, it takes a jarringly long time for Sonic to get up to his “blurry legs” phase – he moves at the same speed as in the console versions, but the animation is different - he looks like he’s jogging, for the most part. You need an incredible amount of speed to get to the blurry legs, and as such, it feels decidedly scripted when you do, as only certain slopes or springs will give you the speed you need to reach that moment of blurry bliss.

The next big change on the list is the two alternate levels. Act 2 of both Lost Labyrinth Zone and Casino Street Zone have been completely changed from their console counterparts. Lost Labyrinth, instead of being a torch puzzle, is now a minecart ride, which is controlled by tilting the device. Casino Street Act 2 consists of a single pinball screen, which you must get 10,000 points in to clear. While neither are offensive in any way (no control issues, etc.), they both suffer from a severe case of dull. Neither are particularly exciting or engaging (the minecart level can be completed by tilting the console right and occasionally pressing jump, and the pinball table is very small), especially the fifteenth time you do them, which you will probably need to in order to collect all of those elusive Chaos Emeralds.

Which leads nicely into the final point about the iOS version, the Chaos Emeralds. More specifically, the Special Stages. They are infuriatingly difficult; while on the consoles, the analogue stick provides a nice, smooth way of controlling the stage, the motion-control in iSonic will have you lurching about like jelly on a boat trying to guide Sonic to the Chaos Emerald. However, it will usually be to no avail – Sonic will, most times, find himself stuck trying to get through a small gap, or career into a Goal balloon, with little to no chance of the player being able to prevent it. When you have to replay a level upwards of ten times just for one Chaos Emerald, you’ll be tempted to just not get the Chaos Emeralds at all. That said, it’s not a fault of the device’s motion controls (which respond surprisingly well), more of Sega’s expectations of the player: wider corridors or different Special Stages than the console version would have been preferable.

Other than the above factors, iSonic 4 is just a handheld version of Sonic 4. However, it really does feel like the inferior version. Everything feels watered-down, and the fact that your thumbs cover half the screen (not really a fault of the game, more of the touch screen of the iPhone/iPod Touch which makes it inconvenient for gaming) really doesn’t lend itself well to the experience. If you’re desperate for Sonic 4 on the move, it still works, but the console versions’ superiority makes it difficult to recommend.

Especially as you can buy Sonic 1 and 2 on the iOS for only a pound more.

Consoles – Wii
Game Type – Platformer
Players – 1-2
Publisher – Sega/Sonic Team
Price – RRP £39.99
Reviewer – Drew Middlemas


Every new Sonic game that gets released these days is touted as the big “return to form” of the series, a claim which has gotten harder and harder to believe as time has worn on. This year Sonic Team are trying two distinctly different methods of bringing Sonic “back on track”; the retro throwback of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and this new 3D entry. So does this new space-themed Sonic entry reach for the stars or can’t it even get off the ground?

The dastardly Doctor Robotnik (sorry, Eggman) is up to no good again. He’s constructed a gigantic galactic amusement park, apparently as a way of making amends for his past evil schemes. Naturally this is all a cover for his latest diabolical plan to take over the universe, using small aliens known as Wisps as a power source. Sonic and Tails arrive in the park, and once again set out to stop him.

The plot is much more back-to-basics than just about any entry in the series in modern times. No grim, labyrinthine plots about government conspiracies or the resurrection of dark gods and definitely no throwaway “Big Bad” at the end; just Eggman doing bad things and Sonic setting out to put him in his place. What also makes this a refreshing change of pace is that the story has its tongue firmly in its cheek, with a surprisingly decent script brimming with sly digs and smile-raising antics throughout. The much-smaller-than-usual cast brings some entertaining banter to the table, helped by some significantly-improved voice-acting.

Getting into the action is now quick and painless; no medals, no mini-quests and no hubs; just pick your level from a couple of map screens and you’re away. The stages themselves are similar to Sonic’s stages in Sonic Unleashed; a blend of both into-the-screen 3D racing segments and more traditional 2D platforming. However the level design is a huge improvement over Unleashed. Gone is the basic “hold right to win” gameplay with only the most rudimentary of platforming; the 2D sections in Sonic Colours actually feel like a more classic Sonic platformer. Platforms actually require skill and precision to navigate, and Sonic also doesn’t have the highly-ironic problem of going too fast, meaning there are fewer instances of Sonic crashing into obstacles that would require clairvoyance to avoid on your first go. The game now actually feels like a fun platformer instead of a long rollercoaster with the occasional quick-time event.

However, while the level design is a great improvement, it’s still not up there with the best moments of the series. The 3D sections, for instance, don’t work so well. They’re designed to showcase Sonic’s speed and the graphics more, but Sonic feels like he is barely in your control. Some sections require liberal use of the side-step ability, like in Sonic Unleashed, but the move is very unreliable. Even in the 2D sections there are moments where the game becomes unnecessarily frustrating and spoil what otherwise was a good level run. The worst offenders we found were the lollipop swings on Sweet Mountain; the physics suddenly take a nose-dive into Terrible Town and the timing required to be successful is absurdly picky. These sudden spikes in difficulty don’t ruin the game as a whole, but they’re still very irritating and can lead to some really cheap deaths. Also, while the level design is good, it still isn’t designed to make clever use of momentum and inertia like the classic games. The platforming mechanics work in a different way, and the physics aren’t exactly broken, but it’s still a bit of a shame that the more iconic moments of Sonic level design may not return completely. Also, the bosses are a let-down, with later bosses simply being slightly tougher versions of ones you fought previously.

All of this talk and I haven’t even addressed the core gimmick this time around. As Sonic progresses through the game, he rescues different types of Wisp and is able to use their abilities. The Wisps come in seven different kinds, and the abilities range from shooting into the air like a rocket, dashing around at the speed of light, drilling through the ground and even a “berserker” mode which results in Sonic destroying pretty much everything that gets in his way. Some of these Wisps are a bit cumbersome to use, but on the whole they’re actually fun to use and well-implemented. The best thing about them is that, unlike other gimmicks such as Shadow’s vehicles and the Werehog, they’re mostly optional and can even be beneficial to the gameplay. By experimenting with them more of the stages are revealed; some of the levels in this game are enormous, filled with multiple pathways and hidden recesses, and some cool shortcuts can be found to bypass tough sections. This focus on exploration is a factor of the classic games that has been ignored for a long time, and it’s this that makes Sonic Colours much more worthwhile for repeat play.

As well as the main stages, there are also several special stages available in the Sonic Simulator. These levels have a more retro aesthetic, complete with 8-bit music, and as you collect more Red Rings in the main stages they become the means of obtaining the Chaos Emeralds (with that said, the emeralds are completely optional this time, with no bonus elements of the story needing to be unlocked with them). They’re an amusing diversion and offer two-player support, but the multiplayer is rather rudimentary; there’s no split-screen or online support. It really baffles me why it was decided not to include a Sonic and Tails co-op option for the main game, as that seems like the most obvious choice of a multiplayer component to me.

The graphics are simply fantastic. Gone are the dour real-world environments and in comes some lush, colourful and highly-creative areas which feel more like classic Sonic stages than before. Everything is bursting with personality and charm; the generic Egg Pawns now have much more character, and some classic Badnik designs have returned and look great in 3D. The cutscenes have some wonderfully cartoon-like animation that matches each character really well. Similarly the music, while it won’t have you humming the tunes for years afterwards, is bright, uplifting and matches the action in each stage well.

When broken down into its base components, there are still issues with this game. The parts that don’t work so well can really irritate, such as the 3D sections and some absurdly difficult areas. That said, it’s hard to hate this game as a whole, as in spite of everything it really is the most successful attempt at a Sonic game in a long time. The level design has more moments touching on the classic Sonic feel, it looks great and the mechanics are much more solid than before. It seems like the developers really did have as much fun making this game as I did playing it; it’s not perfect, but it’s still solid and very entertaining.

Graphics – 93
Sound – 80
Playability – 73
Overall – 77

Raves:
Level design is a huge improvement
Excellent graphics
The Wisp abilities are very clever


Graves:
Controls don’t always work so well
Some needlessly frustrating moments
A bit on the short side