Blue hedgehog? Check. Classic chequered aesthetics? Check. Spindash? Check. Dodgy physics? Check?
First impressions of Sega’s true (well, true-ish, which will be argued later) sequel to Sonic & Knuckles, has finally landed in the sorely abandoned hands of the consumers. After failure upon relentless failure to discover the critical formula for Sonic decency in three dimensions, Sonic Team finally surrendered to their inabilities and returned to basics with the ominously-titled Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. 2D Sonic is back, and his movement’s a little odd.
Pushing right for the first time in sixteen years (ignore Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure, they’re not real blue ‘hog antics) held bigger anticipation than the rescue of the Chilean miners; this is serious business, and one that cannot leave any lifelong fan feeling short-changed. But upon Sonic’s first steps it’s hard to feel a little deflated as the blue one practically glides into his legendary running style, as if he was on ice. Try the demo and you’ll soon understand that it simply doesn’t look ‘right’. Sonic may as well be on ITV with a host of other failed celebrities. Sonic 4 saw a delay after an initial gameplay video was released, to which most of the Sonic contingent presumed Sega had realised they hadn’t got it quite right, yet it remained.
On the theme of negativity, on completion of the beautifully retrospective albeit a little easy Splash Hill Zone, you’re guided to a pseudo level select screen. Although wonderfully presented, it soon hits home that it’s titled ‘Episode 1′ for a reason – there are only four levels! The dreaded feeling of being short-changed suddenly hit home.
Splash Hill Zone: impossibly unoriginal, yet so very pleasant
What’s worse is that after Splash Hill (where ironically, not a single ‘splash’ is to be had) originality evidently evaded the minds of Sonic Team’s desperate attempt to appeal to their fanbase’s foundations. Admittedly there are elements of new touches, such as the satisfying Homing Attack (plucked from Sonic Adventure, but new to 2D), with some excellent level design not too far short of Sonic 2‘s blissful Chemical Plant Zone; but originality is few and far between as Sonic tries his luck on slot machines from 1992, smashes the evergreen Grounder to bits once again and practically re-runs through Metropolis Zone. The final insult is Sega’s unashamed rip-off of Colin C10′s excellent Sonic 2 hack (as covered in Sonic & Hackers), featuring all the bosses of the first and second outing in one continuous level. Sonic 4 follows agonisingly suit with E.G.G. Station Zone at its climax, where Sonic faces all four bosses from previous levels, culminating in a battle with the final boss from Sonic 2, only made easier with rings. It’s evident Sonic Team did a bit of digging around for inspiration, or even read this very blog (well, maybe not) to help flesh out a trickle of ideas. Nevertheless, it’s hard to discover anything new, particularly when ‘amateur’ hackers are already ahead of the game; thus the title Sonic The Hedgehog HD becomes ever more appropriate.
The music’s no better either. Thankfully the classic MegaDrive snare drum has seen a resurgence in most of the tunes, but the best there is to offer is Casino Street Zone’s delightful harking back to Casino Night of Sonic 2. Otherwise, it’s all forgettable and a little too post-MegaDrive era to be pleasing to the ear. The new Robotnik theme does the various scenes some justice, but it’s not a patch on Sonic & Knuckles’ adrenaline-pumping strain.
At this point you’d be forgiven for assuming Sonic 4′s on the dangerous side of crap, yet its plausibility as a true sequel to the series shines through as the minutes clock up. It’s fast, great to look at, features excellent level design, with multiple routes in each zone, has a decent set of achievements to maintain interest and, most importantly, is kept simple. Sega’s painful errors in recent history have involved over-complicating such a simple concept. In addition to the 2D gameplay failing to translate effectively into 3D, we’ve been mercilessly bombarded with dislikeable characters since Knuckles’ Chaotix on the 32X. They’re less interesting than Bryan Robson, yet Sega took almost a decade and a half to realise this, and introducing Shadow, Silver and… Well, the rest have slipped from memory, was missing the mark time and again; and then Sega finally listened. Sonic 4 features Sonic, Robotnik, ‘badniks’, fluffy cute animals and no-one else. Not even Tails. It’s a shock that such a backwards step is so refreshing, yet it simply highlights the extent of Sega’s shortfalls. Super Sonic, Metal Sonic, Tails and Knuckles only enhanced the series, anything beyond them, including the addition of god-awful voice-acting, did nothing for Planet Mobius, and it’s from here that Sonic 4‘s beauty stems.
A load of balls it ain't
One of the most pleasing aspects is the sheer pace throughout, with some almost exhilarating set-pieces that have developed on ideas deriding from those introduced from the second outing onwards. Mad Gear Zone’s finale, subtitled ‘Impending Doom’, serves to stick a piece of dynamite up your arse and push Sonic through paces that even he didn’t realise he had. Accompanied by a dramatic theme tune, coupled with the threatening ail of sirens, there’s a sense of adrenaline present that was rarely felt even in the ‘good old days’. That ‘wall of death’ chasing you isn’t stopping for anything, especially not blue hedgehogs, but you’ll be grateful for it as you narrowly escape death.
Yes, it’s short, has physics dodgier than a fascist Pope (just ask the Sonic Retro contingent), is unoriginal and very easy; yet its classic charms, intense speed, challenging achievements and certain simplicity make waiting for Episode 2 a little harder than expected. There’s infinite positivity to build on here.
Sega ‘got through’ the fourth Sonic. At last!
