If you were to ask me what my most anticipated games of 2010 was right now I would tell you Sonic 4 by a mile. No I'm not a masochist, I relize that Sonic's track record over the years has been less than stellar, but I'm still hyped and honestly the game doesn't deserve the hate it's been getting.
The main reason why you all should be excited by Sonic 4 is right there in the title: Sonic 4. Naming the game number 4 may seem like a huge gamble on Sega's part, but actually I see it as sort of a comforting assurance that we'll be getting back the blue hedgehog that we all know and love. Obviously titling this that isn't done in jest, and it represents somewhat of a last chance for Sonic games in general, after all it's easy to dismiss the other Sonic games as not being true sequels to the original series. If Sega messes this up however it might as well be game over for the Sonic series. Therefore I believe that Sega will treat Sonic 4 with as much reverence as the classic series deserves.
Some people have been saying the title of Sonic 4 is misleading, after all there have been a slew of Sonic games over the years, but I would argue that Sega titling their new Sonic game Sonic 4 actually makes a lot of sense. The vast majority of Sonic games after Sonic 3 and Knuckles have been either 3D or for handhelds. The fact of the matter is that Sega couldn't get away with calling an earlier game in the series Sonic 4 if they tried. So Sonic 4 is a perfect name for this game.
"That's all well and great" you may be saying to yourself "but why is he so eagerly anticipating a Sonic game. After all, all you do is hold right and zoom to the end of the level." Actually you're wrong here, as weird as it sounds the classic Sonic games were never speed based, running around at high speeds was something Sonic could do but more often than not this was a strategy that would get you killed. No Sonic games are instead about great level design with awesome boss fights at the end of each one. This is why Sonic games have been pretty much crap for the last 8 or so years, the levels focused too much on speed and bosses were only encountered occasionally. From what I'm seeing of Sonic 4 it looks like Sega has addressed all that and I'm willing to give them another chance, you should also.
If you were to ask me what my most anticipated games of 2010 was right now I would tell you Sonic 4 by a mile. No I'm not a masochist, I relize that Sonic's track record over the years has been less than stellar, but I'm still hyped and honestly the game doesn't deserve the hate it's been getting.
The main reason why you all should be excited by Sonic 4 is right there in the title: Sonic 4. Naming the game number 4 may seem like a huge gamble on Sega's part, but actually I see it as sort of a comforting assurance that we'll be getting back the blue hedgehog that we all know and love. Obviously titling this that isn't done in jest, and it represents somewhat of a last chance for Sonic games in general, after all it's easy to dismiss the other Sonic games as not being true sequels to the original series. If Sega messes this up however it might as well be game over for the Sonic series. Therefore I believe that Sega will treat Sonic 4 with as much reverence as the classic series deserves.
Some people have been saying the title of Sonic 4 is misleading, after all there have been a slew of Sonic games over the years, but I would argue that Sega titling their new Sonic game Sonic 4 actually makes a lot of sense. The vast majority of Sonic games after Sonic 3 and Knuckles have been either 3D or for handhelds. The fact of the matter is that Sega couldn't get away with calling an earlier game in the series Sonic 4 if they tried. So Sonic 4 is a perfect name for this game.
"That's all well and great" you may be saying to yourself "but why is he so eagerly anticipating a Sonic game. After all, all you do is hold right and zoom to the end of the level." Actually you're wrong here, as weird as it sounds the classic Sonic games were never speed based, running around at high speeds was something Sonic could do but more often than not this was a strategy that would get you killed. No Sonic games are instead about great level design with awesome boss fights at the end of each one. This is why Sonic games have been pretty much crap for the last 8 or so years, the levels focused too much on speed and bosses were only encountered occasionally. From what I'm seeing of Sonic 4 it looks like Sega has addressed all that and I'm willing to give them another chance, you should also.
You really are in the wrong here. Don't get me wrong Sonic 4 might be a fine game. I WANT Sonic 4 to be a great game, but we have seen about 2 seconds of what might have been pre-rendered game footage. Also, starting to build hype and expectations for a game you know this little about this early almost always results in disaster.
Hasn't Sega advertised this "bringing Sonic back to his roots" thing before? You know, Sonic & The Secret Rings, the 06 game, etc? Those obviously didn't do the job. Besides, as the Sonic Advance games have proven, it's hard to top Sonic 3.
I don't understand what the trailer did that got everyone so up in arms to tell you the truth. Last week if you looked at fan's reactions it seemed like it was the best thing since sliced bread, it's only recently that people started to bitch about it and that's mostly because of some strange nuances like Sonic has green eyes instead of black. As announcement trailers go it seems pretty good.
" Why does everybody conveniently forget to mention Sonic Rush when talking about recent Sonic games? "
I did mention it, but not by name. When I'm talking about Sonic games that go for speed over style, that was one of the main contenders. Honestly the only reason people mention it is because it was better than the most recent Sonic releases which isn't saying a lot. If you go back and compare it to the classic trilogy it's not worth mentioning at all...
Sonic dosent deserve your damn Defense. As Someone who vastly cares mroe about the Character Sonic than the Character mario (mainly because of the cartoons in the 90s) I can say that SEGA has made it there last work the past decade to make you feel ashame to be a sonic fan.
I'm going to treat this like any other game. If it reviews well, I'll pick it up. If its another dumb Sonic game, I'll ignore it. There is no reason to be excited for this.
I'm a bit of a Sonic apologist myself, but I'll take my crack at defending this game (even though I'm apprehensively excited for Sonic 4).
What I think Sega did wrong many, many times before was that they broadened their scope far too much, and instead wanted to make Sonic this epic character, with compelling sidekicks and enemies a la Mario. Mario can adapt to the third dimension quite well- his games have always been about precision and timing. A lot of Sonic's detractors tell you that the game is all about "speed". It's not. Any Sonic fan will tell you that just pressing right on the D-pad is the quickest way to get yourself killed. It's about using your momentum and perfecting your timing in order to survive the levels. Sonic has always been a character based on momentum, yet momentum is something that doesn't translate all that well in a 3D game. That's why it's extremely awkward to collect rings and chaos emeralds at blazing fast speeds; it's far too hard to control and understand what exactly is going on gameplay-wise.
When Sonic is confined to 2D however, he excels. I love Sonic Rush and I feel that it's the best game in the series since Sonic 2 (but that's because I've never played Sonic CD). It's not just due to the Jet Grind Radio-esque soundtrack or the sharp visuals however. It's because of the solid level design and great control. Again, it's not about just keeping your thumb on right d-pad button and mashing jump every so often- the game rewards you for using your momentum to time jumps and take out enemies. And all of this is satisfying, even if it might seem like the game's playing itself more than you're playing it.
I would hope that Sega has learned enough from its hit-or-miss 3D outings (I dug Sonic Heroes by the way, just a sidenote) to see that when it comes down to it, the core mechanics of the series are perfectly suited to the 2D format. That's why I'm hopeful that Sega is reverant enough to do justice with Sonic 4.
" I'm sorry, but in my opinion Sega is just...pretty terrible at making games. "
Let's not lump all of Sega together with the people that make Sonic games. Games like Valkyria Chronicles and the Yakuza series are actually really good. The Virtua Fighter series is, on a technical level, one of the best fighting game series ever crafted.
But Sonic? Sega doesn't know what to do with him anymore, and every time they think they have the answer, it's wrong.
" I'm sorry, but in my opinion Sega is just...pretty terrible at making games. "
Let's not lump all of Sega together with the people that make Sonic games. Games like Valkyria Chronicles and the Yakuza series are actually really good. The Virtua Fighter series is, on a technical level, one of the best fighting game series ever crafted. But Sonic? Sega doesn't know what to do with him anymore, and every time they think they have the answer, it's wrong. "
They didn't make those games. They're becoming a great publisher,but all they have as a dev team is Virtua Fighter.
It's a sad state of affairs for Sega's dev teams. Remember back in the day when Sonic Team, AM2, Smilebit and Hitmaker all pumped out quality. There's a reason why I still have my Dreamcast plugged in. It's a shame I blew up my Saturn :(
No. I'm one of those that freaking loved Sonic growing up, but Ryan was spot on. There hasn't been a good Sonic game since Sonic CD. There won't ever be a good Sonic game ever again. Yes, I am including the GBA games and the DS games in with that. I own all of them except for Sonic Rush Adventure (though I have played a bunch of that title). They were serviceable enough games, but they were by no means good games, and I can tell you the two reasons for that.
Art direction.
Level design.
Those are two things that made the Sonic games what they were, and something that cannot be replicated by anyone currently staffed on the Sega team, apparently. You tell me that Yuji Naka, Naoto Oshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara are back into the saddle and I'll gladly do the unthinkable and get excited about a Sonic game again, but until then, the franchise should not exist. They are Sonic.
I don't understand what the trailer did that got everyone so up in arms to tell you the truth. Last week if you looked at fan's reactions it seemed like it was the best thing since sliced bread, it's only recently that people started to bitch about it and that's mostly because of some strange nuances like Sonic has green eyes instead of black. As announcement trailers go it seems pretty good. "
One side of me is excited but another just feels disappointed so far. I don't mind eyes or super specific details but I felt a bit questioned when a massive bulk of the teaser was just a fast retrospective with only a second of something that went too fast.
I am still gonna keep an eye on it and try it myself.
I just got into the Sonic series a couple months ago and only played Sonic 1-3 on the virtual console, so I'm kinda excited for Sonic 4. :P
Had I actually been a Sonic fan ever since I was much younger and played all of Sonic's most recent titles, I may be feeling how many feel in this thread.
People are more in love with the idea of the comfort and nostalgia that goes with classic Sonic, more than the actual game. This is what that other company, Nintendo, banks on, and although their classic franchises aren't perfect, Sonic is even worse. Sonic 1, 2, and 3, were not bad... but when you take away all those warm memories, you're left with a game that just ISN'T that great. The titles after Sonic 3 were even less great, to the point of being terrible.
Take the Sonic franchise as a whole, get rid of the nostalgia, and you're left with a mediocre series.
To be perfectly honest with you... I'd rather see more of the game before making judgment. 4 seconds of gameplay footage just isn't enough, and I've been through this enough to know better. There are certainly hints laid all throughout this that Sega might be doing something "right", but there are also a lot of hints that point to a distinct lack of creativity - Sega is, essentially, mining our nostalgia and pasting it in to a modern context verbatim. Whether or not that will be good enough remains to be seen.
However, to a certain degree, Sega is listening. There are rumors going around that after Sonic 2006, Sega heavily restructured Sonic Team - basically firing or relocating everybody and starting over from scratch. Sonic Unleashed, I thought, was actually a pretty good game - on the Xbox 360, mind you. It had some problems, but it was a big step in the right direction. Most people hate it simply because they've already engendered some animosity towards Sonic (with good reason), and even if Sonic Unleashed was good, it wasn't good enough to change anybody's mind about the franchise. That's fine. I enjoyed it, and it doesn't matter who else enjoyed it.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has the potential to be great. Sonic Team has always thrived on making shorter games. The original Sega Genesis Sonic games were usually only an hour or two long. NiGHTS was only an hour or two long. If you stripped a lot of the awful parts out of most 3D Sonic games, the "good bits" would only amount to about two hours of gameplay. In theory, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is in a prime position to reap the benefits by making a game that is only the two hours of "good stuff" while avoiding all the junk and fluff that typically clogs a Sonic game.
But we're going to have to wait and see if that is a possibility or not. There's not enough on offer here to really make an intelligent assessment of whether or not Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will be good or bad - unless you're making a knee-jerk reaction based on past Sonic games (and really, who can blame you if you do?)
Anyone else find it funny that Nintendo decided to name their last Mario game "New Super Mario Bros. Wii," when calling it "Super Mario Bros. 4" would have been a perfect title (a return to 2D platforming for the series on their home console, inclusion of 4 player multiplayer). Meanwhile, Sega is more than happy to cash in on any nostalgic memories their past Sonic titles have gained.
I honestly have no hope for any 2D Sonic game. I can go get my SNES, play Super Mario World, and still have as much fun with the game as I did when I was a kid. I cannot say the same for the Sonic games on Genesis.
I think what killed Sonic was Sega trying to turn him into Mario by putting him in everything they released. But as we all know Sonic is not Mario and I think the speed of sonic ruined almost all potential of it being a good 3 dimensional platformer, where as it works for the slower characters like Mario. To be honest if Sega hadn't made tons of more Sonic games after 3 Sonic would have probably been more like a Crash Bandicoot, good for a couple games and then no one ever hears from him again; however, Sonic became an icon of videogames and as a result we still see Sonic today, but in crappy games much like other videogame characters have become. But this is all just my opinion, so I could be totally wrong.
Dude! THEY ALREADY DID THIS TITLE-REBOOT JUNK BEFORE!
Remember when they called that game just Sonic the Hedgehog? Like they realized that Sonic had changed and they were bringing it back to its roots, but in 3D? IT SUCKED HARD!
Remember when they put 2D sections in Sonic Unleashed? And remember how even though those parts were trying to be like old Sonic THEY SUCKED HARD!!!
Remember how the 3D sections in Sonic Unleashed just sorta played themselves? And totally relied on memorization? And remember how when you played that, you had an epiphany and realized that Sonic had ALWAYS been like that and sucked, and you just hadn't realized it? THAT SUCKED THE HARDEST OF ALL!
Please, don't get excited. Don't buy it out of curiosity. At a point, you just end up like a Detroit Lion's fan or something where you will praise the hell out of performance that is sub-par at best.
While I understand where you are coming from I can't discard my cynicism because Sonic has burned me too many times before. Sure I want it to be good and I'll totally play it if it is good but until then I maintain my cynical view of all Sonic games.
Dude! THEY ALREADY DID THIS TITLE-REBOOT JUNK BEFORE!
Remember when they called that game just Sonic the Hedgehog? Like they realized that Sonic had changed and they were bringing it back to its roots, but in 3D? IT SUCKED HARD!
Remember when they put 2D sections in Sonic Unleashed? And remember how even though those parts were trying to be like old Sonic THEY SUCKED HARD!!!
Remember how the 3D sections in Sonic Unleashed just sorta played themselves? And totally relied on memorization? And remember how when you played that, you had an epiphany and realized that Sonic had ALWAYS been like that and sucked, and you just hadn't realized it? THAT SUCKED THE HARDEST OF ALL!
Please, don't get excited. Don't buy it out of curiosity. At a point, you just end up like a Detroit Lion's fan or something where you will praise the hell out of performance that is sub-par at best.
"
This is because they were under the mistaking impression that Sonic should be all about speed. This is exactly the same trap the Advance/Rush games fell into as well, for those wondering why people ignore those ones. The gameplay involved almost nothing but holding right, hitting boost pads and praying you didn't fall down a hole, something which was impossible without clair voyance, resulting in trial and error gameplay. They were not good games, certainly nothing like the originals.
Which is why I have some hope for Sonic 4. If they can understand that the old games had a lot of platforming elements, and didn't just involve going as fast as possible, perhaps they can make something worth while again.
Dude! THEY ALREADY DID THIS TITLE-REBOOT JUNK BEFORE!
Remember when they called that game just Sonic the Hedgehog? Like they realized that Sonic had changed and they were bringing it back to its roots, but in 3D? IT SUCKED HARD!
Remember when they put 2D sections in Sonic Unleashed? And remember how even though those parts were trying to be like old Sonic THEY SUCKED HARD!!!
Remember how the 3D sections in Sonic Unleashed just sorta played themselves? And totally relied on memorization? And remember how when you played that, you had an epiphany and realized that Sonic had ALWAYS been like that and sucked, and you just hadn't realized it? THAT SUCKED THE HARDEST OF ALL!
Please, don't get excited. Don't buy it out of curiosity. At a point, you just end up like a Detroit Lion's fan or something where you will praise the hell out of performance that is sub-par at best.
"
This is because they were under the mistaking impression that Sonic should be all about speed. This is exactly the same trap the Advance/Rush games fell into as well, for those wondering why people ignore those ones. The gameplay involved almost nothing but holding right, hitting boost pads and praying you didn't fall down a hole, something which was impossible without clair voyance, resulting in trial and error gameplay. They were not good games, certainly nothing like the originals. Which is why I have some hope for Sonic 4. If they can understand that the old games had a lot of platforming elements, and didn't just involve going as fast as possible, perhaps they can make something worth while again. "
No man, I'm saying even Sonic 1 and 2 had a bit of that. If you wanted the best scores, your skill as a player was less important than knowing when to jump over things you couldn't even see yet. As platformers, they just weren't that good. They had a neat hook, but that hook isn't so neat 20 years later. It's a bummer, but it's true.
I'm just waiting to find out whether or not they are going to refer to the bad guy as Dr. Robotnik. While that would give me a modicum of faith in the project, the return of the name "Eggman" would remove this game from my radar completely.
" I'm just waiting to find out whether or not they are going to refer to the bad guy as Dr. Robotnik. While that would give me a modicum of faith in the project, the return of the name "Eggman" would remove this game from my radar completely. "
It's definitely still Eggman. While I prefer Robotnik too, I don't see this as a problem. Eggman was his original Japanese name, and was changed for the English release (in Sonic 2 you can even see reference to this in the Sky Fortress stage). Don't people usually complain about this type of thing the opposite way around? The more recent releases have implied that his name IS Dr. Robotnik and that Eggman is a nickname.
@WinterSnowblind: I am 95% certain that you are 100% correct but I can't be arsed to check because I'm lazy. I just remember really liking the name "Robotnik" back in the day because it was similar to "Zoblotnick" which was the name of the TV network on David Lynch's short-lived TV series "On the Air." I just thought it had a nice ring to it that Eggman doesn't have at all and David Lynch is rad.
Also, when did they start using Eggman in the US? Was that with Sonic Adventure? I don't recall.
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