Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Announced

[Devia Eleven]

- “While the game is a brand-new adventure, it will definitely pick up after Sonic & Knuckles. However, what you are looking at is the beginning of a new story arc,” said brand manager Ken Balough to Gamespot on the Sonic 4 reveal. “We’re going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire.

 

- The “Episode 1″ part of the game’s title suggests episodic content – Balough was keen to stress that Sonic 3 & Knuckles were essentially two parts of the same game, and that Sega are going to tap into that some more with this downloadable title.

 

- Although this is being tagged as a return to classic form, Balough announced that the homing attack – seen in modern titles since Sonic Adventure – will be added to Sonic’s roster of moves, which will include the Spin Dash and ‘Power Sneakers’ (which we assume will be a power up rather than a specific move).

 

- Players will be able to compete with one another for the fastest times via online leaderboards.

 

- The game is hitting the WiiWare channel as well as Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Balough said that in terms of content all versions will be the same, but “the Wii will be at 480p, while the XBLA and PSN versions will run at 1080p.

 

- The music is said to channel the 16-bit roots of the platforming series, according to Balough; “It will sound like an evolution from the original series. Expect to hear very familiar tempos and styles of music that resonates with 16-bit games but also has a modern appeal.”

New trailer: http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/projectn...lot;watchlink;1

 

Full article: http://sonicstadium.org/news/project-needl...hog-4-episode-1

 

[The-Ice-Man]

Interesting, I haven't played a decent Sonic game since Sonic Adventure. I'm sick of the silly numbering of games that keeps happening though. Sonic 4, when it's the gazillionth Sonic game. Just as annoying as Unreal Tournament 3.

[ken_cinder]

OMFG...has Sega actually listened to fans for once? They're actually going to make a Sonic game people want to play?

 

I know we have the GBA Sonic games, but quite frankly they don't feel anything like Sonic either. I want that old school sidescrolling Sonic feel, with nice pretty 3d graphics. Not much to ask for IMO

[The-Ice-Man]

It all went south when they made Sonic 3D. It's only taken 15 years to get back on track.

[Agozer]

OMFG...has Sega actually listened to fans for once? They're actually going to make a Sonic game people want to play?

Yeah, I thought the same thing. Considering how poorly Sonic Unleashed did at retail, it must have opened a few eyes over at Sega. If "Project Needlemouse" turns out to be what fans have wanted for so long, maybe Sega can finally shrug off all that bile the fans have been spitting at them.

 

Out of all the 3D Sonics, I liked Heroes, and even that game has pretty serious issues at times.

[L.S.D]

I still thought Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast is great

[The-Ice-Man]

Yeah, but it was the last one that was if you ask me. What I liked about it was the free roaming and the way they presented the story with each character seeing it from a different perspective. Then they took out both of those things for Sonic Adventure 2 and kinda ruined it. All subsequent Sonic games sucked.

[Lucandrake]

 

So far so good Sega, but that's normal for all the pre-releases of your Sonic games. I'm expecting a shit covered turd nugget, so at least you'll deliver on that this time.

[The-Ice-Man]

If they manage to balls this one up then they've got some serious retards on the Sonic Team. Wiggly landscapes, rings, robots, fast moving blue thing. It's not rocket science.

[Shoma]

omg! just upgrade sonic adventure! It was awesome, Sonic was progressing with the times..

I loved that game, im all for nostalgia, but they CAN make a good 3D Sonic game!

Back to friggin 2D, they had it right and then screwed it up.

I still played Sonic Adventure every now and then and i loved thier soundtrack.

 

edit: BY 2d i Mean no free roam. Not too crazy about going in one direction the whole GAME.

Ok fanboys throw ur "I LOVE IT 2D" at me.

[VT-Vincent]

It all went south when they made Sonic 3D. It's only taken 15 years to get back on track.

 

Actually, I thought that Sonic Adventure was a pretty good entrance into 3D for the time. It was at Sonic Adventure 2 that things started to go very awry... first, it wasn't an Adventure, it was a conventional linear game. Second, you barely played as Sonic or his knock-off, most of the levels were made for the other characters that everyone hates. Sonic Heroes improved a bit from SA2, but screwed things up in other ways. Everything that came after that was a complete disaster and an embarrassment to the company.

 

I'm glad to see they are getting back to basics here, but I'm disappointed it is being released as a downloadable title. Unless they decide to move it to a full retail release at some point, this game will be gone forever in a couple of years. With this generation, there will be no going back to relive the classics - when they pull the plug on the servers you can kiss it all goodbye.