And I’m trying to like it. I really, really, really, really am genuinely trying as hard as I possibly can. And why wouldn’t I? I’m a huuuuge fan of the original Sonic games. I can beat Sonic 1/2/3/& Knuckles with my eyes closed while collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds. I’ve played them since I was roughly 3 or 4 years old.
So when I heard Sonic 4 was going to be released on the Xbox Live Arcade, I was pretty happy that Sega would finally stop abusing the Sonic name and return to his glorious 2D roots. They want to add some extra polish and “2.5D” elements to the game? I’m okay with that, as long as it retains it’s classic gameplay.
So I finally fired it up this morning after months of waiting and I knew I was in for some disappointment as soon as level 1 started.
Let’s begin shall we?
One
Firstly, I would like the name of the person on Sonic Team that decided to suggest,
“Hey, you know what’d be a great addition to this game? How about if we make Sonic accelerate at the same pace as paint drying?!”
I’d assume this would be the same guy that suggested Sonic come to a dead stop if you release the button for the direction he’s heading in.
Seriously, have these people not plaed the original Sonic games? Not only does Sonic accelerate slow and stop extremely abruptly, but in general he moves at barely half the pace that he ran at in the original games.
Two.
It’s Robotnik. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, to be exact. Not Eggman. I don’t give a crap if Eggman was in fact his original name in Japan or whatever the story is, here in America his name is Robotnik. Anyone that says otherwise is mentally challenged.
Three.
I understand the need to update the graphics, but they seriously went overboard. For one, all of the colors are so bright and shiny it’s borderline annoying. And two, the updated version of Robotnik and his machines look as if they were designed for infants:
Four
How can no one at Sonic Team see this and speak up…
This makes Sonic look like he’s completely helpless and/or retarded, and to make it worse, Sonic spends at least half the game in this pose. Last time I checked in the original Sonic games, 90% of the time when Sonic was in the air, he was in HIS BALL FORM.
I can’t count the number of time I went to kill something while in the air only to be hurt and have my rings fly everywhere. (Also, don’t get me started on the unbelievably horrible way that the rings “scatter around”. It’s more as if they fall out of you and slowly bounce together in a group on the floor.)
Five
It’s Robotnik.
Six
Enough with the targeting system. When I first heard this was going to be in the game I was immediately pissed (Or maybe there was a targeting system in the original games, I could be wrong. /sarcasm).
I decided to give it a chance though, maybe I’d come to like it.
Nah.
Not only is it completely abused and overused, it completely affects (and ruins) the way the game should be played.
Rant done
Alright I’m done. I really just needed a place to rant about all of this nonsense. I thought that I was going to be getting a decent Sonic game today, but apparently Sonic Team had other plans.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it, I’m just extremely disappointed.
What would I have wanted?
I wouldn’t have cared if Sonic 4 had the same art, sounds, music, gameplay, etc from the original Sega games. Just give me some new levels with some new types of enemies/Boss’s and I’d be beyond happy.
PS – Oh yeah, that’s right… This is by game-dev blog. Um… My Christmas-themed game is coming along nicely. I’ve been making some real headway with it, I can’t wait to release it.
