Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode 1

"Can this match the classics, or is it another failure for the series?"

Sonic the Hedgehog, who doesn't know of him by now? A Sega character who started off on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, this guy has been in games for over 20 years, rescuing small animals from Doctor Robotnik (AKA Eggman). The original trilogy was a great bunch of games, and still makes Sega plenty of cash through numerous released collections, but not all of the games released since then have been so popular, with a number considered to be truly bad. More recently, the series has been returning to quality games, with Generations and Colors. But enough about that, you are here to see where this game stands.

Story
This game strips away a lot of the characters other clutter that the series has added over the years. Once again, it is just Sonic, Robotnik and a hoard of Badniks (the robots that contain many of the captive animals). Once again Robotnik is causing trouble, and Sonic aims to stop him from taking over.

Presentation
The graphics in this game obviously want to get you right in the nostalgia. You will see a lot of stuff you remember from the classic games, only now in a much higher resolution. Level style, enemies, special levels, all are little more than updated versions of classic content. I won't deny that it looks pretty, but it would have been nice to see some more new stuff.

A problem I did have graphically was some flickering on the background objects, despite the fact my computer should have no problem with the game. A minor niggle.

Sound wise, this starts off with the classic SEGA! which I'm sure many fans will remember. And from there, it goes onto mostly forgettable tunes, though some updated classics have survived intact to exist in the soundtrack. The sound effects stick to the classics as well, and at least all is right there.

Controls
Playing with an XBox 360 controller, I have to say these work well enough. You move with the left analog stick and jump with the A or B button. Later on, you can also transform to Super Sonic, which is mapped to the Y button. Other than pausing the game with Start, nothing more is required to play this game. It also has acceptable controls for keyboard, using the arrow keys and Space bar.

Gameplay
Time for the most important part of the review. Much like the presentation section would suggest , this game isn't going to do much new, rather aiming to gather fans using nostalgia. Each Zone is recycled from classic levels, with most of them sure to be familiar to long time players of the series. You have Splash Hill in the style of classic Green Hill levels, Casino Street which takes Casino and spring based levels, Lost Labyrinth which is lots of ruins and water and Mad Gear which brings back the mechanical base levels. There is also E.G.G. Station, which consists of a boss run and final boss fight in Robotnik typical space base, and the Special Stage, which is the seven levels containing the Chaos Emeralds, and based on the special levels from the original game.

Each of the 4 main Zones has 4 Acts, the final Act always having a boss fight against Robotnik. Most of these fights have been taken from previous games, but each  has two parts where the fight changes, so at least you won't be expecting everything.

levels detail

Lifespan
lifespan detail

summary detail