After years of experimenting, Sega return to what they know best
Let's start with some context: I have roughly a dozen beta versions of Sonic 3, including the 3c beta that represented Sega's last-ditch effort to fit the game on to one cartridge before splitting the second half into Sonic & Knuckles. I have a screencap of the old Sonic 1 title screen where Sonic had a human girlfriend called Madonna. I know that in the first teaser trailer for Sonic 4, they used Sonic's beta sprite from Sonic 2 instead of the one that made it into the finished game. Sonic Crackers, Sonic-16 and Sonic Eraser - every one an obscurity, and still I hunted them down.
Now that we have my fanboy credentials in order, I have to say that as much as I still enjoy the original games, they're not so perfect that a reinvigorating update isn't in order. The physics are far too weighty, there's not much in the way of collectables, and later titles like the Advance series showed that there's more to be wrung out the classic Sonic template with newer tech. And Sonic 4 does exactly that.
Following directly on from Sonic 3 and its follow-up Sonic & Knuckles, this is Sega's take on New Super Mario Bros - a fusion of classic gameplay with more modern series elements, and for once the intrusions into the Sonic formula blend together well. Get stuck on a slope in 1991 and you were due a tedious traipse back down the hill so you could get some speed up. In 2010, Sonic feels far lighter and nimbler, practically skipping from one platform to another, yet his top speed is still limited to accommodate the multi-path exploration that made his classic titles feel so adventurous. Homing attacks and speed boosters are present from his Adventure days, but they're complementary rather than essential, letting Sonic hit springs instantly and jump to full speed without his trajectory or lack of inertia breaking flow where once it would have.
This fusion pervades Sonic 4, from gameplay to visuals; netting a continue gives you the same miniature Sonic sprite and celebratory jingle from Sonic & Knuckles, as pixellated and imperfect as ever, and it feels genuinely charming when it could have been glaringly out of place. The music comes as a slight disappointment then, given that it occasionally falls into the territory of imperfect imitation that the rest of the game so skilfully avoids, but there are a few jingles that rank among the franchise's best, and fans are sure to notice the tap-tappy drum beats of the Megadrive sound bank. It's a niggle that is noticeable purely for the quality around it, and that's something we haven't been able to say of Sonic in years.
Which isn't to say that the design is airtight and seamless, mind you; the balance between obvious imitation and fitting homage is definitely skewed the wrong way at first, but manages to right itself as the game goes on. The physics are reasonably well judged but wildly inconsistent, with Sonic happily strolling up vertical surfaces, and while segmenting the bosses into two slightly different forms has been a staple of the 2D games since Sonic Advance, it at least came with some amount of subtlety back then rather than drawing as much attention to it as possible; Sonic 4 occasionally lays on its new-and-old veneer a bit thick, but with fans baying for the old days, this is probably the closest Sega can come to recreating the feel of the original games while keeping things slick enough for newcomers and those who are slightly less anal about the hedgehog's past.
2010 seems to be the year that Sonic fans have been waiting for - consistently positive coverage of what could be the first genuinely excellent 3D game, Sonic Colours, and a strong retro revamp in the second dimension. I never felt that the 2D games needed fixing, and would still love to see more from the Advance and Rush series, but not only is Sonic 4 a tidy and fun title, it also demonstrates a keen awareness from Sega of every age their flagship franchise has gone through. That alone may be the key difference that has so suddenly changed Sonic's fortunes, and long may this new state of play continue.
Verdict
Sonic 4 isn't ground-breaking or innovative, but it is great fun and so very, very Sonic. A fitting start to the successor of the Megadrive classics, if a little pricy for its length.
Let's start with some context: I have roughly a dozen beta versions of Sonic 3, including the 3c beta that represented Sega's last-ditch effort to fit the game on to one cartridge before splitting the second half into Sonic & Knuckles. I have a screencap of the old Sonic 1 title screen where Sonic had a human girlfriend called Madonna. I know that in the first teaser trailer for Sonic 4, they used Sonic's beta sprite from Sonic 2 instead of the one that made it into the finished game. Sonic Crackers, Sonic-16 and Sonic Eraser - every one an obscurity, and still I hunted them down.
Now that we have my fanboy credentials in order, I have to say that as much as I still enjoy the original games, they're not so perfect that a reinvigorating update isn't in order. The physics are far too weighty, there's not much in the way of collectables, and later titles like the Advance series showed that there's more to be wrung out the classic Sonic template with newer tech. And Sonic 4 does exactly that.Following directly on from Sonic 3 and its follow-up Sonic & Knuckles, this is Sega's take on New Super Mario Bros - a fusion of classic gameplay with more modern series elements, and for once the intrusions into the Sonic formula blend together well. Get stuck on a slope in 1991 and you were due a tedious traipse back down the hill so you could get some speed up. In 2010, Sonic feels far lighter and nimbler, practically skipping from one platform to another, yet his top speed is still limited to accommodate the multi-path exploration that made his classic titles feel so adventurous. Homing attacks and speed boosters are present from his Adventure days, but they're complementary rather than essential, letting Sonic hit springs instantly and jump to full speed without his trajectory or lack of inertia breaking flow where once it would have.
This fusion pervades Sonic 4, from gameplay to visuals; netting a continue gives you the same miniature Sonic sprite and celebratory jingle from Sonic & Knuckles, as pixellated and imperfect as ever, and it feels genuinely charming when it could have been glaringly out of place. The music comes as a slight disappointment then, given that it occasionally falls into the territory of imperfect imitation that the rest of the game so skilfully avoids, but there are a few jingles that rank among the franchise's best, and fans are sure to notice the tap-tappy drum beats of the Megadrive sound bank. It's a niggle that is noticeable purely for the quality around it, and that's something we haven't been able to say of Sonic in years.
Which isn't to say that the design is airtight and seamless, mind you; the balance between obvious imitation and fitting homage is definitely skewed the wrong way at first, but manages to right itself as the game goes on. The physics are reasonably well judged but wildly inconsistent, with Sonic happily strolling up vertical surfaces, and while segmenting the bosses into two slightly different forms has been a staple of the 2D games since Sonic Advance, it at least came with some amount of subtlety back then rather than drawing as much attention to it as possible; Sonic 4 occasionally lays on its new-and-old veneer a bit thick, but with fans baying for the old days, this is probably the closest Sega can come to recreating the feel of the original games while keeping things slick enough for newcomers and those who are slightly less anal about the hedgehog's past.
2010 seems to be the year that Sonic fans have been waiting for - consistently positive coverage of what could be the first genuinely excellent 3D game, Sonic Colours, and a strong retro revamp in the second dimension. I never felt that the 2D games needed fixing, and would still love to see more from the Advance and Rush series, but not only is Sonic 4 a tidy and fun title, it also demonstrates a keen awareness from Sega of every age their flagship franchise has gone through. That alone may be the key difference that has so suddenly changed Sonic's fortunes, and long may this new state of play continue.
Verdict
Sonic 4 isn't ground-breaking or innovative, but it is great fun and so very, very Sonic. A fitting start to the successor of the Megadrive classics, if a little pricy for its length.
