Sonic the Hedgehog was the first computer game I ever played and it, along with its Mega Drive sequels, have a very special place in my heart. We all know that once Sonic moved into 3D, the quality of the games dropped dramatically. Unlike his then-rival Mario, Sonic just didn’t work in a game that wasn’t a 2D side-scroller. It’s taken Sega a long time, but they’ve finally made a good sonic game. Unfortunately there’s just one small problem: I don’t really know how I feel about it.
There are a couple of game play irritations. For one, the floaty gravity. Also the fact that Sonic does not run straight away but instead walks for a few steps before picking up the pace. This is highly annoying, especially in boss battle situations when you need to move out of danger fast, but don’t have enough space to build up speed. But really, these were just irritations compared to the thing that truly irked me about Sonic 4: ever zone is a recreation of an old one.
It is most painfully obvious during the boss battles. The boss battle for the Green Hill Zone, is probably the most iconic of the boss battles, everyone who ever played a Sonic game will be familiar with it.
So when I saw the this recreated in Sonic 4…
…I though, ‘Okay, we’re starting off with a bit of nostalgia, the game will do it’s own thing in the next level.’
The next level was a remake of Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2.
And the boss battle in Sonic 4 is a remake of the boss battle in Sonic 2.
Next zone, we’re reminded of the Labyrinth Zone, infamous for it’s hellish boss battle of navigating traps rather than a direct confrontation.
As I approached the Lost Labyrinth’s boss battle, I though, ‘Oh, God, please not the Labyrinth Zone’s boss battle…’
By the time I reached the boss battle in Metal Gear* zone, a remake of Metropolis Zone, I thought, ‘He’s going to have big bubbles round him like in Sonic 2’
He had big bubbles on him, like in Sonic 2.
Finally the E.G.G Station Zone, which doesn’t fail to keep up the trend. In Sonic 2, Dr Eggman Robotnik jumped into a giant robot and attacked Sonic.
He does the same in Sonic 4.
Admittedly the game threw in a new element with the robot malfunctioning and running rampant, but it’s too little too late.
While the title of this game suggests a continuation of the original in terms of style and game play, what you instead get is a remake. There’s nothing new, there’s nothing original and so I have to question what the point of it is. It’s fun, but only because the original games were fun. You’ll probably replay it, because like the old ones, you want to try and get through the acts as quickly as possible. For fans like me who were playing these games fifteen or more years ago, it’s hard not to be incredibly cynical about Sonic 4. It feels more like a prologue, like Sega is teasing us about the kind of Sonic game they could make. We can only hope that they decide to give it to us when they get around to releasing Episode 2.
*P.S Am I the only gamer who was doing Solid Snake impressions while playing through the Metal Gear zones?
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