Sonic 4 Episode 2 Not to Come until 2012

[Radrappy]

so uh I bought the game. The physics are terrible so far. I don't understand why it's so hard to grasp that sonic should have a healthy acceleration. none of this slow mo walking nonsense.

[Yami CJMErl]

It doesn't really help that they're doing that pants-on-head-retarded "True Blue Initiative" crap again.

[FlashTHD]

It doesn't really help that they're doing that pants-on-head-retarded "True Blue Initiative" crap again.

Wait wait wait, this isn't the first time?

And don't be silly, they wear their pants on their heads all day every day.

[G.Silver]

I tried out the demo and got utterly flabbergasted by the very first enemy. It's a little hermit crab kind of guy, not unlike Yadorin. He's got spikes on his shell, and a little crabby body sticking out the front. He hides inside the shell, so you can't hit him then, obviously. Then he goes through this labored animation where he peaks his head out just a bit, looks around, etc, then finally emerges. CAN I HIT HIM NOW?? If you try to roll into his vulnerable crab guts you will get a face full of rings all over the screen. You have to wait for him to retract his spines, even though they aren't pointed at you if you attack from the front! If you want to kill the very first enemy type in the game, you have to sit and watch it toodle around for several seconds!

Enemies like Yadorin and Catakiller needed to be taken out using relatively sophisticated means, like running and rolling into them, or aiming the jump attack very precisely. They were cool because you had to think about your attack a bit, but you could still bop them and move on quickly once you had them figured out. Even the spiked snail enemies in Sonic CD that had similar retracting spikes still had other vulnerable areas. Why is an enemy like this the first enemy in a "fast paced" action game? Why would they limit the ways you can attack it, especially when it LOOKS like there should be more than one way to do it? What does this say about the design philosophy of the rest of the game?

[Crazy Penguin]

That's actually from the second Zone, but I had the exact same experience. I can't remember the last time I encountered something so counter-intuitive in a game.

[Esrever]

Played the demo, didn't buy it. Physics are better than Ep. 1, but I almost feel like maybe it's cranked too far in the other direction now. It's kind of hard to tell, because the default vantage point is zoomed-in way too close -- with tablets and phones in mind, maybe? -- and it makes everything feel a little weird, like a Game Gear game.

I don't hate the visual style, the actual level layout is super-bland, Advance-esque by-the-numbers stage design... with none of the fun ideas, deliberate design or creativity of stuff like the 2D City Escape, Spagonia, Crisis City or... pretty much any of the Generations stages, really.

So I guess I'm just not sure what the point is? It's just so clearly a b-team project. There's no love.

[FlashTHD]

So I guess I'm just not sure what the point is?

Flow of revenue from the suckers who do buy it.

I know, it's a duh answer, but you asked! :p

[big_smile]

I haven't played Ep2 yet, but I think the series is just to designed to cash-in on the mobile phone gaming market.
That would explain the graphics, the over-sized and over-simplified level design, and the baffling decision not to use (home-console) Generations Engine.
Takashi Iizuka virtually confirms it in this interview

I know Sega have to pay the bills and all, but I wish they would have made a separate version for mobile.
Mobile platforms lack physical controls and so need games that are specifically built to take this limitation into account.

On the plus side, Generations was clearly answering a lot of the criticisms of episode 1, so I doubt it would have turned as good as it did if they hadn't gone ahead with the Sonic 4 project.

[Xyton]

I just gave it a run though. It's a huge step up from Episode I, but it's a sizable step back from Generations. In particular, the physics are better but still off, and the level design seemed less high-quality than Generations. (I don't remember the levels from E1 enough to make a good comparison.) The special stages aren't as good as Sonic 2, let alone the Saturn 3D Blast stages. The gravity stuff in the last zone is cool, but not implemented the best. I wouldn't mind someone explore that concept in a more polished game some time.

In a nutshell, this game wants to be Sonic 2 so bad it hurts, but it send up being squarely meh.

[gr4yJ4Y]

This game's biggest flaw is that Generations exists. About the only thing Episode II has over Generations is a smoother framerate (at least when comparing the PS3 versions).

I bought the game and played through it once along with the Episode Metal levels - slightly altered versions of 4 different acts from Eps I. The Tails powers are a nice change up, but the instruction sign that pops up in areas where you have to use them takes away the feeling of doing it yourself. And modern Tails looks really strange swimming around while carrying Sonic - his Sonic 3 animation makes him look more animal like, while his Episode II animation makes him look more human. The level design is of Dimps usual quality - it gets the job done but is bland and lacking the kind of polish needed to make the levels great. The most fun you will have with the level design is noticing all the nods to past games, which after Episode I and Sonic Generations I am getting a little tired of. Time attack might be fun too - it's what I enjoyed doing most in Episode I - but I haven't tried it yet. I did enjoy what little I played of co-op. Unlike in Sonic 2, Tails can run ahead and cause Sonic to fall off the screen. While playing as Tails it felt more like I was cooperating with the other player than collecting rings for player 1. The music is completely awful and repetitive - it even reuses some of the worst tracks from its prequel.

It's an improvement over the first game, but it's not really something I can strongly recommend.

[Majestic Joey]

the demo only lasts for two minutes then it kicks you out of the game which is pretty ridiculous that they don't even let you play through the first level all the way through. I don't like the sonic and tails tag team attacks. They don't really offer that much in terms of gameplay from what I can tell and the animation to get into the team moves feels like it takes forever.

hopefully sega will make a sequel for sonic generations or at least some cool dlc.

[Radrappy]

I don't like the sonic and tails tag team attacks. They don't really offer that much in terms of gameplay from what I can tell and the animation to get into the team moves feels like it takes forever.

this is one of my biggest issues with the game. No one asked for team attacks slow down the game's pace to a crawl. Worse, the characters look ridiculous doing it. I mean they are literally 69ing which will no doubt please a certain kind of fan and alienate just about everyone else. I mean there are so many things wrong with the game it is baffling. The bosses take forever to even arrive at their playable portions (long, drawn out cutscenes are not at home in a sonic game), the level design can be broken completely during co-op play, and the physics are almost as bad as episode 1.

I havent played something this shitty in a while. Is there anyone on this board who's enjoying it? I'd love to pick your brain about what it is I'm doing wrong.