Sega has announced that the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 delay time has been spent very well indeed, listing a number of improvements that have been made to the game since last we saw it. The biggest news is that the controversial minecart level has been totally overhauled, and now is only a small part of a single act.
Act II of Lost Labyrinth is no longer a motion controlled minecart level but a torch-based exploration one. Most of the Act is in pitch black and Sonic has to keep a torch lit to see where he's going. Encouragingly, Sega has said that "Sonic is more than about speed" and has designed this level to showcase that. The cart will only be at the end of the Act, and won't require fiddly motion control.
In other changes, Sonic's animations have been tweaked so that his legs now become blurry a lot faster. This is a small fix, but it was weird to see Sonic take so long to hit top speed, so this should make the game feel a lot better. Finally, Sega has balanced the gameplay a little, working on making a game that is challenging but not frustrating.
Seems like Sega really took some criticism on board and is working to meet expectations, which is fabulous news. I love that Sega admitted that speed wasn't the only part of a Sonic game that mattered. I've been saying that for years. All in all, it's great to see Sega care, and I hope that continues.
Sonic 4 Update Blog - Part I [Sega]
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Contest:
9:00 PM on 08.19.2010
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HE STILL HAS GREEN EYES! NO SALE.
In all seriousness the mine cart (tilt level to control minecart's direction and momentum) level, seemed like a sped up,fixed to the floor variation on the Sonic1 bonus levels. All the 'fans' pissing and moaning have resulted in a gameplay variation being killed off when I'm sure the designers would have otherwise polished it's play to something perfectly competent or better. Good work 'fans'.
Also, I'll lol if SEGA adds an option to turn the green eyes on and off.
@ Johnny Joestar you think his jump is still floaty? I think that's just how it looks in high definition. And I have to disagree with you, the music to this game is great "we got new classics."
Anyway, I applaud Sega for listening to their fans, no matter how babyish they are.
While I do wish the fanbase would grow up a little in how (and how much) they complain, I do like that, in this case, it's caused a game to get a little more time in the oven. Sonic's adventures have been half-baked at best.
You now also want a baked good of some sort.
p.s. Thanks for giving me the site, Iv'e been looking for the music for a while.
p.s. Thanks for giving me the site, Iv'e been looking for the music for a while.
@Matthew: on the contrary, many of them are pleased. Head over to the Sonic 4 forums on the SEGA site to see it so.
But if this game get well received by fans, I might still check it out.
@james you welcom, many ppl want sonic music and remixes but they cant find them. i also agree, classics are hard to beat. with time they will improve
@ Phoenix Gamma you don't have to use the homing attack they barely force you to use it, plus it blends with the game, I see the homing attack as an "easy way out" move, but it come with a sacrifice...if you constantly use it you have to trade it in for speed...I'm not going to use the homing attack a whole lot, I'll just use it when necessary. I think the only parts they should take the homing attack out may be during the boss sections...or they can speed the boss attacks up for more of a challenge...
That quote alone gives me confidence in this.
Fucking idiots.
P.S. Sorry about the rant Agent9 lol I just felt it