This wasn’t the Sonic I was hoping for…..

Don’t get me wrong, Sonic 4 Episode 1 was a good game; it was reminiscent of the 2D Sonic games, but it wasn’t retro enough for me. It was missing a pile of nostalgia that I hoped that it would bring but didn’t, and my hopes of a new Sonic game that would bring me back to my youth were dashed once more. That is, until yet another shining light decided to spread its warm glow over my gaming dreams and bring forth Sonic Generations…

Believe it or not, but Sonic is going to be 20 years old this year. SEGA’s mascot made his first appearance back in 1991, and Sega want to celebrate that with a new game! Well, technically, it’s half new and half a remake. You see, Sonic Generations involves the newer generation of Sonic travelling back in time to meet the original 90′s Sonic in an epic stand-off against a new nemesis. The story may sound a bit flimsy at first, but hang on, because there’s more!

Sonic Generations combines the retro 2D Sonic gameplay of yester-decade with the fast, frantic and 3D gameplay of the newer Sonic, which you may remember from Sonic Colours and the only good parts of Sonic Unleashed. As a result, the side-scrolling parts will play like we all remember; lots of speed and only a jump button to worry about. Classic 2D stages (par exemple, the Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1) will be remade and playable. The twist comes in that these stages will also be playable as the new Sonic, translating the same stages into 3D and giving you a totally different way to play the levels you loved from the past. Essentially, the Sonic fans (like myself) who crave for a shinier version of the original games will be satisfied while also appealing to those who want in on a new Sonic game more like Episode 1, Unleashed and Colours.

The information released thus far has really got me excited beyond words. Not much else is known about the game as yet, but this sounds like a game I will definitely be keeping an eye on.
Stay tuned to PlusXP when we have more info, but for now we’ll leave you with a gameplay trailer!

Garv.

Well gamers and Sega fans of the world. I suggest you sit down because the sequel to Sonic 3 has been announced. Project Needle Mouse is non other than, SONIC 4!

The full name Sonic 4: Episode 1 will be using the same visuals as we are used to from the likes of Street Fighter IV. Meaning there will be 3D models used on a 2D playing field. So it is safe to say that out Blue spiky friend is back to his 2D form, just.

From the teaser trailer that Gamespot had showed just this morning, some of the original 2D features will be making a come back, such as the classic loop the loops from sonic 2 and the double screen loops from sonic 3.

Image From Gamespot.com

So what are we expecting from Sonic 4′s story? Well when Gamespot asked Ken Balough, the sonic 4 brand manager he said, “While the game is a brand-new adventure, it will definitely pick up after Sonic & Knuckles. However, what you are looking at is the beginning of a new story arc,” a direct follow on sixteen years after the 1994 release of Sonic And Knuckles. Well it took them long enough.

Keen then went on to say, “We’re going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire. This means [the fan] gets to judge us on our work each step of the way, and we plan on delivering that goal in a big way.” This all sounds pretty exciting, but wait, there is more.

It seems as though the sonic team are taking the “going back to the roots of sonic” to heart. As you can tell from the title this will be an episodic outing for Sonic. It has been stressed that Sonic 3 and Knuckes were in effect two parts of the same game. So with Sonic 4 Sega are planning to use that feature more, meaning the Lock On technology we had with Sonic and Knuckles may come back in a some what different way.

As for controlling Sonic, the classic 2D moves we have known and loved have come back, such as the spin dash and the super speed sneakers power up.  But later Sonic titles have utalisd a homing attack, and it has been announced that this homing attack will feature in Sonic 4.

This is all sounding to be a pretty sweet game. As it is an episodic title I will imagine that this game will be available for download, as opposed to a disc release. It will be available across all platforms (Wii, PlayStation 3 and X Box 360) and, for me at least, this is a welcome come back for the retro Sonic most gamers of my generation have grown up with.

Garv