Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episodes I and II
PlayStation 3
Nostalgia Factor:
I am a big time bargain shopper. I don't tend to buy brand-new video games. Instead, I wait for them to go down in price, and then I pick them up for just a couple dollars as opposed to 40 or 50 bucks each. I have been patiently waiting since 2010 for Sonic 4 to go down in price. I was so excited for this game back then. I love the classic Sonic games for the Genesis, so when I saw that there was an actual Sonic FOUR that had come out, I wanted to play it immediately. Buuuuuut then I read all the bad reviews.
I still wanted to play Sonic 4 someday, but I certainly wasn't going to pay top dollar for it. I periodically would check the PlayStation Store for sales, but every single time I looked, Sonic 4: Episodes I and II (why was it split into two parts?) were still full price. I was beginning to think I was never going to get a chance to play this game. Given the poor reviews for it, however, I was not too stressed out about it.
Fast forward to 2019, nine years after the initial release of Sonic 4: Episode I. I still had not had the chance to play Sonic 4 because it was still full-freaking-price on the PlayStation Store. On an unrelated note, I was playing around with my PS4 one random day when I decided to check out PlayStation Now and see what it was all about. My jaw hit the floor when I saw how many free games were available on the service. I am sure there are better games on there, but Sonic 4: Episodes I and II immediately jumped out at me. I made up my mind that I was going to sign up for the free seven day trial of PlayStation Now. Not only to test the service and see if it was worth buying, but to play Sonic 4 once and for all. I'd waited long enough.
Story:
I don't know. It's a Sonic game. You progress through levels and you fight Robotnik at the end of each world. As far as I know, this game doesn't have a storyline other than to fight Robotnik, destroy his work, and free animals from captivity - which is the same as in any old Sonic game. There are no cutscenes to be found here. No dialogue. What you see is what you get as far as storyline. And what I see is a whole lot of nothin'.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. Who plays Sonic games for their stories? Not I.
Gameplay:
This is where Sonic 4 received the bulk of its criticism from all of the reviews I'd read online. The game looked and sounded good, but controlled poorly. I heard lots of people complaining about the in-game physics being changed. Apparently, Sonic didn't control very smoothly, wasn't very fast, and would often slow down or stop when you were trying to go faster. This is where I came in with the most apprehension.
It turns out that I didn't have too much to worry about. No, the game didn't control exactly the same as its Genesis predecessors, but that was okay. Not too much had changed, although admittedly things did feel a bit clunkier for me. Instead of getting aggravated by the changes to the controls, I looked at it almost as a throwback to the original Sonic game for the Genesis. The classic Sonic formula that we know and love hadn't been perfected yet. This game tossed aside the tried and true formula in Sonic 2, 3, and Sonic & Knuckles and took a step back. It was doing something old, but something new at the same time.
Each episode consists of four worlds. Each world contains four stages: three standard Sonic 2D side-scrolling stages, and one boss stage. Beat all of the stages, and you complete the episode. There are two episodes.
Before we continue, I should add that I think this is technically two separate games, with Episode I being one game and Episode II being another. They are being sold separately, after all. But I am considering them to be one game. Whenever I encounter a game that is released in chapters or episodes (like Telltale games), I never review the individual episode, but the collection of all of them at the end. One of the big complaints (aside from the game physics) I heard about Sonic 4 was how each of the two episodes was super short in length. Seeing as how I played through each episode back-to-back and I didn't have to wait over a year in between games, it felt like a pretty long and satisfying experience to me. But I can definitely understand the frustration of the original buyers of the game, who only got four worlds per Episode, with each episode costing over 30 bucks apiece. I got to play these for free on the PlayStation Now.
There are differences between Episodes I and II. Episode I feels more like the original Sonic game. There is no Tails. Bonus stages are similar to the original Sonic game, except this time around you control the tilt of the screen and not Sonic himself. The levels all seem to be remixes of Sonic 2 stages, which also gives the game a Sonic 2 feel at the same time. I kind of thought it was cool how it merged the two unique styles of gameplay from Sonic 1 and 2 under one roof.
Episode II feels more like Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles. Tails is by your side. You can do special jump, grab, and fly combination moves. Tails is definitely a bigger help than he ever was in the old Sonic games. He even flies you around on his airplane, too. The stages feel more original than Episode I's. I don't like the bonus stages, however. Episode II utilizes half-pipe ring collecting bonus stages in the mold of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I got one Chaos Emerald, and couldn't get anymore. I suck at that damn game and I hate it.
Boss battles are consistently large and exciting between both episodes. One of my complaints about this game is that some of the bosses are too hard. I came into one particular boss stage with 21 lives left, and ended up burning through them all. Ouch. Otherwise, most of them are pretty fun. I like how so many of them are throwbacks to classic Genesis Sonic bosses. The fan service is strong in this game.
So yes, both games follow similar formulas (4 worlds made of 3 stages and 1 boss stage). They do have very unique differences. Different bonus stages, different sets of Chaos Emeralds to earn. Tails adds a whole new dynamic to the second episode. On a whole, I thought the two episodes complemented each other very well.
Graphics:
This game looks really nice. I don't mind the visual upgrades they made to Sonic's character. I think the stages look wonderful fully rendered in 3D, especially the re-imagined ones from Sonic 2. It was super cool getting the chance to see them remade with "today's" graphics. I put the quotation marks because this game is like nine years old now.
Nothing is bland looking. Everything is interesting to the eye. Sonic 4 excels in creating a rich, visually entertaining atmosphere that should please any old school Sonic fan.
Sound:
I can't say that this game's musical score was one of its high points. Almost every Sonic game has some kind of catchy tune, or really fun and memorable stage themes. I can't say that there was anything that stood out to me in Sonic 4.
I will say with clarity that the game's sound effects are very good. The classic Sonic sound effects like jumping, collecting rings, and getting hit, all return in their full glory.
Overall:
I think that all the negative reviews this game gets are unwarranted. I had a fun time with Sonic 4! Looking at it objectively, I can see why people would complain. They wait all these years for a proper Sonic 4, then they want you to fork over 30 bucks to get a really short game with just four stages and busted gameplay mechanics. Then they make you wait for more than a year before releasing the second episode of the game, which is also very short and 30 dollars in price. Boo!
I admit that I am spoiled getting to play both of these games without having to wait between episodes, AND I got to play it for free. Playing it all at once is definitely the way to go. Again, I can see why people didn't like it. But I had a different experience. I thought this was good! And to think, all the bad reviews have scared me away from this game for so long.
It isn't the greatest Sonic game of all time, but it does stay true to what makes a Sonic game fun in the first place. Good graphics, good sound effects, good controls, awesome level design, big boss battles. This is a better Sonic game than anything that is not Sonic Mania or one of the old Genesis Sonic games. The fact that it is even being mentioned in the same regard as those games should tell you that I thought this was pretty good.
Is it worth shelling out 30 bucks for each episode of this game? Probably not. But if you have the chance to play this for free on the PlayStation Now, you should definitely check it out. It is not as bad as all the reviews say. Don't let them scare you away. I thought this was good.
Overall:
B
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