Whats ur opinion on the homing attack dash. I've heard some people praising it and i like it myself. If we got rid of the homing properties do u think thie move should return in a later sonic game (Also the footage being sped up made the game look more fun than it actually is☠️)
... Y'know I was wondering why the game looked more fun. For a bit there, I thought I had been playing the game wrong, or had missed some kind of speed tech that would let you move faster, but nope. It's still just as sluggish and jank as I remember
@@entertainer_ev2747 no, I've played other sonic games, hell Ive never even played 06 and barley any of forces. Stop making assumptions of people just because they like a game you don't like
As a kid I never really acknowledged bad games as bad, I would just stop playing em and forget they existed. Sonic 4 rotting on my iPad after like 20 minutes of playing
You talked about how this game was a response to nsmb, and while this game was no doubt "inspired" by those games, I don't think that's the real reason Sonic 4 was made, you know what I think it was? Mega Man 9. Think about it, Mega Man 9 came out I think in 2008 or 2009, Sonic 4 came out in 2010, so there's a very close window of release between the two, both games are numbered sequels to games that haven't got sequels since the 90s, both games, while weren't exclusive for the Wii, they were obviously aiming for WiiWare as their "main platform" if you will, both games belong to franchises that strayed too far away from what made them good, both games promised to go back to their roots, both games regressed a lot in their gameplay (MM9 took away the slide and charged shot, and S4 took out, well, a lot) while adding little to nothing actually new to an already perfected formula, both games were trying to capitalise on the interest in retro games that was growing at the time etc... You might say that a lot of this sounds like nsmb, or that MM9 was inspired by nsmb, but I'd like to point out that Mega Man was a dying franchise at the time, and MM9 if I remember correctly was a big hit, Sonic was also a dying franchise back then (or at least so everyone thought) so I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Sega saw how Mega Man made a comeback with a game like that and thought they could do the same with Sonic 4.
I agree with the MM9 and Sonic 4 parallels but think there are some differences. Sonic did it since it was an easy cash grab while going off the no more friends philosophy and the IP wasn't dying but SEGA were confused about how to take it forward - they outright had a blog where they celebrated having only one playable character and asked us to rejoice. Megaman was actually around the peak era for releases around that stage but hitting saturation leading to sales numbers falling for Battle Network, X and others while they were shifting to bigger online and AAA games. While Capcom were experimenting with digital only titles, MM9 and 10 fit that niche without needing any 3D assets or voice work, so they were safer to make. Besides all that, there is a quality difference but some casual observers could assume Sonic 4 is good or modern just because it uses 3D assets, though others may associate the green eyes with the Adventure era.
okay but MM9 did add a lot of new things it's not "nothing actually new". Some of the stuff it does were impossible on nes. What MM9 really attempted to do was a sequel to MM2.
If you were actively a part of the fandom, trust me, you could never forget Sonic 4. I have no idea what happened to Dimps, after Sonic 4 everything fell apart and it was dud after dud until the franchise was taken away from them. Given Sega's habit of rushing out annual releases, I imagine that has something to do with their lackluster output in the 2010s. We are so far away from Sonic Advance and Rush and the Dimps of this era was nearly unrecognizable. Terrible.
it's because different people worked on this game compared to rush or whatever dimps was also busy with the street fighter series and a million other things. "sonic for iphones" is exactly the kind of project you assign to the B-team. colors ds came out after s4e1 and that game is excellent. lost world 3ds is also good and definitely better than the console version
The thing I dislike most about the Tails Tag Actions is the flight's inconsistent duration. It feels like certain areas of the game are coded so that the flight can last for very long while others, Tails gets tired after like, two presses.
The story of Sonic 4 made me feel -Invested. -Thrilled. -Emotional. - Gave me a new perspective of life. No way any other piece of media can beat this, this is peak fiction.
Funny enough, when Sonic 4 Episode II Sega tried to do some damage control and retcon some of the events of Episode I to make it sound like it was part of some larger narrative. You had Episode Metal, the prequel to Episode II, the connection with Sonic CD, and I remember Archie had released a tie-in comic of Sonic 4 Episode II to help bridge the gap between the two games and flash out the story. If Pariah would like to talk about the story, he could use that comic. However I doubt he will talk about the story because, well, there I none. Sure stuff happens, but there's no character arc, no themes at play, no message to tell. It is just "Eggman and Metal are back, go beat them". Episode II literally ends with the Little Planet stuck inside the Death Egg Mk.II and were supposed to just ignore it.
Sonic Superstars is feels exactly like the kind of game Sega would've loved to release back in the 2010s after the success of New Super Mario Bros Wii. Sonic 4 was what we got instead because it was quickly whipped up as a mobile title turned console game the capitalize after similar retro revival games like NSMB and Megaman 9.
Another thing to add is the initial reception to Episode I. I vividly remember how gaming magazines at the time touted Sonic 4 Episode I as the big return to form for the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and how the game as a modern day masterpiece because it had no friends, no story, all nostalgia pandering. I think the biggest controversy was the green eyes, because this game came out before the whole Classic and Modern split of the brand. You think people nowdays are insane because they talk about spine length, shade of blue or muzzle curves? Early 2010's Sonic discussion was all about the green eyes. I remember someone made a fan edit of the Sonic 2 HD trailer with green eyes just to get a reaction of Sonic fans. This was a time where influencers like Projared, SomebodycallJohnny and Egoraptor were at the peak of their online relevance, and consensus online was that everything Sonic from 1992 to 2009 should be erased, and Sonic 1 was the only good Sonic game. This game was not hated by the community when it first came out. It sold well and reviewed well. Some people disliked the episodic release, some disliked the gimmick zones in the iPhone version, some disliked the game for the modern Sonic and Eggman models, but in general it was a well received game. Remember, this game released after Black Knight, but before Colors and Generations, the consensus at the time was that this was the best Sonic game in decades. The hate for this game began after Generations, and only got stronger over the years with the release of Sonic Boom, Mania, and the birth of the term "Meta Era" coined by UA-camr J's Reviews. Because this was the first game of the so called Meta Era, it became simbolic for everything the fan base hated by the end of the 2010's decade.
That was an insane time, i still remember projared's horrible SA2 review, the praise of the game was actually what caused me to play it and i never finished the game cause of how boring it was.
@Raynoir4779 I was about to ask how high your standards are because I will say that sa2 is overrated to an absurd degree but it's still a pretty good game
@@mrhalfsaid1389 IDK man, i still love SA2 to this day, it's one of my three favorite Sonic game, the others are S3&K, and Sonic Generations. I have no particular rating for any of these games, i just love them all equally.
Yeah, the sonic community is probably the only community that will go up in arms about a character design that doesn't actually change anything other than some astetical differences that amount to nothing. There really were much more relevant issues that should've been covered, both in and out of the community
If you play the game on mobile devices like it was meant to be You actually get better experience Because some acts are totally different than the ones that are on the console The game is designed to be played with the tilt motion controls And those exclusive mobile acts are meant to take full advantage of that gimmick The way special stages rotate is with motion controls too. And the reason of why the physics make sonic accelerate like he has rockets attached to his shoes It's because speed was attached to the way you tilt your phone And if i remember correctly with the tilt controls the spin dash is not even a thing So they just shoehorn it on console last minute just because why not A barely functional spin dash at that With all that said I am not saying Sonic the portable (sonic 4) was a magnum opus or anything But unfortunately the console version and the fact that they called it sonic 4 ruins the game single handedly Too bad these dimps games that were meant to be fun little mobile games inspired on the first 2 games. Will forever be tarnished with a terrible reputation just because sega wanted to make these games an easy cash grab by doing their marketing bullshit and changing the name of the game so people would associate the games with the classic games when they weren't even meant to be anything like the classic games to begin with It's truly unfortunate
@@LsAdventurer Yes There aren't much of those but some mobile version of sonic 4 acts are totally different than the ones from the console version In lost labyrinth for example On mobile the 2nd act for exmaple is focused in using the mine cart with the tilt controls which i found very fun, yes it's not a typical sonic level but again, it's a level that takes advantage of the tilt controls of the mobile version, and most importantly it's fun to play And the console version 2nd acts is a shitty lights out level Where you just have to go slow because you can't see And it's not fun at all It's not the the first time you play And it's not fun for time attack If you never played sonic 4 episode 1 on Mobile I would recommend it It's not a life changing game or anything s But it's a fun little game The tilt controls make you play the game in a way different manner And it feels unique and fun You would see that the game is built around that kind of movement
Just watching this I thought "Eh maybe I should give it a shot" until I remembered I played both games already lol I'd also like to congratulate White Park for being the one, singular original zone between these two games. "Snow filled roller coaster ride" is a fairly unique idea, and at worst you could say it's kind of like Ice Paradise from Advance 2, but still. It's like the one thing from these games that gets referenced in future stuff like the IDW comics.
I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the first boss cutscene of episode 2, with the pillars from aquatic ruin, then eggman bringing out his metal 'biolante' flower and DESTROYING the pillars. y'know, for the symbolism.
So from what I know is the reason Sonic 4's physics are so weird is because they are actually the physics of Sonic Rush. As you said yourself this game started out as a low budged smartphone game as such did they reuse the Rush Engine to save on development time and cost. However as it than had to be reworked into Sonic 4 didn't they have the time or money to use a more classic accurate Physics system. And the reuse of the Rush engine feels so weird here because Rush was designed around having a boost. Being often and really fast at extreme speeds was mended by the boost ability to destroy enemies on contact. While the boost it self was balanced by the need to do a lot of cool tricks to keep it going with the fact that you can get easily hurt without the boost being one of the punishments for playing badly other than just dying. Also I suspect part of the reason why especially Sonic 4 Episode 1 has so much automation was because it started as a mobile game and so had to account for a lack of good input method for most players. So a lot of things were semi-automated to make it less likely for people with early touch controls to screw up because of the controls. Also as someone that greatly prefers episode 2 to episode 1 do I have to say I feel like the source of your disagreement with the general consensus is born from your preference of speed running these games. As most of it comes from you not liking to have go through the animations and such when that isn't really that big a deal if you don't play it like this. Same goes for the double Spin dash its basically a poor mans version of the boost with the trait of being increased power and speed in exchange for far more limited controls and the requirement to know the level layout in advance to do the most with it. But because you don't like having to deal with windup animation do you not see it as this thing with mostly the same functions as the boost and instead see it just as a gimmick that automates stuff even more.
if you play rush without the boost, you can see that the physics are very much different than sonic 4, and definitely much better, so you can’t fully put the blame on rush’s physics because a lot of the issue comes from the adjustments made in S4E1’s development
I like Episode 2, but whenever I think about the multiplayer aspect, I remember an article from 2010 on The Sonic Stadium. The author played the demo for Donkey Kong Country Returns, and their co-op partner was Takashi Iizuka. They wondered if playing the game might lead to Sonic trying something similar. Two years later, we get Episode 2 with Tails basically acting like Diddy Kong.
I think what genuinely annoys me regarding the discourse with this game is seeing people unironically call this better than Superstars; people who call themselves Sonic fans say this trailer trash mobile tier garbage is better despite having inferior gameplay and such a poor understanding of the formula, I won't deny Superstars is such a 7/10 game but I genuinely wonder if any of these people actually played through these games
That's because Pariah plays Sonic games fast, and that's the best way of playing most Sonic games. That's why it's more fun than playing the game the way it was intended.
"Dont do a bad business decision while im gone sega" - takashi iizuka before leaving (Sega looks at dimps' small B team making sonic the portable, a random mobile game totally unrelated to the genesis trilogy) *i dont need it* *i dont need it* *i definitely dont need it* IIIIII NEEEEED IIIIIT!
@@charmyzard Exactly. Reminds me of Sonic Heroes, Sonic Colors and Sonic 06. Sonic Heroes was originally hated by the majority of the fans and even labeled as the start of the decline of Sonic the Hedgehog as a franchise. Now present day people redacted that belief and see it as one of the best. Sonic 06 was seen as bad originally, but I've been seeing more and more people turning around and saying its not a bad game at all but plagued with bugs. Sonic Colors was seen as the revival of the series, and saved the franchise. Now people are saying Sonic Colors always sucked and is one of the worst.
It's mostly critics who praised it, the audience's reactions were mixed when the first couple of gameplay videos came out and then a bit more negative when the game actually came out
@@CanalDoRyu Yes, but I also remember fans calling it the best Sonic game in a long time. I remember peeps in the community saying that it 'saved' the franchise.
The only thing about Sonic 4 I liked was the torch level in episode 1. The gameplay was bad, but the atmosphere was fine enough and learning the level to go fast was...kinda fun. Not great, but kinda fun. Other than that, I don't remember these games whatsoever. But a stage in which Sonic would explore an ancient Maya temple or something like that with a torch is actually an interesting concept. Sad we never get to see it again in a good game, but oh well...not a big loss, I guess.
The DS and Wii versions of New Super Mario Bros. were good,it was the milking with New Super Mario Bros. 2 and U that ruined the series and people’s perspective on it,I’m sure if they stopped at Wii it would be remembered much more fondly.
Epic gamer pro tip: set video speed to .75 for corrected Episode 1 gameplay speed with the added bonus of Pariah sounding like he's been drinking to cope with Episode 1's shitty boring lameness Though I do think Ep1's look gets shit on too much, I really like how it's made of pre-rendered 3D chunks, I dig that aesthetic and if a Sonic 4 DID come out in the 90s- especially if it was made by an American team- it probably would have been pre-rendered like Ep1 is
Describing tails flight as easy mode of episode 2 feels innacurate to me,that sequence where you are forced to use him in oil desert is so miserable imo,and genuinely hard for me
I remember playing both episodes of Sonic 4 when I was first getting into the series, along with Mania and Generations, and I instantly fell in love. I played the mobile versions sometime before console, but even then, I had a fantastic time. Now, my opinions of Episode I have faltered a bit. Something was always a bit off-putting about the game, especially because of how it looked. As I played the console and PC versions, that worsened it as they arguably looks worse and play slower than on mobile. Episode II however, is easily one of my favorite games in the series. The atmosphere of the game is incredible. The way the sun's rays shine through the clouds in Sylvania Castle, the crickets and fireflies in Act 3 as the Death Egg looms in the distance, the beautiful roller coaster in White Park, the looming peril of Sky Fortress Act 3, and especially the interior of Death Egg Mk.II. I'd argue that the game is more graphically impressive than Sonic Superstars 11 years later. The game combines classic zones with the more realistic, gritty aesthetic of the modern games, and I think it works incredibly well. And that combined with the mechanical feel of the soundtrack makes Sonic 4 Episode II such a unique experience. The gameplay itself I also love. I like the level design with it's various hidden items, I like the physics, Oil Desert is a little weak, but the rest of the zones I absolutely adore. Oddly enough, it's Mania that I consider to be bland, derivative, and forgettable. Half of the levels are quite literally reruns of older games, down to every platform being identical. The soundtrack is mostly remixes rather than original compositions, it looks the same, plays the same, and feels the same as the classics. Almost half the level design doesn't even belong to the game. Even the blue spheres are mostly identical to 3&K. I enjoyed nearly everything about 4epII more despite playing both at around the same time. Sonic 4 Episode II continues to be at top 5 Sonic game for me, and I've played nearly every one. From the graphics, to the gameplay, and ESPECIALLY the soundtrack. It's one of those games that invokes intense feelings of nostalgia even though you didn't really play it that long ago. So contrary to Pariah's opinion, I would absolutely recommend it!
Some people call the 2010s the "meta era" of Sonic, I call it the "cynical classic pandering era." I don't know hat the hell Takashi Iizuka was thinking during this time, or if it was even his fault. The only game that succeeded at this imo was Sonic Generations, and calling this game "Sonic 4" was a terrible decision. But, out of the 2 Sonic games that came out in 2010, Sonic 4 was my go to. I like the Sonic 4 series. I'm not the biggest fan of the classics, so I liked how it controlled more like Rush. I'll admit the first episode isn't great. The aesthetic is soulless pandering, and the modern elements(like the homing attack) in the level design get in the way of the fun it could've had. Similar to Colors, it had a lot of level gimmicks, but they didn't annoy me as much. The gimmicks were at least thematic and felt like a part of the level. I understand why classic fans hate this game. Its how I feel about Colours, lol. Different types of fans knew pain that year.
I think a really cool mod for this game would be to get rid of the homing attack but keep his little air dash. It's an easier way to attack enemies but because of how physics work in this game, you can keep your momentum by just jumping into enemies in the air.
"The game isn't terrible, it's worse than terrible- it's boring and not even worth thinking about" isn't exactly a takedown of the fan reaction to it back from when it was The Direction that the 2D platformer section of the series was going in
Something that still amazes me is how recently the Final Heart boss got a toy set. What made SEGA to come in the conclusion that people would want that?
I remember watching some GDQ run of Episode 2 which was a co-op speedrun and it really does look like the game comes alive in extremely cool ways when played by two people. Such a waste there wasn't a Tails-only mode or anything like that that lets a single player control Tails, though I guess that sure is the 'we hate Sonic's stupid friends' era for you.
Episode I was mediocre but Episode II was a major improvement across the board and actually pretty good, I genuinely believe if they kept it up for an Episode III we could of had a great game.
oof... this game... i've never got to experience it, but episode 2 is actually pretty enjoyable for what it is imo, feels like there's much more going for it than episode 1. it feels like they thought about making it with consoles in mind first, and mobile second, the physics feel a little more polished, yeah... i... quite enjoy it
I agree at the end that Superstars isn't anywhere close to Sonic 4. I feel people claiming that either never actually played Sonic 4 themselves or only use the surface level similarities (Both being modern 2D Classic Sonic games that have Jun Senoue involved with the soundtrack) to make that claim. Superstars isn't a perfect game by all means and it has it's fair share of problems, but at least Sega and Arzest tried to make a modern 2D Classic Sonic game with what made the original games so great. It wasn't a mobile game that was brought over to console with a title slapped on for marquee value. Also, at least Superstars' soundtrack has plenty of Tee Lopes bangers to balance out Jun's music.
What I'll say about Sonic 4 is 3 things- 1. I think the games (more specifically, Episode 2) are OK. 2. Sonic 4 Episode 2 is 100% underrated from a graphical front. It genuinely deserves to be in the conversation for best-looking Sonic games. 3. Metal Sonic's theme in Episode 2 kinda slaps. It's a rare W for Jun doing this style of music. Still never let him cook again though with the Genesis font. I will riot if I hear Press Factory zone music in the next Sonic game.
15:28 As someone who had to S-rank Sky Babylon from Sonic Rush Adventure, I highly disagree with this sentiment. The homing attack in that game saved a lot of time and gave you much more control over Sonic while he was boosting. The Homing Attack in any Sonic game can work, but it needs a seamless sense of flow to it like it did in the Rush games.
Story time: I grew up with the Master System games, mainly Sonic 1 8 bits, with the Mega Drive titles here and there at friends and cousins house. I didn't had internet access until late 2010, and Sonic 4 Episode I was one of the first things I discovered while browsing UA-cam. I wasn't looking for anything related, UA-cam just put on my recommendations the Splash Hill Act 1 music. When I first saw gameplay I thought it was some old Saturn game I never had heard about growing up. I downloaded the WAD file and played it on Dolphin emulator for years, until I pirated the PC port. I remember I liked this game, but the older I got it was hard for the come back to it. After Mania I just forgot about it, but I think Episode II is more forgettable than Episode I.
Seems i'm a lot younger than you. Cuz i grew up with the ps2 and our old family computer which i used to play flash games in, i eventually got to play Sonic 1, 2, and 4, in my mom's old phone, and i liked to play it at church along with the other kids there, good times!
Honestly the main thing I love about Sonic 4 ep 1 & 2 are the visuals and a few tracks like Splash Hill, Sylvania Castle, Mad Gear, and Wing Fortress. The visuals is done thing that I would love to emulate. I feel like if the devs of these games really took inspiration from Sonic Megamix, the game would have been better. I do see myself coming back to this game but the downside is that there is not much gameplay/exploration involved which is something I love in most Sonic games rather than just playing the game through, be done with it in a hour, and like boom I’m done, let’s move on to the next. Personally the second games stands out to me more than the first, but I get what you are saying with the criticism :)
The music in Sonic 4 is very hit or miss. Usually it's pretty bland and fortgettable, but when it's not, it's peak (though usually held back by its instrumentation).
18:16 did people really not like those gear running sequence in the actual genesis games? Or the Sonic 1 special stage? If that's the case, then they were only brought back because that was still the nostalgia factor of the original Sonic levels. Those challenging gimmicks were what basically made up the levels from the original games. The memories of not wanting to remember or go through those "imperfections" from the genesis games again if you know what I mean. The halfpipe rounds from Sonic 2 special stages were at least improved upon in Sonic Jam or Sonic R where you can at least see where you were going or going to bump into so that you were able to make a better prosition by avoiding those obstacles to obtain the goal a lot easier.
I played these games on mobile way more than I prob should've. If u had asked me then I'd prob say I liked them lol. I'm a bit surprised u say ep 2 is actually "worse" but most of wut u point out I can agree on(tho I've only beaten ep metal/2 as a competent player & I haven't played ep 1 to beat it in forever by comparison so I'll maybe have to do that sometime). I'll always say ep 2 looks "pretty" tho lol. Edit: I wanna say I like the sonic 1 special stages WAY MORE than the og ones cus wit tilt controls on mobile I felt I had TONS more control in comparison to where sonic fell
While the music is a guilty pleasure of mine 😅, I find it so hilarious that Lego Dimensions used royalty free music for the levels in their Sonic pack, yet they used the Lost Labyrinth music for their recreation of Sonic 1’s Labyrinth Zone!! That’s literally the only useful thing the music’s been used for!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I enjoyed these games, played through them twice on PS3/360. Liked the music. I will say, they weren’t good “Sonic” games, from the perspective of classic physics like Mania was, but they were good platformers that happened to star Sonic.
Since you cover a lot of Sonic games, there's some really unknown sonic games for symbian platforms that i played to death. There was a Sonic golf game that was fire for a mobile game (i played it so much that i was able to get an ace in almost all stages) and i belive that there was a port of Sonic 1 and 2 for symbian too. Looking through those games might be interesting enough for a video.
2:35 One thing I would like for you to talk more in your Sonic videos is cultural zeitgeist of the time period the Sonic game you're reviewing is from. Yes, New Super Mario Bros was a big influence for Sega to make this game, but it was more than that. Late 2000's to early 2010's marks the renaissance of 8-bit gaming, pushed by the nostalgia for 80's videogames. As the NES and Master System turned 20 years in mid 2000's, those who grew up playing those games were now adults getting back into gaming with the PS3/Xbox and Wii, a time period where videogames were beginning to be more socially accepted by pop culture. The digital storefronts like Wiiware and Xbox Live Arcade also allowed to easy distribution of lower budget titles to the masses, which led to a bunch of indie games inspired by the classics from the 80's and 90's. Capcom had a lot to do with the retro revival wave, releasing MegaMan 9 and 10 with the old NES art style, which both were a success. Konami also played a role in this by remaking some of their classic NES, PC engine and arcade titles with updated graphics. Of course, at top you had New Super Mario, which when paired with the Wii and NDS, brought back a lot of casuals who had drifted away from gaming with the transition from 2D to 3D graphics. The retro revival was part of the pop culture at the time, as icons of gaming from the 80's and 90's stamped clothing, mugs, merchandising in general. I cannot think about 2010 without those Nintendo or Playstation 1 mugs. So of course Sega had to be a part of it. The Master System Sonic games were released on the Wii Shop, and they had the Ultimate Sonic Genesis Collection for the PS3 and Xbox, which was a hit and introduced classic Sonic to a lot of people. You mix all of this with the iPhone, the hot new trendy tech at the time, and the opening of the App Store, suddenly there was a whole new kind of potential audience for games on the go. Sega wasn't the only company to release a half asset attempt to recreate their classic game on the iPhone, Capcom released a bunch of NES Mega Man games eith touch screen buttons and awful framerate. I wish you had talked more about the homing attack beyond it application in the PC/console port. This games was designed with old iPhones in mind, and I imagine the weird physics and homing attack were deliberate choices to make it more playable on those small devices. The iPhone version even had different levels that didn't make into the console port, because they were too reliant on the iPhones motion sensors. But yes, it was very stupid of Sega to port this game to consoles and call it "Sonic 4". I think had this released with ita intended title of Sonic the Portable, the hate for this game would be smaller.
I honestly think sonic 4 is an ok game, and i could say there are a lot worse sonic games. if episode 1 and 2 were just one game and it was only on mobile, it would be alright
I remember as a kid begging my dad to buy me an Xbox Points card so I could get these games and feeling so empty after I finished them,like I was waiting for the games to get good but I pretty much played them on autopilot the entirety of them,these and Forces are the ONLY Sonic games where this happened to me. Also something I have to point out,when I played Superstars,I said to myself multiple times “This is basically Sonic 4 Episode 3” and I think that game will be the closest thing to S4EP3 we’ll ever get,take that as you will.
Daaammn. Never touched Sonic 4, (cuz why, when Sonic 1-3, Mania, Super Stars exists?) But I was shocked to hear Pariah just hate ep 2. Every reviewer and LP I’ve seen makes the game seem the better of the two. If any, I’d try ep 2, so you caught me off guard with your thoughts at the end! Lol
It looks a lot better visually, but the tails team up gimmick makes it a lot less fun to play (imo). Most of the game is designed around using it constantly, while in sonic 4 you can at least just zoom around like shown in the gameplay here. Episode 1 still isn’t worth getting of course lol
As someone who had Sonic 4 as part of their childhood games (alongside the main Classic Sonic titles, with CD on Xbox 360 and 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles on DS), while I like these games, I don't consider them sequels to the Mega Drive games. They're so different and unique that I dissociate them from the 90s games. And I like them for doing their own things. So for me (and for many others I'm sure), it's a shame it was advertised as a sequel to the Genesis titles, because I think it does more harm than good to the game itself, and it simply isn't correct (because like I said, it's too different), as Sonic Advance, Mania and Superstars are more deserving of this title. I think a title like Sonic Remix or something else to push forward the idea of this game being a reinterpretation of Sonic 1, 2 and CD would be more ideal.
Somehow, not even the worst sega has done in terms of big changes mid development to a game. Most of it was just shameless marketing. Sonic Boom rise of Lyric has an even worse effect on sega's incompetence.
I think Mad Gear Zone is a better version of Metropolis from Sonic 2 16-bit and the special stages in Episode 1 are slightly better versions of Sonic 1's special stages but Episode 2 has slightly better physics.
You mentioned them saying "Yeah put it on consoles" after you said it could of possibly been a phone game, where is that energy from them now a day's with Dream Team?
The problem with it here is the marketing. They framed this game as Sonic *4*, the next big numbered classic Sonic game, when it clearly wasn't designed as such. Dream Team, on the other hand, is clearly a console-level Sonic game relegated to a limited ecosystem. Remember that the mobile gaming landscape was completely different back in 2010
Hey, he called the collectibles Coins again! Is there a deeper joke here (like how this game is New Super Sonic Bros.) or did you just run out of new ideas lol? I do think you kinda undersold the Homing Attack in this game, it's much more than some mindless "mash A to do this enemy chain" thing here like in other games, but...only when you use it as anything BUT a Homing Attack. I think using it as an Air Dash to quickly gain speed and other stuff (and unlike other air dashes it puts you in Ball Form so you can actually bounce on enemies with it and keep your momentum) can be quite fun and useful and has some level of depth to it, I found that aspect of the game's movement pretty fun and it helps compensate for some of the other issues, but again that's using the move as an air dash, not as a homing attack. So ironically just take out the homing and attack parts of the homing attack and just keep its air dash functionality and I think it's a pretty good move and addition that allows for some fun movement uses, but that's not what they did so it does still have those problems.
In my honest opinion, I prefer the aesthetic design of these badniks over the generations/colors ones. Simply because I feel that it perfectly combines the machine with the cartoon
New Super Mario Bros was able to capitalise on nostalgia by being the first 2D mario game in over 10 years, Sonic can't do that in the same generation that has Sonic Rush, it just looks cheap compared to it's contemporaries.
37:06 It's really depressing how almost every review of Sonic 4 has that line of never picking the game up again after that because it really is just that boring and bad
I actually had a very pleasant experience with Sonic 4 Episode 1 on the Wii. It reminds me of home for some reason. I really like the graphics in this game especially the world-building and Casino Street. The soundtrack on the Wii sounds really cool. Again, I had a really great experience with it.
Sonic 4 is really the most boring Sonic game ever. I genuinely couldn't finish either episode I or II when they released back in the day, I was just not having fun.
I've beaten Sonic 4 Ep 1 one time and never finished Ep 2 or Metal. I did enjoy Ep 2 more than 1 from what I played, but I just couldn't get into it enough to finish it. I need to try them again one day to see for sure how I feel about them. I think I only finished Ep 1 because that year had some rough patches and that lifted my spirits just a bit. But I found it overall to be meh. But while Superstars could be better than 4, that game is flawed to where it almost might as well be 4 Ep 3, extended edition. But I'll save that for another time. Good video. Also just wanted to add that the critical reviews for Ep 2 sucked, because they weren't very descriptive on why they said Ep 2 was worse than Ep 1. I remembered IGN saying that "it just doesn't have that magic Ep 1 had". But also it's IGN, they gave 4 Ep 1 an 8/10 lol
27:12 just like how new soup tries to be the first few Marios, Sonic 4 tries to be the first few Sonics, "Sonic Was Always Good: Sonic 4" tries to be the first few "Sonic Was Always Good"s. Nice
Interesting little easter egg. If you take the first letter from the first zones of sonic 1,2,3, and 4, you'd spell SEGA. ....And for those who still consider Sonic and Knuckles its own game apart from Sonic 3, you'd get GEMS (Hill zones) and GAMES ("first" levels) appropriately.
The Story of Super Mario Bros Z next for sure? Curious what you think of Sonic/Shadow’s characterization there, plus it’d be a neat lil deviation from your norm if you’re interested :)
I played Sonic 4 yesterday, and I would say, it’s fine. It’s okay. The controls are fine, with a very weird roll, that slows down more than if you just ran. My only problem so far is the god awful special stage requirements, and the bad special stages. I wish all Sonic game’s were updated with you just needing to enter a giant ring, and you being able to restart if you fail the Special Stage. (I haven’t beaten the game yet)
The level design built around the flight was frustrating in almost a good way for me, and getting my bearings with the screen freeze was of use. Episode 2 is mostly avoiding being like Episode 1, which was a very nothing game, and it only took a tumble from waiting sections, even with long boss startups. In general I would say Episode 2 is the better game, even if each episode isn’t great.
I LOVE Dimps and genuinely think they're a really talented team, they had some of the _best_ animators in anything in the entire series, and they could PERFECTLY replicate proper 2D physics in everything they made up to and including the Rush games (the big comparison that kills 3D Boost games for me, how they don't have the same excellent physics system those had). Sonic 4 was moreso them being dealt the _worst_ possible hand all at once, given the budget of a mobile game that they got forced to make into a "mainline" entry, rushed to hell and back, and creatively restrained by Iizuka's firm grip on directive roles, with all the weird design choices that came because of it. Like... yeah it's bad. It's terrible. I 100%ed both episodes and they were both miserable. It just wasn't *Dimps' fault* directly, which I feel is the big misconception here, y'know? I would LOVE to see them bring their talent back to the franchise, but after the terrible experience this project must've been I *really can't blame them* for moving to greener pastures. I'm glad they're being successful on their other endeavors, anyway.
Sorry the footage of Episode 1 is sped up here. Seems the recording screwed up somehow.
Whats ur opinion on the homing attack dash. I've heard some people praising it and i like it myself. If we got rid of the homing properties do u think thie move should return in a later sonic game
(Also the footage being sped up made the game look more fun than it actually is☠️)
... Y'know I was wondering why the game looked more fun. For a bit there, I thought I had been playing the game wrong, or had missed some kind of speed tech that would let you move faster, but nope. It's still just as sluggish and jank as I remember
Its fine, the game even looked a bit more enjoyable lol
The game actually looks normal being sped up like this. I prefer it
if sonic 4 actually played like that id hate it at LEAST 15% less LMAO
Man REALLY doesn't want to do Lost World lol
lmao can you blame him?
These games came out before it, though.
Lost world is my favorite game😭😭
@@toastednoodle60 I'm guessing you've only played lost world forces and 06 huh
@@entertainer_ev2747 no, I've played other sonic games, hell Ive never even played 06 and barley any of forces. Stop making assumptions of people just because they like a game you don't like
The image I'll always have from Sonic 4 is Sonic himself chilling on a wall, defying the laws of gravity while standing still. Hilarious.
As a kid I never really acknowledged bad games as bad, I would just stop playing em and forget they existed. Sonic 4 rotting on my iPad after like 20 minutes of playing
Same!!!
"Sonic 4 is my favourite game"
- Some unfortunate kid who has never played anything else
This comment was written by Cybershell.
"They're just a little baby boy and don't know any better"
- said by a wise man
@@Rainyar4779 👀
Ain't no way Sonic fans are judging other people's video game taste.
@@vividcolorandrichaudio6134 You dare question the word of the mighty Cybershell???
You talked about how this game was a response to nsmb, and while this game was no doubt "inspired" by those games, I don't think that's the real reason Sonic 4 was made, you know what I think it was?
Mega Man 9. Think about it, Mega Man 9 came out I think in 2008 or 2009, Sonic 4 came out in 2010, so there's a very close window of release between the two, both games are numbered sequels to games that haven't got sequels since the 90s, both games, while weren't exclusive for the Wii, they were obviously aiming for WiiWare as their "main platform" if you will, both games belong to franchises that strayed too far away from what made them good, both games promised to go back to their roots, both games regressed a lot in their gameplay (MM9 took away the slide and charged shot, and S4 took out, well, a lot) while adding little to nothing actually new to an already perfected formula, both games were trying to capitalise on the interest in retro games that was growing at the time etc...
You might say that a lot of this sounds like nsmb, or that MM9 was inspired by nsmb, but I'd like to point out that Mega Man was a dying franchise at the time, and MM9 if I remember correctly was a big hit, Sonic was also a dying franchise back then (or at least so everyone thought) so I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Sega saw how Mega Man made a comeback with a game like that and thought they could do the same with Sonic 4.
Yeah except Mega Man 9 was actually pretty good.
I agree with the MM9 and Sonic 4 parallels but think there are some differences.
Sonic did it since it was an easy cash grab while going off the no more friends philosophy and the IP wasn't dying but SEGA were confused about how to take it forward - they outright had a blog where they celebrated having only one playable character and asked us to rejoice.
Megaman was actually around the peak era for releases around that stage but hitting saturation leading to sales numbers falling for Battle Network, X and others while they were shifting to bigger online and AAA games. While Capcom were experimenting with digital only titles, MM9 and 10 fit that niche without needing any 3D assets or voice work, so they were safer to make.
Besides all that, there is a quality difference but some casual observers could assume Sonic 4 is good or modern just because it uses 3D assets, though others may associate the green eyes with the Adventure era.
Yeah I wasn't talking about the quality of either game here, just saying how MM9 likely influenced Sega to make S4.
okay but MM9 did add a lot of new things it's not "nothing actually new". Some of the stuff it does were impossible on nes. What MM9 really attempted to do was a sequel to MM2.
If you were actively a part of the fandom, trust me, you could never forget Sonic 4.
I have no idea what happened to Dimps, after Sonic 4 everything fell apart and it was dud after dud until the franchise was taken away from them. Given Sega's habit of rushing out annual releases, I imagine that has something to do with their lackluster output in the 2010s. We are so far away from Sonic Advance and Rush and the Dimps of this era was nearly unrecognizable. Terrible.
I was hyped af for sonic 4 and played it a lot on my ipod touch at launch but i still forgot the games existed until i saw this video pop up.
in all fairness, colors ds released after sonic 4 episode 1 and that game is really good
it's because different people worked on this game compared to rush or whatever
dimps was also busy with the street fighter series and a million other things. "sonic for iphones" is exactly the kind of project you assign to the B-team.
colors ds came out after s4e1 and that game is excellent. lost world 3ds is also good and definitely better than the console version
The thing I dislike most about the Tails Tag Actions is the flight's inconsistent duration. It feels like certain areas of the game are coded so that the flight can last for very long while others, Tails gets tired after like, two presses.
I'm confused??? He tires out after like 6 or 7 presses usually. It never changed for me.
Tails has infinite swimming but limited taps for flight.
You aren't always supposed to mash the button unless you need high verticality.
@@aydenthehedgefox9592 extremely late reply, but yep 👍 (mashing the flight button is useful for speedrunning specific levels)
Really excited for The Story of Sonic 4. A true video you should totally create.
The story of Sonic 4 made me feel
-Invested.
-Thrilled.
-Emotional.
- Gave me a new perspective of life.
No way any other piece of media can beat this, this is peak fiction.
Funny enough, when Sonic 4 Episode II Sega tried to do some damage control and retcon some of the events of Episode I to make it sound like it was part of some larger narrative.
You had Episode Metal, the prequel to Episode II, the connection with Sonic CD, and I remember Archie had released a tie-in comic of Sonic 4 Episode II to help bridge the gap between the two games and flash out the story. If Pariah would like to talk about the story, he could use that comic.
However I doubt he will talk about the story because, well, there I none. Sure stuff happens, but there's no character arc, no themes at play, no message to tell. It is just "Eggman and Metal are back, go beat them". Episode II literally ends with the Little Planet stuck inside the Death Egg Mk.II and were supposed to just ignore it.
Sonic Superstars is feels exactly like the kind of game Sega would've loved to release back in the 2010s after the success of New Super Mario Bros Wii. Sonic 4 was what we got instead because it was quickly whipped up as a mobile title turned console game the capitalize after similar retro revival games like NSMB and Megaman 9.
Rehashing calling them coins again because these games are rehashes is awesome
Another thing to add is the initial reception to Episode I. I vividly remember how gaming magazines at the time touted Sonic 4 Episode I as the big return to form for the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and how the game as a modern day masterpiece because it had no friends, no story, all nostalgia pandering. I think the biggest controversy was the green eyes, because this game came out before the whole Classic and Modern split of the brand.
You think people nowdays are insane because they talk about spine length, shade of blue or muzzle curves? Early 2010's Sonic discussion was all about the green eyes. I remember someone made a fan edit of the Sonic 2 HD trailer with green eyes just to get a reaction of Sonic fans.
This was a time where influencers like Projared, SomebodycallJohnny and Egoraptor were at the peak of their online relevance, and consensus online was that everything Sonic from 1992 to 2009 should be erased, and Sonic 1 was the only good Sonic game.
This game was not hated by the community when it first came out. It sold well and reviewed well. Some people disliked the episodic release, some disliked the gimmick zones in the iPhone version, some disliked the game for the modern Sonic and Eggman models, but in general it was a well received game. Remember, this game released after Black Knight, but before Colors and Generations, the consensus at the time was that this was the best Sonic game in decades.
The hate for this game began after Generations, and only got stronger over the years with the release of Sonic Boom, Mania, and the birth of the term "Meta Era" coined by UA-camr J's Reviews. Because this was the first game of the so called Meta Era, it became simbolic for everything the fan base hated by the end of the 2010's decade.
That was an insane time, i still remember projared's horrible SA2 review, the praise of the game was actually what caused me to play it and i never finished the game cause of how boring it was.
I mean Sonic 4, not SA2.
@Raynoir4779 I was about to ask how high your standards are because I will say that sa2 is overrated to an absurd degree but it's still a pretty good game
@@mrhalfsaid1389 IDK man, i still love SA2 to this day, it's one of my three favorite Sonic game, the others are S3&K, and Sonic Generations. I have no particular rating for any of these games, i just love them all equally.
Yeah, the sonic community is probably the only community that will go up in arms about a character design that doesn't actually change anything other than some astetical differences that amount to nothing. There really were much more relevant issues that should've been covered, both in and out of the community
I’m sorry this video was good as usual. But I’m sorry Sonic and Tails doing a 69 has me laughing so much.
What do you mean "doing a 69"?
@supergamemaster2279 I think I means Sonic and Tails doing 360 spin attack in Sonic 4 EP 2.
I mean, how tf else do you even begin to explain what they are doing??
@@murilosampaio1264 double head
@@Solebinku THAT'S WORSE WTF 😭😭
If you play the game on mobile devices like it was meant to be
You actually get better experience
Because some acts are totally different than the ones that are on the console
The game is designed to be played with the tilt motion controls
And those exclusive mobile acts are meant to take full advantage of that gimmick
The way special stages rotate is with motion controls too.
And the reason of why the physics make sonic accelerate like he has rockets attached to his shoes
It's because speed was attached to the way you tilt your phone
And if i remember correctly with the tilt controls the spin dash is not even a thing
So they just shoehorn it on console last minute just because why not
A barely functional spin dash at that
With all that said
I am not saying Sonic the portable (sonic 4) was a magnum opus or anything
But unfortunately the console version and the fact that they called it sonic 4 ruins the game single handedly
Too bad these dimps games that were meant to be fun little mobile games inspired on the first 2 games.
Will forever be tarnished with a terrible reputation just because sega wanted to make these games an easy cash grab by doing their marketing bullshit and changing the name of the game so people would associate the games with the classic games when they weren't even meant to be anything like the classic games to begin with
It's truly unfortunate
exclusive mobile acts???
@@LsAdventurer
Yes
There aren't much of those but some mobile version of sonic 4 acts are totally different than the ones from the console version
In lost labyrinth for example
On mobile the 2nd act for exmaple is focused in using the mine cart with the tilt controls which i found very fun, yes it's not a typical sonic level but again, it's a level that takes advantage of the tilt controls of the mobile version, and most importantly it's fun to play
And the console version 2nd acts is a shitty lights out level
Where you just have to go slow because you can't see
And it's not fun at all
It's not the the first time you play
And it's not fun for time attack
If you never played sonic 4 episode 1 on Mobile
I would recommend it
It's not a life changing game or anything s
But it's a fun little game
The tilt controls make you play the game in a way different manner
And it feels unique and fun
You would see that the game is built around that kind of movement
Just watching this I thought "Eh maybe I should give it a shot" until I remembered I played both games already lol
I'd also like to congratulate White Park for being the one, singular original zone between these two games. "Snow filled roller coaster ride" is a fairly unique idea, and at worst you could say it's kind of like Ice Paradise from Advance 2, but still. It's like the one thing from these games that gets referenced in future stuff like the IDW comics.
That zone feels a lot like donkey Kong country 2 ngl
Being a Brit playing this game, I was always amused by the fact that in the special stages, it looks like Sonic is calling Tails a wanker.
I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the first boss cutscene of episode 2, with the pillars from aquatic ruin, then eggman bringing out his metal 'biolante' flower and DESTROYING the pillars. y'know, for the symbolism.
So from what I know is the reason Sonic 4's physics are so weird is because they are actually the physics of Sonic Rush.
As you said yourself this game started out as a low budged smartphone game as such did they reuse the Rush Engine to save on development time and cost.
However as it than had to be reworked into Sonic 4 didn't they have the time or money to use a more classic accurate Physics system.
And the reuse of the Rush engine feels so weird here because Rush was designed around having a boost. Being often and really fast at extreme speeds was mended by the boost ability to destroy enemies on contact. While the boost it self was balanced by the need to do a lot of cool tricks to keep it going with the fact that you can get easily hurt without the boost being one of the punishments for playing badly other than just dying.
Also I suspect part of the reason why especially Sonic 4 Episode 1 has so much automation was because it started as a mobile game and so had to account for a lack of good input method for most players. So a lot of things were semi-automated to make it less likely for people with early touch controls to screw up because of the controls.
Also as someone that greatly prefers episode 2 to episode 1 do I have to say I feel like the source of your disagreement with the general consensus is born from your preference of speed running these games. As most of it comes from you not liking to have go through the animations and such when that isn't really that big a deal if you don't play it like this.
Same goes for the double Spin dash its basically a poor mans version of the boost with the trait of being increased power and speed in exchange for far more limited controls and the requirement to know the level layout in advance to do the most with it. But because you don't like having to deal with windup animation do you not see it as this thing with mostly the same functions as the boost and instead see it just as a gimmick that automates stuff even more.
if you play rush without the boost, you can see that the physics are very much different than sonic 4, and definitely much better, so you can’t fully put the blame on rush’s physics because a lot of the issue comes from the adjustments made in S4E1’s development
I considered this game the beginning of the end of Sonic since this is the game that started the Nostalgia pandering that lasted for a decade
I like Episode 2, but whenever I think about the multiplayer aspect, I remember an article from 2010 on The Sonic Stadium. The author played the demo for Donkey Kong Country Returns, and their co-op partner was Takashi Iizuka. They wondered if playing the game might lead to Sonic trying something similar. Two years later, we get Episode 2 with Tails basically acting like Diddy Kong.
LMAO. Whenever someone calls the rings coins... i swear idk if it is on purpose or not, but it cracks me up. ROFL
I think what genuinely annoys me regarding the discourse with this game is seeing people unironically call this better than Superstars; people who call themselves Sonic fans say this trailer trash mobile tier garbage is better despite having inferior gameplay and such a poor understanding of the formula, I won't deny Superstars is such a 7/10 game but I genuinely wonder if any of these people actually played through these games
episode 2 is kinda a nostalgic guilty pleasure, I think people would be less harsh on it if it's twin sibling wasn't...episode 1
I also haven't played it since I was little oops
@@miraclewillow1 for me, Ep. 1 is very decent while 2 is just decent.
Passed this game 6 different times and I still find enjoyment in playing it. The ost also isn’t bad either
Watching your gameplay here makes Sonic 4 look like a lot more fun than it actually is
i thought i was the only one who thought that
Because the recording made the footage sped up lmao
That's because Pariah plays Sonic games fast, and that's the best way of playing most Sonic games. That's why it's more fun than playing the game the way it was intended.
@@Rainyar4779 But sonic games are about going fast so isn't he just playing the way the game was intended?
@@johnman8398 Good point.
"Dont do a bad business decision while im gone sega" - takashi iizuka before leaving
(Sega looks at dimps' small B team making sonic the portable, a random mobile game totally unrelated to the genesis trilogy)
*i dont need it*
*i dont need it*
*i definitely dont need it*
IIIIII NEEEEED IIIIIT!
Iizuka was actually the one in charge of Sonic 4.
Thats funny because when the game came out people were raving it. Only until recent memory are people looking back against it.
How the turntables.
Maybe the consumer isn't always right.
@@charmyzard
Exactly.
Reminds me of Sonic Heroes, Sonic Colors and Sonic 06.
Sonic Heroes was originally hated by the majority of the fans and even labeled as the start of the decline of Sonic the Hedgehog as a franchise. Now present day people redacted that belief and see it as one of the best.
Sonic 06 was seen as bad originally, but I've been seeing more and more people turning around and saying its not a bad game at all but plagued with bugs.
Sonic Colors was seen as the revival of the series, and saved the franchise. Now people are saying Sonic Colors always sucked and is one of the worst.
It's mostly critics who praised it, the audience's reactions were mixed when the first couple of gameplay videos came out and then a bit more negative when the game actually came out
@@CanalDoRyu
Yes, but I also remember fans calling it the best Sonic game in a long time. I remember peeps in the community saying that it 'saved' the franchise.
The only thing about Sonic 4 I liked was the torch level in episode 1.
The gameplay was bad, but the atmosphere was fine enough and learning the level to go fast was...kinda fun. Not great, but kinda fun.
Other than that, I don't remember these games whatsoever.
But a stage in which Sonic would explore an ancient Maya temple or something like that with a torch is actually an interesting concept. Sad we never get to see it again in a good game, but oh well...not a big loss, I guess.
I've never heard Sonic and Talis' ground action described quite like that before. Good video.
The New Super Mario Bros games were just as forgettable and average, so I guess they succeeded if they were going for the same vibe as those.
The DS and Wii versions of New Super Mario Bros. were good,it was the milking with New Super Mario Bros. 2 and U that ruined the series and people’s perspective on it,I’m sure if they stopped at Wii it would be remembered much more fondly.
Epic gamer pro tip: set video speed to .75 for corrected Episode 1 gameplay speed with the added bonus of Pariah sounding like he's been drinking to cope with Episode 1's shitty boring lameness
Though I do think Ep1's look gets shit on too much, I really like how it's made of pre-rendered 3D chunks, I dig that aesthetic and if a Sonic 4 DID come out in the 90s- especially if it was made by an American team- it probably would have been pre-rendered like Ep1 is
Describing tails flight as easy mode of episode 2 feels innacurate to me,that sequence where you are forced to use him in oil desert is so miserable imo,and genuinely hard for me
Sonic 4 games were my first sonic and video games i ever played.
I remember playing them all the time on my Xbox 360 and laggy old android tablet
Sonic 4 was one of my three first Sonic games. Thankfully the other two were Sonic 1 & 2 remasters so i never played Sonic 4 that much.
For a mobile game at the time sonic 4 was pretty good. When the remakes of sonic 1 and 2 came out tho there was no reason to play 4
@@jam560 Exactly! My first official Sonic games outside of Sonic 4 were Sonic 1 & 2 mobile, so i never played Sonic 4 that much.
It’s so relaxing to just have your videos in the background while doing stuff
Leafyishere
I remember playing both episodes of Sonic 4 when I was first getting into the series, along with Mania and Generations, and I instantly fell in love. I played the mobile versions sometime before console, but even then, I had a fantastic time.
Now, my opinions of Episode I have faltered a bit. Something was always a bit off-putting about the game, especially because of how it looked. As I played the console and PC versions, that worsened it as they arguably looks worse and play slower than on mobile.
Episode II however, is easily one of my favorite games in the series. The atmosphere of the game is incredible. The way the sun's rays shine through the clouds in Sylvania Castle, the crickets and fireflies in Act 3 as the Death Egg looms in the distance, the beautiful roller coaster in White Park, the looming peril of Sky Fortress Act 3, and especially the interior of Death Egg Mk.II. I'd argue that the game is more graphically impressive than Sonic Superstars 11 years later.
The game combines classic zones with the more realistic, gritty aesthetic of the modern games, and I think it works incredibly well. And that combined with the mechanical feel of the soundtrack makes Sonic 4 Episode II such a unique experience.
The gameplay itself I also love. I like the level design with it's various hidden items, I like the physics, Oil Desert is a little weak, but the rest of the zones I absolutely adore.
Oddly enough, it's Mania that I consider to be bland, derivative, and forgettable. Half of the levels are quite literally reruns of older games, down to every platform being identical. The soundtrack is mostly remixes rather than original compositions, it looks the same, plays the same, and feels the same as the classics. Almost half the level design doesn't even belong to the game. Even the blue spheres are mostly identical to 3&K. I enjoyed nearly everything about 4epII more despite playing both at around the same time.
Sonic 4 Episode II continues to be at top 5 Sonic game for me, and I've played nearly every one. From the graphics, to the gameplay, and ESPECIALLY the soundtrack. It's one of those games that invokes intense feelings of nostalgia even though you didn't really play it that long ago. So contrary to Pariah's opinion, I would absolutely recommend it!
Your game taste is terrible.
@@tylerparkes-jk7uv ok??? 🤔
@@tylerparkes-jk7uvSo is yours
@@bedstevesuper1936 So is yours
@@bedstevesuper1936 💀
Some people call the 2010s the "meta era" of Sonic, I call it the "cynical classic pandering era." I don't know hat the hell Takashi Iizuka was thinking during this time, or if it was even his fault.
The only game that succeeded at this imo was Sonic Generations, and calling this game "Sonic 4" was a terrible decision.
But, out of the 2 Sonic games that came out in 2010, Sonic 4 was my go to.
I like the Sonic 4 series. I'm not the biggest fan of the classics, so I liked how it controlled more like Rush. I'll admit the first episode isn't great. The aesthetic is soulless pandering, and the modern elements(like the homing attack) in the level design get in the way of the fun it could've had. Similar to Colors, it had a lot of level gimmicks, but they didn't annoy me as much. The gimmicks were at least thematic and felt like a part of the level.
I understand why classic fans hate this game. Its how I feel about Colours, lol. Different types of fans knew pain that year.
I think a really cool mod for this game would be to get rid of the homing attack but keep his little air dash. It's an easier way to attack enemies but because of how physics work in this game, you can keep your momentum by just jumping into enemies in the air.
"The game isn't terrible, it's worse than terrible- it's boring and not even worth thinking about" isn't exactly a takedown of the fan reaction to it back from when it was The Direction that the 2D platformer section of the series was going in
Cybershell prob disliked this
LMFAO
Something that still amazes me is how recently the Final Heart boss got a toy set. What made SEGA to come in the conclusion that people would want that?
Just to know these Sonic, videos have a frequency?
I remember watching some GDQ run of Episode 2 which was a co-op speedrun and it really does look like the game comes alive in extremely cool ways when played by two people. Such a waste there wasn't a Tails-only mode or anything like that that lets a single player control Tails, though I guess that sure is the 'we hate Sonic's stupid friends' era for you.
Episode I was mediocre but Episode II was a major improvement across the board and actually pretty good, I genuinely believe if they kept it up for an Episode III we could of had a great game.
oof... this game... i've never got to experience it,
but episode 2 is actually pretty enjoyable for what it is imo, feels like there's much more going for it than episode 1. it feels like they thought about making it with consoles in mind first, and mobile second, the physics feel a little more polished, yeah... i... quite enjoy it
Funny that this comes out at the exact time I was replaying Sonic 4 Episode 2
I agree at the end that Superstars isn't anywhere close to Sonic 4. I feel people claiming that either never actually played Sonic 4 themselves or only use the surface level similarities (Both being modern 2D Classic Sonic games that have Jun Senoue involved with the soundtrack) to make that claim. Superstars isn't a perfect game by all means and it has it's fair share of problems, but at least Sega and Arzest tried to make a modern 2D Classic Sonic game with what made the original games so great. It wasn't a mobile game that was brought over to console with a title slapped on for marquee value. Also, at least Superstars' soundtrack has plenty of Tee Lopes bangers to balance out Jun's music.
Agreed
What I'll say about Sonic 4 is 3 things-
1. I think the games (more specifically, Episode 2) are OK.
2. Sonic 4 Episode 2 is 100% underrated from a graphical front. It genuinely deserves to be in the conversation for best-looking Sonic games.
3. Metal Sonic's theme in Episode 2 kinda slaps. It's a rare W for Jun doing this style of music. Still never let him cook again though with the Genesis font. I will riot if I hear Press Factory zone music in the next Sonic game.
15:28 As someone who had to S-rank Sky Babylon from Sonic Rush Adventure, I highly disagree with this sentiment. The homing attack in that game saved a lot of time and gave you much more control over Sonic while he was boosting. The Homing Attack in any Sonic game can work, but it needs a seamless sense of flow to it like it did in the Rush games.
Story time: I grew up with the Master System games, mainly Sonic 1 8 bits, with the Mega Drive titles here and there at friends and cousins house. I didn't had internet access until late 2010, and Sonic 4 Episode I was one of the first things I discovered while browsing UA-cam.
I wasn't looking for anything related, UA-cam just put on my recommendations the Splash Hill Act 1 music. When I first saw gameplay I thought it was some old Saturn game I never had heard about growing up. I downloaded the WAD file and played it on Dolphin emulator for years, until I pirated the PC port. I remember I liked this game, but the older I got it was hard for the come back to it. After Mania I just forgot about it, but I think Episode II is more forgettable than Episode I.
Seems i'm a lot younger than you. Cuz i grew up with the ps2 and our old family computer which i used to play flash games in, i eventually got to play Sonic 1, 2, and 4, in my mom's old phone, and i liked to play it at church along with the other kids there, good times!
I've never had a master system, but i heard it was quite popular in my country. (Brazil)
@@Rainyar4779And still is, there is literally a tectoy factory and a physical store in my state.
Honestly the main thing I love about Sonic 4 ep 1 & 2 are the visuals and a few tracks like Splash Hill, Sylvania Castle, Mad Gear, and Wing Fortress. The visuals is done thing that I would love to emulate. I feel like if the devs of these games really took inspiration from Sonic Megamix, the game would have been better.
I do see myself coming back to this game but the downside is that there is not much gameplay/exploration involved which is something I love in most Sonic games rather than just playing the game through, be done with it in a hour, and like boom I’m done, let’s move on to the next. Personally the second games stands out to me more than the first, but I get what you are saying with the criticism :)
The music in Sonic 4 is very hit or miss. Usually it's pretty bland and fortgettable, but when it's not, it's peak (though usually held back by its instrumentation).
Sonic Mania > Sonic Superstars > Sonic 4 IMO
I grew up with Sonic 4… This is my canon event… 😔
(People saying I’m not the only one are lying.)
18:16 did people really not like those gear running sequence in the actual genesis games? Or the Sonic 1 special stage? If that's the case, then they were only brought back because that was still the nostalgia factor of the original Sonic levels. Those challenging gimmicks were what basically made up the levels from the original games. The memories of not wanting to remember or go through those "imperfections" from the genesis games again if you know what I mean. The halfpipe rounds from Sonic 2 special stages were at least improved upon in Sonic Jam or Sonic R where you can at least see where you were going or going to bump into so that you were able to make a better prosition by avoiding those obstacles to obtain the goal a lot easier.
I played these games on mobile way more than I prob should've. If u had asked me then I'd prob say I liked them lol. I'm a bit surprised u say ep 2 is actually "worse" but most of wut u point out I can agree on(tho I've only beaten ep metal/2 as a competent player & I haven't played ep 1 to beat it in forever by comparison so I'll maybe have to do that sometime). I'll always say ep 2 looks "pretty" tho lol.
Edit: I wanna say I like the sonic 1 special stages WAY MORE than the og ones cus wit tilt controls on mobile I felt I had TONS more control in comparison to where sonic fell
While the music is a guilty pleasure of mine 😅, I find it so hilarious that Lego Dimensions used royalty free music for the levels in their Sonic pack, yet they used the Lost Labyrinth music for their recreation of Sonic 1’s Labyrinth Zone!!
That’s literally the only useful thing the music’s been used for!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Imagine if this game had been named "Sonic Neo" would it have gotten better reception?
Are you sure it's "always good" even in 4?
You can’t keep stalling. You’re gonna have to talk about Lost World 😂
I enjoyed these games, played through them twice on PS3/360. Liked the music. I will say, they weren’t good “Sonic” games, from the perspective of classic physics like Mania was, but they were good platformers that happened to star Sonic.
Since you cover a lot of Sonic games, there's some really unknown sonic games for symbian platforms that i played to death. There was a Sonic golf game that was fire for a mobile game (i played it so much that i was able to get an ace in almost all stages) and i belive that there was a port of Sonic 1 and 2 for symbian too. Looking through those games might be interesting enough for a video.
The only reason I played though these games was because of the cool avatar costumes for Xbox 360.
2:35 One thing I would like for you to talk more in your Sonic videos is cultural zeitgeist of the time period the Sonic game you're reviewing is from. Yes, New Super Mario Bros was a big influence for Sega to make this game, but it was more than that.
Late 2000's to early 2010's marks the renaissance of 8-bit gaming, pushed by the nostalgia for 80's videogames. As the NES and Master System turned 20 years in mid 2000's, those who grew up playing those games were now adults getting back into gaming with the PS3/Xbox and Wii, a time period where videogames were beginning to be more socially accepted by pop culture.
The digital storefronts like Wiiware and Xbox Live Arcade also allowed to easy distribution of lower budget titles to the masses, which led to a bunch of indie games inspired by the classics from the 80's and 90's. Capcom had a lot to do with the retro revival wave, releasing MegaMan 9 and 10 with the old NES art style, which both were a success.
Konami also played a role in this by remaking some of their classic NES, PC engine and arcade titles with updated graphics. Of course, at top you had New Super Mario, which when paired with the Wii and NDS, brought back a lot of casuals who had drifted away from gaming with the transition from 2D to 3D graphics.
The retro revival was part of the pop culture at the time, as icons of gaming from the 80's and 90's stamped clothing, mugs, merchandising in general. I cannot think about 2010 without those Nintendo or Playstation 1 mugs.
So of course Sega had to be a part of it. The Master System Sonic games were released on the Wii Shop, and they had the Ultimate Sonic Genesis Collection for the PS3 and Xbox, which was a hit and introduced classic Sonic to a lot of people.
You mix all of this with the iPhone, the hot new trendy tech at the time, and the opening of the App Store, suddenly there was a whole new kind of potential audience for games on the go. Sega wasn't the only company to release a half asset attempt to recreate their classic game on the iPhone, Capcom released a bunch of NES Mega Man games eith touch screen buttons and awful framerate.
I wish you had talked more about the homing attack beyond it application in the PC/console port. This games was designed with old iPhones in mind, and I imagine the weird physics and homing attack were deliberate choices to make it more playable on those small devices. The iPhone version even had different levels that didn't make into the console port, because they were too reliant on the iPhones motion sensors. But yes, it was very stupid of Sega to port this game to consoles and call it "Sonic 4". I think had this released with ita intended title of Sonic the Portable, the hate for this game would be smaller.
I try to forget about sonic 4 everyday
But it just keeps coming back
Even the music for these games is mediocre. You normally never mention music in these videos but this should have been an exception.
Are you planning to cover Triple Trouble 16-bit remake?
I honestly think sonic 4 is an ok game, and i could say there are a lot worse sonic games. if episode 1 and 2 were just one game and it was only on mobile, it would be alright
I laughed at the title but great video
finally my goat is acknowledged
*Woat.
My condolences.
*goat for the funnies
I remember as a kid begging my dad to buy me an Xbox Points card so I could get these games and feeling so empty after I finished them,like I was waiting for the games to get good but I pretty much played them on autopilot the entirety of them,these and Forces are the ONLY Sonic games where this happened to me.
Also something I have to point out,when I played Superstars,I said to myself multiple times “This is basically Sonic 4 Episode 3” and I think that game will be the closest thing to S4EP3 we’ll ever get,take that as you will.
Daaammn. Never touched Sonic 4, (cuz why, when Sonic 1-3, Mania, Super Stars exists?)
But I was shocked to hear Pariah just hate ep 2. Every reviewer and LP I’ve seen makes the game seem the better of the two.
If any, I’d try ep 2, so you caught me off guard with your thoughts at the end! Lol
It looks a lot better visually, but the tails team up gimmick makes it a lot less fun to play (imo). Most of the game is designed around using it constantly, while in sonic 4 you can at least just zoom around like shown in the gameplay here. Episode 1 still isn’t worth getting of course lol
As someone who had Sonic 4 as part of their childhood games (alongside the main Classic Sonic titles, with CD on Xbox 360 and 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles on DS), while I like these games, I don't consider them sequels to the Mega Drive games. They're so different and unique that I dissociate them from the 90s games. And I like them for doing their own things.
So for me (and for many others I'm sure), it's a shame it was advertised as a sequel to the Genesis titles, because I think it does more harm than good to the game itself, and it simply isn't correct (because like I said, it's too different), as Sonic Advance, Mania and Superstars are more deserving of this title.
I think a title like Sonic Remix or something else to push forward the idea of this game being a reinterpretation of Sonic 1, 2 and CD would be more ideal.
Somehow, not even the worst sega has done in terms of big changes mid development to a game. Most of it was just shameless marketing. Sonic Boom rise of Lyric has an even worse effect on sega's incompetence.
I think Mad Gear Zone is a better version of Metropolis from Sonic 2 16-bit and the special stages in Episode 1 are slightly better versions of Sonic 1's special stages but Episode 2 has slightly better physics.
Pariah you can't just post a review about Sonic 4 and say Sonic was always good.
You mentioned them saying "Yeah put it on consoles" after you said it could of possibly been a phone game, where is that energy from them now a day's with Dream Team?
Apple is involved in Dream Team.
The problem with it here is the marketing. They framed this game as Sonic *4*, the next big numbered classic Sonic game, when it clearly wasn't designed as such. Dream Team, on the other hand, is clearly a console-level Sonic game relegated to a limited ecosystem. Remember that the mobile gaming landscape was completely different back in 2010
For me sonic 4 ep2 is good game on 7/10.
Sonic ep1 is game on 3/10.
ya know every time I see one of these "________ Was Always Good" vids I think to myself "Yeah hes right that game was good". But not this one
Hey, he called the collectibles Coins again! Is there a deeper joke here (like how this game is New Super Sonic Bros.) or did you just run out of new ideas lol?
I do think you kinda undersold the Homing Attack in this game, it's much more than some mindless "mash A to do this enemy chain" thing here like in other games, but...only when you use it as anything BUT a Homing Attack. I think using it as an Air Dash to quickly gain speed and other stuff (and unlike other air dashes it puts you in Ball Form so you can actually bounce on enemies with it and keep your momentum) can be quite fun and useful and has some level of depth to it, I found that aspect of the game's movement pretty fun and it helps compensate for some of the other issues, but again that's using the move as an air dash, not as a homing attack. So ironically just take out the homing and attack parts of the homing attack and just keep its air dash functionality and I think it's a pretty good move and addition that allows for some fun movement uses, but that's not what they did so it does still have those problems.
In my honest opinion, I prefer the aesthetic design of these badniks over the generations/colors ones. Simply because I feel that it perfectly combines the machine with the cartoon
New Super Mario Bros was able to capitalise on nostalgia by being the first 2D mario game in over 10 years, Sonic can't do that in the same generation that has Sonic Rush, it just looks cheap compared to it's contemporaries.
I honestly cannot wait for the Lost World video. Ik damn well that video is gonna be BOMB🔥.
Imo, Sonic 4 wasn't that bad. Splash Hill is actually a really good zone tbh, each act has a lot of flavor, and act 3 is gorgeous to me.
You know the game’s bad when overclocking the character speed actually makes it better.
37:06
It's really depressing how almost every review of Sonic 4 has that line of never picking the game up again after that because it really is just that boring and bad
I feel the same way about Mania
Mania is good, but I sometimes forget it exists
I actually had a very pleasant experience with Sonic 4 Episode 1 on the Wii. It reminds me of home for some reason. I really like the graphics in this game especially the world-building and Casino Street. The soundtrack on the Wii sounds really cool. Again, I had a really great experience with it.
Sonic 4 is really the most boring Sonic game ever. I genuinely couldn't finish either episode I or II when they released back in the day, I was just not having fun.
I've beaten Sonic 4 Ep 1 one time and never finished Ep 2 or Metal. I did enjoy Ep 2 more than 1 from what I played, but I just couldn't get into it enough to finish it. I need to try them again one day to see for sure how I feel about them. I think I only finished Ep 1 because that year had some rough patches and that lifted my spirits just a bit. But I found it overall to be meh. But while Superstars could be better than 4, that game is flawed to where it almost might as well be 4 Ep 3, extended edition. But I'll save that for another time. Good video.
Also just wanted to add that the critical reviews for Ep 2 sucked, because they weren't very descriptive on why they said Ep 2 was worse than Ep 1. I remembered IGN saying that "it just doesn't have that magic Ep 1 had". But also it's IGN, they gave 4 Ep 1 an 8/10 lol
27:12 just like how new soup tries to be the first few Marios, Sonic 4 tries to be the first few Sonics, "Sonic Was Always Good: Sonic 4" tries to be the first few "Sonic Was Always Good"s. Nice
Interesting little easter egg. If you take the first letter from the first zones of sonic 1,2,3, and 4, you'd spell SEGA.
....And for those who still consider Sonic and Knuckles its own game apart from Sonic 3, you'd get GEMS (Hill zones) and GAMES ("first" levels) appropriately.
The title of this series gets funnier everyday.
Interesting. I think that sonic 4 ep 1 is mediocre to decent, and that ep. 2 is just mostly mediocre, but it can be decent sometimes
Mobile version is pretty good but has minor problems
Sonic 4 is like that annoying kid from your bygone school days that you're always repressing your memories from.
25:20
Its name is also a reference to Castlevania.
Pariah never fails to ruin my day 😚😘❤
Theses games are my childhood
The Story of Super Mario Bros Z next for sure? Curious what you think of Sonic/Shadow’s characterization there, plus it’d be a neat lil deviation from your norm if you’re interested :)
I played Sonic 4 yesterday, and I would say, it’s fine. It’s okay.
The controls are fine, with a very weird roll, that slows down more than if you just ran.
My only problem so far is the god awful special stage requirements, and the bad special stages.
I wish all Sonic game’s were updated with you just needing to enter a giant ring, and you being able to restart if you fail the Special Stage.
(I haven’t beaten the game yet)
The level design built around the flight was frustrating in almost a good way for me, and getting my bearings with the screen freeze was of use. Episode 2 is mostly avoiding being like Episode 1, which was a very nothing game, and it only took a tumble from waiting sections, even with long boss startups. In general I would say Episode 2 is the better game, even if each episode isn’t great.
I LOVE Dimps and genuinely think they're a really talented team, they had some of the _best_ animators in anything in the entire series, and they could PERFECTLY replicate proper 2D physics in everything they made up to and including the Rush games (the big comparison that kills 3D Boost games for me, how they don't have the same excellent physics system those had).
Sonic 4 was moreso them being dealt the _worst_ possible hand all at once, given the budget of a mobile game that they got forced to make into a "mainline" entry, rushed to hell and back, and creatively restrained by Iizuka's firm grip on directive roles, with all the weird design choices that came because of it.
Like... yeah it's bad. It's terrible. I 100%ed both episodes and they were both miserable.
It just wasn't *Dimps' fault* directly, which I feel is the big misconception here, y'know?
I would LOVE to see them bring their talent back to the franchise, but after the terrible experience this project must've been I *really can't blame them* for moving to greener pastures. I'm glad they're being successful on their other endeavors, anyway.