This is a classic case of trying to please two different audiences and ending up pleasing absolutely no one. I'm always shocked when I remember what SEGA did with this game. Sonic 4 was supposed to be a mobile exclusive, something made for bored kids to play on the school bus... how the fuck did SEGA think it was a good idea to release this on console? Why bring a game made for one specific audience to a completely different one? Any company barely in touch with its fans could see miles away that this was not a good idea.

It's not completely unplayable; it's just a bad joke. They were actually aiming to bring the feel of Sonic Unleashed day stages to the iconic 2D Sonic style... we can tell how well this plan went. This game was already dated when it was released; everything about this game is cheap, from the amateur, horrible graphics to the soundtrack filled with 14-year-old me using FL Studio 12 type beats and stupid level design that ruined any chances of the few interesting stages being fun.

Imagine the audacity to call this game a sequel to the best Sonic game ever made. If it were just a spin-off mobile Sonic game like it was supposed to be, I would understand way more how poorly made this game is, but what SEGA did was too much. I dread the fateful day I play the second episode of this garbage.

Strange as this may sound, this game would be so much better if it literally just had a different title. "Sonic 4" holds so many more implications than what this game actually is. If the game was advertised as the small, low-budget, side-game that it is, then I feel like it would be much more appreciated. Not exactly beloved, but at least accepted. But instead the game is presented as the sequel to Sonic Goddamn 3. Imagine if Super Mario Run was titled and advertised as "Super Mario Bros 5" and released on consoles, I feel like that game would be much more hated. To me, Sonic 4 will always be a mediocre spinoff and nothing more.

Эта игра была ошибкой.

Полная рецензия: «СИКВЕЛ, КОТОРЫЙ ФАНАТЫ ЖДАЛИ 16 ЛЕТ НАКОНЕЦ-ТО ЗДЕСЬ». Таким синопсисом на релизе встречала нас новоявленная игра Сеги и Соник Тим, которая являлась прямым продолжение оригинальной трилогии 2д игр и продолжала историю противостояния Соника и Доктора Роботника.

Говорить о каком-то там сюжете нет смысла, потому что разрабы чхать хотели, что у нас уже на тот момент был 2009 год, и многие 2д игры адаптировались к новым видам повествования и приемам нарратива. Здесь Соник Тим решили оставить всё, как было раньше: молчаливых персонажей, скудные кастсцены в переходах между игровыми зонами, а также классический сюжетный базис в виде «Злой доктор похитил зверушек, Соник побежал спасать». Иными словами, вместо какой-то полноценной 4 части мы просто видим ремейк оригинала. Да такой ремейк, что здесь тупо наложили 3д текстуры поверх знакомых локаций.

И говоря про локации, здесь просто ублюдский лвл-дизайн и скотское отношение к оригиналу. Мало того, что здесь всего 5 зон, взятых из 1 и 2 части Соника, так и выполнены они здесь со всем похуизмом и проблемами, которые я описывал в обзорах прошлых частей: душный платформинг, пространственная фрустрация и отсутствие драйва. Все ключевые ошибки серии в одном экземпляре - получите и распишитесь. Про графику я лучше промолчу, потому что даже фанаты на Ютубе в своих ремейках справлялись и то лучше. Самое смешное, что весь похуизм разрабов и студии виднеется ещё с главного меню, где мы просто видим голову Соника на фоне первой локации и полупрозрачный серый квадрат, внутри которого присутствуют иконки выбора. Ну ахуеть теперь, и эту залупу продавали за 30-40$ на релизе.

Управление Соником здесь тоже сделано максимально по-уебански из-за местного движка и физона. Синий ведёт себя как корова на льду, которая большую часть времени не может набрать скорость, но если наберёт, то, скорее всего, улетит в первую же пропасть из-за невозможности остановиться. К классической 2д формуле они тут прикрутили хоуминг-атаку и сделали они это в большей степени для сглаживания углов внутри управления ёжиком, потому что без неё игра бы стала моментами просто непроходимой. Правда и сам хоуминг иногда очень плохо лочится и банально не работает местами.

Знаете, самое смешное это то, что они решили вернуть тот самый спешл стейдж из первой части. Ту самую хуйню, которую многие считают одной из главных проблем оригинала. Да, они попытались тут как-то с ней поработать и что-то исправить, но ситуацию явно кардинально не изменили. Бонус уровень как был рандомной вырвиглазной залупой, так ей и остался, только теперь под соусом 3д.

В заключении могу сказать, что Sonic: the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - одна из самых позорных вещей в индустрии, которую я видел. Атрофированная попытка нажиться на ностальгии с кривым лвл-дизайном, отсутствием какой-либо оригинальности, устаревшим нарративом, плохоуправляемым главным героем и плохим визуалом. Чтобы вы понимали, ЗДЕСЬ СОСЕТ ДАЖЕ МУЗЫКА, а музыка в Сонике всегда была ахуенна.

Sonic 4 is a sequel that takes away much more than it adds. This was a game advertised as something worth the 16 year gap between this and Sonic 3 where in reality, it was a mobile game that was given a bigger budget and labelled as “Sonic 4” just to push units.

Sonic 4 isn’t really much like a classic sonic game outside of being a 2D side scroller. Sonic is the only playable character and his controls don’t feel much like the Genesis games at all. Rolling doesn’t pick up speed at all, it’s better to just run as this will allow you to get along just fine. There is a Spindash and it’s great for instant speed, as well as for Spindash jumping which is really fun in this game. Sonic also has the homing attack here. Not really sure why and for the most part all it’s used for attacking basic chains of enemies.

Overall though Sonic 4 isn’t a game that was built for the old control scheme. For this game I think the control is mostly fine, especially as they like to take control away anyway with the amount of dash pads plastered everywhere.

There’s only 4 zones, and all of them are almost entirely ripped from Sonic 1 and 2 when it comes to aesthetics. However level design is totally different and there are some gimmicks I like, such as the vine swinging in Splash Hill or the Roller Ball stage in Lost Labyrinth. In fact there isn’t really a stage I hate in Sonic 4 Ep1, while nothing mind blowing, it does work, and it’s okay.

Bosses aren’t much to talk about, fairly basic fights, though I enjoy the pinch modes and the return of the death egg robot as this was his first comeback.

I don’t mind how the game looks, Sonic does look a little like a plastic toy but overall I do like the visuals, the soundtrack though is pretty weak. Could be worse but most is forgettable.

Special stages being back as an end of level affair is abit dissapointing, and it’s a take on the Sonic 1 special stage, expect here you rotate the maze not Sonic. They’re okay, and you can even retry if you’re able to pause the game before failing.

And hey if you collect all the chaos emeralds you unlock Super Sonic for any stage, for the first time since Sonic 3! Absolutely awesome at the time and I’m glad it’s something that has mostly stuck around. He’s a lot of fun here, totally overpowered but a lot of fun.

Sonic 4 Ep1 isn’t a bad game by any means, it’s just really unremarkable considering what it’s following up on

This is the worst game in the series.

I'm not even gonna pretend like if I have some extensive prelude as to my experience with it or whatever. I've played it before, it sucked just as much then as it does now. But Sonic 4 Episode 1 for me sucks in a very special way compared to any other Sonic game, because it embodies literally every single thing that I don't want this franchise to be.

Bland visuals that are plasticky and lifeless, zero attempt to have any sort of story or deeper narrative theme via cutscenes or in-game storytelling other than "Eggman bad. Go stop him", horrendous controls that fundamentally fail at replicating the physics of the Genesis games and even on their own merits are completely trash, level design that is either automated up the ass or tediously boring, gimmicks shoved into every stage that make the whole game feel unfocused and take away from the gameplay rather than working alongside it, models without any sort of life that move like puppets on a stage (with ugly fullbright filters on top of them on the PC version, as if to add insult to injury), a horrible soundtrack in which the only good track is one from a past game and every other song is an ear bleeding mess of synths and Sonic 1/2 drums, a pandering towards nostalgia that feels shoved into your face and completely misses what made any of those things meaningful to begin with, replacing them instead with husks of themselves, and perhaps most importantly of all, a consistent, inescapable lack of care from part of the developers.

I mean, why would they care? They made this as a quick little mobile game before Sega rebranded it as the sequel to one of the greatest 2D platformers of the 90's just so that it would sell more. As long as the game ran fine and there weren't that many bugs and Sonic's stupid friends weren't anywhere to be seen, who cared if the game was a complete betrayal of what came before? Who cares if this would forever be the official sequel to that beloved legacy of classics by name and name alone? Who cares if the game is nowhere near the level of quality that it should be? As long as it's not Sonic '06, just ship it out and let 'em have it.

I wish I could be mad towards this game, I wish I had some sort of visceral hatred towards it that made me pour foam out the mouth in pure autistic rage whenever I saw it, but the truth is that when playing Sonic 4 Episode 1, I feel nothing. Genuinely nothing. During this playthrough I had to talk to myself just to not fall asleep in sheer boredom, because there was nothing to be enthralled by. It's just going through the motions because Sonic, getting the Chaos Emeralds because Sonic, and fighting some robot at the end, because Sonic. It almost feels like if it's saying: "That's all this series should be, that's all it'll ever be allowed to be for the general public, and that's all that is worth praising about it forever and ever. Now shut up and take another Green Hill rehash".

I know this game is way past the point of getting truly mad at, I mean for fucks sake it's old enough to use social media now, and obviously looking at the series now, it's clear that Sonic Team is if nothing else making an attempt to be better and to try with their projects again, but to me? This right here will forever remain as rock bottom. The ultimate testament to when Sega and Sonic Team put no effort into what they make, slap Sonic on the cover and call it a day.

Just go play Triple Trouble 16-Bit instead, and leave this in the dumpster where it's firmly set it's throne.

This shit was such a scam. People are too quick to call things cash grabs these days because THIS GAME was a cash grab. This was a mobile game that was rebranded as the long awaited sequel to Sonic 3 & K so it would sell more... y'know, at the cost of the goodwill of the consumer. And it's not like Sega had goodwill to spare back then.

It's functional I guess. But it's like the definition of soulless.


This game sucks.

How do you fuck this up this bad, this isn't really a classic sonic game at all but considering the fact that Dimps has made some good Sonic games before this like the advance and rush games I would expect something at least fun but this. What the fuck happened here. This is basically just a shitty mobile game plopped onto consoles and macerating as Sonic 4 which makes since considering the fact that I'm pretty sure this was going to be called Sonic the Mobile which makes since considering that this was going to be a mobile game at first probably. The physics and momentum are dogshit and basically nonexistent, the level design is straight up not fun to play, the graphics are disgusting and rancid, and they somehow fucked up the soundtrack. Say what you will about Superstars (that game does have a good amount of flaws that I might talk about at a later date), but at least its actually fun to play and the soundtrack in that is just alright. Thank god we have Sonic Mania to replace this piece of shit. I don't know how this series can get worse then this but considering the fact that this series is infamous for the worst games in the series, there was a reason why I was hesitant on this marathon at first.

This review will be more of a justification of why I'm giving it a 2/5 rather than a 0.5/5. Let's get the actual review out of the way first. The game is playable, but the theme of the levels is extremely lazy and the gameplay is honestly boring. Splash Hill and Lost Labyrinth are just Green Hill and Labyrinth Zones from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) while Casino Street and Mad Gear are just Casino Night and Metropolis Zones from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Casino Night is really the only justifiable zone to steal from because Green Hill is overdone (though that's due to future titles after this) and both Labyrinth and Metropolis are some of the most hated Zones in Classic Sonic titles, which makes it more baffling that they ripped straight from those Zones instead of more loved Zones like Hydrocity (then again we don't want that to be tainted by this awful game). So far, this is the first mainline game to have a bad soundtrack. Every other game I've played so far from the very first to Unleashed had either an extraordinary soundtrack or just above average, but this game has basically nothing to it and the music gets annoying fast. Also, this game has no story, which you could argue is fine since it's a 2D platformer, but this is the sequel to Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which has very good visual storytelling, especially in the last part of the game with Hidden Palace and Sky Sanctuary. It just feels like the "Sonic 4" title doesn't really fit this game and was just tacked on to make money, which wouldn't be far from the truth since this game feels like a soulless cash grab. So why am I giving it a 2/5? Well, the quickest answer is: there's worse. When deciding a score, I base it off of other games in the rating and the ones above and below.

Edit: My opinions on most of the games that I said were worse have changed, so that part of the review didn't hold up well. However, while this game bores me, the rating I gave it basically means "it's playable start to finish, short enough that I could get through it and not care, but still frustrates me due to ____".

Now the thing that makes this game better than those is that the other games are much longer than this. While this game is pretty bad, at the very least it's an hour and fifteen at most as opposed to Shadow which was extremely long due to the developers expecting you to play ten times to get the True Ending. Here, you can just speed through and get to the end. You don't even need the Chaos Emeralds because nothing changes (unless you want to play as Super Sonic, then sure). I would honestly rather play a short and boring game than a long and tedious game with an unsatisfying ending. Overall, I would say while this would still be in the "do not play" category, I think the length of the game being extremely short makes this not as bad as other bad Sonic games, and you can quickly check this off your list if you plan to play it.