Reviews from

in the past


This game isn't that terrible guys come on >:(
Very underrated

Honestly, it's not that good singleplayer, but I played through all the levels in multiplayer and had a good time. The multiplayer is absurdly unbalanced and chaotic, which just made it all the more fun for me. I found the level design to rely too heavily on summoning Tails to fly you around, which slows the gameplay down a little too much for my taste. I also found the music to be enjoyable enough, with some tracks that I liked, it definitely better than episode 1's, but not one of the best Sonic soundtracks out there. I didn't care for the special stages that much and only ended up getting 5 chaos emeralds because I just couldn't be bothered to play anymore of them. But overall, this is at least a fun co-op game, just not very fun singleplayer, I'd only recommend it if you have a friend who you can convince to play with you.

You might not believe it based on its reputation, but Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I sold and reviewed well when it released. It was fans, who at the time were critical of yet bound by a blood oath to Keep Buying This Shit, that really went in hard against Episode I, posting videos of its wonky physics and deriding it for failing to live up to the promise of its namesake. Glowing praise like "the differences between this and the old Sonic games are so few and far between that playing it involves existing in a constant state of deja vu," and "it takes a step back to a time when Sonic was awesome" started to fade, drowned out by videos of Sonic casually walking up walls in a world made of plastic. For Episode II to succeed, Sonic Team and Dimps needed to make some changes.

Episode I's development took it from a cheap mobile game to a supposed continuation of the Genesis series, and while it may have initially passed for such, key elements like Sonic's physics just weren't there. I mean, you might not know that if you read its Wiki page, which says it has "momentum-based gameplay," a straight up lie given Sonic's propensity to drop straight down out of the air when releasing the D-pad, or to roll more slowly down inclines if you aren't holding right. Episode II addresses this by giving Sonic more weight, and though it's not as close an approximation as the Retro Engine, it is acceptable. Platforming feels far better when your forward momentum isn't determined by how firmly you're keeping the D-pad depressed, and the design of Episode II's four-and-some-change levels feels more thoughtfully crafted around the way Sonic moves.

It even looks better, with sharper and more expressive character models, cleaner textures, and art direction that helps give Episode II an identity beyond being a soupy mess of borrowed levels. Sure, you could say Sylvania Castle is a riff on Aquatic Ruin, Oil Desert is just Oil Ocean, and Sky Fortress is a (better) Wing Fortress, but this is conveyed more in their tropes than it is in their visual design. About the only area where I feel Episode II plays to the audience's nostalgia a little too hard is its special stages, which are designed after Sonic 2's, and by including yet another Sonic CD style fight against Metal. These were less played out at the time, but going back in for a replay, they feel agonizingly tired.

My stomach is starting to hurt really bad, which means it's time to talk about Jun Senoue again. I'm replaying Sonic Adventure (DX, unfortunately. Gotta stay humble.), and I think it's incredible that this man is both capable of composing the best soundtrack in the entire series and also this. Admittedly, he has some good melodies here, but his choice of instrumentation steps all over the good he's doing. It could be worse, but it's far from perfect, and he's still turning in some incredibly short, nasty loops that play during long gameplay sequences.

Like during boss fights! Superstars has caught a lot of shit (deservedly so) for having bosses that are unreasonably long, but Episode II wades into very similar territory, giving most of its bosses protracted attack phases before opening up to allow a modest amount of damage. I've been sharing this observation elsewhere, but it seems appropriate to make a point of it here, too: bosses with set attack and vulnerability phases are antithetical to Classic Sonic's design.

In the Genesis games, your pace was often influenced by the design of the level itself - set pieces being broken up by platforming, for example - but the player still had agency, and the speed in which they finished a level was largely up to how well they played. Likewise, the length of a boss fight was mostly determined by how the payer engaged with the boss' attack patterns rather than having set periods of attack and vulnerability. It was sometimes the case that a fight was rigidly paced out, but even Lava Reef Act 2's boss fight doesn't feel quite as protracted and dull as Oil Desert's.

The best Sonic bosses are the ones where you can bash Robotnik on the head eight times before he gets one attack out, is what I'm saying.

So, yeah, I think Episode II feels good to play and that the improvements Sonic Team and Dimps made worked out in the end. But if you pull back and look at the duology of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as a single game, which ostensibly is what it's meant to be, it's hard not to feel like you're left with an inconsistent and unfinished mess. Because, you know, it is.

Sonic 4's episodic model was popular at the time, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles had established its own weird precedent within the series itself. But if you tried to evaluate it like S3&K, as one whole piece of media that was merely divided into two, it just doesn't work. Each episode looks, feels, and is designed differently, they have their own endings and though their overarching story is connected, the narrative is so threadbare in Episode I that it feels wholly unimportant to Episode II. Hell, most of the setup exists in a four-level side story that only unlocks if you own both games in the same library.

It ends on a real down note, too. Sonic and Tails stop Eggman, but they fail to prevent the Death Egg from being completed and essentially doom Little Planet. This was supposed to be the "dark middle chapter," and presumably they would return (with Knuckles in tow) for a much happier ending in Episode III. Supposedly, Christian Whitehead was also set to collaborate on the third episode, meaning it likely would've resulted in the game feeling even more different than the previous episode. The promise of making Sonic 4 even less cohesive than it already is doesn't sound great to me, but at the same time, I really wish they just stuck to the project and finished the damn thing. Knowing there is a Sonic 4 and it's this half-finished nightmare that fails to continue the Genesis games and is wildly uneven in presentation and design, but which has that name on fucking lock is just depressing.

I guess I just find the larger story of Sonic 4 to be fascinating, because it exists at this sort of post 2006 inflection point where Sega and Sonic Team were still recalibrating, turning the nob and looking over their shoulder trying to figure out what the hell people wanted from them. Starting with a clear conception in mind, changing course when fans vocally rejected it, only to end up cancelled and abandoned as Sonic Team veered towards other projects... a perfect encapsulation of where Sonic was at. As a game, an episode, I don't think Sonic 4: Episode II is bad, but it's also not great. It tows the line between mediocrity and fun. It's a Sonic-ass Sonic game.

It's better than the first one. That's not a high bar to cross.

Oyun sıradan bir oyun, ne iyi ne kötü. Öyle yokluktaysanız ne oynayacağım diye düşünüyorsanız, kafanızda bir şey yoksa alıp oynayabilirsiniz.

-Bölümleri az.
+Grafik iyi.
-Yeni mekanikler biraz yavaş.
+Bölüm tasarımları güzel.
-Metal Sonic çok az oynanılıyor.
+Bonus bölümleri en iyi remasteredı alan oyunlara aday.


This review contains spoilers

Ok, this… is actually a decent game, it’s not amazing and the ending just spits in the face to sonic CD and little planet especially since it’s likely sega won’t make episode 3, but for all it’s worth, it’s decent, it’s clear they put more effort into it than episode one, it has issues, absolutely, but I can’t help but like it, maybe it’s bias from this being an early game for me, but I think it’s a decent game, is it a worthy follow up to sonic 3… no, but it’s a good stand alone game.

Dimps can make a good 2D Sonic game I swear

Looks better than Superstars.

the biggest crime in modern history is that episode 1 got 9/10 reviews and this got 6/10s

Despite me ranking this the same as Ep. 1, I think this game is worse due to the tag-team mechanic. Feels less like a natural extension of the Sonic/Tails dynamic in the Genesis games and more of a half-baked gimmick. Most of the issues from Ep. 1 follow this game over too, which sucks.

Admittedly much better than the first 'Episode' of the game. Physics feel much better (although still not ideal) and the tails combo stuff is a novel addition that I don't mind.

But it still just feels cheap and not exciting at all.

Most of what I said about Episode 1 still applies, but overall a better game. These games would feel so much better if they just weren't called "Sonic 4."

Um joguinho bacana. Melhora e muito em comparação ao episódio 1.

I really appreciated the efforts that were made to make Episode 2 an actual console game worthy of the name Sonic 4, rather than a mobile game sloppily thrown onto consoles and retitled to boost profits. It was too little too late, however. The episodic nature of Sonic 4 killed it right out the gate. This is leagues better than Episode 1, but still not up to par with all the rest of the Classic games.

Es en extremo lineal, pero igual sigue siendo un juego bastante entretenido, mejora muchos de los aspectos que hacían una puta basura al episodio 1

Si, lo complete en celular

Melhor que o primeiro episódio, pff, como se esse fosse um feito difícil.

This review contains spoilers

8.6/10
Pretty good game, the level design is good, I like how they're original instead of the rehashed levels of episode 1, the physics are a huge improvement from episode 1 as well.
But the bosses aren't good, you wait then get the chance to attack them only once, then rinse repeat. I guess superstars took some notes off from this game.
The OST is fine, the metal sonic theme is my favorite part from the soundtrack, but the others are good but I'm not going to listen to them all the time but they're good for what they do.
Episode metal exists, they're remade levels of episode 1 levels but you play as metal sonic. They do explain the new power that metal gets which is cool but they don't do anything with it, you can't use it in the game and probably due to metal sonic being a sonic skin with new sfx for when he runs and that''s it.
I did enjoy my time with this game but if they made the game longer and the bosses were like the classic sonic games, I would've loved this game.

I honestly don't understand all the hate this game gets. The only thing I can mention that is "bad" about it is that it's kinda short. Other than that this game is pretty solid. Of course not the best Sonic game, but it is an insane upgrade from the first Sonic 4

Неплохой 2D-шный Соник с кайфовыми уровнями, но душнейшими затянутыми боссфайтами. 3D-графон играет на руку и мы получаем классный визуал с красивыми эффектами.

Claramente houve uma melhoria em comparação ao episódio I, já que a jogabilidade, os gráficos, músicas e conceito das fases são "novos" e melhores. Mesmo assim, não merece ser chamado de Sonic 4. É um pouco menos medíocre do que o primeiro episódio.

Amo este juego, lo disfrute un montón en su tiempo y lo he rejugado varias veces.

better but ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Unlike the first game, there is a level in this that I can say I like. Game still sucks though.

Better than the first but it’s just borderline acceptable

Infinitely better than Episode I, even if it still isn't as good as the originals. Most of the soundtrack sounds like penis music though


Está divertido. Tiene un mejor diseño de niveles que el anterior episodio, me gustaron mucho las mecánicas del gameplay con Tails como compañero, es lindo cuando dejan al zorrito ser útil en los juegos. Y definitivamente a parte de eso, mi parte favorita del juego es la primera batalla contra Metal Sonic. Es de los mejores tratos que le han dado al personaje

Del resto, he de criticar que la carrera contra Metal Sonic que homenajea al Sonic CD no me gustó. La noto muy cinemática, en el sentido de que en ocasiones las velocidades de los personajes se bloquean para que él te pase al final. Para ganarle tiene que ser de una forma bien especifica, a diferencia de la del Sonic CD que es una carrera con toda libertad

Legitimately an improvement over Episode 1. Sonic and Tails have a 69 attack together.

Even though its a bit more original than the 1st episode, this game shouldn't have existed. Again, thank god it's really short, because the powerup gimmicks with Tails are not fun at all.