The announcement of Sonic 4 has been received, for the most part, with sheer joy from fans of the original games that have endured the 3D Sonic games over the past decade. Granted, Sonic’s first true foray into the world of 3D, Sonic Adventure, was actually rather good with a lot of neat ideas but the series has seriusly lost its way over the years. Now, finally, Sega is building a Sonic for his biggest (or should that be oldest, Ed) fans.
For years much of the gaming world, especially in the West, has demanded that all games are 3D. Yet 2D platform games have seen a recent renaissance with Braid, Splosion Man, and a Boy and His Blob proving that there is still a market for this style of gaming. The gimmick-ridden New Super Mario Bros. doesn’t count, although I know many would disagree.
Sonic 4 is billed as pure Sonic with no latch-on ‘friends’ attached, the old graphical styles and tunes will be returning, and we can look forward to the usual end of zone battles with good ol’ Dr. Robotnik. The Wii and PS3 versions will apparently feature ‘motion’ related moves, not too sure how that will pan out and sounds like it could be a weak attempt at shoehorning in motion control into the game so I think the Xbox 360 version may well be the best one to go with here.
Here's a reminder of Sonic's chequered history.
Carl Houghton
CeX Portsmouth, UK
