Thanks to Shadzter of The Sonic Stadium for sifting through SEGA’s forums and finding these nuggets of information, direct from Brand Manager Ken Balough. Ken held an impromptu Q&A and revealed the following:
• Episode 2 is in the early development stages
• SOA and SOE are both giving feedback and input on Episode 2
• Episode 1 sold well for SEGA commercially, meaning a bigger budget is likely for Episode 2
• Balough knows how many Episodes Sonic 4 will have, but can’t comment right now. Amount was decided during Episode 1′s development.
• Balough admits that some elements of Episode 1 could have been better and says Episode 2 gives the opportunity to address them.
• Episode 2 is not a Sonic CD remake. Idea is to bring new zones with things you haven’t seen before.
Great news in my opinion. I enjoyed Sonic 4 Episode 1 (rating it a B), but hoped that SEGA would hear criticism before diving into Episode 2. From the sound of things, they are doing just that. Perhaps the best bits of news are a larger budget and NEW ZONES! What haven’t we had yet? Spaghetti Mine Zone? Lava Ice Zone? Empty Nothingness Zone? I’m certain there’s some sort of environment we haven’t seen yet. Check out direct quotes in Shadzter’s original article.
[Source: The Sonic Stadium]
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I just wanted to say that I really love that drawn picture.
It was that, or a Google Search image that we've seen 1,000 times already.
"SEGAbits: Bringing the best in obscure imagery"
Every since Sega went multiplatform I've always felt Sonic was most at home on Nintendo systems. I'm hoping for a disc release of all the episodes on Wii.
Sonic at home on… NINTENDO!?!
TAKE THAT BACK!
As much as you or I, hate the statement it is true.
Sonic Adventure DX
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Are the best Sonic games from last gen and they were exclusive to Nintendo.
More recently it appears COLORS is the best and that is exclusive to Nintendo.
Games like Shadow, Sonic 06, Riders, Zero Gravity are all multi platform and have done poorly.
The only bad Sonic game on Nintendo is Black Knight.
Sonic Adventure DX and 2 Battle both got mediocre reviews and frankly are just ports of Dreamcast games… Which both, suspiciously got great reviews…
Also, after seeing the Donkey Kong Returns reboot and how wonderfully it was done, I'm a little more sourred by Sonic 4 Episode 1 then I previously was.
If they do a Sonic 5, I say fuck dimps cut them free and make it on the Hedgehog Engine but with the perspective, physics and gameplay of the classics.
Donkey Kong country returns is such an excellent game
Indeed DKCR is great.
All I meant was, out of the Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo platforms, it feels more at home on Nintendo's. Maybe because Nintendo is more kid friendly or because in the battle between Sega and Nintendo with home consoles Nintendo technically won, it just feels better than the other two.
although it might feel more at home on a nintendo console there's still no excuse for sega not putting good games on all platforms. its just that since they have to work on so many different platforms they seem to rush them out. it wouldn't take much work to just put colours in HD and throw it on a 360 or PS3 and throw in some new online features. heck i would probably buy it again just to see such a beautiful game in HD.
Why do I feel like my simple comment is getting read into way too much.
DCGX this is an OUTRAGE! Take it back, now!
But actually… I just think every Sonic game should be multiplatform. So long as they stop making shitty games.
"Episode 1 sold well for SEGA commericial, meaning a bigger budget is likely for Episode 2"
Woops, I meant commercially in my article XD I should triple proofread before I post in the future.
Anyway, glad to hear it's officially in development now. Happy to hear about new zones with things we'e not seen before. Zones based on ones from the past were alright, but I prefer fresh stuff.
Thanks for the correction, Shadz!
Yeah, I'm hoping it breaks out into some new territory too. Give Sonic 4 its own identity. I attempted a little 4 part drawing of Sonic 1-4, but had trouble finding anything unique to draw in the 4th section. Best I could get was a mine cart, cards and a red rocket. lol
Yeah I was going to edit that but I thought you meant "Sega commercial" as in Sega's sales division, haha. It works either way.
Anyway, I hated Episode 1, thought it was a completely and totally average experience with bland visuals, uninspiring art direction, and awful controls and music. Didn't see anything to get excited about.
SEGA's big mistake was letting the game get into gamers' hands way too late. If it weren't for the game leaking it would have released in an even worse state, and even then, enough time wasn't granted by the delay to go in and fix the crucial control issues.
SEGA needs not to hide Episode 2 from fans for so long, let us see/demo it early so we can provide some feedback to avoid another disaster on the scale of Episode 1.
While that sounds like some positive PR, and I'm content with what Balough had to say, I get the impression that Episode II might not be finished until the Fall or there-abouts. As as Sonic 4 proponent, I'll be a bit dismayed if it pans out that way.
(The battle lines are really being drawn in these news post comments, eh?)
Sonic 4 I feel like just benefitted from the poor quality of the series in recent years. If Sonic 4 had really come out 15 years ago after Sonic 3 and Knuckles it would have gotten trashed. Nobody would have accepted that total rehash as a sequel to Sonic 3.
I reviewed the game on Gamefaqs and gave it a 5/10 because it was just an average game with nothing really special about it. For me a game has to be better than "good enough" to really be worth anyone's time.
That's probably true, nSega.
I guess you might consider me a Sonic 4 apologist. While Nintendo has had the good fortune (or good business-sense) to hold onto a lot of their talents, Sega hasn't been so fortunate with all their restructuring.
The way I see it, Sonic 4 came out–like you said–about 15 years after S3&K. There's a whole new group of people working on that game. It would be easy enough for the development team to say we've got to keep it like the past titles. But you have so many different factors on the marketing and crafting of the game:
-New technology vs nostalgia
-Different people have different ideas on what Sonic should be like
-Maybe Sega marketing thought 3D graphics would be more visually appealing
-Episodic content allowed for a "play it safe" design for Ep. I
-Etc.
Sonic 4 Ep. I is not a perfect game by any stretch, and I think fan complaints saved it from being less than it is–but it's fun, and it does take me back while allowing me to look forward.
I guess for me the problem is that Sonic 4 didn't seem to be designed to please anyone. It would have been so simple to do another game that felt like Sonics 1, 2, and 3…instead of totally changing the physics and controls, and fans probably would have loved it.
Instead, they made the game play and feel completely differently, but at the same time….they didn't take it in a bold new direction, they just rehashed Sonic 1. People who wanted this to be a true evolution were disappointed, people who wanted this to feel like a sequel to the old games were disappointed.