I rate this game:8.50
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
The story takes place following the destruction of the Death Egg, with Angel Island back in the sky (following the end of Sonic 3 & Knuckles). Sonic heads off to explore a new territory on his own. Doctor Eggman also survived, and has taken measures to defeat Sonic.
Story line
Despite Dr. Eggman's best efforts, Sonic destroys each of his refined creations and chases the madman to his newest lair, the E.G.G. Station Zone. There, Sonic defeats each of his creations once again, including the powered-up Giant Mech, which destroys the station. Safely back on his planet, Sonic celebrates his victory with the animals he saved.
A post-credits scene, obtaining by collecting all the Chaos Emeralds, shows Dr. Eggman laughing, along with the sillouette of Metal Sonic.
Characters
Edit
| Image | Characters | Biography |
 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Our legendary hero returns! With the Death Egg finally destroyed and the Angel Island back into the sky, Sonic decides its time to take a break and heads off to find a new territory of his own. However, unbeknownst to Sonic, Eggman has also survived their last encounter, and has begun to taking measures to get rid of our hero. Armed with his Signature Speed, super Spin Dash - and powerful Homing Attack, Sonic is ready for an all-new adventure! |
 | Dr. Eggman | After losing the Master Emeraldduring his last encounter with Sonic, Eggman regroups with a new objective: to revisit and refine the best of his creations in order to finally get rid of Sonic. |
Playable
Non-Playable
Scrapped
- Froggy
- Big the Cat
- Amy Rose
- Tikal the Echidna
- Charmy Bee
- Vector the Crocodile
- Shade the Echidna
- Sonic's New Friend Mr. Needlemouse
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Chip
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Knuckles the Echidna
Badniks
Bubbles
Buzzer
Chopper
Motobug
Newtron
Batbot
Burrobot
Jaws
Orbinaut
Shellcracker
Slicer
- Spiker
- Crawl
- Asteron
Animal Friends
Bosses
Zones
Key Items
Item Boxes
- Super Rings (Holds ten rings)
- 1-UP (Extra Life)
- Speed Sneakers (Makes you run faster for a limited time)
- Invulnerability (Makes you invincible for a limited time)
- Shield (Protects you from a Single hit)
Special Stages
Special Stages in the game play akin to ones in the first game, where Sonic must navigate a maze to reach the Chaos Emerald, collecting rings and avoiding the exit blocks. This time, the rotation is controlled by the player instead of automatically. Controllers with motion control support can use either a traditional control method or by tilting the controller to control the rotation.
Two significant differences between these stages and the original ones are the inclusion of ring gates and a time limit. Ring gates are barriers that prevent the player from crossing into the next area of the stage, but can be passed once the appropriate number of rings, shown on the gate, have been collected. A time limit also kicks in at the start of each stage and boots the player out if they haven't collected the Emerald in the time frame. The starting amount varies by level, but can be extended in five, ten or fifteen second increments by collecting orbs around the stage.
Once a Special Stage has been completed, it can be replayed on the level select stage in either Score or Time Attack modes, with a 1-Up replacing the Emerald.
Music
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010
The game was playable by the visitors of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010. Players were only able to do the whole level of Splash Hill Zone. The Special Stages of the game were not shown. The game was highly praised at the E3 and there was a lot of audience at show of Sonic 4.
Development
The game was developed by Sonic Team including the original senior level designer for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.[6] as well as members of Dimps. The game was released as a digital download for WiiWare, PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Arcade, and iPod app store services.[7]
An interview with Takashi Izuka states that "Fans will be very pleased with the cast in episode 2", implying that Sonic may not be the only playable character in future episodes. He also announced an as-yet unknown new move for Sonic, as well as announcing that the Homing Attack would appear in the game, saying: "I wanted the user to enjoy an easy-to-play feeling by the attack sequence that this [homing attack] allows, and find the fun routes in the air."
He also stated that the classic special stages will make a return and Ken Balough stated that there will be a total number of 17 stages in Episode 1, this includes Special Stages.
The game would be the same on all consoles. The Wii and Playstation 3 version of the game will be using motion control in certain areas such as Special Stages. The iPhone version of the game will be featuring two of its own levels. Previously the console versions of the game were going to have gimmicks such as Sonic riding on a Mine Cart. But, SEGA had delayed the game and moved the date from July 2010 to Late 2010; this is because they wanted to change the game to make it better and to prevent fans from knowing all of the game due to the leaks the game was getting. The Mine Cart gimmick will be moved to the iPhone version of the game, as well as some other gimmicks.
On February 8th Sega's Sonic 4 brand manager Ken Balough has gone on record to confirm that work on the next installment is underway. Sega of America, and Europe also have been providing feedback and input on the subject matter. Episode 2 is revealed to have it's own original Zones as Episode 1 was a throwback to Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
Leaking, Delay and Fan-Reaction
In February, a build of Episode 1 was submitted to Xbox Live Arcade's PartnerNET service, where developers were given access to upcoming downloadable titles for testing purposes. Soon after, screenshots, music and progressively more gameplay footage were leaked onto the Internet. Eventually, a playthrough of the entire game was leaked, and Sonic Retro, which had already banned leaked material when more than they approved of had been released, responded by banning Sonic 4 discussion for several days. As well as this, PartnerNET shut down for a night. Other websites also made efforts to crack down on leaks, such as banning posting of leaked content. The build was controversial, due to it containing "floaty" physics speculated to be due to its using the Sonic Rush engine, poor animations, and criticized level design such as gimmick-based acts that were disliked by most fans.
On May 20, 2010, SEGA announced that, due to fan input, the game would be delayed until later in 2010, in order to extend the development of the game. They stated in game magazines and on GameSpot's On The Spot that this was specifically done to allow various fan requests (since the game was leaked) to be implemented, including more momentum-based level designs and improved physics closer to that of the Mega Drive titles.
Releases for the iPhone and iPod Touch were also announced, finally ending speculation of the fourth unknown platform, although it was leaked months before when images were found in the website's source code. It was also revealed that the iPhone version would receive two extra levels, which turned out to be the Mine Cart and Pinball gimmicks stages in Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2 and Casino Street Zone Act 2, which were heavily criticized in the leaked gameplay footage. Sega said this was done because the levels fit the iPhone controls more. Fans speculated that the console versions would receive new, non-gimmick levels to replace them. Sega confirmed this with pictures several weeks before the final release. The new, console-specific levels were much closer in design to the other levels, and featured new gimmicks which require platforming.
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