Hints at Tails & Knuckles in Ep. 2, and More
Overnight, a second hand account was given of an interview Game Informer magazine scored with Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka concerning Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
We’re trying to find the article verbatim, but for the moment we are relaying an account from NeoGAFer RobbieNick, who says, among a bunch of other things, that the article includes some new screenshots from the game. Interestingly, Game Informer’s own tease for the upcoming April issue mentions nothing about Sonic 4.
Chief among Iizuka’s reveals is a tease for Tails and Knuckles to return not in the first but the second episode, perhaps as playable characters. “Fans will be very pleased with the cast in episode 2,” according to the Iizuka quote cited in the story.
Also noteworthy from the account are details that episode one is considered a prologue in the series, and that Sonic will have a new move in-game to join the Spin Dash, Rolling Attack, and homing attack.
And about that homing attack, the account cites Iizuka as 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.”
The article allegedly reveals that classic special stages are returning in Episode 1, and that the game consists of CGI pre-renders and not true 3D polygons.
Also according to the account:
Gamers will get classic “try again” ending if not successful at getting all emeralds. If you get all emeralds, you get cliffhanger ending for episode 2.
We noted screenshots as a part of this story, and according to RobbieNick‘s account, one shows off a “hornet” badnik, in his words, while a second shows Sonic flying through the air on a handrail/wire setup, in similar fashion to Sonic Advance. A third shows Sonic busting through a wall, with checkered brick debris.
And then there’s this, another promise of high hopes from Takashi Iizuka, as quoted in the article:
If Sonic 4′s return to form is the Sonic experience you have been waiting 16 years for, then we strongly encourage you to try this.
These are the new details of Sonic 4 allegedly coming from a pending Game Informer feature that we have learned of secondhand. It may be a while if legitimate and if coming in a future issue, but we will try to get something scanned when possible. If you can help with this endeavor, we would love to hear from you via our News Tips system. Stay with TSSZ News as we gather more information on Sonic 4 as it develops.
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Will the Wii version let us use our Miis?
“If Sonic 4’s return to form is the Sonic experience you have been waiting 16 years for, then we strongly encourage you to try this.”
Oh here we fucking go again.
—“If Sonic 4’s return to form is the Sonic experience you have been waiting 16 years for, then we strongly encourage you to try this.”—
In other words he is saying, if you don’t buy this game you’ll never get anything like that again on a big console system! Thats how it sounds to me! :/
We´ll see about that Mr. Ilzuka, once I played the Trail Version I´ll know if this game is garbage or fun!
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“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.”
Huh? I thought the classics were already easy enough to pick up and play, did I miss something!? Oo´´
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Other than that, I hope the new attack is actually not game breaking and ruins the game in some way!
And Rail grinding is also confirmed then, …. yep, you can definately feel the Sonic Advance touch now, I hope they don´t overuse the grinding like tons of Rails in every Stage! I actually hope they use em in just one Stage per Episode, making it sort of a Stage Specific Gimmick!
I have to correct myself, didn´t read carefully enough, Hand-Rail is not a actual Rail, Hand Rails were in Sonic Rush and the Advance Games aswell, you grab onto them instead of Grinding over them! So, thats much better then!
hand rail huh?
sonic 3&K resemblance anyone?
@MayaTemple: 1. No, I’m sure he said, “If you didn’t like anything after the classics, you’d enjoy this”. I don’t think he ever mentioned about anything after being crap.
2. Yes, the fact that they’re doing it again. With a homing attack this time. (Actually, considering the homing attack in past 2D games (Rush for example) other than Unleashed’s 2D section’s homing attack, this might actually be a good thing to bring up.)
Sorry for butting in on your nitpicking but there are some things you don’t have to make complaints about when anyone says anything.
And that´s actually closer to gimmicks found in Wing Fortress and Flying Battery… I hope they don´t use normal rails at all…
I think the new move will be similar to the one in Advance 2 and 3, where you could get a boost in any direction after some kind of jumps.
I wish it´s not too easy, and I hope that episodes lock-on like Sonic & Knuckles. It would be stupid having to play them one by one once you have them all…
@Soul Gauge:
Well, opinions differ!
I still think the Homing Attack is kind of unnecessary, but we´ll see how it will turn out to be. It could either be useful or … well, not! ^^ They could also incorporate an Classic Mode where all the new Attacks can be turned off so you don´t feel the urge to use the new Attacks! The Sentence “just don´t use it” is debateable, because once something is there, you will use it! So, a Classic or , lol, “Hard Mode” would be pretty nifty! ^_^
I can just repeat myself, once I played the Trail Version I´ll know if this game is garbage or fun! Thats how I roll!
I’m filing this away as “rumor” for the time being, but I like what I’m hearing here so far. Tellingly, “finding fun routes in the air” sounds a lot better than the feared “stepping-stones-over-a-bottomless-pit-required-to-beat-the-level” that people fear the Homing Attack will infect the game with, and really it might just turn out to be an easier way to do the same thing we’re already somewhat capable of in the classics by bouncing off enemies with well-aimed (sometimes memorization-driven) jumps.
By the way, just to point this out, he said “try this,” not “buy this.” Stop being cynical, there’ll be a trial version.
I guess you mean me with being cynical …. Off Course there will be one! Its on XBL afterall, nearly (if not) every Arcade Game has one!
I can just repeat myself (again), once I played the Trail Version I´ll know if this game is garbage or fun! Thats how I roll!
And I´m off to bed now, I had enough Sonic 4 for today!
Funny. Gameinformer are the ones that keep saying for Sonic to stop doing his tired 2D routine in their reviews, yet they are doing an interview on Sonic 4?
Home-in-on-enemy-chain-to-cross-bottomless-pit sequences confirmed (can’t be arsed to find the proper term).
Wake me up when the real Sonic 4 comes out.
@OSM: You summed it up, buddy. At this stage. I’ll believe it when I see it, hey?
It’s Iizuka, that guy who makes rather horrible level design choices.
And don’t ask, all the good Sonic Team members moved onto other places such as Naughty Dog or forming their own company such as Artoon and Prope.
Move along, nothing to see here.
I still can’t see why some people think implementation of modern gimmicks/looks/moves in a a sequel to Sonic 3 is a bad thing. You guys said u wanted a 2d platformer. Seriously if u don’t want homing attack or rails in this game go play Sonic 3.
@Kits’Okami
Wake up then, silly! He didn’t said one would actually be required to use the Homing Attack to beat the game.
Perhaps I’m being too optimistic for my own good, but it sounds more like the Homing Attack will most likely be merely used as a means to help one find alternate routes through the levels.
Please look at this picture below:
http://www.sonicstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Sonic-4-screenshots-GI.jpg
Today it was revealed an image scanned from a magazine Nintendo Power, it shows more pictures not yet seen the stage Splash Hill, image below.
I don’t see the confirmation for “homing attacks to cross bottomless pits”. I see “homing attacks to reach higher paths”…which, at least means multiple routes.
So, more people know the game is great or terrible already.. Good to know.
Oh, I believe the interview. The broken english is too perfect to be faked.
@guims-the-hedgehog
It’s a Game Informer scan courtesy of JasTheJackass not Nintendo Power, no-one has scanned up the Nintendo Power article yet that I know of.
JasonTheJackass#
I’m confused at what they mean by “hand rail.” At first read, I thought of the Sonic and Knuckles hand rails (think Sandopolis Zone wall huggers), but then I saw Sonic Advance get mentioned…
In response to something way up there.Just because there are little hand rail/wire sections, things you hold on to with your HANDS , doesn’t mean there are grind rails.There have been elements similar to that in sonic 3 and sonic and knuckles.People really need to stop jumping on the band wagon and shut the fuck up with this sonic Advance/Sonic Rush bull shit.
More promising news, I dont know what everybody is getting so worked up about…but this is the Sonic fanbase so…..
That is alot of promise for the level disigner of the Sonic 4 episodes.
this is actually a massive spoiler XD
@ guims-the-hedgehog
I like what I see.
hmm. . . wonder what the new move will be? Besides, i thought the somersault and boosting were part of Sonic’s move repertoire. Guess not.
“the game consists of CGI pre-renders and not true 3D polygons.” Guess that explains why Sonic looked spritey.
P.S
Prologue huh? Prologue to what? Sonic 1? 2? 3? or Sonic 4 altogether?
Am I the only one that feels that the Sadv1-styled (optional; not needed progress through the game) somersault move is the second move? I have the strongest feeling that is what it is. Well, maybe the lightspeed dash, but I’m still guessing the somersault. It’s actually pretty decent of a move in Sadv1 for whenever you’re in a tight space with little movement for rolling. Now what kind of move is as useful as tha–
–Oh. Right. Spindash. XD