Dimps Has Its Work Cut Out for Them
The results of the latest TSSZ News @Issue poll indicate by a ten point margin a majority of participants will stay away from the next episode of Sonic 4 without a key revision to its physics engine.
Out of 1,321 votes, 55 percent stated they would not buy Episode 2 if it did not include any physics changes. In the minority were the 45 percent who said they still would.
For many veteran fans, the change in physics was a constant point of contention within Sonic 4: Episode 1. Some in that group passed judgment on the game solely for that reason, hoping for a closer fit with the Genesis classics. The physics were also the main point of discussion at the Sonic 4 fan feedback session Sega of America held in November.
A new poll is now available to vote on. You can discuss the results of this poll below in our comments area. Please be cognizant of our comments policy while remarking.
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I’m gonna confess something here. Everytime I curse, I imagine that it’s John Malkovich cursing, and it makes it so funny that it’s almost impossible to resist.
I would buy this with no physics changes what so ever. Just because the new physics were not like the physics in the original game does not automatically make it a bad game. I enjoyed Sonic 4. The physics worked. If they were broken, I didn’t notice it. So sometimes, Sonic would stop going up a ramp. I would hardly call this a game-breaker. Sonic is going to defy the laws of physics either way, so what does it matter? If you want realism, go play Black Ops, not a Sonic game.
Physics aside, the game played and felt much like the classics, which was nothing but positive considering the crap Sonic Team has been dishing out to us for the past 9 years. If Dimps does, however, listen to the fans and change the physics to be more like the original, I won’t complain about that either. The original physics were awesome as well. I just think all the complaining about the new physics isn’t justified what so ever. Play the game to the end, give it a shot, even if it’s just for the sake of finally being able to play a Sonic game on a console that digs down to Sonic’s TRUE roots. You’ll learn that the physics aren’t all that bad.
“If Dimps does, however, listen to the fans and change the physics to be more like the original, I won’t complain about that either.”
Exactly. Why complain if that happens? It makes no sense. Therefore it makes no sense to oppose the fans that want that kind of change.
As I’ve always said: Sonic 4 isn’t a bad game. I had fun with it. It just doesn’t compare to the classics (which were amazing) and isn’t what Sega promised the fans. Simple.
@RaveToTheGrave
I’m gonna have to agree with Andre…they never said that the physics would be different from the originals. It was quite the opposite.
@RaveToTheGrave
Really? Sega said the physics were different? Countless times, you say? I’m sorry, but that is just wrong.
In fact: angryjoeshow.com/2010/06/sonic-4-interview/
Listen closely as Ken Balough CLEARLY STATES that the physics were “fixed”. Then, proceed to laugh your ass off at the terrible irony.
It’s hard for me to believe Ceejus has ever even touched a Genesis in his life. Sonic 4 plays more like Bubsy the Bobcat than classic Sonic.
Digs down to the true roots? Buddy, do you even know what a root IS? Because Sonic 4 doesn’t even scratch the surface of the roots. Its rolling around in its own filth on top of the dirt those roots are buried in. If the only “root” you are aware of is the second dimension, you’re just as naive and clueless as Iizuka.
@Andre
you are both brilliant and an asshole, and I love you.
@TSSZ
Multiple comment pages now? Booooo.
“So sometimes, Sonic would stop going up a ramp. I would hardly call this a game-breaker. Sonic is going to defy the laws of physics either way, so what does it matter? If you want realism, go play Black Ops, not a Sonic game.”
I was so sure someone would point this shitty argument out.
Too bad Sonic DOES need realism in the physics, otherwise the gameplay will be broken, ceasing to be intuitive and losing its flow. For instance, the absolute lack of inertia – who in the world would expect Sonic to bash into a fucking invisible wall and fall down straight to the floor like a fucking blue anvil, as if he was in a fucking cartoon, when you release the fucking -> button? Besides, there’s this Spider Sonic problem, which is REALLY annoying and, if it doesn’t make the game unplayable, makes it just as bad as can be.
And, finally, what’s with this “oh it’s not that bad, let’s get along with it”? When did every game in every other franchise started to need to be a full gaming experience whereas Sonic is allowed to be “not that bad”? Sonic is not the Bejeweled game you play on your fucking cell phone, it is supposed to be a top notch franchise.
@ChaoticFox
http://media.photobucket.com/image/sonic%20tails%20brofist/TheRuthinator/29fca9f4.png
@Andre,
I understand completely what you mean, its the fact that Aaron Webber & Ken Balough both stated they would look into the physics & level design, it was at an interview on Gamespot when they first announced the delay and no, that is not proof that the physics would be changed, it is PR bullshit!!!
With the clever choice of words even Iizuka has never mentioned change to the physics in the upcoming Episode 2, he said “Would improve”, does not mean that physics would be changed either which truly scares me in the direction of Sonic 4 as a whole. Everyone knows that Episode 2 will have to be consistent to that of episode 1, so thus to have the physics completely altered back to the classics would mean episode 1 would also have to be altered, and im assuming would be alot of work..
Sega did however state that Sonic was going back to his roots, being built from the ground up, going back to what roots? 2D sidescrolling??? heck they cant even get that right.. I dont understand why they continue to do it “their way”when it has NOT worked out properly ever since the dawn of Sonic 3D blast.. Sonic 4 is most definitely a good step in the right direction, however its unfortunate that step is called “Sonic 4″..
Sonic 4′s level design is cheap, the physics are cheap, the gimmicks are cheap (Although Act 2 of Casino Street on PS3, XBOX360 & Wii was probably the closest thing to something new and fun)
Its disappointing that SEGA have considered Sonic 4 as a side project, because right now, its a side project with a major name.. I havent been into sonic since Sonic & Knuckles, ive played others and just havent had that enjoyment since, Sonic 4 persuaded me back in, that is until I played the game.. I havent given up hope but damn it, since i was a kid I have long looked forward to a Sonic 4, here it finally is, and im honestly just soo disappointed in how much potential it had..
You’re not the only one who’s disappointed, RinRAm. The truly sad thing about this whole fiasco is that Sonic 4 was aimed at the retro crowd like you and me, and it crashed and burned. The new kids, as usual, loved it because they will love anything with “Sonic” in it, even if the game is called “Sonic Shit Eaters”.
So if Sega thinks the game is a success because it sold a bit, that’s a bad omen indeed. Because those kids would buy the game anyway, but Sonic 4 was aimed at another crowd. The fans that actually want Sonic to regain its former glory. And that crowd was left completely underwhelmed.
Sega has failed with Episode 1, simple. If it fails with Episode 2, I think all the retro crowd should boycott the game. Unfortunately I don’t think the fanbase is organized enough to articulate such a thing.
@Palas
“Sonic is not the Bejeweled game you play on your fucking cell phone, it is supposed to be a top notch franchise.”
This sentence should be tattooed to Iizuka’s forehead.
And now that I think of it, also Aaron Webber’s.
“I think all the retro crowd should boycott the game. Unfortunately I don’t think the fanbase is organized enough to articulate such a thing.”
This isn’t needed. The “retro crowd” simply won’t buy it if it’s just as awful. A natural, instinctive boycott, I’d say. The problem is that even though they (we) are much more organized and active (There’s Sonic Retro and the amazing number of fangames that doesn’t let us lie about it), the number of “kids” is much, much bigger. The numbers we have with this poll are close to irrelevant, as I suppose not many “inactive” people voted.
Palas, I don’t think the numbers are at all irrelevant because Sega actually aimed Sonic 4 at the retro crowd. And those are the kind of people that also voted on the poll. I imagine that if you could also poll the inactive players and filter between “retro” and “modern” fans, the crowd that was Sega’s target from the beginning would wield much worse results.
Still, 55% expressed dissatisfaction at being lied to their faces.
About boycott and sales, Sega tried to regain its most loyal and demanding fanbase with this project, therefore expanding its market and thus profits, but may in the end of the day just grab the same new fans who’ll swallow any kind of crap. That’s pretty sad.
You surely have a point. This game was for us and it’s not close to what it should be. However, THE GENIUS Iizuka and SEGA itself is treating the general response to the game as if it was the response from this fanbase he was supposedly aiming at. Stuff like “THANK YOU GUISE WHO BOUGHT IT WE LOVE YA” and stating that the physics is just ~different~, see. So they’re not changing the core of it (which is wrong, too) at all.
Exactly, and that speaks volumes about just how schizophrenic Sega has been acting. At the beginning of Project Needlemouse they boasted that we’d be getting a return to Sonic’s classic days, how they were hell-bent on making the game that the retro fans had been waiting for for 15 years, man… they teased everyone so freaking hard that it was obscene. It was CLEARLY a game for the old school fanbase.
Now they have adapted their speech, they avoid making compromises, they use dubious words, they make no promises. Let me tell you what this is: this is lack of competence at its finest. It’s aiming high, failing miserably and adjusting the target. That’s what it is. Iizuka’s team aimed at taking down a giant, their blacksmith handed them a tiny, ridicule dagger, and now they seem to be switching their target to little garden gnomes instead.
And here’s the kicker: their new fanbase HATES little gnomes and couldn’t be more excited about it. While the giant still rules the hills.
Like hell they wouldn’t.