E3 2010 - Sonic the Hedgehog Overview

There were four Sonic games on display by Sega, a developer who I'll always have affection for, although it may be for purely nostalgic reasons these days. The four are are Sonic Colors for both the Nintendo Wii and the DS, the much anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and Sonic Adventure, the Dreamcast classic (and by far the best 3D Sonic game to date) which is to be reborn as downloadable content on Xbox Live and PSN.

I remember when Sonic Adventure first came out in the US on 9.9.99 and many gamers, some of my friends included, complained that the game seems to play itself. I never really agreed with that sentiment. Now, if someone were to say that to me about Sonic Colorsfor the Wii, I wouldn't argue. It was literally impossible to die. Hold one direction, go that direction, the game plays for you. Which is a good thing, because the Matrix inspired cinematic camera angles change angle and distance so frequently that if you really were in control, you'd be totally dead within seconds.

At several points I actually tried to jump off narrow paths that are suspended way up in the air. No such luck. Death is not allowed. Eventually I held down the direction and let it run without doing anything. I was doing very well until Sonic got stuck in a hole from which there was no way out. I hope they fix that before the final release.

What I played of the DS version of Colors was good. Like previous releases on Nintendo handhelds, this is the closest to old school 16-bit Sonic action that we're going to get. It's too easy and there's no emphasis on exploring, but I felt the same about other recent 2D Sonic games and was still able to enjoy them.

So let's get right down to it, Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It has "4" right in the title. This is the spiritual successor to the masterpiece that was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles. It's a brilliant idea! Reboot the franchise with a great 2D game. After all, Sonic was born of only two dimensions, and since stepping into the third, he hasn't done well since his Dreamcast days.

Sonic 4 was one of the first games I played at E3. I, more than anyone, wanted this game to succeed - to be everything that the franchise used to be. As I waited to take the controls there was only one person in line in front of me. On the very first level I watched as he tried to jump up a series of moving blocks that are flanked by walls on either side. Over and over, and over again he biffs it. "What a n00b," I thought shaking my head with impatience. After all, how can anyone really mess that up? "What's this clown's problem?"

After eight or nine more attempts he finally gave up and it was my turn. I started from the beginning. At the loading screen players enjoy one of the original sprites of Sonic running in all of his Genesis glory. The game starts. The character sprites are too big, but I can get past that, it's no big deal. Sonic's spin animation is a perfect sphere instead of a furious oval. A pretty glaring oversight, but I can get past that too. But it didn't take me more than a minute to discover the fatal flaw that destroys this game, which is the same reason why the fellow in front of me couldn't perform a simple task like jumping on blocks.

You see, unlike in every other 2D Sonic game where the trajectory of Sonic as he flies through the air can be controlled based on the angle of the jump, and Sonic continues on that trajectory unless acted upon by another force, such as a wall, enemy, or the player's will. Not so in Sonic 4. Oh no, in this game you have to continuously hold down the D-pad for Sonic to continue to jump or fall in the desired direction. This makes precision platforming impossible. If it weren't for the enemy target system that game uses then it would be unplayable.

Let's talk about the target system. This is where when Sonic jumps while in the air, then he'll lock on to the nearest enemy, spring, or item and attack it. Where was this feature in Sonic 3? That's right, it wasn't there at all. Sonic 3 had a much more innovative air jump system that performed different functions based on what shield you had (or didn't have). Targeting wasn't introduced until Sonic 3D Blast, and that's only because the game used isometric psudo-3D graphics, and it's difficult to perfectly nail a hit in 3D. It's even a welcome feature in Sonic Adventure, again because it's a full 3D game. However, in 2D, targeting is not needed and is really an unwelcomed deviation from the original formula. It takes away from the whole Sonic experience.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is not successor to the numerically titled games that came before it. It's more closely related to the Sonic Rush games than anything else. This is Sega's best effort in nine years to make a Sonic game that's actually fun, but the control decisions prevent that aspiration from coming to fruition. Fellow Sonic fans, brace for yet another disappointment.

At least they had Sonic Adventure at the show. I know it came out in the US in 1999. It's dated, but the frame rate has improved and the graphics have been cleaned up some. Out of the four games bearing the Sonic name at E3 this year, the ten plus year old Dreamcast launch title was, by far, the best of the bunch.