And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Sonic 4 Episode 1 AKA Project Needlemouse)

[Overflight]

First we got the promise that "This is going to be totally in old-school 2D, we swear."
Now we get the promise that "There are no more friends or other playable characters in this game. Really."

Yet I am STILL not convinced. Why? The fact that they haven't revealed the logo yet makes me think of two things:

1) They may STILL revolve the game around a stupid gimmick. Maybe Sonic is wearing a stupid helmet that makes him control time or shoot lasers or some other stupid thing.

2) The hidden logo is a cover for the big reveal that they are simply redoing one or more of the old Sonic games in 3D graphics. I'd probably get it, but falling back on past glories isn't going to get them anywhere in the long run.

There MAY be a possibility for this to turn out good, but I'm still skeptical. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Hailey Knight]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

I think it's wise not to get hopes up.

I'm not believing anything until we see some videos.

I don't know why Sega felt the need to turn Sonic into Mario with all the gimmicks and shit, but all of Mario's gimmicks still hold true to the core gameplay, whereas Sonic's seem to just tack him into some other scenario and game model, with nothing to indicate it's a Sonic game except the faces. They're like Diddy Kong Racing.

 

[AshburnerX]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

The biggest problem for Sonic is also his greatest strength: His Speed. In the 16 bit era, all he needed was to be faster than Mario to get people to like him. But now that everything is 3D, the question is "What does this Speed do for me?". Unfortunately the answer is "Not a whole lot, except make him hard to control." So the problem before Sega is how do they utilize Sonic's speed without it being gimmicky and how do they do it without making him hard as hell to control? Until they can do that much, Sonic is going languish back in his glory days like a retired football player, while Mario makes millions playing fucking golf and driving Go-carts.

 

[General Specific]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

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[Oddbot]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

The biggest problem for Sonic is also his greatest strength: His Speed. In the 16 bit era, all he needed was to be faster than Mario to get people to like him. But now that everything is 3D, the question is "What does this Speed do for me?". Unfortunately the answer is "Not a whole lot, except make him hard to control." So the problem before Sega is how do they utilize Sonic's speed without it being gimmicky and how do they do it without making him hard as hell to control? Until they can do that much, Sonic is going languish back in his glory days like a retired football player, while Mario makes millions playing fucking golf and driving Go-carts.

I thought that the sonic levels in the first 2 Sonic adventure games for Dreamcast were actually pretty fun and captured the speed and spirit of sonic pretty well in 3D. The problem was that those levels were just 1/3 of the game. The rest of the game was spent playing those horrible side characters. If they just made an entire game of those levels with no dumb gimmick or stupid side characters... well I guess that's what they're finally doing, though they've given up on 3d.

 

[CynicismKills]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

Personally, I think they should produce some pretty sidescroller Sonics again, and just make them Live Arcade or whatever the PS3 DLC games are called. That, or sell the guy to Nintendo who actually makes good mascot games more often than not.

 

[Hailey Knight]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

The biggest problem for Sonic is also his greatest strength: His Speed. In the 16 bit era, all he needed was to be faster than Mario to get people to like him. But now that everything is 3D, the question is "What does this Speed do for me?". Unfortunately the answer is "Not a whole lot, except make him hard to control." So the problem before Sega is how do they utilize Sonic's speed without it being gimmicky and how do they do it without making him hard as hell to control? Until they can do that much, Sonic is going languish back in his glory days like a retired football player, while Mario makes millions playing fucking golf and driving Go-carts.

I thought that the sonic levels in the first 2 Sonic adventure games for Dreamcast were actually pretty fun and captured the speed and spirit of sonic pretty well in 3D. The problem was that those levels were just 1/3 of the game. The rest of the game was spent playing those horrible side characters. If they just made an entire game of those levels with no dumb gimmick or stupid side characters... well I guess that's what they're finally doing, though they've given up on 3d.[/QUOTE]

I agree. They weren't perfect, but the Sonic and Shadow portions of Sonic Adventure 2 were actually a lot of fun.

And then the fun died playing Knuckles, Tails, and the other idiots.

 

[Overflight]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

http://kotaku.com/5463913/project-needlemouse-is-sonic-4-episode-i

View attachment 301

SEGA has announced Sonic 4: Episode I. It is, as GameSpot reports, a 2D downloadable game with 3D visuals.
The announcement is part of the Project Needlemouse build up SEGA has been pushing since last September 2009. \\"Needlemouse\\" refers to Sonic's codename when the game that would become Sonic The Hedgehog was initially being pitched.
While teasing this Project Needlemouse project, SEGA has stated that the game is a return to Sonic's 2D roots and that the blue hedgehog will be the only playable character.
The game will pick up after Sonic & Knucles, but, as \\"Episode I\\" indicates, this is a new story arc.
When asked if this means the title is episodic, associate brand manager Ken Balough told GameSpot: \\"As mentioned, I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles. In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it's also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what's in store for episode two!\\"
So that's a \\"yes\\" to episodic Sonic?
The game will feature traditional Sonic mechanics like spin dash, power sneakers and whatnot, but also an added \\"homing attack\\".
Sonic 4: Episode I will be heading to the PSN, Xbox LIVE Arcade and WiiWare this summer. It's possible to use motion control with the Wii version and SIXAXIS controls with the PS3 version.

...please please please don't screw this up! Redemption is so close!

 

[doomdragon6]

I liked the Sonic Adventure games. Moar Sonic RPG plz.

 

[Espy]

And the Sonic Cycle begins anew? (Project Needlemouse)

http://kotaku.com/5463913/project-needlemouse-is-sonic-4-episode-i

View attachment 301

SEGA has announced Sonic 4: Episode I. It is, as GameSpot reports, a 2D downloadable game with 3D visuals.
The announcement is part of the Project Needlemouse build up SEGA has been pushing since last September 2009. \\\"Needlemouse\\\" refers to Sonic's codename when the game that would become Sonic The Hedgehog was initially being pitched.
While teasing this Project Needlemouse project, SEGA has stated that the game is a return to Sonic's 2D roots and that the blue hedgehog will be the only playable character.
The game will pick up after Sonic & Knucles, but, as \\\"Episode I\\\" indicates, this is a new story arc.
When asked if this means the title is episodic, associate brand manager Ken Balough told GameSpot: \\\"As mentioned, I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles. In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it's also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what's in store for episode two!\\\"
So that's a \\\"yes\\\" to episodic Sonic?
The game will feature traditional Sonic mechanics like spin dash, power sneakers and whatnot, but also an added \\\"homing attack\\\".
Sonic 4: Episode I will be heading to the PSN, Xbox LIVE Arcade and WiiWare this summer. It's possible to use motion control with the Wii version and SIXAXIS controls with the PS3 version.

...please please please don't screw this up! Redemption is so close!

DAMN! Now I'm excited. I've never ben excited for a Sonic game since S&N

 

[ElJuski]

I just wish they'd go the Mega Man 9 route and bring sprites back

 

[Hailey Knight]

I... actually want to play this.

 

[edzepp]

Wii Ware baby! Nice to see everybody gets some 2d lovin'.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Now I've watched the silly ass teaser. With all the dramatic music and big, echoing drums, I kept waiting for it to go "In a world..." or "All you know will change."

Silliness aside, the brief clip looked like good old school Sonic. I can't believe it's been so damn long since Sonic & Knuckles. I still remember getting that for Christmas. I never did get Sonic 3 though. I should borrow the Mega Collection for Gamecube from my brother sometime.

 

[Alucard]

I couldn't give a crap about sonic any more. The only fond memories I ever remember playing him was on the Sega Genesis system.
After that its all crap.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Indeed. That's why they're doing this.

Not sure why it took them 16 years to realize they'd fucked with a good formula though. I mean, Sonic 3D Blast came out in 1996, didn't it? Even that was shit.

And it was only farther downhill from there...

 

[Espy]

No kidding, it took them WAY to long to realize the GOLD MINE they sat on with 2D sonic.

 

[figmentPez]

I've never been a fan of the Sonic series, but the show Bytejacker says that the free indie game Runman is a lot like the old-school Sonic games.

 

[Hailey Knight]

So I did find something that aggravates me in watching the video. Notice in the quick clip we see of Sonic moving across a spiraling bridge. He's in ball mode, but then becomes running Sonic as he's crossing.

It's possible he just slowed down, but it's also possible that this is going back to the mode of the first Sonic the Hedgehog, where he went into a run from ball mode when he hit those bridges. In Sonic 2 and on, he'd stay in ball mode. I prefer the latter, because it means you can just keep rushing ahead and nailing enemies rather than worrying about crashing and losing all your rings.

It's a nitpick, but hopefully they didn't go that retro as to remove what positive innovations were made the 2D Sonic sequels.

 

[AshburnerX]

Best news I've heard concerning this game: Sega's Sonic Team will not be involved in making the game at all. Considering they've done nothing but fuck it up since the Dreamcast games, this is for the best.