Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Glad Sonic Mania exists.
Genre(s): Platformer Platform(s): iOS, Wii PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Windows Phone Android BlackBerry Tablet OS Release: October 7, 2010 Developer(s): Sonic Team Dimps Publisher(s): Sega Country: Japan Series: Sonic the Hedgehog Successor: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is a 2.5D side-scrolling game released on October 7, 2010 and was made for iOS, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, Android and BlackBerry Tablet OS. It's the first installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 series and serves as the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. It is the first platform Sonic game of the 2010s era for the Sonic franchise.

Plot

The story of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 takes place after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. Consumed by rage after the destruction of his Death Egg, Dr. Eggman seeks to get revenge on Sonic for having foiled his previous plans. To do this, he reuses and improves some of his past inventions to defeat the hedgehog for good.

Bad Qualities

1. The game's title is misleading, despite being called Sonic the Hedgehog 4, all of the levels are remakes of old levels from old Sonic games, thus making Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I more-or-less a remake of Sonic Jam on the Sega Saturn, it even has less levels then the previous games, staying at 4 stages.
2. The physics are absolutely atrocious, as Sonic can get stuck on walls like Spider-Man, will completely lose momentum after spin dashing if you don't hold a direction, and you don't gain momentum when rolling down hills. It doesn't help that it was created with the same engine as Sonic Rush, which is incompatible with non-boost gameplay.
3. There is no voice acting at all. All the characters are silent, despite this being a modern-era Sonic game, which is unacceptable for 2010 standards.
4. Hideous graphics that look like something out of a poorly-made mobile phone game, (ironically, this game was originally designed for and released on mobile phones) due to everything looking fake, plastic-like and extremely low-poly, it doesn't help that the cel-shading also doesn't translate to 3D environments. Sonic looks like something out of a McDonald's Happy Meal.
5. Forgettable and overly simple level design. Worst of all is the game sometimes plays itself with lots of speed boosters and springs everywhere, even something as basic as going to the right.
6. While the soundtrack is amazing, it's ruined by the terrible Genesis soundfont, and it's not Jun Senoue's fault.
7. There are barely any hidden areas or secrets, as the level design only consists of sections where a spammy amount of boost pads send you forward, linear straightforward pathways, and dull platforming with constant use of homing attack chains, similarly to Sonic Forces.

Good Qualities

1. The game does look decent for 2010 mobile game standards.
2. Owning this game and Sonic The Hedgehog: Episode II unlocks an extra episode called Episode Metal, where you get to play as Metal Sonic (albeit he is just a reskinned Sonic) through harder versions of the levels from Episode I.
3. The soundtrack is amazing, but it's sadly ruined by the terrible Genesis soundfont.
4. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II is a great improvement over this game, with better physics and an improved soundtrack.

Trivia

• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was initially created for mobile as Sonic the Portable, but then was renamed and ported to console for reasons unknown. At the end of any Casino Street zone, you can see this name (albeit blurry) on a sign in the background.
• The Wii version uses MIDI tracks and compressed graphics; this is because it was released as a WiiWare title, with such titles having a set size limit. Episode II was planned for the Wii as well, but was cancelled due to limitations.
• The mobile versions have different versions of Casino Street Zone Act 2 and Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2, with the former being merely a score challenge. These were planned to be on the console versions as well, but the game was leaked 2 weeks before release, with a negative response from fans. The Acts and their corresponding music were redesigned to better suit the traditional Sonic the Hedgehog atmosphere.

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