So I finally got this! To put it mildly; I'm a huge, huge huuuuge old school Sonic fan, and have been all over the place in terms of anticipation for this. But to be frank, the more I read about supposed physics issues, the less I looked forward to it, to the point I felt like I was going to buy it purely out of obligation, with none of the embarrassing child-like glee I should have for a new-old Sonic game. But nonetheless, I played it through in one sitting (the only way to go through old school Sonic
)
Right, let's get nitpicks out of the way;
- MUSIC
It ranges from forgettable to somewhat charming, which compares unfavourably to the Mega Drive games which range from awesome to awesome (
to one-off rubbish). There's still some good tunes (Mad Gear particularly) and I love the use of the 16-bit percussion, but the compositions just generally aren't that great, which is a real let down.
-The visuals were up and down for me. I have the Wii version but am kinda wishing it was higher res. Some of the tiles looked pretty dull while otherwise were quite nice, but it's a shame a fair amount of it reminded me a generic PC shareware look. The biggest offender was the special stages; some half-assed kaleidoscope effect with some amateurish looking tiles? Ehh :/
-I occasionally stumbled into that problem with Sonic losing his momentum when letting go...like two times, but it was noticeable, and if they consider a patch I'd like to see it fixed.
-The enemy lines put in just for homing attack spams aren't a lot of fun, they sometimes put a clever spin on them but when possible I just bounce off each of them which is more fun and rewarding.
-Couldn't they have had the 1up tune from Sonic 1/2? The Sonic 3 one was an odd choice, I'd much have preferred the more classic and iconic original one (yeah this is nitpicking at its most silly).
-I liked the idea of reusing bosses whilst doing new things with them, but using the Sonic 2 final boss again? Granted that's the best one in the series, but it felt a bit cheap to see it rise up in almost exactly the same fashion (with inferior music). Thankfully they do enough interesting things with his attack patterns.
-No classic controller support for Wii? Why the hell not?
So...err, yeah, what I did like then:
-Robotnik looking at the camera and laughing like a true devilish bastard
-Hey, that level design...it's competent?
-The special stages were GREAT! I was really surprised by this; they're cleverly designed, take a nice spin on the Sonic 1 special stage concept and make clever use of certain mechanics (particularly the disappearing diamonds/gates that lock when you pass them). It's a shame then that they look crappy, but I enjoyed them very much.
-Hey this is some good level design...?
-I had a lot of fun with the homing attack; but what was also nice was that it didn't overshadow the spindash. I was using both tons to get speed boosts, and the levels were clearly designed to take advantage of them in fun and clever ways.
-Sweet lord they actually knew what they were doing, these levels are really well designed!
-I like the look of Sonic, sure it's not exactly how he used to look. I'm very glad they brought the running-circle(oval?) back, having that animation combined with throttling through levels at full speed is so rewarding and fun.
-HOLY LORD THIS GAME IS REALLY WELL DESIGNED!
Overall then? Early on I was liking it but nonetheless disappointed it didn't seem to be earning that 4 in the title, but this is a game that picks up, and you know what? I had an absolute blast
As I laboured, I was taken aback by how good the level design was. It was challenging, innovative, and yet? It felt like old school Sonic. It did enough new with old concepts to keep it from purely reliant on nostalgia, and there were some interesting new ideas that were pulled off surprisingly well. I'm honestly really impressed. I also admire them for making the game difficult but it was rarely unfair, at least for me. It's a shame they had to chicken out and make lives disposable, but I can let that slide.
Really, any major disappointments I have are to do with the presentation, but even that picks up later in the game (though damn, I really hope the music improves in eps 2+3). I agree with people saying the game gets better as it goes on, and frankly I was very pleased with it overall. Is it as good as the older games? I think it's too early to say, but when it comes down to it, the level design did wonders for my enjoyment of it. I hope improvements are made in the appropriate places for future episodes (and any patches, can we dream?), but if they're going to get better than what was already such a great first episode, I'm on board
This is also probably the only game I've played where I've constantly said to myself "YESSSSSSS, they didn't fuck it up!...entirely!". I mean damn, I can't believe I liked this as much as I did!