This game was recommended by radicalraisin and Mellorine, except instead of a recommendation it was more like a "hey this game is short, why don't you just get it over with?"

In retrospect, everything about this game is hilarious. Sega makes a big deal about how they're making the Sonic game fans have been waiting for, a side scroller that will bring it all back to the Genesis, except if it's made by the people who've been making the modern side scrollers since the GBA and not actually Sonic Team or anyone who cares that much. Also it'll have an aesthetic that I would call "XBOX Live Arcade Vomit", and the music will be composed by someone who heard of what Genesis music sounded like and ended up deeply misunderstanding what he heard.

Sonic controls like a boulder, he controls like what people who hate the first Sonic the Hedgehog think he controls like. Takes forever to get any momentum, and anything at all can kill it instantly. The level design is attempting to trick you into thinking it covers Sonic 1-3, but it's all just the worst of Sonic 1. Despite having Sonic 1 level design, the way enemy placement and the homing attack work in this game is attempting to create the fast, quick reflex oriented playstyle of previous Dimps Sonic games, and it doesn't work at all. There is no opportunity for flow here, it feels unnatural. So what we end up with is a game trying to be Sonic 1 but also be a modern Sonic side-scroller, and it ends up being far worse than any of the other games in those categories.

That homing attack might be the worst part of this game. The way it works is that when something has a reticle over it, you can homing attack to it. The problem is if you miss the timing, you don't homing attack it and instead just, flip over to it. This means you'll go from being able to attack an enemy to just, immediately get hit by it. It just constantly sets you up for failure, it's worse than just having a normal jump attack like an actual Sonic game.

I should note that on a slight technicality, I did not actually beat this game. I got to the very last part of the final boss, and then didn't realize what I had to do before I died and was sent back to the beginning of the final boss. I then accidentally hit Reset Act in the start menu and it sent me to the beginning of the boss rush before the final boss. Fuck you, I beat that, I'm not going back just to prove it to the game. That final boss is awful by the way, it takes way too many hits and just goes on forever. An important thing to know is that using the homing attack knocks you back way farther than just jumping on an enemy, so despite the game constantly showing you a reticle in order to make you use the homing attack, it's better to just completely ignore it when it comes to boss fights.

This was a pretty miserable time to be a Sonic fan, huh? Thankfully Colors and Generations are just around the corner from this game's release date, but damn, this was brutal. Sonic-Mania truly was a godsend.

Imagine having to wait 16 years for a "proper" sequel and you get this instead. A visual eyesore with some truly cynical level design that tests the player's patience despite its relatively short length. People tend to forget this game even exists, and for good reason. Still, I wanted to try it for myself. After all, I'm on a quest to finish every Sonic game because pointless goals are the spice of life!

But yeah, it's bad. The momentum physics are atrocious, with Sonic accelerating at a snail's pace and feeling extremely heavy to control. Maybe spending 16 years in hibernation left him severely out of shape. And why, oh WHY, are there PUZZLES in a Sonic game?? Let alone a 2D one. "Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2" had me stuck for 4 minutes trying to figure out this one puzzle where you have to light torches in a specific order and with a specific timing in order to reach a platform to progress. There's plenty of examples of tedious bullshit I can conjure up from my experience, but it's not worth the effort to remember. You already know it's bad, everyone else and their mother knows it's bad. Really, this review is pointless.

Oh, you're wondering why my score isn't lower. Probably because I'm a masochist and still kind of enjoyed it to an extent. Also, I'm still high on adrenaline after beating the final boss on my very last life. SUCK AN EGG, EGGMAN!

P.S. The soundtracks is balls.

the only reason that this isn't the absolute worst 2d sonic game i've played is due to the fact that the gba port of sonic 1 exists, and this is game is by definition more functional. what's here is a lifeless, ugly, rudimentary beta for what could've been a half-decent mobile phone distraction, and yet here it is, released with a big fat "4" in the title, attempting to lure in any poor fuck who might've had the genesis who recalls sonic 2 from their childhood. the only positives i can give this game are that i think the special stages are slightly less annoying than sonic 1's, which they're modeled after, and that it's short enough to be completed in about 40 minutes and quickly disposed of and forgotten about. i try not to be outwardly negative often, but this is just pure fucking garbage.

> Sonic Heroes sfx in 2010

... I didn't hate it???? It's just kinda flaccid. It's as fun as the Game Gear games, which is appropriate since it was originally designed as a smartphone exclusive. It looks and feels very cheap, I can definitely see why a lot of fans despise it. (Naming it Sonic 4 REALLY didn't help its case.)

The soundtrack is fucking awful though, the only exception being Lost Labyrinth. Also, dogshit final boss fight, what the hell was that.

But I dunno, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. I see little reason to go back to this when there are plenty of better 2D Sonic games to pick from, but if I ever did another Sonic marathon after this, I wouldn't mind playing it again. Very inoffensive, imo. (naming aside)

I cannot fathom what Dimps was thinking when they developed this game, especially since they created the, at least somewhat, well regarded Sonic Advance trilogy as well as the Sonic Rush duology.

They already know how 2D Sonic works, and while they've never been perfect at it, at least those earlier games felt good to play as far as I've heard.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode I is a physical attack on my senses. The visuals are ugly, the controls are inconsolably awful, and the soundtrack... the soundtrack.

I am genuinely disappointed with Jun Sunoue's work in this game, because all of the music is ear gratingly painful and makes me want to drill my brain out.

And on top of it all, this game can't decide whether it wants me to play it, or if it wants to play itself.

So many rings, so many lives, none of them feeling remotely earned in any capacity. Gimmicks and Level Design that just don't work because Sonic's physics just flat out do not function. Miserable Special Stages.

And they neutered the fucking roll. How the fuck do you do that for what is supposed to be a return to form for Classic Sonic design?!

The worst offender in this game by far is the inclusion of the Homing Attack, as it makes the game piss fucking easy and is always used for the same repetitive Bubble chains in every single stage.

I'll probably finish the game tomorrow morning, but I don't think my thoughts are going to change much. This game fucking blows.

Edit: Fuck this game, fuck the Special Stages, none of this is worth playing.

You’d think that, after the critical and financial success of both versions of Sonic Colors, teaming up Sonic Team with Dimps to make a 2D throwback would be a recipe for success. Unfortunately, this game is absolute trash.

My first Sonic game was actually a fan-made Adobe Flash game utilized music and mechanics from the Advance games. It was short, but it was a good introduction for my 5-year-old self and I played it countless times on my dad’s computer.

That little fan game is LEAGUES ahead of this horseshit.

First off, I will say that although the stupid chip-tune sound is unfitting, the music itself is nice and upbeat. Unsurprising, considering it was made by the series’ lead composer (and Crush 40 songwriter) Jun Sunoue. We love Jun Sunoue. He’s never done us dirty.

Everything else sucks. The game’s art style is atrocious, using an unpleasant mix of 3D models and 2D backgrounds that look disgustingly low-poly, to the point that I unironically think that Sonic Adventure DX looks better. I hate Sonic Adventure DX.

Then there’s the oft-criticized physics. I thought the Internet was exaggerating when they said the physics in this game were awful. The internet actually told me the truth for once. I should’ve listened. Sonic’s movement feels uncanny and stiff; you can’t roll into a ball to gain speed, his top speed is pretty damn slow compared to other games, and he has a habit of just clinging to slopes and standing there like some kinda lifeless, demonic Spider-Man.

The level design sucks. All of the zone themes are ripped straight from Sonic 1 and *2, and all of them (sans Lost Labyrinth; you really can’t get worse than Labyrinth Zone) are just downgraded versions. Green Hill, Casino Night, and… Metropolis Zone? Fucking METROPOLIS ZONE?! Nobody likes Metropolis Zone, yet they decided to make a zone based off of it— shitty enemy placement and all— only much worse due to the lack of momentum-based physics, which makes platforming a slog. In fact, most platforming is a slog due to how slow and janky Sonic’s control is.

I’m fine with 2D Sonic games that are different from the classics; I liked the DS version of Colors and I’m enjoying the Advance* trilogy so far. But this abomination is just not fun to play at all. What the fuck.

This is just a bad game. Ugly visuals, unenjoyable music, and unfun gameplay. Level themes are just uncreatively recycled from the first couple Genesis games and puts you through a bunch of automated crap and homing attack chains that weren't in the classic 2D games for a reason. The homing attack was made specifically for 3D precision, but the devs clearly didn't recognize this. The homing attack has no general business being in 2D, obvious exception to the games that have a hybrid of 2D and 3D sections. Sonic 4 was originally a mobile-only game called "Sonic the Portable" (this can be found in the Casino Street level) and it really shows. The physics are uncomfortable to play in, and while Sonic fans are notorious for not knowing what they want and complaining a lot, they are not exaggerating when it comes to this game. You will be walking up slopes and loops, or stopping on a dime regardless of speed. The game is just not a comfortable experience, even with trying to learn it. This game sucks, don't play it, but nobody is going to. This is one of the most infamous Sonic games in discussion over the recent years and rightfully so. Sonic Mania is the TRUE Sonic the Hedgehog 3 sequel that people were waiting for. Sonic 4: Episode 1 is a digital only game, it was never given a physical release. Hopefully this game can be forgotten forever.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 feels bad, looks bad, sounds bad too (uh-huh, that's right).

About the only positive thing Episode 1 did was trigger a mass discussion about Sonic's physicality in the Genesis games, and this deeper analysis of what made them feel so good to play is (I believe) part of what made Sonic Mania so marketable years later. It also resulted in the phrase "momentum based gameplay" getting played out to the point of derision. I've seen people make the argument in the years since Episode 1's release that a 2D Sonic game doesn't need to replicate the physics of the Genesis era, and they're not wrong even if I think it should be part and parcel with a game billing itself as the fourth entry in that specific series. However, Sonic 4's physics are so bad that the lack of momentum directly interferes with the level design and platforming. Muscle memory makes me release my thumb from the d-pad, but Sonic drops like a rock into a pit of spikes. That feels bad no matter what the game is called.

Like, yes, the expectation is there and Sonic 4 is certainly worse for it, but even if you called it by another name, it just isn't good. The reuse of old level themes, badniks, and bosses felt cheap at the time, clearly playing to an audience Sonic Team didn't really know how to cater to beyond surface-level nods. The in-game explanation for Bubbles and other badniks being around is essentially "Dr. Robotnik ran out of fuckin' money," an almost perfect allegory for Sonic Team and Dimps hitting their creative bottom, destitute of ideas.

This desperate pandering went on to define the series for such a long time after, best exemplified by the incessant trotting out of Green Hill game after game. Though I hate to evoke Mania again, it is the game to get this right, and that was the result of bringing in outside blood that actually knew what pieces Sonic Team was missing. Perhaps the comparison is a cheap way to further denigrate a game and developer that has been thoroughly run through the mud, but it's also taken them 13 years to stop reusing old Zones, so I don't really care.

And you all know that already, because Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is nearly as infamous as Sonic 2006 and Sonic Boom. It's a well-covered laughing stock, wrung so dry of content that it is as brittle as the bones I'm now sucking marrow from. Sonic standing perfectly parallel to the ground with his feet glued to a wall is an image that will outlive me.

Originally, this game was supposed to be a platformer for mobile, BUT Sega decided that they should market this shitty 4 zone platformer as the successor to one of the greatest platformers ever made. Thus, increasing people's hype and expectations. Lo and behold, this game ended up being shit. Sonic is a weird floating orb in generic zones that are simply lifted from Sonic 1, and it's just not fun. It tries so hard to be a Genesis game but fails on every mark. My only praise for this game is that it's playable.

I didn't think this game was THAT bad. While the level design does drop off near the end and the physics do suck, there's still some fun to be had in some of the earlier levels. Calling this game Sonic 4 makes its flaws stand out more since such an unambitious and minimalistic game doesn't really seem like a worthy followup to S3&K.

I can understand hating this game back when it came out, since it really feels like several steps backward and an overcorrection after the disaster of 06. But after all this time, knowing that the series wouldn't continue down this path, it's hard to muster up a strong reaction to this one. It's just mediocre.

I already knew this wasn't going to be good but this game just made me sad. Despite the name it doesn't feel like a follow up to Sonic 3&K, and instead more of a retread of Sonic 1 but somehow worse. The special stages were just annoying, who thought adding a timer and more bumpers that knock you out of the stage to the Sonic 1 special stages was a good idea? The world map was neat but because you can just select whichever zone in any order and there's no zone transitions, there doesn't feel like there's a natural progression between areas.
To end on something positive, I did like the card surfing and the fact you can choose the specific act you want to play (instead of having to replay the whole zone, or get that option in debug mode).

This is most certainly the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 of all time

Let's just go ahead and get this out of the way: is this a good continuation of the classic games? No. Is it derivative and unoriginal? Absolutely. Is it stiff, unnatural and mostly awkward in design? Pretty much. Is the music ear grating? Not necessarily but I can see why some would be thrown off by it. Is it the worstest thing ever made in all humanity and a plague upon this once great franchise? Absolutely not.

I feel as if you can view this game on 2 separate merits. If you view it as an honest to god continuation of the classic titles, it completely fails at that aspect. If you view this game on its own merits, as an isolated 2D Sonic game, it's...bleh. I still don't really think it's that good but it's not horrible. You can do some wacky stuff, spindash jumping up slopes to get some crazy angles, spamming the airdash to get a ridiculous amount of speed, all that's well and good, but the level design never really goes above "kinda fun" and some levels are just plain awful. Still though, Sonic 4 is a mostly largely inoffensive game of which I have not very much to say about. I'm 100% certain I'll be labeled as "blasphemous" for not thinking this game is the spawn of Satan, but I'm sorry, if this is the lowest point of Sonic or games in general...play more Sonic games idk. I have played far FAR worse than this, both from this franchise, and in platformers in general. Call it Stockholm syndrome if you want, but this game isn't the 1/10 everyone makes it out to be, sorry to say.

Esse jogo inicialmente era para se chamar Sonic the Portable, um novo jogo de Sonic exclusivo para celulares com a proposta de trazer o gameplay 2D de volta. Por exigência da Sega, acabou virando a bizarrice que foi lançada. É um jogo bem medíocre em termos de gameplay, gráfico e trilha sonora, e sem originalidade, já que todas as fases são reciclagens dos conceitos da trilogia original de Mega Drive. Apesar da crítica, ele é um jogo... funcional. Não provoca dor de cabeça, náusea ou uma vontade incontrolável de arremessar seu computador ou videogame pela janela, o que já é melhor do que muita coisa por aí, inclusive outros jogos de Sonic. Vale a pena ser jogado pela curiosidade mórbida ou para quem é fã de Sonic. Apesar de a física ser terrível e o Sonic parecer que está usando calças jeans molhadas e andar igual ao Simon Belmont do Super Castlevania IV, é relativamente ok. Eu tenho um apego especial a esse jogo, pois joguei numa época em que estava me reconectando com a franquia e com jogos em geral.

I remember when this came out. I was really excited. "Oh boy," I thought to myself at like 12 years old. "A new 2D Sonic game but Sonic looks like from the games I like!" And then everyone said it sucked ass and so I never played it. Well, I played it today. It's really short, which is probably why the $/hour crowd was so pissed. It's got some fun ideas but unfortunately only half of the game is good. When the game is like two hours long as most, half of that time being annoying isn't a good sign. What is good here is really good. The first world is like any Sonic game, which is always solid. The last world is fun and fast paced, which is good. The middle two worlds are slogs, although they do have some really neat ideas. Unfortunately, those neat ideas don't save the otherwise obnoxious or boring level design. The bosses are mostly pretty fun, and Sonic having the new-age homing attack makes up a little bit for Sonic feeling like shit otherwise. Decent game, but don't bother playing it when there are ostensibly better 2D Sonics out there. Also, the game looks like complete garbage on PC. Not sure if that was a resolution thing or what, but holy cow.