This is the worst game in the series.

I'm not even gonna pretend like if I have some extensive prelude as to my experience with it or whatever. I've played it before, it sucked just as much then as it does now. But Sonic 4 Episode 1 for me sucks in a very special way compared to any other Sonic game, because it embodies literally every single thing that I don't want this franchise to be.

Bland visuals that are plasticky and lifeless, zero attempt to have any sort of story or deeper narrative theme via cutscenes or in-game storytelling other than "Eggman bad. Go stop him", horrendous controls that fundamentally fail at replicating the physics of the Genesis games and even on their own merits are completely trash, level design that is either automated up the ass or tediously boring, gimmicks shoved into every stage that make the whole game feel unfocused and take away from the gameplay rather than working alongside it, models without any sort of life that move like puppets on a stage (with ugly fullbright filters on top of them on the PC version, as if to add insult to injury), a horrible soundtrack in which the only good track is one from a past game and every other song is an ear bleeding mess of synths and Sonic 1/2 drums, a pandering towards nostalgia that feels shoved into your face and completely misses what made any of those things meaningful to begin with, replacing them instead with husks of themselves, and perhaps most importantly of all, a consistent, inescapable lack of care from part of the developers.

I mean, why would they care? They made this as a quick little mobile game before Sega rebranded it as the sequel to one of the greatest 2D platformers of the 90's just so that it would sell more. As long as the game ran fine and there weren't that many bugs and Sonic's stupid friends weren't anywhere to be seen, who cared if the game was a complete betrayal of what came before? Who cares if this would forever be the official sequel to that beloved legacy of classics by name and name alone? Who cares if the game is nowhere near the level of quality that it should be? As long as it's not Sonic '06, just ship it out and let 'em have it.

I wish I could be mad towards this game, I wish I had some sort of visceral hatred towards it that made me pour foam out the mouth in pure autistic rage whenever I saw it, but the truth is that when playing Sonic 4 Episode 1, I feel nothing. Genuinely nothing. During this playthrough I had to talk to myself just to not fall asleep in sheer boredom, because there was nothing to be enthralled by. It's just going through the motions because Sonic, getting the Chaos Emeralds because Sonic, and fighting some robot at the end, because Sonic. It almost feels like if it's saying: "That's all this series should be, that's all it'll ever be allowed to be for the general public, and that's all that is worth praising about it forever and ever. Now shut up and take another Green Hill rehash".

I know this game is way past the point of getting truly mad at, I mean for fucks sake it's old enough to use social media now, and obviously looking at the series now, it's clear that Sonic Team is if nothing else making an attempt to be better and to try with their projects again, but to me? This right here will forever remain as rock bottom. The ultimate testament to when Sega and Sonic Team put no effort into what they make, slap Sonic on the cover and call it a day.

Just go play Triple Trouble 16-Bit instead, and leave this in the dumpster where it's firmly set it's throne.