 |
|
|
| |
Sega's Back-To-Roots Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Delayed
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
|
|
| |
|
May 21, 2010
|
| |
Sega on Thursday delayed the first installment of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, a side-scrolling downloadable episodic series that takes the mascot back to his roots.
A blog post on Sega Europe's site said the company is delaying the game from summer to the latter half of 2010, as it "wants to ensure that we’re delivering the best Sonic experience possible."
"The additional time will allow the development team to focus on ensuring overall high-quality throughout the game by continuing to tune, balance, and maintain the kind of polish that an important title like this demands," the post added.
Sega revealed Sonic 4 in February this year, saying that the game would be styled as a side-scrolling 2D game with 3D graphics, with heavy inspiration from the Genesis classics.
The downloadable title will be episodic -- the first release will be the first episode kicking off "a much larger adventure," Sega associate brand manager Ken Balough said earlier this year.
Sonic 4 is in development at Osaka-based Street Fighter IV co-developer Dimps. The game is slated for release on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, WiiWare and -- as widely known but now confirmed -- on Apple's App Store.
|
| |
|
|
I expect something like a Steam release, specially after I went around asking several people in what platform they wanted Sonic 4, and most of them said PC (specially, because most retro-sonic players, used emulators... since owning a actual genesis is a rarity...). But NOONE ever mentioned any mobile platform. (there was some people that wanted DS and PSP releases, but they were a minority too...)
....again, I don't think Sega is taking this game as seriously as its fans in the West are.
Just like how Valve re-evaluated Half Life during it's development, SEGA needs to re-evaluate this product and consider starting from scratch.
The next best alternative is to rename this game to "Sonic Advance HD".
The 1st area was whatever and I didn't like some things, but I have to admit that the area 2, some water stage looks AAA, aside the mine cart. Sega I think has its head out of its greedy ass and pay top dollar for Naka to deliver another Mario killer like he has in the past.
In short, the game is disappointing to those who were fans of the classic games (Sonic 1-3, S&K, Sonic CD) as it plays more like the "press right to win" Advance and Rush titles on the GBA and DS. Nevermind that it looks and sounds unimpressive.
Andrew Smith said: "...again, I don't think Sega is taking this game as seriously as its fans in the West are."
That's exactly it. With games like Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games selling gangbusters, SEGA can release anything Sonic related and it will sell.
Contrast the care and attention put into Sonic 3 (and Knuckles, originally intended as one massive title) due to the fact that SEGA needed it to combat Nintendo's SNES titles and become it's own flagship title, to the lazy attitude shown in the development of Sonic 4, a title they plan to port to a plethora of consoles and devices in order to maximize revenue.
The passion is lost, and I see more passion put into fan-made Sonic titles made available for free on the web.
It's just extra disappointing as a fan, because the classic 2D titles have remained untarnished in SEGA's mishandling of Sonic in the 3D realm. Now it looks like the 2D titles will be dragged through the mud with a lackluster title.