Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode II Review: A Really Great Game – If You Have A …

If we were a child of a 80’s or early 90’s (and weren’t some Nintendo fanboy, pft), a name Sonic substantially has some deeper, roughly eremite definition to you. we remember worshipping during a Genesis 16-bit tabernacle for hours on finish as a kid, and my deity of choice was a hedgehog in blue. Sonic. Sonic 2. Sonic 3. Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic CD (oh yeah). Screw Sonic 3D Blast, though. That diversion was bogus.

There have been 30 Sonic video games to date. Sonic 4 Episode II is array thirty-one. In new years, Sonic has unsuccessful to beget most in a approach of… anything good. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were dual splendid spots in an differently unequivocally dim 15 years for a franchise. Makes we feel old, right?

The predecessor to Sonic 4 E2 is, of course, Sonic 4 Episode I. That diversion was a initial widely positively-received Sonic diversion given Sonic Adventure 2, 10 years ago. And how was that success achieved? By going behind to Sonic’s roots – 2D sidescrolling transformation in fun environments. Because of a augmenting recognition of tablets, and cheaper downloadable games on consoles, titles like Sonic are knowledge something of a rebirth.

So, does Episode II continue a quip child story? In a word, yes. In fact, on something like Xbox 360, PS3, or a PC, we suppose this diversion would be hugely fun. On an Android tablet, though? I’d contend it’s closer to “really fun” (that’s to say, still unequivocally good), yet there still seem to be a few kinks to work out.

Visuals / Story

Sonic 4 Episode II is a vast visible jump brazen from Episode I. And we do meant vast – we’ve left from a quasi-3D-sometimes yet mostly 2D flatland diversion to something that is unequivocally utterly pretty. Let me usually have a screenshots do a articulate here:

 

As we can see, all has been 3Dified. The characters and environments are all now much, most improved looking than they were in Episode I. You get picturesque water, floating sleet and sand, and impression models that don’t harken behind to 1994. It’s Sonic, evolved. Of course, to get this knowledge on Android, you’ll have to be personification a Tegra 3 chronicle of a diversion (the non-Tegra 3 chronicle won’t be out for another month), that means regulating a inscription or an HTC One X, during this point.

Want to see how most improved a Tegra 3 chronicle looks? Just take a impulse and look during these comparison cinema – it unequivocally is a night and day difference. we won’t even have to tell we that is which:

There’s a hitch, though. On my Transformer Prime, support rates weren’t stellar. we averaged (eyeball estimate) what felt like 40-45FPS, with unchanging dips into a 20-30FPS range. The support rate tended to dump during heated transformation or quite formidable scenes (eg, waterfalls, snow, lots of baddies). Not good, generally for a fast-moving sidescroller pretension like Sonic. Occasionally, this would indeed means submit lag, and that… sucks. But hey, it all looks unequivocally pretty, so there’s that. I’ve listened from Cameron that on an Acer Iconia A510 a diversion ran smoother, so maybe it’s an removed issue. Then again, he also had a diversion pile-up twice, including once where it indeed hard-froze his tablet, requiring a soothing reset – and that was after usually 15 mins of personification a game.

The common support rate isn’t a understanding breaker – let me be transparent on that point. It usually isn’t as high as I’d like it to be. But given a visuals during play here, we can deal.

To change gears, let’s speak about a story. Sonic 4 Episode II takes place after Sonic CD, definition Metal Sonic is back. Personally, we always suspicion Metal Sonic was a best Sonic villain, so we was stoked when we listened this was a instruction a diversion was going. Suffice to say, a elementary yet constrained storylines that done a strange Sonic games renouned are in full force here, and you’ll be carrying nostalgia-fests left and right.

Controls / Gameplay

Tablets aren’t unequivocally good for games that need unequivocally fast and accurate control inputs. While Sonic is flattering most a 2-dimensional 8-direction transformation layout, we usually don’t like personification it unequivocally most with hold controls. Don’t get me wrong – a diversion is totally doable with hold controls alone, yet it’s usually not as fun as it would be with a controller. If we have a tablet, yet don’t have a wireless gaming controller for it, go buy one. Titles like this make it value a investment. The hold controls are finicky, cumbersome, and we don’t like them. Maybe on a smaller shade they’d be some-more manageable, yet on a 10.1″ tablet, they aren’t. we don’t know that there’s a approach to repair them, possibly – it’s kind of an destined rain of vast inscription gaming.

 

Beyond a control issues, Sonic 4 EII takes classical Sonic gameplay’s morality and adds a few flourishes. You can use Tails for special combo moves (flying, super spinball, swimming, etc.) that supplement new facets to Sonic’s decidedly old-school feel. Boss fights were standard Sonic, yet concerned some-more transformation and reduction predicted hurdles than titles of years past. Instead of forcing we to be propitious or have superhuman reflexes, Sonic 4 EII creates we learn some-more formidable quarrel mechanics and adapt. Still, a diversion has kept a lot of a things that done a originals formidable – objects squishing you, drowning (god we hatred underwater levels), and unfounded pits. It’s adequate to keep we from breezing by a game, yet not so most as to daunt we from persevering.

You get all of a aged “extras,” too – Chaos Gems, time challenges, and reward levels.

Overall, Sonic 4 EII plays like a supplement to Sonic 3 / Sonic CD should. It keeps gameplay unchanging with a series, yet avoids being a elementary rehash with a new story and artwork.

Conclusion

If we have a Tegra 3 inscription (or phone), Sonic 4 Episode II should be on your “buy” list. It’s a fantastically designed pretension from a studio we all know and love, and even during $7, it’s labelled to sell. It’s good thought-out, visually impressive, and clearly has been grown by people who caring about creation something fun and polished.

Despite a situational dearth of hold controls, and a occasional technical hiccup, it’s a good diversion that continues to energise a authorization that everybody suspicion was prolonged dead, and we suppose I’ll be personification it for weeks to come.

Sonic 4 Episode II THD