Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I Review

It has been hard the past couple of years being a Sonic fan. The quality of Sonic games coming out from SEGA were mediocre at best and they continued to swarm us regardless. When I first heard that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will finally be a true successor to the side scrolling platformer I knew and love, my excitement was off the charts. Thankfully, our little blue friend didn’t disappoint.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is the sequel to Sonic and Knuckles on the Genesis. Dr.Eggman is up to no good again and it’s all up to Sonic to stop him from wrecking havoc onto the world. You take control of Sonic as he goes through 4 different zones in order to put of stop to Dr.Eggman’s evil plans. There is the Splash Hill zone which is the most familiar as it’s a staple to every Sonic game. The Casino street zone which involves the flashy lights and glamorous feel of Las Vegas. The Lost Labyrinth zone where Sonic holds a torch and explores mysterious sites. Finally the Mad Gear zone which has Sonic trying to make his way through a factory filled gears and pistons. Each zone contains 3 Acts and 1 Boss fight in addition to a final zone where you face a bunch of bosses in a row.

The 4 zones in the game are all based on ones from the original entries in the series. However, SEGA has done a great job of actually creating new levels based on old ones we know and love rather than just port the same level designs from previous games.

Sonic the hedgehog 4 is a very pretty game. It runs at 1080p and the guys at SEGA did a great job on taking the same art style from the originals and enhancing it on HD. The game puts the 2.5D engine to good use and I can’t help but smile at some of the visual effects done in the game. The new Sonic model is great and the game stays true to the visual style that pulled me in the first time I tried a Sonic game.