Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Review

14 Oct, 2010

SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog series is one of my earliest and fondest gaming memories – Sonic 2 was a game my 8-year-old self had no qualms about screaming at his mother like a rabid, baying hyena to get his hands on – but in recent years it’s lost its way to a catastrophic degree.

The problems started with Sonic’s inevitable shift to 3D. Early titles released on the Dreamcast, the Sonic Adventure series, garnered positive reviews at the time but looking back they were a monotonous, frustrating, bug-ridden mess – and it only got worse. Sonic Heroes, our favourite blue hedgehog’s first multi-format outing was the beginning of the end. It was fast, pretty and, on the face of it, sort of fun, but like most of the Sonics post-Mega Drive it was bogged down by the same old bugs and an ever-growing roster of ridiculous characters needlessly dragged kicking and screaming from the filler pages of Sonic the Comic, the… Sonic comic. That didn’t really need to be said did it?

Sonic’s toboggan-ride of failure came to a head with the dawn of the current generation of consoles as the series reached new lows of unplayability with 2008′s Sonic the Hedgehog and follow-up Sonic Unleashed. If only we could turn back time and have the old Sonic back.

“The sequel you’ve waited 16 years for.” That’s how Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is described on the Xbox Live Arcade, and it is exactly that.


Sonic 4 picks up immediately where 1994′s Sonic & Knuckles left off. The Death Egg has been destroyed, Angel Island has returned to the skies but the diabolical Dr. Robotnik is far from finished. As Sonic leaves Tails and Knuckles behind he soon realises his nemesis is still in close pursuit with a cavalcade of classic ‘badniks’ and previously-trashed Eggmobile creations, instantly recognisable and restored to their former glory more fearsome than ever.

The levels in Sonic 4 Episode 1 are all based on classic stages from Sonic 1 and 2 and feature those stages enemies and bosses. It may sound like a total rehash of recycled elements but with a classic Sonic soundtrack, gorgeous 2.5D high-definition visuals and the speedy gameplay we’ve been missing for almost two decades, Sonic 4 is an absolute treat and is made all the more enjoyable and faithful by its similarities to previous 2D Sonics.

Sonic controls much as you would expect. The series simple gameplay is more-or-less untouched – run from left to right, jump, use springs, avoid spikes – but with the addition of Sonic’s homing attack, introduced in his 3D incarnations, making taking fiendish enemies and bosses apart not easier as such, but far more fluid and enjoyable.


Once the main game is finished there’s a Time Attack mode, where you can post your scores to online leaderboards, plus what Sonic game would be complete without the Chaos Emeralds? The LSD-induced nightmare of a Special Stage from Sonic 1 is back, but with a twist. Rather than control Sonic himself, the player now rotates the stage to guide Sonic to the Chaos Emerald while avoiding the dreaded goal markers. Collect all seven emeralds and Sonic can transform into Super Sonic, plus you’ll see the true ending when you finish the game.

At 1200 Microsoft Points, Sonic 4 is a pricey game. It contains four main stages, all with three surprisingly-varied acts plus a separate boss act, making it the shortest 2D Sonic game ever, but remembering that a Mega Drive cartridge would’ve cost us £30-40 back in the day puts things into perspective. It’s a bright, colourful, beautiful-looking game, the slightly annoying yet insanely catchy soundtrack fits the game perfectly and the whole package feels like hopping in a time machine and reliving all those wonderful moments from our youth. Fans will audibly squeal with joy many, many times, I guarantee it, but even those that have never played a Sonic game in their lives will find a lot of enjoyment in Sonic 4.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is now available to download from the PlayStation Store, App Store, Wii Shop and the Xbox Live Arcade.