Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II | GOOGLE PLAY (Android) Version

[eXtremeAzure]

Sonic's Back and He's Brought His Best Buddy

Back in 2010 ~ Sonic Team released Episode 1 of the Sonic 4 series. It was met with mixed feelings from reviewers and normal players. After listening to the qualms that they had - mainly things like the wonky physics, uncurling and bland stage design ~ the S.T came back and revised the formula for the second outing. The result? A new, more improved Sonic 4, that's a little better than expected.


|STORY|

One of my biggest beefs with Episode 1 was the fact that it's story was quite unimaginative. It didn't have anything new and worthwhile like the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush series. So what did Sonic Team do? They decided to spice things up. How? Well...by once again creating a time-paradox.

The story goes a little bit farther than the basic "Sonic vs. Eggman" plot, that we saw back in Episode 1. This time around, the Doctor has revived his Metal Sonic creation, who Sonic defeated back in Sonic CD. Metal now returns to his original objective, to find and take down Sonic, while Eggman works to build a new Death Egg space station, around the Little Planet, which is also returning from Sonic CD.

"The robotic menace has returned and he's ready for some long overdue revenge."

While this story definitely has more depth than what we saw back in Episode 1 ~ one thing is strange. What's with the whole "return of Metal Sonic" bit? I say that due to the fact that Metal Sonic's official revival, was all the way back in the 2003 release of Sonic Heroes. The fact that Metal is now returning from Sonic CD, basically voids the events of Sonic Heroes, making it seem like it never even happened.

Paradox aside, Episode 2's storyline is definitely an improvement from Episode 1's outing.


|GAMEPLAY|

As mentioned earlier - one of Episode 1's gripes was its wonky physics as well as the uncurling when launching off of ramps and overall bland stage design. Thankfully, just as they improved the story, S.T also improved the gameplay features here in Episode 2. The physics are much more closer to the Genesis titles, so when you won't be able to stop midway when running up a 90-degree angle, nor will you stay the same speed when rolling down a hill, but gradually gain speed the longer you roll. Also, the uncurling is gone. If you launch up a ramp as a ball, you will remain in ball form unless you perform the returning modern-move ~ the homing attack.

But those improvements aren't even the biggest thing that separate Episode 1 from Episode 2. So what is? It comes in the form of a young, yellow, "2"-tailed fox. The classic Sonic 2 duo is back - with Sonic the Hedgehog now once again being accompanied by his trusty sidekick ~ Miles "Tails" Prower.

"The Tech-Head, Two-Tailed Fox is back - and he's ready to lend a helping hand to his best pal."

What makes this different from when Tails accompanied Sonic back in Sonic 2 ~ is that he just isn't there to (somewhat) follow and spam the ring loss and/or lost-life sound effect ~ but rather, he and Sonic can use "Team Combo" maneuvers, which come in a total of 3 kinds:

- A spindash maneuver where Sonic & Tails roll into one (partially infinite) ball, which is 2x more powerful than a regular spindash. Similar to the "Sonic Boost" technique, this move will plow through enemies, and break certain objects. If the duo hit into a solid wall 3 times, they will break apart and revert back to their normal forms. While this move is nice to use for quick burst of speed and a way to plow through a line of ground-based enemies, it can be a challenge to control, seeing that you launch off into one direction, without any way to purposefully slow down or even change direction.

- A swimming maneuver where Sonic latches onto Tails, who propels them both through the water a lot more efficiently than simply running would. There's no limit to how much Tails can swim, except for the dreadful "air counter". You will still have to search for air bubbles and rise above surface as much as possible to, as Dory from Finding Nemo said, "just keep swimming."

- Finally, a flying maneuver, which is making a return from the old Genesis titles. Like in Sonic Heroes, you can automatically call Tails to start flying by will, except this time, you don't have to switch roles to where he's the lead character. As always (except for Sonic Adventure 2) ~ Tails has a limit as to how long he can fly, before he gets tired and slowly falls back down. While this move is mainly used to reach higher areas, or make it over long gaps, this move is also really useful for saving yourself from what would be a really cheap death. I can't count how many times activating this move has saved me a life.

So what about the stage design? Episode 1's stages were basically a copy and paste from classic Genesis stages, with some slight changes. Episode 2's stages, while still similar to past stages, have a little more thought and depth put into them. These stages feel new and fresh. The designs aren't half bad either. There's a few speed sections, then there are some platforming areas. And then...there are the swimming areas....good grief.

Episode 1 had it's difficulty spikes, but Episode 2 takes the cake. In a single zone, there are 3 acts and a boss fight. Like in Episode 1, there's no specific order in which you can play these different zones. Yet even so, there isn't any zone that's necessarily more difficult than the other. In a single zone, Act 1 could be a breeze, while Act 2 could be total murder (I'm looking at you White Park Zone). This pattern repeats itself more than one would hope for.

Considering that this is the mobile version - one might ask - how are the touch controls? While not as comfortable as an analog stick for physical D-pad, the virtual buttons worked quite nicely when playing on a Nexus 7. They were responsive and not too tight.

Despite it's flaws, the overall gameplay of Sonic 4: Episode 2 is still an improvement over what we saw in Episode 1. Considering S.T had some practice with the Classic Sonic stages in Sonic Generations, it was nice to see that they took that inspiration and implemented some of it here in Episode 2, to have created a solid gameplay style. Tails' presence is actually not annoying, but quite helpful. The stage design is also quite nice, and the boss battles can even be some fun at times.


|GRAPHICS|

Episode 1 wasn't a bad looking game, but the graphics of Episode 2 completely trump it in every single way. Episode 1 was almost a completely 2D game, with only a handful of 3D elements (similar to Sonic Rush). Episode 2 on the other hand, is completely 2.5D. Looks like S.T didn't just take gameplay inspiration from the Classic Sonic stages, but they also brought in the visual quality as well. See for yourself:

Episode II:

Sonic Generations:

"Sexy, no?"

It's amazing how close the two are in terms of overall visual quality. Even on the mobile devices (the HD versions) ~ they look immensely close to the console versions of the game, as well as Generations.

Episode 2 boasts some really sweet lighting and shadow effects, as well as some sleek reflections and lite amounts of bloom. Just like Episode 1 ~ the colors are also bright and vivid and are really eye-catching.


|SOUND|

As with all, if not most Sonic games ~ Episode 2's soundtrack is top notch. To accompany the decent stage design, the stage themes are quite nice to listen to. There are a few recycled themes from Episode 1, though. You will hear familiar tracks like the title screen, main screen, world map, boss theme and stage result theme. Even so, the new tracks sound much better than Episode 1's stage themes.

|THE BOTTOM LINE|

Sonic 4: Episode II was a pleasant surprise that I was not expecting to enjoy as much as I had. It basically trumps everything that we saw in Episode 1, which for a successor - is a good thing. The slightly deeper storyline gives the plot more traction, even if it is a bit of a head-scratcher. The improved controls, solid stage design as well as the return of Tails and addition of "Team Combo" techniques, give a nice boost to the overall fun factor. All of this complimented by a nice soundtrack and beautiful graphics make Episode 2 truly feel like a true revival of the 2D Sonic brand; something that Episode 1 wasn't able to completely accomplish.

While Episode 2 is not perfect, it was still a pretty sweet game nonetheless. With an Episode 3 probably not happening , I think it's safe to say that Episode 2 sealed the deal on the Sonic 4 franchise quite nicely.

PROS:
+ Nice level design
+ Sweet soundtrack
+ Tails is actually useful
+ Amazing graphics

CONS:
- Difficulty spikes
- Why the time paradox?

FINAL SCORE:

8.5/10
"Very Good"

[Gilly]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Look forward to seeing some more of your reviews! +2

[Hakudamashi]

My wish is that the red rings actually did something, and for Tails to be playable... by himself.