Yup, I'm going there. Sonic 4.

If you had asked me a year ago if I ever thought I would ever get to review Sonic The Hedgehog 4, I would have hospitalised myself laughing at the stupidity of the idea. They say a lot can happen in a year, and now, 16 years after Sonic 3 & Knuckles was released, Sonic The Hedgehog 4 has come speeding onto our screens in an effort to recapture those glory days where Sonic was king of the mountain.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this game, some of you may be aware of it, some may not, but to briefly set the scene, Sonic the Hedgehog has had a veritable smörgåsbord of bad games since his last 2D outing in 1994. Sonic Adventure, while generally considered a good game, did have it’s flaws, while every 3D adventure since then has been bogged down with pointless gimmicks, broken gameplay, and annoying characters – yes, I’m looking at you, Shadow.

This all came to a bit of a head in 2006 with Sonic the Hedgehog, a game that held high expectations for many fans - only to end up suffering from extremely broken gameplay, more annoying characters, beastiality, and loading screens an Atari Jaguar would have been proud of.

Sonic Unleashed attempted to address these issues with a simple plot, returning to th e core characters, and coming on leaps and bounds in terms of gameplay - unfortunately a certain warehog and a man that resembled Morshu from the Phillips CDI Zelda games ment that unfortunately, this game wasn’t the one to restore Sonic to his throne.

It’s understandable then, that after being force fed a game that ranked only 20 places away from Big Rigs Racing, fans and general gamers alike are sceptical of Sonic 4 – expectations for this title are exceptional, and no matter how good it actually is, for some, it will never be good enough – but the question is, objectively, how good is this game?

This is a tuff question to answer. I have my own opinions on the game, largely positive, but what about the average joe who may never have played a Sonic game since 1994?  I tried to find out.

The first person I forced into playing this game was Dave – now Dave is, as anybody who knows him, easily bewildered by video games. He did have a Sega Mega Drive and the classic Sonic games however, so he seemed an ideal choice for a random test. His verdict? He found it simple and fun to play, enjoyed the fact it only had one action button, and surprisingly, he’s actually not that bad at it, either. He also found the special stages a lot of fun, aquiring a chaos emerald!

I also had my brother have a play – his first words where “woah, this isn’t sensitive enough” – but after a few moments he got into the swing of things and, surprisingly, quite liked the game, even though he hates the old games (crappy graphics and annoying sound, he says).

There’s no point hiding from the facts when it comes to this game – the gameplay is not a 1:1 of the Mega Drive games. Now, the issue has been blown somewhat out of proportion by the Sonic faithful, but anyone expecting to pick this title up and play somthing that feels like Sonic 1-3 will find themselves in for a surprise. Wheather that surprise is good or not is entirely down the player.

There are some physics oddities in the game, and these tend to crop up if you try to play the game like a Mega Drive title. Yes, you can make Sonic stand on a wall, and yes, he does uncurl when going up ramps, and yes, when you jump, he does loose momentum when you let go of the direction button, all things that the old games generally did not do, however, once you get past the fact that it’s different to play, you start to realise that it’s not nessasarily any worse to play.

Sonic’s moveset from Sonic 2 is present, including the spin dash, however, the homing attack from the more recent games (first introduced in Sonic 3D Blast for Sega Mega Drive) has also been included. Sega’s PR machine has been trying hard to push the homing attack as “optional”, and insist you can completely ignore it if you choose – but trust me, this just isn’t the case. The game will force you at a number of points to use the homing attack to proceed, and in general it feels much more natural to use it, as jumping simply isn’t accurate enough,  due to the loss of momentum when letting go of the directional pad.

The homing attack is well implemented and fun to use, however, as long as you’re comfortable with the fact that it’s there and able to accept it as a much more substantial change to the gameplay than Sega would have you believe – it’s not a bad gameplay mechanic, but it’s different.

The gameplay feels much more natural during the second half of the game, as Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear provide many more platforming challenges suited to the new control system, and these levels do give you that same satisfaction you felt when playing the previous games. During these levels, the niggles are practically gone, whereas Casino Street and Splash Hill’s loops and curves, combined with it’s relative lack of platforming challenge, only serve to highlight the differences.

As for the levels themselves, they’re a bit of a mixed bag – Lost Labyrinth and Mad Gear are the superior of the four main zones, featuring the most unique elements and challenge. All of the stages in the game are brand new, but they do borrow heavily from previous 2D games. Splash Hill is quite clearly supposed to be your typical Green Hill Zone – and frankly, who would have expected anything less? This level delivers as a nice dose of nostalga, and adds freshness to a familiar setting.

The Splash Hill Zone boss, however, will give you a sense of Deja-Vu, as it is pretty much exactly the boss from Sonic 1′s Green Hill Zone. The boss battles are probably the biggest let-down in this game for me, they’re all rehashed from previous bosses, and although they feature new attacks as you get towards the end, by the time Robotnik starts doing these new and exciting moves, you’re only one hit or so away from victory, and that makes it rather pointless.

Casino Street is probably the closest level in the game to a previous one, as it more or less looks exactly like Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2 . Casino Night was the most popular game possibly of all the 2D games, so it seems natural that a casino-themed level be included in Sonic 4, and Casino Street does bring enough new level layouts and gimmicks to keep it fresh, again while providing that nostalgic value. It’s a good comprimise between reliving the old days in HD, and also getting somthing fresh, it really is a nice ballance that, to be fair, is a hard line to walk. Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers will esepcially enjoy playing Casino Night’s music while playing Casino Street for an extra High Def nostalga kick. Act 2 is also especially enjoyable, with an interesting card gimmick that’s fresh and enjoyable – and flying through the sky on a deck of cards? That’s awesome.

Lost Labyrinth is where things start to get interesting. While this level clearly takes ques from Labyrinth Zone, much like Hydrocity from Sonic 3 or the axed Hidden Palace from Sonic 2, graphically, Lost Labyrinth’s design is the most unique. The background art on this level is simply amazing, depicting a lost underground civilisation, with the light shimmering in from above. There are several new gameplay mechanics in this level, including the falling bolders, some of which you have to balance on as you run along on top of them, and some of which you have to run away from. Act 2  is probably the most unique level in the game, and possibly of any 2D Sonic to date, as you use a flaming torch to find your way in the dark and light dynamite to blast through walls. Act 3 is very much the underwater level of the 3, which is good news, by the way, as by the time you got to Act 3 of Labyrinth Zone on Sonic 1, any hair you did have was on the floor.

Lost Labyrinth also has the most original boss level, where a completely new boss mechanic has been devised – hurrar! This zone is, quite easily, the best overall level in the game. Oh, and it has Orbinaughts. Those are awesome.

Finally, we have Mad Gear, the obligatory industrial zone and home to some of the most annoying badniks in the history of the universe. This level is quite clearly a take on Metropolis from Sonic 2, and sure enough, those Slicers and Shellcrackers will have you screaming at your TV before very long. There’s not a great deal of originality to this zone, but it does offer the best platforming and some awesome level music, making it a pleasure to play.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack to this game is sumiseable in one word: awesome. The retro samples really take you back to what made Sonic music great, and the tunes are memorable and catchy . Playing Splash Hill with Green Hill’s music or Casino Street with Casino Night’s music, however, does highlight one thing – we do remember the old music with rose tinted glasses. It seems apparent to me that the music in the new game is of no less quality – or cheesyness – than the old tunes, it’s just they lack the nostalga value right now, and I think that’s why some people do find them hard to accept and enjoy.

Special Stages in this game are also a lot of  fun, they’re very similar to the Sonic 1 special stages, so if you’re comfortable with them, you’ll be comfortable with this – the only difference is this time, you control the maze, and frankly, it’s much more fun this way.

There are some other fun things to do with this game, including achievements / trophies (a few of which are quite hard, makes a change from the Sonic 1-3 achievements) – and leaderboards, which at the moment seem to be suffering from the usual spot of cheating (can someone explain to me how The#1SonicFan has not been banned yet?).

So, how do I summerise my judgement of Sonic 4? Well, I don’t. I’ve not played it all yet. This is merely the first part of a much larger game, and while things are subject to change, I won’t make a final verdict on a game that’s only mid-way through development. I will however say that Episode 1 is a good start, and although dissapointingly short, it does leave me wanting for more and looking forward to Episode 2. It delivers a lot more than it misses, and once you get used to some of the changes, you do realise that this is the best Sonic title since Sonic Adventure.

Danny’s “Retro” Rating:

BioShock: Infinite is a mistake.

It’s no secret that I, like most people, am a huge fan of BioShock. I don’t really need to repeat why it’s so amazing, but if you have no idea what I am on about, you need to go and immerse yourself in this amazing world right now.

It’s quite surprising, then, that I’ve titled this post the way I have done. When the third installment in the BioShock series was announced, I took a few moments to consume what I was seeing, and I immediately expressed concerns. This has surprised a few people, but I’m going to take a moment now to explain just exactly why this game, or rather, it’s title, is a mistake.

Rapture, the setting of the previous two titles, is a very distinctive world. It’s been very carefully thought out by Ken Levine and his team, and it’s probably the most impressive playing environment I’ve ever experienced. I’ll be the first to admit that most FPS games are the setting and storyline equivalent of a very poor B movie, with notable exceptions, but if BioShock was a feature film, it would probably be one of the best of all time (there is actually a film adaptation in the works, but it remains to be seen how it compares. I don’t need to bring up the disastrous track record of game to movie transitions).

The game is set in the floating city of Columbia.

The one thing that does strike me about the universe, however, is that it seems somehow plausable. I know the concept of an “underwater city” built on 1940′s technology is impossible, but it does somehow feel believable.  Suspension of disbelief comes naturally to Rapture, at no point have I ever questioned it’s setting. It feels natural and, I suppose if you had unlimited resources, I’d go so far as to say it’s plausable. Infact the idea that there might be a secret city in the ocean like Rapture is very alluring.

This new title is set in a city called Columbia.  Apart from being a pretty unimaginative name, there is one major detail about it that is in total contrast to Rapture. It’s floating in the sky on giant hot air balloons.

This is a problem. It’s completely implausible on many levels; it makes no sense to fly a city in this way, the ammount of fuel required to keep such a city in the air makes no sense. Bad weather would destroy such a city in a moment. Everyone’s going to know it’s there because you can see it from the ground. It’s just bonkers in every single way.

The idea behind Columbia is that it’s a sort of “death ray” – fine, but you wouldn’t build an entire city. It lacks that feeling of “hey, you know, this kinda feels real” that rapture gives you, and that is the mistake. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is going to be a bad game. I’m not even saying it’s a bad setting, or a bad storyline, but the problem is this: BioShock Infinate.

Now if the game had been titled something else, I wouldn’t be typing this. I’m a fan of steampunk and, stand alone, I like the concept. But, even if the stories are not linked, the titles are. By putting this city in the same universe as Rapture, the former has now been tainted. I’m worried that this game will take away some of the magic Rapture gives me, by shattering the illusion, and that would be very sad.

Opera is music to my ears.

It pains me to admit this but, for the last couple of years, I have been using Internet Explorer as my main web browser. Since version 7, which shipped with Windows Vista, I have found Internet Explorer to actually be a capable web browser.

When it was first released with Vista, it was actually quite impressive, however, a worrying amount of time has passed since Vista went RTM (I really, really feel old) and, as Opera demonstrated to me this past week, Internet Explorer has fallen behind again.

There are three key things I look for in a browser, appearance, functionality, and speed. You may question appearance as something trivial that isn’t important, however, the web browser is the one application that is open on my screen more often than any other, by a mile. If I’m going to spend a fair chunk of my day with something, I want it to look good.

Internet Explorer delivered this, using the Windows Aero interface to great effect. FireFox has never really hit that mark for me, although it is functional, it’s a slow and fugly browser, and even though it’s skinnable, slapping a coat of paint over a dog turd is still a dog turd. Chrome is a quick and pretty browser, however it’s functionality is severely lacking. Internet Explorer was a nice middle ground between functionality, speed, and looking cool.

I was convinced to give Opera a second chance this past weekend, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I have used Opera as my main browser before, many years ago, and while it was a decent browser, at the time it wasn’t free, and wasn’t quite up to the level of FireFox at the time.

Opera today however, particularly this 10.60 beta version, hits all the spots perfectly. It’s interface is very pretty, using Aero glass to great effect, and making efficient use of space to create a logical interface that is very easy to navigate. The program is also skinnable, and various excellent skins exist including the “Z1-Glass” skin, which makes even better use of the Aero Glass interface and makes Opera possibly the prettiest browser I’ve ever used.

It’s not all eyecandy though. Opera is serious about speed, and this latest build has had it’s code streamlined so well that it outperforms Chrome by nearly 20%, making it offically the fastest browser available right now. It’s speed is really impressive, and you really do notice a difference compared to other browsers. With a small system footprint, quick page loads and excellent rendering, there are no complaints in this department either.

Finally functionality. Opera has always been a functional browser, innovating many of the features that FireFox is wrongly credited with introducing. Opera actually comes with more useful tools as standard than any other web browser, yet still manages to maintain a clean and minimalist interface. Some of the best features of the recent versions are the Sync feature, which allows you to keep your bookmarks, speed dials and settings across not only all your computers, but your handheld devices running Opera.

IRC chat is built in as standard, as is a spell checker, advert blocker, “Widgets” (Opera’s answer to Sidebar Gadgets, which stay open even after Opera is closed), a notepad, a fully fledged download manager, an e-mail client, and some impressive social networking tools.

In conclusion, Opera is most definitely a serious contender in the Browser Wars and anybody wanting to try something a little bit different, I urge to download Opera 10.6 and see for yourself just how good a browser this thing is.

In the Garden we are growin’….

Obligatory thoughts & views on Bioshock 2 follow. Please stand by.

So, Bioshock 2 came out last Wednesday, and as I’m now on my second playthrough, I have to admit, this game is just as good as the origonal. The story is class, the character development still there, and the atmosphere and attention to detail in the underwater world is just, well, amazing.

So the single player portion delivers in buckets and spades. The gameplay upgrades feel natural and enhance the game from the previous title, and the new weapons and plasmids are pretty awesome.

Couple things wrong with the single player mode though; there seems to be a Gene Bank station on every wall;  and as such there are a lot of Gathers Gardens around too. One of the challenges of the first game IMO was coming across these things. There are also Ammo Bandito machines sprinkled liberally, moreso than the first game, where they weren’t very obvious at all. The Circus of Values were always all over the shop, so that’s no surprise though.

Health stations suffer from the same problem, actually. There are also aren’t a great deal of security cameras, auto-turrets or other electronic defences compared to Bioshock 1. Multi-part quests don’t even pop up until the very end of the game. When a box pops up to teach you a gameplay element during the final boss, you know it’s been underused.

Big Sisters on the other hand a goddamn hard and fun to fight. There’s nothing better than a nicely sculptured female body in a diving suit doing extreme parkour and using telekanisis to throw doors at you.

The multiplayer element, though, is not so good.  The fact that everyone essentially spawns in the same room at the start of the match, and subsequently respawns in the same room 90% of the time, means that the fighting generally concentrates in one small area, with large bits of map not very inhabited in smaller games.

This also means that this game is a camper’s dream. Just sit in the corner with your granade launcher, and wait as person after person appears in the same general area.

The idea of having to use research on bodies to do well in multiplayer battles, and the story driven level based gameplay, is actually a fresh idea that I like. But unfortunately the sides are let down by the core product.

The spawn points need spreading out. Like, srsly now.

But all in all, a brilliant game that I really can’t fault. A 9 out of 10.

Now, Sonic & Sega All Stars racing…. the demo for that game is pretty awesome. I’ll be picking that up next week too…. stay tuned.