Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (PS3, 360, Wii, Windows, Android, iOS)

Shadow wrote:

Carlos wrote:

Cyburn2 wrote:1200MSP seems steep, wonder how long til its DotW.

£10 isn't really that steep when you factor in Online leaderboards and replay value. I must have played through S3&K 30+ times since its VC re-release. This will be no different. Day 1.

What? How do you quantify "replay value"? Surely all games have replay value?

And aren't online leaderboards a pre-requisite of XBLA games that don't feature multiplayer? I thought all games had to have some sort of online support, so that's hardly a feature either.

For 1200 points you could buy Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 (or Sonic and Knuckles) which all feature leaderboards and "replay value" or you could get a third/quarter of this game, it's impossible to argue this represents good value.

I speaketh of the Wii version. And comparing the cost of this vs the other 3 is pointless. SEGAs entire market for this is those of us who already own them, in whatever form that may be.

and no, not all games have replay value, otherwise the shelves of CeX et al would all be empty.

Johnny Ryall wrote:WTF I remember when this came out they quoted 400 MSP??

Crazy ain't it? 400 does sound cheap, but by the time there are four chapters on there, 1600 points for a big Sonic game wouldn't be at all bad.

4800 points for a Sonic game?

The best part is that you'd have to buy three 2100 points cards costing £52.50!!

Carlos wrote:I speaketh of the Wii version. And comparing the cost of this vs the other 3 is pointless. SEGAs entire market for this is those of us who already own them, in whatever form that may be.

Yeah, fair comments. But I still think a comparison for value's sake is valid, especially when there is such a gaping disparity.

Carlos wrote:and no, not all games have replay value, otherwise the shelves of CeX et al would all be empty.

Well now you're just being deliberately obtuse. I don't need to respond to this, but I will anyway. CEX shelves have copies of MW2, Halo Reach, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Fable - games with replay value coming out of their ears and certainly more than any Sonic game. You cannot judge a game's replay value on how many copies are available at a second hand shop. People trade games for all sorts of reasons, just because someone doesn't like a game - or wants a different one - doesn't mean that game lacks replayability.

Shadow wrote:For 1200 points you could buy Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 (or Sonic and Knuckles) which all feature leaderboards and "replay value" or you could get a third/quarter of this game, it's impossible to argue this represents good value.

The youngest of those games is sixteen years old though, and I think it's fair to assume that Sega have already made back the money they spent making them. At the time, £40 for a complete Sonic game would have seemed like quite the bargain compared to the prices they actually sold for.

Alvin Flummux wrote:How arbitrary. Sonics 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles didn't need a map, players really don't need to orient themselves in the overworld in Sonic games, so I fail to see a need for a map here.

It's a waste of the developers' time.

Also pointless.

Alvin Flummux wrote:Also pointless.

Indeed, but still a nice touch, and certainly classic Sonic! No game really needs anything other than a plain text menu on a black background outside of gameplay, but functionally "pointless" graphics make for a much better experience.

Alvin Flummux wrote:World map revealed: http://i55.tinypic.com/nff60.jpg

How arbitrary. Sonics 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles didn't need a map, players really don't need to orient themselves in the overworld in Sonic games, so I fail to see a need for a map here.

It's a waste of the developers' time.

It's just a level select screen, calm down.

No, this is a level select screen:

Alvin Flummux wrote:No, this is a level select screen:

It's also a cheat. You could at least have used the main Sonic 3 one.

Alvin Flummux wrote:World map revealed:

How arbitrary. Sonics 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles didn't need a map, players really don't need to orient themselves in the overworld in Sonic games, so I fail to see a need for a map here.

It's a waste of the developers' time.

That's not a map, it's just an overview of Green Hill on the level select screen.

I doubt it 'wasted' a huge amount of developers time to put that together, and it's a nice touch imo.

Mogster wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:No, this is a level select screen:

It's also a cheat. You could at least have used the main Sonic 3 one.

Not to mention the levels are listed in the wrong order! Though allegedly that was initially the intended sequence. Some folks found Marble Zone hard going for a second zone; imagine Labyrinth Zone in that place!

Pacman wrote:I doubt it 'wasted' a huge amount of developers time to put that together, and it's a nice touch imo.

The volume of artwork that is created for a game that doesn't appear in the game is quite simply staggering. Whether it appeared in the game or not, an image very much like that one will have been drawn up anyway.

You're being silly if you think the Sonic1 cheat screen is better than a map screen.

Shadow wrote:

Carlos wrote:and no, not all games have replay value, otherwise the shelves of CeX et al would all be empty.

Well now you're just being deliberately obtuse. I don't need to respond to this, but I will anyway. CEX shelves have copies of MW2, Halo Reach, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Fable - games with replay value coming out of their ears and certainly more than any Sonic game. You cannot judge a game's replay value on how many copies are available at a second hand shop. People trade games for all sorts of reasons, just because someone doesn't like a game - or wants a different one - doesn't mean that game lacks replayability.

I think that replay value is relative to the gamer. CEX is full of Halo Reach and MW2 because a lot of gamers (like me) would never play the online portion and after experiencing the single player would get rid of it for the next adventure or experience.

The reason I have finished the various Sonic games over and over isn't because of some self challenge or score attack but literally just for the fun of experiencing the game. There are many many games can also be catagorised this way. Back to my original point the £10 price I don't think is steep (Sonic 3 was just 5 and that was £40 when it first came out) because if the core mechanics are fun 4 levels will turn into 400.

I wonder if Chapters 2-x will be DLC for Chapter one or standalone games. It wouldn't be so bad if subsequent chapters were cheaper (assuming they are DLC), I just think the idea that this could be 4+ chapters at 1200 points pretty galling. That's £41.12 for a Sonic game! (and what if it's five chapters!? ) I only paid £35 for NSMB Wii at launch and that was in a box and I didn't have to wait months to finish the game - I expect it has more levels and content than the complete Sonic 4 will too.

Shadow wrote:I wonder if Chapters 2-x will be DLC for Chapter one or standalone games. It wouldn't be so bad if subsequent chapters were cheaper (assuming they are DLC), I just think the idea that this could be 4+ chapters at 1200 points pretty galling. That's £41.12 for a Sonic game! (and what if it's five chapters!? ) I only paid £35 for NSMB Wii at launch and that was in a box and I didn't have to wait months to finish the game - I expect it has more levels and content than the complete Sonic 4 will too.

If the final game ends up as 3-4 episodes of 4x3 Act levels I call that worth the money. Remembering the old prices to get S3&K brand new would have cost between £60-80.
So long as SEGA stagger the release (every 3 months) then its not much of a hit on your wallet.

Right thats settled it, i'm waiting for the inevitable boxed release of this. I'm NOT paying that much per episode, I don't care how good it is

PreGame 30: Sonic 4 Demo (Casino Street) @ CNET

Not too shabby, but the demoing guy got killed by the crapping uncurling feature.

Sega "rewarding" multiple purchases of the game.

I put air quotes around rewarding because it really is an absolute pisstake of a reward. Do you get merchandise? No. Something signed? No. Anything physical whatsoever? Nope. What do you get? An internet shout-out that probably won't even be remembered next week, or even in a few days. That's your reward for spilling your wallet's guts out.

1200points and we don't even get all new levels?

This is the worst deal ever. Bloody Sega.








day one

As much as I've picked fault, the fact that I've been waiting for this game since I finished Sonic & Knuckles way back in 1994 makes it a MUST buy for me

£5.99 on iPhone and no demo version. No thanks.