Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Port of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
2.19 average rating based on 464 ratings
- Developers
- Dimps
- Publishers
- Sega
- Franchises
- Sonic The Hedgehog
- Series
- Sonic the Hedgehog
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I?
Not as Bad as I Remember
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
I was feeling under the weather this week, and I wanted some gaming comfort food. So I decided to Platinum Sonic Origins using the (heavily discounted) physical copy I'd double-dipped on a few months back.
After credits rolled on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, my first instinct was to hop over to Sonic Mania. But then I remembered...
I'd never actually finished an episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4. I'd purchased the game at launch back in 2010, but was too disappointed to play till the end.
After finding an open source launcher that bypasses the arbitrary Java dependency, setting the configuration to prefer the gamepad, and drastically lowering my expectations, I launched the game on my Steam Deck and...
...had a good time? 😳
A lot of that comes down to my mindset this time around. Sonic 4: Episode I's shortcomings were frustrating in 2010, but fascinating in 2024.
From the moment you press right on the d-pad, Sonic 4 feels immediately worse than its predecessor. How weird is that?! You'd think the first step to designing a sequel to S3&K 16 years later would be to revisit the original. But it's as if Sonic Team heard …
I was feeling under the weather this week, and I wanted some gaming comfort food. So I decided to Platinum Sonic Origins using the (heavily discounted) physical copy I'd double-dipped on a few months back.
After credits rolled on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, my first instinct was to hop over to Sonic Mania. But then I remembered...
I'd never actually finished an episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4. I'd purchased the game at launch back in 2010, but was too disappointed to play till the end.
After finding an open source launcher that bypasses the arbitrary Java dependency, setting the configuration to prefer the gamepad, and drastically lowering my expectations, I launched the game on my Steam Deck and...
...had a good time? 😳
A lot of that comes down to my mindset this time around. Sonic 4: Episode I's shortcomings were frustrating in 2010, but fascinating in 2024.
From the moment you press right on the d-pad, Sonic 4 feels immediately worse than its predecessor. How weird is that?! You'd think the first step to designing a sequel to S3&K 16 years later would be to revisit the original. But it's as if Sonic Team heard the goal of "Classic Sonic" and thought "great, we'll remove stuff from our most recent 2-D handheld game. That's Classic Sonic, right? Modern Sonic but worse?"
The presentation is a bit more understandable. The visuals are bland as heck, and the music is forgettable. But I feel the same way about New Super Mario Bros., which was at its peak popularity around this time.
And the levels themselves are reasonably fun. Checkpoints are plentiful, bottomless pits are a lot less common than in many of the handheld entries. I enjoyed the casino zone's use of playing cards over slot machines, as well as the rolling ball and cog gimmicks in the game's latter half. The special stages are an improvement on those of Sonic 1, and the bosses subvert expectations in small but amusing ways. It's all very derivative of the series' heyday, but the same could be said of Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania or the action stages in Sonic Frontiers.
So is Sonic 4: Episode I actually a good game?
No, not really.
But in a world where Sonic Mania already exists, I think it's easier to forgive its faults and enjoy it anyway.
(I've heard Episode II is better, so I'll be giving that a whirl next.)
This one hurt
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
This game was a pain to finish, the camera, the controller, the clunky physics, the horrendous homing attack. Like most of Sonic games but worst. This is a must pass. Still , finished it haha
A SONIC GAME WITH VERY BLAND MUSIC
Out all of the games within possibly the darkest times of Sonic franchise, I guess it is ok, mediocre at best, it is no Sonic Rush or even as close as good to the other Sonic games that were available on mobile devices. But really, the soundtrack is REALLY really bland, it is not the worst Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack, but it is probably one of them, which is saying a lot, like it is just doesn`t grab you, it has no pizzaz and it is not punchy at all, it uses sounds from the genesis. Seriously that is my major complaint.
The level design is eh. Also this is technically meant to be a console game but I really just see it as an early mobile game, I don't know how else to explain it but the game looks and feels like a straight to cereal box game from the early 2000s or late 90s. It is mostly because of the plastic-like 3D style it uses, it is fascinating how serviceable this game is yet... Just eh. Like it really is just a low-budget re-imagining of Sonic the Hedgehog.
I feel as if a lot of people are nitpicky …
Out all of the games within possibly the darkest times of Sonic franchise, I guess it is ok, mediocre at best, it is no Sonic Rush or even as close as good to the other Sonic games that were available on mobile devices. But really, the soundtrack is REALLY really bland, it is not the worst Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack, but it is probably one of them, which is saying a lot, like it is just doesn`t grab you, it has no pizzaz and it is not punchy at all, it uses sounds from the genesis. Seriously that is my major complaint.
The level design is eh. Also this is technically meant to be a console game but I really just see it as an early mobile game, I don't know how else to explain it but the game looks and feels like a straight to cereal box game from the early 2000s or late 90s. It is mostly because of the plastic-like 3D style it uses, it is fascinating how serviceable this game is yet... Just eh. Like it really is just a low-budget re-imagining of Sonic the Hedgehog.
I feel as if a lot of people are nitpicky about the physics and yes they are surely not the best and greatly contribute as to why this game feels "off", but again it does the job, I've played worse platformers that take a while to get going and don't even hook you quickly for let's say 1 hour, but the BIGGEST complaint of this game has to be the weird instant death pits that completely remove any sense of momentum, expect a lot of cheap deaths and a lot of progression being dependent on you doing homing attacks on a series of beatles, lest you fall in a pit. They keep giving you a large amount of lives so it never really feels like a penalty but it does put a pause on stages.
It is an incredibly uninspired and I just really see it as their attempt at making Sonic the Hedgehog for mobile devices (it really feels that way). The bonus stages are weirdly really good but again they have forgettable bad music. I don't know what else to say, it's just... There. And yes I was right, the game was originally meant to be mobile exclusive and just about the motion controls, so really just expect a mobile game. Weird that Dimps made this considering all of their other games are radical.
It's not that bad, but it is not that good either, and honestly a part of me suspects this might be a great starting point for Sonic lest your standards get too high up with the other entries, people probably grew up with this and it was their first sonic game and for them it was ok, some ideas are cute.
Reached Credits
- Collected all 7 Chaos Emeralds
Final thoughts: While the game is fully functional despite the slow & floaty controls, my biggest issue with this game is how sterile the music / environments feel. This game simply doesn't have much charm to it, especially coming from recently playing the Advance / Rush games. It has the same aesthetics issue I feel with most of the "New Super Mario Bros." titles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is a fun game but not without its flaws.
The main thing for me is that Sonic feels slow, especially the start up speed, also his jump feels off and floaty. The controls aren't terrible by any means but they don't feel as tight as I want.
Still if you have time at your hands and want to play a game that is easy to access and you just want to kill time, then check out this game.