Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 ( XBLA ) Review

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 ( XBLA ) Review

Review: Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1

Released: 7th October 2010 (UK) (Out Now)
Platforms: XBLA, Also: PSN, WiiWare

For his latest outing sonic has returned to his original 2D routes, paying a lot of homage to classic 2D sonic games of the past. The game was developed by Dimps alongside members of the Sonic Team and is available for download on XBLA, PSN, Wiiware and iOS (Sorry no PSP or DSiWare versions). 

If you didn’t get it from the title of the game then I’ll just tell you now that Sonic 4 Episode 1 is the first planned episodic content for the hedgehog’s latest 2D outing. Sonics latest outing takes place sometime after Sonic & Knuckles, which was pretty much the second part of Sonic 3. With the destruction of Eggman’s Death Egg by the hands of the main protagonist of the series Sonic he departs from Tails and Knuckles and sets out to explore new territories. Of course wherever Sonic is Eggman isn’t far behind and has revisited and REHASHED his very best creations ready to defeat sonic. Yeah when these guys said rehashed they meant it pretty much all of your boss fight encounters with Eggman are ripped straight from classic Sonic games and they each contain a very small twist to them. After you have hit Eggman a number of times these twists basically kick in. The twist is an attack variation that at least for the first two boss fights doesn’t make Eggman any stronger or throw you off your game in any way, but the twists in the later boss fights does add some extra challenge. The end result is very disappointing, furthermore is even more disappointing to find that towards the end of the game you have to go through these battles again. This eventually leads to one more showdown with Eggman in battle ripped straight from Sonic 2. Don’t get me wrong the homage is cool but it is lame and just plain lazy to not have any completely new boss fights added to the game.

Sonic 4 has four themed zones and final showdown with Eggman. Each zone is split up into three acts and one boss fight. Those that have played previous 2D sonic games will feel right at home here as all four zones are pretty much your classic Sonic type levels. First Splash Hill zone is your Green Hill/Emerald Hill type level not difficult and easy to speed through. The second is Casino Street, which you should have guessed from the title is your casino type level similar to Casino Night and Carnival Night from Sonic 2 and 3 respectively. Then there is Lost Labyrinth zone which is a take on Sonic 1’s Labyrinth zone and finally Madgear zone is similar to Sonic 2’s Metropolis zone. The Lost Labyrinth Zone I feel is the real and only stand out level for Sonic’s latest outing. This zone adds some nice little touches for starters it will have Sonic travel through a dark cavern requiring Sonic to carry a torch. The torch is used light other torches providing more light for areas, which will also open door ways, furthermore lighting dynamite to unblock pathways to continue through the level. The zone tries to add little tiny puzzle elements not very much but just enough for this level to stand out from the rest of the package.  

As for controls, well there isn’t much to say if you’ve played other 2-D sonic games before then you’ll be right at home here. You can use the analogue or D-Pad to control Sonic moving him forward, backwards, look up or down. Also Sonic jumps with the press of “A” and the same button is also used to do his spin dash. The only other attack that Sonic can do with “A” button is the homing attack, which is a move that is taken from the 3D Sonic games and it works just as well in Sonic’s 2D outing. The only thing that I didn’t like about Sonic 4’s gameplay mechanic is Sonic’s movement. You see I find it a bit annoying that Sonic’s movement starts off a bit sluggish requiring him to build a little momentum before he really gets going. It’s a minor grip but something that is very noticeable if played past 2D Sonic games.    

      

I have to say the graphics look fantastic from Splash Hill zone to Madgear zone. Each location has its own look and feel to it. Furthermore the level backgrounds also look impressive at times. Even down to the little details like Sonic leaving smoke trails behind him.    

The music in this game is pretty ok but is nothing compared to the music efforts put into Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. This is bit of a surprise to find that a game that is over 16 years old has a better soundtrack than its successor. 

Sonic 4 is great XBLA title and good fanfare service. However I do feel the game is kind of short and left me wanting more. The game gives us a little too much homage to classic 2D Sonic games and you won’t find much new here but it is decent 2D game that’s worth a play.   

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4: EPISODE 1 BREAKDOWN

GAMEPLAY

Simple and straightforward with the auto targeting attack being the only new addition to the game. Its classic 2D Sonic gameplay and not much else is really needed.

GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION

Simple, clean and clear with lovely backdrops not much else to say.

LONGEVITY

The games shortfall after you’ve played once or twice there’s emeralds to collect which will allow you to become supersonic once they have all been collected. However apart from that and achievements there is not much else.   

AUDIO

Ok but nothing special Sonic 3 has more memorable and simply better tunes that this.

Read the review now check out.

FINAL OPINION: WORTH A PLAY/FANFARE SERVICE

Read the review now check out SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4 EPISODE 1 PLAYTHROUGH

Tweet

Pac-man Championship Edition DX ( XBLA ) Review

Pac-man Championship Edition DX ( XBLA ) Review

Review: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
Released: 17th November 2010 (UK) (Out Now)
Platforms: XBLA, Also: PSN

How does one you improve on the 1980’s classic Pac-Man? With Pac-man Championship Edition. So how does one improve on Pac-man Championship Edition, which is already a great improvement over the original? With Pac-man Championship Edition DX that’s how.

Once again Namco have done an outstanding job with its latest edition to the Pac-Man franchise. Pac-Man C.E Edition DX is absolutely exciting and addicting to play, even more so than the previous championship edition. Pac-Man C.E Edition DX still follows the basic gameplay elements of the original Pac-Man. The game still has the player take control of Pac-Man, moving him through the maze eating pellets, power pellets and also bonus fruit. While at the same time the player needs to avoid running into the ghosts, but can consume power pellets to turn the tide for a short time and eat the ghosts. From this point DX makes several changes to the formula some similar to the previous championship edition and some all new elements. For starters like the previous championship edition there is the inclusion of a time limit rather than different levels like the original. Each of the several mazes you can choose from is split into two halves and collecting all the pellets on one side will cause a bonus item to appear on the other side. Collecting the item will cause the opposite side to maze to change. These two things are great additions that were introduced in the previous championship edition and remain pretty much the same in DX.

So what has exactly been added to the DX edition? Well the game now includes sleeper ghosts. Sleeper ghosts are stationary until Pac-Man moves past them. In doing so the ghosts will follow behind Pac-Man, doing so several times will form a train like trail behind Pac-Man. The long train of ghosts provides a massive score bonus when Pac-Man eats a power pallet and consumes the ghosts in succession. The speed of the game will increase as the player gets more points and to further add to the difficulty free roaming ghost will still appear in the maze just like classic Pac-Man. There are also other additions that have been added to the game such as bombs which when used will send all roaming ghosts and ones following Pac-Man back to the centre of the maze. I can’t even begin to describe how it feels when you are able to eat several ghosts in succession and build up a tremendous score. It’s like dealing a large blow to the ghosts like you’ve never been able to do before.

A great feature that I admire very much is the ability to change the character and maze graphical styles. The game allows you to switch between several graphical styles from retro pixel sprites to a more 3D Pac-Man look etc.

Much like the previous game the music greatly adds to the intensity as the timer counts down till those last few seconds. It really gets you going as you try and get those last few points with ghosts all over the maze and Pac-Man moving tremendously fast, all before the timer runs out. Not to mention the music playing on the main menu is absolutely addicting theme that plays over and over again in my head when I’m not playing the game.

All in all Pac-Man is about one thing and thing only the score. The game includes leaderboards and the ability to watch other player videos so you can watch some of the best Pac-man players go to work. The game also includes several maze designs, furthermore along with the Score Attack there is also Time Trial and Ghost Combo for players to tackle. Pac-Man C.E Edition DX is one of the best arcade games released last year. I didn’t think Pac-Man could get any better than Pac-Man C.E Edition but Namco have proved me wrong and have created another highly addictive and simply fantastic downloadable game.

PAC-MAN C.E EDITION DX BREAKDOWN

GAMEPLAY

Its Pac-Man move around the maze, collect the pellets, items and eat those ghosts. It’s all about achieving those high scores.

GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION

From the menus down to the actual gameplay everything is presented nicely. There is an Array of maze and character graphical styles to choose from too.

LONGEVITY

Lost a large amount of daylight time playing this one of the most addictive arcade releases since….. well since the last Pac-Man game.

AUDIO

That main menu music is unforgettable not to mention the music adds intensity when the game gets down to those last few seconds.

FINAL OPIONON: AWESOME

Tweet

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Review

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Review

Review: Banjo Kazooie
Released: 3rd December 2008 (UK) (Out Now)
Platforms: XBLA
FINAL OPINION: MUST PLAY / CLASSIC PLATFORMING

Banjo Kaoozie is a 2008 updated re-release of the old 1998 N64 classic now available on XBLA. Banjo Kaoozie was originally developed by RARE or RAREWARE (back in the N64 days) by this updated port was handled by 4J Studios. There are many of gaming genres that are on the rise some of which have sky rocketed such as First Person Shooters while the Platform/action-adventure genre has become more in decline. Banjo Kazooie is an example of classic 3D platform/action-adventure.

Tweet

Marvel Vs Capcom 2 XBLA Review

Marvel Vs Capcom 2 XBLA Review

Review: Marvel Vs Capcom 2
Released: 13th August 2009 (UK) (Out Now)
Platforms: XBLA,PSN

FINAL OPINION: CRAZY FIGHTER / AWESOME

Marvel VS Capcom 2 is one of the most highly demanded fighting games to be re-released and Capcom has finally given many long time fans what they wanted by re-releasing Marvel Vs Capcom 2 for download on XBLA. This version of Marvel Vs Capcom is based on the Dreamcast version and was developed by Backbone Entertainment.

Tweet