Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Sega’s Retro Revival

In the early to mid 1990′s, the console wars were once much simpler than they are now. The 16-bit era was ruled by gaming juggernauts Nintendo and Sega. All attempts by other companies to gain a piece of their financial pie failed miserably. Other companies like Panasonic and Atari may have promised more powerful hardware, but the ability of the Big Two to consistently produce quality software for the SNES and Genesis ensured for years that the Nintendo/Sega rivalry would not be challenged.

Part of the reason that Sega was able to keep up with Nintendo was their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was basically designed to be Mario’s polar opposite. Nintendo’s spokesman was a humble everyman who defended a happy go lucky wonderland. Mario was all about accessibility and fun for all people of all ages.

Sega, on the other hand, tried a more rebellious and youth-oriented approach, casting their mascot as a cocky teenager with a devil-may-care attitude. While Mario fought in a whimsical fantasy world with the typical fairy tail goal of saving the princess from the dragon, Sonic provided a bit of subtle social commentary, dashing through a quasi-cyberpunk landscape, protecting the natural world from the looming danger of pollution and out of control technology.

The difference in approach was reflected in the gameplay styles as well. While in Mario games, the player had to tread carefully to avoid death, Sonic was all about speed. Sure, the player was still quite vulnerable (especially to drowning!), but it was easy to feel invincible when Sonic could fling himself across obstacles and through enemies with ease.

This was just the way it was for years. Mario was the perfect comfort food, but Sonic also provided a great way for gamers to take what was, for its time, a walk on the wild side.

It couldn’t last, however, and both Sega and its mascot had to adapt to changing times. What was cool then wasn’t so cool anymore, and it would take more than “edginess” and “attitude” for the company to stay on its feet.

At the turn of the century, it seemed like the Dreamcast would keep Sega in the console race for another decade. It wasn’t to be, of course, and Sony’s superior marketing and third party support crushed the once great giant. Sega was forced to become a lowly software company, and as the company fell into the background, so did its once popular mascot.

The last ten years haven’t been kind to Sonic, to say the least. It used to be that when you played a Sonic game, you knew what you were getting. However, modern Sonic games presented the player with a mystery box more often that not. There were so many experiments in the Sonic franchise’s gameplay structure over the last decade that one would be, at times, hard pressed to believe that all of these games were part of the same series.

Out of nowhere, evidence surfaced that suggested Sega was finally willing to change that and go back to the basics. Last year, on September 9th,2009, the tenth anniversary of the Dreamcast’s launch, Sega released a trailer for a brand new retro-styled Sonic game. Watch the trailer and more after the jump.

For months, Sega gave no concrete information on what this game was. Buzz stirred endlessly about the so-called “Project Needlemouse” until February 4, 2010, when the first gameplay footage was finally revealed.

Sega had finally confirmed that the new 2D game was Sonic the Hedgehog 4, the official successor to the original games on the Genesis.

The game is being marketed much like Megaman 9. Much like Capcom’s sequel, Sonic 4 will be a download available for WiiWare, Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and even the iPhone. However, the actual content of the game looks more like Super Mario Bros. Wii, combining old elements with the new. Like NSMBWii, Sonic 4 combines 3D models with a 2D perspective. Sonic resembles his modern appearance at first glance, but a closer look shows that his quills have been shortened, and his belly has gone back to being a little closer to the bubble gut he had as a 16-bit sprite. Animal styled Badniks are back, after having been phased out in favor of more humanoid models in recent games. However, they’ve been given more detailed designs to make them look a little more like robots and a little less like toys. The brief scene level sports the familiar checkered landscapes, tropical forests, and twisting loops, yet manages not to be a straight retread of Green Hill Zone.

More intriguing than the graphical style, however, is the brief glimpse of gameplay. Many modern Sonic games have emphasized Sonic’s running speed to the point where, in Unleashed, Sonic is able to break Badniks by simply accelerating through them. Speed meant something very different in the classic Sonic games. Sonic would not burst to full speed instantly as he would today. Instead, he would build up momentum as he ran, then running would be used as a method of launching Sonic into his spin attack, allowing him to travel or fight from a variety of angles. The fact that Sonic is jumping on his enemies once again, rather than simply dashing straight through them, and that he is once again rolling into a ball to gain speed, suggests that the fun pinball physics of old have finally returned.

The game is, oddly enough, being offered in episodic form. The first episode will be offered as a stand-alone game, but more levels will be released over time. It’s actually a fairly interesting throwback to Sonic 3, which could be connected to its expansion pack, Sonic and Knuckles, to form a longer game with more options.

Speaking of Sonic and Knuckles, this game picks up right after it. After destroying the Death Egg, Sonic decides to take a vacation in a previously unexplored area. Predictably, he barely gets time to rest before he’s once again confronted by Robotnik and a brand new Badnik army.

This could be the shot in the arm that the franchise needs, after Sega’s recent track record of bizarre and perplexing Sonic releases. It’s hard to say exactly how things will turn out at this point, but the future looks bright.

Look for Sonic 4 to be available on your console of choice (or iPhone) this summer, and check out the official site for more info.