Game News, Interviews

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Officially Announced, Return of the Teaser

So, the wait is finally over. Well, the wait for the wait. Exclusively on Gamespot, Sega PR man Ken Balough has decided to sit down and finally talk about the game we all knew was coming at some point: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2. Yes, there is a teaser trailer. No, there’s no gameplay footage. But you should watch it anyway, if only to see Ken Balough’s face.

For some reason having the image of Miles “Tails” Prower engraved on his face, the Sega hype train commences once again. The trailer itself possesses a strange feeling of deja vu, done in a style that we saw for Episode 1 and continued with Sonic CD. This time, though, there are a couple facts confirmed right off the bat. Yes, Metal Sonic is going to be in it (though if you bothered to collect all the Chaos Emeralds in the first episode, you could have assumed that), though we don’t know in just what capacity. Will it be another race? The final boss? Or just someone to mess with us akin to Knuckles‘ role in Sonic the Hedgehog 3? Also, to alleviate the fears of the many, we are told that, yes, “Tails” is definitely in the game. Man, wonder who they would introduce in Episode 3!

Once the trailer is done, Gamespot conducts a brief interview, with Ken telling us that they have listened to the fans, at least in some capacity. Right off the bat, we’re told that Sonic 4: Episode 2 has a brand new graphics and physics engine, which are meant to address some of the problems that fans had for the first installment. Further explanation, however, does have Ken say that they still had to work in the framework of Sonic 4 as a whole, identifying what problems they could fix with the current set up, implying that all they’re really doing is poking the engine from the first game. Seems like a bit of a walking contradiction there, but what do I know? We won’t really be able to find out until the next teaser trailer, and even then we won’t really be able to find out until the first proper trailer, and even then…

Oh, sorry, got caught up there. We have been promised two very important things, though. First off, Sonic no longer has the uncanny ability to stand on walls. Secondly, Sonic is not supposed to uncurl after launching off slopes. While those are nice starts, that doesn’t mean the whole game is magically fixed. There were many other issues with the physics that were brought up, which I’m sure Sega is quite aware of. Saying that Episode 1 was an attempt to bring Sonic back to the world of 2D is a bit of a lie since we had the Advance and the Rush games before that, though each sequel in the DIMPS series strayed further and further from the classic formula. At the same time, the classic Sonic style wasn’t something you had to stumble around for an entire game to find. Episode 1 being described as just one big learning experience undermines the original intended purpose of that game, and while it is nice that you can admit there were things wrong with the first episode and that the goals you set were definitely not met, you have to make sure you go above and beyond with this next game. All eyes are on you, and simply having Sonic on a 2D plane with “Tails” following is not enough. Don’t let the good will from Generations and Sonic CD disappear, Sega.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is slated to come out in 2012, on Xbox Live, PSN, Andoid, Windows 7 Phone and iOS.

[Source: Gamespot]

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79 Comments

  • Reply

    Okay, where have we seen this before? Sonic, Metal Sonic, Tails playable. Hmmm….where have we seen this before. I wonder…OH WAIT, the awesome Sonic CD re-release. AND LOOK!. New graphics and physics engine promised too in Episode II.
    Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Sonic CD sounds used in trailer too. I smell a…fox. I bet you five British Pounds we see S3&K physics utilising the Retro Engine in Episode II, and compatability with Episode I be damned (thank god)

  • Reply

    Woo happy to hear ’bout the changes but the trailers’ lame :v

  • Reply

    I’m not gonna get my hopes up too much for it.
    But if they pull off making it work as good (or better) than the Classic Generations stages, then I’ll be more than willing to plunk down cash for it.

    Would it be too much to ask them to re-do Episode 1 with the new changes, though? LOL

  • Reply

    No Wiiware. :/

  • Reply

    Tails’ tails at the end are from the classic render of Tails in Generations
    http://info.sonicretro.org/images/4/44/SG_modern_and_classic_Tails.png
    It’s easy to tell because the white triangular pattern match it compared to the wilder looking pattern on the modern render.
    Not that it means anything because Metal Sonic looks like his modern design (smaller eyes)

  • Reply

    Yuppi!!! Also Android?!? I hope it will be goog as CD!

  • Reply

    No Wii eh? (or at least from what we can tell as of now) oh well, i knew my money put towards the PS3 would not go to wast… Sonic 4 Episode 2 will not disappoint i’m sure… not that i was disappointed by any means by Episode 1 (except price)

  • Reply

    Also SEGA, are you going to leave Nintendo? It is the third Sonic game (Generations, CD and now Ep. 2) that we won’t see on Wii: Wii owners will keep s****y Ep.1 with that s****y physics!

    • Reply

      Nintendo’s own limitations brought this on themselves. However, don’t rule out Wii U.

  • Reply

    Of all things, I’m hoping for three things.

    1) No “blue eyes” bullshit like the whole “green eyes” crap that happened way back in ’10.
    2) Some original concepts and boss battles.
    3) That I have enough money by November to get this game.

  • Reply

    Wheres the Wii version?

  • Reply

    Well, I really liked hearing about the new stuff they have done 🙂 very excited to see what is to come 🙂

  • Reply

    What?! It isn’t comiing to Wiiware?! Geez, SEGA! First, Generations, then, CD, and now this?! What is your problem with Nintendo, SEGA?! Oh, well… I just hope that the thing Sonic and Tails do at 1:33 is in the game, and that Tails will either be playable on his own and/or be playable with sonic as a 2-player thing. And maybe there could be a 2-player race mode akin to Sonic 2… Oh, the possibilities!

    • Reply

      Blame the 40MB limit Nintendo has on DL titles.

  • Reply

    No Wiiware?
    My hopes for graphics is positive now. aka not plastic graphics.

  • Reply

    HaHaHA,this made me Laugh So HARD!! Only THIS time hes literally talking Out of Tails’ ASS muhahaha, Ill keep my mouth shut about anything else until i see the game in action…. should we be excited about this?. Well I dont trust him Screw You!!

  • Reply

    the best part was watching the interviewer struggle a bit with Ken’s handshake.
    Some changes to Sonic 4 would be nice though.

  • Reply

    It had better not cost over £10 again, either!

  • Reply

    DAT BEARD!!!

  • Reply

    Hm…if this game gets an eventual disc release, will Episode 1 (or part 1)inherit the changed graphics and physics? Also, will the episode 2 download have a file to “fix” these problems in episode 1 because that would be great. Also a file to make Tails playable in episode 1?

    I’m thinking they could do sonic 3 and Knuckles where sounds, knuckles; colour, level paths and bonus stages all change from Angel Island onwards when you put the two games together.

    On a seperate matter – not bothered with the modern look if it stays. In my mind becoming “Hyper Sonic” in S3&K and exposure to the Master Emeralds “changed” sonic to his taller, thinner, and modern form – AND it also accounts for the Green eyes too!!

  • Reply

    Another Sonic game that is NOT coming to the wii?!

    Sonic Generations

    Sonic CD Remake

    Sonic 4 Episode 2

    Curse you, SEGA!!

    • Reply

      Wii’s on its way out and the 40MB limit on its downloadable titles really hurts developer appeal on it. Sonic 4:1 on its own really pushed the barrier on Wii.

      But at least Wii got Colors. That’s not too bad.

  • Reply

    Sounds really promising. Can’t wait!

  • Reply

    Since Dimps is effectively handing over a poor-mans version of Sonic Rush to be worked on, couldn’t they hand over Sonic Advance instead and start from there physics-wise (wasn’t it just ported over to a Japanese phone like a month ago)? I mean I know Sega is lazy when it comes to say keeping their original sound equipment for Sonic 4, but maybe Dimps doesn’t have that problem and could cut out some work while making a better product.

  • Reply

    When he says that they listened “very accurately” to the complaints of the fans, within the scope of what’s “possible”. I find that part of the speech to be a load of bull. Anything is possible, but I can only predict this means the return of the horrid looking modern gen Sonic and the addition of a horrible looking modern “Tails”. They don’t fit into 2D as well as their classic counterparts because of their proportions, for starters. Secondly, they should just use the classic character designs. It is certainly possible, they used classic Sonic and “Tails” in Sonic Generations… so there should be NO reason they cannot use them in the next episode of Sonic 4, right? I mean come on, if this is supposed to be the true and official sequel to the classic genesis games, modern Sonic DOES NOT FIT.

    I’d love to think SEGA has turned around and made this as good as their last two Sonic games….

    SEGA, please don’t disappoint.

  • Reply

    i’m scared

  • Reply

    When it started I thought.. Oh my god, his face. I can’t stop looking at his face.

    Brand new engine, huh. Can we expect to walk on air backwards now?

  • Reply

    Wow, thjis time they not holding back details of the game, the trailer talks about Metal Sonic and Tails. Now, this must be the reason for putting Tails in Sonic CD.

  • Reply

    No WiiWare. FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

  • Reply

    Looking at his face makes me not want to take him seriously.

  • Reply

    New physics and no more running into enemies and losing rings after I launch off a slope using the Spin Dash. Maybe we’ll get rid of the Homing Attack and/or add the Super Peel Out. And since Tails is in it, would this mean online multiplayer?

    • Reply

      Don’t expect the homing attack gone. You’ll be sorely disappointed.

  • Reply

    Dat mustache.

  • Reply

    I hope this game can be installed and played on all iOS devices,or at least the iPod Touch 2nd Generation devices. But hey, if Sega games like the first episode of Sonic 4, Sonic CD, and Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing (which, by the way, is free for a limited time) have support for all iOS devices, then I guess I won’t have a doubt that Episode 2 of Sonic 4 will run on my 2nd Generation iPod Touch…

    • Reply

      Be expecting it for 3GS and plus.

  • Reply

    Glad I got a XBOX 360 when I did, because it looks like Nintendo is getting less and  less SEGA Stuff now.

  • Reply

    Who is gonna come in Ep. 3? Put it this way; Sonic 1 was Sonic alone, then Sonic 2 was Tails, SONIC CD came before 3 so we have Amy, then Sonic 3 was Knuckles. So Ep. 3 will have Amy, and since there might not be Ep. 4, sorry Knux. In Ep. 3, instead of getting hugs from Amy, every zone is you running away from Amy and her Piko Piko hammer because she is pissed you just left her after the events of CD. Final boss of Ep. 3 shall be Amy. You either whoop her ass and get the bad ending, or get whooped by her for the good ending…but bad for Sonics ego. We don’t want our hero hitting girls, especially friends!

    Okay, now that I got the insane out of me (all that was a joke), I’m a bit scarred for life. It looks as if Ken cut Tails’ tails off and glued them on :O I wonder if the new graphics will make everything not look like plastic like in Ep. 1….

  • Reply

    so wait, episode 2 isnt going to be on wiiware?

    • Reply

      Nope.

  • Reply

    Trailer hints a co-op moves and gameplay. Probably dead wrong, but it would be pretty neat.

    But look at that… Nintendo Wii suddenly vanished off the list. Sucks hard for Nintendo fans.

  • Reply

    Nothing’s happened to get me excited tbh. The game should have good physics by default and we saw Tails and Metal Sonic in gens and CD so it’s hardly like their big return is anything special. Bring on some gameplay footage~

  • Reply

    loving the fact that its not on wii

    • Reply

      Why is that? What good could come from it not being on Wii? Do you still live in the 1990’s?

  • Reply

    I could understand the reason for not getting Sonic 04 Episode II on the Wii;
    The Wii is basically dead with the release of Skyward Sword, and our only possibility of getting it on a Nintendo console is the Wii U.

    Also, according to Hard News from ScrewAttack, Sonic the Hedgehog 04 Episode II will be released around Episode 01’s second anniversary, which would give the title “the most time they’ve ever worked on a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure II.”

  • Reply

    I think the question now is, is it still going to be Modern Sonic?

  • Reply

    Lets be honest here, episode 2 will have problems that are sorted out in episode 3. once that game is out, hopefully sega will go back and sort out issues for the complete sonic 4 game package

  • Reply

    I don’t honestly expect much from this at all, but we’ll see where this goes.

  • Reply

    So we are gonna see Ken Balough’s face like that in the game? Or will Eggman change his moustache?

  • Reply

    Alright, I feel the need to say this to all of you who keep bitchin. First off, the people who want classic models: stop saying that SEGA should just magically change sonic back to classic form in ep2 JUST because of generations because generations had a good reason for classic sonic being there(time eater. eggmen, etc.). And you know damn well that fans will be pissed if sonic just miraculously went classic. SEGA IS TRYING TO MOVE ON. If anything, classic models will be unlockable( and I mean pixelated sprites going through the stages in ep2, like in cave story 3d) so quit ‘yer bitchin. Secondly, to those of you who keep whinin about recent sonic games not being on the Wii: I’ll make this quick, SEGA has said for generations,CD,and ep2 that they will have updated graphics, which the Wii can’t handle. Damn, we get metal sonic and tails, I’d rather not have them looking plastic. And guys please,PLEASE stop bitchin about the homing attack cuz SEGA won’t get rid of it. I mean c’mon you know it’s way more usefull than the instasheild most of you are so fond of. I just hope SEGA does’nt make so many parts where you absolutely need to use it ( gets boring and annoying after a while). But everyone else’s complaints are valid, physics, stages, how long the game is, 2-player,ken’s face, they’re all valid complaints but everyone else, just stop cuz we just, don’t, care. And I doubt SEGA cares either.

  • Reply

    True, and there is also the Wii U, or the 3DS.

  • Reply

    Actually, Generations was on a Nintendo system (3DS), but I see what you mean. Why Wii is missed out on is questionable, considering there’s the first episode of Sonic 4.

  • Reply

    If SEGA’s smart they’ll re-release the three non-Nintendo games on the Wii U just to make a quick cash in and to please the Nintendo-SEGA fans.

  • Reply

    No gameplay, no expectations…for now.

  • Reply

    now i hope as an unlockable if you beat the game you can unlock Metal Sonic as a playable character

  • Reply

    The wii’s digital download platform is unbelievably restrictive – it was the main reason Episode I was so short. The game as a whole will be a lot stronger without the wii burdoning it.

  • Reply

    Nintendo could probably rush together a program if they were desperate enough to have Sonic on the system as well as a few other promised titles (coughSuperMeatBoycough). The Wii has a space for an SD card which can store anywhere from 2 to 8 GB of memory. Now all of this can’t be played on the SD card itself, but it does offer a space for all of the Sonic 1-3K collections to be pushed off the Wii’s harddrive so that the main system has room to play much larger games. Those larger games can exist on the SD card as well provided they aren’t over the harddrive capabilities of the Wii (I think around 500 MB) which means Sonic CD which was a little over 300 MB could have made it with this system.

    As a PS3 owner as well I am fine whether this system is implimented or not, but Nintendo it is in your power to make an SD card the big item to own (Wii Motion Plus doesn’t do anything). Release one yourselves, send the proper updates to the Wii and finally get Super Meat Boy up there (you went to Team Meat and asked for the game, it has 8+ million hits when you asked, it is a retro platformer that your fanbase will just drool over, WHY IS IT NOT HERE?) along with other big titles on the PSN and XBLA.

  • Reply

    Loads of really negative posts here. Must be pretty confidence bashing for the team to get constantly slated down every time they announce something. Looking forward to Ep2, I’m sure they will nail it this time. Good luck SEGA!

  • Reply

    Nintendo did release their own SD Card. It was only 2GB though. I wish more Sonic Games could be released on Nintendo so my Nintendo-SEGA Friend would get to play them. No one else I know is a Sonic/SEGA Fan, they don’t like him.

  • Reply

    I don’t know if this sounds stupid or not, but couldn’t they should’ve made Sonic 4 using the old style graphics, just updated.  For example, like the new King Of Fighters game that came out.  It retains the original graphics but they look more hi def and made to fit todays generation.  Doing this wouldn’t they have more space to add more levels, rather than the 4 or 5 stages they had in Episode 1

  • Reply

    First off: just to get this out of the way, the Wii does not have a hard disk drive. It has 512 MB of internal flash memory, which is storage, but not a hard drive.

    Now that that’s out of the way: Half of the internal flash memory is reserved for IOS (the Insecure Operating System that runs on the ARM CPU). That leaves us with 256 MB for save files and downloadable programs.

    You mentioned that the game could run from SD. Thanks to Nintendo’s insistence of sticking with their broken security model, this isn’t possible: System Menu 4.0’s method of “running” games from SD involves copying them to internal memory, then running it. Not only does this wear out the internal memory faster, it makes it impossible to run any game larger than the available free space, even if you have a 16 GB or 32 GB SD card. (Of course, hackers have no problem with it, but they don’t insist on using a broken security model.) This could all change with Wii U, but considering Nintendo’s track record, I wouldn’t bet on it.

    Regarding Super Meat Boy: They’re currently having a massive PR issue involving them accessing a MySQL database over the Internet directly with a hard-coded login, so don’t expect them to even consider any sort of Wii (or Wii U) port anytime soon.

  • Reply

    I just had to buy the WII version didn’t I? I’m not going through the trouble of buying the 360 version because I earned those Emeralds in the WII version. You hear me Sega I earned them!!!! Those Emeralds were tough to obtain. 🙁

  • Reply

    @LIGHTXIII

    Same here. The last special stage was harder than hell, and I got lucky and won it. ._.

  • Reply

    1:33- Spinyiff Attack confirmed.

  • Reply

    You should have known tails was in the game considering they teased him in the end of the cd remake.
    Thank u the taxman

  • Reply

    No WiiWare. DAMN! I guess I’m done then considering I’m typing this with a Wii and have Sonic 4: Episode I on it. No PROMOTION for you SEGA. I guess I’ll have to go against my anti-Microsoft (wow, Microsoft is on Nintendo’s dictionary) policy and suck up to an Xbox 360 (because PS3’s are expensive and the one we have my brother (who doesn’t own it) won’t let me touch).

  • Reply

    Wii (like Gamecube before, WiiU after, and the competition) uses a PowerPC core at (Wii only) 729 Mhz (GCN 485 Mhz; competition 3.2 Ghz).

  • Reply

    I honestly can’t wait for this! With what Sega has been doing lately, this looks promising! 😀
    Service Games FTW Real Talk

  • Reply

    Sonic Fan Remix is better. I like the tails-sonic move though.

  • Reply

    Oh. I don’t know. Maybe the lifted restrictions that the Wii brings with any downloadable game such as 40MB File Size limit, or just worse capabilities due to the wii being weaker?

  • Reply

    i am glad that this is not coming for the wiiware because the wii its a weak machine and sega has plans to make this game more powerfull than sonic 4 episode 1 so thats the reason its not coming for the wii and like sonic generations i dont think that thi is coming for the wii

  • Reply

    20th anniversary of when Sonic and Tails met, good thing SEGA continued with the Sonic 4 series!

  • Reply

    Okay, okay, I understand about the limits on the Wii and all, but does that mean we just laugh at Nintendo’s face for it? After all, they had no idea about their limits and thought they set it at their best effort. I can’t really blame anyone on this.

  • Reply

    I actually was talking about putting everything on the SD and then transfering over to the internal memory when needed. Well I don’t think any fan should miss out on a potentially great adventure, so just blind hope on my part that the Wii could have something in place for that.

  • Reply

    The Wii was the reason Episode I was so bad? How???

  • Reply

    Please no Star War’s light saber affects this time… Way too many blue streaks everywhere when spinning and homing attacking… Ugh…

  • Reply

    I remember during an interview with Nintendo Power, Takashi Iizuka was asked why Sonic wasn’t in his classic form for Sonic 4, and he simply stated all character designs were updated in 1999. He didn’t really answer the question, and essentially said, “This is what it is and has been for a decade. Shut the fuck up.” and I felt a glimmer of respect shine through for the guy who let the Sonic Storybook offshoot series exist.

    It doesn’t make any sense for them to be fat, folks. They run all the time.

  • Reply

    With the success of Ep1 hopefully SEGA will have allocated a bigger budget for Ep2. I would like to see the following in Ep2:

    – more levels. 7 or 8. 4 levels felt too short in Ep1. Big and more detailed levels designed for exporation to get good replay value.
    – bosses: a mixture or really good (original) designs like in 3&K and the gimmicky CD ones.
    – maybe give Tails a new move like the ‘super peel out’. How about Super Tails if he collects the chaos emeralds.

  • Reply

    OH MY GOD!!! That Guy Stuffed Tails up his Nose!!!!!! D:

  • Reply

    Yes, Ken, it is rather “subtle”. “Subtle” like a freight train.

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