The latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine is now available on newsstands in the U.S. and inside is a preview of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. The demo they got to play was of a new build, one which contains all acts and boss battles in Lost Labyrinth Zone and Mad Gear Zone. Nintendo Power says Lost Labyrinth Zone is heavily inspired by Sonic 1’s Labyrinth Zone with familiar elements, such as “endlessly looping waterfall mazes, pulley-based moving platforms, retracting spikes, and underwater segments that require you to grab air bubbles before you run out of oxygen.” Reaffirmed is the removal of the infamous mine cart stage and the torch mechanic put in its place, though nothing more is revealed than what’s is obvious in the screenshots, like lighting sconces to take down obstacles which block your path.
Nintendo Power also details two new features seen in the recent screenshots, including the orb that Sonic is standing on and a boulder that Sonic is running from. Sonic must keep his balance while the orb follows a specially designed track and other sections will see him be chased by giant boulders that fall out of the sky, requiring quick reactions. Nintendo Power also inform us that players will also have to escape a giant wall that threatens to crush you, while the stage fills with water.
In their playthrough of Mad Gear Zone, Nintendo Power compares the stage to most end of game stages in the Sonic series, “hard edged industrial stages full of steampunk-style machinery that practically screams you’re on the bad guys’ home turf.” The stage is said to not only contain stage mechanics that you’ll recognise such as pneumatic transportation tubes, steam geysers and giant pistons, but also some new ones. Sonic will have to run on top of cogs, some will help move Sonic to new areas, while other cogs will open heavy metal doors.
Nintendo Power states the difficulty increases significantly for the third Act of Mad Gear Zone, where an enormous drill machine chases Sonic in a similar fashion to the giant wall from Lost Labyrinth Zone. While the machine pursues Sonic, Nintendo Power says “you must leap spikes, hit switches, and dodge momentum-reversing blasts.” Sounds like it’s quite the challenge. Nintendo Power also reveals that players can choose to play the game’s four zones in any order they like.
The preview doesn’t mention anything in terms of any of the tweaks to physics, running animation, acceleration etc that SEGA of America’s Ruby Eclipse spoke of recently, but it does come with five new screenshots of the Lost Labyrinth Zone. To check out the screenshots and the full preview, pick up a copy of Nintendo Power issue 259 at your local newsstand.
Thanks to SSMB member Doctor Eggman for the info!
How about a damned release date!? I mean, seriously, this thing gets super hyped & we STILL have no clue as to WHEN we’re supposed to be jizzing ourselves with fanboy/girl glee. (& if they have & I somehow missed it, please someone update me ^-^; )
Oh sweet pokemon rangers!
Oh, and the details on Sonic 4 are quite fine too. I’m actually surprised Mad Gear is leeched into the zone list before Casino Street.
Awesome. This game is looking really good. I’m shocked that Casino Street hasn’t been mentioned at all. Awesome. I can’t wait until more details are revealed. 😀
It really sounds awesome, can’t wait for it.
by the way im a little confused. i been reading info saying lost labyrinth is zone 3. and others confirming its the second zone? Which is it???
Gah, Epic Mickey on the cover XD
I might be sorry, but I really don’t care for licensed games that much (I only see them as extra merchandise for said licensed property and nothing more). Disney is one greedy corporate media giant and I wish they would never get their hands on video games (Again, I wasn’t even fond of Disney in the beginning anyway, I like anime better). Whenever I think of Disney, I think of animation, movies, theme parks, kiddy stuff, family-friendly things and pixie dust (No more then that, much less video games because I will be so mad if Disney ends up acquiring companies like SEGA and such). Out of all Disney games, Kingdom Hearts is the worst offender because of it’s fanbase and hype (I wish that franchise would die already. I have gotten so sick of seeing Kingdom Hearts stuff on every anime/game-related website I go to).
I get Nintendo Power from the mail once every month, and it will be interesting to see what the next issue has to say about Sonic 4. I wish they would have a retail release for it, but oh well. It is time for me to learn how to enable online or Wi-Fi for my consoles now (Or at least, as soon as Sonic 4 comes out) and learn how to download from WiiWare/X-Box Live Arcade/Playstation Network if possible.
A release date will probably come soon, and this is something we all need to be patient about. In the meantime, do something else while waiting.
@ Tiny:
Lost Labyrinth is Zone 3. People got confused and thought it was Zone 2 when SEGA officially revealed it after Splash Hill Zone. Casino Street Zone is Zone 2.
Epic Mickey!
Anyway, I’m starting to be sold on Sonic 4..Keep your feet running, Sega!
@ Shadz
Thanks man. I was still a little confused. I mean damn. i was really lookin’ forward to playin it after slash hill. i wonder how casino street is doin. no mentions on it all! D:
Wait, this says you can play the ZONES in any order. However, it never said you can play the ACTS in any order.
@Vulpine Well of course I’m doing something else. I’m actually replaying Sonic CD on my PC and putting aside cash for Colors. Other than that, yeah, it looks great, but that Mushroom Hill 2.5D render looks WAY better. http://www.sonicstadium.org/blog/2010/08/25/new-2-5d-sonic-project-showcases-mushroom-hill-zone/
why arent they talking about physics and @WikidWorx yeah agreed that video owns the piece of shit that is sonic 4 even sega got mad when they saw it but they wouldnt show their angriness XD
@ Tiny:
Well Nintendo Power say in the preview, you can play the zones in any order you like. So you can play Lost Labyrinth Zone second if you want to. I’m guessing Casino Street Zone isn’t ready to be seen yet, since Act 2 is likely being revamped in development, just like Act 2 of Lost Labyrinth Zone. Fans weren’t happy with the Act 2 shown in the leaks, so hopefully we’ll see something more pleasing when SEGA are ready to show the Zone.
Meh. Not anything that we don’t already know. Still a nice read though. It’s good to see that Nintendo Power is liking this game as well. I’m very happy with the positive response this game is getting. Who knows, maybe this game will get a good average score.
Rarely does Nintendo Power tell us something that we don’t already know, haha.
Their previews and reviews are so vanilla.
This is a preview? Since when did screenshots and a small article become a PREVIEW? Oh well. Nothing special. =]
Somehow, I’m currently more interested in what Epside 2 is about! xD I mean, I still don’t quite understand the PLOT of this game… it feels like you can’t understand it til it’s finished. All I know is Eggman’s planning revenge, but HOW!? Are these reused bots suppose to trick Sonic making him cocky luring him into an unsuspecting trap? Did Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all go back to their own islands thus Sonic is currently alone and traveling the same land as Sonic 1? xD
Maybe I’m seeing things, but if u check out the screen where sonic is being chased by something, his top speed running animation looks just a little bit different…..to me at least. Anybody else?
Nope, looks the same to me, like no change has been applied at all. Maybe this screenshot was from an earlier “new” build? We´ll find out soon with that announced video I guess!
@Shoryuken
it only owns cause it’s mushroom hill zone in 3D off an already popular game. If Sega made that then I’m sure the fans will still find something to complain about
*crawling….. struggling to reach…..*
… Releaseee… date…..
*collapses*
@WikidWorx
I remember Sonic CD. I used to play it all the time when it first came out back in 1993.
@Jix Hedgehog
Sonic 4’s release date will be revealed soon, not to worry.
Looks like the minekart at the end of the 2. act wasn’t even worth mentioned.
I look forward to this game and hope the physics become less “Rush-ish” and more classic.
@Vulpine Sure Kingdom Hearts and Disney is getting overated Ive been a fan of those series since the begining but what dose that have to do with the sonic comunity
*Community
Removed the scan for copyright reasons. Future Publishing have been on our backs for magazine scans before, so we on the staff think it’s best to avoid that happening again.
@sonfan1984 no it owns it in every aspect and that is a S&K remake of course would be angry at sega if they remaked it in sonic 4 like 4 other zones that we have now and the graphics are much superior then sega’s shit this is a conept of what sonic 4 could of been if sega worked really hard on it instead of going with lazy pre-renders nintendo just buy sonic already
@shad
I know they have nothing to do with Sonic, but have you even looked at the cover of the latest Nintendo power? Ahhhggghhh!! Blargwargwargwargwargwarg!! Ptttthhhh!! For goodness sake, it made my eyes burn after seeing that Mickey made it to the cover instead of Sonic or a Nintendo character.
@Shadzter
We just don’t want anyone to get in trouble. If someone has been on your back, then you better act quickly before it’s too late.
@ Vulpine:
No-one’s in trouble, don’t worry. They haven’t been on to us while the scan was up and it’s been removed now. We just had a talk and thought it would be best to remove the scan, since Future’s been on to us in past occasions when we’ve posted scans on the front page. So we’re just trying to avoid it happening again.
@Shoryuken
Yeah, it looks better but it’s not all about the graphics, though. Alot of people still prefer Sonic 4 to be 16 bits but I guess alot of fans gotten over that argument
@ Vulpine
BWA HA HA HA HA…………..(struggles to contain laughter). Seriously you’re offended by Epic Mickey actually taking the cover? A game that from preview builds looks to contain more promise and interesting ideas than Sonic 4 and Colours? And also when you think of Disney you think of animation and kiddy stuff? Disney, one of the innovators of animation, producing such revered classics such as Lion King, Bambi and Fantasia to name a few and you’re upset because they’re child friendly? Sonic is in exactly the same boat when it comes to appeal my friend and he doesn’t hold the same status.
It should also be noted that Kingdom Hearts is one of the few games with licensed characters that is actually worth waiting for in most occassions. Its games aren’t soulessly put out quickly to meet an upcoming film like a lot of lisensed characters. Square Enix (Final Fantasy anyone?) actually takes time on each KH and though not all of them are great nor to everyones taste I think dismissing them on fan appeal if pretty ignorant.
You want invasive fan appeal? Ironically that very well could be the Sonic fan base and I’m not about to talk pointless smack down on that.
@ Vulpine
Didn’t Nintendo Power already put Sonic on their cover recently (also, it’s not the only time Sonic made it on their cover either) when they were previewing Sonic Colors? Geeze, don’t be so greedy. Give other characters a time to shine.
Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors look AWESOME!! there gonna be the best games of the year! This should be perfect for an early celebration of Sonic’s 20th Anniversary!
Sorry i need to say this……………………EPIC MICKEY!!!!!!!
Now that we have that out of the way yay for the under-water sections!
@Vulpine Kingdom Hearts and Epic Mickey are great games and also kingdom hearts has a story to itself rather then all being disney. I love the kingdom hearts games as much as I do sonic and I find that truly offensive to myself. Also if you don’t like it ignore it.
@ProjectZuel
you told ’em 🙂
@ProjectZuel
Okay, I am offended because Mickey did not originate from a video game unlike Sonic, and it would be better if Sonic 4 took the cover. You may disagree, but oh well. I still wish there would be more information on the 3DS system (Especially the Star Fox 64 remake that is coming out for it since I’m a loyal Star Fox fan and it would be nice to see more information surface). But hey, maybe next time.
I have gotten so sick of people claiming that The Lion King is “the Holy Grail of all 2-D animation that’s better then everything else” and think of it as a good film. It is not. Heck, The Lion King is not even the highest-grossing film of 1994, and so far it has the worst characters and stereotypes that I have ever seen in animation. The hyena trio are the absolute worst because they resemble peers and they are nothing like the real animal they’re supposed to be based on, and their personalities suck anyway. Oh, and Scar is the most overrated villain of all time. I don’t believe why such a film would do so well in the box office and become beloved and glorified by many. It is repulsing. People say so many negative things about other animated feature films (especially the Non-Disney variety) because of their endless worship of The Lion King. Why can’t other films beat The Lion King for a change? After all, it did rip off Kimba the White Lion, an old 1960s anime for those who don’t know, and I thought Kimba was better and more interesting then The Lion King will ever be.
Kingdom Hearts is not a great game, people. It still gets negative criticism from reviewers despite what it’s fanbase thinks. There are many other RPGs in the world to choose from and are far better then this Disney piece of garbage will ever be. On another note, this is something I am dying to tell everyone who is confused on who owns who: Disney owns the original characters in the game (i.e. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Organization XIII, et cetera). It was part of the contract between Disney and Square-Enix (who was known as Squaresoft at the time). The only characters in the game that Square-Enix owns are the Final Fantasy guest stars. Square-Enix develops Disney’s Kingdom Hearts the same way Rare develops Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country and Nintendo’s Star Fox Adventures: They do not own the original characters, they just designed them.
I’m a huge anime fan because anime shows more variety and is aimed at different age groups, demographics and genres. Unlike Disney which are nothing but the same old cliches or tropes all the time (And together, they lived happily ever after *barf*) and they forget to choose an age group for their films because sometimes their what-they-supposed-to-be-family-friendly films can be frightening to small children even if they’re G or PG. At least we don’t have to worry about that with anime because there is always either a warning sign on the package or that the anime’s genre or demographic says it all (Some anime even get censored a bit for their western releases). In anime there is action, adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, horror, science fiction, mecha, post-apocalyptic, and many more genres and a lot more interesting things. The problem with Disney is that they’re not as diverse or varied as anime. Not to mention the fact that most anime are far more detailed in animation and character design.
@hook131
Who cares if you like that grossly-overrated game. I am good at ignoring what I don’t like, but if something is way too popular and well-known for people to ignore it, then I will have to voice my views away.
@Shadzter
It’s good that you folks are not in trouble, now that you know how to keep that from happening again. Copyright is a very important thing to respect by the way, because if someone violates copyright then he/she will either get a cease-and-desist letter or end up in jail. We don’t want that to happen, right? The best thing to do is to obey the law and respect copyrights, and if you do then nothing bad will happen.
@ Vulpine
Why do you write a wall of text about Disney and Kingdom Hearts on a Sonic fansite?
It’s called opinion, you should learn to respect it.
@Eggman123
You asked a question because you didn’t read my previous comments on this post. I know this is a Sonic fansite, but I had to get my views across.
@ Vulpine:
Why?
I read your post and to me, it seems you just really hate Disney and KH.
Nothing wrong with that, but I still don’t get why you post it frequently here.
This is a Sonic fansite, nobody here comes here to talk about Disney or anything related to it.
Again I respect your opinion on these things, but if you want to voice your opinion so badly, then go into a Disney site, or even better on a Anti-Disney site.
I don’t want to start a fight though, I’m just wondering.
@Eggman123
Yes, I really don’t like those things. Stop bugging me. We don’t need any more flame wars or arguments around here. Just enjoy this site.
I have a feeling that more updates might be coming on September 9th. The first Anniversary when they first announced Project Needlemouse.
@ Vulpine
I’ll make this brief as it is clear that straying from the topic too often is a good way to become a figure of dislike.
Mickey is indeed not from the video game spectrum but that has little to do with how Epic Mickey will play. Sonic himself has veered off into other spectrums such as cartoons, comics, music etc and had varied levels of sucess so why can’t other characters do the same? This is a Sonic site but it’s defiently not a Sonic world. Batman: Arkham Asylem was a great new release on a character who originated from comics so the cross over dynamic between forms of entertainment is a pretty pointless argument.
Lion King defienetly has spurred a controvsy over it’s simmilarites with the anime Kimba the White Lion but regardless Lion King was still fantastic. I can’t say a lot about the latter as I haven’t seen it which I may rectify in the future. I still don’t get why you are so angry over the matter to the point of concentrated hostility.
I like anime, perhaps more so than western cartoons but to suggest it is more diverse than Western cartoons is a bit of a messy debate. There are indeed a lot of genres that anime adheres itself to; comedy, romance, adventure, sci-fi etc but have you considered that these genres are plenty available in the West? Just because Disney assossiates itself with a handful of genres don’t think other Western animation studios don’t. Maybe you could actually look up some western cartoons that actually adhere to your taste instead of sticking exclusivly to anime?
I’m tired of having to reply so I might just end it here. I’ll be back in the Sonic type post replies now.
Okay I finally picked up a copy and read the article and so far I’m impressed especially with rehashed bosses Splash Hill is the rehashed Green Hill and Mad Gear is the rehashed Metropolis. How ever there is something that just quite disturbs me.
Nintendo Power wrote: “The boss fight is also an homage to classic Sonic; you must chase Robotnik through a watery, trap-laden maze before giving the villain a proper whuppin’.”
Now I don’t mind some throwback to the classic Sonic games, but why, oh why, must they bring that back! That was an epic P.I.T.A in the original Labyrinth. Out of all the throwbacks why couldn’t come up with something original for Lost Labyrinth? It sucks that I don’t have any good programming skills, cause if I did then I would come up with something original. If they really wanted a throwback they could have done something similar to Tidal Tempest, at least that little chase scene wasn’t as bad as Labyrinth.
@Vulpine Well I guess to each their own I hope you understand that while you may not like a game starring Mickey Mouse that some people like Me are actually looking forward to it, I respect you’re opinion if you respect mine, though its funny you should mention a relationship between Sega and Disney because back during Sonic’s golden age on the Genesis Sega actually did make some Disney games starring Mickey Mouse for Disney on the Genesis/Megadrive Game Gear/Master System which were Land of Illusion, Castle of Illusion, and My favorite one World of Illusion and they were actually pretty good. Anyways I’m looking forward to both Sonic 4 and Epic Mickey, though like I said I respect your opinion if you respect mine.