As stated yesterday, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 has been officially announced today over at GameSpot with a teaser trailer that reveals a new playable character. Unexpected though, an interview with Ken Balough came with it revealing more details about this episode. Balough says SEGA has listened to fan feedback from Episode 1 and in response they have added a new graphics engine, a new physics engine and fixed the uncurling.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 will be released in 2012 on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Nework, iOS, Windows Phone 7 and Android devices. Yes, it doesn’t appear to be coming to any Nintendo platforms, unfortunately.
Source: GameSpot
UPDATE: Thanks to SSMB member Woun, we have a YouTube version of the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN510TrBdwU&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
WOO! and first. š
Honestly i think the trailer is kinda lame, no gameplay preview :<
Owell. happy to hear bout the physics engine changes.
that’s why it’s called a TEASER TRAILER in the 1st place
Also people said that about Episode one’s reveal.
It’s just that.
This is the most teaser I’ve ever seen in a trailer. Even Episode 1 had a second of actual gameplay. As much as I’d like to see improvements made to the graphics and physics if they’re too different episode 1 & 2 are in danger of not looking like part of the same game. That is unless they can go back and put some of the new stuff in Episode 1. Playable Tails is nice, I just hope he follows you when you play as Sonic and a second player can fly with you like Sonic 3!
“This is the most teaser Iāve ever seen in a trailer. Even Episode 1 had a second of actual gameplay.”
I think you’ve forgotten about Episode 1’s initial teaser trailer. Ken did say yesterday that Episode 2’s going to pretty much follow the same advertising campaign.
Thatā¦
Epicā¦
BEARD!!!!!
Episode tails? What’s this episode tails all about? jk
New graphical engine? Sonic 4 Ep2 is going to be REALLY different from episode 1 from the sounds of things.
haha , i thought for a second when you said episode Tails it would be a Tails ONLY game but i checked the teaser again just to make sure it said the return of a sidekick , very funny though .
Back to subject , i think SEGA well actully pull this one right you know after Sonic Generations being the best Sonic game in what, Five years ?? damn i’m still enjoying the game since it’s release hope SEGA keep this formula up and bring back Sonic to his glory. š
Best Sonic game since 5 years…5 years ago was 2006….did any other games come out other than StH06 that year????!!!!
I meant enjoying Sonic Generations not Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 sorry for not pointing at Sonic Generations when i said what i said š
@Nickyy Sonic Riders came out in 2006 as well.
No Steam? FUUU, now I’ll have to play it with HORRIBLE touch controls again…
Sounds like a way better game though.
They made Sonic CD work really well on the ios/android. Let’s just hope that they will make the controls in episode 2 as solid. Sonic CD was the best Sonic game I have played all year btw. It was so fun!
Generations kinda dissapointed me though. I think my expectations were way to high which may have ruined it :<
OMG this was so cool! Tails is my favorite character and I thought they would take a time to announce him. But I’m very curious about this new graphical style. Hope it’s not like Gnerations classic stages like a lot of fans say it should be, because those are too much 3D-like in my opinion, and it should look more 2D, like the genesis games’ style. But let’s see. It looks like will be svery fun anyway.
Funny you should say that since the Genesis sprites attempted to look as 3D as possible. I believe Sonic 4 is meant to look retro but not outdated.
i hope they dont get rid of the modern look idk i just like modern better then classic
P.S. Did anyone notice that Tails Tails are more shaped like Classic Tails from Generations?!
Their tails are shaped the same, due to still being a Modern game. They’ve been that way since Heroes.
They also had a different shape for SA1 and for SA2 of course.
You probably think it looks different because they’re mimmicking the Tails ICON he uses on his planes and in his workshop.
if you found it on the sonic stadium facebook page, that was posted by me.
So.. What your saying is that Your Sam Simpson? Thats funny, because I’m Sam Simpson.
nope. i posted the link on facebook and someone might of found it and posted it on here
I went on GameSpot myself to check to see if it had been posted and found it there. If I’d have found it through someone pointing it out, I’d have credited them like I normally do š
And here I was hoping for knuckles as well… š
That’s what episode 3 might be for š
No Nintendo release? Come on SEGA, try and sell this game…
Anyway, new physics and graphics engine sound good, really disappointed no 3DS release though. Maybe Wii U potential?
Yeah, they’re still releasing Episode 1 on more platforms, so I’d expect them to release it on Wii U once that console’s out and Nintendo are ready to talk about their online stuff for Wii U. It might be that they just can’t announce it for Wii U yet because Nintendo’s not announced anything for the console’s online features yet.
Probably for the best because
A) They have to work around the strict download limit
B) I’m sure no one wants to pay 1500 point again.
I’d rather pay 1500 points than not have it though
I figure a Wii U release is likely though, SEGA and Nintendo are good friends now and it would make a great download title to launch the console with. There’s potential there for it being a launch game, what with neither of them having release dates
Yeah that’s possible, or even a eShop release if they add a lick of 3D paint, but I just feel they would restrict themselves if they tried to get it onto Wiiware, that has a file limit of 50MB or something. :/
Well if Nintendo managed to release something as graphically powerful (and just downright fun) as Pushmo, then I’m sure the eShop could handle something like Sonic 4 Ep. 2 (heck, even Ep. 1 on there would be great). š
Odd, I was under the impression that all the games would eventually merge together like Sonic 3 & Knuckles…
Oh wells, I’m liking the idea of using combo attacks!
Is Amy is gonna appear in Episode 2?
About damn time Tails was playable again! We’ve had too many games with just Sonic recently.
Well that was what fans were complaining about at one time, no one wants to play as his friends. When they tossed that out, it seemed like everyone realized what they lost.
Yeah… I think the problem is that there are too many sides to the fanbase. You please one side, you upset the other.
Can’t wait for 2012!!!!!!!!:D Lets just hope that the world doesn’t end before that……
No 2012 doomsday isn’t real, it’s not gonna end of the world, geez. We’re gonna be okay.
What is that beard
erm… don’t you know? yellow with white on top? it’s a hint for a character to appear in the game
I think he meant, mother of god what is that beard
Ken Balough is the new Epic Beard Man.
If this were Facebook, I would like this comment. :’D
It should be on Wii š
sooooo excited I need to take some meds to clam down!!
but seriously credit to Sega for taking the time to listen to the fans’ feedback. It would have been so easy to just ignore us because lets face it even if Ep2 was just a complete rehash it would still be a commercial success. This might be a stretch too far but I think there is no need for the homing attack in 2D, its cheap and it can also result in poor level design. I’d rather reach a higher path by platforming than a homing attack chain.
You guys dont think this will be released inOCT/NOV next year do you? maybe summer perhaps?
Im happy with the teaser, after episode 1 i was like if they fix the physics and a few flaws and add metal sonic and Tails as a playable character then ill be happy and it seems segas doing just that ^^
New graphics engine? New physics engine? so it’ll be nothing like the first episode. lol.
Sounds like they just took the retro engine: It’s got the same platforms as Sonic CD.
Why can’t I find the trailer on gamespot? :O
I wouldn’t be too bothered by the lack of content in the teaser trailer but there was so many announcements and hints just for this. Loads of build up and no pay off, don’t get me wrong I’m looking forward to the game but even the episode 1 teaser trailer was better than this and that was crap.
I’m hoping it’ll play like generations with all these new changes.
GUYS! ITS GONNA BE REVEALED IN FULL NEXT WEEK! I JUST KNOW IT DUE TO GENERATIONS BEING TEASED AND THEN REVEALED IN FULL THE WEEK AFTER!
Generations was revealed on April 7. Generations gameplay trailer was released on the 17th. So, I think you mean 10 days?
Ken said that this is going to be done the same way the Ep. 1 campaign was. You should go look at when the teaser and then the first gameplay trailer were launched for Ep. 1 to get an idea.
That means we should next probably see a weird contest thingy with artwork or something right?
Alright, that already confirms that the episodes aren’t “lock-on” compatible if it’s using the different graphic engines and such. Awesome to hear that the uncurling off a hill and the anti gravity sneakers are gone. Hooray for momentum! Now lets see how the rest of this plays out…
I was disappointed by that, I thought they’d be able to be played in sequence, but it kind of makes sense. If you’ve collected all the Chaos emeralds there’d be no challenge in future episodes.
Ah well, so long as it plays, I’ll be happy.
I don’t know. Knuckles can be playable in Sonic 2, and Sonic 1 is playable in Generations. Mega Collection and Gems Collection has multiple games of different types.
Might not be the same concept, but even with their differences I don’t see why they can’t be connected SOMEHOW. It’s the same idea only difference is rather than selecting ep 1 or 2 seperately in the copy that has them both, it just continues from 1 to 2 and in 2 the graphics and physics will be different. Unless you mean Tails playable in ep 1 stages but otherwise it’s possible , just unlikely.
I have a feeling Knuckle’s may be saved for Episode 3, if it is enjoyed by enough fan’s and they know we want a continuation that is.
Oh… Wait… But then again we never got a third Sonic Adventure… Ah well…
Que sera’ sera’…. What will be will be… (Miyazaki Film)
No Wii as of yet? Kind of a weird way to go.. Its like having Star Wars on DVD and Empire Strikes back on Blu-Ray.
tIm afraid since the Wii U is coming, there might not be a Wii release at all mate.
Well look at that Metal Sonic headshot. Looks sweet.
Otherwise, same old teaser as the Sonic 4 Episode 1 one.
Anyway, I’m not giving up for a WiiWare version, I mean, didn’t Episode 1 get announced for Wii on a later date?
Thanks Shadz.
Uh… Looking back at the first Episode 1 teaser, the WiiWare logo was there.
…
But I still think that they’ll announce it for the Wii on a later time. I mean, Generations didn’t have a PC release date at first, and now look, it’s on Steam.
I’m not giving up.
SEGA probably doesn’t want to make a downgraded graphics game, again. It will most likely be for Wii U.
I expect this game to come out late 2012 (sorry for being mean, but people please shut up about the world ending. Remember when the myans said that computers were going to explode in like 2000? They are full of crap. Now they say the world will end in 2012 JUST BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT OF SPACE FOR THEIR MYAN CALENDAR -_-)
Hey, if it does, I say damn good way to end it Sonic Team!
“Turns on console and fights Robotnik’s fat ass one last time”
Saianora, Sonic… The Hedgehog. Thanks for the best 20 year’s of my life.
“Will be 20 in February”
Saionara Sonic The Hedgehog.
i c wut u did thar.
And let me do a slowclap for the reference.
I would rather play this game on the Wii, but I realize WiiWare’s 40MB limitation was going to be restricting. I would not mind playing this on my ipad if I could use a wireless keyboard as opposed to the touch buttons (I hate touch buttons, they never work as well as real buttons).
I’d rather have a downgraded game than never play it.
NO WII RELEASE???
(fanboy rage followed by 20 minutes of crying)
*Chip voice on* Hey don’t cry! Ice cream! How about more of this super tasty stuff? *Chip voice off* I felt the same way when Colours where annouced for Wii and Ds only…. but I still think thats a bit unfair for all Wii owners. After all they missed Generations (save for the ones with powerfull computers).
Hmā¦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 āfixā these problems in episode 1 because that would be great. Also a file to make Tails playable in episode 1?
Iām thinking they could do sonic 3 and Knuckles where sounds, knuckles’ colour, level paths and bonus stages all change slightly from Angel Island onwards when you put the two games together.
On a seperate matter ā I’m not bothered with the modern look if it stays. In my mind, it has always been a case of since becoming āHyper Sonicā in S3&K and exposure to the Master Emeralds, Sonic enherited some emerald power and āchangedā to his taller, thinner, and modern form ā AND it also accounts for the Green eyes too!!
Well, at least I can say they knew what exactly people were not pleased with in Episode I.
Does it mean it’ll pan out? I dunno. But at least they paid attention. Of course, given the propensity for Sega to completely misconstrue fan feedback and either take it too far or in a direction no one wanted, maybe this is a matter of wait-and-see.
I personally would have rather played it on Wii, but I do have iDevices I can play it on. The only problem with iDevices is the touch buttons which I found to be hard to work with (I’ve tried them with Sonic 2 and Sonic 4 on the iPad, and I have not gotten used to them at all). Since they are not bringing it to the Wii, I hope Sega and Sonic Team do consider the Nintendo 3DS or Steam, and port it to one of those platforms., or just allow us to use a wireless bluetooth keyboard on iDevices (like iPad, because these devices do support the connection and use of bluetooth keyboard).
I am glad they didn’t put it on Wii. Sonic 4 Episode 1 sucked because of that. They had to make it so short and the graphics had to be downgraded due to the Wii storage limit problems. Screw the Wii and suck the Wii U is what I say.
Sony and Microsoft do what Ninten-DON’T.
…I said that here already didn’t I…? Oh well, it’s the truth. Anyone got a hand to raise in agreement?
coughcolorscough
Oh man, bad cold going around, huh?
Woohoo! Sonic 4: Episode II with new physics and graphics along with Tails! YEAUH! But I feel bad for anybody who was hoping to get a Wii version… really… I hope that Tails can go super…
If they don’t include Wii then I might as well delete Ep. 1
Which would be a waste of money. I don’t think you’ve thought that plan through well.
I love Jun Senoue but his Ep. 1 soundtrack was a little weak. It would be nice if Howard Drossin returned or if Cash Cash made the soundtrack.
No. There’s nothing weak about that soundtrack at all. You’re just comparing it to the music we got from titles like Sonic Colours, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations.
Super Sonic’s theme was beast. Beast beast beast.
Yes. Sonic 4 Episode 1 had a terrible soundtrack. I admit Splash Hill Zone’s 1 and 3 were good and so was the final zone’s act 3 but other than that, bad. Plus the music in each stage was FAR too short and looped FAR too quickly. A real annoying irritation of a composition. Playing the final zone where you had to do the boss attack all the way up to the final boss was SO annoying because every 5 seconds or so the boss music looped… And looped… And looped… I really hope each stage has far longer music so we don’t have the looping issue this time.
And Super Sonic’s theme in Episode 1 was horrible. It sounded better in Sonic Generations but in Episode 1 it flat out SUCKED. I would have prefered the invincible theme compared to the last minute tune they changed it to…
Tomoya Ohtani might be good too.
Hopefully they mean it when they say a lot of changes…
And no Nintendo platforms? Weird…
Sonic Team has realised that Microsoft and Sony does what Ninten-DON’T with there systems.
Between this and Colors and Generations, I’m thrilled at how much Sega has been listening to its fans compared to earlier times. Can’t wait to see how the new graphics and physics look!
Part of me hopes that they spend some time focusing on the downloadable titles and take a year off from bigger titles. That way maybe in 2013 we could get a really well-designed Sonic product, but have Sonic 4 to tide us over while they take more time to work on it.
Really hoping it comes out on the regular wii.
More platforms? I went you went back a few. Just saying
More platforms, eh? Where’s my freakin’ PC version?!?!?
Reworking the physics engine? Does this mean that they’ll be incorporating Chris Whitehead’s engine?
It’s incredible that a potential fangame achieved a better Sonic engine than Sega’s own attempts at it (Sonic CD vs Sonic4Ep1). Imo it would make a much better Sonic game overall to just drop the buggy S4 engine.
Ken said in a fan interview back in august when he was at PAX 2011 for the re-release of Sonic CD, that they MIGHT be using SOME references to Whitehead’s engine. But not the entire engine.
No fucking Wii?
No fucking way.
Give me WiiU or give me death.
Have fun dying. I think slowly Sonic Team is leaving Nintendo…
looks cool! š
Sounds promesing but i still want to see gameplay to be sure that they fixed the physics and graphics.
Now that there on episode 2 there is some things i hope they do besides fixing the physics and graphics:
1. Ad new levels and bosses(No re-hashing)
2. Have music that sounds like the music from sonic 3 and knuckles.
3. ad a classic sonic and classic tails skin.
4. Have a sprite mode.
5. Have a , take away the homing attack, mode
6. The abbility to play as metal sonic and Eggman( Would be awsome but will probably not happen)
7. A good story thats not a re-hash of any other sonic story
8. More levels than episode 1
IĀ“m pretty sure pepole goona say iĀ“m asking for to much and segaĀ“s already working hard as it is but if this really is trying to be sonic 4 i think it should be better than the games before it and have more features!
Perhaps the model of Sonic will see a more… Historic look to it this time around. A molding of classic’s model with modern’s model. After all Iizuka ow however you spell it DID say a new modern style would be coming. I won’t mind if it’s Episode 1’s model too much I guess as long as they work on the coloring and remove that weird blue dash line… Thing… And fix those fan pleasing, I mean attempting… Gimicks… Effects are nice but this isn’t a Star War’s game SEGA. Sonic isn’t a blue light saber… Less effects and more gameplay. I say space out ramps and such. Episode 1 was WAY too cluttered and bunched together and gave you NO room to just run. ALWAYS jumping, hitting dash panels, ramps, jumps again… More dash panels… Ugh… Platforming is good but Episode 1 was a bunched up nightmare… And no BETA looking backgrounds this time. Like especially in Splash Hill. That background didn’t look even half way complete. Music… I liked. No complaints about that. So fix the backgrounds, fix the controls, more stages and NO including special stages as levels… Yeah. Sounds good to me.
Would be fun playing as Tails again. I hope the level designs are epic.
Just completed Sonic CD as Sonic. Got 122 lives (without cheating) a record for me. Some funny glitches where I got the bad future on Wacky Workbench Zone 3 and Metalic Madness Zones 3, but I had already got all 7 time stones so should have got the good futures. Also on Stardust Speedway Zone 3 which was the good future, it started off with the good future music, then when I raced Metal Sonic it played the bad future music. Once the race was over the good music started playing again. Weird.
Yeah, yeah… Deffinitely epic fight xD
YES! new physics engine!
Wouldn’t it be sweet of Episode 2 had lock on technology so you could use all the features from 2 and pay them in episode 1? I’m sorry but I would rather have the option of playing as metal sonic than tails.
@Fluttersoard
I said that same thing on Tssz…
I’m actually not that excited. They’d have to really convince me to get me excited. Considering they gave classic sonic good physics in generations, I’m not that scared. I mean seriously, I felt like I was playing the original sonic’s in the 3ds version
Hey SonicStadium staff! Check this out! If you ever followed Sonic 2 HD, here is it’s sequel being worked on!
http://www.sonic3hd.com
Oh good, it only took 5-6 years for Tails to become playable again. Now let’s try not to ruin it this time by shoving an overabundance of characters down our throats.
That said, I’m still waiting for the Steam announcement. Given the presence of Episode 1 and Sonic CD on the Steam registry and the recent release of Sonic Generations, it is simply a matter of time for Episode 2 to be released on Steam. As if my wallet hasn’t been handed over to Gabe Newell enough times, especially with all the sales going on.
Also, if Nintendo Wii is left out, it is probably because of Nintendo’s ridiculous 50MB file size limit for Wiiware downloads. Brilliant idea Nintendo, punish developers trying to distribute their games digitally by imposing such heinous limitations. Maybe they’ll learn their lesson with WiiU?
@jeb the hedgefox dude why do you think tails is going to go super…. sonic is the only character who has gone super in like since sonic 3 and knuckles. what makes you think they will do it now?
Lol, his face. The entire time I couldn’t stop looking at his face and the funky action going on with them XD
I don’t have Episode 1, but I did watch two LPs and a review of it. Sonic certainly was SpiderHog. It’s good that they fixed it.
Is this the next best thing? …Hard to say. As someone who was a little disappointed with Generations (great game, yes, but…Short. Painfully short. I enjoyed Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow, and Unleashed because they were longer and had story. ‘Course, Shadow mucked the story up a little bit, but I still enjoyed it XD), I’m cautious.
Although I think I just might be losing interest…I know what I want, though. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen, however XD
Still, it’s good to see things going so well for Sonic ^^
I won’t be able to play Episode 2 but IT’S ABOUT TIME Tails was playable O.o
what that on Ken Balough face? OMG O_O
EPIC
Fail
Interesting interview bits; although they didn’t address momentum in talking about the physics engine changes. When if ever are these going to make it to the PC/Steam?!?!
I think it was a really good tease actually. It confirmed many people’s thoughts and made it look interesting.