Jim Sterling at Destructiod, like many people in the online community, has had it with the perpetual complaints from video game “fans”. In two of his recent articles published over the last day, he specifically singles out the current responses to Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. Jim tackles a lot of the complaints that have so far been made about Sonic 4:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — Sonic was never about speed. Sure, speed was a factor, but it was there as a gameplay reward, not a gameplay substitute. The focus was on level design, and you’d get short sections of rails-like speed as little exhilarating treats throughout the game. Go play the first three Sonic games again and try to tell me that it was about speed. Compare Sonic 3 to Sonic 4 and try to tell me that Sonic is “too slow.”

Then there are other arguments. Petitions for Sonic to be redesigned so that he looks exactly like his 16-bit counterpart. People going so far as to criticize the fact that Sonic has some color in his eyes, or that his legs are too long. Once again, this is a game people have wanted for a long time, and as soon as they get it, they start finding other things to moan about.

You can read the full article at Destructoid.

Not only this, it turns out that there are some generating petitions that involve buying Sonic 1 on Sonic 4 launch day (A very original idea, of course – see: Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No. 1 ), effectively telling SEGA they want a remake of the original rather than something new.

So, what is your opinion then? Is Jim right? Should supposed fans who don’t like what they’ve seen of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 so far shut up? Perhaps if the series is so far gone in your opinion, maybe you should stop playing the games…or as Jim puts it “Maybe just shut up about everything and try to enjoy something.”