Yup. First impressions: it isn't horrible and wrong like Episode I. The graphics look right, the physics feel right, the new Tails combo things work quite well (essentially using X you can access Tails' abilities from the MD games like flying and swimming, plus a new rolling around combo that mimics Knuckles' ability to break through walls from the MD games). But it looks as though all the levels are basically rehashes again and the music stands out as being particularly horrible now they've fixed the other stuff. The boss I played was a bit overwrought, like they got overexcited about creating fancy animations. It's a huge step in the right direction but the MD games won't be losing any sleep at night over the new competition.

Sega got a lot right with the 2D sections of Sonic Generations, so I'm fairly optimistic about Episode II.

I'll be buying it this evening.

360 version it is, then.

I had a bit of free time earlier and played through the first zone.

It looks lovely! Sonic doesn't seem particularly fast though

The bonus stage is from Sonic 2... this is a good thing.

Just finished this. Overall, a bit 'meh'. The physics work fine but the graphics are just tepid in 3D now (the ice walls in the snowy theme park level look particularly shit) and the level design isn't great. The bosses are terrible, except for the final one which is surprising not-broken and reasonably designed. The Tails combo powers are just pointless and even on the final proper level the game has to signpost where you're supposed to use them. It was better when Tails' was separate and you used his powers in a second playthrough for more exploration and stuff.

Still well below par for 2D Sonic games. At the risk of sounding harsh I think they should reallocate everyone involved in this and start Sonic 5 with a new team and a completely new approach. This just isn't working and the people working on it just aren't capable of producing results.

EvilRedEye wrote:

Just finished this. Overall, a bit 'meh'. The physics work fine but the graphics are just tepid in 3D now (the ice walls in the snowy theme park level look particularly shit) and the level design isn't great. The bosses are terrible, except for the final one which is surprising not-broken and reasonably designed. The Tails combo powers are just pointless and even on the final proper level the game has to signpost where you're supposed to use them. It was better when Tails' was separate and you used his powers in a second playthrough for more exploration and stuff. Still well below par for 2D Sonic games. At the risk of sounding harsh I think they should reallocate everyone involved in this and start Sonic 5 with a new team and a completely new approach. This just isn't working and the people working on it just aren't capable of producing results.

cheers dude you just saved me some money.

Tempy wrote:

Sonic should probably just fuck off. Has any other gaming series consistently got it so wrong?

NO NO NO!!!

This is the thing! There was nothing wrong with 2D Sonic! There's been a steady stream of 2D Sonic games on portable consoles. They're fine. They get decent Metacritic ratings, people like them OK. I wouldn't say they're as good as the originals but they're more than competent. And they've been going for a long time. Sonic Advance came out in 2002, a decade ago. We've had a decade of decent 2D Sonic games. This is a case of Sega producing mediocre games against a backdrop of relative success, and at exactly the worst time, when they're adding to the beloved numbered Sonic series.

Mouldywarp wrote:

Moot_geezer, as a sucker for Sonic games as well I would recommend Sonic Generations. About half of it is awesome. The bosses suck, the structure is all wrong, 3D Sonic still doesn't work properly and some parts are just awful BUT... when it gets it right, it gets it so right you may catch yourself thinking it's the best Sonic ever (then it goes shit again and you change your mind).

Good stuff.  I enjoyed the 2D sections of Colours and didn't hate the 3D bits, so I'm looking forward to it.  It's been picked for a games night title, which means I'll co-op it with a mate, but we have to finish Renegade Ops, then probably play through Trine 2 first.

Yeah, the biggest complaint I have with generations is the overall structure. You can finish it in a few hours and miss out on the majority of it. Revealing levels in groups of 3 when there's only 9 in total means there are only 3 points in the game where you're like "oo, new levels!" I wish it had forced me to do more of the additional missions. Going back to them is still fun, but the incentive of advancing the main game would have made it more compulsive, as with star collecting in Mario.

I liked them except the ones that were broken.

I played Colours after Generations, expecting it to be maybe almost as good, but was disappointed.

The real levels don't drag on and on like the ones if Generations IIRC.

No 'Sonic Thread' so I thought I'd post these here.

Couple of new games announced:

Project Sonic - XOne, PS4, NX - Holidays 2017


Sonic Mania - XOne, PS4 - Spring 2017:

Can't be any worse than the last 18 years of Sonic games.

That's harsh. They've never managed to reach the heights of the Mega Drive games but Generations and Colors were both ok and there's been a few 2D entries on handhelds that have been decent to.

Reason for optimism I think, I'm with @Liveinadive and will wait for reviews.