9th February 2010, 12:26 AM
Yes, that "Project Needlemouse" thing was revealed not long ago. It's episodic and download-only, for PSN, XBLA, WiiWare, and one unrevealed platform. The official site has the short reveal trailer:
http://www.sega.com/sonic4/us/index.html
Just a couple seconds of gameplay there, but it looks okay... definitely could be good. We'll see how long it is, though, considering that it's episodic, and how well it stands up to the Genesis games... they've made some attempts at 2d Sonic since then, such as Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush, etc, but while they've often been okay, they don't quite match the originals. What kind of levels will these games have, design-wise? We'll see...
Sega does have an interesting problem with Sonic games. On the one hand, many young kids like the modern Sonic games and don't mind the friends or that the games are mostly mediocre now. On the other hand, the longtime fans mostly hate the direction that the series has gone in, but considering that kids make up a big chunk of the Sonic audience, would aiming a game just at the hardcore make any sense? Probably not. This is obviously the compromise then, something trying to reach back to the originals, but clearly not on with the same kind of budget as the major Sonic titles. And while there have been a bunch of handheld Sonic games on handhelds over the past decade, there haven't been any on major consoles unless you count that Wii game... which is okay I guess, haven't played it. But anyway, check out the site, the game looks like it could be good.
http://www.sega.com/sonic4/us/index.html
Just a couple seconds of gameplay there, but it looks okay... definitely could be good. We'll see how long it is, though, considering that it's episodic, and how well it stands up to the Genesis games... they've made some attempts at 2d Sonic since then, such as Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush, etc, but while they've often been okay, they don't quite match the originals. What kind of levels will these games have, design-wise? We'll see...
Sega does have an interesting problem with Sonic games. On the one hand, many young kids like the modern Sonic games and don't mind the friends or that the games are mostly mediocre now. On the other hand, the longtime fans mostly hate the direction that the series has gone in, but considering that kids make up a big chunk of the Sonic audience, would aiming a game just at the hardcore make any sense? Probably not. This is obviously the compromise then, something trying to reach back to the originals, but clearly not on with the same kind of budget as the major Sonic titles. And while there have been a bunch of handheld Sonic games on handhelds over the past decade, there haven't been any on major consoles unless you count that Wii game... which is okay I guess, haven't played it. But anyway, check out the site, the game looks like it could be good.
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