Sonic 4 is real.
Those cowering in the shadow of the Sonic Cycle will be pleased to know they’ve never been closer to escaping its grasp. Sega has announced that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 is coming to the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3, and will release in the Summer of 2010.
Sega has been promising a return to several elements found in the classic Genesis Sonic titles, like the momentum-based gameplay, or an overall lack of extra playable characters. The game is set on a 2D plane, but the graphics are still rendered in 3D (click here or peep Gamespot’s cover story for a screen).
Whoops. Probably should have hid this better, Sega.
While the spin dash will be included, it’s important to keep in mind that Sega isn’t going totally old-style with Sonic 4. They will be including a homing attack in the control scheme and motion control options on the Wii and PS3. Distribution will also be handled in a modern way, as the game will be a downloadable release. Also notable is the fact that it’s subtitled “Episode 1″, meaning at least one sequel is all-but-confirmed.
Interestingly enough, the internet sleuths at Neogaf uncovered several locked assets hidden on the game’s official site, like the fact that the game is coming to the iPhone, and that the release date is planned to be July 2010. Keep in mind neither have been officially announced (nor have any of the other discovered elements), but the picture to the left did come from the official site.
Sega has been dropping a trail of breadcrumbs leading up to Sonic 4′s announcement on their informational blog for several weeks now, and its through this that they have demonstrated their fingers are on the pulse of what elements old-school Sonic fans have been missing in the series’ recent entries. Things are looking decent enough so far, but always be wary of the Sonic Cycle until the final product is in your hands.
