PAX East 2012: Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II Hands-on preview

Looming around the corner, catching the emerald glint of his eyes was the iconic blue rodent captured in his stoic glory. Behind him laid the alpha demo of Sega’s latest effort to recapture Sonic’s fame in the sequel to the intended throwback, Sonic The Hedgehog 4. The new Episode II has its work laid for Sonic, but Sega promises yet again that this is the answer to all of Blue Blur’s woes, and they may just be right this time.

One of the glaring flaws plaguing Episode I was the shoddy performance behind its physics engine. Running at full speeds, a mere jump without any applied pressure on the d-pad to press forward brought Sonic to a screeching halt, and completely destroyed any sense of natural momentum. Furthermore, picking up speed against the incline of a slope in your walking stride would literally have you stuck within an endless moonwalk-like animation, and those are just a few examples.

Episode II completely eliminates all of those previous issues, truly feeling familiar through the small nuances like the proper weight of gravity to Sonic’s jump, or the velocity bounce off of a vert-ramp. The accomplishments don’t stop there -- these familiar physics accommodate the stage design in this eloquent fashion of building upon an assumed fluency of the player ‘s Genesis roots, while remaining completely accessible to new quirks potentially refreshing to everyone, including new and returning players.

Two-player cooperative play makes a return, with Tails being added to the game and the accessibility of how you approach your play with a buddy will appeal to veterans and rookies. Players can either play through the traditional method of having Tails playable on screen with Sonic until the camera pans out too far for tails to catch up (resulting in the A.I. flying Tails back to the action), or they can now rock split screen to create a brand new sense of independence that immerses the second player. Tails will also provide the ability for team moves that he can perform with Sonic when they’re in close range of each other. The moves include the obvious airlift (referenced from Sonic 3), or the two-tailed fox can grab your arms and legs to initiate a makeshift animal roll cage, annihilating nearly everything in its path. Whether you’re playing with a body or not, you’ll still have access to these actions in single player.

Both available levels took place in a different act. Between Sylvania Castle Zone and White Park Zone, the stages definitely had a personality that applied a wide variety of reminiscent gimmicks, like zipping against a cog wheel with your spin dash to open a path; this complimented your journey without ever feeling shallow in its execution, and further reassured that this isn’t another lazy attempt to emulate the classic Sonic experience.

New elements of stage design are also incorporated to facilitate the return of cooperative play. There are sections of aerial obstacles that can only be navigated skillfully through being airlifted and help break up the constant break neck speed without taking away from the game’s fun. The last addition is another unique homage to Sonic’s history, Players who own Episode I and purchase Episode II on the same console will unlock a hidden scenario where Metal Sonic is playable and your play through reword versions of Episode I’s stages in order to work your way up to confront the furry heroes traveling through the worlds of Episode II.

Even with so little to go on, the fine touches and corrections may finally deliver real potential which transcends above any hype or notoriety to Sonic. Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II will be available on several platforms. Catch it on Xbox Live, WiiWare, Android, iOS, and the PlayStation Network where it’ll launch first on slated May 16^th.