One night i had an urge to play sonic.. I don't have a sega system and like yeah i turned on my 360 that recently came back from the 360 repair factory red lights ftl.. And decided to use my xbox live points to buy this game..

Sonic Episode 1 is priced at $15.00 Upon downloading i thought this was a tad on the pricey side considering you can get 1,2 and 3 for the same price.. The dowload was fast considering my slow internet connection.. I started it up and it was instant nostaliga seeing sonic zoom across the screen with the ever so familar sega.The title screen even had hints of Sonic 1 from the Genesis era. And to be frank i was pumped to play this game..

Sonic Episode 1 Graphics are Stunning Its amazing to see how several years of more powerful systems can render the 2d sonic universe... Control wise its simple theres the new hoaming attack that kind of zooms you to close targets if you please.While In theory it sounds great and would make you zoom through a stage faster which it sometimes does many of the baddies now have protection so as shock balls etc.. Making you time your attack or just run past them. While im sure some of the retro sonic fans dislike it I have to say i liked this new attack..When used with huge gaps you could hit one mob an if you see another one zoom over to him an continue the chain across large gaps etc it was a nice change of pace when going through loops etc.. I realized shortly though I had a love hate relationship going on.. Some of the levels were amazing and done so well while others seemed half ass.. I blame this on sega. and my 360 controller.. During times when I needed to make precise jumps the Anlog stick wasnt able to do the precise jumps i wanted.. The dpad wasn't much better But it worked for overcoming this.. Theres some great eye candy in the levels such as flipping cards as you run past them in the casino levels.. And using the hoaming attack to hit a stack of cards to send them flying and run across the screen on a kinda magic card ride.. Theres times u have to ride gears balancing sonic to make sure he gets across the pit.. Theres chase scenes as well where stuff is following you etc... Most of the time its great occasionally you will get a wtf type of moment where you have to stop an really explore to find a way to keep going this happens more then once an ruins the sonic experince for me.. When i think sonic i think fast...I seriously had a hell of a time with the candle puzzle.. Dont wanna ruin it though for people that havent played yet.. I have to say the levels that have these awkard moments are the ones I usually ran out of time on.. The boss battles are pretty much simple.. Theres a little bit of look for the type patterns an exploit them but the bosses are simple.. plain an simple.. The ending actually has you kill all the bosses you killed on your way there which was kinda lame.And then finally kill the end boss..Theres also ways to upload your times via xbox live.. I somehow dont think some of the scores are legit upon looking the guy had a score that blew mine away fine and dandy but when i checked his gamertag he didnt even start playing the game:/ Perhaps I'm missing something who knows its not a big feature as my scores arent worth posting:P

Final Thoughts..

Sonic 4 Is a great start to what i assume is going to be an episodic thing. However I really wish Sega would just take the time and make a full 2d Game that comes on a dvd. I haven't had this much fun with a sonic game since Sonic Adventure for the dreamcast. But at 15 bucks this game is priced way too much For what it offers..Another thing that makes me pissy is the music.. Its not horrid but its not something I'm going to remember in 16 years.. The boss theme is an absolute disgrace compared to Sonic 2 an 3's ... If your a sonic fan that wasnt born when the genesis was around you will most likely love this game.. Lets face facts though.. I like many grew up with sonic The Sega Genesis and was in the 16 bit generation perhaps the greatest gen ever.. I overhyped this sucker based on nostalgia of my childhood and growing up sitting on friends couches playing there Genesis's while they begged me to go to my house to play my Super Nintendo..

The sad realization is as much as Sega tries to make an upgraded 2d sonic.. I will always prefer the ones i grew up with as the more superior ones regardless of the fancy graphics etc..I will most likely never be fully satisfied and i think that I have that right:) Really its not that horrid though just overpiced for what you get:)