episode 1 Archive

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E3 2010 Preview: Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on June 29, 2010Posted in: Video Games

Sonic the Hedgehog’s gone through a rough time since the glory days of the Sega Genesis. We’ve been given so many unfulfilled promises of “This is the return to the Sonic you know and love!” each year that the announcement of a new Sonic game is akin to an announcement that there’ll be a new Madden game out in the fall.

Well, after having checked out Sonic 4: Ep 1 at E3 this year, I’m gonna go ahead and say this is the return of the Sonic you know and love!

All joking aside, if there were a game for that cliche to actually hold, it would be Sonic 4. The developer I sat down with reiterated that they tried to keep the feel of the old Genesis-era Sonic titles and that if you were to put this game in the timeline, it would fit in right after Sonic and Knuckles. (yes, the one with the crazy add-on cartridge) Since that’s the last time I remember having actual fun with a Sonic title, I’m gonna go ahead and say that’s a good start.

The game certainly plays as such and is a fairly delightful (if not entirely familiar) romp down memory line. I can say the game looks sharp on the iPhone and will probably look better on the iPhone 4. It’d probably be my platform of choice as it’s a great game to play on the go in bursts. The tilt controls were pretty awkward and difficult, though. You can check out the video walkthrough further down for a better idea on how the game looks.

An interesting thing you may notice about the game is the ominous “Episode 1” subtitle attached. Sega promises 16 levels in EP1 with more episodes to follow after. Now, I’m not so sure why a platform game that’s light on story needs the episodic title treatment. One reason might be to release new level packs soon after, but my efforts to narrow down the timeframe for new episodes were unsuccessful. The best I got was tentative agreement that they would come out faster than Half-Life 2 Episodes. I think we can all agree that’s not saying much.

Regardless, if you’re in the mood for a nostalgic 2D platformer, this game should excite you. Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will be released on the iPhone, XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare “later this year and priced competitively.”

Developer Gameplay Walkthrough:

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Postgame: Sam and Max Season 3 Episode 1: The Penal Zone iPad

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on May 3, 2010Posted in: Features, Reviews, Video Games

Postgame is a new experimental segment on the blog where I give my thoughts on a recently finished game. It’s not as comprehensive as a review, but not as brief as a tweet.

Sam and Max Visit The Alien Brain

Playing Sam and Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone on the iPad was like dating a gorgeous, funny woman who was prone to random crazy breakdowns. You put up with the crazy stuff because you love the highs and try to ignore the lows. The Penal Zone has gorgeous graphics and fully voiced characters. The game’s presentation is pretty much exactly what you would see on the PC or Xbox 360. Unfortunately, it’s pretty obvious Telltale Games didn’t have access to a preproduction iPad because the number of technical issues that plagued this title were abundant. Random crashes, freezes, sporadic long load times, and framerate slowdowns plagued my playthrough of the game.  (Coming from a PC game “save early and often” background, the crashes never set me back too far.) I’m sure they did the best that they could to make the launch date given what they had to work with, but telling the user to reboot the iPad each time he wants to play, DOS boot disk style, is almost too much to ask. On the bright side, I think Telltale knew this and that’s why the price of the game was lowered to $6.99 (from $9.99).

Max Versus Stinky

I’m going to be honest and say I have never been that great at adventure games. Inevitably I’d always end up using a walkthrough for some or most of the game. With that said, I’m proud to say I completed all of The Penal Zone without looking to the internet for help. I’d like to say it’s all due to my leet deductive reasoning skillz, but it’s mainly a credit to great game design.  There’s an excellent subtle hint system manifested through one of Max’s new psychic powers, future vision.  With it, you can see what the future of certain items/people brings.  Armed with this information, you can divine what you should do next.  It’s a great way to help dense players like me get on the right track while making them feel awesome for figuring things out own their own.  Max’s other main psychic power, teleportation, adds an almost Portal-like way to approach problems.

RAWRAHGUAHRHG

The Penal Zone is a great adventure game.  You’d be hard pressed to find a more high quality 3-4 hour experience on the iPad.  It’s just a shame the technical issues mar the otherwise awesome game.  If you have the patience to deal with some slowdowns and random crashes, it’s a recommended purchase on the iPad since it’s only $6.99.  Otherwise, I’d recommend getting it on the 360/PS3/PC/MAC platforms.  It’ll cost a bit more, but you’re paying for stability.

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