All Stars Racing Transformed is only a little over a month away at this point. With this close to release, a number of people may be looking to retire their copy of Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing. Comparing the two is almost like comparing apples to oranges. That said it still acts as an important stepping stone that deserves an honorable mention. Before it becomes overshadowed from it’s upcoming sequel, we rattled the memories of Executive Producer at Sumo Digital Steve Lycett in an E-mail interview regarding development for Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing and what it’s sequel has benefited from their efforts.
The title of this post is literally all the information SEGA put out about this new game. It’s probably coming to iOS and Android devices and is probably similar to that other mobile phone game called Sonic Jump. Maybe it will be powered by Nvidia Tegra, I dunno. Frankly, SEGA doesn’t seem to care enough about this game to actually release any info about it and neither would I. Here’s Gangnam Style mixed with Planet Wisp instead. (Also, Why you should never look for Sonic Gangnam videos)
Later today the Retro crew are going to be hosting a Sega Heritage Collection showcase. We’ve been in contact with Ben K. as to when we can show the games off, and he was kind to let us know that we can go ahead and show off all three games as of this week.
We’ll be taking a look at Nights into Dreams, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 2. You can expect our fond recollections of all three games and an exploration of each game’s features before their release date. Well, except for Jet Set Radio, you can get that now on Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. But if you’re still on the fence about any of these titles, be sure to check out our livestream later today at 4PM. You can also check back here for a direct link to the feed as well.
It’s the release day of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, and to remind everyone of that SEGA has released a launch trailer for the game. The trailer shows just about everything not shown yet in other officially released media except for the final zone, so those wary of spoilers may want to avoid it:
The most interesting thing about the trailer is that it says “To be concluded…” near the end, hinting at what may be a third episode in the Sonic 4 saga®.
It also shows the release dates for most of the platforms the second episode releases on. It’s already been released on Steam and it will be released later today on Playstation Network. Xbox Live Arcade and Nvidia Tegra 3-powered devices will get the game tomorrow and iOS devices will get it the day after. It seems like the game won’t be available on Android devices without Nvidia Tegra until June. Windows Phone users will be able to buy it in July.
Since the unveiling of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, Sega has been extremely careful to point out how the latest installment in the “Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Saga” has improved over its predecessor, and that they have been listening. From the physics to the art style to the implementation of new ideas, it is clear that the people behind the game are trying more than they did the first go-round. Sure, you can argue for hours on end if they have been succeeding, but regardless, there is one component of the game that has, until now, been missing from public scrutiny. I am talking, of course, about the original soundtrack to the game. There’s no need to repeat the jokes hurled at Episode 1‘s final score, but people have been wondering what sort of instrumentation the next episode would contain. Would it be a repeat of Episode 1, would it be something much closer to the classic Mega Drive sound, or would it attempt to be a bit more high definition? While bits and pieces could be heard over convention noise during the last time a playable build was available to the public, YouTube channel WounChannel have upload yet another runthrough of the beginning to Sylvania Castle, this time with no ambient noise of excited cell phone enthusiasts.
There you have it, the music to Act 1 of Sylvania Castle. While it might not be the huge change some people were hoping for, at the very least it clues us in as to how the rest of the game should be sounding.
While we have had lots of camrecorded footage of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 already, we haven’t seen any clean footage longer than 2 seconds so far. However, the Official Xbox Magazine got their hands on some for their interview with the brand manager Ken Balough, who reveals even more new details on the game. Press the image that looks like an embedded video because I can’t figure out how to actually embed it below to visit the page with the actual video:
Here Ken talks a bit more about the game’s story, like how it will have an excuse for why everything in the first episode was taken from the previous games. The upcoming Sonic Super Special #3 will also contain a small comic which explains what happens between the first and second episodes. An exclusive feature for those with both the Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360 has also been announced. The versions will support cloud saving, so if you play the game on the WP7 and save it to the cloud you’ll be able to continue the game on the Xbox 360.
I don’t know what the deal is between the press and Sonic games at events. For some reason they are terrible at playing them on camera, with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 being no exception. Most videos released so far of people playing the game either have them not knowing what they’re supposed to do or falling into bottomless pits, so it’s nice to have a full playthrough of the first act of White Park Zone where the player actually knows how to play a videogame:
Last week SEGA held an event where they showcased all of their upcoming digital releases. From this came some new screenshots showing more of the game’s boss battles and a few interviews with Takashi Iizuka with quite a bit of new information on Episode 2 and Sonic’s future. All of this can be seen after the jump.
This week has been quite the interesting one for those looking forward to Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2. Without the teasing of weeks of teasing announcements, a playable build of the game shows up out of nowhere in Barcelona, subsequently played by people who apparently have never touched a videogame in their life. The offical English homepage of the game was updated. And of course, even though it doesn’t seem nearly as vital any longer, another round of concept art was uploaded onto Sega’s blog and Facebook page. So, without further ado, let’s jump head first into the madness.
It isn’t a secret that Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is coming to just about everything under the sun. One particular release they have been pushing, though, is the version that will be on Android devices, specifically those with the NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor. After all, it was an earlier conference with NVIDIA that was originally meant to unveil the logo to Episode 2 (though that didn’t actually happen). Well, at the Mobile World Congress 2012 currently taking place in Barcelona, Spain, this cross promotion has allowed a playable build of the game to be on the show floor. And where there are playable builds of Sonic games, there are men and women with video cameras ready to capture every second!
Yesterday’s boss artwork reveal didn’t stop SEGA from continuing their weekly Concept Art Friday series, as they have revealed another couple of all new badniks to those that bother to check their official blog or Facebook page.
First up is Scarabesque, which like the name suggests is a scarab-badnik. This one pushes a ball around and seemingly rolls it at Sonic as his attack. Second is a new, more menacing looking version of the Sandworm from Sonic & Knuckles, it having prolegs suggests it can crawl around instead of just jump out of the sand. Considering these badniks are both desert themed, it’s easy to conclude that the game will have a level themed after the desert as well. For more concept art goodness, check back next week as SEGA has shown no sign of stopping with these yet.
All Stars Racing Transformed is only a little over a month away at this point. With this close to release, a number of people may be looking to retire their copy of Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing. Comparing the two is almost like comparing apples to oranges. That said it still acts as an important stepping stone that deserves an honorable mention. Before it becomes overshadowed from it’s upcoming sequel, we rattled the memories of Executive Producer at Sumo Digital Steve Lycett in an E-mail interview regarding development for Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing and what it’s sequel has benefited from their efforts.
