'Project Needlemouse' is Sonic the Hedgehog 4; episodic on PS3, Wii and 360 this summer

by Randy Nelson on Feb 4th 2010 3:16AM

It's long been known that "Project Needlemouse," announced by Sega last September, was the codename for a new 2D, console Sonic the Hedgehog title. It was subsequently revealed (much to our delight) that Sonic would be its only playable character, and we now know that the game will be, in fact, a direct sequel to 1994's Sonic & Knuckles on Sega Genesis. Not only that -- it'll be (wait for it) episodic.

We also know that the officially titled Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 looks like a proper Sonic game -- i.e., there's hope for it yet.

GameSpot, which has a first look at the blue bolt's new downloadable XBLA, PSN and WiiWare adventure, reports that "episode 1" will be available on all three platforms "this summer." Additionally, Sega confirmed to the site that the game will support online leaderboards and motion control on Wii and PS3 (Sixaxis for the latter; sorry, "Arc").

You can watch the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 after the break. What do you think?

Source

Tags: Episodic, Microsoft, Nintendo, psn, sega, sonic-4, sonic-the-hedgehog, sonic-the-hedgehog-4, sonic-the-hedgehog-4-episode-1, Wii, wiiware, xbla, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (219)

MUST..... NOT.... GET.... BURNED.... AGAIN.

Wow, it really does look too good to be true...

Crap I'm already excited

Why Sonic, Why must you toy with my heart.

[banned]

Yes, yes, Big Carl we read your comment down there.

Now STFU and go eat your feelings, fatty.

[banned]

"Ya big dumb baby."

Oh good one, Carl.

Should I have it engraved on your tombstone, so that way people that come from far and wide (and in your case very wide) will know what you contributed to society?

LittleBigPlanet is one of the best games this gen. if you can't see that, then you are the baby

New Super Mario Bros Wii is also one of the best games of the Generation. The only emotion i am filled with when i see trolls like this is pity. My household has all 3 consoles and the Wii is played far more than the other 2. So many many excellent games on it!

I'm seeing disappointment in my future. I saw "eggman" in that video. not Dr. Robotnik.

Finally Sega finally learns after so many years. If it isn't broke, Don't try to fix it.

Class Dismissed

Every time someone whines about what amounts to a simple name change, I die a little inside.

There's plenty of reasons to not expect this game to be all that great.

'Eggman' is not one of them.

too bad they've forgotten how to make a decent sonic game

New Super Mario Bros DS/Wii
LittleBigPlanet
Shadow Complex
Mega Man 9 and 10
Castlevania Adventure Rebirth
Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero?
Sonic the Hedgehog 4

I think the devs are finally starting to get it this gen. 2D is definitely not dead, and often is more fun!

Now if only we could get a next-gen 2D Metroid on the way...

"Now if only we could get a next-gen 2D Metroid on the way..."

Where have you been? Other M.

What we really need is another side-scrolling Zelda! Am I right or am I right? Right?

I'm not right. :(

Haven't they done 2D Sonic games before without success? I kind of remember them doing a 2D game and everyone saying it was finally going to be good cause they were "going back to the roots" and then the game failing. Wonder if this will be the case again.

Seriously, who actually has hope on Sonic games anymore? after all they've done.

If Yuji Naka isn't involved, I don't want any part of it.

Episodic? Huh? You mean I have to pay for each level? I guess that's good if you don't end up liking the game, $2.99 beats spending $60.

Still, without the father of Sonic (Naka) it's going to be a hard sell.

Uhgn. Robotoid, they made a 2D sonic game for the DS and it was a huge success as far as gameplay goes. It got very good reviews (when compared with other sonic games around the same time) and i personally loved it.

As far as this video goes, i didn't care for the graphics very much. Obviously they re did the graphics because they could, but, in my personal opinion, i prefer when sonics legs get blurred into a circle. Thats how it's supposed to look...fast.

You wanna talk about Naka? This is Sonic 4, Naka's dreams were smashed into obsolescence in Sonic CD, the true sonic sequel.

It WOULD have been nice to have a full retail release like New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Break the Cycle, boys!!

Maybe they'll release a retail disc with all the episodes?

I'm actually disappointed that NSMBwii wasn't downloadable considering what it is (and that the game is less than 400MB). Not to mention that it just seemed lazy compared to REAL Nintendo retail releases like Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, Zelda etc. etc. Saying that its worth the same $50 that most first-party Nintendo games deserve makes me laugh.
That and it was pretty short. Me and my friends beat it in only a few hours.

Do you people really believe (as evidenced by the downvote) that NSMB Wii was anything other than a lazy effort? Sure, it was fun (one of the best Wii games of last year, no doubt), but that doesn't mean it can't also be an obvious cash-in.

Yes, because NSMBWii had more care and effort put into it, quite clearly, than most games i played last year. Fine-tuned to a T.

It's a triumph of gameplay design over perspective and/or feature lists.

Just because NSMBW is 2D doesn't meant it's lazy. There is HUGE variety in the level designs; there are hardly any levels that play like the previous one. People keep comparing it to 'Splosion Man, but SM's levels are more or less clones of the previous ones, especially compared to the NSMB level variety (or at least that's what I keep hearing...haven't played SM yet).

I've definitely feel like I've gotten my $50 bucks worth off of NSMBW, personally.

Also meant to say, if Sega is smart (but this is Sega we're talking about here), they'll eventually compile all of it and do a disc release, at least on the Wii... partly since apparently hardly anyone knows WiiWare exists and because NSMBW is selling gangbusters.

I don't think NSBWii was lazy because it was 2D, I think it was lazy because it pulled almost every part of its design from other Mario games and didn't really do anything 'new'. Almost all the enemies and powerups are recycled from other Mario games except the Penguin suit (which is almost identical to the ice flower) and helicopter helmet. The sound track is a bunch of remixes of the older Mario music. The themes of each world have been done before too.
I just think NSMBWii is lazy compared to Mario Galaxy which has an original score, very unique environments, more original powerups (bee, boo, spring, ice flower), and (still) the best visuals on the Wii.
If Nintendo wants to charge the full retail price, they have to be judged by full-retail standards and NSMBWii just doesn't compare.

Testing.

WTH is wrong with the comment system? It's not even that I'm doing anything wrong because of how unclear it is - right now it's consistently giving me some nonsense error I can't do anything about.

Anyways, I was going to congratulate Giroro on being a deluded idiot (measuring a game's worth by its filesize? LOL!). But I don't feel like retyping everything.

No, bm, I was just pointing out the filesize is small enough that it could have been downloadable if they wanted it to be.

An episodic platformer? Screw that.

Sonic Heroes was at the very least, decent.

I think you replied to the wrong comment. This one was about how making a platformer episodic makes no sense whatsoever. Which has been downvoted pretty hard; fair enough.

Speaking of which, any of you downvoters care to explain why making this episodic would be . . . a good thing?

I think Sonic being downloadable is a good thing because frankly, I think Sega are a lot less likely to throw in some gimmicky feature.

Full retail, presumably means a lengthier game, and in turn a more expensive development cycle. And I think no matter what people like us and NSMB tell them, I don't think Sega has the balls to say "Yeah we'll do an oldschool sonic game that has no exciting bullet points we can put on the box" at full price. If the costs are lower, I think they'll be more willing to be less "creative".

And y'know what, after they see the money an episodic (hopefully) "oldschool" Sonic can pull, they may make a full length retail afterwards.

I agree that it is mostly a financial issue. They put out an ep. instead of a full game and if it fails then they cut their losses and move on to something else. It's cheaper to develop and since it's shorter they can get it out sooner and charge less which gives them a wider audience while still making some profit. Now all they have to do is make a good game.

I'm for it, because I love downloading my games in general. Especially stuff like this. If they're not wasting their money on packaging and retail space, they can charge me less for this. I have no problem with that.

I'll pass until it's in a box that I can resell. Sorry Sega, but I can't spend money on things that have absolutely no resale value. It's nothing personal, it's just business.

I agree only in the sense that "Episodic" usually refers to story, which is exactly what we don't want from Sonic.

If they do take out the story, "episodic" sounds more like an excuse to sell smaller games multiple times.

Don't understand why people love the idea of episodic gaming? Can you imagine paying 4 or 5 bucks for Worlds 2-8 in New Super Mario Bros?

Maybe you all want to buy a fragment of the game, but I won't. I don't see how a sonic game needs to be episodic...

You guys DO realize that Sonic 3 was also episodic, right?

Disappointing,
Sega should just perfect its 3D sonic games

Wasn't sure if I should upvote you for sarcasm or downvote you for stupidity.

Its not my fault I enjoyed Sonic Heroes

Yes, it is your fault.

SEGA can (and will, hopefully) do both.

Sonic Heroes is a great game, and no amount of downvotes will change that.

Even the soundtrack was tolerable, to a point.

Sonic Heroes was a good game?

DOSE CAPTAIN PLANET HAVE TO CHOKE A BITCH?

YES I MISSPELLED "DOES" THAT'S HOW ANGRY YOUR STUPID COMMENTS MADE ME. ANGRY ENOUGH TO MISSPELL "DOES" CAPS LOCK NOT BROKEN I'M YELLING AT YOU

Sonic Heroes definitely had some amazing music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWCDEJDnlic

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'Project Needlemouse' is Sonic the Hedgehog 4; episodic on PS3, Wii and 360 this summer

Reader Comments (219)

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