"I'll play with you some other time"

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 was not a bad game by any means, but it just didn’t feel right. Over the years, the Sonic series has developed a distinctive “feel” which was completely missing in SEGA’s episodic debut. Thankfully, the Japanese publisher is not planning on making the same mistake twice.

Speaking with Eurogamer.net, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka said that the developer’s primary aim with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 was to thwart complaints about the game feeling unnatural:

I wanted to make sure people could play the game and it not feel unnatural. It should feel right. Rather than thinking of it as us trying to say, 'okay, this is the way it should be,' we looked at feedback where people were saying, 'this feels unnatural.'

Those were the things we decided to eliminate, so it should feel natural when they play the game.

Iizuka continued that the new physics are based on the original Mega Drive titles:

With Episode 1 we built the physics from the ground up. This time, rather than adding to it, we went back to the original Mega Drive Sonic games and we looked at the physics from them. We tried to make sure we replicated the things people were keen about for Episode 2. That's the way we addressed it.

Episode 2 is confirmed for release on the PlayStation 3, but SEGA’s yet to make a comment about the PlayStation Vita (which strikes us as an ideal fit for the title). When pushed, Iizuka explained that the Vita is a relatively new platform, and the company wants to wait and see how the market develops for the system before making any decisions:

At the moment, the team are looking at the market. They're looking at who's buying the Vita? How much of the Vita is out there? Is there a market for it? What are the consumers after? Is Sonic 4: Episode 2 the kind of game they want? They're looking at the Vita very closely and looking at the market to see what would be the best fit for that.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is due out on PlayStation Network in May. If you want a PS Vita version, make your opinion known in the comments below.

[source eurogamer.net]