Analog Drift

The year was 1991. This was way before your 1ups and IGNs of the world. I had little knowledge of the gaming world outside of my own bedroom. I was deep into my 8-bit world and didn’t realize, until one day at a friend’s house where I learned of a whole world of 16-bit video games that lived on the video game system know as the SEGA Genesis.

We played Kid Kameleon and a little game known as Sonic The Hedgehog! My life was changed forever and I became a die hard SEGA fan. This fandom escalated into a full blown addiction which later lead me to Sonic The Hedgehog 2, 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

I eventually strayed from the path when the Sony PlayStation came out but I came back to SEGA again in 1999 and purchased the SEGA Dreamcast. Sonic stole my heart once again when Sonic Adventure came out, but since then Sonic has definitely lost his way.

The most recent offerings from Sonic team have left much to be desired by Sonic fans. With lack luster titles such as Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog for the PS3 & 360 and Sonic Unleashed it’s a wonder Sonic fans like myself have not given up on their pointy blue mascot.

Things are about to change. It seems as though SEGA has heard our pleas and set out to create a continuation to the old school 2-D Sonic games. Today SEGA unveiled plans to release Sonic 4 on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network (PSN).

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will take place after Sonic & Knuckles, but is "a brand-new adventure... what you are looking at is the beginning of a new story arc," says associate brand manager, Ken Balough to GameSpot:

"I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles.

In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it's also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what's in store for episode two!"

"We're going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire. All the Sonic favorites [are] here for sure!

Spin dash, power sneakers, etc. But you will also see the homing attack added, and in true Sonic fashion, you can compete with your friends for the fastest level times through leaderboards."

Source: http://www.ps3news.com/