Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode I is the latest in the series of the classic Sega game, released a full 16 years after Sonic 3, AKA Sonic and Knuckles.

Old school fun with the blue hedgehog

Fans of the speedy blue mammal will be impressed with the authenticity of Sonic The Hedgehog 4, which retains the look and feel of those great Genesis games of old. Episode I allows you to play through four different zones, each of four acts. As usual there are bosses to destroy at the end of each zone (yes, Dr Eggman is back!) and cool bonus levels in between, which make good use of tilt and turn controls.

Moving Sonic around

Controls in Sonic The Hedgehog 4 are done using the on-screen joystick and the fire button to jump. It's a little fiddly at first, but you get used to it and it's difficult to think of an alternative control system that would work better.

Hit and miss presentation

The graphics and audio in Sonic The Hedgehog 4 are generally very polished, although there are some exceptions. The animation of Sonic's legs doesn't really give the impression that he's running very fast, and some of the in-game menus look they were designed at the last minute using Microsoft Word.

The verdict

Overall though, Sonic The Hedgehog 4 delivers an arcade experience that fans of 16-bit consoles will love.