Old school Sonic at it's best.
For the rest of us normal people who just want to play a fun Sonic game, Sonic 4 is great. Ever since I played New Super Mario Bros. Wii I was wishing Sonic would do the same thing. A retrofied 2D game that takes something old and makes it new again. It's fast, it's fun and devoid of all the crap and useless fluff that cluttered up games in recent years.
First there's no real story, like the originals. Given this is called Sonic 4 and Sega has said it follows Sonic and Knuckles meaning that they disregard everything that's happed the last 15 years. Eggman has kidnapped cute animals, put then in robots and Sonic is out to save them and stop the doctor. No longer are we force fed some idiotic story full of bad voice work. Heck Sonic himself doesn't make a peep.
Gameplay is familar with a few new twists. Most notably the homing attack which ends up adding something new and fun though it does make the game a bit easy. In mid air, you're no longer trying to hope to hit the springboard or enemy. Now you can lock onto the target and propel yourself forward in mid air. Though the controls are as simplistic as the originals. All you need is a dpad and a button. There is a motion control option but I doubt anyone will use it. Also after playing the first stage you actually have the option to select various stages meaning you can play through the game like Megaman, choosing your level though you have to complete all acts in a world to get to the boss fight and to unlock the final zone involves beating the other four bosses but the new sense of freedom is nice especially when you encounter this game's version of the "Carnival Night Barrel." Chaos Emeralds are back to being the extra reward instead of a plot device. The special stage is like the original Sonic except now it's a timed maze. Rings open gates and you have to reach the Emerald before time runs out. Boss fights look familiar until midway through the battle when Eggman unleashes a new feature to his machines.
Stages are reminscent of past games but with their own designs and new twists like the spinning dice and cards on Casino street or the torches and mine carts of Lost Labyrinth. While the idea of doing this with 16 bit graphics would've been a nice novelty like with Megaman 9 honestly it's just that a novelty. This is trying to be a new Sonic game, not just another nostalgic port. The graphics are gorgeous. Bright and colorful environments with a lot of care and detail. Music is upbeat and well done though not overly memorable and the voice actors are sitting this one out.
The only downside is the game feels a bit short though the online leaderboards add replay value, having Knuckles or Tails for co-op play might have been a nice feature and this could've been a 9 or 10 but $15 is somewhat pricey.
Still these compliants are minor. It's another one to add to the ever growing list of great retro reboots and for many Sonic fans, this was well worth the wait.