Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode II Review: A Really Great Game - If You Have A Controller... And Some Patience

If you were a child of the 80's or early 90's (and weren't some Nintendo fanboy, pft), the name Sonic probably has some deeper, almost religious meaning to you. I remember worshipping at the Genesis 16-bit altar for hours on end as a kid, and my deity of choice was the hedgehog in blue. Sonic. Sonic 2. Sonic 3. Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic CD (oh yeah). Screw Sonic 3D Blast, though. That game was bogus.

There have been 30 Sonic video games to date. Sonic 4 Episode II is number thirty-one. In recent years, Sonic has failed to generate much in the way of... anything good. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were two bright spots in an otherwise really dark 15 years for the franchise. Makes you feel old, right?

The precursor to Sonic 4 E2 is, of course, Sonic 4 Episode I. That game was the first widely positively-received Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2, 10 years ago. And how was that success achieved? By going back to Sonic's roots - 2D sidescrolling action in fun environments. Because of the increasing popularity of tablets, and cheaper downloadable games on consoles, titles like Sonic are experience something of a rebirth.

So, does Episode II continue the comeback kid story? In a word, yes. In fact, on something like Xbox 360, PS3, or a PC, I imagine this game would be hugely fun. On an Android tablet, though? I'd say it's closer to "really fun" (that's to say, still really good), but there still seem to be a few kinks to work out.

Sonic 4 Episode II is a massive visual leap forward from Episode I. And I do mean massive - we've gone from a quasi-3D-sometimes but mostly 2D flatland game to something that is really quite pretty. Let me just have the screenshots do the talking here:

 

As you can see, everything has been 3Dified. The characters and environments are all now much, much better looking than they were in Episode I. You get realistic water, blowing snow and sand, and character models that don't harken back to 1994. It's Sonic, evolved. Of course, to get this experience on Android, you'll have to be playing the Tegra 3 version of the game (the non-Tegra 3 version won't be out for another month), which means using a tablet or an HTC One X, at this point.

Want to see how much better the Tegra 3 version looks? Just take a moment and gawk at these comparison pictures - it really is a night and day difference. I won't even have to tell you which is which:

There's a hitch, though. On my Transformer Prime, frame rates weren't stellar. I averaged (eyeball estimate) what felt like 40-45FPS, with consistent dips into the 20-30FPS range. The frame rate tended to drop during intense action or particularly complex scenes (eg, waterfalls, snow, lots of baddies). Not good, especially for a fast-moving sidescroller title like Sonic. Occasionally, this would actually cause input lag, and that... sucks. But hey, it all looks really pretty, so there's that. I've heard from Cameron that on an Acer Iconia A510 the game ran smoother, so maybe it's an isolated issue. Then again, he also had the game crash twice, including once where it actually hard-froze his tablet, requiring a soft reset - and that was after only 15 minutes of playing the game.

The mediocre frame rate isn't a deal breaker - let me be clear on that point. It just isn't as high as I'd like it to be. But given the visuals at play here, I can deal.

To change gears, let's talk about the story. Sonic 4 Episode II takes place after Sonic CD, meaning Metal Sonic is back. Personally, I always thought Metal Sonic was the best Sonic villain, so I was stoked when I heard this was the direction the game was going. Suffice to say, the simple but compelling storylines that made the original Sonic games popular are in full force here, and you'll be having nostalgia-fests left and right.

Tablets aren't very good for games that require really rapid and precise control inputs. While Sonic is pretty much a 2-dimensional 8-direction movement layout, I just don't like playing it very much with touch controls. Don't get me wrong - the game is totally doable with touch controls alone, but it's just not as fun as it would be with a controller. If you have a tablet, but don't have a wireless gaming controller for it, go buy one. Titles like this make it worth the investment. The touch controls are finicky, cumbersome, and I don't like them. Maybe on a smaller screen they'd be more manageable, but on a 10.1" tablet, they aren't. I don't know that there's a way to fix them, either - it's kind of an unavoidable downfall of large tablet gaming.

 

Beyond the control issues, Sonic 4 EII takes classic Sonic gameplay's simplicity and adds a few flourishes. You can use Tails for special combo moves (flying, super spinball, swimming, etc.) that add new facets to Sonic's decidedly old-school feel. Boss fights were typical Sonic, though involved more movement and less predictable challenges than titles of years past. Instead of forcing you to be lucky or have superhuman reflexes, Sonic 4 EII makes you learn more complex fight mechanics and adapt. Still, the game has kept a lot of the things that made the originals difficult - objects squishing you, drowning (god I hate underwater levels), and bottomless pits. It's enough to keep you from breezing through the game, but not so much as to discourage you from persevering.

You get all of the old "extras," too - Chaos Gems, time challenges, and bonus levels.

Overall, Sonic 4 EII plays like the sequel to Sonic 3 / Sonic CD should. It keeps gameplay consistent with the series, but avoids being a simple rehash with a new story and artwork.

If you have a Tegra 3 tablet (or phone), Sonic 4 Episode II should be on your "buy" list. It's a fantastically designed title from a studio we all know and love, and even at $7, it's priced to sell. It's well thought-out, visually impressive, and clearly has been developed by people who care about making something fun and polished.

Despite the situational inadequacy of touch controls, and the occasional technical hiccup, it's a great game that continues to reinvigorate a franchise that everyone thought was long dead, and I imagine I'll be playing it for weeks to come.

Sonic 4 Episode II THD

[Review] Sony Walkman Z: A Few Great Ideas Wrapped In A Flawed And Outmoded Device

Sony is a company going through major changes - it recently announced plans to lay off 10,000 plus of its workers (some of those through buyouts), has instated a new CEO, and just had one of its worst fiscal years ever. It also recently ended its Android smartphone partnership with Ericsson, and plans to now produce handsets under its own name. It's a difficult and uncertain time for Sony, and the Walkman Z, unfortunately, seems to be an excellent microcosm of the company's larger problems.

There comes an end to the life of every great consumer electronic. The portable CD player. The beeper. The cable descrambler box. All great inventions in their time - but made obsolete by modern alternatives. Now, it's time for the portable media player to step down.

The PMP hasn't actually been with us all that long. Really only since the original iPod, back in 2001 (I suppose you could count previous MP3 players generally). But the rise of the smartphone has sealed the PMP's fate, and unfortunately, it seems some companies are still trying to get in on a market that's very obviously been terminally ill for some time. And yes, this is going to be one of those deep, big-picture reviews, if you haven't already noticed.

The Walkman Z is a device that contradicts itself at every turn. It's beautiful (and I do mean that) and well-built, but it's large and cumbersome and has oddly sharp edges. It runs a relatively stock version of Android 2.3, but charges only via a proprietary cable, and has no expandable storage. It has excellent DSP and equalizer controls, but they only work with Sony's music and movie apps. Its size and shape are perfect for playing games in landscape mode, and yet it's not PlayStation Certified. And while its main market competitor, the iPod Touch, has haptic feedback, front and rear cameras, and an ambient light sensor, the Walkman Z has... well, none of those things. And yet it costs $50 more.

Price: $250 (8GB), $280 (16GB), $330 (32GB)What's in the box? Sony Walkman Z, multipin USB charging and data cable, Walkman headphones.Processor: NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core, 1GHzOperating System: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread (stock, mostly)Display: 4.3" TFT-LCD (WVGA 480x800)Memory: 1GB RAM / 8GB internal (4.6GB usable)Wireless: Wi-Fi, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1Cameras: noneBattery: size unknown, non-removablePorts/Expandable Storage: Sony multipin, microHDMI / noneThickness: 11.1mmWeight: 156gThe Walkman Z is undeniably cool-looking, and very well put-together (if scratch and scuff-prone).The Walkman button with gesture controls is pretty neat.Its large size makes it ideal for gaming in landscape mode.The exterior speaker, when software enhancements are enabled, is unusually good.The headphone amp is powerful and sounds good, and Sony's EQ and virtual surround settings are well-done.It's huge. About the size of an Epic 4G Touch, but with a smaller display, and much thicker at 11.1mm.The display just isn't very good in sunlight, viewing angles are mediocre.Storage space is abysmal in the base model (4.6GB usable), and non-expandable.A proprietary charging cable on something that's basically an Android phone without the phone parts? Really?A $250 pricetag isn't going to have these things flying off the shelves, especially considering the comparable iPod Touch is $50 cheaper.The unlit capacitive keys are literally impossible to see in low light, and no haptic feedback makes them even harder to find.

The Walkman Z is definitely a cool-looking piece of kit, and compared to the pretty-undeniably-ugly XPERIA Ion, it makes me wonder why Sony doesn't take its smartphones in this design direction. The royal blue rear cover just looks kind of awesome against those painted black metal accents on the sides.

  

As you can see, that awesome blue rear cover (which is plastic) also gets scratched up really easily - and so do the Walkman Z's oddly sharp corners. For something that's getting tossed into bags and generally designed to be portable (and, I imagine difficult to find a case for), it's a bit disheartening that the Walkman Z isn't a little more rugged. Still, the Walkman is extremely solid, and does feel very well put-together - something Sony's XPERIA division could learn from.

Another problem with the Walkman Z is that it's just so damn big. While its 4.3" display is average by contemporary standards, the Walkman Z is both very noticeably wider and longer than my Motorola DROID BIONIC, which also has a 4.3" display. The Walkman Z is 133mm x 70mm, making it 3mm longer and as wide as an Epic 4G Touch (which has a 4.52" display), if that gives you a sense of size. This makes it great for gaming in landscape mode (lots of non-screen space for your thumbs), but the Walkman Z isn't even PlayStation Certified. What gives, Sony? It's also a decidedly chunky device for something not packing a cell radio, at 11.1mm thick.

As for more functional hardware, the Walkman Z doesn't have much exciting going on. An HDMI-out port for mirroring is a nice touch, but the proprietary multi-pin charging slash data cable? Not so much. Why, Sony, why? For something big and juice-hungry like a tablet, I can at least fathom the reasoning behind a proprietary connector, but on a phone-sized Android media player? Whether to satisfy Sony's need for proprietary accessory cable sales, or simply to copy Apple's iPod model, I'm not sure, but it's a pointless complication either way.

The Walkman Z also lacks an ambient light sensor, haptic feedback, backlit capacitive keys, or cameras of any kind, which makes it feel rather stripped-down for a $250 piece of equipment.

 

  

The power button on the Walkman Z is big and easy to press, which is perfect for a media player. The volume rocker on my review unit definitely protrudes more on the vol-down side than up, and I'm really not sure if that's intentional. The placement of the headphone jack at the bottom of the device doesn't seem to have any real downsides.

You may have noticed by now that there is one more button on the Walkman Z along the right side - the Walkman button. Its purpose is simple, and it's really just a great idea. Press the Walkman button, whether the device is on or off, and the currently playing song will pop up on the display with controls. It doesn't sound like anything brilliant (and really, lockscreen music controls can accomplish the same thing), but I'd certainly like to see something similar to this on Sony's smartphones in the future. You can also configure those pop-up controls such that they operate in gesture mode, giving you a large target box (instead of a small widget), where swiping left or right will change tracks, and tapping anywhere operates the play/pause functions.

The Walkman Z is equipped with a 4.3" WVGA (480x800) LCD display. For a run-of-the-mill LCD, the Walkman Z's provides good colors, deep blacks, and gets plenty bright for indoor use. Go outside, though, and things change. PMPs are devices often used while on-the-go, particularly outdoors. The Walkman's display at maximum brightness is barely enough to use in direct sunlight, and even then, only when you're viewing it straight on can you really see anything - viewing angles are just kind of awful.

Battery life on the Walkman Z is basically what you can expect of an Android phone without a cell radio - good. You'll easily get a full day of media consumption out of the Walkman (provided the display isn't on most of the time), and while battery life is nothing to write home about, it's good enough that it's not complaint-worthy, either.

One thing that is complaint-worthy is the Walkman's storage - while 8GB would be decent (and matches the entry-level iPod Touch), in reality, the Walkman Z has even less than that. Out of the box, you'll have 4.6GB of that 8 available for use. That's it. Storage isn't expandable, either. For $250, this is clearly absurd. While the 16GB model of the Walkman Z will only run you $30 more ($280), Sony is already running dangerously afoul of the market-leading 8GB iPod Touch, which comes in at only $200, with the 32GB version costing $300. If there's one thing that will keep the Walkman Z on store shelves, it's clearly the price.

A Tegra 2 dual-core processor powers the Z, and for gaming, this is great. You can download awesome titles from the Tegra Zone, and generally play most high-end Android games that are available today (not Sony's PlayStation titles, though). The problem is that outside of gaming, the Walkman Z isn't exactly quick. The launcher is one of the laggiest I've seen on a modern Android device, and seems capped at around 20FPS in the homescreens and app drawer. Switching to a third-party launcher will alleviate this lagginess almost completely, thankfully.

Android on the Walkman Z is pretty much stock Gingerbread, albeit with a custom 5-button launcher that includes Sony's media apps rather prominently. It's so near-stock that there's really no reason not to install a custom launcher - you don't lose anything.

Sony's proprietary apps for music and video playback are both decent. The music app, in particular, is well-designed and runs very smoothly, though I did experience at least two instances of it crashing on the Walkman Z for no apparent reason. The movie app has a very limited number of compatible playback formats, but obviously you can download alternative media players from the Play Store to get around this limitation. Of course, if you choose to use apps other than Sony's official music and movie playback tools, you lose out on all the included audio tweaking options (they only work in Sony's apps), which we'll talk about in the next section of the review.

 

  

Given that the Walkman brand is all about audio, Sony has included a number of very useful sound-tweaking options on the Walkman Z. This includes a 5-band graphic equalizer with 6 presets, 2 of which you can customize, Sony's VPT (Virtualphone Technology) settings, which allow you to set the sound signature to different "venues" (eg, Studio, Live, Club, Arena), dynamic audio normalization, and enhancements for the exterior speaker.

The problem is that these settings only take effect if you're using Sony's playback apps for music and video, which is a sad, sad thing. While Sony's music app is actually pretty good, the movie app is very limited in terms of format compatibility, and that's just not cool. I'd particularly like to use Sony's audio tweaks with something like Pandora, which streams at a low quality to start with, and see how much better it can be made to sound.

On a more positive note, sound does come through great on the Walkman. The exterior speaker on the rear is the best I've ever heard on a PMP or smartphone, and by no small margin. The software enhancements (again, which only work in Sony's apps) let bass come through much more clearly, and smooth out the harsh "tinny" sound you'd generally associate with an exterior speaker. While it doesn't get incredibly loud, it sounds pretty damn good for something so small.

Sony's headphone amplifier on the 3.5mm jack, the S-Master MX, is another saving grace of the device. Even without enhancements, music came through significantly louder on the Walkman Z than most Android smartphones, which isn't a huge deal for earbuds, but very important if you plan on using your PMP with a large set of on-ear cans. The included headphones with the Walkman Z aren't bad (much better than what you get with any phone), but they're nothing to write home about, either.

It's not hard to see why the Walkman Z probably isn't for most people. And it's not hard to see why its very purpose is frustrated by existence of ever-more-powerful smartphones.

But what takes a little more searching to find are the things Sony did right with the Walkman Z. It's very clear that Sony has extremely smart people working on its products, and that those people have come up with some great ideas. The dedicated Walkman button with swipe gesture controls. A fantastic music app with good EQ and DSP options, a great external speaker, and a legit headphone amp. And a really cool looking (and well-built) piece of hardware.

The problem is that the Walkman Z also has a lot of things going against it. It's unnecessarily large. It has a proprietary charging cable, no expandable storage (and a puny amount to start with), no cameras, unlit capacitive keys, and no haptic feedback. It's also woefully overpriced, something Sony can't afford in a market that the iPod Touch unabashedly dominates for $50 less. The iPod touch is also, frankly, just better than the Sony in a lot of important ways.

Sony needs to take those good ideas in the Walkman Z and mesh them into its smartphone and tablet products. The touchscreen PMP is a dead end. The only big company that continues to successfully sell such devices to mainstream consumers is Apple, and in ever-diminishing quantities. Even if Sony were to have produced a great PMP device with the Walkman Z, it probably still wouldn't sell - there's no more room in this dying sun of a market, especially at this price point.

Sony, we all know you brought us the Walkman, and we all loved you for it, but I think it's time to let go of the PMP dream, and focus on a more integrated, "one device for everything" approach.

[Lightning Review] Samsung EHS71 Earbuds: Great Materials Do Not Equal Great Sound

There comes a time in every multinational electronics conglomerate's life when it tries to get into personal audio. Samsung isn't a particular stranger to the home theater side of sound, and some of its soundbar products actually review pretty decently. But a high-end headphone manufacturer, Samsung ain't. Search "samsung headphones" on Amazon, and you'll struggle to find anything costing more than $20.

The EHS71 is Samsung's first attempt to break into the premium earbud market. And, well, let's just cut to the chase: it's a wash. While marketing buzzwords like "lightweight aircraft aluminum," "high-performance balanced armature drivers," and "ultra micro design" may be able to sell the EHS71's on paper, the sad reality is that these premium buds are all show, no go in the audio department.

And I'm not just saying that because Samsung isn't an established presence in the headphone market, or because these earbuds are horrendously overpriced ($130), but because it's pretty clear from the get-go to anyone who knows anything about headphones that the EHS71's just aren't very good. While the aluminum housings and nylon-wrapped cord do make the EHS71's feel rather sturdy (and hard to tangle), sound this mediocre and, frankly, boring is inexcusable when you're talking about something at this price point.

 

What is it? Earbuds with one-button inline controls and a microphone. (official website)How much? $130.What's in the box? The headphones, 3 sets of earbud tips, and a black-velvet carrying case.Do I want them? No, probably not. Unless you don't care about sound but do have $130 burning a hole in your pocket.Comfort: The EHS71's are a pretty comfortable pair of headphones, and while not on par with the Nocs I reviewed last week, I doubt anyone could complain about how they feel in or around the ear. The 3 sets of included earbud tips are a little less than I've grown accustomed to for high-end headphones (most come with at least 4, usually a duplicate pair for the "medium" size that fits most people, as well), but hey, Samsung must be putting that extra 10 cents towards better sound, right? After wearing them for about 2 hours, I had almost no fatigue, and the EHS71's stuck in my ears pretty well.Style: The EHS71's are definitely a good-looking headphone, you'll get no argument from me on that. The polished aircraft aluminum housings are nice and solid, and look flashy without being ridiculous. The cylinders at the top of the 3.5mm jack and splitter are also aluminum, which is a nice touch (thought the inline controls are not).Build Quality: You can't knock Samsung for sturdiness on these earbuds, thanks in large part to the wound nylon around the cord that goes all the way up to the splitter, which should prevent twist and bend damage to the wires. This means they're also incredibly hard to tangle, so that's a good thing, too. The aluminum parts inspire confidence in their solidness, though the rubber flex joints around the earbud housings and inline controls don't feel particularly strong (and are also quite short and thin - a bit of a no-no on headphones).Controls/Mic: The one-button control works as advertised (hang up/answer, play/pause), and the microphone seems decent enough. There's no lapel clip for the microphone, though, so that's another 10 cents saved for Samsung.Sound: If you're looking for a summary of how the EHS71's sound, here it is in a nutshell: not like one-hundred and thirty dollars of headphone. More like $50 - maybe. I'm not sure what Samsung's engineers were comparing the audio of the EHS71's to in testing, but it must have been something equally overpriced and even more underwhelming. For a balanced armature driver headphone, a technology that is definitely limited to higher-end equipment (though does not necessarily translate to good sound), the EHS71's sound awful. For a headphone in general, the sound is just mediocre. Subtle details were clearly lost, sound became noticeably muddy (distorted) at high volumes, and bass response was shallow, if loud. There's also just no character to the sound, and I don't mean they're flat or balanced, they're just kind of dull.Sound Comparison: I compared the EHS71's to my daily driver, the Etymotic Research hf2's, which come in at a street price at or lower than the EHS71's. I also compared them to a lesser extent to the Nocs NS200's, the UE TripleFi 10's, and for a control, a pair of mediocre Sony earbuds. Compared to their price-point neighbor, the hf2's, the EHS71's are laughably bad - high frequencies lack definition and crispness, details are lost, and bass is loud but almost completely without depth. Going down to the NS200's, which are $60 cheaper than the EHS71, the Samsungs still just don't sound good - bass, again, lacked depth (but was more prominent), while highs and mids were boring and almost sounded muted. Compared to the $180 TripleFi 10's, well, let's not go there for Samsung's sake. Finally, I did a listening comparison with the Sony buds (I'd estimate they're worth around $25 and sound like iPod earbuds), and the EHS71's did definitely best those - highs and mids were much more crisp, bass more defined, and sound generally more detailed. For people used to $30 iPod earbuds, these will obviously provide a much superior experience, but that's saying very little.Isolation: Noise isolation on the EHS71's is average at best for an in-ear headphone. Don't buy them expecting something that could replace a noise-cancelling headset or earplugs.Price: $130? Just no, Samsung. At least at $80 you could compete with Apple's premium iPhone/iPod headphone with inline controls, but the problem there would be that those sound a lot better.

I hate to be so hard on Samsung, but the company's first attempt at an audiophile-grade headphone has pretty much been a failure in the one way that actually matters: sound. There's just no joy in listening to them. Had Samsung offered up the EHS71 at $50, perhaps it could be forgiven for the below-average audio in exchange for the robust choice of materials and inline control/microphone features. Maybe even $60. But push beyond that number, and the EHS71 is outclassed at every turn by competing products, and by no small margin. Better luck next time, Samsung.