I still can’t believe this has actually happened. I’ve just played Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Okay, let’s be honest; I’ve played Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. However, if this first episode of the continuation of the original Sonic trilogy is showing me what I can expect from the complete experience, I can’t wait.

It’s back to basics in Sonic 4; Dr Eggman is rounding up Sonic’s friends and using them as organic batteries for his new line of badniks. It’s up to Sonic to free his friends and destroy Eggman’s creations before they cause more havoc. The game’s plot is not told with cut-scenes, only loosely implied throughout the game. This is wonderfully nostalgic but also presents the player with an unbridled focus on gameplay.

Lucky for the player then, because the gameplay is still as simple, engaging and rewarding as it was 15 years ago. Sonic darts around the stages at a decent and controllable pace. This allows for a great deal of precision when jumping from platform to platform and bopping the many robots that litter the stages.

The new addition for Sonic 4 is the inclusion of the homing attack from the recent 3D Sonic games. At first glance, the homing attack’s inclusion seems a little out of place. After all, the point of it was make navigation easier for Sonic in a 3D world. Thankfully, the homing attack has been tweaked to make it a more skilful manoeuvre for advanced players. You can’t use it to simply home in on any badnik, spring or monitor from a fair distance. You need to be either next to or above the target for you to be able to home in on them. This means that any enemy above you still has an advantage. This allows the game to keep the challenge at a decent level and doesn’t wreck any of the game’s bosses by making them too easy.

Unfortunately, there are some missteps in the gameplay department. To keep Sonics’ momentum up you cannot simply roll into a ball like previous games. Doing this sees Sonic slow down unnaturally. Sonic needs to be running to maintain a high speed. This causes an issue when Sonic flies off ramps as he tends to slow down in the air if you are not pushing in the direction you want to go. This caused the game to present me with some cheap deaths in the Lost Labyrinth stage as Sonic plummeted to his doom as I assumed Sonic’s momentum would carry him over the gap. This is a peculiar oversight that I hope can be fixed with a patch.

The other issue we discovered was with the blocks that explode when Sonic ignites the dynamite in Lost Labyrinth. It is very difficult to determine when the explosions are at risk to Sonic. Sometimes we’d be standing on an exploding block and Sonic would remain unharmed but other times we would run close to an exploding block and we’d be damaged. It’s quite a confusing situation that can cause some irritation if you’re trying to conserve your rings for the special stages. Either way, these are only minor errors and most players will not notice them through all the fun they’re having.

Speaking of special stages; they’ve returned. The formula is based on the original special stages from Sonic the Hedgehog. However, there are some new twists that keep them refreshing and great fun. This time around, you do not control Sonic in the mazes; you control the rotation of the maze itself. Each maze is split into sections with ring-locked gates which require you to get a certain amount of rings before you can pass through. Also, time is another factor you must be aware of. If it runs out, you lose your opportunity at gathering a Chaos Emerald. Thankfully, it can be replenished in increments by collecting time bonuses. This new spin on an old formula is fantastic to play and one of the real highlights in Sonic 4.

So what’s the point to all this Emerald collecting? Once you have all 7 you can unlock Super Sonic; the blonde, invincible version of our favourite hedgehog. Super Sonic has been relegated to a final stage for most recent Sonic games but in Sonic 4 he can be used across the entire game. This adds a nice bit of replay value to the title as you’ll find yourself trying to best your times with the faster character.

The game’s presentation is of a very high standard. The stages look magnificent in high definition. Each one is beautifully rendered with vivid colours and contain some lovely spot effects like rippling water, area-sensitive lighting and blast-wave effects when Sonic uses the homing attack. Jun Senoue’s soundtrack contains some catchy little tunes that are mainly synth-based. He even samples the Mega Drive drum effects to give the game an even more nostalgic feel.

You also get a fairly decent sized chunk of gaming for your 10 pounds. Sonic 4: Episode 1 is 12 stages long with 4 bosses and a bonus, boss-rush stage after completing all of these. The game is fleshed out with a time attack mode and online leaderboards for both the standard score attack mode (AKA story mode) and time attack mode.

Sonic 4: Episode 1 is a welcome return to form for the blue blur. Other than some minor gameplay issues which could be resolved with a patch, Sonic fans will be in platform heaven. It’s really happened guys and gals; Sonic is back.

The iPhone version of Sonic 4 is essentially the same beast as the console versions with some slight changes.

There are 2 exclusive stages in this version; a minecart stage controlled with the device’s accelerometer and a score attack stage based solely in a giant pinball machine. Unfortunately, these stages are nothing to write home about.

The minecart stage is particularly frustrating to play as the accelerometer controls are confusing and very fiddly. It’s easy to lose track of what direction your leaning which makes this stage more of a chore than anything remotely enjoyable. The same problem transfers to the special stages as these are controlled via the accelerometer as well.

The high score-based pinball stage is more of a distraction than a nuisance. You simply collect 100,000 points as quickly as possibly to open the stage’s exit. There’s nothing else to it but I would have personally preferred more platforming over this gimmicky waste of a stage.

Most of the game has made the transition to the iPhone rather smoothly. The gameplay is still fantastic fun and the virtual controls are actually some of the best I’ve experienced on the iPhone. The analogue stick recognises your movements remarkably well making the whole experience a lot less of a chore than other titles that rely on this format.

Graphical quality has decreased slightly but this is to be expected from a significantly lower powered device. The game also runs at half the framerate of the console versions which may put some players off. I personally did not find this to be an issue when playing the game.

For 4 pounds less, you still get a great little platformer with the added advantage of portability. Unfortunately, the exclusive content is a bit of a let-down and cheapens the experience in more than the price.