Sonic 4: World's first speedrun on Splash Hill Act 1

Sonic 2 Xbox 360 world record holder turns his hand to new Sonic. How fast will he be?

Words: Justin Towell on October 12, 2010

Sonic games have always had at least one level that's perfect for speedrun competitions with your mates. Sonic 4 is no exception. Splash Hill, Act 1 is one of the most brilliantly-designed Sonic levels ever. It may not be noticable on your first play-through, but start looking for ways to shave seconds off your time and suddenly it turns into a monster. So here's my fastest run (so far) on the PS3 version of the game:

Of course, it's early days and I've already gone faster on the iPhone version (not while extreme speedrunning, sadly) so there is definitely room for plenty of improvement.

Above: It's possible to get under 40 seconds on iPhone, and most likely PS3 too as the level is identical

It's always been a trait of a Sonic game's first act that it can be completed in under 30 seconds. Surely that can't be the case here... can it?

Let me know how you get on in the comments.

12 Oct, 2010

Platforms:

Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, iPhone

Topics:

Custom videos , In the office

21 comments

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KippDynamite - October 14, 2010 12:39 a.m.

There . . . is a Sonic fan.
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ryno - October 13, 2010 10:16 p.m.

sonic is back baby hell yha
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Lionzest7 - October 13, 2010 4:50 p.m.

thanks Justin Towell, I learned a route that got me the speedrun achieve already! (shamefully stolen from you)
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seabassuk - October 13, 2010 4:12 p.m.

I still think my 1 minute and 22 seconds is better :(
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philipshaw - October 13, 2010 3:48 p.m.

Those are some mad skills
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fhd74 - October 13, 2010 12:07 p.m.

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Gorillaman23 - October 13, 2010 10:29 a.m.

And what of the Wii version? Did they change the levels in that one?
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lolwizards - October 13, 2010 6:45 a.m.

I can't get under 58 seconds >_<
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BodyDamage - October 12, 2010 7:52 p.m.

im bleeding excitement for this, id like to think i could challenge that speed run of yours, sir towell. =D
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Darkshine34 - October 12, 2010 3:08 p.m.

wow. that was impressive
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veryweirdguy - October 12, 2010 2:30 p.m.

Just played the demo of this (via some Japanese PSN trickery,) and it is excellent! The demo has Splash Hill Zone Act 1 - IE the level featured here - and I can't see myself getting anywhere near 40 seconds. Can't wait to play more though!
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GamesRadarJustinTowell - October 12, 2010 2:07 p.m.

Actually, Ninjadmin's right, that was the iPhone version. I've just been playing that in the burger shop... and anywhere I get a free moment, really! Just turns out I had a better run on that one, although at lunch I got it down to about 39:57 or something similar on PS3. I'll post to the leaderboards when the game's out.
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oufour - October 12, 2010 2:02 p.m.

@ Ninjaadmin i think that was just a joke for yesterday's video, he says in the article this was played no the ps3 version.
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Anjaneya - October 12, 2010 1:15 p.m.

Nicely done - can't believe that. It looks a lot longer than other first stages in Megadrive Sonic games.
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Sash - October 12, 2010 12:49 p.m.

Need to get more anti spam measures ={ @topic: Good job, you lost a few seconds around about 0:37 but that could be fixed :D
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EnragedTortoise1 - October 12, 2010 11:53 a.m.

I can never speedrun Sonic levels... ironically, I end up exploring them. Backtracking, even. Still, I'll get this as soon as it's availible today.
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OhMyJosh - October 12, 2010 9:51 a.m.

I'm sure I could beat that :P. I have no idea when it comes out in Australia, but when it does, look out Mr. Towel.
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IIIIIACEIIIII - October 12, 2010 9:47 a.m.

I can't find this on PSN. I has sads. I hope it's under £20 too, because I'm going to buy some £20.00 worth of PSN points and hope it's available when I get home.
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Ninjadmin - October 12, 2010 9:46 a.m.

Wow! Thats damn impresive Justin. How come you're faster on the iPhone version though? The controls are terrible on that compared to using a proper pad.
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Brutus - October 12, 2010 9:29 a.m.

Thanks UK guy, gave me something to do here at 5:30 AM, lol, just finishe dup a project for my Drawing class
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