"Sega follows up the great Adventure series with a mediocre game"

The Sonic series has been in a pretty weird place lately. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 appeared to wow everyone back on the Dreamcast but all of a sudden, it seems like everyone hates these games. I'm not sure if it was the mediocre Gamecube ports or if it was the fact that the games, like roller coasters, are only thrilling the first time. But either way, people were very outspoken over the past year or so about how much this series needed a change and I guess Sonic Heroes was the result. Sonic Heroes attempts to please everybody by seeming more like a Sega Genesis game than the Adventure games. It turned out to be a big mistake and while this game was well-intentioned, it ends up slowing itself down and what they've created was a very average platformer and not much else. Definitely not a Sonic game.

Graphics; the game looks great, there's no denying that. FMV's are great, and the character polygon counts really have gone up from the DC days. In 2-player mode, the game's loaded with slowdown and washed out textures, though. And up close, the characters look like plastic action figures (particularly Sonic and Knuckles.) On one player, though, very few frame rate drops, and sometimes the levels (the final ones, for example) look amazing. Very little to complain about here.

Story; In an effort to take the series back to it's roots, what was included was a story that would have been great in a Genesis game. The fact is, there's hardly any plot here at all. Every team has their own paper-thin plot, with only Team Chaotix's (I'm being generous here) plot offering any interest at all. I'll explain every plot here;

Sonic- Sonic is running around in a canyon, (for no reason whatsoever,) and he receives a letter from Robotnik, um...I mean, Eggman (...) threatening of a world domination plan within 24 hours. Team Sonic goes after Eggman.

Dark- Shadow, who died as he fell from the Space Colony ARK in Sonic Adventure 2, wakes up in Eggman's base. He has no memory, and no idea who he is. He wants to find Eggman to hear his true identity. Rouge the Bat goes along, claiming that she wants to find Eggman's fortune, as does the robot Omega, who's angry at being locked in a room. (for no reason whatsoever.)

Team Rose- Amy wants to see Sonic, Cream the Rabbit wants to find a chao, and Big wants to find his frog, who, for reasons unknown, is missing. (For no reason whatsoever.) Eggman is believed to be the culprit, (For no reason whatsoever.) They set off on their adventure.

Team Chaotix- A team of detectives, in desperate need of money, take the assignment from a mysterious man who wants them to go after Eggman. They really need the money to pay the rent, and must go. Who is this mysterious client? Why does he want them to go after Eggman? All these questions are in Team Chaotix's minds as they set off on their adventure.

Team Chaotix's adventure is really the only plot MILDLY acceptable, because their story offers a cool, (although, eventually, expected) twist.

Team Dark's story has somewhat of a surprising ending...although due to the poor writing/translation, nobody's sure what the hell the ending is trying to say about Shadow. Those who have seen the ending likely know what I'm talking about. The entire story of Team Dark is a little stupid in Sonic Heroes, in fact. Shadow is brought back from the dead...for no given reason at all. I spent the whole game waiting for some explanation, SOMETHING, but it never happens. What's even more pathetic is the various characters' reactions to seeing their "dead" friend back alive. I think Rouge says (in a very mildly excited voice,) "shadow," when she sees him. Sonic calls Shadow "stubborn and full of surprises." (Although I don't know if he was referring to Shadow being back alive, or to the fact that Shadow was now challenging him to a fight.) Other characters simply have no reaction at all.

Things are even worse for the other 2 teams' plots. They are just there, and offer minimal excitement. It's unfortunate that Sonic's plot is actually one of the worst in the game. Very little thought was put into the storyline of this game, it turns out. It's not that I expect a Final Fantasy-like plot in a Sonic game, but a plot that makes sense, or at least provides a compelling reason to continue the game, would have been nice. Sonic Adventure 1 featured a cool backstory, involving a situation that occured many years ago, angering a beast that later took revenge. Sonic Adventure 2 featured 2 very well put-together plots, with an intense and action-packed ending. Sonic Heroes, though, features a final act that comes out of nowhere, where the villain (I don't need to say who he is, he's on all the trailers) appears fully for the very first time.

A person playing this Sonic game without having played SA1 and SA2 will not expect much in the way of plot, so they won't be too disappointed, I guess, (although it's still weak for the genre.) Those of us who played Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, though, probably will be let down. The stories weren't great but for what they were, they were interesting and they really made the games a lot more memorable. Sonic Heroes doesn't have that. This plot just doesn't go anywhere, folks, with only 8 second cutscenes (sometimes even shorter) between levels. And unlike the Sonic Adventure games, which I could play in front of people without feeling like an idiot, Sonic Heroes's story is a lot more...childish, as if they were targeting a younger audience. This is clearly not the same Sonic that provided the Dreamcast such a cool and memorable launch back in 1999.

Gameplay; All the different modes of play for individual characters are now gone, combined into the level. So during a level, you not only get to run, but you have to use power and flying. This is because Sonic now goes through levels with Tails and Knuckles by his side (amazing that they can keep up,) and (as they constantly remind us,) "through team work, they can get the job done!"

No longer do you have to spend levels hunting emeralds or shooting enemies, or even fishing. It's all about "getting to the end." Some consider this an improvement; I don't, personally, because instead of having a Sonic level with full, unrelenting speed, (as was the case in SA1 and SA2 and the Genesis games,) you get levels that go on for too long, and that are not fun at all. There are very few moments in the levels where you get to go fast. The levels constantly have to throw enemies at you (so you can make use of your Power character,) and they constantly have to throw things at you to fly over. It ends up dramatically slowing down the game. The only time it really seems to pick up speed is on grind rails. And I know the "variety" of the Sonic Adventure games was criticized, but I've gotta say, Sonic Heroes could really use some, because no matter which team you play on (and you have to play as all of them to unlock the Final Chapter,) the game pretty much plays exactly the same, with the same levels and nearly the same level designs for each team. To be fair, (setting aside the fact that this is a Sonic game,) the gameplay itself can at times be pretty fun, and some of the levels are creative and there are some nice moments of speed (although way too few and far in between.) The game also introduces a pretty interesting "level up" system that adds a fresh touch to the Sonic gameplay. None of these changes really add any much-needed speed to the proceedings, though, and this game's just not fast enough to be a Sonic game. We also see the horrible addition of enemies with health meters, so rather than hitting the enemy and running, you must now stop and fight enemies constantly, hitting them several times until their health meters drain. The whole idea of this completely goes against what Sonic was always about; constant speed.

As I mentioned earlier, the levels are the same on every team, with only minor differences. Adding this to the paper-thin plots, it makes a game that very few people will be compelled to finish. Plus, after beating the game on everybody, you don't just get to beat LAST. You have to collect 7 chaos emeralds first, which involves running through frustrating tubes, filled with B-button mashing and clipping issues. It's a completely pace-killing move and while it does add a few hours to the gameplay, it ends up being a few hours of frustration rather than fun. Bosses are another problem. Like the Sega Genesis games, there are bosses after every 2 acts, or levels. (Yes, this game brings back the "2-act" system, so every 2 levels end up looking pretty much the same, further adding to the game's repetitive feel.) The problem is that these days, having boss fights occur so often really dulls their impact. It doesn't help that the bosses are some of the least inspired and lazy I've ever come across in a video game. For example, a "boss" might consist of fighting a bunch of robots from the game's levels in an arena, as Robotnik hovers above you out of your reach not lifting a finger. There ARE some story-related bosses. Characters run into each other and then start fighting for really stupid reasons. Early in the game, Amy runs into Sonic, and says "alright, Sonic, now there's no way out of marrying me." She then proceeds to attempt to beat the crap out of your team. Did I mention that this takes place on top of a skyscraper, where team members could fall off and get killed? That should show you how pointless and forced these team fights are. Just not very well thought out. Gameplay-wise, Sonic Heroes is repetitive, slow, and often boring. By blending all the gameplay problems with the Sonic Adventure games into 1 level, they succeded in removing the best things of the Sonic Adventure games; levels of uninterrupted, intense speeds. The controls also seem a bit loose when compared to the Adventure games. Overall it's really not a bad game in the gameplay department, and those who have never experienced Sonic in 3-D before might have a lot of fun here. But to those of us who know how fast Sonic can move...this game just feels slow and the team-based gameplay feels clunky. The "Act 1, Act 2" system worked well in the Genesis games when acts lasted only a couple minutes, but levels here are over 14 minutes long in some cases later in the game, and doing 2 levels at that length (each) in a row just gets repetative. The levels also, while cool-looking and pretty big, aren't particularly memorable or inspired. Add in the frustration of losing all your lives and having to start a 14-minute level over again and you can see where the gameplay starts to fall apart.

Sound- They stopped the guitar music during levels and bosses, instead opting for techno-sounding music. Again, very 16-bit, and some of it's pretty catchy. Unfortunately...when I turn on Sonic Adventure 2, (as well as Sonic Adventure,) I realize that this rock music fit in PERFECTLY with the fast speeds that these games offered. The techno music of SH, though, really doesn't offer much excitement. It's a perfetly suitable soundtrack, but really doesn't get the heart racing like the electric guitars did in Sonic Adventures 1 and 2. Rock songs are kept to character themes only, and they actually happen to be very good. Team Sonic's theme, while incredibly corny, was good, and Team Rose's song's at least an improvement over Amy's headache-inducing theme from Sonic Adventure 1.) Team Dark and Team Chaotix have awesome themes, which were stuck in my head for days. Voice acting, though, like usual, is a mixed bag. Voices range from Good (Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Eggman) to Tolerable (Rouge The Bat, Amy Rose,) to completely horrible. Why does Cream the Rabbit sound like she's drinking helium? Why does the bee on Team Chaotix sound so much like a girl? Big the Cat's voice actor does an interesting job playing the mentally challenged cat, who, by the way, makes a ''welcome'' return here, and I'm sure the 2 people who liked him in SA1 can rejoice because he's once again a main character. Tails's voice actor was replaced by a person who sounds about 6 years old. Enough said.

The voices, though, don't matter much in the long run. Aside from yelling out the same commands over and over again during gameplay, they don't have much to say. As I said, plot-wise, this game is much smaller scale in story, and cutscenes rarely last longer than 8 seconds.

Replay value- you could replay through the levels and get all A rankings to unlock different things, but why would you? The levels in general aren't much fun, and having to play through them again to get the Chaos Emeralds was annnoying enough. And in case you're wondering, no, there's no chao raising in this game.

So, the final verdict? Sonic Heroes seems to do more to take the series backwards than take it forwards. It falls far behind SA1 and SA2 in terms of plot, character developement, and fun factor. They tried to take the series back to it's roots by adding as many bosses as possible, but the bosses are completely unimaginative. And very little of Sonic's trademark speed is present here. (I should have known to expect the worst when I found out that they removed Sonic's famous spin dash.) The ending of this game seems to hint at a Sonic Heroes 2, and hopefully, it will offer more in the plot department, as well as giving us levels that are actually fun to play. Or, they can simpy scrap this idea, cancel the "Shadow the Hedgehog" spinoff that they currently have in developement, and instead, focus on giving us Sonic Adventure 3. What we have here is a solid platformer with some creative levels, some decent music, and RARE moments of fast speeds. The game's pretty well-made and features nice graphics, and there were times when I was mildly interested in the events that happened in Team Chaotix's (and Team Dark's) paper-thin storylines. But by removing the fast speeds, the attitude, and the level variety, (all characters play the same levels, all characters must play each level twice!!!) SonicTeam's ended up giving us a very average platformer with nothing much to it. Sonic fans should give it a rental, nobody else really needs to bother.

Update; When I originally reviewed this game, I awarded it an "okay" 6/10 score. Over time, though, the more I thought of the game and what it ended up doing to this series, the more I started to dislike it. I revised the score to a 4/10 and added several sentences where I called the game "horrible" and other words to that extent. In this final update, I went back in and removed those sentences, (it's really not fair to let a bitter opinion overwrite my initial comments on the game,) and while I just can't bring myself to give this game back the 6/10 score I originally gave it, I decided to compromise and bump it up to a 5/10 score. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 would have received 9's (or 8's) had I reviewed them when I first beat them on Dreamcast all those years ago. Here's hoping the Sonic series one day regains its glory.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/04, Updated 11/02/07

Game Release: Sonic Heroes (US, 01/05/04)