"Speed is the majority of Sonic and this game certainly delivers to what it is"

13 years in the making, Sonic has come a long way. What makes him so popular is the fact that he is unique in one way: his speed. Unfortunately though, it seems that when he transitioned from 2D to 3D, the speed was somewhat lost and it made a slight downside to his games. However, year 2001 comes and a new 3D Sonic game is introduced entitle Sonic Heroes and by far, this is certainly the speed that Sonic is all about.

Story - 8/10
There are 4 teams in this game, thus providing 4 different story perspectives. Essentially, it is still the same story, just with different motives. However, the story is nowhere near complex yet at the same time, provides very few details of it that you may have thought you missed something along the way. Not necessarily a total bad thing, but a few more background details wouldn't hurt.

Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles): Sonic is running around at high speed in a desert when Tails and Knuckles appear in Tails' plane. Tails provides Sonic with a letter written by Eggman, saying that he has developed the ultimate weapon and will conquer the world in 3 days. Sonic looks interested, Tails feels a little worried, and Knuckles thinks it will be a piece of cake and is laid back. Thus they are now reunited and are going on a mission to stop Eggman.

Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge, Omega): Rouge heard that Eggman has got a lot of treasure stored at his base so she heads off to his base, but sees that all the treasures were gone already. However, what remained inside the base was a capsule and what was in it shocked her. It was Shadow, in an unconscious position. She tries to free him, but at the same time, reactivates Omega, one of Eggman's robots who was abandoned at the base. Omega hates Eggman for abandoning him and decides to destroy all of his robots. He mistakes Shadow as one and starts attacking until Rouge settles down the fight. Listening to their stories, they all knew that it involves Eggman and with so many questions arise, they decided to form a team and search for him to look answers.

Team Rose (Amy, Cream, Big): Resting on the beach, Amy is looking at a newspaper article with a picture of Sonic in it. Wondering where he went, she accidentally let goes of the article and the wind blew it away, until Cream flies and tries to grab it but misses. On the other hand, her Chao, Cheese, got it back. Unfortunately, they were blown away until Big appears and saves them with his umbrella. All of them looked at the article and were next to Sonic was Chocola, who is Cheese's missing friend, and Froggy, who was Big's missing friend. Amy was searching for Sonic, but why not search for them at the same time? So they decided to form a team to find them.

Team Chaotix (Espio, Charmy, Vector): Team Chaotix, despite being a team, was also a detective agency. They solve various cases given by the people. Recently, there has been a lack of them and therefore, they are just relaxing in the office, having nothing to do. One day, they received a package and it was a walkie-talkie with someone on the other end. This person promised the Chaotix a lot of money if they take the case. Espio feels doubtful but Vector convinces him to tag along. Thus the team goes and starts following the mysterious person's orders.

Gameplay - 9/10
There is, without a doubt, a sense of speed in this game. Stages are massive, and there is rarely a point where you will just stand around. Various features of Sonic games are still intact but there is a brand new concept that has never been done before in previous Sonic games: Teamwork.

Unlike in previous Sonic games where you only control one character, in this game, you control 3, with one you control and become as "leader". There are 3 types of formations in this game: Speed, Fly, and Power. Speed are your fast ones, fly can fly through obstacles, and power can destroy huge objects with ease. Each formation is marked with a color and each team has one of each formation. This is a major concept of this game, as each formation is necessary in order to clear a stage.

Each character has different abilities for their formation and help balance the power of the teams. This essentially means that each formation will have at least one type of move that is usable by all of the characters for that formation. For example, for fly formation, you can fly through obstacles and get to higher places. There are also moves which require the help from teammates in order for it to be used. For example, the speed formation move "Rocket Accel" requires the fly and power character to push the speed character for a charge up speed ball attack. However, individually, characters have their own set of skills they can use. For example, Sonic and Shadow can perform the Light Dash to dash along a trail of rings whereas Amy can spin her hammer to momentarily float in air. This is a good thing, as if they didn't have unique individual abilities, then it becomes quite boring playing with characters with the same abilities. However, the formations bring repetition, and knowing that if you destroy objects with Knuckles, it will be no different than if you destroy them with Omega, Big, or Vector. Finally, one ability that can be performed by the entire team is something called "Team Blast". Each team has a unique team blast ability, all of which are devastating and can help you out in complex situations. With team blast, the characters join together to create a destructive attack that can destroy practically every enemy in the vicinity. However, it takes time to charge up so only use it if necessary.

The stages themselves are gigantic. They are nowhere near the size of the Sonic Adventure series; matter of fact they are 2-3 times bigger. The stage designs are all very unique. It is so unique that the stages are very entertaining to play in and provides a different way to play. For example, in one of the stages, you actually play on a pinball machine and another stage where you grind on rails for the majority of the stage. Best of all, there are NO shooting or the exploration part of the treasure hunting stages! Thank god they got rid of that, it was absolutely not fun to play those. The whole game is linear; you start from point A and head for point B on the stage's course. There are, with one exception, no cases where you will need to go back due to something.

In every stage, the formations are involved. As mentioned before, all formations are required to be used in order to clear a stage. There are various obstacles scattered around the course and you will need a specific formation in order to pass it. Most of the time, a sign with the formation color and name for it will indicate you which formation to use to pass it. However, in some situations, it would actually be based on your opinion on how you want to pass the obstacle. However, this is for some; most of the time, the obstacles require the correct formation in order to pass. For example, there would be times where you need to catch a wind draft in order to go on. The only formation that could do that would be power formation so you are forced to use that formation. On the other hand, there are some occasions where you can choose. For example, there may be a certain point where there are rocks blocking on your path and you must get up to a higher location. In this situation, you have two options: you can use power formation to destroy the rock and reveal the bumper inside which will get you up OR you can use fly formation to fly up and not have to worry about the rocks. Such situations give you a bit more freedom and allow you to choose your strategy on which you prefer.

There are 4 teams to play as, each with a preset difficulty for the team. Team Rose are for beginners and generally have shorter stages. Team Sonic are fast and have moderate difficulty since the stages are longer. Team Dark are for advanced players with a combination of high speed, long stages, and a more focus on combat. The only unique team is Team Chaotix where its difficulty lies somewhere between Team Sonic and Team Dark. Unlike the rest of the teams where their goal is to head for the goal ring, Team Chaotix has certain missions they need to complete for every stage in order to clear it. The great thing about this is that you don't need to complete a team's story immediately. You can play one of the team's story and then go for another one if you want to. On the other hand, there is a downside to this. No matter what team you play as, you go through the same stages. This is sort of a bad thing, what saves it is the fact that despite each team goes through the same stages, none of them have the exact same stage design. For example, for the first stage, Seaside Hill, Team Sonic's version of it and Team Rose's version of it are not the same and Team Dark's and Team Sonic's aren't the same either. Though there are similar parts for both, the way they will clear the stage won't be the same.

Taken from the system of Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle), the emblem and ranking system returns. However, there are less missions than that of Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle) which can either be a disappointment or a good thing. Certainly, it won't take as long but on the other hand, some of the missions from that game were quite fun. Oh well, still, this game does have a great deal amount of emblems so it is still good.

Special stages. Yes, it is actually the special stages where you collect the Chaos Emeralds! It is the first time a 3D Sonic game has special stages in it so this is a certainly welcoming thing. Although, however, the Special stage is a slight flawed, it doesn't matter. First time having it in a 3D Sonic game is excellent.

Lastly, multiplayer options. There are various modes to play in, but when you start out, there is only one mode to play in. To unlock the other modes, you need to collect more emblems. The multiplayer modes you can play are excellent, a lot of variety to it. Unfortunately, what lacks are the stages you play in for each mode. Compared to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, there are practically so few stages to play in. Still, the variety of modes you can play is enough to enjoy it. Some of the modes include racing and fighting and knocking the opposing player out and even a driving contest.

For the most part, the gameplay is smooth and is certainly focused on speed. But there is one major downfall for this game: the controls. I can't say how times that the controls usually lead me to my death. A situation will be when there are multiple rails adjacent to each other; if you try to jump onto another one, you will sometimes actually miss it and fall to your doom. Though it rarely occurs, it will happen. The Homing Attack sometimes can go in a weird angle and you would actually miss and fall. Not to mention if you miss while in mid-air, then you actually fall to your doom instead. Faulty controls such as this are not a good thing and needs some refinement to it.

Graphics - 10/10
The graphics are amazingly beautiful. The stage designs are very crisp and bright, not to mention that many look very realistic which is a great thing. Ocean Palace and Frog Forest, by far, have the most beautiful graphics for stages in this game. The water is actually shimmering brightly, the rain actually looks like as if it was a heavy storm. Even the thunderstorms show the actual lightning. All of these create an excellent realistic environment and makes playing the game a little more enjoyable. The cutscenes themselves are spectacular, you can clearly see the details of the characters and in the location they are in. No matter how you see it, the graphics are extremely awesome.

Music/Sound - 9/10
The music are upbeat and have an excellent soundtrack. All the music fits the theme to the certain stage or event in a cutscene. The vocal songs, in particular, are some of the best ones I have heard and all of them really suit their respective themes/teams. The full version of Sonic Heroes (the song) is actually quite great to listen. The music is awesome. Sound, on the other hand, is a different story. The sound effects are great, not a huge problem here. The various rock smashing, rain falling, and enemies slamming, they are done great. The major concern is the voice acting. While most of the characters have a voice that I can even agree that it works for them, some just doesn't and are sometimes annoying. Moreover, the characters talk in the stages also which means that you get use to it anyway. Still, Tails and Charmy are ones that need major improvement. Cream, maybe, though I think it is perfectly fine for her. But Tails definitely. Sounds like as if he had a flu or something and that is not really good.

Replay Value - 9/10
Without a doubt, this game will keep you back for more. The emblem collecting to unlock more multiplayer options and trying to get all A ranks keeps you busy for a while. The missions are quite challenging actually and takes a lot of skill in order to achieve an A rank. The reward after doing all of that is actually quite nice. Certainly will keep you playing for a while.

Overall - 9/10
Overall, Sonic Heroes is a great game with many features to play. The new idea of teams and being able to play through massive stages is excellent and does pretty well with it. Sonic Heroes returns some of the speed that Sonic lost when transition to the 3D world and includes many of the common Sonic elements which makes the game fun. Overall, it is a definite game that is worth playing and must have.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/05, Updated 12/27/06