Sonic Heroes

"Sonic is back and in his best 3D adventure yet !"

Being the blue hedgehog's first original 3D game release in over 2 and 1/2 years, expectaions were pretty high for Sonic Heroes from both the hardcore Sonic lovers like myself to the average platform gamer. With a new ''team'' system, larger levels, and fun multiplayer modes, this was just the thing Sonic needed to get back into the spotlight. Being Sonic the Hedgehog's first multiplatform game, Sonic Heroes has been well worth the wait.

In the game, you select one of four teams. Team Sonic, which consists of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, Team Rose, which consists of Amy, Big the Cat, and Cream the Rabbit, team Dark, which consists of Shadow, Rouge, and E-123 Omega. The last team, team Chaotix, consists of Vector, Espio, and Charmy. Fans will get a wave of nostalgia when they see the Chaotix for the first time in almost 10 years. Each team has a speed, power, and fly character. The formations can be switched at will, allowing acess to different areas.

Game progression is basically how you would picture any classic Sonic game: head through the level at high speed, pick up rings, and do the occassional exploring for an item box. Each team has a varying difficulty level. Team Rose is good for beginners, team Sonic and team Chaotix both have a difficulty level that is somewhere in the middle, and team Dark is for advanced players. Team Chaotix's adventure involves finding hidden items, and is good because it varies the types of gameplay. There missions are usually challenging enough, but not tediously so.

Sonic is looking his best ever in Sonic Heroes. The game uses many vibrant colors in its level design, which is a whole different topic. Levels are designed greatly and give you that great ''Sonic'' feel. Most of them seem familiar to Sonic fans, and they will love them. Some of the high-speed portions of levels are completley insane, with loops, corkscrews, and other twists and turns. I have yet to experience any slowdown or clipping while playing either. The in game menus and level start up screens also have an oldschool feel to them, which heavily reminded me of those used in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

The controls take some getting used to, but you will be doing a Thunder Shoot in no time with some practice. The team switching mechanics take time to get used to, but after the first level you will have your team switching like second nature. Each character also has many different attacks and abilities, which make them ''special'' and crucial to the new teamwork aspect. The Xbox controller also closley resembles a Dreamcast controller, so for all of those used to playing the other Sonic games on Dreamcast should not worry. If you are familiar with Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, you should be familiar with the camera style in Heroes. It is far from perfect, but it gets the job done and can be overlooked. It often throws you in a completley different direction, and you may not know whether to press forward or pull back on the joystick until your death a million feet below the stage. It just takes some time getting used to. It can be rotated with the L and R triggers, which usually allows for a better view. The right joystick can be used for a first-person look mode.

The classic Sonic style music is in full effect,and that is a good thing for some. Others simply hate this kind of fast-rock-1980's esque music. Each team has a theme song, which suit them approprietly. Many of the classic sound effects are back, such as the sound of rings and the chimes at the end of beating a stage. The character voices, which can be annoying at first are actually pretty good and seem to fit each character. I just wish tails' voice wasn't so kiddy like. Big's, Cream's, and Charmy's voices tend to get annoying as well...but you get used to them.

All in all, Sonic Heroes is a great return to form for Sonic and is a must buy for Sonic fans. It is better than both of the Sonic Adventure games, with an emphasis more on speed than item collecting. There is also high replay value for the game because many things can be unlocked such as different multiplayer modes. The 4 different teams also provide more replay value, but there levels are essentialy the same (just tweaked a little). If you were disapointed by the adventure series, pick this up. You will have a great time. If you never liked Sonic in the first place, this game probably won't change the way you feel about him. The team aspect brings new life to whom was thought of as ''dead'' !

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/29/04