Sonic the Hedgehog

"The Fastest Thing Alive?"

The story of Sonic the Hedgehog kicks off with a beautiful CG cutscene, which sets a positive tone for the entire story. The only question now is, does it live up to it?

Indeed it does. However, while the story of Sonic, Shadow and Silver is indeed a good one, it is not enough to save this game from an average score.

Story

The story is quite well written, and evolves into more than just stopping Dr. Robotnik's insatiable thirst for power. Sonic's story feels awfully familiar, but manages to earn some props. Shadow's story delves into his new life as an agent working for the President, but it also reveals some remaining skeletons that the troubled hedgehog still has in his closet. Silver's story is quite good, and deals with his drive to change the past to save the future, as well as his misplaced trust and ideals. The overall story is very well done, and characters frequently cross paths, either to help each other out or feud, and while they all have different goals, they all end up in the same position towards the end.

Graphics

Compared the other next-gen games, the graphics aren't quite up to snuff. Compared to current-gen games, however, the graphics are a few bounds ahead. Character models look great and action levels appear to be pretty lively, but adventure levels, such as the town of Soleanna and the forest surrounding it, are dull and bland. Shading looks good from a distance, but during the cutscenes which use in-game character models, shading is pretty blocky and sticks out like a sore thumb. The CG cutscenes are a wondrous sight, and it's a damn shame that there are so few in the game.

Sound

The game begins to decline in quality here. Level music isn't very lively at all, and does nothing to contribute to the experience. While previous games in the franchise had very lively, memorable music, this game has very dull, sometimes grating music which you won't even remember a few minutes after you complete a level. Moving along, voiceovers are a mixed bag. Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Mephiles and Shadow's voiceovers are very good and I have no gripes there. Knuckles' voiceover is pretty average, but is a gold mine compared to the rest. Tails, per usual, is just plain annoying. Rouge is very monotone, and it sounds like the person who was voicing her wasn't even trying. Elise is very inconsistent. Sometimes she sounds wonderful, other times she's very monotonous and dull. Finally, Silver's voice is extremely grating and whiny, and it pains me to listen to him speak.

Gameplay

Now we arrive at the very heart of the game -- the gameplay. The levels are quite inventive and, while challenging, won't frustrate you to the point where you have a controller sized hole in your television. The vehicle controls in Shadow's levels are surprisingly good, which is big step up from 'Shadow the Hedgehog'. Also, while the vehicles are easy and fun to commandeer, you are only forced to use them two or three times, which is a plus for those who want to replay his levels differently. Basic game controls are pretty good and you won't find yourself dying because a button was unresponsive. However, this brings me to one of my main gripes about the game -- The camera. Sonic Team has promised since camera trouble began in Sonic Adventure that they would "fix the problem". However, it's been seven years and they have done no such thing. The camera is very clunky and frustrating to maneuver, which has caused me to die many times due to the fact that I couldn't see an enemy or that huge as hell cliff which is the edge of the level. Moving along, let's get to one of my minor gripes with the game -- Levels are repeated. It feels like Sonic Team made a handful of very inventive levels and then said, "Okay, now let's put [insert character] in the level and change a few details." It's not very fun to play a level two or three times in different stories with only a few details changed. Finally, let's get to my main problem with 'Sonic the Hedgehog' -- The game is way too slow. While I do understand that Silver was meant to be slow, the fact that Sonic, "The Fastest Thing Alive", moves at 55 miles per hour is annoying. Throughout the entire game, I never got the sense of speed which the Sonic franchise is all about. It felt like Sonic was trying to obey the speed limit to avoid a ticket, even though he runs more than twice the speed limit in other games in the franchise. Speed, which is what the Sonic franchise was built on, is disturbingly absent in the game.

In conclusion, while this game has an excellent story, good looking graphics and some great gameplay, mediocre music, horrible voiceovers and shoddy gameplay mechanics detract from the experience, leaving the game with an average score.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/06