Sonic the Hedgehog

"The Sonic series continues it's downward spiral"

Sonic The Hedgehog has now entered the next gen arena. Sadly, the impossible has happened and a Sonic game has been made worse than Shadow the Hedgehog. Our new Sonic title has an absurd plot, some of the worst loading times for a next gen title, a crappy town setup and enough glitches to ruin anything Sega may have been wishing for. Is it all dark and grim in this Sonic game? Sadly it is....

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh with the plot. I admit I didn't witness much of it because I actually quit the game after the first few levels. Let's just say the plot takes place in the present time and 200 years in the future where Silver the Hedgehog lives and goes back into the past to fix some sort of something or other. To be honest I don't know and as usual the plot seems like it could just be tossed out.

Graphic wise Sonic is bland looking. The character models look slightly better than the ones in Shadow and a bit bigger. I think that's the big difference, the characters and stuff are bigger. No clue why. The look of the levels is rather weak and I found them to be just bland and uninspired. So much so that it seemed like I had played the levels before.

Sound wise it's a mixed bag. The new music is less than interesting. Voice acting is about the same as it was before but just a smidge better. Not really a good thing but it's at least something this game has going it for it over Shadow the Hedgehog. Sound effects are a bit off at times and also lack any real interests. Except explosions. They sound cool.... Heck, even the fireworks in the opening cinema seemed a bit iffy.

I thought the floatyness of Shadow's control was bad but at least it felt like you were controlling him. Sonic moves and stutters around like he always has but now there are bits of super speed where the control is very sluggish and unresponsive. So much so that I could swear I had no control over anything. Playing as Tails was also a pain because his flying felt iffy and hard to control and his attacks are so badly done that well it sucks to even think of playing as him.

So, it plays better than Shadow right? Right?!?!?!! Only in your dreams.... Remember how in Sonic Adventure the town felt a bit tedious but you never really had to spend a lot of time in it? Well welcome to hell, err I mean Sonic's towns this time around. Larger and even more lifeless. You'll need to talk to people and perform mundane tasks that not even a saint would do.

Oh and the game loves to load. Even in the middle of a stage it will load. Seriously, is this what next gen is, longer load times? I think before you enter the first level there is at least 8 long load screens and for no reason. Do a choir? It will need to load a total of three times and that's if you pass it. How annoying.

Oh but there is actual game play and each of the three main hedgehogs play differently. Sonic is all about speed and his pals Tails and Knuckles help out at times. Sadly his levels haven't evolved much except for the super speed portions which feel like a rail shooter except you're suppose to be controlling the character. Shadow seems to play just like Sonic but there is some vehicle stuff thrown in. Wow, that's exciting... They tried it in Sonic Adventure 2 and it really didn't work so why bother here. Silver is kind of neat though as he has telepathic powers and so he can lift items and toss them at enemies. Besides that it all kind of runs together.

Besides the loading and just lack of fun game play and the terrible super speed portions are there any other problems? Why yes, there is. The game is also full of glitches. I don't know how many times I found myself stuck in a wall or roof and falling to my death. Oh and if you run out of lives, to the main menu with you. I don't know how many times I had to go through the first 8 loading screens over and over until I finally beat that terribly glitchy first level. Oh and did I mention the camera is swirls around like a tornado at times. A number of times as Tails I would throw a ring bomb or whatever and suddenly when I could see Tails the camera was facing his face. Thus making me see none of the stuff that is happening where I am supposed to go.

Does the game have replay value? Sure, as much as the other more recent ones but no return of the Chao garden is a shame. The game is still short though but the long and boring town moments really stretch it out at times.

So, would I recommend this title to even the most hardcore Sonic fan? Sure, they will eat anything up, remember Sonic Riders? I actually rented this game and while it was a waste of a free rental I'm just glad I didn't buy it because at the $60 price tag I would have been very angry at Sega and myself for buying another one of their poor rush jobs. Sega can keep this series to them selves because I won't be touching another Sonic title unless it gets fantastic professional reviews, which seems unlikely at this point.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 4/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay value - 5/10

Final Score - 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/06