Sonic the Hedgehog

"Mixed bag"

Reviewing a game like Sonic The Hedgehog for Xbox 360 is hard. One one hand (and let's get this clear from the outset), the title is clearly unfinished. There are dozens of telltale signs that this was rushed for christmas 2006 and in many ways you've got to just wonder how exactly it managed to get through Microsoft's usually stringent certificating protocols. And yet despite this, I've enjoyed it a hell of a lot.

Before I get ahead of myself though, let's have a look at the games history. Coming after the much maligned Shadow The Hedgehog and far worse Sonic Riders, Sonic Team vowed to take the series "back to its roots", even down to using the name of the franchises original title. Let's be clear on this though, for better or worse they haven't. The game is far more of a cross between the two Sonic Adventures, incorporating the hub element of the first and much of the extended cast list of the second.

Following some expensive looking CGI intro screens we're dropped into the hub world of Soleanna, a seaside city filled with inhabitants that communicate by way of poorly translated text boxes – no speech to listen to here folks, move along. Here you'll talk to folks that offer hints as to where to go next or give you side missions.

And it's here that the black clouds start forming. Once they've told you what they want you to do and you've accepted the mission, you'll be greeted by a loading screen for around 20 seconds. At this point you'd expect to go directly to the mission, but no! The character will appear again and a text box will appear saying more or less exactly what it said on the first one and then there'll be another 20 second load before the mission actually begins. Upon completion of the mission (which generally last a minute or so), there'll be another load to get to the score tally screen and then another to return to the hub. To say it begins to grate after a while would be an understatement. Given that the first Sonic Adventure featured similar side missions in the hub and wasn't afflicted with this, you've got to wonder who thought this would be acceptable. This is a shame really as some of the side missions are pretty fun.

Generally speaking the main action stages fare much better. The game is divided into three chapters – one for Sonic himself, one for Shadow (this time using numerous vehicles in his quest) and one for brand new introduction Silver, who uses telekinesis to catch and return enemy projectiles. Whilst in these episodes you'll play as the eponymous character the most, you'll also take over various side characters at different points, such as Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Omega, Blaze and Rouge. Each have the various attributes that you'll have seen in their previous outings, although bizarrely Tails and Rouge now comes armed with throw-able bombs.

Anyone who's played the previous 3D Sonic titles will know what to expect here, with high speed levels filled with the usual loops, ravines and sudden deaths. Whilst the level design is probably the best we've seen in a 3D Sonic to date (much of the "Crisis City" level for example is frankly breathtaking), the same old camera and control issues are still intact. You will get used to them eventually, but it's a shame they weren't more intuitive from the outset. I won't spoil the story (mainly as there's little to actually spoil), but the way the three chapters interweave is well done and although it won't win any awards, the plot does chug along nicely in the background.

Graphically speaking, the game is a mixed bag. Whilst the action stages look very nice, the more realistic art design of the characters was a questionable decision on Sonic Team's part and you'll quite often find things slowing down to a near halt when you get a lot of explosions on the screen at once. Fair enough if it were a Dreamcast game, but it isn't. It's also not particularly handy in a game where extreme speed is a key component. Also the hub stages look nowhere near as nice as the main levels, seeming very flat and dull in comparison to the frequently striking sections in the action stages.

Sound wise, the infrequent dialogue is standard Sonic game fare – in other words it's not a total travesty, but it's hardly up to Gears Of War standard of voice acting. Luckily the music is pretty excellent. Kicking out the cheesetastic vocal tracks of the last few Sonic games, we get some great stuff that had it been played on MIDI keyboards wouldn't sound out of place in the old Sonic titles. And I mean that as a compliment. The main title theme is a highlight, as is the chilled acoustic version of it that crops up upon completing a level.

Longevity was never a real selling point of the old Sonic titles, but this one is absolutely huge. If you're going to do all the side missions then each chapter will take you around 10 hours, not to mention the final chapters unlocked upon completing the main three. And if you're looking to get S ratings on all levels to unlock all the games (admittedly tough) achievements, then you could be looking at about 50 hours in total.

Of course much of this will depend on how willing you are to spend quite that much time playing through a game that never really looks like it was anywhere near properly finished. All of Sonic's recent outings have divided fans and this one will probably do so even more, particularly as it was so aggressively touted by its creators as being the reboot of the franchise. With six or so months extra work, this could have been something special. As it is, whilst there's a lot to enjoy in it, it's still one to approach with caution.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/07