"Part fantastic, part drastic."

Introduction:
Sonic's PS2 debut, developed by Sega. They have attempted a game in which you control a team of three, there are four teams to play with, Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles), Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge, Omega), Team Rose (Amy, Cream, Big) and Team Chaotix (Espio, Charmy, Vector). The genre is platform, the review is on.

Storyline:
You pursue Eggman, you get Emblems.

Graphics:
3D really doesn't suit Sonic, so the 3D graphics have to be a negative, incredibly detailed characters make up for it though, they show emotion, they show realistic movement and all in all look quite good. Camera angles are annoying though, you can't see around you so anything could come and clobber you up the backside without you knowing. Next, the attention to detail - its absolutely brilliant, you see everything from the effects on the grass to the eyes on killer whales, textures are everywhere, giving the game a polished look. Finally, the game screen is tidy and shows you everything you need to know, without cluttering the screen. Overall graphics are on a positive leading into the next category.

Sound:
Terrible, absolutely terrible. Firstly, the character voices, they are repetitive and annoying as well as sounding like rejects. Cheesy menu and level music is atrocious to this department too, it is tedious and boring with what seems like a ten second track played on repeat. The only positive in the sound section is the decent video music, that's not bad at all. Sound annihilates all the positives graphics gave, back to square one.

Gameplay:
Back up to positive, the same levels fifteen times with four teams can get very boring after time. The vast amount of moves they crammed in though is exceptional, about ten unique moves for each member of the team, Speed guys have lots of cool rapid attacks and speed accelerations, the flying guys have air attacks and boosts whilst the power guys have sheer force. Another positive is the collectable's, there are many things to collect, lots of which unlock new multi player modes and extra stuff in the Cinematic's Theatre and Audio Room. Multi player is sheer fun, with everything from duels to races, and the difference in each little mini-game is the gem. Finally - the extra stuff, like driving and grinding, it adds potential and fun. Gameplay is good.

Game Time:
Not too long to do the single player stuff, its quite easy and as its a children's game at heart it doesn't pose much challenge at you. Multi player adds a lot of game time though if you have friends to play with.

Extras:
Songs, videos, modes and loads of other stuff is ripe for unlocking.

Final Recommendation:
Its average, great for the kids at home. Compared to what else we have on the PS2 it feels a little dated. It is Sonic though, and the Sonic touch is still in there.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 04/12/04

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