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Sonic Heroes

January 21st, 2004 Jason Rybka Leave a comment Go to comments

10 years ago a man name Yuji Naka and an artist named Naoto Ohshima were given
the job of creating a mascot who would be as recognizable as Mickey Mouse.
When the then president of Sega passed down this job he probably would never
have imagined the impact Sonic would have on the gaming industry, or how big
Sonic the Hedgehog would have grown in the last 14 years. What soon became
the face officially associated with Sega has now appeared on numerous consoles,
both that of Sega, and recently branching out to others including the Xbox.
This is where we find the latest Sonic title, Sonic Heroes, spin dashing its
way into the Microsoft Xbox. Now that Sonic has broken free of the Sega console
limitations, has it begun its domination across this generation’s major platforms,
or is it going to show that Sonic is finally growing old.

The type of game play you would expect from Sonic the Hedgehog titles is fast
and requiring lightning fast reflexes as you spin and bounce to stop Dr. Eggman.
Sonic Heroes however takes a greatly different approach then other Sonic games
in the past have. This latest title requires more team work and quick decisions
to get you through levels completely, requiring you at times to slow down or
make complete stops. Taking a new approach to a game as established as Sonic
is a bold move; almost as bold as taking Sonic into the 3D world on the Dreamcast.

The focus on Sonic Heroes is to navigate your team from the beginning of the
level to the end, each utilizing there special abilities. Each team has a power
character, a speed character and a flying character, with 4 teams in total
to choose from. While each team is balanced in terms of the number of characters
they have, some teams have an edge in a certain department, such as the Chaos
team containing the strongest Power person. Sonics team of course is the strongest,
containing a good character in each section with Sonic for speed, Tails for
flying and Knuckles for power. The other teams are mainly composed of backup
stars of the cartoons and videogames such as Amy Rose, Sonic’s pink hedgehog
girlfriend.

The individual teams also take their own routes through levels, with each
team’s levels containing a different difficulty. Team Rose is made up
of Amy Rose in the speed position, Big the Cat in the power position and Cream
the Rabbit in the flying position and is rated for beginners. Team Sonic is
made up of Sonic for speed, Knuckles for power and Tails for flying, Team Sonic
is rated for medium difficulty. Team Chaotix is composed of Espio the Chameleon
for speed, Vector the Crocodile for power and Charmy Bee for flying; Team Chaotix
is rated for medium difficulty. Team Dark is made up of Shadow for speed, E-123
Omega for power and Rogue the Bat for flying, Team Dark is rated as high difficulty.

As you progress through the levels you will encounter locations that require
you to use the particular team member’s special abilities, such as flying
over a ledge, or demolishing a wall. Each location luckily contains a TV like
screen that will notify you of which character you must use to pass that section,
when in doubt look around for the screen. Some sections may require you to
complete a goal, usually defeating all the enemies on the screen before you
are permitted to proceed. Overall the game takes a simple approach to the previous
Sonic titles, and still contains the basic goal of getting from point A to
B.

Like previous Sonic games the controls are very simple, as Sonic throughout
history has only done so much. The B and Y buttons are used to switch characters
and the X button is attack, A is as always to jump and the white button is
to do your super attack. The L and R triggers are used to rotate the camera
in their respective directions and the left analogue stick is to control your
movement. While the button layout is simple, it does however take time to get
the hang of controlling Sonic in 3D, especially if your last memory of Sonic
was when he was flat and stuck in the 2D world of Genesis. Of all the characters
in the game I found the speed characters to be the most difficult to control,
with many ledges and bad camera control you find yourself falling off ledges
or running into enemies easily. In the 20+ hours I have poured into this title,
both in single and multiplayer, I often find myself cursing the camera angles
and lack of control I have over the speed characters.

Graphically Sonic Heroes is a solid title, while you will not find photo
realistic textures or pixel shading galore, you will however see clean models
and environments. Like all Sonic games the levels have always been composed
of bright colors and a number of twists and turns. This latest game however
contains much larger levels then previous titles, all with wonderful detail,
floating cat walks made of energy that can be seen through and beaches with
waves breaking as they hit the shore etc. With multiple ways to proceed through
levels depending on the character you prefer to use as your primary, the level
designers did a wonderful job on creating enjoyable and imaginative levels.
The character models and animations are also nicely done from their combat
actions to special moves.

Sonic Heroes Screenshot

[ Additional Screenshots Temporarily Unavailable, Sorry. ]

As always the music in Sonic is up beat and only lends to the mood of dashing
through a level. In it’s simplicity it has proven the test of time, staying
with the series since its founding and becoming a memorable part of the Sonic
experience. The characters are all nicely voiced, though they do lack a variety
of things to say. Often you will hear a character recommend their use in a
situation, or another character will recommend them. While the voices do sound
as you would expect each character to sound, they do become repetitive over
time playing the game, especially with the frequent changing of characters
to get through each section. A number of different sayings to call focus to
a character would have made this easier to deal with.

The replay value in Sonic is high; you can proceed through each level in a number
of ways, as well as have 4 separate teams, each with their own level set that
you can complete the game with. At the end of each level you are also given
a letter grade to represent how well you went through the course, scoring higher
helps to unlock other features, such as 2 player modes. With such a large variety
of levels, character play types and secrets to find through each level, Sonic
Heroes is a game that will stay in your system for some time until it is completely
beaten. Will you be able to complete the game with all 4 teams?

In general Sonic Heroes is a solid title, though like all conversions to the
3D realm, they aren’t always the best idea. Much like previous 3D sonic titles
the camera and speed do not go well together; when moving quickly through level
you often lose track of your character if they fall from a ledge abruptly or
simply do not have time to react as objects appear ahead. The camera was the
downfall of my enjoyment of this title, a good camera is a necessity of a good
3D game and this is where Sega failed Sonic Heroes. You would think if you
can stop and look around you, you would be able to look below and above you,
however this wasn’t the case. I was often stuck not knowing if there was a
platform below me to jump on and blindly leaping to what I hope wasn’t my
death.

Of all my experiences with Sonic titles, back to the first on the Sega
Genesis and even on handhelds like Game Gear, the best have always been in
2D. Sonic Heroes lacks the constant speed of a Sonic title, and when you
are given that speed, it often leads to your death or you easily getting hurt
by things you were given no time to react to. Some things are just better left
alone, and Sonic in the 2D world was one of them.

Overall Score: 6.7/10 [Not an Average]