Sonic Heroes

Sonic finally arrives on all platforms - but does his latest outing lack the thrills of a real Adventure? The definitive review.

	Version Xbox, GCN, PS2	Developer Sonic Team	Publisher SEGA	Genre 3D Platform

By Adam Doree

Opinion on the success of the Sonic Adventure games for Dreamcast and GameCube is bizarrely divided. All you hear from some is bitching and whining about the marginally flawed camera system, as though an action platformer lives or dies by this singular element. Others adored the characters, the level design, the music and the thrill of Sonic in his first proper three-dimensional outings. Needless to say, I was included in that latter group of observers.

Along comes Sonic Heroes, and if controversy ever stuck Sega's most famed franchise (not including the Sammy-inspired Sonic pachinko machine - but that's another matter) then this would be it. The reason is the new play system that has the player use three characters simultaneously. When I was lucky enough to get some brief hands-on with Heroes before E3 last year, I was undecided as to whether or not the three-character system actually worked or not; the game's introductory levels of the game would inevitably fail to do justice to any depth this new system might offer. And in our massive hands-on and media blowout with the game towards the end of last year, I was more confident that it worked, but ultimately, still undecided.

Why is it so important? Well, the whole point of Heroes is this system, and if it's a load of old crap, then the game surely is too. Well what I can promise is that the system isn't a gimmick. It's not the result of some BS meeting in which Naka, Nagoshi and co sat down and said, "I know what, three characters, and you swap them around to fly, speed and power through the levels! Yeah, that'll do". Well - maybe it kinda is - but fortunately it becomes less of a gimmick as the levels in the game get tougher and force you to use the three-character system with skill and timing.

To this end, it really would be fair to say that Sonic Heroes represents a leap forward for the series. It's certainly not the first time this genre has seen a dual- or (I'm pretty sure) tri-character system like this, but it's certainly new to the Sonic series. And frankly, were it not for this relative innovation, the game would undoubtedly be more of the same, an unforgiving rehash of the Adventure games.

It adds an extra layer of depth that, in the core 3D platform game stakes, was sorely missing. Instead of jumping platforms and hitting switches, you're constantly assessing which character is best suited to a situation - and although you're given huge hints in the form of signs, voiced comments from the on-screen trio, and even character auto-swappers during the easier portion of the game, it still adds a new layer, no matter how simple. What was a pretty bold move on the part of Sonic Team has definitely paid off.

Well that's far too much time spent talking about the play system. What about the rest of the game then, is it the same old Sonic? Yep, pretty much. In fact, it's pretty dammed good - but not without some unforgivable faults.

In terms of levels, Sonic Heroes offers some exemplary design. Fundamentally the design is simple, it's a standard A-B affair, but each level looks beautiful and (at least with its adjacently paired level), distinctive and unique. Witness Frog Forest and Lost Jungle, massive levels of green justice in which green and black frogs affect the weather when they see you, sometimes opening the sky so that rain falls to grow plants and vines, creating all-new routes to your goal. Hang Castle and Mystic Mansion are gorgeously presented, scary affairs in which switches swap the pull of gravity, and in the case ofTeam Chaoti(x whose levels are mission-based) a sneaky spin move blows out candles and flames around the level to progress.

The "Woah, we're getting closer to Eggman!" levels manifest themselves most awesomely in the form of Egg Fleet and Final Fortress, where things really start to get manic - before you face the final boss, Egg Emperor, which at first really takes some beating (although naturally, it's pretty easy once you know how).

The level design - particularly as the game progresses, really is exceptional. It still fits in within the basic framework of appealing to a younger audience, but older enthusiast gamers will surely take note of the many impressive moments of platforming glory.

Graphically the game is superb, offering fantastically large and well-animated sprites, lush detail and trademark good looks, colour and all that. A constant sixty frames is expected and delivered, although it's worth warning that the PS2 version is graphically the weakest. I haven't bothered to play it so I can't go into the reasons why, but I'm sure it doesn't ruin the game completely. A special mention must also go to the CGI cut-scenes, which are among the best Sega has ever put together.

The music is catchy in familiar Sonic style, but the character voices do start to annoy with considerable repetitiveness (and gayness) after a while.

In terms of other gripes, there are some appalling problems stemming from both the camera system and basic collision routines. While the camera system is fine in general, and improved over the Adventure games, you will find yourself dying all too often when it simply wasn't your fault - but rather the fault of irritatingly complacent parts of level design. Time and time again you will miss a platform, plummet to death, or simply fail to burst through a line of rings using one of Sonic's special moves, not because you're bad at the game of have failed to master a particular skill, but because it can simply, randomly go either way, in far too many scenarios. This can make certain sections of a level really frustrating - although the desire to continue and see what's next never really disappears, which is a good sign.

In addition, the other teams are a little on the crap side. Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles) is clearly the team of choice, with Team Dark a close second (it's almost identical). Team Rose is really for a much younger audience (and I suppose it's good that it's there; your (much) younger siblings will probably find this mode quite rewarding and enjoyable, and then commit loyalty to Sonic while still young and impressionable). Although, even for them, the character-driven 'story' will still be insulting; I am not joking when I say that your average episode of Teletubbies is more challenging and eventful (and in fact that goes for the story of all four teams). Team Chaotix, as mentioned before, offers a different experience to the other teams with mission based levels, where you have to collect a number of hidden items throughout a level or kill every enemy, but generally, these range from boring to bollocks. The biggest problem is that the four teams control almost identically with little, or no, non-cosmetic difference.

But just when you've forced yourself to complete the game with the remaining three teams, after the admittedly fantastic Team Sonic (Ad)venture, you realise you still don't get the special ending, like you did in Sonic Adventure 2 once completed with all the characters (also getting an extra boss to defeat in an amazing moment of Sonic ultimate storyline power and excitement). Instead, you have to get all the chaos emeralds, a process of finding a special item hidden in most levels and then completing the special stages, which are basically a rehash of the special stages you played to death in 16-BIT Sonic 2. Personally, I haven't bothered to go this far, but from what I've been told, it's all rather exciting, and as expected, offers another final boss - you might guess who, if you played completed any of the four main games.

Each team's game ended a little too soon for my liking, and I'm not completely sure the levels were bigger than those in the Adventure series - but frankly, however these levels compare in length and duration to those in previous titles, they're about the right length here. The last thing you want is for a samey-looking level to last forever; this will make you lose your determination to see what's up next. In terms of the overall game length, I'd rather it was twice as long, with twice the levels, for just one team, than this long with four teams. But at least they tried.

If you enjoyed the Adventure series you can't fail to love Sonic Heroes. In many ways it really is better than the Adventure games and falls short in only a couple of areas. Despite the ease with which cynicism has been levelled at Heroes from many quarters, I stand by my opinion that many other platform game designers can still learn a thing or two from this series, and that includes this latest instalment. Despite the rumours of last year, Sonic Heroes is a 100% pure Japanese-developed game of power, (Sonic Team America consists primarily of the familiar Japanese Sonic Team) - and basically, Sonic still has that spiky edge.