Sonic Heroes. They just don't make many games like this anymore. Chances are they are a dying breed and brightly colored 3-D platformers may be going the way of 2-D.
Sonic Heroes is a strong powerful milestone for the series and platformers in general. The trend in recent games has been to not be able to reach certain places, collect certain things without a powerup found on another level/world or after "event X" has been accomplished or unlocked. More or less resulting in forced repetition of levels and artificially lengthening gameplay. SH has none of that.
Instead your three characters have attributes; speed, fly or power. In the lead team, that's Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. The multiple branches of a level can be explored/reached by using various leads members. All in all it's a wonderful concept that offers replay value without it being forced, because you didn't have a certain item or ability. You really want to see after going through the game if you can finish certain levels with just one lead character.
The character switching is incredibly intuitive and will probably be moreso on the Xbox and PS2 given their superior button layouts. However if you were used to managing your inventory on PSO with the GCN controller you're going to be right at home. Having the camrea buttons attached to the L/R shoulder buttons feels like a standard. The final control is the Z button which unleashes a "Team Attack" that compares to a smart bomb eliminating everything nearby.
One of the gripes I do have about this game is the combat. I found it best to not to be in "speed" or "fly" formation as you would almost invariably get hit and lose your rings. The contrast though is that the "power" formation attacks seem to border on easy for combat. I'm sure as I become more advanced at the title I'll view it as challenging instead of cheap.
Graphically this is the best Sonic to date. Everything is rich, colorful and beautiful. You can see many world design similarities with Billy Hatcher, in fact it seems like Billy Hatcher on steroids. Gone are the exploring nature of SA and SA2 and in with the 3-D implemented track designs of old Sonics. The levels have a "track" feel of a 3-D racer in places and the platforming areas seem to have been scaled back. The speed missing from the SA's are back in. Face it, Sonic was meant to run, not jump.
Musically the game is Sonic, love it, hate it but now it's expected. Some cheesy guitar music and the like but we've had this for years now. The FMV cutscenes are realtime and look very good and the story? Who cares, Evil Robotnik, must be stopped.... yadda yadda yadda.
In the end ignore this 7.5 something trend the average is showing and understand that if you reared on 8 & 16 bit gaming you're going to love it. If you think videogames began with Grand Theft Auto III you're apt to make statements that make you sound like the idiot 10-14 year olds EGM recently interviewed when asked to judge/comment on the classics of yesterday. Sonic Heroes is an enjoyable romp through the gaming eyes of yesterday and I enjoyed every bit of it I've seen so far.
Create an Account
Member Login
