This entry in the Sonic series will make you remember why that weird talking blue hedgehog is so beloved.
User Rating: 9.3 | Sonic Heroes GC
The people at Team Sonic are smart people. They listen to their fans. In Sonic Adventure, they gave Sonic a little more than a mediocre story. In Sonic Adventure 2, they eliminated the annoying overworlds and put it stages, yet while adding different kinds of stages to the already boring ones. Fans quickly criticized and complained to just having Sonic do what he does best: run around. The people at Team Sonic said "Ah, the heck with it, let's give them exactly what they want". This game is Sonic at its best and it will make you realize why this weird little blue hedgehog is such a video game symbol. The levels in this game are substantially bigger than other Sonic levels, and will often take you more than 10 minutes to complete and you will probably end up dying more than once. The levels are what you would expect to see in the Sonic environment, with patterned hills and arrows on grass included. This is reminiscent of the Sonic of old, back on that Sega system nobody remembers, me included. Now, one of the main question people were asking about this game is whether the "team" mechanic is good. I must say, it works very smoothly, yet it feels odd pressing a button to switch teammates. Each teammate has a specific job, either Speed (moveset focused on fast -paced action, Flying (moveset focused on aerial manuevers), or Power (moveset focused on heavy-hitting attacks). The game also delivers that sense of speed found in Sonic games, no matter who you are controlling. Like previous efforts, Sonic Heroes is fairly long indeed. There are fifteen levels for each team, and there are four teams, so will find yourself playing through 60 stages. Some of the stages are the same, but they still are fun the second or third or fourth time around. When I tried to beat this game on a second time through playing as fast as I could, my completion time was 20:54. It's pretty scary how long a fast-paced game like this can be. And it's also scary how fun these stages are no matter how many times you play them. I have yet to become bored playing this game. Sonic, however, does not look his very best in this game. The character models are good, as is the environment, but there is little detail. I guess it is one price to pay for having so many levels. However, thankfully, the soundtrack does not suffer nearly as much. Voice Acting is not nearly as forced as it has been in the Sonic Adventure series, and the sound effects are spectacular. The soundtrack consists of guitar riffs and beeps and things that are ultimately satisfying. So at the end of the day, I've come to realize Sonic is back. Maybe this time he'll be back for good.
