| Stat: |
Score: |
Notes: |
| Graphics |
10 |
Simply amazing. Sega has put an incredible amount of detail in the worlds Sonic and company traverse. Even as you flip through loops and zoom across roads you can see well established little things in the background as well as the foreground. The characters all look astoundingly good, especially with the effects of Sonic and Shadow's quills blowing around. And even through all of these beautiful and detailed graphics, the game still constantly retains a 60 Frame/Second rate. Extremely smooth graphics in single player. However, it should be duely noted that the frame rate in multiplayer is cut down to between 30 and 45 FPS to illeivate system slowdown. (This is evident on all console versions of this game.) |
| Play Control: |
7 |
Everything is done on the controller easily enough. The A button always makes your characters jump, X and Y change your lead character, Z gives you the awe-inspiring Team Blast, and the B button gives you various actions based on your lead character. All of this is done beautifully when on flat ground. However, Sonic Team made it so when your team goes through a loop, your characters are locked in going through it and you maintain no control over them until the loop finishes. As well, sometimes there are issues with clipping with the ground, especially in the Fly formation where you may get stuck for awhile. There is no excuse for Sonic Team not ironing that out, especially when other games like Super Mario Sunshine don't have this issue at all. These clipping issues, though rare, are highly irratating and thus drove the Play Control rating down by two points from what it would've been otherwise. |
| Sound: |
9 |
Typical Sonic-fare sound effects. You still have the traditional lose rings and get rings sounds that have been tied with the name Sonic since the beginning. The voice acting for this game is spot on except for two characters. Tails's voice is atrocious; it's a squeaky voice that sounds like a little kid trying to get a deeper voice. Sonic Team has never been able to find a suitable voice for the two-tailed fox in English yet. The other character whose voice needs work is Cream the Rabbit. This is her first time with a voice, so Sonic Team gets a little bit of slack. Cream's voice sounds a little too old for a character of her age. It just doesn't fit right. Other than those two characters, however, the voice acting fits every single character. Sonic sounds exactly how he should, and Knuckles's voice is excellent too. Though the two voices most noteworthy are those of Shadow and Rouge. The music fits every level to a tee, and the theme of Metal Sonic is one of the best Sonic Team has produced since Open Your Heart from Sonic Adventure. |
| Value: |
7 |
Sonic Heroes, like the Sonic Adventure series before it, still has the emblem system of unlocking new things. When you hit a certain number of Emblems, you automatically unlock a new feature. Typically, Emblems are earned by completeing levels under specific conditions. As well, some emblems are only earned by getting all "A" ranks. Speaking of which, all levels give you a rank based on how well you did. The rank is typically based of your overall score when you complete a level, but sometimes comes from your completion time. If you die at anytime during a level, your score is set to zero when you come back to life at the last starpost you hit. This means that dying severely affects your overall rank for a level. Sonic Heroes also has a decent multiplayer mode which could've benefited from more action race levels than what it had. |
| Gameplay: |
8 |
Simply put, the raw speed sensation that this game gives you is excellent while still being challenging at the same time. Don't be fooled by backwards reviewers who think the three person teamwork system was bogus. Keep in mind, these people are the same people who ruin the video game industry: People who want more of the same and want no new innovation. These are the same people who panned Super Mario Sunshine for the FLUDD water pack and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for being cel-shaded. That being said, Sonic Heroes was an excellent platform adventure with well thought out levels and good ideas. The only things that stopped this game from recieving a 10 in gameplay was the clipping issues where you go through the floor (Discussed under Play Control) and the strange clipping habits of enemy projectile weapons. Sometimes enemy shells would pass through walls (usually destructible ones) and could still hit your characters. Again, this issue had no excuse of not being ironed out completely, hence the hefty penalty of two points. |
Overall Rating: |
8 |
Sonic Heroes was a contender for a perfect 10, but Sonic Team's idiocy and laziness in not plugging up those aggravating clipping issues really did them in. This game is certainly worth a rental at the very least, but it isn't perfect by any means. Pretty much all the negative aspects of this game have been covered under the previous headings. Though Sonic Heroes is no Wind Waker, it is a good addition to any platformer's library, as well as a great addition to any Sonic fan's collection. |
This game is freakin' awesome. I absolutely love it. Great gameplay all around; the team based system works wonders for adding something new into an existing franchise. Don't be fooled by people who put it down: the team based system of Sonic Heroes MAKES the game.
Sonic Team could've done better when it came to sticking extras into this game. There is a sound room and CG theater for hearing and seeing things you already did, and there are several unlockable multiplayer modes. What would've been nicer was more single-player features that could be unlocked, like more missions or raising Chao like in Sonic Adventure 2.
This game is quick and action packed, so it's a must-have for Sonic fans. New people to the franchise will take some time to get used to the physics of the game... but if they like smashing stuff, they'll get hooked fast.
*Smacks Triad* That's what you get for making me play another brainless action game. This game is not one for those who like to think while playing.
Oh man, these controls, they know things, man. It was easy to pull off every move in the book. The help you recieve in-game means you don't have to waste time reading the manual! I'm mailing Sonic Team a Cold One.
Sound: Excellent overall. All the levels have fitting music, the teams have fitting music, and Metal Sonic's got a cool song. I wish Tails would shut up, though.
Ooh.... shiny. ^_^
Clipping and falling to your doom are the watchwords of this game. There are places where it is easy to fall and die if you're at all reckless and the clipping of enemy shells through some walls is annoying. Watch out for those if you're going for an A rank.