Yes yes, I know Kikizo has already done a huge write up on their impressions of Sonic Heroes, but I can' t keep my big mouth shut. So.....

First let me say that I don’t own Sonic Heroes yet. I won’t officially own the game until it comes out for the X-Box later this month. However, the Gamecube version was released today, and the first thing I did when I got into work was open the case up and pop it into our kiosk. Yeah yeah I opened up a new game. Sue me. Besides, the kids love it. Unfortunately not owning the game means I don’t have the technical, in-game term for everything I describe (and it sucks having to do all this from straight memory). Granted I could go look up terms in various previews throughout the net, but let’s face facts, I’m not getting paid for this. No use in going all out for several paragraphs of impressions. ^_-

But like I was saying… Having a fierce ache for a new Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast, my mouth was watering with anticipation for Sonic Heroes. Just the idea of the game intrigued me. The ability to control 3 characters at once sounded like such a fresh idea. Not only compared to other Sonic games, but games in general for this generation.

So was I begging for Sonic Heroes to deliver? You’re damn right! Did Sonic Heroes deliver? From what I’ve played, I’m going to have to say yes!

For those who haven’t been following the title here’s the basic idea. Sonic Heroes is divided up into teams. Team Sonic, Team Rose, Team Shadow, etc etc. And they all contain four basic patterns, Speed, Flight, and Power. Each member is placed into one of those categories thus determining their role in the game. I only played using Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) so I’ll use them for my examples. Obviously Sonic was speed, Tails was flight, and Knuckles was power. Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to grasp the concept of when to use whom. When you need speed you choose Sonic. When you need to reach a high place or cross a long gap you choose Tails. And when you need to bash something good you choose Knuckles. Like I said, no one should be confused as to the importance of each member’s ability.

So despite its simplicity, the real question is could Sonic Heroes pull off the ability to control three characters nearly simultaneously? Yes and no, but definitely more yes.

The most important aspect of Sonic Heroes 3 player system is unquestionably the quality of the level design. If the level design didn’t push the importance of the three character system you may as well pack Sonic Heroes back up and send it home. But let me assure you that it does so very well. For example, in the first world called Seaside Hill there is a part where you’re being chased by three giant round stones and you have to use Sonic if you want to escape death. And, unlike Sonic Adventure when a whale is chasing you and all you have to do is hit forward to get away, you’re actually going to have to maneuver Sonic if you want to escape these stones. I made the mistake of entering the area still controlling Knuckles hoping some speed ramps would get me through it - didn’t happen. When you need speed you have to choose the speed character, whether it be Sonic, Shadow, or Rose.

However, the great thing about Sonic Heroes is that you don’t always have to choose a particular character to get past certain parts of a level. There are many areas in Seaside Hill (as well as the Power Plant level afterwards) where you get to choose whether you want to take the high road or the low one. I would use Tails and use his limited flight ability to fly up to a pillar only to look down and see another path I could have used Sonic on. Or, instead of flying to a pillar, I could use Sonic’s ability to jump off walls (yes Sonic has the ability to bounce from wall to wall and it’s freakin’ awesome) to reach a certain area. So the game gives you multiple paths to take and multiple ways of passing obstacles. Unfortunately Knuckles gliding ability didn’t seem well implemented in the first three levels I played. So the importance of his gliding ability has yet to be seen. There are parts in the Casino level where you have to use Knuckles gliding ability to float on pockets of air. However, you’re only moving upward and not gliding forward.

One aspect of the game I felt needed work is actually switching between the three characters. Now, when you want to switch a character yourself it works fine. However, at certain points in the game it will automatically switch characters for you that best serve the current situation. So while you’re running down the ramp with Sonic, you pass a checkpoint and suddenly you’re controlling Tails. The only problem is that you still think you’re controlling Sonic. Fortunately this doesn’t destroy the gameplay or cause a ton of unnecessary deaths, but it can still be annoying.

Speaking of annoyance let me also say that while the camera isn’t perfect in Sonic Heroes, it is much improved over the previous two Sonic games. I hardly had to struggle trying to fix the camera or get trapped due to the camera flip flopping on me. Not to say there are no camera problems because there are. It’s just that the camera problems in the game are relatively minor and doesn’t distract too much from the gameplay.

And what about that gameplay? For the naysayers out there, let me assure you that the gameplay is actually really solid. If you’re looking for a straight Sonic game, sorry, you’re just going to have to be disappointed. You don’t control 3 characters so you can use one throughout the entire level. Each one has their own advantage as well as attacking abilities.

If you’re Tails, and you’re holding onto Sonic and Knuckles, how can Tails attack with his tails like in Sonic Adventure? Simple, you don’t. When you’re playing at Tails, instead of attacking with your body, you will actually kick Sonic/Knuckles at an enemy and then that character will come back and regroup with you. Again, the importance of teamwork rears its head again. While you can attack and destroy enemies by kicking your friends with Tails, sometimes Tails kick attack will only stun an enemy. From there you have to use Knuckles or Sonic to destroy the robot. If you’re playing as Knuckles, instead of kicking your friends you punch them at the enemy. And he punches a lot harder than Tails can kick. There’s nothing cooler than getting deep within a swarm of enemies and going to town with Knuckles. In my eyes he has the best attack of the three just because it’s so much fun to do. And if you’re Sonic, you do with Sonic always does, jump on their heads like usual. Also, as you defend yourself against various enemies you build up a meter that will allow you to perform one ultimate attack destroying all the enemies on the screen. And while it doesn’t destroy bosses in one hit, it can do severe damage to them.

Bottom line is that Sonic Heroes is a very solid playing game. I haven’t played enough to decide if I would score the game within the 9 range, but I definitely see myself scoring the game in the high 8’s. I’ve only played three levels and I was hooked on the gameplay. Sure it’s different from the typical Sonic game, and those expected the typical Sonic game will be disappointed. But the 3 character system in Sonic Heroes works very well, the levels are fun and they encourage the use of all three characters. If you’re aching for some Sonic goodness, play Sonic Heroes. The game has been badmouthed in certain magazines/sites, but having played it myself, I will stand up and say that Sonic Heroes is indeed a solid title. And one more thing…. Sonic Heroes ain’t easy baby. Sonic Team ramped up the difficulty for Sonic Heroes and it shows. Honestly, I like it. Although, I am fully aware that – some gamers don’t like a challenge.

Now, as for the graphics in the game… well. You see, they’re not bad graphics. The character models are smooth and well animated. The switch between characters looks like it needed more work, but overall the animation is solid. It’s just that the textures - while good - look like they were designed with the Dreamcast’s color palette. Yes, the Dreamcast had great graphics, but many of the graphical effects current systems offer seem to be lost in Sonic Heroes.

The only reason the game holds any ground in the graphics department is because the game has beautiful artistic design and the level design is creative if not flat out brilliant. I will go as far as saying the game looks good, and when you see it in motion it looks much better than the screenshots on the net. But the fact that Sonic Team could have done more is always in the back of your mind. Then again, hearing how much the game chugs on the PS2, maybe Sonic Team decided to sacrifice the graphics for the gameplay, because the framerate in Sonic Heroes is incredible smooth on the Cube and I expect the same on the X-Box. Basically Sonic Heroes is a good looking game that you will always think could have looked better.

As for sound, I’ll be honest. I was trying to play the game in-between helping customers and four other TV’s in my ear. One of which had the sound system hooked up to it thus overshadowing most of the kiosk’s in the store. So I won’t say much about the sound other than I liked Sonic Heroes’ soundtrack a lot better than Sonic Adventure 2.

And those are my…. ahem… quick impressions of Sonic Heroes.

The One, The only One
- The Lotus One

Bout damn time.