Sonic Heroes

I'm going to start this review by stating my overall opinion on Sonic as a whole. I like his games, quite a lot in fact. I'm not a rabid fan, nor someone who'll just trash Sonic games because of the series itself, so don't expect me to do either. Case in point, I don't think Sonic Heroes is a janky mess or a nostalgic masterpiece. Rather, I think it's a really fun and solid platformer with a few flaws that hold it back a bit.

Sonic Heroes is a game where you play as one of four teams, composed of three Sonic characters each. Each team has their own gimmick and individual story. Team Sonic is just a race to defeat Eggman, and is pretty much the main story mode. Team Rose is my personal favorite, with shortened levels that make it feel great for speedrunning and while its story is simple, I like how it connects with Amy's character arc in the Adventure games about becoming independent by having her lead her first adventure. Team Dark has probably the best story about Shadow getting amnesia along with great chemistry between the trio, but the harder difficulty and longer fights may not be for everyone. And Team Chaotix has a lovable main trio and a goofy storyline about tracking down a mysterious voice. Chaotix has the most unique gameplay as it has you completing missions like killing enemies or finding lost characters, but it ends up being hit or miss as some of the missions can be a bit tedious. As a whole, I enjoy playing as all of the teams, and the differences in story, difficulty, and sometimes gameplay approach didn't make it feel all that tedious to me.

As for the gameplay itself, it mostly works. I love the concept of swapping between three members of a team, and said three members each have their own strengths and weaknesses, so the game encourages you to frequently swap between them. There are a ton of moves in this game, not to mention moves that vary between the four teams, and most of them work fairly well. The Speed character has a homing attack, fast movement, a tornado move to grab onto poles, and at times a wall jump and fun lightspeed dash. The Flight character is best for platforming along with a fun move that lets them hit far away targets. The Power character was always my most used though, as they're great for combat and don't move too fast. However, not all of the moves work perfectly. Landing causes you to gain a boost of momentum that can throw you off a ledge, the light speed dash can be inconsistent, and flying can have an arbitrary ceiling that prevents you from going any higher. Some of the level mechanics can also be a bit finicky like the rails (which I ended up figuring out, you have to hold down B rather than spam it) and the pinball mechanics.

The thing I love the most in Sonic Heroes, though, are the levels. I love every single level in the game, as they're all lengthy, dynamic, and feature fun and creative gimmicks. Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace are strong openings with tons of multiple paths. Grand Metropolis and Power Plant have a cool environment, some crazy set pieces, and more complex levels. Casino Park and Bingo Highway have those aforementioned pinball mechanics, but they also have really sick visuals and some fun setpieces as well. Rail Canyon and Bullet Station are the weakest levels for me, but they have some neat moments like the train rides and being shot out of a cannon. Frog Forest and Lost Jungle have a fun gimmick about using frogs to trigger platforms, along with some great platforming. Hang Castle is one of my favorite levels due to its gravity-flipping mechanic, but I also love how unpredictable and unique Mystic Mansion is. Egg Fleet is an epic storming the castle-style level, and Final Fortress is a perfect final level that tests you on all the abilities you learned throughout the game.

However, there are a few aspects of Heroes that I don't like at all. First are the bosses, which are all unfun, finicky, and repetitious. The Eggman chases are the least bad, but the Team battles are insanely glitchy, and the lack of checkpoints in the enemy rushes make them incredibly frustrating. I also found the controls for the Special Stages to be unwieldily and nearly impossible to control, and I rarely bother with giving them a shot. Similarly, I didn't try to get all the A-ranks and unlock the super hard levels since I'm nowhere near good enough for that, though if you do want to go for 100%, there's a lot here to keep you busy.

As for the presentation, Sonic Heroes does this amazingly. The graphics are all super bright and colorful, the levels look distinct and memorable, and the characters are well-animated. I can't quite say the same about the voice acting and dialogue, which can be pretty bad and cheesy at times, but I also don't hate it either. Team Sonic is probably the worst in this aspect, with the dialogue being pretty basic power of friendship stuff. On the other hand, I like the dialogue for Team Rose, Dark, and Chaotix. Not only do these teams seem to have a bit more chemistry, but the jokes landed way more often, especially in the case of Chaotix. As for the music, I already stated how much I love the soundtrack in my Soundtrack Retrospective, but just to reiterate, I think it's absolutely amazing and one of the best in the series.

Overall, I like Sonic Heroes a lot. It has a few janky elements and moments of frustration, but it makes up with great level design, charming dialogue, and some amazing music.

4/5 Stars