Sonic Heroes

Another issue is with control. It's not as bad as the camera; but the trouble is, it often works in tandem with the camera. This can make for some very strange play. Outside of that, it's quite loose, and takes some getting used to.

Clocks in at a short 14 levels that can be finished in a couple hours the first time through. Playing through as other teams provides some variation, but with no actual change in the level design.

Though it still exhibits many of the camera and control issues that vexed Sonic's previous forays into 3D, it's truer to its 2D roots than any other 3D Sonic game before it.

The game's graphics aren't on par with today's console offerings -- sure the worlds are colorful and large, but perhaps the developers at Japan's Sonic Team studios had to sacrifice visuals for speed.

Sonic Heroes isn't a drastic change from the Adventure games, and happens to suffer from most of the same problems. That said, the extra nostalgia factor and team play system do make it that little bit better.

Old-school Sonic speed plus a few new twists makes for a decent if not earth-shattering return to the realm of the blue hedgehog.

Gamers who haven't exactly stuck by Sonic's blurry blue side over the years will have to work a little harder to get to the fun, spastic heart of Sonic Heroes, but those who know what to expect in terms of mechanics and sheer kinetic insanity will feel right at home.

As with the previous two 3D Sonic outings, Sonic Heroes is a solid platformer that could've been a lot better if the developers had spent more time balancing the levels and tweaking the unbelievably frustrating camera. [Feb 2004, p.108]

Lacks the constant speed of a Sonic title, and when you are given that speed, it often leads to your death or you easily getting hurt by things you were given no time to react to.

The techincal aspects of Sonic Heroes are handled well, with the exception of the camera and voice work. In fact, the camera is worse than "Mario 64's" (and that's saying a lot) and the voice acting is downright repulsive. [Apr 2004, p.9]

The concept is well and good, and works well – except for the fact that you still must slow down to use Knuckles and Tails (or the equivalent member in one of the three other teams in the game). These are the moments that the game truly lags, and once again the shoddy camera has come back to once again make the game a pain.

The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.

Although it may be his trademark, the emphasis on speed in Sonic Heroes is exaggerated to the point of annoyance and you just need to push up to tear through sections of some levels, leaving collecting rings is more to do with luck than judgement and it's hard to feel totally in control, but there are plenty of puzzles en route that do take a little more thought.

Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.