Release: 2006
System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
2006 was a special year for Sega... That's right! The Sonic franchise turned 15 years old! Get out the party hats and roll out the cake, this is a special occasion! So what did Sega have in store for us fans? A brand new 2D Sonic on the silver screen? Naw, no one wants that... Oh, a sequel to Shadow the Hedgehog? No, to soon...
How about a re-imagining of series with the feel of Sonic Adventure ran on the most powerful systems yet!? Of course, a brand new adventure with some incredible gamplay, a gripping storyline, and some of the most impressive looking graphics of this generation! How can they possibly screw something like this up?
Let's count the ways.
Story:
The game starts off by introducing us to the new world this story takes place in, Soleanna. The city is run by a young princess named Elise, who holds deep dark secret that can destroy the world... and Dr. Eggman is after it so he can learn the secrets of the "Flames of Disaster" (oh, and she has a Chaos Emerald... for some reason). In comes Sonic, who sweeps the princess off her feet, and our adventure takes off!
Eventually, you meet another hedgehog named Silver, and get this... He's from the future! That's right, he's a telepathic hedgehog who traveled back in time to kill Sonic. His story is that the future is a nightmare engulfed in flames, and one day he was told by some Shadow clone that Sonic was responsible, and so he sends him back in time to murder him! Oh, and Blaze is with him... why she's in the future, I have no idea.
Finally, there's Shadows story. Apparently while on a mission with Rouge, they steal some magical artifact known as "Scepter of Darkness", and after a struggle it gets shattered and a monster known as Mephiles is freed, who takes on Shadow's appearance (ooh... see what they did there!)... some time travel... and searching for the Chaos Emeralds... and meeting with Sonic and Silver... It's really cluttered... and really boring.
This is no more than a poorly done fan fiction to me. The story is so bland and it just feels like it drags on and on... This was just badly handled.
Score:
out of Design:
The idea is similar to the Sonic Adventure series, where you have multiple characters and a interweaving storyline. The game has an overworld hub map of Soleanna where you search around for missions to tackle, upgrade stores to unlock key abilities that will help in your journey... like learning how to slide under a gate properly (pretty extreme...), and most importantly unlock the 10 levels in the game. The levels are re-used for each character, though depending on who you play as there will be changes in design (Sonic and Shadow's levels are, expectedly, speed based, while Silver is more strategic platforming, having to rely on you psychic powers to navigate the areas. As you progress, you'll have to bypass certain areas with tag along characters, such as Tails, Blaze, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge...
The idea is simple enough. It's nothing incredible, but it works.
Score:
out of Gameplay:
Ah, and here we have of the biggest problems this game has to offer. The controls need a lot work. Sonic, for example, takes some time to get used to. The homing attack and spin dash feel delayed, and running around feels tedious and slow. These problems along with an aggravating camera can get real annoying, but it's still playable... then you get to the mach speed sections. There, Sonic is finally living up to his name sake and you start to have fun!
... Then you realize how much of a pain in the ass he is to control in these sections. You have little recovery time so when you hit something and lose all your rings, you try to get back on track, only to run to far to the left and hit the side of the dock... or if your sliding on water, hitting the side of a mountain is instant death. The fun is destroyed because of poor controls, and eventually it becomes a fight to the death just to make it to the next check point and hope to god you'll never have to play another stage like that. What about the snow zone? Sega managed to screw snowboarding up. How often in skating game do you have to press forward while going down a hill of snow? And having the angle constantly shift from the back of the character to the front isn't "edgy" or "creative", it's STUPID. What about side characters? Simple. If they can't get Tails right, then we know we're in trouble. Tails's stages conist of helping Sonic out here and there. He's painfully slow, his flying is loose, and he attacks by hurling bombs shaped like ring capsules, which is plagued with annoying hit detection.
Seriously, Sega... How can they screw up something as simple as running!?
Score: ZERO out of
Presentation:
You know, with Sonic you can always expect a beautiful looking and sounding title, and the same can be said here, right?
...
...
... RIGHT?
Firstly, I just wanted to say the non in game cutscenes look great. Once the player is in control, the level of detail goes down a bit, but that's nothing new... Then you start running around and you begin noticing objects and shadows flickering the further away you are. Nothing problematic... then some lagging begins to come on and off... Annoying, but it could be worse...
...
LOADING.
...
You've heard all about the infamous loading screens and trust me, they are unbelievably horrible. Not only are they frequent, but they are so unnecessarily long! See for yourselves:
What I'm trying to point out is that this is a next Gen title, And it's not like the visuals are that complex. Frankly, this is a joke.
The level designs need work. The hub map is just so bland, after a while you can't tell one part of the city from the other... and if that's not enough, the worlds are unnecessarily huge! There are so few characters all over the city, it's a wonder why everything was spread out as much as it was. Perhaps they did that to make the game seem longer. All it did was waste my time. Oh, and the map is practically useless. It gives you outlines of areas of the city, and tells you if a side mission is near by, but the map only covers a small portion of the city, and doesn't tell you important things like where a key event is, where Knuckles is at, or where the next level is located. To put it simply, you're going to get lost.
The action levels have the same problem as the hub map, their both bland and unnecessarily huge, making navigation a real chore more than anything... Oh, but here's the real kicker, the glitches! Falling through floors, getting stuck in the walls, dying for no reason at all, this game is just laced with glitches all over the place! Oh, don't take my word for it:
Most hilarious.
Finally, what about the sound department? Well, you won't be humming, is actually pretty good. That's one good thing! Now, the voices... Dear lord... The voice actors did a horrible job with their characters. It's bad enough the script is lousy to begin with, but these voices are just... just listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q1UTVNKW7U
Truly a work of art.
Score:
out of Overall:
... And just as the game comes to a close, Elise blows out a candle that acts as a "It was all just a dream" plot device... What a cop out. Can't think of a decent ending? Just rewind time!
This is rock bottom here, people. I have never played anything as awful as this mess. The only thing I actually liked about it were some of the designs for the levels and the music... it doesn't make the game enjoyable, though. So I bet you're wondering, why is it considered a player's choice and regarded as a best seller? This is just a theory, but I'm certain every Sonic fan around the world was ready to pre-order this beast, why I wanted to buy the 360 just to try it out! Well, when the back lash hit, word got out about how awful it was... which might have lead gamers to wanting to see this legendary lameness, that's probably the only reason I picked it up. Sales went well and it was considered hit, all thanks to it's to how much it blew.
What was supposed to be Sega's gift to the fans turned out to be a broken down pile of crap coated with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Thanks a lot, Sega.
Score:
out of
