It's Time For Some New Heroes...Apparently.
Name: Sonic Heroes
Other Names (Nicknames): Heroes
Release Dates:
Nintendo GameCube
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 5, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU)
Sony PlayStation 2
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 27, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU/AUS)
Microsoft Xbox
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 27, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU)
Quality: Sixth generation action-platformer
Also released on: PC, PlayStation Network (EU/JP)
Developer(s): Sonic Team USA
Publisher(s): Sega Corporation
Credits: See Sonic News Network.
Character Introductions: E-123 Omega.
Region Game Takes Place On: Various locations on Sonic’s Earth.
Concept Introductions:
Teamwork is the concept of the day in this game, as you have to use each character’s individual strengths to get past each Zone.
Another new feature is leveling up your characters with Power Cores which can be found either in Badniks or Item Boxes. This will make your respective characters’ attacks stronger and add small bells and whistles to them. They disappear after each Zone is done, but add to your ranking score.
Sonic Heroes also marked the return of Special Stages to consoles. By getting a Special Key from a cage in a Zone, you can access either a Bonus Challenge – where you have to make it to the Goal Ring – or an Emerald Challenge – which requires you to nab the Chaos Emerald before it reaches the end.
Instead of zooming across a traditional half pipe, you must run down a full pipe while collecting Power Spheres, which fill up your gauge and let you Power Dash. Hitting bombs depletes the gauge and slows you down. Also, you’ll sometimes have to use different formations to collect spheres.
The multiplayer is varied. While there is racing, there are now seven different types: Action (Get to the Goal Ring), Special Stage (Get to the Chaos Emerald), Ring (Get the most rings), Bobsled (Three laps to victory), Quick (Get to the Goal Ring in the middle), and Expert (Get to the Goal Ring of a long Zone). The eighth mode is Battle, which plays out like the character Bosses of the game (knock your opponent off the stage).
Concept Deductions:
Similarly to the Classic Era, the cast plays nearly identically to each other with unique wrinkles that make their team unique from the others.
Main Framework: One of the strongest attempts to merge Classic and Modern aesthetics. No hub worlds, everyone plays the same, the story is dead simple, and all Chaos Emeralds are needed for the true boss and ending.
Storyline:
While zooming through the desert, Sonic is approached by Tails and Knuckles, who have been given a letter of challenge by Dr. Robotnik. It seems that the “ultimate weapon” will bring Earth to its knees in 72 hours if they don’t stop him. So, the three team up to stomp Eggman. You know, standard stuff. No biggie.
Elsewhere, Amy is wondering just where her crush is up to after he was (apparently) caught kidnapping a Chao and a frog! What’s more, those victims are none other than Froggy, and Chacola, the brother of Cheese! So, after reuniting with Big and meeting Cream for the first time, Amy takes charge of the group in order to nab herself a husband and some answers, in that order.
In the darkness, Rouge found herself sneaking into one of Eggman’s bases, looking for – what else – a treasure trove. What she found instead was the last thing she expected: Shadow the Hedgehog, presumably thought deceased. Without so much as a hello, the two were immediately attacked by E-123 Omega, last of Eggman’s E-100 series of model machines, carelessly ordered to guard that very room. Before Omega and Shadow could do battle, however, Rouge broke up the scuffle to get some clarity of the situation. Omega was bitter and vengeful, wanting Eggman dead for abandoning him. All Shadow wanted, however, was to know who he was, as he had no memories to go on. Something had to be done, and the Doctor was at the center of it, so Rouge rallied the boys to kick ass and take names.
While all this is happening, a whole bunch of nothing was happening at the Chaotix Detective Agency. Vector, whilst jamming to a particularly good song, couldn’t help but wonder when their next case would be, as the first of the month was around the corner. Thankfully, Charmy came buzzing in with just the ticket: a walkie-talkie with some impressive tech. The owner of said tech then belted out the promise of a hefty sum for their services. Espio smelled something fishy, but Vector dismissed the ninja’s suspicions, since as long as it’s legal, the Chaotix Detective Agency will take on any case that pays. So, they set out.
Twelve players, four paths, one conspiracy. This is gonna get messy.
Personal Criticism/Opinion:
When I first played this game, I was psyched to have more Sonic in my life. It wasn’t as deep as the Adventure games, but still a lot of fun. Nowadays, my feelings are more mixed. I still like and enjoy the game, of course, but I also feel as though Sonic Team’s focus was stretched too thin.
It’s wicked that you’re not stuck with a singular character on a solitary adventure. I never really liked that since Sonic 2; journeys are always that much more enjoyable with a friend or two, after all. At the same time, though, the tech used to keep all three teammates together wasn’t like Sonic 2 or 3. Instead, they’d rubberband to the leader. While that was justified in Knuckles’ Chaotix, it felt restrictive here, like the other characters weighed the leader down severely (which definitely soured the idea of Sonic having a supporting cast for many).
As for the characters themselves, as I previously stated, they all play more or less the same, with superficial differences. While this is a common complaint against the game, what the majority of gamers failed to piece together is that the Classic Era games did the same thing.
Yes. Seriously. Sonic + flight – a bit of speed = Tails. Sonic + gliding – good jumping – a chunk of speed = Knuckles. Later on, Mania would do it again: Sonic + Bound Jump = Mighty. And finally, Sonic – a bit of speed + arcing glide = Ray.
Following me so far? Ok.
Heroes followed the same principle:
Sonic + Tornado Hammer (hovering + long distance wind attack) = Amy. Sonic + Chaos Control = Shadow. Sonic + shuriken + invisibility = Espio.
Tails – Dummy Rings + Cheese = Cream. Tails = Rouge. Tails – Dummy Rings + Sting = Charmy.
Knuckles + fishing pole/umbrella + belly flop = Big. Knuckles = Omega. Knuckles + body slam = Vector.
See? What did this game and the Classic Era do with its cast?
THE EXACT. SAME. DAMN. THING.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, I would like to mention that the Special Stages here are the WORST in the entire franchise. That is an objective fact. Controlling your team is a damn chore, especially if you try moving to either side of the pipe, as sometimes you can wind up running backwards. That, of course, slows you down, as you’re always being pushed forward. And don’t even get me started on what happens if you try to the top. The only good thing about the Special Stages is that the Chaos Emeralds are shared, so you don’t have to get all seven with each team. That would have been a frickin’ nightmare.
In summary, Sonic Heroes is a game more rooted in the past than it really needed to be at the time. You can tell what Sonic Team wanted to do after the poor receptions of the Adventure series’ ports. And while they certainly succeeded in some areas, others just fell flat. An overhaul would do this game some real good.
GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:
Replay value? Well, you have the Chaos Emeralds and emblems to collect, the latter of which unlock the various multiplayer modes to mess around with. Getting all A ranks also unlocks Super Hard Mode, which pits Team Sonic against exactly that.
Graphics? The zones are beautiful, but the character models? Underwhelming. I understand they wanted the game to be easily ported, but come on, this could hardly be considered a step up from Adventure 2. Sonic Team could’ve done better than this.
Side Note: This was around the time that Sonic Team decided that everyone's eye lids should be the same color as their fur, even if it doesn't make any sense; blue for Sonic's, pink for Amy's, etc. An unnecessary change that has always annoyed me.
Music & Sound Effects? Stellar, as usual. The one track I didn’t care for was Team Sonic’s theme, “We Can”. It’s super corny and lacks the badass edge previous vocal tracks for those characters usually have (yes, that also goes for Tails, to a point).
Storyline? A futile attempt to mesh Classic Era simplicity with Dreamcast Era scope. Thankfully, this wouldn’t be repeated (…until Sonic Generations).
OVERALL RANK? I give Sonic Heroes a
Other Names (Nicknames): Heroes
Release Dates:
Nintendo GameCube
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 5, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU)
Sony PlayStation 2
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 27, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU/AUS)
Microsoft Xbox
December 30, 2003 (JP)
January 27, 2004 (USA)
February 6, 2004 (EU)
Quality: Sixth generation action-platformer
Also released on: PC, PlayStation Network (EU/JP)
Developer(s): Sonic Team USA
Publisher(s): Sega Corporation
Credits: See Sonic News Network.
Character Introductions: E-123 Omega.
Region Game Takes Place On: Various locations on Sonic’s Earth.
Concept Introductions:
Teamwork is the concept of the day in this game, as you have to use each character’s individual strengths to get past each Zone.
- Speed Type characters (Sonic, Amy, Shadow, & Espio) have the same kind of gameplay you’d expect from a Sonic game. You rush through the Zone quickly utilizing the Homing Attack and various wind-related moves. The Spin Dash, however, has been replaced with the Rocket Accel, which has the other two members push the Speed type after a brief charge. Screw it up and you’ll do a Solo Attack instead.
- Flight Type characters (Tails, Cream, Rouge, & Charmy) can reach the higher areas of Zones and attack airborne enemies, though you won’t cover much ground.
- Power Type characters (Knuckles, Big, Omega, & Vector) deal the most damage, so you’ll find yourself switching to them after using the other two to weaken or ground enemies.
Another new feature is leveling up your characters with Power Cores which can be found either in Badniks or Item Boxes. This will make your respective characters’ attacks stronger and add small bells and whistles to them. They disappear after each Zone is done, but add to your ranking score.
Sonic Heroes also marked the return of Special Stages to consoles. By getting a Special Key from a cage in a Zone, you can access either a Bonus Challenge – where you have to make it to the Goal Ring – or an Emerald Challenge – which requires you to nab the Chaos Emerald before it reaches the end.
Instead of zooming across a traditional half pipe, you must run down a full pipe while collecting Power Spheres, which fill up your gauge and let you Power Dash. Hitting bombs depletes the gauge and slows you down. Also, you’ll sometimes have to use different formations to collect spheres.
The multiplayer is varied. While there is racing, there are now seven different types: Action (Get to the Goal Ring), Special Stage (Get to the Chaos Emerald), Ring (Get the most rings), Bobsled (Three laps to victory), Quick (Get to the Goal Ring in the middle), and Expert (Get to the Goal Ring of a long Zone). The eighth mode is Battle, which plays out like the character Bosses of the game (knock your opponent off the stage).
Concept Deductions:
Similarly to the Classic Era, the cast plays nearly identically to each other with unique wrinkles that make their team unique from the others.
- Team Sonic is, of course, the litmus for the others. Standard stuff. Their story even treats the game's events like business as usual.
- Team Rose is meant for newcomers who are playing a Sonic game (or just platformers in general) for the first time.
- Team Dark is the game’s hard mode, with longer Zones and more combat to get through.
- Team Chaotix is a mixed bag, with various missions to clear. Sometimes it’s traditional, sometimes there’s hunting, sometimes there’s stealth. Either way, don’t expect to be doing the same thing from one Zone to another.
Main Framework: One of the strongest attempts to merge Classic and Modern aesthetics. No hub worlds, everyone plays the same, the story is dead simple, and all Chaos Emeralds are needed for the true boss and ending.
Storyline:
While zooming through the desert, Sonic is approached by Tails and Knuckles, who have been given a letter of challenge by Dr. Robotnik. It seems that the “ultimate weapon” will bring Earth to its knees in 72 hours if they don’t stop him. So, the three team up to stomp Eggman. You know, standard stuff. No biggie.
Elsewhere, Amy is wondering just where her crush is up to after he was (apparently) caught kidnapping a Chao and a frog! What’s more, those victims are none other than Froggy, and Chacola, the brother of Cheese! So, after reuniting with Big and meeting Cream for the first time, Amy takes charge of the group in order to nab herself a husband and some answers, in that order.
In the darkness, Rouge found herself sneaking into one of Eggman’s bases, looking for – what else – a treasure trove. What she found instead was the last thing she expected: Shadow the Hedgehog, presumably thought deceased. Without so much as a hello, the two were immediately attacked by E-123 Omega, last of Eggman’s E-100 series of model machines, carelessly ordered to guard that very room. Before Omega and Shadow could do battle, however, Rouge broke up the scuffle to get some clarity of the situation. Omega was bitter and vengeful, wanting Eggman dead for abandoning him. All Shadow wanted, however, was to know who he was, as he had no memories to go on. Something had to be done, and the Doctor was at the center of it, so Rouge rallied the boys to kick ass and take names.
While all this is happening, a whole bunch of nothing was happening at the Chaotix Detective Agency. Vector, whilst jamming to a particularly good song, couldn’t help but wonder when their next case would be, as the first of the month was around the corner. Thankfully, Charmy came buzzing in with just the ticket: a walkie-talkie with some impressive tech. The owner of said tech then belted out the promise of a hefty sum for their services. Espio smelled something fishy, but Vector dismissed the ninja’s suspicions, since as long as it’s legal, the Chaotix Detective Agency will take on any case that pays. So, they set out.
Twelve players, four paths, one conspiracy. This is gonna get messy.
Personal Criticism/Opinion:
When I first played this game, I was psyched to have more Sonic in my life. It wasn’t as deep as the Adventure games, but still a lot of fun. Nowadays, my feelings are more mixed. I still like and enjoy the game, of course, but I also feel as though Sonic Team’s focus was stretched too thin.
It’s wicked that you’re not stuck with a singular character on a solitary adventure. I never really liked that since Sonic 2; journeys are always that much more enjoyable with a friend or two, after all. At the same time, though, the tech used to keep all three teammates together wasn’t like Sonic 2 or 3. Instead, they’d rubberband to the leader. While that was justified in Knuckles’ Chaotix, it felt restrictive here, like the other characters weighed the leader down severely (which definitely soured the idea of Sonic having a supporting cast for many).
As for the characters themselves, as I previously stated, they all play more or less the same, with superficial differences. While this is a common complaint against the game, what the majority of gamers failed to piece together is that the Classic Era games did the same thing.
Yes. Seriously. Sonic + flight – a bit of speed = Tails. Sonic + gliding – good jumping – a chunk of speed = Knuckles. Later on, Mania would do it again: Sonic + Bound Jump = Mighty. And finally, Sonic – a bit of speed + arcing glide = Ray.
Following me so far? Ok.
Heroes followed the same principle:
Sonic + Tornado Hammer (hovering + long distance wind attack) = Amy. Sonic + Chaos Control = Shadow. Sonic + shuriken + invisibility = Espio.
Tails – Dummy Rings + Cheese = Cream. Tails = Rouge. Tails – Dummy Rings + Sting = Charmy.
Knuckles + fishing pole/umbrella + belly flop = Big. Knuckles = Omega. Knuckles + body slam = Vector.
See? What did this game and the Classic Era do with its cast?
THE EXACT. SAME. DAMN. THING.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, I would like to mention that the Special Stages here are the WORST in the entire franchise. That is an objective fact. Controlling your team is a damn chore, especially if you try moving to either side of the pipe, as sometimes you can wind up running backwards. That, of course, slows you down, as you’re always being pushed forward. And don’t even get me started on what happens if you try to the top. The only good thing about the Special Stages is that the Chaos Emeralds are shared, so you don’t have to get all seven with each team. That would have been a frickin’ nightmare.
In summary, Sonic Heroes is a game more rooted in the past than it really needed to be at the time. You can tell what Sonic Team wanted to do after the poor receptions of the Adventure series’ ports. And while they certainly succeeded in some areas, others just fell flat. An overhaul would do this game some real good.
GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:
Replay value? Well, you have the Chaos Emeralds and emblems to collect, the latter of which unlock the various multiplayer modes to mess around with. Getting all A ranks also unlocks Super Hard Mode, which pits Team Sonic against exactly that.
Graphics? The zones are beautiful, but the character models? Underwhelming. I understand they wanted the game to be easily ported, but come on, this could hardly be considered a step up from Adventure 2. Sonic Team could’ve done better than this.
Side Note: This was around the time that Sonic Team decided that everyone's eye lids should be the same color as their fur, even if it doesn't make any sense; blue for Sonic's, pink for Amy's, etc. An unnecessary change that has always annoyed me.
Music & Sound Effects? Stellar, as usual. The one track I didn’t care for was Team Sonic’s theme, “We Can”. It’s super corny and lacks the badass edge previous vocal tracks for those characters usually have (yes, that also goes for Tails, to a point).
Storyline? A futile attempt to mesh Classic Era simplicity with Dreamcast Era scope. Thankfully, this wouldn’t be repeated (…until Sonic Generations).
OVERALL RANK? I give Sonic Heroes a