Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic's had plenty of titles for his many games. Adventure, Heroes, Advance, Rush and Rivals to name but a few. Yet, Sonic's first next-gen game, intriguingly, doesn't bother with any extras. It shares its name with the game which launched him on the Mega Drive.

It opens with the new-look Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman) kidnapping a princess. Naturally, it's up to Sonic and his allies to save her. Sonic isn't the only playable character. As well as him and the other two main characters - Shadow and new 'hog Silver - others join in. While most of a character's storyline (each of the three has his own) is played as that character, others occasionally take over the game. Sonic is again paired up with Tails and Knuckles, Silver gets Blaze and Amy. Shadow goes for the Sonic Heroes team of Omega and Rouge. Shadow unfortunately again goes with the Shadow the Hedgehog approach. Playing as his allies is a nice break from him. Silver's quite good; he can employ telekinetic powers to move a variety of items.

Graphically, the game is amazing. Perhaps it contributes to its speed difficulties, but when it moves fluidly it really looks brilliant. Character models and textures are detailed nicely, and Soleanna really looks the part. Music seems a lot more appropriate than in earlier games. Fortunately, character voice acting seems to have improved on other games.

Now gameplay is where modern Sonic games often fall. Sonic the Hedgehog is surprisingly good. Controls are simple but effective, and abilities are easy to control. It does occasionally become difficult to control the character, but generally it's controllable. It's finally found a happy medium whereby a multiple-character system can work effectively. Character changes are automatic - the game selects the best character for the job itself - and easy. However, the gameplay isn't quite perfect. Camera work is difficult, and can often work against you, especially in areas where precarious leaps are required to small targets on the horizon. Boost pads can also be a problem if they launch in the wrong direction.

Perhaps the game's biggest problem is the one you might think it wouldn't feature. Unlike its Mega Drive namesake, it's not an exercise in revolutionary speed - quite the opposite. It's fair to say that the frame rate is hardly optimised. The game has an obscure habit of slowing down when you merely move the camera. While stages themselves rarely do it, field stages slow down regularly with quite little provocation. Another speed problem comes from the game's loading, which can be lengthy even just to load a simple challenge. It seems ironic and irritating for a game which is supposed to be about speed.

Generally, stages are classic Sonic style with environments we've seen in Sonic games before. Not bad, because those are the ones that he's best on. Players should feel instantly at home as Sonic races along a beach chased by a marine mammal. Other stages include classic Sonic fare like badland ruins and snowy mountains. Enemies have energy meters, and often require multiple hits to destroy. While this does add a level of strategy to the game, it also makes it feel blocky. Bosses are plentiful and, in the spirit of Sonic, generally are good.

Sonic the Hedgehog is played in the region of Soleanna. It's taken the idea of human-inhabited adventure fields of Sonic Adventure, and taken it far. Sonic the Hedgehog dumps Sonic right in the middle of a sprawling city full of people. Human people. Not silly-looking Eggman people, people who actually look like people. While humans have played significant roles in the storyline before, not as big as in this one.

Perhaps the fantasy urban sprawl and almost epic storyline make you think about the game's genre. It almost feels like an RPG. In fact, you can actually buy upgrades from shops in the city. As well as RPG-like elements, the game seems to have a bit everything else. Not that variety is a bad idea - Sonic Adventure 2 does it admirably - but it depends. Occasionally, the game throws a proper combat situation at you. It's a bit like the robot army bosses in Sonic Heroes - except not as good. Generally this involves taking out waves of robo-contraptions until eventually the game inexplicably decides to move you on. Combat in the game isn't easy, and has a habit of being unfairly difficult. Of course, losing means more trips to the loading screen.

One big element of the game is the new storyline. It's a bit bigger than in other Sonic games, and requires a bit of comprehension. Fortunately, it doesn't introduce any new characters it doesn't really know what to do with. While the cast is big by comparison to other games, it's not complicated. It isn't too difficult to follow the story if you think about it.

It's not a rubbish game. On the other hand, it's not brilliant. It's no Sonic Adventure 2. But as a first foray into the generation, it's not a bad effort.