Sonic Heroes (ソニックヒーローズ, Sonikku Hīrōzu) is a video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the first multiplatform game in the Sonic series. The game was developed on the Nintendo GameCube, then ported onto the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and PC CD-ROM using Renderware technology. The phrase "Sonic Heroes" refers to the uniting of the protagonists of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
| Sonic Heroes | |
|---|---|
| File:Shbox.jpg | |
| Developer | Sonic Team |
| Publisher | Sega |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platforms | GameCube, PS2, Xbox, PC |
| Release |  December 30, 2003  January 6, 2004 (GC) January 27, 2004 (PS2/Xbox) February 6, 2004 November 16, 2004 (PC) November 26, 2004 (PC) December 10, 2004 (PC) |
| Genre | Adventure Platformer |
| Modes | Single player, multiplayer |
The game introduces several new gameplay elements. Unlike past Sonic games, which have all had a player controlling one character, players are able to control three characters at a time, switching the party's leader.
This game also marked the return of many characters from the Sonic universe: Chaotix, a group last seen in Knuckles' Chaotix on the Sega 32X; Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat from Sonic Adventure 2; Cream the Rabbit from Sonic Advance 2; Big the Cat from Sonic Adventure; Metal Sonic, who, prior to this game, had not played a major role in the series for years, last having one in Knuckles' Chaotix in 1995. The game also introduces a new character, E-123 Omega.
Although the plot for Sonic Heroes is somewhat sparse, a portion of it, particularly Team Dark's storyline, was a set-up for Shadow the Hedgehog released in 2005.
Teams
Unlike past Sonic the Hedgehog games, Sonic Heroes is the first Sonic game that allows the player to control three characters at once (although the player controls the selected character, while the computer takes control of the remaining two characters). A player will choose one of four teams to use. The four teams all have their own strengths and weaknesses as do each of the individual characters. Sonic Heroes was the first Sonic game to introduce the "Speed, Flight, and Power" concept into the series.
A team is made up of three characters, each suited for a specific task. The three types of characters are "flight," "speed," and "power." Flight-type characters are able to ascend short distances with other party members; Speed-type characters have the ability to move at a faster rate than the other two members of the team; Power-type characters are the strongest, physically, of the three.
Team Sonic
- Sonic the Hedgehog - Speed
- Miles "Tails" Prower - Flight
- Knuckles the Echidna - Power
Team Sonic is the main team of Sonic Heroes. One day, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, the game's protagonists, receive a letter from the maniacal Doctor Eggman. The Doctor tells them of his new ultimate weapon that will be ready within three days, thus, challenging them to find and destroy it. The three band together to stop the mad doctor's plans.
The typical level for this team requires one to race through the levels as quickly as possible, with intermediate difficulty settings. Team Sonic's abilities are very similar to Team Dark's, with the exception of the Power character's combos (Knuckles triggers volcanic eruptions). When separated from their teammates, Tails attacks by throwing ring bombs and Sonic attacks with the somersault slide. Team Sonic is one of the two teams that is capable of using the Light Dash. Sonic can use the Triangle Jump which allows him to bounce between close walls, and his tornado move, Blue Tornado, homes in on the nearest enemy.
The Team Blast is "Sonic Overdrive", in which Knuckles holds Tails, holding Sonic, spinning them around picking up speed, until Knuckles lets go and Tails launches Sonic like the Thunder Shoot. Sonic will use "Light Attack", destroying all enemies and stunning bosses like the Thunder Shoot. While the Gauge restores itself, Tails can launch Sonic into Light Attack at any level, and when Sonic approaches any enemy, he can, for a limited time, use Light Attack on his own, allowing him to destroy any enemy within his radius.
Team Dark
- Shadow the Hedgehog - Speed
- Rouge the Bat - Flight
- E-123 Omega - Power
Team Dark's common cause is to find Dr. Eggman. Rouge, the founder of the team and its resident flyer, is after Eggman's hidden treasure. Shadow, the speed specialist (and eventual leader), wants to know his true identity and why he was left inside a pod, which he never completely figures out until Shadow the Hedgehog, making this game's storyline a kind of build-up to it. Omega, the fully-armed robot, is angry with Eggman for abandoning him and wishes to destroy Eggman's robots for revenge and to prove he is superior.
Team Dark's missions are the most fighting-oriented in the game, calling for its members to blast through large hordes of enemies to reach the goal ring. To accommodate for this, Team Dark has more powerful offensive techniques at its disposal. Shadow uses his Homing attack to blast through rows of Eggman's flunkies; Rouge, besides being able to launch her companions at airborne enemies, can attack enemies with powerful kicks or ring-like bombs; Omega can launch his friends at enemies, after which he transforms his arms into formidable Gatling guns to take out entire groups of foes. Team Dark's attacks are generally identical to Team Sonic's. An exception is the differences between their leveled-up finishing moves (e.g.,Omega uses weapons while Knuckles uses flaming earthquakes). Like Sonic, Shadow can Triangle Jump and Light Dash, and his tornado move and solo attack work the same way as Sonic's.
The Team Blast is Chaos Inferno, that once activated, Shadow will grab the green Chaos Emerald from Omega and uses Chaos Control, and Rouge, lifting Omega over Shadow's head, will have Omega use Chaos Inferno, in which he will fire two huge purple beams from his arms. The beams will destroy all enemies in range. Also, while the gauge is being restored, time will be frozen by Chaos Control, done by Shadow. Once the gauge is restored, everything will be normal again.
Team Rose
- Amy Rose - Speed
- Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao - Flight
- Big the Cat - Power
The characters of Team Rose are each trying to find someone important to them. Amy Rose searches for "her" Sonic, because she notices that Sonic had been missing from her life for quite a while, and also tries to defeat Eggman just in case Sonic had been captured or something like that, impressing Sonic so that she may have herself another shot at getting married to Sonic. Big the Cat is searching for his amphibian friend Froggy again, and Cream the Rabbit is seeking out Cheese the Chao's brother, Chocola. With a picture in the newspaper (being carried off by who they believe to be Sonic) as their only clue, the three join up to find their lost companions.
Team Rose has the simplest levels in the game, boasting fewer enemies, longer flight times, and earlier endings. Amy leads the speed formation, and although she is not quite as quick as Sonic, she has her handy Piko-Piko Hammer to smack enemies and shoot tornadoes forward. Amy is the only speed character who cannot Triangle Jump, but as compensation, she can twirl her hammer in midair to hover over limited distances. Cream can fly her teammates over long distances, and with solo attacks, she can send Cheese to attack for her. Big's weapon of choice is his trusty fishing pole, which can be swung around as his finishing move, but also has a built-in parasol to help the team ride air currents over obstacles.
Their Team Blast is Flower Festival, in which Big balances Amy and Cream onto his parasol as an explosion of flowers bursts from it. Along with destroying all nearby enemies, this will level-up all characters and give the team a shield and temporary invincibility. In Team Battles, it temporarily prevents the other team from changing team members.
Team Chaotix
- Espio the Chameleon - Speed
- Vector the Crocodile - Power
- Charmy Bee - Flight
Team Chaotix is composed of quiet, ninja-like, and disciplined Espio the Chameleon; their headstrong music-loving leader Vector the Crocodile; and the air-headed flying ace Charmy Bee. Notably missing is Mighty the Armadillo, who appears with his team in Knuckles' Chaotix.
Team Chaotix is a detective agency. One day, they receive a mysterious package with a walkie talkie in it. An eerily familiar stranger gives the team instructions through this device and claims that if the job he has for them is completed the Chaotix crew will be handsomely rewarded. Espio is wary of the job, but Vector, with dollar signs in his eyes, reminded him of Chaotix's number one rule, "We never turn down work that pays!"
In Sonic Heroes, the missions of Team Chaotix different from the other three teams'. From collecting hermit crabs to destroying golden turtle robots, the goals these three pursue are unique and are reminiscent of Knuckles' Sonic Adventure 2 levels. Additionally, each member has unique skills that set them apart from the other characters of his type. Espio's tornado move affects the area around him and turns him invisible to avoid enemy fire and pass through laser barriers. He can also throw huge shuriken as his solo attack and hang on walls indefinitely while Triangle Jumping. Charmy can activate special flowers to teleport the group to another flower in the level and can attack on his own with his stinger. Vector attacks by crunching enemies in his jaws, then spewing what is said to be halitosis at enemies (the halitosis he breathes is in the form of musical notes). As Vector levels-up, he breathes (instead of halitosis) fire and the fan-dubbed "bubblegum bombs", in which Vector chucks up a load of explosive bubblegum bubbles. The bubblegum is also used to float.
Team Chaotix's Team Blast is "Chaotix Recital", in which Espio plucks on a samisen, Charmy bangs on a bass drum and sings poorly, and Vector screams into a microphone, destroying every enemy on-screen and gaining a random amount rings for each one . While the Team Blast gauge goes down, any enemy the team destroys will earn them extra rings, which be particularly useful in the 'Robot Carnival' and 'Robot Storm' since the ring boxes fill the gauge up quicker. This could be referring to Vector supposedly being Sonic's former band member.
Stages
Sonic Heroes contains a total of 14 action stages and 9 boss stages (including last story). Objectives and enemies for each stage vary, depending on which of the four teams the player belongs to. An emblem is awarded for every stage that each team completes.
- Sea Gate/Tutorial: A cave-like tutorial stage. In this stage, Omochao teaches you the basics of the game.
- Seaside Hill: A beach stage with some ancient white ruins that are connecting various islands.
- Ocean Palace: After launching off the "tail" of the whale island, the teams end up on a large area made up of the white ruins seen before.
- EGG HAWK: Boss battle against Eggman in a large robotic bird vehicle, equipped with two manned turrets and a chaingun.
- Grand Metropolis: A large, modernized city with flying cars and energy pathways.
- Power Plant: A power plant owned by the company "hexaECO", who created an orange kind of liquid energy.
- TEAM VERSUS: Boss battle between the teams. Team Rose attacks Team Sonic as Amy tries to beat Sonic into marrying her while Sonic attacks to get away, and Team Dark attacks Team Chaotix due to Rouge suspecting them of hunting the treasure she wants.
- Casino Park: A city shaped like a large casino.
- BINGO Highway: A part of the city based on bingo slides.
- ROBOT CARNIVAL: The boss battle is an endurance battle of robots on a small arena.
- Rail Canyon: A canyon where Eggman has built a train station. This stage makes a return from Tails' Skypatrol.
- Bullet Station: The team's press forward even closer to Eggman's base, surrounded by several large cannons that defend it.
- EGG ALBATROSS: Boss battle against Eggman in a large blimp with the Egg Hawk on top. The blimp has 2 sections, containing two turtle cannons, spiked-ball launchers, and 4 manned turrets.
- Frog Forest: A large forest with frogs that can summon rain. This stage is very similar to Mushroom Hill Zone from Sonic & Knuckles.
- Lost Jungle: A swamp deep inside the forest with black frogs that can summon rain which is poisonous to the killing plants but won't harm you. An alligator lurks in the swamp that both Teams Sonic and Dark must get by in order to reach the end of the forest.
- TEAM VERSUS: Boss battle between the teams. Team Dark attacks Team Sonic for being in their way, while Team Chaotix believe Cheese to be one of the Chao they are out to save, and Team Rose defends him.
- Hang Castle: A strange ghostly castle which can be turned upside-down via orb-like gravity switches.
- Mystic Mansion: Inside the castle is a haunted mansion with strange, distorted parts.
- ROBOT STORM: Again, the boss battle is an endurance battle of robots on a small arena, but there are more robots and the fight moves to different arenas.
- Egg Fleet: A gigantic fleet of flying fish-shaped battleships created by Eggman.
- Final Fortress: The teams board the whale shark-shaped flagship of the fleet during a storm.
- EGG EMPEROR: The final boss battle against Eggman at the end of each team's respective story. He is equipped with a large knight-like robot suit that fires missiles and shockwaves.
Extra Missions
Each stage also has an Extra Mission that can be played in Challenge Mode. Completing the Extra Mission is also worth an emblem. Each team has a general goal for all their Extra Missions.
- Team Sonic: Reach the goal ring within a time limit.
- Team Dark: Defeat 100 enemies.
- Team Rose: Collect 200 rings without losing them.
- Team Chaotix: The objective varies with each stage; may include collect all of an object, reaching the goal within a specified time limit or go through the stage without being seen by the enemies.
Last Story
Template:Spoiler The last story starts out where Team Chaotix's story left off, where the team got orders to bust through a certain door via walkie-talkie and free their client. The client is revealed to be Dr. Eggman! and the team begin to beat him up. The Last Story starts out with Vector asking Eggman who locked him up in this prison, "Then who was it? Who locked you up for trying to take over the world?" Eggman then replies "It was...." then the screen cuts off.
All of the teams, and Eggman, rush toward the tower to be interrupted by a loud call saying "All living things kneel before your master!", then a mysterious figure holds its hand up to the sky and lightning strikes and destroys the large tower its standing on. All of the metal that was blown up by the lightning goes around the villain and it transforms into a large metallic dragon-like creature. Eggman then reveals that it is Metal Sonic (in a form revealed to be named "Neo Metal Sonic" on a Sonic Rivals card) who has transformed into a new powerful form after he copied and combined Team Sonic's and Shadow's data with the power of Chaos which he obtained from Froggy and Chocola. Teams Dark, Chaotix and Rose then compose a plan to stall Metal Sonic while Team Sonic powers up into their Super Forms.
A boss battle begins with Team Rose facing Metal Sonic under the name of "Metal Madness". After defeating Metal Madness as Team Rose you face it as Team Chaotix and then Team Dark. After it is defeated by those three teams Metal Madness's claws turn into wings and it begins to fly. With the power of the Chaos Emeralds, Team Sonic transforms into Team Super and take off to battle the new flying Metal Sonic called "Metal Overlord".
The final boss battle begins with the song "What I'm Made Of" by Crush 40 playing in the background. In the battle the team must get rings to sustain Super Form (called Super Transformation), and can only damage Metal Overlord by using an unnamed Team Blast. The team builds up the Team Blast by using Super Sonic's speed to counter Metal Sonic's ice crystals, Super Tails' Thunder Shoot to counter Metal Sonic's spike attacks, and Super Knuckles' power to counter Metal Sonic's battleship tosses. During the Team Blast, the three power up and use Light Attack. Five Team Blasts will take down Metal Overlord.
When he is defeated Metal Sonic falls back down to the ship, reverting back to his Neo form. He then reverts back to his classic form and questions why he can't defeat Sonic. Sonic replies "Because, We're Sonic Heroes", and says he is ready for a rematch anytime. Sonic then runs away and Tails goes after him. Metal Sonic shuts down and Amy goes after Sonic, hurriedly bidding Cream and Big farewell. Knuckles pursues Rouge who is going after the Master Emerald. Omega picks up Metal Sonic's deactivated body and looks at Shadow, while Team Chaotix run after Eggman right before he can sneak away without paying them.
Sonic is running through Seaside Hill and Tails and Knuckles are following as Sonic says "ALRIGHT! Our next advenure awaits us so there's no time to waste. Yeah we're SONIC HEROES!" As the team jump up in the positions on the game cover. Template:Endspoiler
Reception
Reviews for Sonic Heroes generally are positive. Critics cited the visual style the game had (which harkens back to the classic Sonic games of the mid-1990s). However, some have noted its shortcomings as well, including:
- The camera system (a frequent complaint about the 3D Sonic series). Critics rated this game positively despite this problem.
- The control scheme is either too precise or not precise enough depending on the speed of the character's movement. This is what most of the complaints stem from.
- The abilities and weaknesses of the characters are highly unfair and were changed massively throughout the Sonic series. For example, Amy is unable to use Triangle Jump, some say that the move would have enhanced the gameplay. Another example would be that the top speed of the Power formation characters is much slower than usual. When in Speed Formation, the teammates are able to trail behind them easily.
- The speed differences are eventually an annoyance to the player.
- The game's control scheme, combined with the common "bottomless pit" obstacles in the game, have resulted in some player backlash for what some deem to be "unfair deaths".
- Some fans and critics agree that there were simply too many playable characters. This has been an ongoing complaint that started back during the original Sonic Adventure, with many stating that all these extra characters were beginning to steal the spotlight from Sonic; this complaint was amplified in Sonic Adventure 2, which forced players to play as the extra characters rather than Sonic himself. This was compounded by Sonic Heroes, which included a total of 12 playable characters. However, one could also say that some fans would be disappointed if their favorite character was not playable - such was the case with Sonic Adventure 2; half the roster of playable characters were added after many complained Tails was not playable.
- Another common complaint is the lack of variation. Some fans were unhappy that the levels play in the same order for each team with few changes. This could have particularly improved in the sense that Team Dark's first cut-scene is in Eggman's base, and yet their first level is Seaside Hill.
- The PlayStation 2 version has clipping and graphic faults during gameplay, making it the worst of all three releases; it consistently rated less than the Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions in both critics and fan reviews.[1], [2],[3]
The PC version rated fairly well and garnered good reaction from fans and critics. [4],[5],[6]
Sonic Heroes had good sales, entering all three of the "best-sellers" lists: Greatest Hits (PS2), Platinum Hits (Xbox), and Player's Choice (GameCube).[citation needed] Sonic Heroes was also released in a package with Super Monkey Ball on the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox.
Voice actors
This is one of the final Sonic games in which the English voice actors from the Sonic Adventure games recorded their voices. These English Voice Actors, along with their Japanese counterparts, are shown below:
Trivia
- In the opening scene of the story of Team Chaotix, there are pinned papers on a notice board behind Vector, showing concept drawings of the robots used in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.
- Unlike some previous games, and despite the fact that the game was made in Japan, there is no option to play with the Japanese voices intact in the GameCube English version. This is likely due to the more limited disc space on the GCN media. The complete Japanese language text is in the GameCube version, however. The upcoming Sonic games will no longer have an option of Japanese voice setting (when released in America).
- This is the first of three games featuring Shadow where he does not mention Maria (the others being Sonic Riders and Sonic the Hedgehog), although this can be explained by the fact that he has amnesia.
- Several levels feature foreshadowing to the final story featuring Metal Sonic. In the "Hang Castle" stage, Sonic and Rouge question Eggman's decorative taste after seeing a gigantic Eggman statue. However, when the stage flips upside-down, the Eggman statue transforms into a Metal Sonic statue in his Neo form, hidden underneath the Eggman one. Later in the game, the level "Final Fortress" features a deadly storm, which Metal Sonic will later use to destroy part of the flagship, and is mentioned as an omen by Shadow.
- This was the first of only two games (thus far) to feature Rouge the Bat wearing an outfit other than the one she originally wore in Sonic Adventure 2, the other being Sonic Riders.
- As Team Sonic or Team Dark, if you are playing as Tails or Rouge alone, pressing the B button will allow them to throw exploding dummy rings at the enemy, but they cannot be collected. This may be a reference to an attack in the cancelled game, Sonic X-Treme.
- Three of the English voice actors of the game have the last name "Corkery".
- While digging through the Sonic Heroes ROM Data, the data for the Badnik Nebula (or Unidus in Japanese) was found.
- The game was one of Sonic Teams' first for the PS2 and Xbox. The companies' lack of experience developing for the platforms resulted in some infamous performance issues, especially in the PS2 version where there was a reduced framerate from 60 frames per second to 30 frames per second, frequent framerate drops, sound issues, and lack of Progressive Scan support.