| Sonic the Hedgehog | |
|---|---|
| Box art for Sonic the Hedgehog | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Shun Nakamura Masahiro Kumono Yuji Naka |
| Engine | RenderWare Havok For Physics |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| Release |  November 14, 2006 (Xbox 360) December 19, 2006 (PS3)[5]
 December 21, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player multiplayer |
Sonic the Hedgehog (also called SONIC The Hedgehog, Sonic 2006, Sonic Next-Gen, or Sonic 360 to differentiate it from similarly titled games) is a video game featuring Sonic for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The title was originally slated to launch along side the PlayStation 3, but has since been delayed until December 19, 2006.[1] It also released along side Sonic Rivals for the PlayStation Portable, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the Game Boy Advance, and the PC Windows port of Sonic Riders. It was developed by Sonic Team, directed by Shun Nakamura. Its release marked the 15th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, just as Sonic Adventure 2 marked the 10th anniversary in 2001, although this game wasn't released on the very same day that marks Sonic anniversary, June 23, as opposed to the release of the 2001 game.
Among the innovations in the game are the incorporation of passing time, including the realistic movement of the sun, as well as highly detailed characters and landscapes. Yuji Naka has stated that the general theme of the game was "What if Sonic were real?". Yuji Naka stated that this game will capture the most realistic sensation of speed ever, a feature only possible on next-generation systems. This may be seen as a parallel to how NiGHTS Into Dreams was designed: capturing sensation of flight.
This game, also, marks the second Sonic game to have an ESRB rating of E10+, the first being Shadow the Hedgehog. It is also the third Sonic game to have a 12+ PEGI rating, the first being Sonic Mega Collection Plus (however, this was most likely due to the inclusion of non-Sonic games The Ooze and Comix Zone as extras), and the second being Shadow the Hedgehog. The Japanese CERO rating is A: Suitable for all ages (Ａ全年齢対象, Ē zennenrei taishō). [6] [7]
Plot
Sonic
The story of Sonic begins in Soleanna, the City of Water. Soleanna is ruled by Princess Elise, who is the keeper of a dark secret, the "Flames of Disaster", which involves the Chaos Emeralds. Dr. Eggman learns of the Flames of Disaster and attempts to kidnap the Princess. Sonic appears and destroys Eggman's robots, escaping with Elise. Afterwards, Elise is captured by Eggman, but not before she gives Sonic the blue Chaos Emerald she had. Sonic joins with Tails to save Elise. Sonic and Tails rescue Elise but they are followed by Eggman's robots. Tails diverts the robots while Sonic and Elise escape. Running to a field, Elise thanks Sonic for saving her, but she notices that he is hurt, and she uses a strap of her dress to bandage his wound. Elise explains to Sonic about Solaris and the Flames of Disaster. Sonic tells Elise to smile and they return to the city. However, once in the city, Sonic is soon attacked by a strange white hedgehog called Silver the Hedgehog, who has traveled from the future to stop the "Iblis Trigger"[2] during his journey; Iblis causes many deaths in the future from which Silver hails. [3] Sonic and Silver engage in combat, but Elise is captured again by Eggman. Silver is about to defeat Sonic when Amy Rose appears to protect Sonic. Amy engages Silver while Sonic goes to rescue Elise. Sonic joins with Tails and Knuckles. Knuckles delivers a card to Sonic. The card projects a message in which Eggman tells Sonic that he will free Elise if Sonic gives him the blue Chaos Emerald. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles enter Eggman's base and give him the blue Chaos Emerald, but Eggman sends Sonic and his friends to the far future. In the future, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles find Shadow and Rouge. Shadow explains that his Chaos Control will not be enough to return to the present, so they need to work together to find the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles explore the city and overhear the conversation between Mephiles, Silver and Blaze. After they travel to the present, Tails uses a computer to investigate about Elise and he discovers that she died two days after the Festival of the Sun due to the fact that Eggman's battleship exploded while she was onboard. Sonic realizes that they must return to the present. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles meet up with Shadow and Rouge, who have already found the green Chaos Emerald. They find the azure Chaos Emerald but Iblis attacks them. After defeating Iblis and recovering the azure Chaos Emerald, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles return to the present, just into the day in which Elise's supposed death happens. Sonic splits up from Tails and Knuckles and rescues Elise. However, they are attacked by Silver once again. During their combat, Eggman again kidnaps Elise. Shadow appears and helps Sonic to fight Silver. With Shadow fighting Silver, Sonic goes to rescue Elise. Sonic rescues Elise and escapes to the jungle. Sonic tells Elise to return to the castle, where she will be safe. But Eggman uses his battleship to threaten to destroy the city if Elise doesn't give up. Elise goes to Eggman and is taken to his battleship. Sonic joins with Silver and Blaze to rescue Elise. Eggman's battleship starts to fail due a malfunction in the engines. Sonic, Silver and Blaze see Eggman's battleship crashing, making Sonic to believe that Elise is dead. Silver says that they can still save Elise by traveling through time. Sonic and Silver trigger Chaos Control by using their Chaos Emeralds. Sonic travels to the past and infiltrates Eggman's battleship. Apparently, Sonic is the one who malfuctions Eggman's battleship. Sonic rescues Elise and escapes from the explosion. Sonic and Elise laugh about what happened and Sonic congratulates Elise for her smile. Together, Sonic and Elise look into the sky.
Shadow
Shadow was created by Professor Gerald to be the Ultimate Life-form. His story opens during a rescue mission at the request of the Federal Government to rescue Rouge the Bat. Eventually, he meets up with Rouge in the midst of accomplishing her own mission of retrieving the "Scepter of Darkness" from Eggman's base. They escape to the site that was formerly the castle of Soleanna's kings where they are confornted by Dr. Eggman, who attempts to retrieve his stolen property. Eggman's robots swoop down to attack, and in the heat of the battle, the Scepter of Darkness is completely shattered.
With the seal that was "Scepter of Darkness" broken, Mephiles is freed. Resurrected in the likeness of Shadow through his shadow, Mephiles hints at past history that the two shared and flings Shadow and Rouge to a future on the brink of collapse. When they arrive, they are first perplexed but before long, they find some disturbing answers.
Silver
Silver lives years in the future when telekinetic powers are the norm.[8] In the future, Silver's world is destroyed by what is known as the "Flames of Disaster". He and his partner, Blaze, are battling an immortal being known as "Iblis". After getting frustrated over the fact that Iblis always revives himself, Silver gets angry, causing Mephiles to suddenly appear and, along the way, inform Silver of the time when Iblis was unleashed onto the world. He tells him that Sonic was the main cause of the "Flames of Disaster". Together, Silver and Blaze go back in time to stop Sonic from destroying the future.
Last Story
The Last Story starts with Mephiles using his dark Emerald to distract Sonic and Elise. When they are distracted, Mephiles launches a beam (Dubbed the "Dark Chaos Lance") that kills Sonic. This makes Elise cry, releasing Iblis. Mephiles merges with Iblis, finally forming Solaris. Solaris creates his own world to destroy time itself. Everyone realizes that Sonic is dead, but Silver explains that they can use the Chaos Emeralds to revive him. After a long search, they find the Chaos Emeralds and revive Sonic, transforming him into Super Sonic. Super Sonic uses his power to transform Shadow and Silver into Super Shadow and Super Silver. Together, the three hedgehogs fight and defeat Solaris. Sonic and Elise travel to a point in the past where they find the Flames of Disaster. Elise realizes that if she puts out the Flames, Solaris will never exist, but that also will make that Sonic and Elise never meet each other. Elise says she doesn't care what happens to the world, but Sonic tells Elise to smile. Elise puts out the Flames of Disaster, destroying Solaris forever (and possibly revives Blaze from her sacrifice and destroying Mephiles forever as well). Time reboots itself to the beginning cutscene during the Festival of the Sun. Elise is in her boat waving the audience. Sonic runs through the public, making Elise to lose one of the feathers of her dress. A maid asks her if everything is right, Elise says that someone was calling her. Another maid replies that it's just the wind, Elise says that it might be but it fell familiar somehow. Elise continues with the festival. Sonic watches her from a rooftop. Apparently, Sonic and Elise are the only ones that know what happened and still know each other. The game ends with Sonic seeing the feather of Elise's dress flying into the night.
Characters
Playable
There are three fully playable characters in this game:
- Sonic the Hedgehog - The hero of the story. When controlling Sonic, the player will get to experience high-speed, Sonic Adventure-style gameplay. He appears to have retained most of his abilities from Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic will have special areas within levels called Super-Speed stages which are straight paths of high speed running. Sonic has "Custom actions", that enables him to purchase and customize his abilities for separate situations - some of which include Sonic doing a swipe in a 360 degree formation and sliding to attack his foes. The abilities Sonic is equipped with in the Xbox Live Marketplace demo are Homing Attack, Light Dash, a bounce attack, grinding, a sliding kick, and a breakdance kick similar to the one seen in Sonic Battle. The Spin Dash also returns in this game, and there are new moves such as a tornado kick, and a mach dash that can only be used via the 'Special Move' trigger after being purchased with rings in the in-game store. Sonic also has a whole new design for his afterimage. It looks like a blue flame now and when he attacks , the afterimage explodes into a rainbow like color.Sonic also uses gems to get special powers also it can change his shoe color.Like for instance Sonic's orginal shoe color is red and white,but using the blue gem ( gives Sonic mach speed )makes his shoe blue and black.
- Shadow the Hedgehog - A black hedgehog rival of Sonic's. Shadow is able to drive vehicles. Confirmed ones include a "bike" (armed motorcycle), a "glider" (armed jet propelled machine similar to a hanglider), a "hover vehicle" (armed and capable of riding over potentially hazardous surfaces), and a "buggy" (armed four-wheeled vehicle). While in an action stage, if Shadow comes under heavy fire, homing missles will become available for each of the vehicles. He is also seen attacking with what appears to be 'Chaos Blast' and 'Chaos Spear.' It has been confirmed by the Tokyo Game Show demo that Shadow will not use firearms in this game.[4] It has been comfirmed on the japanese website that Shadow also has "Custom Actions" and works the same as Sonic's. According to the TGS demo, Shadow can use his Chaos Spear attack and attack enemies with rapid fire kicks [4]. He can also use Homing Attack, grind and also do a sliding kick. It has been confirmed on the U.S. website that he can use Chaos Spear and Chaos Blast. By collecting enough rings, Shadow can also use Chaos Boost. On an interesting note, the "Air" in his shoes has become invisible.
- Silver the Hedgehog - Silver is a time-traveling hedgehog who has returned to the past in order to stop Sonic from becoming the "Iblis Trigger".[5] Silver has psychokinetic powers, which are the main feature of his gameplay. Using his psychokinetic powers, Silver is able to pick up objects around the playing field and throw them at enemies, including cars and missiles. He also possesses the ability to levitate in the air for differing amounts of time (using up his energy bar), and he too can purchase new abilities in the in-game store with rings. His energy bar depletes faster the heavier the object he is lifting, and his energy bar replenishes with time. [9]
To unlock each character's story in the game, you start out as Sonic and then meet the others, very similar to Sonic Adventure, Sonic Advance 2 Sonic Advance 3.
Amigos
Amigos are companions of the main three characters (Sonic, Shadow, and Silver) who can help out from time to time in specific levels. When you meet them, you can switch to them and do things with their unique abilities that the main character cannot.
Sonic's
- Miles "Tails" Prower - Sonic's best friend, and an inventor nearly on par with Dr. Eggman. Tails can use his two tails to fly and reach things that Sonic cannot--such as hitting a switch to open a door. Tails can also fly through Dash Rings that appear in some stages (as was the case in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Riders) [6]. He can also throw a "dummy ring capsule" that can destroy an enemy, not dissimilar to his ability from Sonic Heroes. [10] Also, in the first stage with Sonic, Wave Ocean, you get to switch to Tails while Sonic is riding a giant whale, as Tails re-visits Wave Ocean after the Radical Train level and you get to do the whole level with Tails this time. You also get to switch to Tails in the Aquatic Base level.
- Knuckles the Echidna - Though shy around girls, Knuckles is a tough guy with a mean temper, and he's quick to use his fists to solve any problem. Usually found guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island, he's always willing to help Sonic thwart Dr. Eggman's latest scheme. [6]. Knuckles is able to glide and has his Heat Knuckle move. Also, you can switch to Knuckles on the Flame Core level and the Aquatic Base level.
Shadow's
- Rouge the Bat - An elusive jewel thief who also happens to be a valued government spy. It has been claimed that Rouge journeyed to Dr. Eggman's base, White Acropolis, in search of the "Scepter of Darkness", but never returned. After receiving an brief from the government, Shadow is introduced into the storyline as he sets out to find and rescue her [6]. She can make round bomb-like objects (which happen to look like Pokeballs from Pokemon except pink) and throw them at enemies, somewhat resembling the Bat Cracker ability from Sonic Battle. She can also glide, climb, and put bombs with hearts on them into walls that she is climbing on. She is playable on the White Acropolis, Kingdom Valley, and Tropical Jungle levels in Shadow's story.
- E-123 Omega - Omega is the pinnacle of the E-Series robots; he seeks revenge on Dr. Eggman for imprisoning him inside of his base and has aided Shadow and Rouge before. Like in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, he is, once again, an ally of Shadow, helping him confront the mysterious Mephiles. [6]. Unbeknownst to him, Omega has a pivotal role in Shadow's story and the events that unfold in the future. Omega can hover and shoot, and is playable character during the boss Mephiles in Shadow's story, and in Wave Ocean in Shadow's story. He met up with Shadow and Rouge at the end of the tropical Jungle stage.
Silver's
- Blaze the Cat - Blaze is a character who plays a very pivotal role in Silver's story. Previously appearing in the game, Sonic Rush, for the Nintendo DS, she is a queen from another world who has the power to control fire. She is very calm and introspective, a personality befitting of her rank. However, she keeps her anger bottled up inside of her, and can be very stubborn at times. She is described as a combination of Sonic and Knuckles. [6] Her homeworld is the same as Silver's and the two share a brother-sister relationship [7]. Both she and Silver have tried to destroy Iblis in the future but have never succeeded. She is playable in the Crisis City level, claimed to be the first stage of Silver's Story as it takes place in the future. She, also, completely does the Wave Ocean stage in search of Silver in the beach area after she and Silver got teleported to the past.
- Amy Rose - The self-proclaimed girlfriend of Sonic. She has a keen sense of intuition, and a fearless personality. [6] The first time Amy meets Silver, she mistakes him for Sonic, similar to an event in Sonic Adventure 2 when she mistook Shadow for Sonic. The two end up teaming up to go on a search for the people they are looking for, unaware they're both looking for Sonic. She is playable in the Dusty Desert level, looking for Sonic, as she keeps saying "Sonic was here, I can sense it!". Amy also has an apparent connection with Elise throughout the game. She can double jump, use her Pikko Pikko Hammer to whack enemies, and apparently can turn invisible to sneak up on enemies.Also you can automatically play as her in a mission to protect Elise from robots after you beat the White Acropolis level with Silver and Blaze. Also, since Amy and Silver are both looking for Sonic, they finally find him and Silver starts to fight Sonic, but both in Sonic and Silver's story Amy stops Silver from finishing Sonic off and killing him. Amy can also be unlocked by completing all the mystery of Soleana with an "S" rank in Sliver's story.
Non-playable
- Princess Elise - Princess of Soleanna, where the Sun God is worshipped. Ten years ago, the demon Force-Iblis was sealed away in her body. The key to this seal is her own despair. Her father, in order to protect her, has urged her to be strong and to never let herself cry, no matter what, and now, she is a noble young princess of 17. On one side, she is a prim and proper princess, but on the other, she is a typical confused and anxious 17-year-old girl. First meeting Sonic she mistakes him for Silver. She tries to make light of her fate, but her encounter with Sonic is what shall truly set her soul free. She is now Dr. Eggman's captive. Having stopped the destructive "Flames of Disaster" ten years prior to the start of the game's storyline, only she knows the secret of the "Flames of Disaster" and its relation to the Chaos Emeralds. It is Elise's tears and despair that actually are key to unleashing the monster Iblis. She tells Sonic, after she is rescued, that he needs to find the Iblis Trigger. Interestingly, the Chaos Emerald in her possession was originally green, but in recent trailers and screenshots [11] it has been changed to blue.
- Dr. Eggman - A scientist with legions of robotic weapons and who is bent on conquering the world, Dr. Eggman is the main villain in the Sonic series, but not this game. He appears to be seeking knowledge of the secret "Flames of Disaster", of which apparently only Princess Elise knows about. His appearance has noticeably changed from the style established in Sonic Adventure.
- Mephiles the Dark - The main villain of this game. A creature of the mind, the will of Solaris. In order to join together with Iblis, to "return" to Solaris, his goal is to break Elise's seal and to gather the Chaos Emeralds. He makes up Shadow's dark side, and is fuel for his burning desire as the ultimate life-form. He is known to be the one who informs Silver that Sonic is the "Iblis Trigger", referring to him as the "Disaster Ringleader". He appears to have three forms:the first form is a dark gas like or goo looking thing. The second form, as shown at the right, whereby he has brighter fur; the second form being, as shown here [12], whereby he sports darker fur - the specific differences between both forms is currently unknown. He is also bent on destroying Shadow. [13] It is also seen in the Tokyo Game Show trailer that Mephiles seems to have the ability to hide in the ground as a shadow.
![[12]](http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g62/Auroralight_2006/Mephils1.jpg){kind=link}
- Duke of Soleanna - Elise's father, the ruler of Soleanna. When the Solaris Project failed, the world-destroying power of Iblis and Mephiles was released. Despite being gravely wounded, he was able to bind Iblis into his daughter Elise's body. And so, he was able to save the world, even as he drew his last breath. He was a brilliant scientist. He also had a strong sense of patriotic and kingly duty, and loved and trusted his daughter dearly and before he died he begged Elise never to cry as unlocking Iblis is in Elise's tears and despair, then he died.
Cast
This game features the 4Kids Entertainment cast from Sonic X, as confirmed by a Sega representitive, this might be one of the final games (the others being Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Rivals) that will feature the 4Kids Cast. The rep stated that Sega had no reason to use the 4Kids VAs in any Sonic video games after Sonic and the Secret Rings, as the Sonic X Television show's run has ended.
The following voice actors have appeared in this game:
| Voice Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jason Griffith | Sonic the Hedgehog / Shadow the Hedgehog |
| Pete "The Sniper" Capella | Silver the Hedgehog |
| Lacey Chabert | Princess Elise |
| Mike Pollock | Dr. Eggman / Narrator |
| Amy Palant | Miles "Tails" Prower |
| Bella Hudson | Blaze the Cat |
| Dan Green | Knuckles the Echidna / Mephiles the Dark |
| Kathleen Delaney | Rouge the Bat |
| Lisa Ortiz | Amy Rose / Maid |
| Maddie Blaustein | E-123 Omega |
| David Willis | Duke Soleanna / G.U.N Communicator |
Key features
- The detail level and draw distance have been upped considerably. High resolution textures are utilized, in combination with effects like bump and normal mapping.
- The Havok Physics Engine has been implemented, giving robots and debris realistic physics as objects crumble, fall and bounce around the playing field.
- The basic features of previous Sonic games return; classic objects like springs and dash plates, as well as newer features like rail-grinding, sliding and the homing attack, were all shown in the demo, while adding new elements such as Sonic catching a ride with an eagle, grinding on a jet stream of water, and using spring ropes to proceed to the next area.
- In previous Sonic titles, character models were constructed with about 1,500 polygons. While there is still debate over the validity of the claim, a recent issue of GamePro said that player models in this game will be composed of over 1 million polygons each.
- By default, the camera is closer to Sonic, and lower to the ground than the previous Sonic games, to help emphasize the sensation of speed.
- Rings have expanded functionality. Rather than simply being a measure of life, they can now be used to purchase items and abilities in the Town Stages. In addition, the more rings Sonic carries, the faster his top speed is - similar to the Sonic Advance titles. The more rings Silver carries, the more powerful his abilities become. The rings also help replenish his telekinesis bar. When enough rings are collected,Shadow can perform Chaos Boost. [8] Sonic doesn't always lose all of his rings in one go either. Depending on how he is attacked, he loses amounts varying from 1 ring to all rings. Also, in the Demo, the higher rank you get, the more rings you earn.
- On September 4th, 2006, Sega announced they would be working with Kynogon, to license their Kynapse Artificial Intelligence Middleware. [9]
- As noted in the XBOX Live demo title screen, the game uses the Lua programming language
- The game will support content download from Xbox Live, but nothing has been confirmed on what is downloadable, such as new missions, moves, or levels.
Gameplay
Although each character plays the same levels, each character's unique abilities allow them to get to different areas of each stage, and deny them from accessing certain items. Levels are far less linear than previous 3D Sonic titles, offering up many alternate pathways through each stage. Certain areas in each of the levels, dubbed "mach speed areas", allow Sonic to reach speeds that would be unattainable elsewhere.
Gameplay is broken up into two gameplay styles, similar to the original Sonic Adventure: Action Stage and Town Stage. Action Stages are primarily where the bulk of the gameplay takes place, whereas Town Stages are free-roaming locations where the player can talk to non-player characters and explore, similar to Sonic Adventure's Adventure Fields.
For each of the action stages in the respective stories, gold medals are obtainable by achieving high ranks in these stages.
According to the information disclosed on the American game site, there are a total of eleven stages, meaning there is still one unknown, unannounced stage.
The ranking system in the game for each of the levels (and even the town missions) is similiar to Sonic Rush, providing score ranks with the highest rank revealed to be S Rank, but, the lowest to be D Rank, unlike previous Sonic games where the worst rank was E Rank and A was the highest. [14]
Action Stages
- Kingdom Valley: A large, grassy canyon containing the ruins of an old castle. Borrows visuals of Windy Valley from Sonic Adventure. The Mach Speed Zone for this level is a speedy dash including running along walls of water. Sonic and Shadow have been seen riding an eagle on this level. It is the level playable in all of the demo builds of the game so far, including the Xbox Live Marketplace demo.
- Sonic's Story: (8th Stage) Sonic journeys to the ancient castle in search of Dr. Eggman who has captured Princess Elise yet again and hopes to collect the Chaos Emerald hidden there. [15]
- Shadow's Story: (2nd Stage) Shadow escorts Rouge to the castle of Soleanna in Kingdom Valley, with the Scepter of Darkness in tow.[16]
- Silver's Story: (8th Stage) Realizing that the princess holds Iblis inside her, Silver rushes through this stage to find and save her.
- Tropical Jungle: A large jungle that seems to have overgrown an ancient civilization. Looks like the Jungle area of the Mystic Ruins of Sonic Adventure. Instead of catching a ride with eagles on this stage Sonic interacts with a giant turtle who helps Sonic get farther in the stage. Sonic has been seen carrying Elise in this stage.
- Sonic's Story: (7th Stage) After rescuing Princess Elise from aboard the train, Sonic finds himself in a jungle with Elise. To avoid being found, Sonic tries to cut through the jungle with hopes of eluding Dr. Eggman, once again. [17]
- Shadow's Story: (5th Stage) After getting separated from Shadow, Rouge journeys to this jungle with the goals of finding Omega, and enlisting his help. [18]
- Silver's Story: (2nd Stage) After being sent into the past, Silver journeys to this jungle with hopes of confronting Sonic the Hedgehog, whom he believes to be the "Iblis Trigger". [19]
- Wave Ocean: A beach-like stage, in homage to Emerald Coast from Sonic Adventure[20], even includes a segment where Sonic is chased by an orca whale along a wooden bridge, in addition to scenes where Sonic is instead riding the orca. Tails is seen in this stage on the Japanese site. Sonic is also seen chasing a massive airship, resembling the Egg Carrier. The Mach Speed zone for this area involves Sonic running at high speeds across a beach after the Egg Carrier.
- Sonic's Story: (1st Stage) After meeting up with Tails, he and Sonic search for Dr. Eggman's ship with goals of rescuing Princess Elise. [21]Later on, Tails revisits Wave Ocean on his own as revealed by Sonic Cult and, in part, by the Japanese site [22].
- Shadow's Story: (8th Stage) Omega, on a hunt for Mephiles, searches for him in this stage but when he does, he uncovers some disturbing answers.
- Silver's Story: (3rd Stage) Blaze goes through here looking for Silver, who she was separated from when they teleported to the past.
- Dusty Desert: These are the ruins of old Soleanna. Similair to Sandopolis Zone from Sonic & Knuckles. On the Japanese site, there are screens of Amy in this stage. Shadow plays through the opening of the stage in a hovercraft. This is also where Sonic fight the Egg-Cerberus. Recent footage also shows that Sonic will actually carry Elise whilst travelling through the level. Some of Iblis' minions can also be found here. [10]
- Sonic's Story: (2nd Stage) After rescuing Elise from the clutches of Dr. Eggman, Sonic, Tails and Elise come across some ancient ruins in hopes of eluding Eggman's forces. [23]
- Shadow's Story: (Final Stage) Shadow, Rouge and Omega follow Mephiles to the ruins where he is searching for the Chaos Emerald hidden there in hopes of beating him to it. [24] [25]
- Silver's Story: (4th Stage) After meeting up with each other, Silver and Amy search the ruins in hopes of finding who they are looking for. [26]
- Crisis City: A giant, decaying city in the future that is visibly under attack from forces both mechanical and supernatural. Visually resembles Westopolis from Shadow the Hedgehog. Features a streetboarding section (like City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2) but inside of a half-pipe, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Special Stage, also the board he rides appears to be an Extreme Gear. Sonic also appears to be running across flying debris in mid-air in some gameplay footage. [11] Shadow can use an all-terrain armored vehicle in this level, similar to the Warthog from the Halo series and the Landmaster from the Star Fox series.
- Sonic's Story: (4th Stage) When Sonic and the others are sent to the future by Dr. Eggman's new machine, they try to determine where they are and what went wrong in this new setting. [27]
- Shadow's Story: (3rd Stage) After a quick confrontation with Mephiles at the castle of Soleanna, Shadow and Rouge are mysteriously transported to the future, unsure of what went wrong. Along the way, they find very puzzling answers. [28]
- Silver's Story:(1st stage) Set in the future, Silver and Blaze continue their on-going fight against Iblis. [29]
- White Acropolis: This has been confirmed on the Japanese Site to be a snowy level set outside a large base, most probably Eggman's, complete with many large buildings and searchlights. Sonic, like in Crisis City, has another snowboarding area here, which is a homage to the Icecap stage from Sonic Adventure[30].
- Sonic's Story: (3rd Stage) After meeting up with Knuckles, and receiving a letter from Dr. Eggman, threatening him to bring the Chaos Emerald he has, Sonic and the others set off to find Dr. Eggman's secret base, the "Aquatic Base". [31]
- Shadow's Story: (1st Stage) Shadow journeys to Eggman's base in search of Rouge, who has sent an SOS call after trying to locate and recover the Scepter of Darkness. [32]
- Silver's Story: (5th Stage) Uncertain whether or not Sonic really is this fabled "Iblis Trigger", Silver and Blaze journey to Dr. Eggman's base in search of some answers. [33]
- Radical Train: A level set in a mountainous region with a heavy presence of trains and train tracks. The freightliner trains in the levels are similair to those in Mid-west United States as well as the region the level takes place. [34]
- Sonic's Story: (6th Stage) After escaping from the future, Sonic and the others try to search for Princess Elise once again. [35]
- Shadow's Story: (6th Stage) Shadow wants answers about Mephiles so he decides to destroy Doctor Eggman's train in order to stop him and ask him why he is also trying to capture Mephiles.
- Silver's Story: (6th Stage) Along with Amy, Silver continues his search for Sonic through this stage, but, open finding Sonic, Shadow gets in the way, and Silver mistakes him for Mephiles.
- Aquatic Base: This stage is known to be Eggman's secret base. Similair to GUN Fortress from Shadow the Hedgehog. Through some background pictures from the official english site, it was shown that Aquatic Base is a heavily armed Underwater base with windows showing water creatures swimming around. The base is made of metal and has badniks that were shown in Kingdom Valley and Crisis City guarding the area.
- Sonic's Story: (Final Stage) After realizing time has run out and after witnessing a terrible event, Sonic enlists the help of Silver to go back in time to save Elise from a horrible fate by sneaking onboard Dr. Eggman's battleship.
- Shadow's Story: (7th Stage) In an attempt to uncover the truth about Mephiles, Shadow and Silver decide to travel 10 years into the past, when this world was still a research lab for the Duke.
- Silver's Story: (7th Stage) Silver accidentally induces a Chaos Control which opens a time portal while he's fighting against Shadow. They decide to uncover the truth about Mephiles and Iblis and travel back 10 years ago when they were released.
- Flame Core: A possible homage to Red Mountain from Sonic Adventure and Lava Reef from Sonic & Knuckles. On a video at IGN, Sonic is seen fighting one of Iblis's forms here. In several screenshots and video clips, Shadow is seen fighting Mephiles, presumably, somewhere in this stage.
- Sonic's Story: (5th Stage) Teamed up with Shadow and Rouge, Sonic and the others search for a Chaos Emerald here to get back to the present but end up confronting one of Iblis' forms instead. [36]
- Shadow's Story: (4th Stage) Also stuck in the future, Shadow and Rouge assist Sonic and the others in their search of a Chaos Emerald here to get back to the present.[37]
- Silver's Story: (Final Stage) After returning to the future with knowledge of how to seal Iblis, Silver rushes off to fight with him, but doing so requires a high price to pay.
- End of the World: Set in an area of distorted space that looks similar to the altar rooms in Mystic Mansion from Sonic Heroes, this is said to be the stage for the "Last Story". What follows is the final stage/act, you must go through segments of 7 previous stages (filled with gravity wells and Iblis' minions) with a certain character on a hunt for the Chaos Emeralds a la Sonic Adventure and Cannon's Core from Sonic Adventure 2. The level bears a coincidental ressemblance to the similiary-named End of the World in the first Kingdom Hearts due to the purple overtones (which gives both levels a surreal feeling) and the usage of short segments from previous levels.
Town Stages
The game takes place exclusively within the City of Soleanna and surrounding area. In town stages you can talk to NPCs, take Town Missions, buy upgrades using rings collected through Action Stages or Town Missions, and further the game's plot by finding entrances to Action Stages. There are three sections to Soleanna:
- Castle Town - The starting area for Sonic. Castle Town contains Altar where the citizens of Soleanna pray to the Sun God, Solaris. It's appearance is modeled after Venice, Italy, with similar water ways and gondolas.
- New City - The modern portion of Soleanna, with tall buildings, a port, and a train station.
- Soleanna Forest - A giant forest near both New City and Castle Town. This ___location also contains a gigantic valley and a swampy jungle.
Town Missions
NPCs appearing in Town Stages with a blue exclamation point hovering over their head will provide you with missions to complete for additional rings. Missions are usually completed as a single character of your team (generally the main character of the story), though missions do exist where you play as more than one character. Sometimes, Town Missions will begin as a logical progression of the plot, such as Eggman's robots attacking the citizens of Soleanna - leaving you with the task of defeating all the robots. Town Missions are graded on the same scale as Action Stages.
Multiplayer
Sonic the Hedgehog features two styles of multiplayer game play that offer two player action.
The first mode, Tag Mode, is a co-op type of play between Sonic, Silver and Shadow. Two players, one controlling a character, must work together to clear levels and collect chaos emeralds. In this mode, lives are shared, so if one player loses when only one life remains its game over.
The second game style available is Battle Mode. Battle mode pits two players against each other and asks them to complete randomly selected missions. Whichever player can collect the most gold medals wins the match.
The previously rumored mini-games that were to allow up to four players to play simultaneously/alternately (Quiz, Race and a few others) seem to be missing in the final release of the game. The US manual and Sega America game site do not mention any other modes other than the aforementioned Tag and Battle modes.[38] It is possible that these mini games may be downloadable as extra material through Xbox Live, but this is not confirmed.
Music
The main theme for the game, entitled "His World," has multiple variations. One of these, an instrumental version performed by Ali Tabatabaee & Matty Lewis from Zebrahead, is available on the Japanese official website. [39]
HipHop/R&B Artist Akon has done a remix to Dreams Come True song "Sweet Sweet Sweet", which was originally the ending theme for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive. The song is entitled "SWEET SWEET SWEET -06 AKON MIX-"[12][13], in Japanese and "Sweet Dreams" in English. It is Sonic's ending theme for the game. More information is available on the Japanese site [40]; it was also recently featured in a trailer from the Tokyo Game Show. Both versions are available for the US release of the game.
Crush 40, who have done several songs for the Sonic series in the past, are performing a cover of "All Hail Shadow", one of the vocal songs from the Shadow the Hedgehog soundtrack, originally sung by the band Magna-Fi. However, aside from this one track, Jun Senoue is not composing the music for this game [14]. A video with the song can be found here.
Silver's theme, ("Dreams of an Absolution") by Lee Brotherton (Remix Factory), can be heard at their website in the "Solo Projects" section of the "Music" header. [41]
Singer/songwriter Donna DeLory performs Elise's theme, entitled "My Destiny".
The soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog is available for preorder from Sega Direct. Its release is scheduled for January 10, 2007. There are two different albums: the OST and the Vocal Trax (currently titled "Several Wills"). The Vocal Trax is on one disc while the OST is one three discs.
Critical reception
The game received mixed reviews from across a variety of publications. Game Rankings puts the average review score at 51.9%, across 39 articles.[15]
- 1UP rated the game a 5.5/10.[16]
- EDGE rated the game a 3/10
- Eurogamer rated the game a 2/10
- GameBrink rated the game a 57/100
- GameDaily rated the game a 2.5/5
- Game Informer rated the game a 6.75/10
- Game-On rated this game an 87/100[42]
- Gamespot rated the game a 4.4/10
- GameTrailers rated it 4.6/10
- Gamesmaster Magazine UK 76%
- Meristation (Spanish) rated the game a 6/10
- Play Magazine rated the game a 9.5/10
- The Official Xbox 360 Magazine rated the game a 6/10
- AOL GameDaily rated the game a 5/10
References
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000GM8ACM/202-8306227-0361429?v=glance&n=300703
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/sonicthehedgehog/index.html
- ^ The "Iblis Trigger" could be a reference to the Islamic devil of the same name to tap into existing mythology, or simply a plot device
- ^ SonicStadium.org, [1]
- ^ a b IGN.com, Xbox 360 Preview [2] Cite error: The named reference "ignxbox3602" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Kotaku, Silver the Hedgehog: Telekinetic Time Travelling Rodent, URL Accessed May 12, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f Sega of America official website for Sonic the Hedgehog. [3] Cite error: The named reference "americanwebsite" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Sega of Japan official website for Sonic the Hedgehog [4]
- ^ Gametrailers.com, Sonic the Hedgehog Gameplay Extravaganza
- ^ Kynogon.com, Press Release (PDF format)
- ^ http://uk.media.ps3.ign.com/media/770/770960/vids_1.html
- ^ http://uk.media.ps3.ign.com/media/770/770960/vids_1.html
- ^ "New Single, Kyou dake wa, coming November 29th!". Retrieved September 29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG". Retrieved September 29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://junsenoue.com/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,29/func,view/id,9332/catid,2/
- ^ Game Rankings page for Sonic the Hedgehog
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
1UPwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
External links
- Ryan Drummond email - Ryan Drummond's explanation to his email that he sent to Sega.
- The game's official American site - The game's official American site. It is completely different than the Japanese site. It apparently reveals almost all of the characters.
- Official European Site - Very similar to the American site. But has a different video on the Home page.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - The game's official Japanese site from Sonic Channel.
- Sega of America's information page
- Sega of America's game page
- Gamespot Newspage - Yuji Naka demos real-time next-gen Sonic at the Tokyo Game Show 2005; accompanying trailers feature gameplay on a PS3 developers' kit.
- "TGS: Sonic the Hedgehog Next-Gen trailer" at Game Videos
- Interview with Mike Pollock at Fireball20xl