Sonic the Hedgehog

The Good
Story: The story in this game has been criticized for being too dramatic for a sonic game. But the writing, presentation, and C.G.I. movies make keep it from being a bore. In fact, the story has enough twists and surprises to keep you attached. It involves time travel, an ancient prophecy of the end of the world, and motivation. Also, for the first time, Sonic has the role of continually saving the princess of the game, Elise, from Doctor Eggman over and over. I think Sonic Team spent most of their time on this side of the game. All of your favorite characters are here, and they all have equally important roles.

Graphics: The graphics aren't the best on this type of platform, but that doesn't mean they aren't good, especially for a Sonic game. The graphics are clean and definitely have a lot of variation. You'll be seeing a beach level, a desert level, an ice level, a burning city in flames, a volcano level, an abandoned mine, a tropical jungle, an ancient forsaken valley, and an aquatic base. Character Animations are very smooth, especially in cutscenes. Though, I'm disappointed to find out that there aren't any cool special effects, such as, motion blur, advanced explosions, and dynamic lighting. But at least the graphics in this game won't cause anyone seizures from ridiculously vibrant effects, like Sonic Riders can. The physics in the game are also a nice next generation touch. Thanks to the Havok Physics Engine.

Music: The music in this game is some of the best music I've heard in a video game in a long time. This game features vocal theme songs, rock, electronica, orchestra, and even jazz. It seems as though the music composers, Tomoyo Ohtani and Mariko Nanba, spent a lot of effort to make sure their music was diverse and cultural. They sure did a lot of research with different tunes around the world to make sure each tune fits perfectly with the atmosphere. The music is probably the best part about this game. The soundtrack itself comes in 3 discs ( not including the vocals ). Now that's a lot of music for you.

The Bad
The load times in the game are pretty much unbearable. Not only do they last for 20 seconds, but they also appear very frequently during levels. Another good example of the atrocious load times are the town missions. I think you'd know what I mean there, since you can't read a Sonic the Hedgehog 360 review without seeing someone complain about that issue. Not only are do the town missions have these long load times, but they themselves are repetitive, bland, and a complete waste of time. Especially for a Sonic game. Some missions include finding three children, walking a dog, jumping through hoops, or defeating enemies within a time limit. Can someone explain to me the point of doing this in a Sonic game. Sonic games are about going through action stages, not doing favors for people around a castle town. Why would Sonic Team put this in the game?!

Framerate: The framerate in the game, sadly doesn't run at a steady 60 frames per second. The game will consistently slow down in some of the worst places, especially when you're building up speed. It seems as though Sonic Team screwed up the framerate in this game due to using the Havok Physics Engine along with the Renderware Engine. Developers should stick to using one game engine per game.

The Bottom Line
I'd recommend this Sonic game to a sonic fan that is very forgiving. This game is for patient gamers, who don't have a problem with understanding and getting used to this games problems. Believe me, there are parts in this game that are impressive. Sonic Team has quite a handful of good ideas they put in this game. If only they didn't rush it, it could have been great. But overall, it's decent, despite it being only 70% finished. Sonic fans should at least rent it to see some memorable levels.