Sonic Heroes

Moby ID: 11564
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Sonic Heroes is a 3D action-platformer in which the player takes control of a team of 3 characters, each with a special ability - speed, fly and power. The objective of the game is to race through levels as quickly as possible whilst defeating enemies and collecting rings. Your time, rings and enemies defeated make up a point system, and more points mean a higher rank on the level. There are 4 teams of characters each with their own changes to the gameplay:

  • Team Sonic is the intermediate difficulty featuring Sonic (speed), Tails (fly) and Knuckles (power).
  • Team Shadow is the hard difficulty featuring Shadow (speed), Rogue (fly) and E-123 Omega (power).
  • Team Rose is the easy difficulty featuring Amy (speed), Cream (fly) and Big (power).
  • Team Chaotix features new mission-based objectives with Espio (speed), Charmy (fly) and Vector (power).

The game features 4 modes:

  • Story Mode, giving players the opportunity to play through levels as the story progresses.
  • Challenge Mode, giving players the opportunity to replay levels that they have previously cleared in Story Mode
  • Battle Mode, a multiplayer mode where players can race or battle each other
  • Tutorial Mode, teaching players the basics of playing the game.

Spellings

  • ソニックヒーローズ - Japanese spelling
  • 索尼克英雄 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • 소닉히어로즈 - Korean spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

189 People (176 developers, 13 thanks) · View all

President
COO
Product Marketing Manager
Director of Product Development and Localization
Localization Producer / Assistant Product Marketing Manager
Senior Media Manager
Creative Services Manager
Public Relations Manager
Director of Quality Assurance
Offshore Project Manager
Senior Release Manager
Build Engineer / PC Project Coordinator
Supervisor
Design Coordinator
Layout Designer
Editor / Layout Designer
Marketing Consultant
Sega Ex-Patriot
Producer
Director
Art Director
Main Programmer
Main Game Designer
Sound Director
Player Designer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 70% (based on 48 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 83 ratings with 11 reviews)

Horrid, half-assed, failed attempt at resurrecting a dying breed of game.

The Good
It's Sonic...that's about it. That is literally the ONLY reason I bought it (and subsequently will also be the only reason I will buy the PS2 and X-Box versions later this month). I need to keep my collection up to date.

The Bad
Practically EVERYTHING. The control is disgustingly inaccurate, the GameCube's 8-notched control-stick well didn't help much when you needed to make finite direction changes at full speed. The music is boring..plain and simple. I would love to hear some sort of throwback to the Genesis era, instead of this new techno-ish + rock + j-pop GARBAGE from Jun Senoue (spelling?). Sonic Team's effort to revive the older type of run and jump Sonic completely does NOT fit the atmosphere the music creates. On top of that, the game itself is lame...I could sit for hours with Sonic 3 & Knuckles (and when I first got them, I did just that) and explore levels, find different paths, etc etc... With Sonic Heroes, the time it takes me to go through a level ONCE is already longer than I want to spend on it, not to mention the fact that once AGAIN we have the whole stupid "Emblem" crap. These are levels that are boring, monotonous and repetitive, TEDIOUS, and just outright lame. No real complexity at all. The graphics are all spiffy shiney (Must be whatever that "RenderWare" logo is on the back of the box), but that's about it...Sonic Team again wanted eye candy rather than a full bodied game. Despite the graphics being crisp and smooth, the camera still sucks... Like, we all know how bad the camera was in the Adventure series...well take that camera, make it boring and stationary, and you've got Heroes' camera. The game is akin to the early Crash Bandicoot games on PS1, only you have more mobility, and you CAN rotate the camera around you to see other things. There's just something about this game I cannot stand......on top of everything else, Sonic Team didn't even get some of their OWN CHARACTERS traits correct... when Sonic runs at full speed...uhm...he either holds his arms at his sides, or stretches them out behind him...he does NOT move his arms when he runs! His spindash is nearly non-existent now as well, reduced to nothing more than a swift kick from a fellow teammate. And Knuckles' biggest claim to fame, his ability to climb walls... is gone. Uhm... What the hell?

The Bottom Line
This game is CRAP. I'm saying this, with Sonic gaming experience from the day Sonic 1 was released... I'm probably one of THE biggest Sonic fans in New England, I have just about every Sonic game that has been made (along with its European and Japanese version counterparts as well). I know the older games inside and out, but I still enjoy playing them... in contrast, any Sonic game that was made from 1999 and after, has been the complete opposite- I barely know the levels at all but I dislike it so much I can't even force myself to play it.

TOTALLY rent it first... don't waste 50 bucks on something you'll wind up shelving in a day and a half. If you want a GOOD 3D Sonic game, push for Mike Wallace to find the working Saturn demo of Sonic X-Treme, or just pop 3D Blast into your Genesis/Saturn.

GameCube · by AG Wolf (274) · 2004

Far better then many give it credit ...

The Good
I've read the many reviews both here and on other websites, and from personal experience with the as well, I can tell you it is far better then many give it credit. Sure, it has its problems, but there are plenty of positives that come out of the experience as well.

For one, it introduces a new play mechanic to the series, using three characters instead of the usual one in order to solve the awaiting puzzles and wizz through the arenas. Each of the different teams are the same design wise (one is used for speed, the second power and the third flight), and swapping between the three during play adds an element of strategy to the game, something that is rarely used in such a game.

Graphically, this has to be the best looking Sonic title so far. The earlier levels may not show off that much, but once you get into the later half of the game, the levels start to improve in detail and hark back to the early Sonic games design wise (especially Casino Park, that recreates the pinball like Vegas levels from the original Sonic games of old). In fact, the game has an amazing sense of speed, and those that hang around long enough will enjoy the hectic rush.

The Bad
There are areas of the game that just seem rushed, including the multiplayer mode that is simply tacked onto the disk. The music score is the old school rock pieces that seem to be a staple of this franchise, but to me it is getting real old, nothing like the more amusing and entertaining scores of Mario Sunshine or Jak II.

The control scheme takes a little getting used to at first, swapping between the three characters at will. But stick with it, as once you get the hang of things you'll be flying along.

Lastability is also a factor. The 14 levels on offer are fairly long, but at the speed at which you are going, they fly by quickly and without much fuss. Still, there are other teams to play as, so there's the added incentive to try again a few times.

The Bottom Line
So despite what some people might say, this is not the worst Sonic game ever made, and is far and away the best 3D rendition of the franchise from the three made so far. It is certainly the only title to really capture the speed and excitement that the 2D Sonic's had, that's for sure.

It has its problems, and there are the usual camera and bug errors, but overall Sonic Heroes is still well worth a play, and it is a step in the right direction for the future of Sonic in 3D.

GameCube · by Kartanym (12418) · 2006

Not the best but fun

The Good
Well it's a sonic game, it's fun,it's got just the right number of levels,it's got a good story line,the bosses are fun,above all it's FUN!

The Bad
Well some of the levels are a bit to hard,doing the same levels over with different teams is some times boring.

The Bottom Line
well don't pay 50 bucks for it,but if you can get it for 30 buck get it,this game was a bit of a disappointment for me but still was fun I find myself playing it again and again(it's a classic).

GameCube · by Sonicfanx (9) · 2004

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Trivia

Milestone

This was the first Sonic game to be released on multiple platforms (Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox) simultaneously.

Team Chaotix

Team Chaotix is made up of three of the main characters from Knuckles' Chaotix.

PlayStation 2 version

The PlayStation 2 version is infamous for being poorly optimised and performing badly due to the weaker nature of the PS2's hardware when compared to the Xbox or GameCube. The PS2 version runs in 30fps with additional frame drops as opposed to the GameCube and Xbox's 60fps. The PS2 version also suffers from a lower draw distance and longer loading times. Another oddity exclusive to the American PS2 version is that, on menu screens, O acts as the primary "enter" button and X acts as the back button, similarly to how Japanese PlayStation games are controlled; the European version uses the correct button layout.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by will.i.am.

PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. Windows added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Alaka, ~~, Grandy02, Rik Hideto, Deleted.

Game added January 4, 2004. Last modified March 3, 2024.