Sonic the Hedgehog
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Critic Reviews 44% add missing review
Play Magazine (8.5 out of 10) (85%)
Sonic the Hedgehog is actually a misleading title because this isn’t really Sonic’s game. It should be called Sonic Universe. I love Sonic, and his speed levels and flatland battles are the by far the best they’ve ever been….new moves, tighter control, evolving play mechanics…he’s at his best, doing what he did back in 1991; making every other varmint look dated, but now he’s sharing the spotlight. The real star of this show is Silver. Silver's equally substantial role in the game brings an entirely fresh perspective to the gameplay, with moves and pacing that are entirely new to the Sonic experience. And once they defeat their prime objective, Iblis—the most impressive boss I’ve fought all year—it’s Shadow and Rouge’s turn to weave their way into the story for even more oven-fresh gameplay.
2006 · Xbox 360 · read review360 LIVE (7.5 out of 10) (75%)
(...) Letztlich ist das vielleicht größte Kompliment, das man dem neuen »Sonic« machen kann, vielleicht dieses: fühlt sich fast so an wie der Sonic aus alten Tagen, sieht nur ungleich besser aus. Trotz seiner Macken und obwohl richtig begeisternde Einfälle fehlen: Da ist er wieder, dieser Rausch, der einen mitreißt und immer wieder zu »nur noch diesen einen Versuch« anspornt.
Nov 2006 · Xbox 360SegaFan.com (7.1 out of 10) (71%)
Nos encontramos pues con un buen juego, pero que no llega a lo prometido por Sega, ni mucho menos calma la expectación levantada en un principio (algunos se imaginaban a un Sonic VS Robotnik como antaño, un empezar de cero en el control en 3D o ambas cosas). A pesar de todo, los que disfrutaron con ambos “Adventure” lo harán con este con total seguridad por su similitud. Ojalá para la siguiente entrega, viendo las críticas negativas que están recibiendo Sega y Sonic Team con el juego, veamos un trabajo más cuidado, aunque tengan que tomarse el tiempo que consideren necesario para conseguirlo.
Dec 25th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewGame Informer Magazine (6.75 out of 10) (68%)
The latest Sonic the Hedgehog game opens with an impressive evening CG festival in a city reminiscent of Venice. Realistic humans dance around, and the princess lights a classy pyrotechnics display. All of a sudden, wacky Dr. Eggman kidnaps Princess Elise and a three-foot tall cartoony blue hedgehog zips in to save the day. This ridiculous mix of realistic fantasy and ultra cute characters permeates the entire game. There are several scenes of lovebirds Sonic and Elise prancing through idyllic green fields like Anakin and Padme. But the story later delves into some cool time travel twists and differing perspectives on the same events.
Jan 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewXbox Front (64 out of 100) (64%)
Ei, ei, ei... was hat das Sonic Team in der langen Entwicklungszeit nur gemacht? Wäre die nur dezent verbesserte Technik noch gerade so zu verkraften, geht man in Sachen Gameplay einen Schritt zurück und bringt ausschließlich Altbewährtes zu Tage. Hier geht die Bedienung schwerfällig von der Hand, in Verbindung mit der kuriosen Kameraführung kommt Frustfaktor auf. Einzige Neuerung gegenüber den alten Teilen ist die Havok 3- Physikengine, die lediglich einer der Charaktere, nämlich Silver The Hedgehog, einzusetzen weiß. Der quasi nicht vorhandene Multiplayer-Modus fällt negativ ins Gewicht, man kann ausschließlich mit einem Freund an einer Konsole spielen. Das lässt die Wertung ein ganzes Stück in den Keller rutschen.
Dec 1st, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewPower Sonic (5.5 out of 10) (55%)
Sonic the Hedegehog ou Sonic Next-gen é um dos games do Sonic de análise mais controvertida. Há os mais ferrenhos críticos ao game e há também aqueles que defendem o jogo. Os críticos dizem que tirando o fato de ser um jogo do ouriço, absolutamente nada atrairia o público a um game como foi Sonic Next-gen. Já os defensores dizem que as falhas do jogo são acostumáveis e que ao final tem-se em mãos um ótimo jogo. Em que lado você se posiciona? Jogue e conclua por si!
May 10th, 2014 · Xbox 360 · read reviewGames TM (5 out of 10) (50%)
Chasing Sonic's ever-so-slightly-less rotund nemesis as he makes his escape by air is another highlight, during a turbo-charged action stage in which reaching the goal is the only reward and 16-bit memories almost break the floodgates. All the more of a shame, then, that the chaff far outweighs the wheat.
Oct 2006 · Xbox 360SEGA-Portal.de (5 out of 10) (50%)
Wie nicht wenige Sega-Fans wartete ich sehnsüchtig auf Sonic the Hedgehog. Die Enttäuschung darüber, dass nicht bloß Sonic spielbar sein würde, wich auf der Games Convention 2006, als man das erste mal Hand anlegen konnte und sowohl die Sonic-Stage wie auch das Silver Level sehr überzeugend waren – immer in Anbetracht der Versprechungen, Kamera- und Steuerungsprobleme würden noch behoben werden. Letzteres hat sich bewahrheitet, ersteres nicht, und vermischt mit Leveldesign-Bugs, frustigen Stellen, nervigen Charakterwechseln innerhalb der Stages und vernichtenden Ladezeiten ergibt das einen nicht einmal für Sonic-Fans verletzungsfrei herunterschluckbaren Cocktail. Angesichts einiger netter Levels (Kingdom Valley) können Fans dennoch einen Blick riskieren – vorzugsweise zum Budgetpreis und inklusive Beruhigungsmittel.
Sep 20th, 2009 · Xbox 360 · read reviewGamereactor (Sweden) (5 out of 10) (50%)
Det kanske allra mest tragiska är att spelet trots allt detta ändå kommer att sälja som smör, framförallt i Storbritannien, och att Sega därför med största sannolikhet kommer att fortsätta i samma stil. Precis som filmbolagen inte behöver bry sig ett smack om hur mycket de misshandlar den stackars Beck eller Wallander då filmerna ändå drar in pengar nere i Tyskland; ekonomiskt försvarbart men etiskt förkastligt. Om inte
Jeuxvideo.com (9 out of 20) (45%)
Ce premier Sonic sur console nouvelle génération est une grosse déception. Peu jouable, à la difficulté mal réglée et aux niveaux peu intéressants, on aura beaucoup de mal à le conseiller, même aux inconditionnels du hérisson bleu. Si les développeurs continuent de nous proposer des Sonic aussi peu convaincants, ils risquent bien de dégoûter les joueurs de ce personnage phare des jeux vidéo. Il est grand temps de se ressaisir messieurs !
Nov 21st, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewIGN Russia (4.5 out of 10) (45%)
Новая Sonic the Hedgehog для платформ следующего поколения? Кто ж откажется от такого подарка! Тем более что последние игры от Sega про синего ёжика далеко не всегда радовали преданных поклонников. Но то было раньше, а теперь… а что, собственно говоря, теперь? Да, в общем-то, ничего особенного. Нас жестоко обманули, всучив под видом классики безобразное чудовище, узнать в котором старого-доброго Соника порою просто невозможно.
Mar 8th, 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewGameSpot (4.4 out of 10) (44%)
Only the most blindly reverent Sonic the Hedgehog fan could possibly squeeze any enjoyment out of Sega's latest adventure. This platformer is a mess from top to bottom, and any of the occasional moments that don't feel somehow broken only serve to make the game's other flaws appear that much bigger.
Nov 21st, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewEurogamer.de (4 out of 10) (40%)
Die Liste der Ärgernisse ist einfach zu lang, als dass man Sonics Comeback noch reinen Gewissens als mittelmäßiges Spiel bezeichnen könnte. Technisch stellenweise katastrophal (Ladezeiten, Slowdowns, Stadtlevel), konzeptionell unausgegoren (Charakter-Overkill, wenig abenteuerlicher Adventure-Part) und widerborstig wie ein Igel nur sein kann (Steuerung, Kamera, unfaires Leveldesign) trieb mir Sonic the Hedgehog regelmäßig Tränen in die Augen. Was war nur aus ihm geworden?
Dec 8th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read review4Players.de (40 out of 100) (40%)
Das Spiel zum 15. Geburtstag des Kult-Igels könnt ihr getrost links liegen lassen. Es sei denn, ihr seid Hardcore-Sonicer und müsst alles, was den Hedgehog-Schriftzug trägt, im Schrank haben - aber auch nur da! Ladezeiten aus der Hölle, grafische und spielerische Unzulänglichkeiten, Kameraprobleme: Die Liste ließe sich noch weiter fortsetzen. Was das erste richtige Action-Adventure der nächsten Generation hätte sein können, entpuppt sich leider als unausgereiftes Konzept, das weder Next-Gen-Kulissen bietet noch spielerisch mit den Old-School-Sonics mithalten kann und selbst hinter den Dreamcast-Abenteuern des Igels zurückstecken muss. Schade, schade, schade: Diese Schmach hat der blaue Renner nicht verdient...
Dec 27th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewInsomnia ( ) (40%)
Cutting away the pointless side characters would do much to improve the franchise, as when you really get down to it both Silver's and Shadows' quests are little more than slower and paler versions of Sonic's own adventure, and whilst Silver's telekinetic abilities are well-implemented, without the speed which forms the backbone of these games the whole experience feels redundant.
Nov 10th, 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewGameSpy ( ) (30%)
Sega's Team Sonic could have churned out a fun, old-fashioned Sonic for the blue one's fifteenth anniversary and the vast majority of us would have been happy. I would have been happy. Instead, Sonic the Hedgehog will at best convince Sega to replace the decision makers in Team Sonic. Individual segments of the game where you actually get to play as Sonic and run fast don't fall apart, but other than those rare portions of Sonic, the game is a disaster. It's more reminiscent of the debacle of Shadow, not the glorious Sonic games of yesteryear.
Nov 26th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewDiehard GameFan (2.5 out of 10) (25%)
Never before has a game so totally blown me away with how poor it is. It seemed like every new character was less fun to control, and the entire game seemed glitchy and rushed. The floaty, too-fast character control was worse than ever, and it’s mind boggling that the camera issues from this game in 1999 are still around today. With a trend in gaming to redo older games with new graphics, it is possible that Sega decided to redo Sonic Adventure 1, complete with inane adventure parts and gigantic levels where the only fun parts are where you barely have control over your character. I cannot recommend against this game enough. Whether you’re new to the series (and thus set up to hate it forever if this is you first exposure) or a longtime fan (like me), you will be offended and disgusted by the game masquerading as a Grade A mascot game. It’s that bad.
Feb 5th, 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewG4 TV: X-Play ( ) (20%)
Somewhere around the end of Sonic’s mission, the demo level appears as an actual level with nothing taken out. Playing tips remained intact to instruct the player on feats they’ve been performing for several levels now. Worse yet, none of the bugs, the controls, or the camera were addressed in the final build. Sega simply incorporated an incomplete level directly into the game. Actually, the whole game feels like a hodgepodge of undeveloped ideas thrown together with enough loading screens to make you forget the atrocities that occurred five minutes before the loading screen started. This isn’t a game – but a quick buck. After looking at the handheld version of Sonic, there’s still hope for this Mascot that once stood toe-to-toe with Mario, but not on the consoles.
Jan 30th, 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewEurogamer.net (UK) (2 out of 10) (20%)
What should have been a dramatic return to form for Sonic, as signalled by the hugely promising trailer videos from earlier this year and the bold decision to use the original Sonic the Hedgehog name, has turned out to be an absolute mess. Like the hedgehogs I used to see as a child on the way to school, this game has been hit by a truck - and even its spines, in this case the name of one of the most loved videogame characters of all times, couldn't provide the slightest defence against the big fat tyres of apathy which have spread it all over the road. This game has one other thing in common with those poor, flattened hedgehogs: seeing it is going to upset a whole lot of children, of all ages.
Nov 24th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewBackground N/A
Malgré une difficulté qui en découragera plus d'un, des problèmes de jouabilité et d'angles de caméra, ce Sonic next-gen est une réussite. Proposant trois personnages aux gameplay résolument différents, autant de scénarios qui s'entrecoupent, une vitesse de jeu hallucinante et un univers aussi enchanteur que passionnant, nul doute que les vieux fans du hérisson bleu vont replonger une nouvelle fois !
Dec 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewEvidentally, Sega fired their entire Quality Assurance department, because the game's obvious bugs and general lack of polish is astounding. Besides the jumpy camera, there are collision detection glitches, inexcusable pop-up, clipping problems galore, and kung-fu quality lip-syncing. It's not unusual to suddenly lose control of your hedgehog as he momentarily moonwalks in place. The loading screens are so excessive that I had to sit through a 15-second load screen just to watch a lame, 5-second clip. The graphics are high-definition, but no more detailed than the Dreamcast titles - only sharper. I find it hard to believe that somebody at Sega thought this game was a good idea. This is a disgrace. Sonic the Hedgehog has been defeated.
Jan 10th, 2007 · Xbox 360 · read reviewFZ ( )
Kontrollen är från helvetet och laddningstiderna inte annat än ett fatalt misstag. Men själva spelet då? Nej, Sonic ska spelas i 2D. De stunder du faktiskt får spela så spelar du inte alls. Du kliver på en studsmatta och studsar iväg mot en annan, mot en tredje, mot ett berg, mot ett tak, studs, studs, studs, men i princip ingenstans behöver du göra något. Varvat med sporadiska och värdelösa fightdelar där antalet knappar du behöver trycka på är lika många som antalet rätt på Linda Rosings högskoleprov (jag gissar på ett) har du ett recept på misslyckande. Köp inte det här spelet. Inte ens om du hatar dig själv.
Dec 6th, 2006 · Xbox 360 · read reviewPlayer Reviews
A game with many flaws and potential.
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.
by sonicteamUSA (35) on Nov 12th, 2007 · Xbox 360
The Good
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most divisive game series in existence. Some would argue that the early titles were the forefront of platform gaming at the time. Time, however, has not been kind to the little blue guy, and since 2001's Sonic Adventure 2, things have inarguably been getting worse. The fans will desperately look for any conceivable good in the titles that come out, while the press will dismiss any new title as "another crappy Sonic game" without even giving it a closer look.
Sonic 2006 is not a game entirely without merit. Some of the music is catchy. A few of the environments are rather nice-looking, particularly Tropical Jungle. The falling-through-the-floor bugs that plagued the last few titles are nearly gone. The primary characters (Sonic, Shadow, and Silver) are easy enough to control. A few aspects were introduced in this title that that were later refined in Sonic Unleashed.
But perhaps its real purpose lies in not what the game itself did, but what happened in its wake. Viewing it from years later, it almost seems to have been the "breaking point" for both the fans and the creators; a point where people had grown sick of terrible game after terrible game, and someone realized that maybe, just maybe, it was possible for this franchise that was once iconic and synonymous with the industry to claw its way back up into relevance.
The Bad
That said, it takes a truly awful game to create that kind of reaction. Now, I'm not dismissing the game; I played it through to completion, then kept playing to reach the full 1000 gamerscore out of a sense of duty. I've been a Sonic fan since my parents bought a Sega Genesis when I was seven years old. I got some entertainment out of it, and an incredible sense of satisfaction when that last achievements unlocked, but it is in nearly every way a terrible game. The developers have gone on record to state that it suffered due to an accelerated production schedule in order to get the game out for Christmas, but I'm not sure how much help a few extra months would have been.
The game is set up in a similar way to Sonic Adventure: only Sonic is unlocked from the start, while the other characters are unlocked when Sonic encounters them in the story. The story makes absolutely no sense, with lots of time travel, a princess that gets kidnapped literally a half dozen times, and some weird creature named Mephiles that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to already know or not. The FMV cutscenes are slick and rubbery, nice to look at, but few in number. Without spoiling too much, the ending almost feels like it echoes the developers' thoughts on the game itself. Overall, it serves to lead the characters from one area to the next, and not much else.
Which would be fine if the areas themselves were interesting to traverse; I'm firmly of the belief that strong gameplay can support a weak story. The problem lies in that there are only actually nine stages in the game, and you have to play all of them with Sonic. Then all of them again with Shadow, and again with Silver. Sure, the layouts are a bit different, skipping areas that would be impassible with certain characters, but it's quite clearly the same stage each time. Indoor areas go even further and reuse rooms within the same level; some levels like Aquatic Base are made from just the same six rooms stuck together in different ways, and there's not even any attempts made to mask this.
The objective in most areas is either "get to the end without dying" or "kill everything in this area". These simple objectives are the strongest part of the game, but things start to slip when they get more complicated. Shadow has the ability to climb into several vehicles, most of which are nearly impossible to control; the hovercraft, in particular, will flip over and fall into the water at the slightest bump -- including using its jump function. Silver can use telekinesis to throw objects, but will often hit the other objects he's holding when he tries to throw. Then there's the ball puzzle at the end of Silver's White Acropolis stage; suffice to say, this one room may hold the distinction of being the most aggravating, poorly-thought out "puzzle" in the franchise; thankfully, there's a bug that lets you bypass it completely.
The game suffers from a serious lack of design focus. There are several half-implemented side characters that you're forced to use for varying amounts of time. Tails can rain massive amounts of bombs on enemies, but for whatever reason his bombs are ring capsules filled with "fake rings". Knuckles is the most egregious offender, getting hopelessly stuck to walls, and having an uncontrollable fireball attack that most often leads to him sailing off into a pit, which will be familiar to anyone who plays Kirby in Super Smash Bros.. There are the aforementioned awkward driving sections. There are more than 50 pointless "town missions" that serve no purpose other than to say the game has side missions.
There are also obnoxiously long load times. Every load time last about 12-15 seconds, and that includes loading for a single screen of dialogue or a five second cutscene. Loading breaks in the middle of a level. The town missions are the absolute worst, though: talk to a person, say "yes, I'll help you", 12 second load, "thanks for helping me", 12 second load, play the mission, possibly fail, 12 second load, "sorry, try again", 12 second load, back to where you started. Installing the game to a hard drive cuts the load times by about half, which makes them almost tolerable, but having to sit through nearly a minute of loading because you made one tiny mistake in a short mission is inexcusable.
The Bottom Line
For all of its faults, I'm still glad this game was made. The lessons learned by the development team were likely a key factor in the production of the far superior Sonic Unleashed two years later. This is a game that has truly earned its dubious reputation, but if it means we're going to start getting better Sonic games now, then it must stand as a reminder of how far a once-loved franchise can fall.
by j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (69429) on Aug 15th, 2010 · Xbox 360
The Good
I remembered the commercials, and it looked REALLY cool, or so I thought. I got it for Christmas in 2006, and there is not a lot of positive things I can say about this game.. BECAUSE SONIC TEAM WAS ON FRICKIN' DRUGS!!!!!! But one good thing about the game is that I do like the level designs, and the music too. So I'll give it a score of: 43/100.
The Bad
I have a lot of complaints, and I'll probably give the problems that absolutely pissed me off. 1: The loading screens: There's like a million of them, and they never go away! 2: I hate the camera, and the controls. 3: The difficulty, >: (. 4: Embarrassing cutscenes with bestiality references, and... The ENDING, screw that ending. 5: I hate Silver and Princess Elise. 6: The story is like it was thrown into a blender. 7: Graphics. 8: Performances that are as worse than Resident Evil (1996). 9: And THE GLITCHES... I HATE the glitches. This game absolutely pisses me off, even thinking about it. Screw this game, and screw you, Sonic!
The Bottom Line
No comment.
by CaptainN (12) on Dec 9th, 2015 · Xbox 360
AWESOME but has some very few faults
The Good
Story:some people bank on this story and say its stupid, i say amazing! the story may be confusing but it is a good one that will keep you guessing.
Characters:this game has a large cast of characters including a new one Silver, he is my favorite. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver are the main characters, but you can play as Amy, Blaze, Knuckles, Tails,Rouge, Omega, in certain missions and parts of levels and even some have their own short levels.
Graphics: the graphics are nothing new but in cutscenes the character definitely will move in a strange way. The levels are amazing in graphics though
Abilities: this game is like sonic adventure, but the abilities are bought in a store.
I don't see why everybody hated this game. It's just as awesome as any other sonic game.
The Bad
The loading screen: sure it doesn't take that long around maybe 15 secs or less but the loading screens pop up everywhere.
The Bottom Line
Very good but has some faults so please definitely get it hardcore sonic fans!!
by brandon palonis (2) on Nov 10th, 2008 · Xbox 360
Contributors to this Entry
Critic reviews added by Jacob Gens, Patrick Bregger, Big John WV, Yearman, Gustavo Henrique dos Santos, Tim Janssen, Alsy, lights out party, Jeanne, Zelon, Evil Ryu, Wizo, SlyDante, Alaka, CalaisianMindthief, Kabushi.