Noise to Signal

Login disabled.

Xbox 360 Preview - Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog

Developer Sega • Platform Microsoft Xbox 360
Version Reviewed Xbox Live Demo • UK Release November 17th 2006

By James Hunt and Josh Barton

"When you are near a trail of rings, you can do a light dash by pressing the X Button."

No. You. CAN'T.

After approximately twelve plunges to your death in a row, you'll be wondering just what deranged game designer felt the need to have this particular nugget of wisdom imparted unto you by the disembodied voice of some complete bastard every time you repeat the level, because if nothing else, dear reader, it is COMPLETE FICTION. Perhaps, yes, someone out there can do a light dash by pressing X. Perhaps some ultimate Sonic master who has spent 18 hours a day playing this game. But not us.

Make no mistake, the review you're about to read is certainly no nostalgia-fuelled polemic against all 3D Sonic games. It's a frustration-fuelled polemic against what can only be described as a polished piece of dog shit. It makes the previously lacklustre Sonic Adventure 2 seem like a work of gaming genius. This demo, and let us not forget that this doesn't represent the finished article, is nothing less than a piece of steaming hedgehog dung. It honestly makes us so angry, that we've made references to TWO different types of animal excretion in as many sentences.

Bam!
Bam!

Such vitriol should probably be reinforced by 'facts' and other observations that support a 'well thought out' and 'structured' argument. In terms of the visuals, the game is certainly no slouch, and holds up relatively well to other next-gen games being released on the platform. The level (aren't they called Zones anymore?) we've been gifted with is an accurate, if mostly unexciting representation of the Marble Zone archetypes from the original Sonic games on the Mega Drive, complete with rocks, grass, what looks like a chunk of the Parthenon lying around, and, of course, a giant eagle that carries you across the level.

Wait a second.

Such is the train of thought you'll follow playing through the demo; the familiar offset with the absurd. At the end of the demo, the 'end' being where you run out of lives, rather than making any actual progress, the absurdity is continued in the pre-rendered trailer for the full game. This features, amongst other things, a caped and disturbingly realistic Dr.Eggman, Shadow The Hedgehog driving a car (why does he need a car? He can travel at the speed of light), and the obligatory (lazily-designed) new character Silver The Hedgehog. Sonic Team decided long ago that their well-realised setting of Mobius which appeared in the original Mega Drive games, should be discarded for a poorly conceived, bizarro version of Earth, which is also evident in the CG trailer. This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't insist on shoehorning terrible human characters into the storyline, and it appears that Sonic and cohorts will be helping a princess in the new title. That shit might fly in the Mushroom Kingdom, but not here, my friend.

Zoom!
Zoom!

Still, the relative (and by this point, expected) insanity of the game's characters, setting and storyline is wholly forgivable when compared to some of the frankly broken gameplay mechanics. The controls themselves are as terrible as ever, and although some of the better concessions to controlling Sonic in a 3D world (such as the homing attack) have made it through to the new title, they're still nowhere near as organic and fluid as they should be. This wouldn't be quite so bad if the various jumps and puzzles had been designed around the control scheme, but the game seems to expect the player to manipulate Sonic with far more precision and speed than is actually possible. Sonic shouldn't be about laboriously making a jump through trial and error; it should be about making the jump first time, and thinking about how cool you looked doing it.

The game world itself also suffers from the same problems of its predecessors, in that it presents players with elements of the 2D games that operate in a somewhat fuzzy manner when translated into 3D. For example, when Sonic is running through a loop, does the player hold one direction until it finishes, or change direction at its peak? It's hard to know, and the game isn't very forthcoming in establishing parity from one set piece to the next. Given that such occurrences often result in the player falling off the level, and into the aforementioned bottomless pit of death, perhaps a less crushingly disheartening approach could have been taken for punishing mistakes made by the player. Sending them down to a base of the level or at least a lower platform would be slightly more forgiving, and would make the levels seem more realised, rather than the contrivance of invisibly suspended platforms.

In a lot of ways, Sonic Team want to have their cake and eat it; a game which is lightning fast, but which also includes a detailed 3D world which the player can explore. Rather than making concessions to either of these ideals, the titles feel like a botched mishmash of both, neither produced particularly well. The original Sonic games were all about speed; you had a simple aim, and that was to tear through each stage as quickly as possible. Although the design occasionally allowed for some exploration, it was mostly unnecessary, and rarely rewarded. The great thing was, it didn't need this element; there were already several ponderous platform games available on the platform, and Sonic offered gamers a more charged, visceral gaming experience.

Straight to the...
Straight to the…

Perhaps this explains why the handheld games in the Sonic series have been more successful; the technological limitations of these platforms has meant that the titles have, for the most part, stuck to the roots of the Megadrive originals. It seems that the future of good Sonic games is effectively based in two dimensions, and if the excellent Sonic Rush on the DS, or the promising Sonic Rivals on the PSP is anything to go by, we can at least expect to see some good titles coming out of the franchise in the foreseeable future. There's even hope for the series on home consoles, with the Potteresque titled Sonic And The Secret Rings on the Wii, which has adopted a downhill racing-style mode of gameplay which should allow the game to focus more singly on the element of speed.

We did find some elements of entertainment in the demo of Sonic The Hedgehog; the speed of the original Sonic games is partially replicated in 3D, although they've also managed to wreck that by providing you with environments too small to actually run around, and a camera that flips dementedly around you when you're moving, and responds sluggishly when you're standing still; you know, the time when you'd actually like to use it. For some particularly fleeting moments, the game's elements all come together, and you're rewarded for your persistence with about six seconds of genuine fun. However, at the end of this, you're treated to - you guessed it - another of those delightful plummets to your death.

Preowned Games Shelf.
Preowned Games Shelf.

When this game was originally announced, its title seemed to suggest something of a return to form for the franchise; an implication that perhaps Sonic team would address many of the problems and issues that had plagued the older 3D titles. Unfortunately, having played the game, this now seems like something of a hilariously transparent marketing ploy to disassociate itself from the mistakes of the past, whilst simultaneously appealing to the nostalgia set. Kind of like one Pope blaming his predecessor for turning the other cheek to the Nazis. Sonic Team are fooling no-one; this is Sonic Adventure 3 in all but name; all of the previous game's problems are more prevalent than ever, and ready to send you into a blind rage, and there are more (unfortunately playable) ubiquitous side characters than ever.

At first, it seems that a new Sonic game would be a real treat. Like a cake. Just as the cake is beautifully decorated, enticing you to take a bite, Sonic's appearance has been given a next-gen makeover, making you forget about the former botched attempts at moving the series to 3D, and leaving you really, really wanting to play the game. As you reel away from that first bite of cake, bloody mouthed because it was actually full of razor blades, you'll realise that the developers of Sonic The Hedgehog, much like the makers of the cake, are a group of hate mongering bastards, mocking you for putting your trust in them in the first place.

About this entry


Comments

Tsk. On the plus side, I'd never heard of "Sonic Rush" for the DS, but it is now promptly ordered from Amazon.

By Rod Begbie
October 03, 2006 @ 9:51 pm

reply / #


Welcome back online.

By Karl
October 04, 2006 @ 8:07 pm

reply / #


Say what you like about the game, but that cover is fucking gorgeous.

By Seb
October 04, 2006 @ 11:33 pm

reply / #


Does it have a "brilliant" rawk soundtrack?

I miss the amazing synth tracks of its Mega Drive days.

By Brig Bother
October 05, 2006 @ 12:57 am

reply / #


Actually, I've always enjoyed the rock soundtracks of the Sonic Adventure games, composed by the brilliant Jun Senou, and performed by Crush 40. Unfortunately, he wasn't employed to record the soundtrack for this title, so the music is in the same vein, but altogether pretty unremarkable.

By Josh
October 05, 2006 @ 1:05 am

reply / #


This doesn't surprise me one bit. But PLEASE tell me this one isn't going to include the 'I-want-to-rip-out-my-eyeballs' Knuckles searching for emeralds stages. Personally I'm more interested in the upcoming Wii Sonic game, 'The Secret Rings' I do believe it's called, and it's much more basic, back-to-2D-roots, which is what people were hoping the 360 game would be. Although if both games turn out crap, that will once and for frakking all confirm Sonic CANNOT be done in 3D (even though the first Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast was good in places).

By performingmonkey
October 05, 2006 @ 2:49 am

reply / #


The front page icon makes me hard.

By John Hoare
October 05, 2006 @ 10:56 am

reply / #


I do think that a 3D Sonic game can be good. There are aspects of the Adventure games that I really like - as a time attack game, the Sonic/Shadow racing levels can be superb, but they're let down by the linear paths and horrendously erratic controls (especially when grinding).

Where the recent games seem to be going wrong is that they seem to be focusing on speed at the expense of all else. It's more important that you can flow through the levels with grace, and to do that you need a reliable control system and an engine that doesn't go into spasms when you try and run up a wall (which was one of the most appealing aspects of the Mega Drive games). Sonic doesn't have to go fast all the time - you should still have time to react to threats, or choose to take a different path when you come to a junction. But there aren't actually that many alternate routes you can take; there's one central path that you hurtle along as fast as possible, and the camera does its best to stop you from going back or exploring (I haven't actually played anything more recent than Adventure 2, but I presume the situation is the same in Heroes and Shadow).

Also, the 3D games are too punishing - if you fell into the chemicals in the Chemical Plant Zone of Sonic 2 (generally your own fault), you still had a fairly strong chance of finding your way out again; but fall into the water surrounding the narrow paths of Sonic Adventure 2's Green Forest (generally the fault of the game's controls), and you die instantly. It would be far better if the only punishment for such a mistake was the reduction in speed that comes from being underwater.

I think Sega really needs to take a break from the franchise and work on other things. Personally I'm still waiting for that PSO-esque online co-operative multiplayer update of Burning Rangers...

By Nick R
October 05, 2006 @ 2:50 pm

reply / #


If Sega are going to work on anything else, then they need to get off their asses and make a new Streets Of Rage game, I find it shocking that cooperative scrolling-beat-em ups are so overlooked these days. I think the shiteness of The Bouncer a few years ago probably soured everyone to the genre.

By Josh
October 05, 2006 @ 3:53 pm

reply / #


Excellent article, fellas. It made me do several lols. However:

> The original Sonic games were all about speed; you had a simple aim, and that was to tear through each stage as quickly as possible. Although the design occasionally allowed for some exploration, it was mostly unnecessary, and rarely rewarded.

This is wrong, surely? I think it can be remotely applied to Sonic 1, but even then you'd get up to 3 extra lives per act if you just took your time (usually the best way to do this was zip through half the level, pick your way back over it and then zoom back safe in the knowledge you're loaded with rings and extra lives; speed AND rewards, there). But with Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles it's almost a crime to play the levels as quickly as possible as the whole point of the game (to collect them Emerald thingies, n' shit) completely relies on you to explore and take your time so you can find the entrances to the special stages, otherwise the game ends up being wholly unrewarding indeed.

By Jonathan Capps
October 05, 2006 @ 5:19 pm

reply / #


cooperative scrolling-beat-em ups are so overlooked these days

When you consider what a staple of arcades they were, and how for a while they were the essential "We've got a license, we don't know what type of game to make with it, let's fit the license around an existing type of game rather than come up with a new one" catch-all, it is a bit strange. The Simpsons, X-Men, Turtles - all absolute bloody classics.

By Seb
October 05, 2006 @ 5:53 pm

reply / #


Perhaps "rarely rewarded" is a bit of an overstatement in terms of being given a power-up, life, or extra rings etc for your efforts, but I think in terms of gameplay, it holds up; blasting through the levels in those original Mega Drive games is still a lot more fun than cautiously jumping from platform-to-platform, snagging your objective, and then turning back towards the end of the act. The first time I played through the game, I took my time getting all of the Chaos Emeralds, secrets, and so forth, but every time after that, I've purely played it for the speed, because I really think that's where the core of those games lies. For example, in Act 3 of Green Hill Zone, it is perfectly posible to edge cautiously along those rotating spiked poles, but it's a hell of a lot more satisfying to gather a lot of momentum, leap over the first half of the pole, land safely on a non-spiked part, and then leap to the safefy of the nearest grassy platform.

By Josh
October 05, 2006 @ 7:57 pm

reply / #


>It seems that the future of good Sonic games is effectively based in two dimensions, and if the excellent Sonic Rush on the DS, or the promising Sonic Rivals on the PSP is anything to go by,

For what it's worth, I've also enjoyed the GBA's Sonic Advance 3 (except possibly for the fucking Chao)--picked it up as a discount title, but I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it.

By Arlene Rimmer BSc, SSc
October 13, 2006 @ 3:31 pm

reply / #


Umm...i beat that demo in 1 try and it was really fun...i don't know what your talking about but it was easy...the light dash took me one try, all you have to do it jumpnext to the rings and then press x

By Tailsiscool
October 30, 2006 @ 3:24 am

reply / #


Umm...i beat that demo in 1 try and it was really fun...i don't know what your talking about but it was easy...the light dash took me one try, all you have to do it jumpnext to the rings and then press x

By Tailsiscool
October 30, 2006 @ 3:24 am

reply / #


Tailsiscool totally PWNS you guyz..

By Jonathan Capps
October 30, 2006 @ 9:10 am

reply / #


No, no, no--it's "t0taly p\/\/nz0rz j00 guyz".

...I'm so ashamed that I even begin to know this.

By Arlene Rimmer BSc, SSc
October 30, 2006 @ 9:15 am

reply / #


You've actually scared me, Arlene...

By Jonathan Capps
October 30, 2006 @ 1:14 pm

reply / #


Look, I spend a lot of my time online hanging out with the types of geek who can translate sayings by Albert Einstein into l33t. It just sort of rubs off on one after a while. I'm not saying I'm proud of my knowledge here...

By Arlene Rimmer BSc, SSc
October 31, 2006 @ 5:56 am

reply / #


Ok let me get this straight YOU CANT LIGHT DASH.Oh my god if you cannot light dash do not right a review about it, its not logical to right a review about a game where you cant do one of the most basic things on game when i first downloaded the demo on xbox live i was let down not because of this light dash crap your talking about but of the speed but sega prevailed and the game can take its place at fastest game ever.This one of the best sonic games made ever it is harder than overs but a bit of skill you should prevail but you sir somehow fail at a very easy level if you cannot beat this level dont talk shit about it this level is far on in the real game but a lot harder with a super speed level at the end ;-) This game is a marvel on the 360 even if people say its crap it is a very good game and just because this whiny bitch above cant seem to press X at a certain time dont be swayed to not purchase this game because i assure you this is a brilliant game. O Yeh btw add me if uve got xbox live: DoomeDDesirE

By Mike
December 16, 2006 @ 9:02 pm

reply / #


Oh well anyway I enjoyed reading your comment and if you have any other interesting thoughts about other articles then please make comments on them too and dont woory about people almost dying from reading the comments and not breathing until they find some sort of punctuation because if they need punctuation to no where a thought ends then they should not be reading comments of that quality anyway because they are just crap and really they should go away and not read comments if they cant cope with things like there being no punctuation or capital letters or anything without actually finding themselves getting lightheaded from lack of oxygen while reading them you made lots of good points and im sure that people who should not be writing articles for people to read that they put effort into thinking about and expressing clearly will enjoy your refreshing and forthright views sir when you dismiss them with contradictions like you do so well.

(Many apologies, I know I really shouldn't click "Post" now, but... it's so tempting!)

By Antony Sidwell
December 17, 2006 @ 2:32 am

reply / #


I like how he gives his Xbox Live info at the end, like he wants to be friends :)

By Jeffrey Lee
December 17, 2006 @ 11:02 am

reply / #