Fifteen years after the original Sonic the Hedgehog graced the 16-bit Genesis, Sega has rolled out its next generation version for the Xbox 360. The Genesis version featured fast, addictive gameplay that went toe-to-toe with the iconic Mario, of Nintendo fame. As much as Sonic represents what was once a great franchise, the latest incarnation represents just how far Sega has fallen. Many of the aspects that made the original Sonic games so great were lost in translation to the next generation consoles.
Dr. Eggman is back to make life miserable for Sonic and friends. The game opens with Dr. Eggman kidnapping Princess Elise in hopes of obtaining the Chaos Emerald. Sonic makes his entrance too late to save the princess and is now left to pursue Dr. Eggman and battle through legions of mechs and other creatures. A few allies, some old, some new, aid Sonic. Along the way he will collect rings, silver medals, obtain special moves, and assist the citizens of Soleanna in various side quests.
The major story lines are centered on Sonic, Shadow and Silver. Each character has a plot line that ties into the overall story. The characters also have a unique set of moves and attacks. The new character, Silver, has psychokinesis meaning he can manipulate objects from a distance using Jedi-like powers. He’s able to use this power to throw nearly any object in the game at his opponent, including returning projectiles to the enemy. You’ll also revisit old friends from the Sonic games of yesteryear, including Tails and Knuckles. Tails’ special move is the ability to fly. He can cross long distances, but because the game’s camera is tricky, landing on platforms is a real challenge. Despite the fact that there are many different characters in the game, you can’t pick and choose which character to use. The missions are predefined for a given character’s attributes and the game does not let you decide which hedgehog to use.
Sega has tried to incorporate RPG elements into this edition. Sonic and his cohorts must explore the city of Soleanna and speak to the helpless humans who owe their very existence to a certain blue hedgehog (pardon my cynicism). In town Sonic can buy special moves, take on side missions, and have pointless conversations about the local cuisine (there I go again). The side missions don’t add any real value to the game, and they don’t advance the storyline to any degree. I have one key gripe about the side missions, and that’s the load time. After you agree to take on a mission, you’ll proceed to a load screen lasting about 20 seconds. The next screen is simple instruction on the mission, which is usually one line of written text. Then you are off to another 20 second load screen to play the actual mission. Why the extra load screen? Sega couldn’t add one line of text to the dialog in which Sonic was already engaged?
The first major barrier to a great Sonic experience is the game’s camera. It is controlled awkwardly with the right stick, and centered with the left trigger. The camera is not at all intelligent and will not follow the action as well as you might wish. You’ll need to manually adjust the camera to prevent yourself from tumbling from the edge of a platform. Unfortunately, you’ll lose almost as many lives to the camera as you will to enemies. This is a major flaw in Sonic the Hedgehog that Sega somehow let escape their game testing.
Other than the camera stick, the Xbox 360 version’s controls are not much more complicated than the Genesis’ 3-button controller of old. A is your jump/fly button, and X is your attack button. Double pressing A or X accomplishes additional attacks and special moves. Despite the simplicity of the controls, they can be somewhat unresponsive and sometimes leave you without the desired results. This is especially true of Sonic’s sliding attack, which just plain did not seem to do what I wanted it to.
