• Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Jan 27, 2004
  • Also On: PC
Metascore
64 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 29
  2. Negative: 4 out of 29
  1. A great game and I think it is safe to say that the long wait for a new Sonic game is finally over, and it was well worth the wait!
  2. 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 - 31 silver [Vol 786]
  3. It's a servicable and innovative effort, but there's still room to grow. [Mar 2004, p.107]
  4. 75
    It's way too easy to dash off a cliff into an instant death, which seems totally out of place these days.
  5. The control elements are mixed and players may find themselves trying to move the game along through stabbing at the wrong keys. However, get past that and you will find a game that moves along nicely, but won’t offer anything new or markedly different.
  6. For everything Sonic Heroes gets right there's a massive fault ready and willing to ruin the hard work - a less than stellar framerate, especially in two-player mode, numerous glitchy moments and - dare we say it? - graphics that are actually inferior to the Dreamcast Sonic iterations.
  7. A fast and challenging experience that is hurt by camera, collision and polish issues. The levels designs and teamplay are definitely unique, though. [Feb 2004, p.24]
  8. The glorious 3D speed rush is still broken by moments where you will scream with rage inspired by whatever sadism or idiocy has kept Sonic Team from fixing its camera and control schemes after five years of 3D Sonic games.
  9. The game's graphics aren't on par with today's console offerings -- sure the worlds are colorful and large, but perhaps the developers at Japan's Sonic Team studios had to sacrifice visuals for speed.
  10. Old-school Sonic speed plus a few new twists makes for a decent if not earth-shattering return to the realm of the blue hedgehog.
  11. Gamers who haven't exactly stuck by Sonic's blurry blue side over the years will have to work a little harder to get to the fun, spastic heart of Sonic Heroes, but those who know what to expect in terms of mechanics and sheer kinetic insanity will feel right at home.
  12. 69
    Basically, the camera is a dog that constantly runs the wrong way on you, forcing you to yank the leash to get it under control. If you don't get a handle on it, expect plenty of falls off of edges.
  13. The PS2 Heroes is by far the worst looking of the three. Generally there isn't much of a change in a game's visuals if it's designed for all three consoles, but the underpowered Playstation 2 really takes a beating this time around.
  14. The game is just a mess at most times (besides the graphics and sound), the gameplay has bugs and there are a couple misleading times in the many levels. The game is also sometimes so fast paced that it's impossible to get some vital powerups and items.
  15. Picture a Sonic game that struggles to go at 30 frames per second, in an age where even the Dreamcast didn't do Sonic that injustice. Sometimes it's like playing a slideshow on fast-forward. It's impossible to be precise with one's movements, or sometimes to even see where the characters are going. Not fun at all.
  16. As with the previous two 3D Sonic outings, Sonic Heroes is a solid platformer that could've been a lot better if the developers had spent more time balancing the levels and tweaking the unbelievably frustrating camera. [Feb 2004, p.108]
  17. The techincal aspects of Sonic Heroes are handled well, with the exception of the camera and voice work. In fact, the camera is worse than "Mario 64's" (and that's saying a lot) and the voice acting is downright repulsive. [Apr 2004, p.9]
  18. The concept is well and good, and works well – except for the fact that you still must slow down to use Knuckles and Tails (or the equivalent member in one of the three other teams in the game). These are the moments that the game truly lags, and once again the shoddy camera has come back to once again make the game a pain.
  19. Sonic Team almost seems to be daring you to try and have fun with the PlayStation 2 version by making it significantly uglier, slower, and generally just rougher around the edges than the other two versions.
  20. The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.
  21. There is definitely the potential for a very good game here, unfortunately it is hidden well by the many bugs and annoyances.
  22. It's also the closest the series has been to its roots in well over a decade.
  23. At 30fps on PS2, it's not as great, but still good. [Mar 2004, p.59]
  24. Rarely does dying feel like the player's fault and, in typical "Sonic Adventure" fashion, the best bits are when you find that the majority of control has been taken away from you, and you're flung around the world at escape velocity. [Mar 2004, p.105]
  25. Marred by technical issues (slowdown galore, jagged edges, simplistic-to-a-fault level design) that make it third-best behind the GameCube and Xbox versions.
  26. 45
    Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.
  27. This game feels like nothing short of a chore to play.
  28. A giant mess on the whole. For starters, you encounter plenty of nice little glitches throughout the game, including random spots where characters just fall through solid objects because of some lame collision detection. [Feb 2004, p.98]
  29. 30
    Its tricks are old and it offers no challenge but for the irksome nuisances of its design. [JPN Import]
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 35 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 20
  2. Negative: 5 out of 20
  1. This game is Amazing,it gets a lot of crap due to its glitches,bad story,textures/graphics and most of all the voice acting but the game doesn't deserve that for all the bad,the good in the game over-weighs it,and in my opinion,the graphics aren't to bad,the textures are solid,I found no glitches,I found the voice acting ok in a funny way and the story is fun so everything all the critics say is crap.Now the gameplay is amazing,I found the three teams of three a good idea that worked well and the music is F*****G awesome.The two player mode is cool for a quick go and the only downfalls are rogues voice and Omochoa. Full Review »
  2. ChrisL.
    10
    When sega came out with sonic way back in the day, i dont think they knew that it would get as big as it did. however, some people did not give sonic a chance and didnt take the time to understand what it was all about. When Sega came out with the Sega Dreamcast nobody gave it good reviews. This system was the best system of it's time because it was released before PS2 or Game Cube or Xbox and it had as good if not better graphics then all those systems did. Along with great graphics it had unique ideas like having VMU's. VMU's (visual memory units) were the Dreamcast's memory cards. These memory cards were systems in themselves. There were games you could download onto these VMU's and play without even having the system, and you could hook 2 VMU's together and battle with other people in certain games. No other games had features like this, and still none do to this day. The first Sonic game for this system (Sonic Adventure) was the best game ever made. It had a great plot and was entertaining as well as challenging. It also had many different characters that had different abilities and such. Like I said this was the best game ever made, until Sega came out with Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic Adventure 2 had all the awesome qualities of of the first Sonic Adventure, and then there was more. You could play on the dark side or the hero side, doing evil challenges or do-gooder challenges. This game had different characters and a different plot, and was now the #1 game in the world in my eyes. Sega also came out with many many other extremely incredible games. Now, this game, Sonic Heroes, has done the impossible by being even greater then the Sonic Adventure games. So now, there is a new game that will be the best game in the world but will get not even half the credit it deserves, and get bad reviews by the people in this country that dont even take the time to see this game for what it really is... amazing. Nintendo can just go play by themselves in a small corner with their insignificant plot lacking boring games and leave Sega alone to make even better systems in the future and please the world with more of their unique thinking and creative game ideas. So I gave this game a perfect 10 for how great this game really is, and in memory of Genesis, Dreamcast, classic Sonic, and all of what Sega was... Full Review »
  3. It does have annoyances, but it's a great game.