- Publisher: Sega
- Release Date: Nov 14, 2006
- Also On: iPhone/iPad, PlayStation 3
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You simply can't ask for more out of an action game. Mission accomplished. Sonic is born anew. [Dec 2006; Score revised in Jan issue due to long load times.]
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Brilliant in fits and starts, but too often mediocre or frustrating to really impress. [Christmas 2006, p.60]
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I feel that the gameplay variety is worth a look. Then again, maybe I’m just overly nostalgic when I remember how fun and addictive the Genesis game was.
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In the end, Sonic nuts will love it. Everyone else should stay away.
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Sonic's latest adventure fails yet again to live up to the delight and fast-paced action we grew with, mostly due to the structure of the challenges. Silver's pretty cool, though. [Issue 14, p.82]
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60Sonic’s long road to reclaim his former glory is full of potholes in the form of bad camera angles, poor collision detection, and excessive town wandering.
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60While it may please hardcore fans of the series with its addicting time-based action segments, it will surely alienate everyone else thanks to the abundance of non-Sonic elements: RPG town-wandering, additional less-enjoyable characters, and a god awful camera.
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Next-gen Sonic is awkward, dogged by awful levels and a terrible hub system, plus the basic action never gets that challenging. When you die, it’s because you couldn’t see, or you fell off by accident. It's hugely frustrating.
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57Not only are the voices horrible, as is the case for most Sonic games, but the story makes very little sense. It’s like if you took any basic Nintendo story like Mario saving the Princess, lengthened it to several hours long, and filled it with mindless details that make no logical sense at all.
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55If only the developers had focused on delivering a simple, fun experience rather than trying to create something far beyond their reach.
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55While there is a greater emphasis on speed, you'll still have to take control of some slower characters like Silver and Tails, who now has one of the most frustratingly awful attack movesets of all time.
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There are just too many distractions and obstacles that get in the way of the enjoyment, and turn what should be a fun experience into one of frustration and resentment.
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50The real tragedy of it all though, is the relative simplicity of the formula required for a once-and-for-all cure - less of the Z-axis, more of the Sonic. [Christmas 2006, p.104]
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50The simple fact is that a dodgy camera, dubious controls, unspectacular visuals, repeated falling to your death and almost constant load breaks have all but ruined what should have been a brilliant game.
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50Shadow and Silver are decent characters, Sonic’s not so amazing, and one of the very worst problems is load times of all things. If you like Sonic, rent.
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50Atrocious camera angles lead to cheap deaths, the slippery controls make it difficult to get a handle on the characters and the game has a large problem with pacing. It tries to mix in side missions with general stages, and the disastrous results ruin the game.
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48It offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control.
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45Even dedicated fans of the blue hedgehog will long for the classic controls that made this platform game such a joy to play.
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Sonic is still the fastest mascot on the block, and his audience desperately wants to root for him. But his latest namesake game is big on rushed disappointment and much too light on fleetfooted pleasure. [Jan. 2007, p.79]
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44Sonic the Hedgehog may share its name with the Genesis original, but this game is even more broken than most of the other recent Sonic games have been.
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40There’s no easy way to put this, but Sonic the Hedgehog is quite possibly the worst Sonic game ever.
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40A next-gen Sonic platformer would have been a godsend, but Sega somehow manages to screw this up with an insanely frustrating camera and serious framerate issues.
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40Every installment has us hoping for a return to glory, but each one further craps on the hedgehog's legacy. The redeeming qualities here are few and far between, and it's just plain not fun.
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I could've dealt with the much-lauded adventure elements, subpar graphics--even that clown Shadow--but the bottom line is that this feels more like some hack job created by a bunch of Sega interns as opposed to a game from a competent developement studio. [Jan. 2007, p.95]
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40Sega's not alone in milking classic franchises, but Sonic is definitely one that should stay off the next-gen systems. Nothing personal; the experience just doesn't translate well.
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It’s just broken. It’s so broken in fact that one wonders if they weren’t trying to intentionally botch the game- it’s just that bad.
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An absolute disaster for any reasonable fan of the series. The game is unfinished, annoying, disappointing, soulless, frustrating and to top it off includes my favourite gaming character only to ruin it!
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The consistently poor controls of Sonic’s 3D outings make it seem like Sonic Team has convinced itself that this is how this aspect of the franchise should rightly be, and everyone else should just learn to deal with it. [Christmas 2006, p.82]
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30Sonic has been on a slippery slope for years and SEGA has done nothing about it, and this has culminated in what can only be described as a complete disaster.
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It’s not particularly next-gen visually, the loading times are so slow, and it has the most infuriating try-and-die mechanic of any 360 game we’ve played. If you’re a Sonic fan then you might glean some brief pleasure from this, but it is likely to disappoint and infuriate rather than entertain.
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30One of the worst games of the year and an insult to the original Sonic game.
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30Sonic doesn't crash and it doesn't look horrific, and that's about all that recommends it. Maybe the 20th anniversary will be better.
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This is an absolutely diabolical game, a bloated, leaden, enjoyment-free shambles which Sonic Team should be ashamed to have their name on and you should under no circumstances part with any money for. The only way it could have been any worse is if a representative from Sega had put an actual dead hedgehog in every box.
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Throw in some horrendously long loading times, a muddy story line and dialogue that will make you laugh in agony, and you have a train wreck of a video game. Not even fans of Sonic's classic adventures will be able to look past the stench this game leaves in its speed wake.
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20What 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.
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20This is absolutely awful. The Sonic franchise has been dragged through the dirt so often, and this serves to add insult to injury. This game is utterly bland, soulless and broken beyond repair.
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Along with the Engrish translation, ear-torturing voice acting and mindless, lifeless soundtrack, Sonic the Hedgehog is a broken, hideous mess, splattered in the middle of the gaming motorway.
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SEGA's decision to rush one of its most beloved franchises to the next-gen market has ended in a broken product that does not even deserve a rental.