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Sonic the Hedgehog

EMAIL PRINT xbox360

5.8 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 38 critic reviews
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Based on 85 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sonic Team

Genre(s): Platform

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)

Release Date: November 14, 2006

Summary

Sonic celebrates his 15th anniversary by blazing his way onto the next-generation consoles, with his first adventure set in the human world. Featuring interactive 3D environments and a large cast of returning and new characters, get ready for the reinvention of Sonic The Hedgehog, in his most intense, high velocity escapade to date. [Sega]

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Play Magazine

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.]

Games Master UK

Brilliant in fits and starts, but too often mediocre or frustrating to really impress. [Christmas 2006, p.60]

Planet Xbox 360

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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Game Informer

In the end, Sonic nuts will love it. Everyone else should stay away.

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Deeko

While 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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Official Xbox Magazine UK

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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TeamXbox

Sonic’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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X360 Magazine UK

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]

GameBrink

Not 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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1UP

If 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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GamePro

While 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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Cheat Code Central

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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GameDaily

Atrocious 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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AceGamez

The 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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Xboxic

Shadow 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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games(TM)

The 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]

IGN

It 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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Official Xbox Magazine

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]

GameZone

Even 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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GameSpot

Sonic 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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Games Radar (in-house)

Every 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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Electronic Gaming Monthly

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]

DailyGame

Sega'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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Gaming Target

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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DarkStation

A 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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Boomtown

There’s no easy way to put this, but Sonic the Hedgehog is quite possibly the worst Sonic game ever.

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MS Xbox World

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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PALGN

One of the worst games of the year and an insult to the original Sonic game.

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Edge Magazine

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]

360 Gamer Magazine UK

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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GameSpy

Sonic 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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VideoGamer

Sonic 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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Gamers Europe

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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Detroit Free Press

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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Eurogamer

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.

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Gamestyle

This 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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Jolt Online Gaming UK

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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Gaming Age

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.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.8 (out of 10) based on 85 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Some Guy gave it a0:
Sure it has glitched up control and terrible loading times, but the worst thing about Sonic the Disaster is that it just feels like, a lie. If Sonic Unleashed doesn't turn out to be fun and glitch proof, then Sonic is dead. I want to play a fun Sonic game.

Anon Y. gave it a0:
This game is garbage. The controls are awkward at best and useless at worst, it makes excessive use of artificial difficulty, the game is horribly buggy, and the camera is useless when it's not being intentionally harmful. Of course, my biggest beef with it is that the loading times are as long as they are frequent. The average mini-mission goes like this: Talk to person and accept mission, loading time, person restates what they just said, loading time, the mission starts, the mission ends, the game tells you how well you did, loading time, the person congratulates you, loading time, back to the main game. If you beat a boss (In spite of the game's 'hints' telling you to do things which are useless, like attacking the head of a boss that can only be affected at all by ramming it into the wall), then you have to wait through loading in order to see it's dying animation. The story is as embarrassingly bad as the dialog, and the levels are of the "Push forward to win" variety. Sonic Team is quickly becoming the Uwe Boll of game developers, and they need to either let the franchise die or hand it off to somebody who knows what they're doing.

Abel D. gave it a0:
My personal vote for worst game of all time. even when skipping the cutscenes expect to see 6 full minute of loading screen before getting to the first level, at which point you realise the camera was probably designed by a real hedgehog. stay away at all costs.

Bob Saget gave it a0:
Don't waste money on this game. Simply put, it's too uncontrollable to be considered anything remotely better than a waste of time. The camera angles are irritating and destructive, the game looks uninspired and the gameplay itself is the typical Sonic play rehashed until death, done much worse than ever before. If you want to play a Sonic game, I'd recommend Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

Tommy N. gave it an8:
It is a very fun game, but I know it's gone low price because of the loading time, game's glitches & control problems.

Tommy F. gave it a5:
Good story, but bad sensitivity.

Alan J. gave it a0:
This game sucks, all of you should know that SA2 Battle is way, way better then this game. Sonic on the xbox 360 is a joke and you all should be sad how Sega rushed this game and how 4kids done the stupid voice acting.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

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What The Critics Said

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