Sonic Heroes new mechanic of switching team members during gameplay is great, however the flaws make the game a letdown.
Sonic Heroes allows you to take control of three members of a team, each one has a unique ability, these are Speed, Flying and Power. The key group consists of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. You run though each stage, using each skills to defeat enemies, solve puzzles, move around the level and defeat Dr Eggman.
Joining Sonic is his girlfriend and her team, Amy, Cream (who?) and Mr. Big which are were also featured in Sonic Adverture. Team Dark, which consist of Shadow, Rouge and E-123 Omega, one of Dr Eggman's ex-robots who is out to kill Dr Eggman. The final team is a bunch of misfits you wouldn't want to know who are totally jobless and gets throw in the game just for the sake of it. They offer the game with objectives to each level.
The bottom line for the character selection? Everyone want to only play as Sonic… no some other low lives… some of the characters are okay… however the a few really are just placed in the game for the hell of it and give off no appeal.
The levels are really great and are really bright and colourful. They feel and play great. There a lot happening in each level for you to look around and the gameplay mechanics are littered around each level, objects like springs, boosters and fast paced tracks with helixes and hoops make the Sonic game has it should and are worth while to explore.
The good news is that if you need help in some areas, like in Sonic Adventure 2, there are some help points laying around the levels, which are useful if you really need help.
The down side to this, is being a PS2 title, it's has graphical faults and clippings, which makes the title weaker then the XBOX and Gamecube versions.
The sound is great, with the music really representing each level in the game. Unfortunately, I haven't found an option to turn off the music… so if you dislike the rock or the entire soundtrack… you'll end up turning down the volume instead which will also mute the sound effects as well… I wish I could have had more freedom in the sound department of the game.
The modes can be unlocked as you complete each level in the single player mode, earning you emblems and these are used to unlock different modes and awards. If you like a challenge, the game also offers a challenge mode on each level on each team you unlocked and also comes with a two player mode. However these are extremely short versions of three of the levels from the main games. They could have added more stages or made them longer.
The controls are unappealing… sometimes I find myself pushing a button to switch team members and it will do the wrong command or jumping from platform to platform and finding yourself dropping down into an bottomless pit feels like a cheap death. It's blows and really lets this game down.
However on the bright side, every Sonic hardcore fan should get this game, there a lot of do here and there is something for everybody. If it had better controls, it would have been a bigger game.