SONIC 360: Back and rounder than ever! get it? I review the game SONIC 360--a good game.
THE GOLDEN YEARS
Sonic the Hedgehog-Sonic and Knuckles
Not to be confused with SONIC the Hedgehog is Sonic the Hedgehog for the original Sega System. In the world of console games, there were only two competitors--Sega and Nintendo. Nintendo was capitalizing on its mainstay of destruction, Mario, by the time Sega started getting serious in the biz. Any other system would run in fear--but not Sega. Sega ran--but ran for the goal--ran straight for the robotnick face spinner at the end of every stage. Sonic quickly saved Sega and became the company's posterboy. THE CRAPPY YEARS
Sonic 3D Blast
What began as a nightmare quickly became worse. While Nintendo's Super Mario 64 broke new grounds with 3D playing, Sega's Sonic 3D Blast broke hearts and killed infants. The machine of death that was Sonic 3D Blast was last seen in Wyoming killing for alcohol money and stalking teenage girls--approach with extreme caution.
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE TOP
The Sonic Adventures
Following the atrocity that was Sonic 3D Blast was a duo of adventures. These titles took the series in a different direction--sacrificing Sonic's cuter image in lieu of one where worlds and lives are threatened. Sonic's speed slowly (hahah, funny)made it's comeback as the series was slowly build back from the rubble left behind from its predecessor.
And here we are at SONIC 360. Realizing I am now pressed for time, I will dive right in. In terms of controls, SONIC 360 is 12 steps up from the adventure titles. Sonic controls smoothly and precisely--as a gamer, I am no longer afraid of quick corrections in direction during speed-breaks because I know that doing so will not ruin my acceleration. Some may complain that the controls are too smooth--even slippery. I disagree on the grounds that the same was said about Sonic the Hedgehog when it came out, but it is still accepted as one of the better controlled titles in the series.
In terms of visuals and camera angles, it is good/average. The game looks gorgeous with beautiful, full environments, but it has the typical sonic camera--the one that may as well have been filmed by the creators of Children of Men. Glitches exist. At some points, Sonic may find himself stuck against a wall (easily correctable, but very annoying) or missing a scripted jump (more annoying). On one rare occurance, the character, through some crazy turn of events, ended-up stuck on top of a loop-de-loop. This happened to my sister at the start of one level. She chose to just jump off and take the one-life deficeit, in doing so accideltally landing on the goal ring and completing the level in 17 seconds (yowza).
In terms of storyline, SONIC 360 is all A's. Continuing the more serious tone set by the Adventure titles, Sonic finds himself thrust into a three-way war between Eggman, the mysterious Mephiles, and Silver the psychokinetic Hedgehog from the future. While saving kidnapped Elise, princess of water-city Soleanna, from Eggman, Sonic is attacked by Silver, who calls him the "Iblis Trigger"--the one who ruined the future by releasing the fiery devil Iblis upon the world. Silver was sent back in time by newcomer Mephiles. Soon, even Shadow enters the fray as the one who accidentally releases Mephiles (who immediately travels to Silver's time to manipulate Silver to kill Sonic). In the end, in the Final Story, all the storylines come together in one "Oh Yeah!" moment for the player. Honestly, this game has the best storyline of any game I have ever played, Sonic or otherwise. Shadow's story alone screams of baddass-ness, and his ending shows this (and is quickly followed by his credits to the beat of "ALL HAIL SHADOW!")
My friend said that the game was too linear. I disagree and here's why: We're talking about a series where the main objective of its first four installments was "procede to the right." Clearly, SONIC 360 can never be too linear.
HeadshotJackal's Rating:
I give this game 7/10. It has its share of problems, but is definately a giant leap in the right direction for the Sonic series as a whole. Besides, the involved storyline easily makes-up for a few minor glitches. I had so much fun, I went back to replay the game on Hard difficulty--something I didn't even do for Metroid Prime...