The only accurate 'Sonic Adventure' follow-up so far, but does not live up to advanced gameplay experiences.
Sonic the Hedgehog starts out when the land of Soleanna is suddenly invaded by Eggman and his mech army. Princess Elise of Soleanna is kidnapped by the army for her special powers that may assist in world domination. When Sonic is informed of this, he gathers his friends Tails, Knuckles, and many other familiar faces as well as new ones and sets out for adventure to save Soleanna and the rest of the world.
Sonic the Hedgehog has very few pros but many cons to follow.
The gameplay is very weak. For a game that is supposed to have high speed, action packed values, the game slides around for speed and glitches for action. When you move a character around, he or she will slide at a very quick rate. This makes precise movement very difficult as you will most likely always fall out of the stage. This can be truly frustrating as well. However, the number of obvious glitches can be more frustrating. The infamous "falling through the ground" glitch occurs most in Sonic the Hedgehog than in any other Sonic game. Often times you will find that ramps, bumpers, speed boosts, and simple loop passageways will lead you to your unexpected death. For example, sliding in a speed boost will shoot you angled down, causing you to glitch through the ground and die during freefall into the unknown abyss of sky and land.
Glitching also causes you to stop in your tracks when trying to slide or jump near a wall. Gameplay eventually grows on you if you are able to ignore or handle the many flaws.
The graphics are very well suited for the next generation. There are some great attentions to detail on many objects as well as the characters. High speed action does not lower the quality of the graphics or blur them. It adds a nice touch of running past the image. Sometimes there will be a pixel problem and the quality of the graphics will decrease slightly, but graphics are otherwise very nicely accomplished.
Voiceacting is impressive considering the terribly unsuccessful moments SEGA has had with previous voiceacting in Sonic games. Sometimes there will be a long pause between conversations to try to match the Japanese based mouth movements, which may throw your concentration off. Music is also very well done. Some tracks, such as the theme to Crisis City or Flame Core, are very nostalgic as they sound very similar to the music of the Sonic Adventure games.
The camera is one of the easy-to-hate features of the game. When standing in place, the camera moves slowly. If used during motion, it will move fast. Most of the time, the camera will refuse to point in the correct direction. Sometimes, however, it will work on your side.
Sonic the Hedgehog is no fans'-favorite, and it isn't a must-have. If you're truly a fan of the series, it is at your own risk of anger to purchase and play this game. The storyline is decent and allows you to see a new light of what is going on in the series. It is also a pleasure to view the new characters, maybe even some for a second time such as the new Blaze the Cat. However, you should consider your options before placing Sonic the Hedgehog on your game shelf.