Difference between revisions of "Sonic Heroes"
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* This is the first game the Chaotix has appeared in since 1995. Takashi Iizuka has been quoted saying he considers this new, re-designed Chaotix his creation, as the original Chaotix from 1995 was created by a different artist at [[Sega]] of America. | * This is the first game the Chaotix has appeared in since 1995. Takashi Iizuka has been quoted saying he considers this new, re-designed Chaotix his creation, as the original Chaotix from 1995 was created by a different artist at [[Sega]] of America. | ||
*''Sonic Heroes'' was combined with ''[[Super Monkey Ball Deluxe]]'' for [[Xbox]] as a Platinum Family Hit. | *''Sonic Heroes'' was combined with ''[[Super Monkey Ball Deluxe]]'' for [[Xbox]] as a Platinum Family Hit. | ||
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*In the opening scene of Team Chaotix's story, there are pinned papers on a notice board behind Vector, showing concept drawings of the robots used in the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)|Sonic]]'' game. | *In the opening scene of Team Chaotix's story, there are pinned papers on a notice board behind Vector, showing concept drawings of the robots used in the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)|Sonic]]'' game. | ||
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===Development=== | ===Development=== | ||
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Development}} | {{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Development}} | ||
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+ | ===Legacy=== | ||
+ | Although the plot for ''Sonic Heroes'' is somewhat sparse, a large portion of it is a set-up for 2005's ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' especially Team Dark's story. | ||
==Also released on== | ==Also released on== |
Revision as of 11:44, 19 October 2019
This article needs cleanup. This article needs to be edited to conform to a higher standard of article quality. |
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System(s): GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, PlayStation 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sega | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Sonic Team (GC/PS2/Xbox), Sonic Team USA (PC, PSN) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- For the eponymous song, see Sonic Heroes (song).
Sonic Heroes (ソニック ヒーローズ) is a 3D Sonic the Hedgehog video game released for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and later Windows PC. It was the first original Sonic game to be released for a non-Sega home console.
The game sees 12 playable Sonic characters work in teams to stop Dr. Eggman, in a story meant to take place after the events of Sonic Adventure 2.
Contents
Story
Dr. Eggman has come back to challenge Sonic and crew again to defeat his new scheme. Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna gladly accept and race off to tackle the doc's latest plan. Meanwhile, Rouge the Bat swings in on one of Eggman's old fortresses and discovers Shadow the Hedgehog in a capsule. After an odd encounter, Rouge, Shadow, and E-123 Omega join up to find out what happened to Shadow and to get revenge on Eggman.
At a resort, Amy Rose looks at an ad that shows Sonic in it with a chao and a frog. After getting over boredom, Amy, Cream the Rabbit, and Big the Cat decide to find Sonic and get what they want back. Elsewhere, in a run down building, the Chaotix Detective Agency receive a package that contains a walkie-talkie. Tempting them, Vector the Crocodile, Charmy Bee, and Espio the Chameleon decide to work for this mysterious person, so they can earn some money.
Gameplay
The game introduces several new gameplay elements. Unlike past Sonic games, which have only one character playable at a time, the player is able to control three characters and switch between them freely, whilst the other two follow. Each character has a unique ability which it contributes to the team. There are three types of characters that are used in gameplay. One party member is a "fly" type, able to ascend short distances with the other party members. The second type is "speed." This character can move faster than the other two and has a homing attack. The final brand of hero is "power," the character that has the most strength. Each ability is also represented in the interface by color; blue for speed, yellow for flight, and red for power.
These groups of three characters are called "Teams" and the selection of characters in each team is pre-determined. It is not possible to mix and match characters between teams. Each team also has a Team Blast skill, which can be performed when the Team Blast meter becomes full. This can be achieved by performing such actions as destroying enemies or collecting rings. Each team follows a different, yet intertwined, storyline.
This game also marked the return of the Chaotix, a group last seen in Chaotix on the Sega 32X (except for Mighty the Armadillo).
The level design and graphics were given a more cartoon-ish quality which is reminscent of the old-school Sonic games.
The game was developed using the RenderWare engine so that the game could be programmed and ported easily for the multi-platform release. This made for fairly consistant ports, quality wise, between all the systems. The PlayStation 2 version did suffer from clipping and graphic faults, not to mention a lower frame rate, making it the least well recieved of the ports. Primary development was done on the Nintendo GameCube, and then ported to the Xbox and PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 version was later re-released on PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network.
- This is the first game the Chaotix has appeared in since 1995. Takashi Iizuka has been quoted saying he considers this new, re-designed Chaotix his creation, as the original Chaotix from 1995 was created by a different artist at Sega of America.
- Sonic Heroes was combined with Super Monkey Ball Deluxe for Xbox as a Platinum Family Hit.
- In the opening scene of Team Chaotix's story, there are pinned papers on a notice board behind Vector, showing concept drawings of the robots used in the original Sonic game.
- The stage "Frog Forest" is very similar to the Sonic & Knuckles stage, Mushroom Hill Zone. Knuckles points out one of the similarities; during flight with the flower on that stage, he mentions that there are also large mushrooms on Angel Island, but that they are smaller than those of Frog Forest.
- If one stands around for a while when playing as Team Chaotix, Vector will say "I forgot to pay the electric bill back at the office." Charmy will also say "Can we go now?"
- in non boss battle levels depending on the character who earned the most points (and possibly the most power cores) will say a phrase depending on the rank e.g. Amy - A rank - "We're like awesome or Sonic - E rank - "Shoot not my day"
Teams
Below are the four available teams in the game:
Team Sonic
This team and associated levels are designed to be of medium difficulty, and contain high-speed sections. Their Team Blast consists of Knuckles throwing Tails, who spins to gain momentum, and throws Sonic, who attacks surrounding enemies multiple times. During the final boss, each team member, under Super Transformation, performs the same attack as Sonic.
- Speed: Sonic the Hedgehog
- Flight: Miles "Tails" Prower
- Power: Knuckles the Echidna
Team Dark
This team and associated levels are designed to be of hard difficulty, requiring skill and concentration to endure heavy battle. Their Team Blast consists of Shadow performing Chaos Control, whilst Omega, lifted up by Rouge, fires large lasers whilst rotating the top half of his body. It also freezes time momentarily once complete, so that all enemies are frozen in place.
- Speed: Shadow the Hedgehog
- Flight: Rouge the Bat
- Power: E-123 Omega
Team Rose
This team and associated levels are designed for younger players, with shorter missions. Their Team Blast sees Big bouncing Amy and Cream on top of his umbrella with a shower of flowers raining down on them. All three members level up by one and grants them temporary invincibility, high running speed, and a shield.
- Speed: Amy Rose
- Flight: Cream the Rabbit and Cheese
- Power: Big the Cat
Team Chaotix
This team and associated levels provide a different experience, as most are mission-based, and are only complete when the mission target is met. Their Team Blast sees Espio, Charmy, and Vector singing and playing instruments badly, causing all of the surrounding enemies to explode, whilst ring bonuses are received for each enemy destroyed. Collecting rings also refills the gauge, potentially allowing the player to perform another Blast immediately after the first is complete.
- Speed: Espio the Chameleon
- Flight: Charmy Bee
- Power: Vector the Crocodile
Stages
Much like the 2D games, Sonic Heroes has a 2 act and boss structure. Unlike those games, the levels are not named Act 1 and Act 2 (though the Special Stages are labeled as such) but they function in a similar manner. Each set of 2 stages are based around one of the classic Sonic level themes.
The game requires that all 4 teams complete all of the stages and get all 7 Chaos Emeralds before progressing to the Last Story, where all 4 teams participate.
2P Play mode
Sonic Heroes has a multitude of minigames for two players to compete in, similar to the multiplayer mode in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. At the beginning, only Action Race is available, but more minigames can be unlocked by collecting Emblems in the single player mode. Every minigame has three dedicated stages to choose from, and if "ALL" is selected, then both players play a best-of-three match.
Mode | Emblems required | Rules | Stages |
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Action Race | 0 | The objective of this minigame is to reach the Goal Ring before the opposing team does. This is the only mode available from the beginning of the game. | |
Battle | 20 | In this mode, both players' teams battle against each other to force each other off the edge of the stage. The first team to force all three of the opposing team's members off the stage is the winner. If the battle goes on for too long, it is declared a draw, and both teams must fight again. | |
Special Stage Race | 40 | In this mode, both players race through a Special Stage to pursue the fleeing Chaos Emerald before it reaches the end of the stage. The first team to claim the Emerald is the winner. |
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Ring Race | 60 | In this mode, both teams compete to collect the most Rings within the time limit. Players may attack each other to push them back or to make them drop rings. | |
Bobsled Race | 80 | In this mode, both players control a team each riding on a Bobsled on specially-designed courses. To win, a player must complete three laps of the stage before the other player can do so, or survive longer than the other player. Any teammates lost from crashing into obstacles are restored on the next lap. | |
Quick Race | 100 | This mode is similar to Action Race, except the stages are shorter. The Goal Ring is placed in the middle of the stage with both players starting on opposite ends of the stage, and both players must race through mirrored layouts seperate from each other. | |
Expert Race | 120 | This mode uses the same rules as Action Race and Quick Race, except the stages are harder and longer |
Past references
As characters interact, they sometimes make references to past Sonic games:
- Amy: "This weather reminds me of our last attack on the Egg Carrier!" (allusion to Sonic Adventure) in Final Fortress, even though she was not actually part of the attack and was only on the Egg Carrier because she had been kidnapped.
- Amy: "This place reminds me of Casinopolis!" (allusion to Sonic Adventure) in Casino Park, even though she never actually entered the Casinopolis stage during the course of Sonic Adventure. It should be noted that she does not mention Casinopolis in the Japanese version of this game.
- Knuckles: "We have jungle mushrooms on my island too, but not this huge!" (allusion to Mushroom Hill Zone from Sonic & Knuckles) in Frog Forest.
- Shadow: "Space? Did you say SPACE?" when replying to Rouge who said, "We might even be at the edge of space." (allusion to Shadow's "fatal fall" from space in Sonic Adventure 2) in Egg Fleet.
- Shadow: "Some things never change, do they?" as a response to Rouge mentioning going after the Master Emerald at the end of Team Dark's story (allusion to Sonic Adventure 2).
- Metal Sonic: "I was created for the sole purpose of destroying you," when addressing Sonic (allusion to Sonic CD) in Metal Overlord.
- Knuckles: "The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this!" (allusion to Sonic Adventure) in Final Fortress.
- Big: Big's quest for Froggy is reminiscent of his story in Sonic Adventure. In addition, the giant frogs in Frog Forest and Lost Jungle appear to be the same as Froggy.
- Rouge: "I haven't heard from the President lately." (allusion to Sonic Adventure 2) while the player stands still for a while on any stage.
- E-123: "I couldn't even beat Gamma or Beta..." (allusion to Sonic Adventure) when completing a stage with an E-rank.
Manuals
Main article: Sonic Heroes manuals |
Voice actors
This is one of the final Sonic games in which the voice actors from the Sonic Adventure games recorded their voices. Newer games in the series, from Shadow the Hedgehog on, are recorded by the cast of Sonic X. Many Sonic fans were angered by the change and have sent demands to Sega to rehire the original voice cast from this game and the Sonic Adventure series. Some people say this, however, is unlikely to happen, especially considering the passing of Deem Bristow who voiced D. Eggman in this and all previous 3D Sonic games.
Sonic and Metal Sonic are voiced by the same actors in both the English and Japanese versions.
The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have both voice language tracks included in the game disc. The PlayStation 2 version, together with a multi-lingual text language option, is the only version featuring an additional option to switch between both English and Japanese voice language, though this is only present in the Japanese and North American versions. The EU/PAL PlayStation 2 version remove this feature and only has the text language option present, defaulting the voices automatically to the system language. Since the Xbox version doesn't feature any language option at all, neither of text nor of voice, the only way to have the Japanese voices in this version is changing the console language to Japanese in order to set the game entirely in Japanese.
The GameCube and PC versions feature only one voice track in the disc (discs in the case of the PC version) and according to the regional version, due to size constraints. The Western versions have the English voice language whereas the Japanese version has the Japanese one, while the text language is entirely multi-lingual and manually selectionable in all regional versions. Since the PC version requires to be installed in the hard disk, it is not a difficult task to swap the voice files in order to have the desired voice language.
History
Development
Main article: Sonic Heroes/Development |
Legacy
Although the plot for Sonic Heroes is somewhat sparse, a large portion of it is a set-up for 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog especially Team Dark's story.
Also released on
- Sonic Heroes & Super Monkey Ball Deluxe for Xbox and Nintendo GameCube (2005)
- Sonic PC Collection for the PC (2009)
Production credits
For a complete list of the game's production credits, please click the following link: Sonic Heroes credits
Sales data
Number of copies sold | Sega IR Reference | Platforms | Regions | Cumulative sales total |
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850,000 | 2004 Sega Corp. Annual and Flash Reports | PS2/XB/GC | US | 850,000 |
420,000 | " | " | EU | 1,270,000 |
150,000 | " | " | JP | 1,420,000 |
200,000 | FY2006 1st Quarter Results | " | N/A | 1,620,000 |
210,000 | FY2007 Interim Results | " | US | 1,830,000 |
210,000 | FY2007 Full Year Results | " | " | 2,040,000 |
1,080,000 | The Magic Box - US Platinum Videogame Chart | PS2 | US | " |
Artwork
Wallpaper
Physical scans
GameCube version
GameCube, US |
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PlayStation 2 version
PlayStation 2, US |
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PlayStation 2, JP |
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PlayStation 2, UK |
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Xbox version
Xbox, JP |
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Xbox, US |
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PC version
PC, US |
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PC, UK |
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PC, DE |
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PC, DE (Software Pyramide) |
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PC, AU (Gamer's Choice) |
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PC, AU (Five Star Games) |
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PC, KR |
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External links
- Official website on Sega.com (archive)
- Official website (Japanese) (archive)
- Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC (archive)
- Sonic Heroes on PlayStation.com: PlayStation 2: JP, US, UK, KR; PlayStation 3: JP
- Sonic Heroes on PlayStation Store: JP, UK, AU
- Nintendo catalogue pages: JP (archive), UK
- Sonic Heroes on Xbox.com: US (archive)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Press release: 2004-01-27: SONIC HEROES SHIPS ON PLAYSTATION 2 AND XBOX; DUBBED "BREATHTAKINGLY GORGEOUS" BY ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY
- ↑ https://www.amazon.co.uk/SEGA-55318-Sonic-Heroes-PS2/dp/B0000A1P6V (Wayback Machine: 2016-08-17 21:42)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sega-Sonic-Heroes-Platinum-PS2/dp/B00069WFY4 (Wayback Machine: 2007-01-01 18:45)
- ↑ https://www.amazon.fr/S%25C3%25A9ga-Sonic-Heroes/dp/B0000WWQJG/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-08-24 23:14)
- ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Sega-Sonic-Heroes-Software-Pyramide/dp/B000AV0PCM (Wayback Machine: 2012-08-06 18:44)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm65431.html (Wayback Machine: 2007-04-27 08:19)
- ↑ http://archive.is/zSoRN
- ↑ https://www.amazon.it/SEGA-55318-Sonic-Heroes/dp/B0000A1P6V/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-08-24 23:20)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Press release: 2004-01-06: SONIC HEROES SHIPS; DEBUTS ON NINTENDO GAMECUBE
- ↑ https://archive.is/cGjN0
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk:80/Sonic-Heroes-Players-Choice-Gamecube/dp/B00069WFDA (Wayback Machine: 2010-09-19 05:19)
- ↑ https://archive.is/IzChw
- ↑ https://archive.is/XtBvA
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 http://sega.jp/gc/sonichr/ (Wayback Machine: 2004-08-21 12:25)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://sega.jp/x/sonichr/ (Wayback Machine: 2004-04-14 18:12)
- ↑ Xbox.com (en-US; default.htm/) (Wayback Machine: 2005-02-06 07:41)
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sega-Sonic-Heroes-Xbox/dp/B0000A1OU7 (Wayback Machine: 2007-03-03 15:16)
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sega-Sonic-Heroes-Xbox/dp/B00069WF30 (Wayback Machine: 2009-06-25 18:21)
- ↑ https://www.amazon.fr/S%25C3%25A9ga-Sonic-Heroes/dp/B0000XK5MU/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-08-24 23:16)
- ↑ Xbox.com (en-au; default.htm/) (Wayback Machine: 2005-02-05 00:41)
- ↑ http://sega.jp/pc/sonichr/
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 PlayStation Store (fr-fr; EP0177-NPED00034_00-GSONICHERO000001) (Wayback Machine: 2018-04-03 19:31)
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 PlayStation Store (de-de; EP0177-NPED00034_00-GSONICHERO000001) (Wayback Machine: 2018-12-12 23:46)
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 PlayStation Store (en-gb; EP0177-NPED00034_00-GSONICHERO000001) (Wayback Machine: 2018-04-03 19:30)
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 PlayStation Store (en-au; EP0177-NPED00034_00-GSONICHERO000001) (Wayback Machine: 2018-04-03 19:30)
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 http://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/jp0177npjd00060_000000000000000000.html (Wayback Machine: 2014-11-25 23:43)
Sonic Heroes | |
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Main page Manuals |
show;hide
Action Race: Ring Race: Quick Race: Battle: Bobsled Race: Expert Race: GameCube: PlayStation 2:
Xbox:
Windows PC:
Books:
Music:
Songs: "Sonic Heroes" | "We Can" | "This Machine" | "Follow Me" | "Team Chaotix" | "What I'm Made of..." |
Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems | |
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2001 Sonic Adventure 2: Battle 2002 Sonic Mega Collection 2003 Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut | Sonic Heroes 2005 Sonic Gems Collection | Shadow the Hedgehog | Duo Pack: Sonic Heroes/Super Monkey Ball 2 2006 Sonic Riders |