Sonic the Hedgehog

By Tom Bramwell Published 31 May, 2006

Silver's the new hedgehog.

By now I expect my stance on Sonic's adventuring is firmly established. If not, it's with one foot firmly planted on Tails' throat and the other kicking him repeatedly in the head. While, er, complaining loudly about Sonic's propensity to launch himself into an abyss - thanks to a homing attack that seems to view infinity as a more appropriate destination than the next sequence of platforms and blocks.

The Sonic the Hedgehog demo on show at E3 this year certainly wasn't short of abyss. Infinity was in plentiful supply, and Sonic still seemed happy to take up more than his logical allocation of plunges - albeit usually spinning away from one of his homing attacks, which allow him to take out a collection of enemies in one aerial burst, rather than just for the hell of it. Split into two parts, and available in near-identical form on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it was more of a next-gen scene-setter on the Sonic side and also took the opportunity to introduce his new, more cerebral partner-in-lurking-under-sheds, Mr Silver the Hedgehog, whose raison d'être is telekinesis.

Thematically it was green hills and valleys for Sonic and a fiery dystopia for Silver, but graphically both were firmly in tech demo territory. Where platformers like Ratchet, Jak and even Mario have carved themselves a graphical niche, with room for manoeuvre, SEGA hasn't really struck upon a next-gen tone yet. Instead both heroes come off as shinier, more polygonally sure-footed versions of old, both extensively animated - Sonic, in particular, picking up some impressive new frames in combat - but lacking in personality, to be blunt. Both levels were detailed, delivering crumbling masonry and exploding machinery capably in impressively lit environs - particularly Silver's simmering cityscape, which looked almost as muggy as LA's Convention Centre felt - but neither rose above the perfunctory, shifting plenty of polygons but doing so rather unimaginatively. A shame.

'Sonic the Hedgehog' Screenshot 1

Sonic flies. Probably into the fire.

Expect that to change though. There's still quite a way to go - both demos bore "40%" markers - and with so much headroom it's a not exactly an outside bet that SEGA will find its range before the game ships. Besides, it's more interesting to take note of what's going on under your thumbs.

Sonic's was a familiar toil - screaming along vast highways in the sky, grinding along paths funnelled out of wind with the option to branch off in different directions with well timed jumps, and smashing up robotic enemies and crates. The collapse of a bridge to form a pathway and a scattering of crates hinted at the more advanced physics computations going on behind the scenes, too - and the prospect of more versatile environments bodes well for the hedgehog.

As it does for Silver, who more positively embraces it. Silver's stage unfolded at a slower pace, with a greater concentration of projectile-tossing enemies to destroy - by launching your own projectiles in return. Using a telekinesis shoulder button, Silver can grab control of nearby objects - not just crates, explosive and otherwise, of which there were many, but burnt out cars and other debris, too - and target them at enemies within his line of sight. It's all handled very straightforwardly, without relying on the player to do much more than point the camera.

'Sonic the Hedgehog' Screenshot 2

Instead of engaging directly, Silver lobs things. A bit like my sister.

Silver can also rearrange the environment to make progress. By standing on specially lit circles and clasping the telekinesis button, Silver can direct the scenery to uncrumple itself and form platforms - calling to mind the way the player can direct shiny block structures to reassemble themselves in Lego Star Wars - and although fairly rudimentary in the E3 showcase, as part of a suite of telekinetic tools it was rife with potency. As was Silver's ability to halt bullets in the air and fire them back to sender.

We spoke to plenty of people at E3 who remarked that Sonic seemed to have lost his way, but frankly that's a bit unfair. While neither demo screamed excellence the way some of the other E3 showfloor fare did, a fairer assessment might be that there's plenty of room to move into. Infinite amounts, if it's not labouring the point. Frame rate drops and slight control issues spoke of a game still early in development, and SEGA's recent track record in this genre is inconsistent at best, but with physics playing a more central role and at least one new character to get to grips with on a far more technically able platform, there's still reason to be upbeat - if for no other reason than Sonic's Wii outing, Wild Fire, demonstrates SEGA's keenness to stretch the concept in new directions.

Not to mention the fact that Tails was nowhere to be seen, which is potent symbolism as far as this writer's concerned.

SEGA's lining up Sonic the Hedgehog's next-gen outing to launch on PS3 and Xbox 360 this year - as part of a wider celebration of the hedgehog's 15th anniversary.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (30) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • blender #1 6 years ago

    to be this good take AGES

  • ccfb #2 6 years ago

    "available in near-identical form on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360"
    What's different, then?

  • blender #3 6 years ago

    Apparently, the xbox one looked better. But that means nothing as they are just tech demos in different stages of refinement.

    Wildfire will rule anywhoo.

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    I really can't bring myself to give a shit about Sonic. Move on, Sega.

  • TripSkyway #5 6 years ago

    The Wii one looks slightly more interesting at this stage, for me at any rate. I never really got into adventure, and the music on the temple like level had me tearing my hear out.

  • itamae #6 6 years ago

    Sonic Adventure 1 and (to a lesser extent) 2 on the Dreamcast were awesome. I demand more of the same, with added "real next generation" features, whatever those may be.

  • smelly #7 6 years ago

    This is interesting actually. With the ps3 and 360 going all out for "photo realism" (cough cough splutter - i'll save that rant for another day), how do games which dont want to be photo-realistic use the power?

    If sonic had stayed as sonic and eggman as eggman, the graphics wouldnt have looked much better than an xbox/cube title. However by utilising the extra power they've had to make the graphics more shiny more realistic, and less sonic.

    Shame.

  • rinoaMW #8 6 years ago

    I still like sonic.. its hard to not feel something from an icon of your youth. I think it looks quite nice, i hope it has the gameplay to match.

  • gingerlink #9 6 years ago

    a new minigame has been announced, shoot tails down from the air with a shotgun :D

  • JonFE #10 6 years ago

    Isn't Tails a "she"? As in a "female"? Am I blind to the obvious?

  • IAmBatman #11 6 years ago

    > do games which dont want to be photo-realistic use the power?

    Viva Pinata

  • symmetry #12 6 years ago

    Silver = Neo?

  • SimonM7 #13 6 years ago

    Silver = forced use of Havok engine more like.

    I dunno, I thought Sonic Adventure, the first one, was utterly brilliant. While the control method hasn't aged well it hasn't really gotten worse either, and replaying Sonic Adventure DX on gamecube recently reminds me that you can tame those controls and have tons of fun with them.

    Therefore, the only thing I need personally is for the shite characters/mechanics that they've consistently forced on you in his recent outings to disappear and I'm set for a good time.

  • Hog-lumps #14 6 years ago

    I'd rather they learnt from 'new super mario', and produced a 3D sonic with the axis locked in 2 dimensions. All these 'sonic adventure' style games don't really apeal to me...........

    and eggman as eggman

    pah, he'll always be known as Dr Robotnik to me! :)

  • nickthegun #15 6 years ago

    Hmm......I might be over simplifying but have sega ever thought about why Sonic is so popular, despite a clutch of crap games?

    People fell in love with Sonic. Not Tails, not shadow, not that pink thing or the stupid rabbit with the fishing rod. They loved a small blue hedgehog that runs fast.

    Every time you add a stupid secondary character you devalue the main Sonic brand. Now dont get me wrong, I wouldnt mind a guest appearence now and then, but I want to play a Sonic game with, well, Sonic. All the secondary characters suck balls, quite frankly.

    Actually, thats slightly unfair. The Chao Garden was a work of genius on the dreamcast. It meant that i could play my DC and give the mrs the VMU to train the cutey pie chao to her hearts content.

  • Hog-lumps #16 6 years ago

    Every time you add a stupid secondary character you devalue the main Sonic brand

    Couldn't agree more! every time they introduce a new 'cream the rabbit' etc., it's like another nail in the coffin.

  • SimonM7 #17 6 years ago

    2D Sonic in 3D, go for Sonic Rush, that game is brilliant in every aspect despite what this site says.

    As for extra characters; I'm a pretty big Sonic fan and quite frankly - I enjoy some of the extra characters from a story/character standpoint. I think the only reason to dislike them is when you're forced to play as them to progress. SA1 never had that problem what with extra characters being secondary and having much shorter story arcs.

    I dunno why they felt like they had to shove it down your throat in 2, effectively making the game LEAST about Sonic from both a gameplay and character standpoint. Having a game where you play Shadow/Sonic back and forth wouldn't be so terrible since they're both essentially the same once you're hopping around on screen, but when the gameplay gets too different it either slows shit down or is just plain dull.

    With this one, from what I gather every Sonic character will make an appearance, but you'll only be playing these three, and the story structure means that they'll prolly stick you with a guy at certain points in the main story arc just like 2. Hopefully these characters are fun to play though, and what with the hedgehog base for all three I think it's fair to assume it's gonna be an improvement over the dreaded treasure hunt or stomping around with Tails and Eggman in 2, randomly spazzing missiles at enemies. Jesus.

  • Skooch #18 6 years ago

    "People fell in love with Sonic. Not Tails, not shadow, not that pink thing or the stupid rabbit with the fishing rod. They loved a small blue hedgehog that runs fast.

    Every time you add a stupid secondary character you devalue the main Sonic brand. Now dont get me wrong, I wouldnt mind a guest appearence now and then, but I want to play a Sonic game with, well, Sonic. All the secondary characters suck balls, quite frankly"

    Agree completely. This is also why I hope I am not forced to play as the Arbiter again in H3.

  • reality_cheque #19 6 years ago

    "to be this good take AGES"

    I'd forgotten that little slogan, it's made me feel 10 again :D

  • nickthegun #20 6 years ago

    "Agree completely. This is also why I hope I am not forced to play as the Arbiter again in H3. "

    I actually didnt mind playing the arbiter. The central game mechanics were the same (even slightly better as the camo button was pretty cool) and, as I saw it, was neccessary to the advancement of the story. I mean, you could have told it in cut scenes, but actually playing it made the civil war even more convincing. But, yeah, I can see how he probably has served his purpose, but I dont think we have seen the last of him. Im sure there will be at least one Arbiter section, even if its just to kill him off.

    Just MHO, of course. I know a lot of people hated the Arbiter and wanted All Chief, All of the time, but I felt that it was a decent inclusion that helped the story rather than hinder it.

    I mean, take a rather unfair comparison to sonic. The Arbiter levels are still Halo. They are still dual wielding, grenade throwing, grunt murdering fun. Now take Sonic. He runs like a loon, bouncing from one thing to the other at breakneck speed with some breathtaking set pieces. Now bring in the Fishing Rabbit or the shitty robot. The great gameplay is now changed beyond recognition and the game has become a turgid piece of crap.

    Edited by 1 at 31/05/06 @ 10:56

  • gerg #21 6 years ago

    I don't understand the Tails hate. 'Always play as him in the later Sonic Game Gear games.

  • ecureuil #22 6 years ago

    Why do they feel the need to introduce at least one new character in every game? People buy these games for Sonic, can't they understand that? At the very most, have Sonic and Knuckles, and maybe Tails. Nothing more.

  • York #23 6 years ago

    Were this the exact same game but not featuring Sonic, I expect it would be worth zilch.

  • SimonM7 #24 6 years ago

    You're probably right, but Sonic without a game is so difficult to spend money on. Fans like me want to spend money!

  • THATinkjar #25 6 years ago

    Silver Sonic can bite the proverbial silver bullet, for all I care. Bring back Knuckles and Tails, flesh them out a little more, and call it a day, Sega. You're not expanding the Sonic universe by introducing characters like Cream and Silver Sonic. You're simply expanding our frustrations.

    I watched yet another video of Sonic on Wii, and for a few seconds - until I remembered otherwise - I thought it was the Xbox 360 or PS3 version. Which says it all.

    Still not excited about this.
    Edited by 2 at 30/08/07 @ 09:34

  • absolutezero #26 6 years ago

    Silver? More like Sephihog. amirite?
    Edited by 1 at 31/05/06 @ 14:02

  • Nikanoru #27 6 years ago

    This is interesting actually. With the ps3 and 360 going all out for "photo realism" (cough cough splutter - i'll save that rant for another day), how do games which dont want to be photo-realistic use the power?

    If sonic had stayed as sonic and eggman as eggman, the graphics wouldnt have looked much better than an xbox/cube title. However by utilising the extra power they've had to make the graphics more shiny more realistic, and less sonic.

    Shame.


    ----


    > do games which dont want to be photo-realistic use the power?

    Viva Pinata


    QFE. Viva Pinata looks great. They _chose_ to make Sonic look stupid. Well...more stupider than he already did anyway.

    With all this realism and drama forced on franchises it doesn't fit with, next thing you know we'll have something dumb and out of place like Donald Duck or Goofy being emo in a game full of teen angst! Hah! Nah, that'll never happen, nobody would be that retarded...

  • York #28 6 years ago

    Knuckles and Tails are fine with me.

    /hides Sonic, Knuckles and Tails in a nuclear bomb shelter
    /bombs the living bejebus out of the remaining Sonic universe, focusing mainly on (spit) Silver
    /the world is cleansed

  • Darth_Flibble #29 6 years ago

    Wonga: the sonicfranchise is being slowly dying of crapness for a while.

    Sonic adventure 2 was ok but a bit shit with the horrible digging levels + digging levels in Zero G

    Sonic Heroes: childish crap (far worse than what nintendo gets blamed for)

    Shadow: Rubbish

    but Sonic: wild fire sounds a good direction after the crap that was made

  • albundy #30 6 years ago

    "Agree completely. This is also why I hope I am not forced to play as the Arbiter again in H3".

    Couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong, I could see why he was in Halo 2, in terms of the plot. But please, for the love of God, let us play a Halo 3 that is 95% Chief. 5% has to be for the Arbiter, as you have to finish his 'story'. But kill him off. And quickly.