Sonic Heroes Preview: Sonic's Team

Sonic Heroes was first announced late last year/beginning of this year. People have since been pondering over the game's style of play - after all, it's understandable that after a couple of good 'Real-Life' Sonic Adventures, people wanted a 3D game that is more true to the classic form of Sonic design - brown chequered blocks, huge piranha fish, massive gold rings that take you to special stages... that kind of thing.

It'd be folly to say that Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were terribly bad - they were excellent games in their own right, if you consider that it was taking Sonic to a different kind of universe. But the advent of Sonic Heroes makes every Sonic fan's dream come true - and with a twist.

As you can see from the screenshots, you'll be able to play as THREE characters at once. Not one, not two, but three of the nippy buggers. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles will partner up as the player will control all the action between them. Confused? Here's how it will work.

It's most likely that you won't be able to control ALL of the characters on display - rather, one at a time, with computer AI controlling the others alongside you. This will be an immense action game of sorts from what we're hearing, because you can switch between each character at any given point to use their unique abilities to progress through the game. Excellente!

In Sonic, Tails and Knuckles' case (collectively named 'Team Sonic'), there are three 'formations' - each featuring different special abilities. For Sonic, you have the Speed Formation - here, the team will link hands and go shooting off into the distance. Sonic also has the ability to wall-kick, nicking Mighty the Armadillo's move from Chaotix (which, animation-wise, works similarly to the jump-pads in Sonic Adventure 1).

Controlling Tails harnesses the Fly Formation, which can utilise Tails' flight ability to get the team across chasms. Knuckles has control of the Power Formation, which when used, makes Knux grab Sonic and Tails like bowling balls and lob them towards nearby enemies. All of these Formations can assumedly be linked together to make massive combos.

The Team Sonic won't be the only playable team in the game however. Sonic Team has announced at least three other teams will be available: Team Dark (consisting of Shadow, Rouge and a new robot character named 'Omega'), Team Rose (Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat), and - most excitingly - the return of the CHAOTIX! Team Chaotix has Vector, Charmy and Espio - although Mighty is nowhere to be seen at present, he's pretty much a cross between Knuckles and Sonic anyway. Team Chaotix have also been given an overhaul, with Vector in particular sporting funky chains.

There will be different levels for each team, so we assume that each team will have different types of formations rather than the ones already announced in Team Sonic. Each of the levels will have different routes as well, so there's plenty of replayability promise in the game. That and the fact that you could only go one route, as demonstrated in the Sonic Adventure games, is becoming a bit tiresome in the Sonic series.

Watching the E3 Promo Movie, we can see a section where Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are riding a Kart of some sorts, which requires Tails to push, Sonic to power and Knuckles to steer. To be frank though, this lacked the speed fix from every other part in the game, and first impressions from game sites like IGN have expressed their slight dislike for the seemingly unnecessary addition. But, things like this may well be present in every level in Sonic Heroes - let's just hope that they're all much better executed in play than the kart.

As if things couldn't be good enough, a glance at the movie shows the return of the much-loved Special Rings (that lead you to a Special Stage, natch)! Eggman looking as fat as ever! And... if you're still feeling dubious about the return to classic Sonic form, let us re-introduce you to an old friend... take a bow METAL SONIC!

That's all we got at the moment. Any new info that leaks will head straight to Sonic News, then here in a substantial new Preview Slot. Stay Tuned to TSS!