1 Player | Sega
Sega’s mascot makes the jump to true 3D. Though I believe there was a previous 3D
Sonic for Saturn or 3sx or Sega CD or one of those, now he’s 128 bit powered and it
shows. This is the Mario 64 of the Dreamcast, the game that was thoroughly crafted
to take advantage of the system’s overall capabilities. Certainly a worthy game and
surely feels like a Sonic game to me.
Graphics (9/10)
Keep in mind the ratings are determined on the system capabilities. That is, a
NES game could receive a 9 as well but the graphics of an eight bit system will
certainly not compared to that of a 128 bit one. The graphics are exceptional in
this game though. There is a massive leap from PSX or N64 3D graphics. Everything
is richly detailed and the maps don’t ever seem barren or empty. The nine though
comes from a few rare blips that pop up in there. And for the camera, which
occasionally (though not as much as some other reviews I’ve read would have you
believe) does weird things that make it difficult to maneuver. The speeds that you
fly down the raps and paths are amazing, I can’t hardly imagine just how large some
of these levels actually are when Sonic starts flying down long stretches at great
speeds.
Sound (9/10)
It’s not all eye candy though, it’s got great sound as well. Though a few of the
effects seem somewhat dated, they are “classic” sonic sound effects and fit as a
result. The music is great too. There are only a few songs that seemed truly
terrible, and I was downloading some of the songs off of Napster the day after I
started playing this game. But then, some people may abhor the J=Pop feel of the
music, so really it comes down to taste in music I suppose.
Game Play (10/10)
Fast and fun. There are 5 playable characters in this game each with their own
stories that all interweave together. Tails probably has the most boring story as
it’s more or less identical to Sonic’s story. Knuckles interacts with Sonic only
a few times and seems to have the shortest of the 5 (I haven’t played Big yet.) You
even get to play as the bad guy for some time as Gamma. Plus the stories help play
off each other too. If you see something that makes no sense in one game, chances
are it will be explained somehow in one of the other games. Sonic of course follows
the general “Collect rings and Emeralds, destroy Robotnik” story. The constant
referall to Robotnik as “Eggman” is kind of annoying though I think Eggman actually
is his Japanese name or something. Many of the classic Sonic level designs show up
here in full 3D though. There is a casino stage, the Jungle, a machine shop area,
Sky-Chase levels. Also there are a few references to previous Sonic games thrown in
as well.
Overall (9.4/10)
Definitely worthwhile if you enjoy Sonic games. They were always my favorite
Genesis titles (Sonic 2 up on top). It was the first Dreamcast game I bought and
I feel it was worth it. It does seem a bit short I’m probably almost 75% done with
all of the game, but I’ve been playing it a lot. Pick it up!
