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These were originally from the gaming age forums I think, but the images from that site are broken now.

Link Here

Personally I liked the Tails levels from Sonic 1 the best and it looks like he's regained his flying abilities. Plus the Chaotix characters are back. That alone is worth the price of admission. Please don't goof this up Sega!

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These were originally from the gaming age forums I think, but the images from that site are broken now.

Link Here

Personally I liked the Tails levels from Sonic 1 the best and it looks like he's regained his flying abilities. Plus the Chaotix characters are back. That alone is worth the price of admission. Please don't goof this up Sega!


Is this supposed to be Sonic Heros? If I didn't know better I would say that this was a new Sonic R. But seeing that they re using Tails to fly it doesn't seem to be the case.

What was Chaotix about anyways?

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[this message was edited by Radish on Mon 12 May 17:37]

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Chaotix was a game for the SegaCD that wasn't as well known as the other Sonic games.

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I wonder what console this new Sonic will be on?

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Chaotix was a game for the SegaCD that wasn't as well known as the other Sonic games.

*pokes*

It was the 32X...

And I still have the cart somewhere! (but my Genesis is no longer with us...)

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Detailed hands-on impressions of Sonic Heroes - everything you want to know, including co-operative play functionality, and our thoughts on how well it works. First screens included.
Sonic Heroes is going to come as a bit of a surprise to some gamers, because for the first time in recent memory, a Sonic title is daring to do something new with the familiar speedy platform formula - and it has the potential to work amazingly well. You control Sonic, Knuckles and Tails simultaneously, with the heroes often speeding along side by side - although one character is always under 'primary' control. As far as we know, the characters never split up and leave each other. This much was pretty obvious from the original announcement - but how well does it actually work?

For starters, each of the three characters has their own special abilities, which Sonic fans will be familiar with. The difference in Sonic Heroes is that, since all three characters are always together, they combine their abilities in different ways, depending on which character is under your direct control at that point in time. As three characters are involved in any special ability, it is easy to see how Sega are claiming you control 'all three characters at once'.

You can toggle between which character is under your direct control by hitting the X button, although at some points in the game, the characters switch automatically if there's an obstacle approaching that's best suited for one character to tackle.

Sonic's advantage is obviously speed. When he's the main player, you'll find the action is at its fastest - miraculously, the two characters following you also pick up speed when Sonic is in control - perhaps because Knuckles and Tails fall into Sonic's slipstream, to become more aerodynamic. Or perhaps, because Sonic Team said so.

Knuckles has the ability to glide, but this time what happens is that Sonic and Tails glide with him, as the three characters join hands in a skydiving formation. Awesomely, when Knuckles is in control, he can pick up Sonic and Tails, and literally throw them both simultaneously, to form a two-speedball homing attack against enemies! He can also do this in mid-air, after jumping - which will no doubt come in useful at several stages during the game.

Tails, meanwhile, has the ability to fly once again, - and you guessed it - automatically he carries the other two with him. Tails also has a homing attack similar to Knuckles - except when he throws Sonic and Tails, it's a longer range attack, and they both come back like two boomerangs. On GameCube, the B button is used for actions such as homing attacks, and the A button is to jump.

And the choice between which primary character is under your control is not just a gimmick; there are many areas of each level that are only accessible if you use all the characters properly. For example, some areas may be behind a solid rock-type surface that only Knuckles can destruct, while others are so high that only Tails can fly the three heroes up there. It is much, much better than in 16-BIT Sonic 2, where Tails merely 'followed' Sonic pointlessly, often dying, due to massive lack of intelligence. Besides - when the two characters are 'following' they're usually side-by-side, which obviously works much better in 3D.

A particularly cool element in the levels is when familiar structures - such as a loop-de-loop or what would normally be a 'speed arrow' that hurtles you forward, are now split into, or multiplied by three deliberately, to set all three characters neatly on their way at the speed of sound! At one stage there is even a rocket-powered racing kart, with Knuckles at the front to bust through things, Sonic at the back spinning as the wheels, and Tails flying overhead for air-lift support!

As you can tell, the three characters are glued to each other all the time. But if you're worried that it sounds like it just doesn't work well, fear not. There is a point to this. And the point is that - as far as we can tell from the early state the game is in - the action is amazingly fluent, fast and seamless. The three key abilities (jump attack, gliding, flying) are all executed as a 'double jump' like in previous Sonic games, but with all three characters efficiently tagging along in one way or another, it means the game has to move FAST.

Admittedly, the first level of the game - the only level in the version we played - is a very fast level by nature, as you can imagine from previous Sonic 'introductory' levels. So the nature of the three-character flow identified here may develop in later levels - we don't know until we ask Yuji Naka on Friday. (And we'll also ask if the characters become separated at any stage in the game.)

In Sonic Adventure - and particularly in SA2, we found the way the game played with the other characters on offer was a refreshing and essential addition to the game played just as Sonic. The other characters were very different, and in Sonic Heroes the Sonic Team have really capitalised on this value.

So what about the levels themselves? Based on the level we played, the first level in the game - it is clear that Sega are not exaggerating when they told us that levels are many times bigger than your average Sonic Adventure 2 level. They are huge - but at the same time, quite varied, within one level. We counted two or three individually recognisable themes in this first level - it starts off very Green Hill / Emerald Hill themed, with that scenic beach island style, with the familiar springs, sand, waterfalls and trees. But before long, the appearance of the level has developed into a bit more of a castle-style environment, with waving flags, bridges, and cool-looking castle architecture.

The ability to control the view works very well and you will seldom encounter the kind of perspective problems found in Sonic Adventure. You can zoom in, pan etc., or just let the camera do its thing.

The gameplay is considerably different to Sonic Adventure - not only is the action a lot more fluent, in some way I'd describe it as almost artistic, since the three characters are constantly engaging in acrobatic stunts to perform their abilities in unison - in the air, on the ground - it's certainly a joy to watch. And, after a few seconds of working out the controls, you will find it's extremely accessible to start playing as well.

Graphically, Sonic Heroes is beautiful. The game is so fast that some kind of technical compromise would have been understandable - but there are no such compromises. The 3D graphics are very solid and tangible, and the frame rate never drops below sixty even when there's loads happening on screen. The draw distance is impressive, and the texture and polygonal detail is beautiful - many blades of grass and flowers are drawn in 3D individually. The water deserves a special mention - if you remember how lacklustre the water looked in Adventure, you'll be pleased to know that it looks immaculate here. Generally we're talking very high quality visuals.

Yuji Naka and the Sonic Team will definitely be onto a winner with Sonic Heroes, but ultimately the success of the game depends on how well the subsequent levels are designed, what new structures and obstacles they present, and how they encourage the development of this new co-operative play style, which has a lot of potential beyond the basic introductory play in the first level.

There will need to be a good balance of on-rails action, combined with more free-roaming play, even if the speed is reduced a little. If this is done right - and we have a lot of confidence that it will be - then it can't fail to be a commercial success, since it's the first ever Sonic game to be released on all three major platforms.

Stay tuned for more on Sonic Heroes, a Sega title that is definitely going to please fans whilst demonstrating to more critical gamers that Sonic's got something original, and possibly even more enjoyable to offer than before.

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These were originally from the gaming age forums I think, but the images from that site are broken now.

Link Here

Personally I liked the Tails levels from Sonic 1 the best and it looks like he's regained his flying abilities. Plus the Chaotix characters are back. That alone is worth the price of admission. Please don't goof this up Sega!

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Is it me or does Rouge look like she has a somewhat different design this time around?

Heh heh. Cream in 3-D for the first time.

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Ooooooooh, team action! And Espio the Chameleon is back! And so is E-102 Gamma!



(but where's Mighty?)

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And yes,CREAM ROCKS !!! (but I think that she'll probably do just some appearances at the game) .

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Are you talking about that robot behind Rouge ? It doesn't look like E-102 Gamma from Sonic Adventure 1 (then again,if Rouge got a new look,why can't E-102 Gamma get a new look,too?) .

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Ooooooooh, team action! And Espio the Chameleon is back! And so is E-102 Gamma!

(but where's Mighty?)

Are you talking about that robot behind Rouge ?

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Are you talking about that robot behind Rouge ? It doesn't look like E-102 Gamma from Sonic Adventure 1 (then again,if Rouge got a new look,why can't E-102 Gamma get a new look,too?) .


That robot looks more like E101 mk.II to me. You know, E102's final boss in Sonic Adventure. He CAN fly, so it would make sense for a variation of him to be in the game.

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Personally I liked the Tails levels from Sonic 1 the best and it looks like he's regained his flying abilities. Plus the Chaotix characters are back. That alone is worth the price of admission. Please don't goof this up Sega!

Is this supposed to be Sonic Heros? If I didn't know better I would say that this was a new Sonic R. But seeing that they re using Tails to fly it doesn't seem to be the case.

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About the game itself... I'd say this is one of few times that one of my pipe dreams has actually become real. Simultaneous teams of three working cooperatively, the reintroduction of Chaotix characters... this almost seems like a Sonic Dream Match. I'm really excited about this game. (And though I was originally hoping for three-players simultaneous for the team, given the gameplay mechanics, it's probably best left with one player per team.)

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[this message was edited by Sensenic on Tue 13 May 10:02]

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EDIT: When wasn't Tails able to fly? In SA or SA2? (not that I haven't played 'em that much)

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Does E101 mk.II work for Dr. Robotnik? Since that robot seems to be on the Robotnik team, unless Rouge and Shadow betrayed Robotnik or something. *hasn't been keeping up much with the Sonic storyline*

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I'd say it's some kind of improved remake of the old idea from Sonic 2:
- Partner: now it's partners though. Look that in the video, only Knuckles is playing & using the other, who just follow him. Hope it allows multiplayer though

- Linear & very fast levels, but in3D now.

And that's a very attracting idea to me, oh yeah. SA rocked, and hope this'll too.

EDIT: When wasn't Tails able to fly? In SA or SA2? (not that I haven't played 'em that much)

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Yup, that's what I meant to say. ^_^ What I meant to imply was that Tails' ability to fly served no real gameplay purpose in Sonic 2, aside from joining back up with Sonic.

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These were originally from the gaming age forums I think, but the images from that site are broken now.

Link Here

Personally I liked the Tails levels from Sonic 1 the best and it looks like he's regained his flying abilities. Plus the Chaotix characters are back. That alone is worth the price of admission. Please don't goof this up Sega!

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SA2, he rides a mech instead.
(He could fly actually, but only in the Chao garden)

It was SA2 that Tails wasn't able to fly. He was operating his mechanical walker. (He also couldn't fly in the original Sonic 2.)

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I'd say it's some kind of improved remake of the old idea from Sonic 2:
- Partner: now it's partners though. Look that in the video, only Knuckles is playing & using the other, who just follow him. Hope it allows multiplayer though

- Linear & very fast levels, but in3D now.

And that's a very attracting idea to me, oh yeah. SA rocked, and hope this'll too.

Also, I actually liked playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles with 2 players, as the cooperative play there is better than in Sonic 2. If Sonic needs a lift, provided they're not underwater, Tails can provide it.

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Ooooooooh, team action! And Espio the Chameleon is back! And so is E-102 Gamma!

(but where's Mighty?)

Are you talking about that robot behind Rouge ?


Mighty is an armadillo that made appearances in the Segasonic arcade game and Chaotix. I'd say maybe he didn't make it in because he feels similar -- in design and feel -- to Sonic. Maybe it's also that, since these are teams of three, that Vector, Espio, and Charmy would be the most original characters of a Chaotix team.

About the game itself... I'd say this is one of few times that one of my pipe dreams has actually become real. Simultaneous teams of three working cooperatively, the reintroduction of Chaotix characters... this almost seems like a Sonic Dream Match. I'm really excited about this game. (And though I was originally hoping for three-players simultaneous for the team, given the gameplay mechanics, it's probably best left with one player per team.)

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Thank you for the info,but I already know who is Mighty . My quote ("Are you talking about that robot behind Rouge ?") is refering to the robot behind Rouge,which Whitesword thought it was E-102 Gamma,but it doesn't look like Gamma . But you gave us great information about Mighty,and I agree that Sonic Heroes looks very promising (the only missing characters I remember so far are Mighty,those two Chaotix robots and some guys from Sonic The Fighters (Bean,Bark,Fang)) .

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BTW,besides Sonic Heroes and the GBA Pinball Party game,there is also another Sonic game being developed for the Game Boy Advance : it is Sonic Battle,a kind of 2D Super Smash Bros. (think about Digimon Battle Spirit with 4 characters;BTW,Digimon Battle Spirit 2 is also being developed for the GBA according to Bandai),and it seems to be very interesting . The cast will have 8 characters (and some secrets,I hope),including Sonic,Tails,Knuckles and Shadow .

Link Here

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