It's implied that Team Chaotix' missions were an effort to stymie Neo Metal Sonic's plans. Neo Metal Sonic was presumably capturing Chao in order to obtain Chaos' data, destroying all the robots in Grand Metropolis/capsules in Bullet Station would deplete Neo Metal's robot army, etc. Pretty sure Seaside Hill is the only mission that's supposed to be a test.
@@sonicthefox2478 In Bingo Highway, they needed the chips to enter Eggman's secret hideout. In Mystic Mansion, they needed the blow out the red torches to escape.
So refreshing seeing Sonic Heroes' being given the analysis of the characters and story that it deserves rather than just being classified as a return to form simple genesis story that's hokey.
I mean, it technically is a simpler story akin to the Genesis Era stories, and that's why I hold Heroes as the gold standard for light-hearted Sonic stories.
But Sonic Heroes is the closest to a genesis game in 3D era. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I'm not talking only about story but also gameplay and stages, and I personally like that.
@@donathan2933 Shadow's drop in character in that one infamous issue (I think 19) was due to Sega's interference after all anyway, but the writers sorta put in a fix for it in one of the newer ones
Two more hints that Shadow was the real one: his ability to use Chaos Control, and at the start of Egg Fleet when he reacts to Rouge talking about space.
Yeah gerald based shadow on super sonic from the mural in sonic 3 so he can do chaos control just like sonic, a copy couldn't do that, witch basically confirms it.
Sonic games dont seem to be part of the PC culture btw. Theres a line by Knuckles in an episode from sonic boom season 2 which makes fun of the extreme feminism that happens these days
@@theqbash The line where he says Amy trying to do something no one else can do is implying she's the exception and not the norm, and thus goes against one of the most basic and fundamental statements of feminism? That's...not making fun of feminism. Also, 'broad' is not an offensive term. *Also* it's 'included'.
@@theqbash What about the movie? Some idiots on twitter specifically tried to stop people from seeing it because it wasn't PC (and those idiots failed badly).
Yeah, and for the longest time I never listened to more than 10 seconds of it, and I never knew how good it was until a few months ago when I listened to the whole thing, and lowkey starting singing.
The attempt at "comedy" in Sonic for the past decade has been terrible. Heroes did something pretty well though: Team Chaotix. The rest of the story, everyone else had serious stakes that pertained to the characters while Team Chaotix's story was kind of just a "goof off" type story of in a way. It's funny that they're broke, get treated like literal shit/get blown off for no reason by everyone, and all get annoyed with each other while every other team/character gets along pretty well (even if it had to happen gradually, like Team Dark). That's honestly how I think Modern Sonic games could have a healthy balance of the "light-hearted/goofy" area of Sonic and the serious side of Sonic. Make the Sonic games serious again and just have Team Chaotix be the "goofy" aspect they seem to have been attempting at for the past decade (unsuccessfully).
To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence. While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan. While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman. Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy whlie her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss. On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
“Comedy” in Sonic games has just been incredibly cringy dialogue. With the introduction of Roger as Sonic’s VA, they made him into this douchey, non-serious character who just jokes around all the time without ever having anything serious to say.
Sure Amy may be the slowest of the Speed Types, but she's actually the strongest despite not sharing the Slidekick with Sonic and Shadow. Her hammer is spammable and while the Homing Attack is better for tearing through badniks, Amy floors any other Speed Type by just spamming her hammer. No seriously, have Sonic and Amy go 1v1 with no teammates and Sonic just gets flattened. She's something like the "Peach" of this game in that she can also extend her jumps by floating for a brief moment. As a bonus, I find this to be her best portrayal, her voice is the best it's ever been (before she started sounding like Minnie Mouse) and she's an absolute treat to listen to here just as much as everyone who isn't Tails.
I agree this is peak Amy in both gameplay and character. Her gameplay in heroes was the best she was in 3D. And she's easily the best speed type because of her exclusive abilities and her tornado being a projectile is much better than any other tornado move.
@@Surgemaster2012 Battle-wise, she has all the (Speed Type) boys beat. Her only weakness being she can't Triangle Jump and she's the slowest of the 4. Other than that she's an absolute treat to play and (especially) listen to!
Sonic Heroes was how I was introduced to the franchise, even if it was through the PlayStation 2 version, but even with the inferior port, I still regard it as my favorite entry in the series.
Honestly, I wish they stuck with the style. It worked, just needed to iron out the controls and add new abilities as the games went on. It would've been more interesting than pressing Square or Y and hold it until you hit the goal ring.
Heroes is honestly my favourite appearance of Shadows largely because of how it tackles bringing him back. So let me elaborate; After SA2, everyone, both in-universe and the audience, are led to believe he's dead. So when we see Shadow, much like Rouge, we're unsure of whether to believe if he's the real deal or not. And this forms the basis of his arc. Shadow doesn't know who he is and is confounded by Rouge supposedly recognizing him and herself being confused as to how he's even alive. This kick-starts his existential crisis about his identity. His whole journey is him obsessing over whether he's the original or something else, a concern which only becomes amplified after the team finds a base filled with Shadow android clones. But Shadow gradually starts to lose interest in this goal. He starts having fun, genuinely connecting with Rouge, a jewel thief who's gone out of her way to put her own interests aside to help Shadow, and Omega, a robot specifically designed to kill Shadow who is now his ally. Through these two Shadow comes to the conclusion, as he announces at the start of Egg Fleet, that whether he is or isn't the original doesn't matter to him, regardless of whether he's the original or a recreation, he's still himself, and knowing the answer to that question isn't going to change that. Just like Rouge and Omega defy their roles and are truly unique individuals, Shadow grows to adopt a similar set of values to the original Shadow. he puts his delusions aside and prioritizes stopping the doctor's scheme for the sake of the world and being able to live on within it, not just for himself, but for his new-found friends. Heroes maintains the ambiguity of whether Shadow is or isn't the original and weaves that into his arc, which keeps SA2's sacrifice intact, while still keeping the character around for narrative and marketing purposes. It's a fantastic execution of bringing a character "back from the dead", which is why it frustrates me that the next game in the series, Shadow's stand-alone title, completely undermines everything Shadow's story in Heroes stands for. It gives definitive answers, undermining SA2, it undoes the progression of Shadow overcoming his crisis through the experiences with his comrades, undermining Heroes, and it ultimately undermines itself by coming to pretty much the exact conclusion Heroes does, That Shadow doesn't need to be tied down by his past, which makes Shadow 05 pretty redundant. In both Heroes and STH 05, Shadow concludes that WHAT he is won't define WHO he can be. But STH 05 treads all over previous installments while itself just being a horribly messy journey to that goal, that it doesn't seem worth it outside of how it ends leading into Shadow's position as a G.U.N. agent in '06. Anyway, I got sidetracked for a bit there. The point is, Shadow in Heroes is awesome.
I think the line metal sonic says just proves that he is Indeed the real shadow, he says "Ultimate life form data has been copied". At least in the context of Heroes this Indeed confirms to the player that he is Indeed the original, he wouldnt have gotten his data if he was just an android, he already has planty of those laying around.
@@erickrafaelfloreslara8501 Uh Sonic himself is technically the ultimate lifeform. Shadow was based off a prophecy of the legendary Super Hedgehog fighting Perfect Chaos. And then all the other shadows are copies of him so they too are kinda ultimate lifeforms, idk it's just a title
42:06 According to some unused lines, Metal Sonic was originally supposed to have copied Espio's invisibility power and would've used it during the final battle. Who knows why it was removed.
Probably because it barely would have changed anything. Chaos control already does effectively nothing except kill you if you are at a too low ringcount already.
Heroes was my first 3D sonic game, so idk if it's how I feel critically or if it's nostalgia, but I had a lot of fond memories of this one and is still one of my favorite Sonic Games, and even made playing SA1 and 2 down the line a tad more interesting, since I had the context of heroes in the future to know where certain plot points were going. Great piece as always dude, really brought me down memory lane with this one.
T E A M D A R K A R E N T F R I E N DS. Yep he’s basically given into the meme culture that’s stepping over what Yuji Naka worked so hard to preserve before leaving Sega permanently. Oh well HEROES FOREVER!
I 100%ed Heroes the other day and watched like 6 reviews in a row to see some youtubers' opinions and I specifically saved this video for last because I had a good feeling it would be the only one putting the game in a positive light (and I was right). I'm still shocked it's hated by so many, but your take on Heroes is the one I relate to the most as a long time Sonic fan. Great vid!
Sonic 3 & knuckles: Arch-nemesis final boss, enemy by morality. Sonic Adventure: Ancient profecy final boss, enemy by destiny. SA2: Doomsday final boss, enemy by survival. Sonic Heroes: Rival final boss, enemy by ego. From this point onwards all villains are a repeat or a mix of those tropes.
So I suppose the villains would be like this: Black Doom: SA1 type Mephiles: Mixture of SA1 and SA2 Dark Gaia: SA1 type Time Eater: SA2 type Infinite: Heroes type
@@darkrai436 I guess Black Doom had knowledge of sonic mythos or they had fated theories of their own, but every action of his is deliberate in a galactic domination plan and it involved the anhilation of the human race, so a bit of everything except for ego. Infinite so far is the only one to be driven mainly by that.
@@darkrai436 What about Erazor Djinn and Merlina then? I suppose Erazor is a mix of SA2 and Heroes, but i struggle to find which archetype Merlina would fit.
@@robmacher3253 I'd say Merlina is a loose 3&K type, as that whole boss fight was based on the morality of wether or not a world should last forever. Though one could argue it's a completely new type: "enemy by fear". The fear being Merlina's fear of death and the literal end of the world.
I gotta say, knowing this was the last game where Ryan Drummond voiced Sonic is a little sad. To this day he's still my favorite Sonic voice. I'm also sad this was the only game with Vector's voice actor. Don't remember his name, but I think he's the perfect voice for Vector (his is the voice I try to replicate in my brain when reading Sonic comics).
"Shadow should've stayed dead in SA2, bringing him back made his death less impactful" True, although I do like a lot of what we've got from Shadow since SA2, not *everything* god no, but I'm honestly glad he's become a mainstay of the series, don't get me wrong I absolutely despise how he's been treated in recent memory, however, I do love Shadow being a series regular regardless. Heck if SA2 was his only appearance, I doubt he'd be one of my favourite Sonic characters, a great one for sure, but his subsequent appearances really cement him as one of my favourites.
Part of me wishes that Heroes Shadow was a perfect replica, not the original. It would have lent the same (or at least a similar amount of) weight to his 'death' in Adventure 2, and would lead to interesting character development further on.
WolforNuva I have a similar wish, that being for Shadow’s arc in Heroes to be his completed arc. I would’ve liked for them to keep the mystery of “Is he the real Shadow or a fake?” alive to this very day and not actually confirm whether he’s real or not, it adds to the sense of mystery that Shadow was all about in SA2, and also because, it ultimately doesn’t matter whether he’s the real Shadow or not, because he’s “Still the ultimate life-form Shadow the Hedgehog”. Regardless, I’m still fine with the confirmation of him being real Shadow, although your idea does seem very interesting.
Well eggman Did say in shadow the hedgehog game the the shadow from that game is the real shadow. One of his robots saved him and he used shadow to make shadow prototypes. Like the one in heroes is not the real one but just a robot
On one hand I agree, but on the other the idea of him dying and not getting a chance to heal from his trauma and make new connections makes me sad. I do wish he was handled better yeah and maybe him being dead would keep him from being flanderized like we've seen, but I like his friendship with team dark and I feel like they should've had him and Amy become friends and have her show him how cool living on earth is. Shadow fulfilling his purpose to protect earth and then dying was cool, but having him live and enjoy life in Maria's stead is neat too! Now if they just handled it better.
This was also the last game where they used Rouge's original concept, having a younger and more active sounding voice actor, keeping her eyes open more widely, she gave off the feeling of someone maybe 19, but in every game featuring her after this, they replaced her with a more mature sounding voice and her eyes are almost always half closed, changing the young, spry personality to a more mature one. I could definitely see it being her personality if more years had gone by, but considering how nobody else has such drastic changes in personality, it really stands out.
Dang, I really liked Sonic Heroes but never thought I'd watch a 50 minute video about it. That was so well done! Thank you for the nostalgia and the amazing in-depth analysis of this game from my childhood!
You know. There's a reason why I love this game and Super Mario Shunshine so much. They are divisive in a good way. Some people might love them while other can hate them but it's always understandable the reason why. And I like when a game can create a sane discussion this way.
Well, the thing about heroes is that it’s the last game of the optimistic era. And Yuji Naka and Lizuka starved to make this game even though the Higher ups at Sega Japan and USA didn’t care at all about anything other than getting this game out on EVERY CONSOLE. WE MISS YOU YUJI NAKA!😭
I used to think this game sucks. That's because I took a lot of game overs at the casino stages and never made progress. But there is a lot of videos from reviewers that I respect about this game. I think I'll give it a second (or a third) chance.
@@mamacofeliz6025 the casino stage was the deal breaker for me too, not to mention the fact that you essentially play the game 4 times to get the final ending
Sonic Heroes was my first sonic game and my introduction to the Sonic franchise. 17-18 years later it's still memorable. Thank you for giving this game the analysis and recognition it deserves!
I love everything about Sonic Heroes. The gameplay and soundtrack were amazing. I definitely loved the level up mechanics and team supers. Sega needs to make a sequel ASAP.
The idea of a Metal Sonic that was afraid and felt inferior being expanded on feels like a missed opportunity. Combine that with the Shadow android shtick, Omega's whole existence... It sucks to think of an Adventure 3 centering on robot contemplation not ever happening :(
I never have an opportunity to bring this up, but you never see the Metal Sonic from Heroes again. Omega picks him up, he and Shadow share a look, and then the game's over. We'll probably never know. Also, the first attempt at SA3 was Sonic '06. The lastest one has been Sonic Forces. Frankly, at this point, I don't trust Sega/Sonic Team to make SA3 properly, and I don't really want it anymore.
@@ShadowyKatz You're right. I'm actually surprised he isn't even a possible ally in Shadow. That would have been such a cool team up... I'm sure what really happened was Eggman scrapped his current AI in favor of a more primitive one or something.
I love this game to bits for all the reasons you've listed. That and it certainly has one of the best stories in the series. Metal Sonic is a major highlight and seperates him from other Sonic robots. Silver Sonic wasn't even sentient and Mecha Sonic was one who's perfectly content with going beyond what his creator wanted and even backstabbing his partner in crime just to try and kill Knuckles. Metal Sonic is the only robot out of the character copies that is legitimately depressing. All he wants is to be Sonic. He doesn't want to rule or destroy everything; he just wants to be Sonic so desperately. His sanity has been utterly destroyed and, if Mania Adventures is anything to go by, he flat out has depression. He even still has the flower Amy gave him as it's the only act of kindness that he's been given. Even in the IDW comics he tries to GET HIMSELF INFECTED just to be like Sonic and seemed to actually enjoy having people cheer for him (alongside Sonic and Silver) after Zavok is defeated and the Metal Virus is eliminated. He's one of my favourite characters for these reasons. Maybe we can all see ourselves somewhat in Metal Sonic. I certainly can, so desperately wanting to be a female despite being born the exact opposite. I truly love the precious Robo Boi Oh yeah, good review. Guess I got off topic again X(
At least he still has the stardust speedway track to jam with while he tries to get better BUT THEN IN FORCES HE IS REPLACED BY A PHANTOM RUBY COPY WITH NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE OR POWER EVEN CLOSE TO THE REAL ONE
@@mr.fox8011 i think monkey island had a lite difficulty setting that specifically said "for beginners and magazine reviewers". honestly not sure if it was a jab or they thought it would help
Metal Overlord goes down in in my mind as the most dangerous enemy sonic has ever fought for the simple reason that... He was so durable even super sonic couldn't scratch him... it took a combined attack from 3 super beings to even damage him and it was basically a decent dent rather than a crippling attack. It really goes to show that he only seen sonic as his enemy though as while he would have easily defeated sonic this time around had he been alone... fact is sonic has friends which is probably the biggest piece metal sonic is missing. (how appropriate for the friendship game)
YES, i love sonic heroes! For the gameplay, not so much for how it damaged the lore and characters. Shadow wasnt supposed to die forever btw Maekawa simply intended to bring him back in another big game, not as a sidestory to a lighthearted simple game. That said they also gave Amy leadership role, Team Dark is perfect, Knuckles has great dynamic with Sonic, Team Chaotix are my all time favorites, so i'll take the Shadow stuff i guess
It’s fascinating to see your perspective after watching someone like the Geek Critique. Two completely different perspectives on the game, and it proves that you should try something yourself to form your own opinions.
I think this has been the best review of Heroes I've seen so far that lets me look at the game's non-gameplay content in a bit more of a positive light. But I still can't get over the fact that this game bit off way more than it was willing to chew, and as a result, it really feels like a lot of the characters are treated like cardboard cutouts and are either flanderized or cut off from their prior development. A real let down coming off of SA1 and 2's efforts to develop the characters and world.
i personally disagree about the characters being flanderized,everyone in this game fell like it should(for me at least )like sonic is just being more cocky than sa1 and sa2 because he is with knuckles and tails the whole time,and yeah i love that game,but man,does it lack polish.
At 45:27-45:38 this reminds me of a quote from the Incredibles movie “And when everyone super, no one will be”. I agree with what you said, if the whole world was robotized he would technically be Sonic
Sonic heroes is the sonic game that needs to be remade. This game has so much potential and it's a shame that it was rushed and not polished. I feel that it has the best version of shadow we've ever seen and really does team dark in particular justice. It's not sonic anymore it's sonic, tails, and knuckles. The game feels like the original sonic trilogy pulled into 3d and is basically the adventures 3 we never noticed! Sonic battle did a good job with shadow as a character but heroes did it even better. We probably will never find out if this shadow is a clone, robot, or the original but shadow doesn't care. He will stop eggman no matter what because he is shadow real or fake. Reminds me of zeroes character arc from Mega man zero 3.
You read my mind dude. I always thought that that's what they should've done with Shads character, keep it ambiguous if he's real or not and mirror Zero in MMZ3
Exactly. This is the one sonic game that would require the least amount of fixes imo. No ice physics, make it so you can unlock last story with one team, (or spread out the emeralds across the teams) and it could be fantastic.
Sonic Heroes is the game that made me love Metal Sonic so much. I was younger and more a fan of Cream but after seeing Metal...Feels like I grew up. The combat was one I sometimes had to ask dad to play for me because it got a bit too buggy at times, and the Soundtrack was kinda hit or miss. But it still proves to be a great game in my eyes.
Shadow the Hedgehog on the gamecube was great, good controls most of the time, great music and atmosphere, a darker and more intense storyline (especially if you go through The Ark, Air Fleet, and Gun Fortress), and the use of guns and explosives was just plain fun without being gory or overly violent, and the story could be genuinely moving.
Shadow wasn't even a bad game. In fact, Shadow should have been a fucking catastrophe of a game, but it actually ended up pretty decent and has the best controls out of any Adventure era game. It's a good game birthed from possibly the shittiest idea somebody could come up with. This is a game about a cartoony hedgehog choosing whether to go down the path of good or evil, which one path involves killing the fucking president of the USA, and the other involving committing genocide on an entire race of aliens of which he is actually a part of. All while he swears, drives around realistic vehicles, and uses actual firearms. And he's a three foot tall hedgehog with a fucking mickey mouse nose and a little tail. This game should have been a dumpster fire but it was actually playable and even decent. It's basically the DMC2 or DmC of the Sonic franchise.
@@broom2839 I still don't see how any of that meant that it should have been a bad game, I don't even mind the fact that Shadow swore or used guns, it was definitely very different from anything before or since but I can't help but love it for that fact. To be completely honest I love Shadow the Hedgehog more than game such as Sonic colors in almost every way, better controls and gameplay, a far better story, it is just far more fun to play and I have a really, really hard time saying that a game that is less fun than another is better.
Bro, I need a remastered version of this game. I played it so much as a kid and I haved played it a fair amount of time as an adult too, despite it's flaws I agree with you, it brings the good of classic design and applies it to modern sonic. Gotta love it!
Exactly what I'm saying. This game definitely needs an update 1. Tighten up the control's 2.Polish up the mechanics in some era ( The pinball sections in Casnio Park and Bingo Highway for example) 3. Have the true final boss be access after only beating Team Sonic's back story. Just like in the classic games where you only had to play Sonic and not all characters to access the final boss
@Ezra Nobleheart I'm half joking, sorta, kinda, maybe. To best put it, I am reminded of a joke an old cartoon once did which can have a rather profound way to look at stuff. The main cast of a show in question decided to take part in a film festival. However, they thought they ended up making horrendous. At the end of the festival, they found out they won, but not for the category they intended to be. So a little thought for yourself, in what metric can Sonic heroes be the better game. Could it be a better Sonic game, a better game in this gameplay formula, a better transition to the modern age from the classic era, or perhaps in another way. It's really a matter of how you look at it and taste. There really is no wrong answer much like any work of art.
Personally, Ultimate Metal Sonic is my favorite final boss in any game. It's absolutely one of the best moments in any sonic game. I've played through games such as Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy 7, Sonic Adventure 2, Megaman X4, and even Zero 3, and yet this is my favorite for definate.
10:08 - 10:12 Thank you I noticed that the Egg Emperor is like Seth from Street Fighter IV. All characters have an identical boss battle at the end and they interact with each other afterwards.
"What goes up must come down. Yet my feet don't touch the ground. See the world spinning upside down, A mighty crash without a sound! I can feel your every rage, Step aside I'll turn the page. Breaking through your crazy maze. Like a laser beam, my eye's on you!Watch me rule the night away. Watch me save the day. Feel my storm it's gettin' close. Heading your way! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Find you, confine you, defying your reign! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Setting the stage for a heroes parade!I won't even hesitate. A second left to alter fate. I tried to strike, but a bit too late. I got you hooked by my own bait!Watch me rule the night away. Watch me save the day. Feel my storm it's gettin' close,Heading your way! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Find you, confine you, defying your reign! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Setting the stage for a heroes parade!You can bet there ain't no doubt, As the words spill from the mouth... Of a hero... I can chase another day. Fight you all the way, Like a hero... And together we stand strong no matter how, No one can bring us down!HEEEEEYYYYY!! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Find you, confine you, defying your reign! Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes! Setting the stage for a heroes parade!Sonic...Heroes!Heroes!Heroes!Sonic...Heroes!Heroes!Heroes! Give us a reason and we're on our waaaaaay!!!"
I feel like Sonic Team won't make use of them, meaning they'll be relegated to Mania Team's Classic Style games. So we won't see them in 3D, but they'll be some of the only side characters in the Classic Style Series.
I remember spending hours playing this game on my aunt's GameCube as a kid and loved every bit of it. Even though I almost always got E rank on all of the stages, It was still a fun game. Watching this brought back so much nostalgia and I'm glad to see someone giving an actual review rather than just calling it "bad." Thanks for this man!
Side characters in Sonic today completely aren't even characters anymore, even Tails. This is why we NEED Sonic Heroes 2. In the first game, each team had each members' personalities laid out and how they interacted with others. Doing a Sonic Heroes sequel can do the characters justice, and even bring in some new ones. I (and a lot of other people) would really like to see how a team with Silver and Blaze would operate. It all really depends on who they'll choose for the third member. Maybe Sega can pull an Omega and make a new character specifically for them to have a complete team. Also they could easily bring Team Babylon back for the ride, and even a team with Mighty and Ray since they're starting to get remembered again.
@@FabioAugustoSonic Sonic Forces literally could've been the Infinity War of the Sonic games if Sega realized that not all of their fans are 6 years old.
To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence. While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan. While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman. Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy while her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss. On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
This was actually one of the first games I’ve ever played and the very first Sonic game I played. I may be biased towards it but I absolutely loved the game and still do to this day. I lost this disk so many times throughout the last 13 years, but I always get it again (and it happened a lot. Seriously, I basically purchased this game 6 times, once for the GameCube to play on the Wii). I still have to complete it for the last story (those darn Chaos Emeralds), but I still love it for all the things I’ve already played. I feel this game needs either a remake, a sequel or at least a new game that uses this gameplay style, because I haven’t seen a game like Sonic Heroes since and the gameplay has potential if developed further. Also, the environments and music is just astounding.
I enjoy heroes, but you can tell in the back half one level designer was designing the levels under severe time crunch. They're not bad but the quality drop is noticable
Great review, J! Sonic Heroes was a big part of my childhood and i love it! But one thing that you didn't mention in this video is that the Team Blast, the special move, has an extra effect besides blowing up most enemies on screen based on witch team you're playing. -Team Sonic's paralyzes the enemies it can't kill -Team Shadow's stops time (and the timer) because of Shadow's Chaos Control -Team Rose gives you either lives or levels per enemy killed, i don't really remember right now -Team Chaotix gives you rings based on how many enemies are on sceen, keeping up with their "money loving" motif. The only thing i really didnt like about heroes were the special stages, they were really annoying to finish, but other than that i love it. Keep up the good work!
I personally like the enemy rush boss battles at the end of zones 3 and 6, because I just love pulverizing everybody, especially after we level up. It's also a guaranteed way to build up team blasts over and over again. I found it to be hugely satisfying.
I love how this Game works. Was my first 3D Sonic to play and I just play the demo like 33 times and when I found the complete version I just can't believe how amazing this game is
My first sonic game alongside sadx, I have so much nostalgia and i will defend this game till the day i die. I played it on pc and yes with the keyboard.
This was my intro game to Sonic. I love Heroes and still do, getting a lot from the lore and stages on repeat runs. I was surprised to eventually find some pretty mixed reviews, but I do understand where the game has its share of stumbles. As a whole I will always tell you all that it shines.
This was the first sonic game I played. You can imagine how disappointed I was when I found out that most sonic games didn’t have that same 3D aspect to it.
@@evanhdez I wasn't expecting them to because I knew who Mario was beforehand. But I did like Sonic's other games on the Gamecube and even some from the Wii era.
Sonic Heroes is a truly great game, one of the best in the series and yet another almost perfect take on 3D Sonic, obviously building off of the Adventure framework but diverging from it in quite a few ways. It was also the first Sonic game I've ever played, the PS2 version in particular. Always loved it, but I think I enjoy the game more now than I ever did before, especially now that I can play the other versions and can more easily deal with the challenges. As with the Adventure games there's a great sense of rhythm and rather high skill ceiling to the game and it's super fun to blast through stages and optimise your movement and score. The addition of combat is also seamlessly integrated into that experience and never really takes away from the flow, but I can understand that some might not be too keen on it anyway. Still, I would say it's the best combat the series has ever had. The level design is great, and the various paths you can take in some of them are cool as well. I honestly don't find a single stage in the game boring or otherwise lacklustre. They're vibrant and beautifully designed (as is everything in the game really) and the music is also fantastic. Naturally with Sonic games it's hard to choose a favourite soundtrack, but Heroes might be it for me. The story meanwhile takes a backseat, which I'm fine with. I don't play Sonic for the story in particular, but there's definitely a lot of value in having a story that is as strangely interesting, dark and deep as it was in Adventure 1 and 2. I would absolutely love more of that, because it's just kind of surreal and interesting and Sonic can make that stuff work in a way that other platformers could never do it. But I understand that not every Sonic game can be like that and that Heroes is meant to be a break from all the darkness of the previous games and harken back to the arcadey Mega Drive games. The writing is cheesy and the character interactions are fun, it's all still very enjoyable and it's OK that the overall vibe is lighter. Certainly the game isn't perfect. The controls can be kind of slippery, though they can be adjusted to. There are glitches and occasions where you might fall off or through platforms, objects, etc. But I think people are way too harsh on Sonic games for that stuff. With few exceptions, these games don't have glitches that are ever very egregious, and considering the length of the average Sonic stage, I just don't see a reason to hold this stuff against Sonic games, while other games get away with it. I think the only real problem the game suffers from is the fact that to complete it you have to play it with all four teams. The entire point of games like Sonic of course is to replay them, gradually become better at them to get better scores and ranks, etc. But since the teams in Heroes actually represent the game's various difficulty levels that means you essentially have to play the game on easy, normal and hard and then a special mission mode, plus the challenges. For me, that means I get to play the fun Team Dark and Chaotix stages and then I either drop the game or play through the easier and boring versions of the same stages with the other teams. That's just a crazy thing to ask the player to do.
I'm learning so much from this series. Team darks chemistry is soo good and as a kid playing this right after adventure 2 it had me wondering if this was OUR shadow
I used to play this on my grandparents old Windows XP Home PC and it has so many fond memories in my mind, The themes of Team Sonic and Team Dark still stay in my mind around 12-13 years later from when I played it and the Main theme is just so memorable. As a young Sonic fan,alongside Unleashed, Heroes is up their with one of my favourite sonic games released.
(Late comment is late) To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence. While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan. While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman. Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy whlie her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss. On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
Played it for the first time last night. It feels so good to play, it's so easy to pick up and learn, one of the most responsive Sonic games I've ever played.
On the topic of Knuckles’s Chaotix not being canon, I don’t see how it couldn’t be slid into the canon. Mighty not being there really isn’t an issue for me since just cause he’s not there doesn’t mean he wasn’t a part of the team before. Same deal with Tails in Sonic CD or Sonic 4, just cause he isn’t there doesn’t really mean anything, Sonic just didn’t bring him along. And as for Charmy not knowing who Eggman was, Eggy was called Robotnik up until SA2 where he completely took on the Eggman name. And much of what Iizuka says when it comes to lore I don’t take too seriously anyway, but that’s just personal preference.
Mighty was actually never part of the team. He was just a peaceloving dude roaming the world and then saw stuff going down and decided to help out(Similar to how sonic wanted to just look at little planet and CD was just accidental instead of sonic knowing something happened and coming because of that). If mighty is part of team chaotix because he is in the game, then knuckles is too.
I loved this game as a kid, even though I never got very far, but playing it again as an adult, the nostalgia goggles don't work too well. I'm having a lot of issues with the slippery controls, the emphasis on combat, unresponsive rail switching, not being able to switch characters in midair and repetitive voice lines.
The ending with shadow at the end in front of the Earth just really hit me, I'm just now watching this fantastic review on this game. Very in depth. Love it keep it up.
Team Chaotix was always my favorite campaign to play. It requires careful exploration of the level and a watchful eye, which admittedly isn't why a lot of people play Sonic games though.
You put to words what I could not for this game. Thank you so much for making these videos and giving love to the Sonic franchise. You rock, man! Instant subscription! :D
Agreed. I didn't really believe Shadow died when I played the game. The joy Sonic games and the Sonic franchise in general brought to my childhood in times of sorrow and depression really mean a lot to me and the Sonic series still gives me nostalgia to this day.
I never thought they planing to bring back Gamma Gamma is dead. And shadow is the Ultimate life form I don’t think he can be kill off easy of surviving earth atmosphere If it did why call he self ultimate life form
@@bryanc7094 I didn't mean it like that, I just find two completely different opinions interesting. The Geek Critique is a great reviewer and I agree with most of his opinions on Sonic Games, he's not at all a sellout
Mcu Fanboy2008 yeah, I responded a bit irrationally there. But i remember the era when everyone loved adventure and heroes and were actually looking forward to another 3D sonic game. It’s understandable why that’s just not possible anymore though since 06 completely killed this formulas good properties in the mind of normies and Sonic fans alike
@@bryanc7094 I have to admit, I'm really excited for the next 3D/2D Sonic game I feel that Sega knows exactly what the fans want after the overwhelmingly positive reception of Sonic Mania Maybe Sonic fans can look foward to the future of the franchise optimistically
@@totoro5874 I'm cautiously optimistic. SEGA is known for listening to the fans a bit too much. Every fan wants something different, so I can't say that I'm absolutley pumped about the next Sonic game. Who knows what it'll be like?
Thank you! Someone that actually understands the proper way to use an apostrophe with names ending in S (and asserts its usage). You've earned a Subscriber for that alone (also for the video, but I'll be damned if I don't respect good grammatical knowledge)
heroes level design and gameplay was just so fun, i wish the teams stories had the level orders switched around and mabye 1 or 2 exclusive ones per team and slippy controls but apart from that the game slaps
@@Nov-5062 Well, maybe people could of filled Shadow in a little more considering he just deicides to attack Sonic and then ponders over why he was like him. Stuff like that
I just turned 13 when this game came out. And for my birthday that morning I woke up with my dad at 430 in the morning. Was gifted this game (the one I asked for) and he went to work. I played this game until the bus was outside honking at my house. So many good memories. Such a great game for the time.
It's implied that Team Chaotix' missions were an effort to stymie Neo Metal Sonic's plans. Neo Metal Sonic was presumably capturing Chao in order to obtain Chaos' data, destroying all the robots in Grand Metropolis/capsules in Bullet Station would deplete Neo Metal's robot army, etc. Pretty sure Seaside Hill is the only mission that's supposed to be a test.
Yeah, that makes sense. Though, the missions on Bingo Highway and Mystic Mansion are still confusing on how that helps to stop Metal.
@@sonicthefox2478 In Bingo Highway, they needed the chips to enter Eggman's secret hideout. In Mystic Mansion, they needed the blow out the red torches to escape.
That's clever
but wasn't the ome who gave them the mission was Eggman after Neo Metal locked him in a room? I mean why would Eggman help him?
@@Nov-5062 You misunderstood. "stymie" means to hinder.
_“Let’s blast through with Sonic speed!”_
_“Okay!”_
_“Alright!”_
the nostalgia: 🧍♂️🚚💨
@@guidemissile1494fr fr. 😂😂😂
_”Let’s blast through with Sonic Speed!”_
_”Okay!”_
_”Alri-“_
Shit
Rock
Yeah!
"I'm counting on you guys! "
"Hmph"
"Affirmative"
So refreshing seeing Sonic Heroes' being given the analysis of the characters and story that it deserves rather than just being classified as a return to form simple genesis story that's hokey.
I mean, it technically is a simpler story akin to the Genesis Era stories, and that's why I hold Heroes as the gold standard for light-hearted Sonic stories.
I didn't really enjoy Sonic Heroes
@@jlev1028 Eh, even then, it's not quite as complex.
@Casswury T_T
But Sonic Heroes is the closest to a genesis game in 3D era. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I'm not talking only about story but also gameplay and stages, and I personally like that.
Nobody
Vector: “Who is this broad”
Best scene of the whole game Lmfaoo
Broad*
@Sonic Devil Shut up, just enjoy the comment.
@@theslomoguy5664 LMAO, I agree bro I for real cant stand people like that my self.
Such a misogynist smh
Damn 109 like yoooo
"It's no use... but why can't I defeat you."
That line always got me. Somehow after putting you through all that, he makes you feel sorry for him
Because they’re Sonic Heroes!! (Whatever that means in context)
@@Jackattack359 It means they the main characters and got plot armor
Do you read the IDW comic? Metal Sonic has such great character in that iteration.
@@BrokamaGay the IDW comics write everyone well. And yes I'm including Shadow
@@donathan2933 Shadow's drop in character in that one infamous issue (I think 19) was due to Sega's interference after all anyway, but the writers sorta put in a fix for it in one of the newer ones
Two more hints that Shadow was the real one: his ability to use Chaos Control, and at the start of Egg Fleet when he reacts to Rouge talking about space.
And if people still don't believe it with all the clues, Eggman straight up confirms it in the final boss battle of Shadow 05.
Yeah gerald based shadow on super sonic from the mural in sonic 3 so he can do chaos control just like sonic, a copy couldn't do that, witch basically confirms it.
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@@undeadbatman9762esd
"Who's this broad?"
Top tier, I wonder if this would fly in a Sonic game these days.
With PC being the norm, doubt it
I dont think it wouldn't be a big deal if it was Incueded in current games
Sonic games dont seem to be part of the PC culture btw. Theres a line by Knuckles in an episode from sonic boom season 2 which makes fun of the extreme feminism that happens these days
@@theqbash The line where he says Amy trying to do something no one else can do is implying she's the exception and not the norm, and thus goes against one of the most basic and fundamental statements of feminism? That's...not making fun of feminism. Also, 'broad' is not an offensive term. *Also* it's 'included'.
@@theqbash What about the movie? Some idiots on twitter specifically tried to stop people from seeing it because it wasn't PC (and those idiots failed badly).
It’s kinda ridiculous how good Team Dark’s “This Machine” song is. Have it downloaded and I’m not even a Sonic fan.
It's crazy how good all of Sonic's soundtracks are.
Yeah, and for the longest time I never listened to more than 10 seconds of it, and I never knew how good it was until a few months ago when I listened to the whole thing, and lowkey starting singing.
Biolizard song ftw
@@snakekeeper2073 Supporting me is the name of the song. I still listen to it every so often.
Its by Crush40 most of the Rock era music like Live and Learn and Sonic Heroes title music just like to mention about the soundtrack itself.
My boy big the cat was actually good and thats refreshing
Hey JBJ remember me?
Yes the music slaps👌
Big the cat is underrated
I loved smashing robots with his bellyflops😂
JetBlack Jay yep, just like big does in this game too
The attempt at "comedy" in Sonic for the past decade has been terrible. Heroes did something pretty well though: Team Chaotix. The rest of the story, everyone else had serious stakes that pertained to the characters while Team Chaotix's story was kind of just a "goof off" type story of in a way. It's funny that they're broke, get treated like literal shit/get blown off for no reason by everyone, and all get annoyed with each other while every other team/character gets along pretty well (even if it had to happen gradually, like Team Dark). That's honestly how I think Modern Sonic games could have a healthy balance of the "light-hearted/goofy" area of Sonic and the serious side of Sonic. Make the Sonic games serious again and just have Team Chaotix be the "goofy" aspect they seem to have been attempting at for the past decade (unsuccessfully).
@Jaden Porr Lmao same. I guess she just decided to be a bitch and take her frustrations out on them because they looked like easy targets 😂
@Jaden Porr Lmao I know that's why I'm saying she probably just looked at them and thought "easy targets" and went in on them 😂
Hell yeah, Team Chaotix are my boys 😎👌💚
To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence.
While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan.
While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman.
Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy whlie her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss.
On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
“Comedy” in Sonic games has just been incredibly cringy dialogue. With the introduction of Roger as Sonic’s VA, they made him into this douchey, non-serious character who just jokes around all the time without ever having anything serious to say.
It was my first sonic game. Filled with nostalgia, lol
This was My First too
mine too but i feel like it was a mistske cause why aren't they making great and better games like this now? it's torture
My first as well
Mine too! And it's perfect!!
this was my first too tbh...
Sure Amy may be the slowest of the Speed Types, but she's actually the strongest despite not sharing the Slidekick with Sonic and Shadow. Her hammer is spammable and while the Homing Attack is better for tearing through badniks, Amy floors any other Speed Type by just spamming her hammer. No seriously, have Sonic and Amy go 1v1 with no teammates and Sonic just gets flattened. She's something like the "Peach" of this game in that she can also extend her jumps by floating for a brief moment.
As a bonus, I find this to be her best portrayal, her voice is the best it's ever been (before she started sounding like Minnie Mouse) and she's an absolute treat to listen to here just as much as everyone who isn't Tails.
Amy, the only character that is all three types.
@@lpfan4491 I never thought of it that way, you're right!
I agree this is peak Amy in both gameplay and character. Her gameplay in heroes was the best she was in 3D. And she's easily the best speed type because of her exclusive abilities and her tornado being a projectile is much better than any other tornado move.
@@Surgemaster2012 Battle-wise, she has all the (Speed Type) boys beat. Her only weakness being she can't Triangle Jump and she's the slowest of the 4. Other than that she's an absolute treat to play and (especially) listen to!
I honestly think Lisa Ortiz as Amy was just as good, But Jennifer Douillard really brings it as Amy in Heroes
Haven't even passed ten seconds and I'm already singing "WHAT COMES UP MUST COME DOWN"
YET MY FEET DON'T TOUCH THE GROUND!
SEE THE WORLD SPINNIN' UPSIDE DOWN
A MIGHTY CRASH WITHOUT A SOUND
I CAN FEEL YOUR EVERY RAGE
STEP ASIDE, I TURN THE PAGE
Sonic Heroes was how I was introduced to the franchise, even if it was through the PlayStation 2 version, but even with the inferior port, I still regard it as my favorite entry in the series.
Same here. Got it on the og xbox was fun as fuck!😄
It does have it’s imperfections but it was definitely one of the last great highlights of a modern era and the three member team concept was amazing.
Honestly, I wish they stuck with the style. It worked, just needed to iron out the controls and add new abilities as the games went on. It would've been more interesting than pressing Square or Y and hold it until you hit the goal ring.
@@sonicthefox2478 I think these games would be amazing if they weren’t rushed
Interesting concept but the game doesn’t play well.
@@Sonic171K It actually does
Sonic has "modern" for 23 years now
Heroes is honestly my favourite appearance of Shadows largely because of how it tackles bringing him back.
So let me elaborate;
After SA2, everyone, both in-universe and the audience, are led to believe he's dead. So when we see Shadow, much like Rouge, we're unsure of whether to believe if he's the real deal or not. And this forms the basis of his arc. Shadow doesn't know who he is and is confounded by Rouge supposedly recognizing him and herself being confused as to how he's even alive.
This kick-starts his existential crisis about his identity. His whole journey is him obsessing over whether he's the original or something else, a concern which only becomes amplified after the team finds a base filled with Shadow android clones.
But Shadow gradually starts to lose interest in this goal. He starts having fun, genuinely connecting with Rouge, a jewel thief who's gone out of her way to put her own interests aside to help Shadow, and Omega, a robot specifically designed to kill Shadow who is now his ally.
Through these two Shadow comes to the conclusion, as he announces at the start of Egg Fleet, that whether he is or isn't the original doesn't matter to him, regardless of whether he's the original or a recreation, he's still himself, and knowing the answer to that question isn't going to change that. Just like Rouge and Omega defy their roles and are truly unique individuals, Shadow grows to adopt a similar set of values to the original Shadow. he puts his delusions aside and prioritizes stopping the doctor's scheme for the sake of the world and being able to live on within it, not just for himself, but for his new-found friends.
Heroes maintains the ambiguity of whether Shadow is or isn't the original and weaves that into his arc, which keeps SA2's sacrifice intact, while still keeping the character around for narrative and marketing purposes. It's a fantastic execution of bringing a character "back from the dead", which is why it frustrates me that the next game in the series, Shadow's stand-alone title, completely undermines everything Shadow's story in Heroes stands for. It gives definitive answers, undermining SA2, it undoes the progression of Shadow overcoming his crisis through the experiences with his comrades, undermining Heroes, and it ultimately undermines itself by coming to pretty much the exact conclusion Heroes does, That Shadow doesn't need to be tied down by his past, which makes Shadow 05 pretty redundant. In both Heroes and STH 05, Shadow concludes that WHAT he is won't define WHO he can be. But STH 05 treads all over previous installments while itself just being a horribly messy journey to that goal, that it doesn't seem worth it outside of how it ends leading into Shadow's position as a G.U.N. agent in '06.
Anyway, I got sidetracked for a bit there. The point is, Shadow in Heroes is awesome.
I think the line metal sonic says just proves that he is Indeed the real shadow, he says "Ultimate life form data has been copied". At least in the context of Heroes this Indeed confirms to the player that he is Indeed the original, he wouldnt have gotten his data if he was just an android, he already has planty of those laying around.
@@erickrafaelfloreslara8501 Uh Sonic himself is technically the ultimate lifeform. Shadow was based off a prophecy of the legendary Super Hedgehog fighting Perfect Chaos. And then all the other shadows are copies of him so they too are kinda ultimate lifeforms, idk it's just a title
@@erickrafaelfloreslara8501 But Shadow was created, so of course they would already have his DNA.
Yeah... but STH is Shadow's own personal game, so you could argue it presents this story in a more focused manner
yeah, pretty much Heroes Shadow >>>>>>>>>>>> STH 05 Shadow
42:06 According to some unused lines, Metal Sonic was originally supposed to have copied Espio's invisibility power and would've used it during the final battle. Who knows why it was removed.
Probably because it barely would have changed anything. Chaos control already does effectively nothing except kill you if you are at a too low ringcount already.
@@lpfan4491 Or dated technology.
I heard espio's invisibility is quite powerful!
Heroes was my first 3D sonic game, so idk if it's how I feel critically or if it's nostalgia, but I had a lot of fond memories of this one and is still one of my favorite Sonic Games, and even made playing SA1 and 2 down the line a tad more interesting, since I had the context of heroes in the future to know where certain plot points were going. Great piece as always dude, really brought me down memory lane with this one.
“And now that Shadow’s Mission is Done he can just be friends with Rouge and Omega.”
Iizuka: *Laughs in mandates*
Me: *Flips Iizuka off*
Yeah, that hurts.
T E A M D A R K A R E N T F R I E N DS. Yep he’s basically given into the meme culture that’s stepping over what Yuji Naka worked so hard to preserve before leaving Sega permanently. Oh well HEROES FOREVER!
It’s really depressing when you realize that all those jokes about the Sonic cast being flanderized/annoying/useless has actually come true.
McMistle Exactly we used to joke about Tails being annoying (he wasn’t back then), but now it actually happened!!!!
I 100%ed Heroes the other day and watched like 6 reviews in a row to see some youtubers' opinions and I specifically saved this video for last because I had a good feeling it would be the only one putting the game in a positive light (and I was right). I'm still shocked it's hated by so many, but your take on Heroes is the one I relate to the most as a long time Sonic fan. Great vid!
Didn't you watched Retropolis Zone's or Jebtube's Reviews? Both were pretty positive with this game
try "Sonic heroes is a lovable mess"
Sonic 3 & knuckles: Arch-nemesis final boss, enemy by morality.
Sonic Adventure: Ancient profecy final boss, enemy by destiny.
SA2: Doomsday final boss, enemy by survival.
Sonic Heroes: Rival final boss, enemy by ego.
From this point onwards all villains are a repeat or a mix of those tropes.
So I suppose the villains would be like this:
Black Doom: SA1 type
Mephiles: Mixture of SA1 and SA2
Dark Gaia: SA1 type
Time Eater: SA2 type
Infinite: Heroes type
@@darkrai436 I guess Black Doom had knowledge of sonic mythos or they had fated theories of their own, but every action of his is deliberate in a galactic domination plan and it involved the anhilation of the human race, so a bit of everything except for ego. Infinite so far is the only one to be driven mainly by that.
@@darkrai436 What about Erazor Djinn and Merlina then? I suppose Erazor is a mix of SA2 and Heroes, but i struggle to find which archetype Merlina would fit.
@@robmacher3253 I'd say Merlina is a loose 3&K type, as that whole boss fight was based on the morality of wether or not a world should last forever.
Though one could argue it's a completely new type: "enemy by fear". The fear being Merlina's fear of death and the literal end of the world.
Literally Sonic Colors: shows up again in Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces.
I gotta say, knowing this was the last game where Ryan Drummond voiced Sonic is a little sad. To this day he's still my favorite Sonic voice. I'm also sad this was the only game with Vector's voice actor. Don't remember his name, but I think he's the perfect voice for Vector (his is the voice I try to replicate in my brain when reading Sonic comics).
@Alexander Capanov I mean there's sonic and tails r
Vectors was Marc Biagi, he was the best voice for Vector ever. The one in Sonic X is pretty bad.
Find the computer room!
"Shadow should've stayed dead in SA2, bringing him back made his death less impactful"
True, although I do like a lot of what we've got from Shadow since SA2, not *everything* god no, but I'm honestly glad he's become a mainstay of the series, don't get me wrong I absolutely despise how he's been treated in recent memory, however, I do love Shadow being a series regular regardless. Heck if SA2 was his only appearance, I doubt he'd be one of my favourite Sonic characters, a great one for sure, but his subsequent appearances really cement him as one of my favourites.
Part of me wishes that Heroes Shadow was a perfect replica, not the original. It would have lent the same (or at least a similar amount of) weight to his 'death' in Adventure 2, and would lead to interesting character development further on.
WolforNuva
I have a similar wish, that being for Shadow’s arc in Heroes to be his completed arc. I would’ve liked for them to keep the mystery of “Is he the real Shadow or a fake?” alive to this very day and not actually confirm whether he’s real or not, it adds to the sense of mystery that Shadow was all about in SA2, and also because, it ultimately doesn’t matter whether he’s the real Shadow or not, because he’s “Still the ultimate life-form Shadow the Hedgehog”. Regardless, I’m still fine with the confirmation of him being real Shadow, although your idea does seem very interesting.
Well eggman Did say in shadow the hedgehog game the the shadow from that game is the real shadow. One of his robots saved him and he used shadow to make shadow prototypes. Like the one in heroes is not the real one but just a robot
@@Granster10 The shadow from that game IS the one from heroes. He knows rouge and omega before he remembers parts of SA2 towards the end of the game.
On one hand I agree, but on the other the idea of him dying and not getting a chance to heal from his trauma and make new connections makes me sad. I do wish he was handled better yeah and maybe him being dead would keep him from being flanderized like we've seen, but I like his friendship with team dark and I feel like they should've had him and Amy become friends and have her show him how cool living on earth is. Shadow fulfilling his purpose to protect earth and then dying was cool, but having him live and enjoy life in Maria's stead is neat too! Now if they just handled it better.
This was also the last game where they used Rouge's original concept, having a younger and more active sounding voice actor, keeping her eyes open more widely, she gave off the feeling of someone maybe 19, but in every game featuring her after this, they replaced her with a more mature sounding voice and her eyes are almost always half closed, changing the young, spry personality to a more mature one. I could definitely see it being her personality if more years had gone by, but considering how nobody else has such drastic changes in personality, it really stands out.
we got it ladies and gentlemen
the world's first positive Sonic Heroes review on UA-cam
What about the completionist?
Jeb Tube
First? I seen more
I know you are joking, but Jebtube reviewed it really well
I've seen many reviews praising this game tho
Dang, I really liked Sonic Heroes but never thought I'd watch a 50 minute video about it. That was so well done! Thank you for the nostalgia and the amazing in-depth analysis of this game from my childhood!
Your review and The Geek Critique's are the prime example of how age and preference are the deciding factor on what you want in a Sonic game.
Preference sure, but he said in the SA2 video, that he didn't play SA2 as a kid, and was a late play and enjoyed it.
@@zjzr08 i know, thats why I said age, cause I'm sure Josh is in his 30s and J is in his 20s
Honestly, I think the ost is underrated. The stage track are all pretty singable and the vocal tracks are bops
You know.
There's a reason why I love this game and Super Mario Shunshine so much.
They are divisive in a good way. Some people might love them while other can hate them but it's always understandable the reason why.
And I like when a game can create a sane discussion this way.
Well, the thing about heroes is that it’s the last game of the optimistic era. And Yuji Naka and Lizuka starved to make this game even though the Higher ups at Sega Japan and USA didn’t care at all about anything other than getting this game out on EVERY CONSOLE. WE MISS YOU YUJI NAKA!😭
I used to think this game sucks. That's because I took a lot of game overs at the casino stages and never made progress. But there is a lot of videos from reviewers that I respect about this game. I think I'll give it a second (or a third) chance.
@@mamacofeliz6025 the casino stage was the deal breaker for me too, not to mention the fact that you essentially play the game 4 times to get the final ending
So you're a hipster?
@@sdFreerey After all these years I still don't know what that is.
Sonic Heroes was my first sonic game and my introduction to the Sonic franchise. 17-18 years later it's still memorable. Thank you for giving this game the analysis and recognition it deserves!
Despite its flaws Sonic Heroes is still a rocking good time.
EDIT: thanks for the likes yall!
I think it’s a great time even if the controls are inferior to SA1, and SA2
Agreed, I had the Game Cube version of this game since release and still enjoy it to this day! 😄
I love everything about Sonic Heroes. The gameplay and soundtrack were amazing. I definitely loved the level up mechanics and team supers. Sega needs to make a sequel ASAP.
@@Renegade77784 for real imagine a sequel with better controls and hopefully they don't add immature and self aware jokes like the recent Sonic games.
yesss
The idea of a Metal Sonic that was afraid and felt inferior being expanded on feels like a missed opportunity. Combine that with the Shadow android shtick, Omega's whole existence... It sucks to think of an Adventure 3 centering on robot contemplation not ever happening :(
Who knows? What if an SA3 had that plot?
Sa3 was unleashed aka sonic world adventure
@@sealkadoompokemonphd3770 I'll believe a game is SA3 when it's officially called that
I never have an opportunity to bring this up, but you never see the Metal Sonic from Heroes again. Omega picks him up, he and Shadow share a look, and then the game's over. We'll probably never know.
Also, the first attempt at SA3 was Sonic '06. The lastest one has been Sonic Forces. Frankly, at this point, I don't trust Sega/Sonic Team to make SA3 properly, and I don't really want it anymore.
@@ShadowyKatz You're right. I'm actually surprised he isn't even a possible ally in Shadow. That would have been such a cool team up... I'm sure what really happened was Eggman scrapped his current AI in favor of a more primitive one or something.
This is one of my favourite sonic games so I’m glad it’s getting more love
I love this game to bits for all the reasons you've listed. That and it certainly has one of the best stories in the series. Metal Sonic is a major highlight and seperates him from other Sonic robots. Silver Sonic wasn't even sentient and Mecha Sonic was one who's perfectly content with going beyond what his creator wanted and even backstabbing his partner in crime just to try and kill Knuckles. Metal Sonic is the only robot out of the character copies that is legitimately depressing. All he wants is to be Sonic. He doesn't want to rule or destroy everything; he just wants to be Sonic so desperately. His sanity has been utterly destroyed and, if Mania Adventures is anything to go by, he flat out has depression. He even still has the flower Amy gave him as it's the only act of kindness that he's been given. Even in the IDW comics he tries to GET HIMSELF INFECTED just to be like Sonic and seemed to actually enjoy having people cheer for him (alongside Sonic and Silver) after Zavok is defeated and the Metal Virus is eliminated.
He's one of my favourite characters for these reasons. Maybe we can all see ourselves somewhat in Metal Sonic. I certainly can, so desperately wanting to be a female despite being born the exact opposite. I truly love the precious Robo Boi
Oh yeah, good review. Guess I got off topic again X(
At least he still has the stardust speedway track to jam with while he tries to get better BUT THEN IN FORCES HE IS REPLACED BY A PHANTOM RUBY COPY WITH NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE OR POWER EVEN CLOSE TO THE REAL ONE
“They still have sign-posts showing you what characters to use, did they think the kids couldn’t handle it? Maybe it wasn’t the ki-“
XD
@Ness game journalists like ign
@@acegamergoldie1008 They just suck at Sonic games
@@mr.fox8011 i think monkey island had a lite difficulty setting that specifically said "for beginners and magazine reviewers". honestly not sure if it was a jab or they thought it would help
Omega wasn't on guard duty for Shadow's capsule, he was discarded because he wasn't complying with Eggman's orders and fitting his vision.
I mean eggman is your american stereotype and is also bad a manager so omega didn't deserve to be put in the trash like that
Just hear to say Team Chaotix had the best theme and this can't be disputed.
No, no it cannot be disputed
Metal Overlord goes down in in my mind as the most dangerous enemy sonic has ever fought for the simple reason that... He was so durable even super sonic couldn't scratch him... it took a combined attack from 3 super beings to even damage him and it was basically a decent dent rather than a crippling attack. It really goes to show that he only seen sonic as his enemy though as while he would have easily defeated sonic this time around had he been alone... fact is sonic has friends which is probably the biggest piece metal sonic is missing. (how appropriate for the friendship game)
YES, i love sonic heroes! For the gameplay, not so much for how it damaged the lore and characters.
Shadow wasnt supposed to die forever btw Maekawa simply intended to bring him back in another big game, not as a sidestory to a lighthearted simple game.
That said they also gave Amy leadership role, Team Dark is perfect, Knuckles has great dynamic with Sonic, Team Chaotix are my all time favorites, so i'll take the Shadow stuff i guess
at least they respected his personality,i see his actions and think ``yeah thats shadow the hedgehog´´
Interesting, now I wonder what was his original idea with Shadow's reappearance.
How did it damage the lore? It was very respectful towards it and even made Metal Sonic's fading revelancy into a plot point, which is awesome.
It’s fascinating to see your perspective after watching someone like the Geek Critique. Two completely different perspectives on the game, and it proves that you should try something yourself to form your own opinions.
People's opinions hold no value if they haven't experienced whatever they're bashing themselves
I think this has been the best review of Heroes I've seen so far that lets me look at the game's non-gameplay content in a bit more of a positive light. But I still can't get over the fact that this game bit off way more than it was willing to chew, and as a result, it really feels like a lot of the characters are treated like cardboard cutouts and are either flanderized or cut off from their prior development. A real let down coming off of SA1 and 2's efforts to develop the characters and world.
At least it's not Sonic Colors humor
Sonic Colors did the flanderization of the characters the worst. No the entire 2010s did.
Oh hi. Love your sa1 and 2 vids. I rewatch them ALL THE TIME.
@@supersonic8561 Grammar Much?
i personally disagree about the characters being flanderized,everyone in this game fell like it should(for me at least )like sonic is just being more cocky than sa1 and sa2 because he is with knuckles and tails the whole time,and yeah i love that game,but man,does it lack polish.
At 45:27-45:38 this reminds me of a quote from the Incredibles movie “And when everyone super, no one will be”. I agree with what you said, if the whole world was robotized he would technically be Sonic
Sonic heroes is the sonic game that needs to be remade.
This game has so much potential and it's a shame that it was rushed and not polished.
I feel that it has the best version of shadow we've ever seen and really does team dark in particular justice.
It's not sonic anymore it's sonic, tails, and knuckles.
The game feels like the original sonic trilogy pulled into 3d and is basically the adventures 3 we never noticed!
Sonic battle did a good job with shadow as a character but heroes did it even better.
We probably will never find out if this shadow is a clone, robot, or the original but shadow doesn't care.
He will stop eggman no matter what because he is shadow real or fake.
Reminds me of zeroes character arc from Mega man zero 3.
You read my mind dude. I always thought that that's what they should've done with Shads character, keep it ambiguous if he's real or not and mirror Zero in MMZ3
Exactly. This is the one sonic game that would require the least amount of fixes imo. No ice physics, make it so you can unlock last story with one team, (or spread out the emeralds across the teams) and it could be fantastic.
I think they should add it on the Dreamcast mini
There should be a remake trilogy of the SAs and Heroes.
Skyblade 743 yes
Sonic Heroes is the game that made me love Metal Sonic so much. I was younger and more a fan of Cream but after seeing Metal...Feels like I grew up. The combat was one I sometimes had to ask dad to play for me because it got a bit too buggy at times, and the Soundtrack was kinda hit or miss. But it still proves to be a great game in my eyes.
Yeah I don’t get why Sonic heroes was consider to be the start of the dark age, that’s Shadow the Hedgehog. Also I kinda want Sonic Heroes 2
exactly. i don't get it either. The game has flaws but its not horrible
Shadow the Hedgehog on the gamecube was great, good controls most of the time, great music and atmosphere, a darker and more intense storyline (especially if you go through The Ark, Air Fleet, and Gun Fortress), and the use of guns and explosives was just plain fun without being gory or overly violent, and the story could be genuinely moving.
@@williammerkel1410 agreed
Shadow wasn't even a bad game. In fact, Shadow should have been a fucking catastrophe of a game, but it actually ended up pretty decent and has the best controls out of any Adventure era game. It's a good game birthed from possibly the shittiest idea somebody could come up with. This is a game about a cartoony hedgehog choosing whether to go down the path of good or evil, which one path involves killing the fucking president of the USA, and the other involving committing genocide on an entire race of aliens of which he is actually a part of. All while he swears, drives around realistic vehicles, and uses actual firearms. And he's a three foot tall hedgehog with a fucking mickey mouse nose and a little tail. This game should have been a dumpster fire but it was actually playable and even decent. It's basically the DMC2 or DmC of the Sonic franchise.
@@broom2839 I still don't see how any of that meant that it should have been a bad game, I don't even mind the fact that Shadow swore or used guns, it was definitely very different from anything before or since but I can't help but love it for that fact. To be completely honest I love Shadow the Hedgehog more than game such as Sonic colors in almost every way, better controls and gameplay, a far better story, it is just far more fun to play and I have a really, really hard time saying that a game that is less fun than another is better.
I didn't care for the gameplay but that one line "You think you can defeat me just by turning into a giant monster?" was gold & so was the music
Bro, I need a remastered version of this game. I played it so much as a kid and I haved played it a fair amount of time as an adult too, despite it's flaws I agree with you, it brings the good of classic design and applies it to modern sonic. Gotta love it!
Exactly what I'm saying. This game definitely needs an update
1. Tighten up the control's
2.Polish up the mechanics in some era ( The pinball sections in Casnio Park and Bingo Highway for example)
3. Have the true final boss be access after only beating Team Sonic's back story. Just like in the classic games where you only had to play Sonic and not all characters to access the final boss
They hated him, because he told them the truth.
lol. the truth does hurt.
"Even being a better game than SA1 in my opinion"
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
It’s true too
He's not wrong though.
@Ezra Nobleheart I'm half joking, sorta, kinda, maybe.
To best put it, I am reminded of a joke an old cartoon once did which can have a rather profound way to look at stuff. The main cast of a show in question decided to take part in a film festival. However, they thought they ended up making horrendous. At the end of the festival, they found out they won, but not for the category they intended to be.
So a little thought for yourself, in what metric can Sonic heroes be the better game. Could it be a better Sonic game, a better game in this gameplay formula, a better transition to the modern age from the classic era, or perhaps in another way. It's really a matter of how you look at it and taste. There really is no wrong answer much like any work of art.
I'm not gonna lie... he's not wrong
SA2, SH, SA1 are the greatest sonic game ever made. Same with unleashed.
Personally, Ultimate Metal Sonic is my favorite final boss in any game. It's absolutely one of the best moments in any sonic game. I've played through games such as Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy 7, Sonic Adventure 2, Megaman X4, and even Zero 3, and yet this is my favorite for definate.
10:08 - 10:12 Thank you
I noticed that the Egg Emperor is like Seth from Street Fighter IV. All characters have an identical boss battle at the end and they interact with each other afterwards.
Man I love your commentary over all these Sonic games. Thank you
"What goes up must come down.
Yet my feet don't touch the ground.
See the world spinning upside down,
A mighty crash without a sound!
I can feel your every rage,
Step aside I'll turn the page.
Breaking through your crazy maze.
Like a laser beam, my eye's on you!Watch me rule the night away.
Watch me save the day.
Feel my storm it's gettin' close.
Heading your way!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Find you, confine you, defying your reign!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Setting the stage for a heroes parade!I won't even hesitate.
A second left to alter fate.
I tried to strike, but a bit too late.
I got you hooked by my own bait!Watch me rule the night away.
Watch me save the day.
Feel my storm it's gettin' close,Heading your way!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Find you, confine you, defying your reign!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Setting the stage for a heroes parade!You can bet there ain't no doubt,
As the words spill from the mouth...
Of a hero...
I can chase another day.
Fight you all the way,
Like a hero...
And together we stand strong no matter how,
No one can bring us down!HEEEEEYYYYY!!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Find you, confine you, defying your reign!
Sonic Heroes!
Sonic Heroes!
Setting the stage for a heroes parade!Sonic...Heroes!Heroes!Heroes!Sonic...Heroes!Heroes!Heroes!
Give us a reason and we're on our waaaaaay!!!"
"rOlliNg ArOuNd At ThE sPeEd Of SoUnD"
So much nostalgia on that song :)
@@apollojustice5338 Yes, Mr.Justice. These songs are very nostalgic indeed.
It’d be great if Mighty & Ray became regular recurring characters moving forward like team Chaotix did
Yes
I feel like Sonic Team won't make use of them, meaning they'll be relegated to Mania Team's Classic Style games.
So we won't see them in 3D, but they'll be some of the only side characters in the Classic Style Series.
100% completed the game earlier this week, then this shows up in my recommended lol.
I remember spending hours playing this game on my aunt's GameCube as a kid and loved every bit of it. Even though I almost always got E rank on all of the stages, It was still a fun game. Watching this brought back so much nostalgia and I'm glad to see someone giving an actual review rather than just calling it "bad." Thanks for this man!
Sonic Heroes is a flawed, but still fantastic game.
Sonic Battle is criminally underrated. I wish Sega would make a 3D version or a Marvel vs Capcom style game.
SA1 and 2 as well. People say that Sonic has never had a good 3d game, but the truth is they didn't really go off the rails until 06.
@@onometre Eh, SA1 and 2 aren’t really underrated
@@h.e482 maybe 2 isn't but SA1 is pretty heavily hated online
@@onometre Funny how SA1 is always the favored one above the rest
Side characters in Sonic today completely aren't even characters anymore, even Tails. This is why we NEED Sonic Heroes 2. In the first game, each team had each members' personalities laid out and how they interacted with others. Doing a Sonic Heroes sequel can do the characters justice, and even bring in some new ones. I (and a lot of other people) would really like to see how a team with Silver and Blaze would operate. It all really depends on who they'll choose for the third member. Maybe Sega can pull an Omega and make a new character specifically for them to have a complete team. Also they could easily bring Team Babylon back for the ride, and even a team with Mighty and Ray since they're starting to get remembered again.
i think that sonic forces was the game that had no character development, even in sonic unleashed tails and chip are well developed
@@FabioAugustoSonic Sonic Forces literally could've been the Infinity War of the Sonic games if Sega realized that not all of their fans are 6 years old.
To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence.
While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan.
While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman.
Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy while her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss.
On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
I agree with all of you guys completely.
4:33 I always laugh a lot when I select the team Sonic and knuckles alright gets cut
Lol yeah
"Let's blast through with Sonic speed!"
"Ok!"
"Alrig-"
Idk how I wasn't subscribed. Your content helped me thru a lot in my own life. Good job as usual, man.
This was actually one of the first games I’ve ever played and the very first Sonic game I played. I may be biased towards it but I absolutely loved the game and still do to this day. I lost this disk so many times throughout the last 13 years, but I always get it again (and it happened a lot. Seriously, I basically purchased this game 6 times, once for the GameCube to play on the Wii). I still have to complete it for the last story (those darn Chaos Emeralds), but I still love it for all the things I’ve already played.
I feel this game needs either a remake, a sequel or at least a new game that uses this gameplay style, because I haven’t seen a game like Sonic Heroes since and the gameplay has potential if developed further. Also, the environments and music is just astounding.
@GE7 SAME!!
34:15 finally someone talks about the Japanese voice actors even if it’s a tiny mention. The Japanese voices especially Sonic are so great
The last game of the Optimistic Era, Farewell Yuji Naka😭
Don't worry! Naka-sama's fine and works for Square-Enix under studio Balam Company
Well we still have Shadow The Hedgehog and half of 06’s development before he’s gone
@@jlev1028 Unleashed and black knight are good as well. 2010-2019 was the real dark age.
@@Z3RO5286 no, it's some years later, there was sonic generations in 2011
@@leothehuman_9476 Nah, the 2010-2019 was the true dark age.
Super Sonic: "To bad it's all over ... for YOOOOOU!"
Super Saiyan Vegeta: "Sad for YOOOOOU!"
Sonic Heroes is one of my favorites by the way.
that dbz video showed up in related videos because of you lmao
@@likeanuuk6612 XD
I enjoy heroes, but you can tell in the back half one level designer was designing the levels under severe time crunch. They're not bad but the quality drop is noticable
Great review, J! Sonic Heroes was a big part of my childhood and i love it! But one thing that you didn't mention in this video is that the Team Blast, the special move, has an extra effect besides blowing up most enemies on screen based on witch team you're playing.
-Team Sonic's paralyzes the enemies it can't kill
-Team Shadow's stops time (and the timer) because of Shadow's Chaos Control
-Team Rose gives you either lives or levels per enemy killed, i don't really remember right now
-Team Chaotix gives you rings based on how many enemies are on sceen, keeping up with their "money loving" motif.
The only thing i really didnt like about heroes were the special stages, they were really annoying to finish, but other than that i love it. Keep up the good work!
I personally like the enemy rush boss battles at the end of zones 3 and 6, because I just love pulverizing everybody, especially after we level up. It's also a guaranteed way to build up team blasts over and over again. I found it to be hugely satisfying.
I prefer to mow down everyone with omega., what about you?
I love how this Game works. Was my first 3D Sonic to play and I just play the demo like 33 times and when I found the complete version I just can't believe how amazing this game is
“They really thought the kids couldn’t handle this huh” bro 6 year old me got filtered mad hard by hero,dark and chaotix campaigns.
My first sonic game alongside sadx, I have so much nostalgia and i will defend this game till the day i die. I played it on pc and yes with the keyboard.
This was my intro game to Sonic. I love Heroes and still do, getting a lot from the lore and stages on repeat runs.
I was surprised to eventually find some pretty mixed reviews, but I do understand where the game has its share of stumbles.
As a whole I will always tell you all that it shines.
This was the first sonic game I played. You can imagine how disappointed I was when I found out that most sonic games didn’t have that same 3D aspect to it.
@@evanhdez I wasn't expecting them to because I knew who Mario was beforehand. But I did like Sonic's other games on the Gamecube and even some from the Wii era.
I'm gonna say it right now this is one of my favorite Sonic games.
Everytime I see this game all I hear is Tails going “WEEEE” every 5 seconds
This video is so fun, it makes me wanna replay Sonic Heroes again.
Sonic Heroes is a truly great game, one of the best in the series and yet another almost perfect take on 3D Sonic, obviously building off of the Adventure framework but diverging from it in quite a few ways.
It was also the first Sonic game I've ever played, the PS2 version in particular. Always loved it, but I think I enjoy the game more now than I ever did before, especially now that I can play the other versions and can more easily deal with the challenges.
As with the Adventure games there's a great sense of rhythm and rather high skill ceiling to the game and it's super fun to blast through stages and optimise your movement and score. The addition of combat is also seamlessly integrated into that experience and never really takes away from the flow, but I can understand that some might not be too keen on it anyway. Still, I would say it's the best combat the series has ever had. The level design is great, and the various paths you can take in some of them are cool as well. I honestly don't find a single stage in the game boring or otherwise lacklustre. They're vibrant and beautifully designed (as is everything in the game really) and the music is also fantastic. Naturally with Sonic games it's hard to choose a favourite soundtrack, but Heroes might be it for me.
The story meanwhile takes a backseat, which I'm fine with. I don't play Sonic for the story in particular, but there's definitely a lot of value in having a story that is as strangely interesting, dark and deep as it was in Adventure 1 and 2. I would absolutely love more of that, because it's just kind of surreal and interesting and Sonic can make that stuff work in a way that other platformers could never do it. But I understand that not every Sonic game can be like that and that Heroes is meant to be a break from all the darkness of the previous games and harken back to the arcadey Mega Drive games. The writing is cheesy and the character interactions are fun, it's all still very enjoyable and it's OK that the overall vibe is lighter.
Certainly the game isn't perfect. The controls can be kind of slippery, though they can be adjusted to. There are glitches and occasions where you might fall off or through platforms, objects, etc. But I think people are way too harsh on Sonic games for that stuff. With few exceptions, these games don't have glitches that are ever very egregious, and considering the length of the average Sonic stage, I just don't see a reason to hold this stuff against Sonic games, while other games get away with it.
I think the only real problem the game suffers from is the fact that to complete it you have to play it with all four teams. The entire point of games like Sonic of course is to replay them, gradually become better at them to get better scores and ranks, etc. But since the teams in Heroes actually represent the game's various difficulty levels that means you essentially have to play the game on easy, normal and hard and then a special mission mode, plus the challenges. For me, that means I get to play the fun Team Dark and Chaotix stages and then I either drop the game or play through the easier and boring versions of the same stages with the other teams. That's just a crazy thing to ask the player to do.
I'm learning so much from this series. Team darks chemistry is soo good and as a kid playing this right after adventure 2 it had me wondering if this was OUR shadow
I miss the Adventure/Heroes voice cast. Sonic especially sounds like he has attitude.
I used to play this on my grandparents old Windows XP Home PC and it has so many fond memories in my mind, The themes of Team Sonic and Team Dark still stay in my mind around 12-13 years later from when I played it and the Main theme is just so memorable. As a young Sonic fan,alongside Unleashed, Heroes is up their with one of my favourite sonic games released.
No matter how many times I phase through the rails I’ll always love this game.
My biggest issue with this game
I just move the stick and jump to transfer rails and I blast off like Team Rocket and suddenly end up in Station Square.
Been loving these sonic videos and have started to be addicted to it. Lol, great work as always.
(Late comment is late) To me Sonic Heroes is the most important 3D Sonic game, especially given the current situation/era Sonic's been in being among his worst. The reason for this ironically has to do with how important the title is, Sonic HEROES to me this game perfectly encapsulates how important Sonic's friends are and how/why they need to be characters again. This isn't just a journey for Sonic, its a journey for everyone! To me the Heroes in Sonic Heroes represents the entire cast. Its the perfect example of how you incoorperate Sonic's friends and make them all have goals, character and narrative competence.
While Heroes isn't as emphasized on story as SA1 or SA2 it makes up for that by having the best gameplay, models, level design, 3D movement in the entire Dreamcast era. Everyone talks and moves very well, every single character has a goal to achieve. This game has those small details that really stick out. Like each character's opening scenes, team Sonic, Sonic going for a run while Tails/Knuckles just happen to cross paths with him to inform Sonic of an Eggman plan, despite being just an opening scene I love the simplicity of Sonic's free life as he's just shown running, and when Sonic makes a joke, it never comes off as him being unphased by what's happening around him, he just makes jokes in relation to his cocky persona and wants to stop Eggman's plan.
While people might have an issue with this game starting Knuckles ignoring the Master Emerald, in Heroes case I always assumed Tails happened to pick Knuckles up along the way, at the very least its not as egregious as later games would do. Or how about Team Rose, Amy just relaxing wondering where Sonic is, while Cream and Big chill out. You know them being actual characters with their own lives? As a side note I loved the whole team aspect from a characterization point of view because it allowed characters to expand their roles and feel more important, outside of the trio every character has their own side teams and every team felt like actual friends communicating with one another. Unlike later games such as Rivals and especially Free Riders where it feels like everyone hates one another. How could anyone forget Team Dark? Seeing Rouge forming them as a team, to their ending scene and conversation (I still love that scene with Rouge and Omega) . Or seeing Amy motivating her friends to stay strong, spout sassy lines at Eggman.
Just allowing every character to bounce off one another added more to them. Like with Amy whlie her goal his Sonic, allowing her to motivate Cream/Big while also focusing on helping them find their friends added the perfect balance to her character, she was allowed to have interactions with her friends, but she also sees Eggman as a threat such as her sassy remarks every time she encounters him. And in the end, her going after Sonic felt more earned, alongside her waving bye to her friends. On top of that when you play as each team I love how Eggman addresses each of them as an equal threat to his plans. It emphasized this is everyone's Adventure, not just Sonic. Normally Sonic would be just the Hero that has to stop Eggman, and while certain games did this well later game's (specifically 2010's era) emphasized it too much to the point of making everyone but Sonic, Tails and Eggman ineffective spectators or in worst cases non existent cameos or scenery. Everyone has their own goal and part to play, even during the final boss.
On top of that the level design is great. How multiple paths compliment everyone's abilities/main playstyle, the running sections feeling fun while capturing the sense of speed, while not playing so much it feels automated. On top of that its artstyle, use of coloring and level details are really good. This is easily my second favorite Sonic game and most polished game of this era. Sonic can have campy stuff (though I could do without some outdated stuff) or not be a focused on story, as long as it has fun and Sonic Heroes to me is that and its especially important for the characters who all felt like they had a purpose.
Played it for the first time last night. It feels so good to play, it's so easy to pick up and learn, one of the most responsive Sonic games I've ever played.
On the topic of Knuckles’s Chaotix not being canon, I don’t see how it couldn’t be slid into the canon.
Mighty not being there really isn’t an issue for me since just cause he’s not there doesn’t mean he wasn’t a part of the team before. Same deal with Tails in Sonic CD or Sonic 4, just cause he isn’t there doesn’t really mean anything, Sonic just didn’t bring him along.
And as for Charmy not knowing who Eggman was, Eggy was called Robotnik up until SA2 where he completely took on the Eggman name.
And much of what Iizuka says when it comes to lore I don’t take too seriously anyway, but that’s just personal preference.
Sonic CD happens b4 Sonic 2.
Mighty was actually never part of the team. He was just a peaceloving dude roaming the world and then saw stuff going down and decided to help out(Similar to how sonic wanted to just look at little planet and CD was just accidental instead of sonic knowing something happened and coming because of that). If mighty is part of team chaotix because he is in the game, then knuckles is too.
Eggman was called Eggman in both Chaotix and Heroes in Japan so Charmy should know, especially given how Knuckles was there.
Fair enough, what does he say in the Japan one?
Such a banger theme. Every time I hear it I think of gathering with my friends once school ends and the summer days come and enjoy life.
I loved this game as a kid, even though I never got very far, but playing it again as an adult, the nostalgia goggles don't work too well. I'm having a lot of issues with the slippery controls, the emphasis on combat, unresponsive rail switching, not being able to switch characters in midair and repetitive voice lines.
Nobody said it was a perfect game
@@mep6302 Ok and?
The ending with shadow at the end in front of the Earth just really hit me, I'm just now watching this fantastic review on this game. Very in depth. Love it keep it up.
Team Chaotix was always my favorite campaign to play. It requires careful exploration of the level and a watchful eye, which admittedly isn't why a lot of people play Sonic games though.
You put to words what I could not for this game. Thank you so much for making these videos and giving love to the Sonic franchise. You rock, man! Instant subscription! :D
Live & Learn > What I'm Made Of
Both are good, but with Shadow's "death", Live and Learn left a deeper impact to me.
Agreed. I didn't really believe Shadow died when I played the game. The joy Sonic games and the Sonic franchise in general brought to my childhood in times of sorrow and depression really mean a lot to me and the Sonic series still gives me nostalgia to this day.
I never thought they planing to bring back Gamma Gamma is dead. And shadow is the Ultimate life form I don’t think he can be kill off easy of surviving earth atmosphere If it did why call he self ultimate life form
43:25 Also Super Sonic’s Dreamcast model, has it own look to it.
it looked like Heroes model, but more chill.
I love how your the opposite of The Geek Critique
Because he’s actually a fan, not some sellout banking off a franchise living on life support.
@@bryanc7094 I didn't mean it like that, I just find two completely different opinions interesting.
The Geek Critique is a great reviewer and I agree with most of his opinions on Sonic Games, he's not at all a sellout
Mcu Fanboy2008 yeah, I responded a bit irrationally there. But i remember the era when everyone loved adventure and heroes and were actually looking forward to another 3D sonic game. It’s understandable why that’s just not possible anymore though since 06 completely killed this formulas good properties in the mind of normies and Sonic fans alike
@@bryanc7094 I have to admit, I'm really excited for the next 3D/2D Sonic game
I feel that Sega knows exactly what the fans want after the overwhelmingly positive reception of Sonic Mania
Maybe Sonic fans can look foward to the future of the franchise optimistically
@@totoro5874 I'm cautiously optimistic. SEGA is known for listening to the fans a bit too much. Every fan wants something different, so I can't say that I'm absolutley pumped about the next Sonic game. Who knows what it'll be like?
Thank you! Someone that actually understands the proper way to use an apostrophe with names ending in S (and asserts its usage). You've earned a Subscriber for that alone (also for the video, but I'll be damned if I don't respect good grammatical knowledge)
Got this game as a birthday present years ago loved it
"Our next adventure awaits us, so there's no time to waste!"
Shadow: *my* next adventure
Hearing the main menu song after many years almost made me shed a tear.
Sonic Heroes was the first Sonic game I ever played.
I was 5.
This game is why I love Sonic.
heroes level design and gameplay was just so fun, i wish the teams stories had the level orders switched around and mabye 1 or 2 exclusive ones per team and slippy controls but apart from that the game slaps
Shadow dabbing at 21:25 is the absolute best thing about this entire franchise. Change my mind!
Btw great review! 😊
This game had so much potential.
My biggest complaints are the thrown around story, and the awkward acceleration.
Other than that, good game!
What's wrong with the story? except being kinda light-hearted.
@@Nov-5062 Well, maybe people could of filled Shadow in a little more considering he just deicides to attack Sonic and then ponders over why he was like him. Stuff like that
little guy* I feel like that could go for every team interaction, good story overall though
I just turned 13 when this game came out. And for my birthday that morning I woke up with my dad at 430 in the morning. Was gifted this game (the one I asked for) and he went to work.
I played this game until the bus was outside honking at my house. So many good memories. Such a great game for the time.