How does the Sonic fanbase feel about Sonic Heroes?

[HeroMystic]

One's personal opinion of Heroes really depends on what camp you're in. For me personally who finds the Dreamcast era to be the best for 3D Sonic Games, I initially hated Heroes. Now that I haven't played the game for 7+ years (and don't plan on it anytime soon), I just don't really care for it. While I genuinely like the team mechanic, it gets vastly overshadowed by how grindy the game is, in both sense of the word.

 

Objectively, it's okay. It's not terrible, but nothing about it was particularly amazing either. The true issue with Heroes is how irrelevant it is. It's just kind of... there. And that's perhaps the worst spot to be in as a game.

 

That big of a drop between SA1 and SA2, huh? Whats the deal with people hating that game? I don't understand.

 

Honestly, SA2 is one of those games that was great back when it was first released. It was an ambitious game by Sonic Team that paid off. But it has aged rather poorly as time went on, and the issues that were acceptable back then (such as shoddy camera controls) are glaringly obvious flaws today. Still, I'd play SA2 over Heroes any day of the week.

[T-Min]

It's really hard for me to state my true feelings on the game. On one hand, in terms of design, I think it's pretty mediocre. For every decent level - and, really, it never goes beyond just decent - the next stage is sure to throw some form of ungodly frustration at you. Even the handful of stages that are kind of cool to play feel...underdeveloped. Every great idea there is, every smattering of variety to the level design, even all the ways it uses the team gimmick are buried under such simple, rudimentary execution that they can never truly shine, and it just ends up entertaining at best. The team gimmick does lead to some branching paths, which I will give it credit for, and the idea itself is quite unique, but it never feels like it adds that much. I don't mind "situational" gimmicks, but it's like Heroes doesn't even bother to do anything remotely different with the three formations across fourteen levels. Speed formation sections are always the same silly homing chains and straight line hallways, flying sections are always the same dull, blocky platforming, and power sections are always the same "mash B to win" beat-em-up bits with the same boring, pathetic enemies. Everything else amounts to stage-specific gimmicks that, while occasionally neat, don't change things up enough to feel that...substantial. The boss design is absolutely horrendous almost across the board, the lack of variation between team gameplay is inexcusable, Chaotix leads to some of the worst mission design in the entire series outside of Shadow the Hedgehog and Secret Rings, and the complete lack of polish is very hard to ignore. And the fact that it's somehow considered by the fanbase - or at least here - to be more easily defensible than Sonic Adventure 2 is utterly baffling and insulting to me.

 

And yet...sometimes, I just...kinda feel like playing it.

 

It's weird. For all the complaints I have, there is something inherently attractive about it. I've never cared for the story and characterization - in fact, as far as I'm concerned, this is where the characters completely lost all life and soul and become awful anthropomorphic representations of a single annoying personality trait. And yet, during gameplay, there really is sort of a sense of...well...fun. I can't say much bad about the voice acting in this one (aside from Cream and Tails) - it's the material that blows, but even that has kind of a weird charm for me. Maybe it's just nostalgia. I did love the game once upon a time after all, and it's only in the past few years that I've become a stupid critical butt-butt about it. But even then, like I said, there are some levels that are pretty decent to play, and a lot of really neat setpieces here and there. Outside of the plastic character models, I quite enjoy the visual design, and the soundtrack is pure bliss. So, while I don't believe it's technically good by any means, I can't say I really hate it, even if I've let on like I do in the past (though that was mostly in the spirit of good fun and "tsundere-ism"). It's not an awful game, and maybe for its time, it was even pretty alright, but it just feels so...poorly executed to me now. I can still have a bit of fun with it, though.

[Kiah]

Sonic Heroes...it's a decent game and I know the fanbase have had mixed reactions and mixed reception to it. As for me, Sonic Heroes is definitely not one of my favorite Sonic games, but it isn't like I hate it either. It has both good and bad points, as do all Sonic games.

First I'll mention what I did not like about the game. As interesting as the teamwork concept was, it got tedious and boring real quick beyond Team Sonic. I found most of the voice acting in this game to be not so good. It didn't help considering the characters talked way too much during gameplay. I usually enjoy rewatching the cutscenes in Sonic games, but not this one. The camera system was downright terrible and proved to be a real nuisance at times. I really didn't feel the story and characterization did not stand out to me. I just didn't find Sonic Heroes really fun to play to be honest.

Now what I did like about Sonic Heroes? As repetitive I found the gameplay among the 4 teams, I am glad that Sonic's friends were actually playable. I've said it time and time again that it annoys me to no end to see Sonic's friends reduced to standing around being cheerleaders running their mouths. Their mouths were going non-stop in this game (I also liked the fact that Metal Sonic actually talked), but at least it was happening while they were actually doing something gameplay-wise. They felt like actual characters in the game with their interactions and whatnot. I personally really enjoyed seeing and playing as the Chaotix in this game. I thought the references to other games such as Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2 was a nice addition to the rather excessive dialogue in the game. Another thing that I liked was that it took some time to go through every level, not whizzing past it all in a minute or two like usual. The soundtrack was good too, although not memorable for me like other Sonic soundtracks. The levels were very bright and colorful. Bingo Highway had to be my favorite with all its beautful bright colors as well as the beautiful nighttime city background:




I couldn't decide between which of the images to put up here so I went with both of them. I think this level is absolutely goregous!

Interestingly enough, I wrote more positive things than negative things about Sonic Heroes in this post. Yet, those negative things that I mentioned is enough for me consider this game as one of my least favorite Sonic games, also the negative things caused me go a couple of years since I last played it, and the things I dislike about Sonic Heroes will probably continue to prevent me from playing this game again anytime soon, as I still have no desire to play it again.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Sonikku_Kiah

[Scar]

I think the game is a pile of crap. Yet, I sometimes (very rarely, mind), feel like going back and playing it, because I like the level tropes and the music is pretty nice. Then I get frustrated because its a shitty game.

[Harley Quinn]

I'm neutral about it. It's cute, but a bit bland. Sonic and Chaotix's levels were good, but Rose and Shadow balanced it out with their shittiness.

[StaticMania]

Disregarding the nostalgia, Sonic Heroes is my 3rd favorite Sonic game out of my 5 favorites.  I don't know why I enjoy it, the control is below average and the level design goes from decent to terrible but I would honestly say that I would go in my living room right now and play this game, but I can't so I won't.

 

There's still a lot of fun factor in the game and the bad things about the game really don't bother me as much as they do other people. I like this game and if I could play it, I would make it one of my routine games to play during the day.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Chrononego

[MegasonicZX]

Its probably one of my favorite games to be honest, when I was a kid and my cousin rented the game for us to play, the disc was badly scratched up and the only level playable was the tutorial stage...I played the stage like 20 times for the time that we had it and when I got this game a couple of years later (thanks to my extremely generous aunt) the rest of the game was even better and even now in my old age (18) I still enjoy this about as much as I enjoy unleashed (which is alot) sure it has its problems like the glitchy rail switching and team rose literally having the easiest gameplay ever, not to mention the story being bad (so random) and you basically go through every level 4 times (albeit different routes for each team) the game is still great fun to me and honestly I really wish sega would use this mechanic again cause like others have said it could definitely be improved (and I think I had ideas laying around my room to improve it too) but once again the game is still pretty great on its own and its aged very well in my opinion so I still occasionally play it today (gotta get them A ranks).

[TwoTailedFox]

I think it's ok. The "controlling 3 characters at once" is a great concept, but doesn't work in the game. I don't like having to switch from Sonic, to Tails, to Knuckles, and then back all the time. It got irritating after awhile. However, it's still an interesting concept and may have worked had someone thought through it better.

I didn't like how shiny and plastic-y the models were. Looked really weird and ugly to me. However, I do like the bright colors of the game.

The voice acting is...ehhhh, ok I guess. The only one I couldn't stand was Tails. He sounded whiny and I didn't like it. I understand the actor in SA2 outgrew the role, but they really couldn't find anyone better to play Tails?

I will say it does have a lot of levels to keep you occupied, what with 4 teams and then the final boss. That was pretty good. But, I have never made it through the whole game. Currently stuck on either Rail Canyon or Bullet Station in Team Sonic. Don't remember, it's been awhile since I played it.

On the subject that was mentioned earlier about whether SA2 or Heroes was better, I gotta go with SA2. Heroes is good and all, but I actually really like SA2. I found it to be a much more interesting game, despite its flaws. I have completed SA2 many times, while I can't seem to get through Heroes (whether it's because of terrible controls, not very interesting, or I'm just bad with video games I don't know (probably all 3 ). However, I still can't say I hate Heroes. It's far from my favorite game, but it's really not all that bad.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Agent 82

[Uraraka]

I feel like Sonic Heroes had the last good rendition of Knuckles... and It was fun, especially the 2 player special zone game. I always liked that !

[Zaysho]

Ah, Sonic Heroes... looking back, I think it's a decent title with a lot of potential, but hardly lives up to much of it.

 

I enjoyed it when it first came out because I was simply excited for a new Sonic game after two years or so of ports/collections, and the fact that it took me a while to beat probably made me feel like it was worth it. But going back now, it's a lot more tedious than I remember. Four teams running through the same 14 levels, in the same order... cripes I'm getting tired just thinking about it! At least you only need to collect the Chaos Emeralds once and you can spread that out among all the teams or just collect them in one story if you want--too bad you still have to play the other stories to get the final boss. While I enjoy the level design, these levels run on forever! The worst ones, despite me liking the concept, are probably the casino levels. Great concepts, very fun in a way, but they drag on and it's difficult to actually get off of those darn pinball boards. The haunted house levels are similarly unique and interesting, but suffer from the same issue of going on far longer than should be allowed.

 

Those are really my only complaints with this game 10 years after the fact. The repetition and how long the levels are. The controls are kinda loose/slippery like others have said, but I've never found them to totally ruin my experience. I have been screwed over by them once or twice, but I've never been overly frustrated by them. I actually don't mind that the engine was used and tweaked for Shadow the Hedgehog (a game I genuinely enjoy, though I can just as easily list off its faults in spite of that enjoyment). EDIT: I also hate how underutilized the Flying characters are... so I guess that's three things I don't like.

 

One thing I oddly enjoy is the characters' bantering. Yes, a lot of it is kind of annoying, but I enjoy getting those little hints of interaction and characterization, and in a game with about as much story as Colors or Generations, that's actually quite welcome. Too bad they never seem to shut up though...

Edited October 12, 2013 by Zaysho

[LATER BUDDY]

Honestly, I think with time not only Heroes fluctuates on it's stance with the fans of the series, but any Sonic game really. As long as I've been here I've seen Sonic Adventure 2 go from godtier praise from a majority of fans to it's current stance with most people saying it's utter garbage. Heroes was once blah or irrelevant and now suddenly it's being backed more and more as this overlooked gem in the series. SA1 slips in and out of relevancy, Sonic 2 goes from common fan-favorite to most boring of the original trilogy, Werehog was taboo and on occasion to now seen as "well it's not the worst thing to happen and kinda tolerable,"and series the list just goes on and and on and on.

 

My point is, even with how the Sonic fanbase feels in majority about Heroes right now doesn't really matter if you're looking for an opinion to play it, or just out of sheer curiosity to find a like mind of yours. Simply, like opinions tend to do, it changes with perspective over time. I know I'm kinda being a kill joy but I guess I'm using this topic as an excuse to reflect my feelings for this kinda deal since I've been feeling it for quite some time. I guess after awhile it just gets old, idk.

 

Honestly I think all the games have their faults and their plus sides, and each of them are unique in that kinda deal, and a further look into that, unique for everyone in that regard. I thought the copy-paste characters of Heroes was redundant, the team gimmick making the game very not-sonicy, and the character acting reeeeally bad. Though I thought the tropes were imaginative, music was stellar, and I liked some of the variety of moves characters had at times. I'm sure just about everyone here doesn't agree with me 100%, though maybe 7 years down the line they do, and I don't anymore.

 

So I guess to put my thoughts aside for a second and strictly answer your question, from what I've seen of Heroes talk over the past few months on Sonic Stadium, I would say that more fans are seeing it as an "okay" game, though there's still a fair share that still see it as a horrible mess and a catalyst to the inevitable Shadow and Sonic 06. So take what you will *shrugs*

[Hobgoblin]

It was my first console Sonic game, so I have some fond memories of it.

 

However, looking at it in relation to the other games in the series, I can't help but feel a great deal of irritation towards the game, as it:

 

• reuses the same stages/boss fights four times.
• provides little to no reason for why some things happen. Most of the team fights are just "Whoa, this is a misunderstanding! Oh, well, better fight anyway." or something equally dumb.
• made Sonic wildly OOC compared to his Adventure and Adventure 2 characterization.
• was responsible for the flanderization of Sonic's friends that occurred in several following games.
• has very little in the way of plot until the Last Story... which is just one boss fight with a bunch of cutscenes. The only other plot point is Shadow possibly being an android, which is only dealt with in Shadow the Hedgehog.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

That last bit, combined with the fact that they wanted you to play the game four times through was the straw that breaks the camel's back for me.

My god, how did I not note that in my post?

 

What makes this worse is that there is absolutely little difference between the different teams worth calling unique and varied. Team Dark can simply stop enemies in their tracks with their team blast, but save for a few clutch moments that's pretty pointless after it already clears off every enemy on the screen. Rose has Cheese that tries to function like the gamebreaker it was in the Advance titles, but you have to get rid of your speed and power character to use him, and doing so is paramount to suicide as there are certain enemies that need the other two characters to take out that become more numerous as you progress.

 

Team Chaotix is the only one with a drastic difference with Espio's invisibility allowing him to sneak past enemies, which is pretty useful to bypass certain portions and even get through laser gates until the moment you reach a dead end that requires the flight or power character to bypass.

 

About the only real difference is the number of certain enemies, which makes it more of a frustrating chore than anything enjoyable. Team Dark gets even more of the games strongest enemies, Rose gets the least (making it easier), and Chaotix tends to have a few search missions that become enraging to beat when you go in circles trying to complete them.

 

And this is just hitting the surface.

[Jin.]

I hated the team mechanic. I couldn't do it. I just wanted to play as Sonic or Shadow.

I tried pushing through but I never got to the True End because I was just soooo booooored.

[famicommander]

I liked Heroes. This is how I rank the 3D games:

1. Colors

2. Adventure

3. Adventure 2

4. Generations

5. Heroes

6. Secret Rings

7. Black Knight (underrated as hell)

8. Unleashed (I actually like the non-hubworld version better but neither are bad; Werehog > day stages)

9. Shadow the Hedgehog

10. Sonic '06

 

The only 3D game I consider "bad" is Sonic '06, for obvious reasons. Shadow was pretty mediocre but not as bad as some people say.

 

The important thing about Sonic games from that era is to NEVER play the PS2 version. The PS2 versions of Heroes and Shadow are putrid compared to their Gamecube and Xbox counterparts.

[Drunk Michael Myers]

I thought it was pretty terrible. I have not played it since 2004, but i remember the controlls to be wanky as hell. The voice overs in stages had me going mental sometimes. Stages was boring and the flow was destroyed by the switching between characters. And those robot-carnival bosses was so lame. And you had to play that shit four times to complete it. 

[Burnt Ash]

I generally dislike Sonic Heroes, but I won't deny that playing the first few levels as Team Sonic and Dark were pretty fun. I'd remember going through Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace and thinking "Oh my gosh, this is pretty fun." Then I'd get to a level like Egg Fleet or Final Fortress where I'd love the music surrounding it, but when it came to the gameplay, I'd generally have an attitude of "When on earth will this level end" I think what really killed it for me in the end were the waves upon waves of enemies left and right (especially those giant metal robot helmet-wielding things from the forest levels (?) onward). I probably wouldn't mind if there were tons of enemies but I could use moves like jumping, rolling, and homing attack reliably to kill each enemy. However, when I'm sitting there mashing the A button or pointlessly looking at the Team Blast bar to get past some enemy waves, I just start to get tired of the whole thing. 

Edited October 12, 2013 by Burnt Ghost

[₪►F3lhog◄₪]

While it was a big change compared to the Adventure series (no more Chao, no more different type of gameplay for each character, etc.) I remember enjoying the game. I don't consider it a bad game, just different. What I liked the most to be honest, were the level designs: I loved every stage and every zone, Grand Metropolis and Mystic Mansion being my favorites one.  The soundtrack was pretty decent and the VAs, while some were really annoying (Tails and Charmy comes in mind) I guess they could have been worse. The inclusion of old characters, like the Chaotix or the appeareance of Metal Sonic were pretty interesting, too.

 

What I REALLY hated about the game was the controls: They were kinda messy, especially when you selected the speed character. The bosses could've been better, and the STORY.... >.< probably one of lamest and uninteresting ones in any Sonic game. The dialogues were really corny, too. 

 

I don't hate the game as much as other people do. I found it to be a decent game, but the Adventure series were still better for me. 

Edited October 14, 2013 by ₪►H3llhog◄₪

[Tornado]

You guys are all suck. Sonic Heroes was the last game I had any legitimate fun with until Generations came out.

 

 

 

I once did a graph on my opinion of the Sonic series' stabability and what stuck out to most was this...
 

 
This dates me probably more than I should admit, but I've had this kicking around on my computer since GHZ was one of the major sites of the fandom:
 

 

The "(Rounded)" part still gets me to this day.

 

 

 

Unrelated, but this too:

 

[Nepenthe]

But Tornado, this is actually our commonality with each other as Sonic fans. Everyone is wrong about at least one game in the franchise. Embrace your awful tastes.

[Irish David]

I actually enjoyed Sonic Heroes, I haven't played in a while so my view might change if i picked it up again but it is one of the games i sat and completed with all the extras and getting the A grade in each stage with each team so will always be special to me in that way

[jords]

Sonic heroes lasted when I played it, What was annoying was something Lost world is doing for the 3DS. Beating a bunch of robots to proceed. Final fortress was the worse. especially if the fight is not too fun either. Rail grinding was always frustrating, I always switch to fly mode when switching.

 

 

SA2 is still better

Edited October 14, 2013 by jordine

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

SA2 is better? Maybe by a margin (and SA2 is in my top 5 unlike Heroes).

 

At least in Heroes you can switch back to the character you want mid-level; SA2 will keep you as one character until you beat their level. (which is balanced by SA2 having more variety than Heroes, but even so they're both flawed games)

Edited October 14, 2013 by CreepySpiritSonic

[HeroMystic]

SA2 is better? Maybe by a margin (and SA2 is in my top 5 unlike Heroes).

 

At least in Heroes you can switch back to the character you want mid-level; SA2 will keep you as one character until you beat their level. (which is balanced by SA2 having more variety than Heroes, but even so they're both flawed games)

 

So you like to play as Knuckles for a whole level? 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

So you like to play as Knuckles for a whole level? 

In Heroes or SA2?

 

Because if it's SA2, then yeah I'm okay with it. I'm not one to have too big a problem with radar in the game, despite it only picking one emerald in order.

 

Heroes...well, sorta since he can wipe out enemies faster than the other two teammates.

Edited October 14, 2013 by CreepySpiritSonic