Story: ****1/2

This game has a better story than most games I’ve played. Dr. Eggman (Dr. Robotnick) has released Shadow the Hedgehog from his sleep, and he tells Dr. Eggman to meet him on the space colony, ARK. Shadow steals a Chaos Emerald from a museum, and (Well waddya know?) chaos erupts, Sonic is captured by the military, being mistaken for Shadow. While this is going on, Knuckles the Echidna (Pronunciation: A-Kid-Nuh) and Rouge the (treasure loving) Bat are fighting over the possession of the Master Emerald, which has the power to neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic and his friends have to work together to stop Dr. Eggman’s evil plan to take over the world with a secret weapon powered by the Chaos Emeralds. And the grand thing is, you can pick from which story you want to play, Hero Story, if you want to be Sonic and friends and save the world, and Dark Story if you want to destroy it with Shadow, Rouge, and Eggman. There’s a lot more to the story, but you’ll have to play the game to find out the rest. I would have given this a perfect score, but during the movies that progress the story, sometimes music with lyrics makes it hard for you to hear what the people are saying, or their mouths aren’t moving to the words that they’re supposed to be saying, and sometimes, the sync is all out of whack, like one part, Sonic’s not even done talking when Shadow starts speaking.

Music: ***** Chaos Emerald Award

Probably one of the only games I’ve ever played with music that has lyrics in it… I really enjoyed the music in this game, this game will always be my favorite when it comes to music, it’s that good!

Sound: ***

Good, but not spectacular… except in Multiplayer mode, when Amy Rose keeps going “WAH!” It gets pretty annoying…

Controls: ****

The controls are pretty weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a piece o’ pie!

Sonic/Shadow Controls

A Button: Jump, Homing Attack (In air)

B Button: Somersault, Action

X Button: No use

Y Button: Switch Actions

R Button: Camera will rotate to the right

L Button: Camera will rotate to the left

Control Stick: Walk/Run

C-Stick: No use

Start: Pause/Menu Screen

Tails/Eggman

A Button: Jump

B Button: Fire Vulcan Cannon, Lock-on (Hold A Button), Multiple Homing Missiles (Lock-on first, then let go), Action

X Button: No use

Y Button: Switch Actions

R Button: Camera will rotate to the right

L Button: Camera will rotate to the left

Control Stick: Move

C-Stick: No use

Start: Pause/Menu Screen

Knuckles/Rouge

A Button: Jump, Glide (A Button while in the air)

B Button: Punch (Knuckles), Kick (Rouge), Action

X Button: No use

Y Button: Switch Actions

R Button: Camera will rotate to the right

L Button: Camera will rotate to the left

Control Stick: Walk/Run

C-Stick: No use

Start: Pause/Menu Screen

Game Play: ***** Chaos Emerald Award

Super high speeds, stuff blowing up, treasure hunting, flying around, snow/street boarding, grinding, it’s all good. If you like a lot of action, without blood and vital organs flying around, you’ll want to get this game.

Multiplayer Mode: ****

Pick a Racing Match, and pick from Sonic, Shadow, Metal Sonic, and Amy Rose to race through jungles, cities, pyramids, and space colonies to get to the Goal Ring before your opponent, while barraging him or her with special attacks. Pick a Shooting Game and pick from Tails, Eggman, Chao Walker, and Evil Chao Walker and get ready to control mechanical machines and send missiles and bullets after each other and see who survives. Pick Treasure Hunt Race and pick from Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal (from Sonic Adventure 1), and Chaos Zero (also from Sonic Adventure 1). Try and find the piece of Master Emerald before the other player does. Pick Kart Race (when available) to have a really dumb kart race with either Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Eggman, Rouge, or Knuckles.

Graphics: ****

The graphics are very nicely done in this game… I was surprised at first, the trees actually look like trees.

Replay Ability: ***** Chaos Emerald Award

When completing a level, you get one Sonic Emblem. There are 30 levels. Each level has 5 missions. The first mission of every level is the one you have to do in the story mode. Every time you beat another mission, you get another Emblem. In every mission you complete, you get letter ranks, A being the best, and E being the worst. It’s VERY hard getting A ranks and takes much concentration and time… a bit frustrating at times. There are 180 Emblems in total… you need to get ALL A Ranks for ALL the levels to get all of the Emblems, plus you have to do some other crazy mini-games and stuff. At the moment, I have 89/180 Emblems, and I’ve been playing the game for 70 hours, 22 minutes, 41 seconds… This is a LONG game folks, but, just because it’s long doesn’t mean it’s hard… only just FREAKISHLY BIO-HAZARD hard. You’re gonna want to get all of those Emblems, if you’re really the true gamer you think you are. By getting all of the Emblems… something happens. Do you know remember the first level of the first Sonic game?

Other stuff…

Chao

Wanna know about Chao, aye? Well… Chao are adorable creatures that you take care of as pets. What? Does it sound too weird for you? They're frighteningly addictive, sickingly cute, and REALLY fun to raise. You start off with two Chao Eggs that you find in the Chao Garden. Where is the Chao Garden you say? Well, in each action level, there are blue crates. Open them up and you should find a blue key. If you complete the level, you will be able to go to the Chao Garden. You can give your Chao small animals, and Chaos Drive that you find in Action Stages to help level up your Chao in either Swimming, Running, Flying, and Strength. There’s also Stamina, but that’s increased by giving the Chao tree fruits. How you hatch a Chao Egg will affect how its face will look. Usually, if you throw it against a wall, it will come out with a sad or angry face. If you nuzzle the egg, and hold it, there’s a good chance it will have a cute or happy face. Leaving the egg to hatch by itself is a mystery. The way you treat your Chao will affect how it grows up. If you treat it kindly, and play with it a lot, it will grow up to be a Hero Chao, with a little halo on it’s head, and freaky eyes. If you spoil your Chao rotton, it will become an evil Dark Chao. I personally think Dark Chao look cooler. If you don’t really spoil your Chao rotton or treat it kindly, it will grow up to be a boring neutral Chao… But, the decision is yours. If you think your Chao have what it takes, you can take them to the Chao Stadium to compete in racing and Chao Karate. Really fun, and you can win toys for your Chao. In Chao Races, your Chao will be racing against other Chao, and your Chao will have a Stamina Bar. The Stamina Bar slowly goes down while the Chao is running. To give your Chao a little boost, press A Button, but a tiny portion of its stamina will decrease. Be careful not waste all of the Stamina, because that will cause the Chao to slow down dramatically to a slow walk, making it a good chance it will come in last place. Sometimes Chao trip and land on their faces, so beware. In Chao Karate, your Chao will be doing slow-motion flying kick moves and Jackie Chan stunts! Not. Your Chao are like little children, and don’t know how to really fight. They’ll go up to each other slowly and kick or punch them, reluctantly. If your Chao falls off the stage or starts crying, it loses. A Chao will start crying when its Stamina Bar is decreased to nothingness. Make sure to keep pressing A just in case its mood drops and starts slacking off in the heat of battle. You can take your Chao to school at the Chao Kindergarten, as long as you give it a name at the fortuneteller, and get a check up with the doctor. You can also visit the principal and he will give you many Chao-raising tips. There are also other gardens you can raise your Chao in. To get to the Dark Garden, you must raise a Dark Chao. To get to the Hero Garden, you need to raise a Hero Chao. If you want to buy some of your Chao their favorite fruits, tree seeds, or Chao Eggs, you can go to the Black Market that can be found in the blue locker in the Chao Kindergarten. When your Chao are mature enough, and want to uh, make more eggs, they’ll grow a ring of flowers around them, meaning that it’s mating season. Bring another Adult Chao to it, and let nature to its thing. You can even take your Chao on the go if you have a Game Boy Advance, a copy of Sonic Advance, and the GameCube-Game Boy Advance connecter cable…

Overall: ***** Chaos Emerald Award

This game is a must-have in any gamer’s collection. I liked this game so much, it’s now a part of my collection, along with Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Pikmin.

Conclusion:

Phew, that was a lot… Well, the blue blur made it onto Nintendo, and what a great game indeed. You’ll want to try this one out. It’s a great game, and you’ll love it. I guarantee it. And if you don’t love it, I’ll eat my own goggles!

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