Silicon Fusion >> News >> Sega announces Sonic Heroes (E3 2003)

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16th May 2003:
Sega announces Sonic Heroes (E3 2003)
Sonic Team are showing off the next instalment of their premier games series at E3, and we've got the first screenshots and details.
Posted by Marc Hull - Xbox,GameCube,PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

After re-releasing both Sonic Adventure and its sequel on the GameCube over the last year, Sonic Team have finally unveiled the next, new instalment in the series after Sonic Adventure 2 (which was originally released back in 2001), and from the looks of things it's taking Sonic in a new direction. While the previous two Adventure games featured several characters, you only ever played as them individually, with the only interaction being in cut-scenes or brief battles. However, in the latest title, Sonic Heroes, you get to play as three characters 'simultaneously', and must use teamwork to overcome many of the obstacles found in each of the levels.

There are four different teams to choose from; the Sonic team, consisting of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, the Rose team, featuring Amy, Cream the Rabbit (from Sonic Advance 2) and Big the Cat (from Sonic Adventure), the Dark team, containing Shadow, Rouge and E-102 Gamma, and finally the Chaotix team with Vector, Charmy and Espio from a lesser known game called Knuckles Chaotix which appeared on the ill-fated 32X console. This brings the total up to 12 characters, which is by far the most to grace a Sonic game yet. To cope with controlling 3 characters at a time, the player can switch between one of three formations, in which one of the three characters is at the front of the formation and is under direct control from the player, while the others are computer-controlled. Each formation has a special ability associated with it, such as the ability to run fast, fly or execute powerful attacks, and it's up to the player to choose the right formation for each situation.

Those who found Sonic's previous two 3D outings a bit linear will be pleased to hear that Sonic Team are trying to introduce multiple routes through each of the levels to bring increased replay-value into the game. This will also be the first Sonic title to appear on all three of the major consoles, Xbox, PS2 and GameCube, opening the series up to a much wider market than ever before. Sega appear to be putting great emphasis on the Sonic franchise, having described their wish to make it match the market of the Pokemon games and recently launched a new TV series in Japan to stir up interest.

We hope to have further details on Sonic Heroes soon, but in the meantime why not check out these early screenshots?

Marc Hull

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Related Games:

Sonic Heroes
for Xbox