Gameplay Developer Sonic Team seems to have covered all of the bases so far as Sonic Heroes' presentation is concerned.

View unlockable CG trailers and listen to music in the theatre section.

Battle mode includes two and four-player split-screen action.

Story, Challenge and Tutorial modes included.

Control three characters in-game: switch between them at any point and utilize their unique strengths.

Play as one of four teams including Team Sonic, Team Chaotix, Team Dark and Team Rose 12 combined characters total.

The first wholly original 3D console Sonic the Hedgehog game since Sonic Adventure 2 for Dreamcast.

Yet, some of the same old problems, many of them technical in nature, are back for one more round and these again put a dent in the complete product. Plus, there's an entirely new play dynamic - the ability to switch between three characters in-game - and this adds some degree of strategy to the experience. The game is faster than its Dreamcast ancestors and it's a lot prettier too. The worlds that Sonic zips through are ultra-entertaining, unpredictable thrill rides. Sonic Heroes seems to have gone back to the roots of the franchise in many ways, the most important of which relates to level design. After a too-long hiatus, Sega and Sonic Team are back with an original new installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. Drawbacks included play styles with less emphasis on raw speed and more on exploration clunky, underdeveloped camera systems and in-game bugs and glitches. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 for Dreamcast (both of which were later ported to GameCube) proved to be fast and pretty, but also lacked polish.

But not everybody's been happy with the mascot's transition to 3D.

He blasted through loops and sped through corkscrews on Sega's 16-bit Genesis console and has delighted hordes of fans ever since. Sonic the Hedgehog, like Nintendo's fat, Italian plumber, has been around forever.

Sonic heroes levels