Sonic Heroes is a 3D platformer. While the preceding Sonic Adventure games for the Dreamcast featured elements of action-adventure and exploration, Sonic Heroes focuses on linear platforming and action, similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis. The story is also simpler than those of the Sonic Adventure games. In it, series antagonist Doctor Eggman threatens to use a weapon to destroy the world and sends out legions of robots. Four groups of three characters from the franchise's history separately team up to put a stop to Eggman's plans. The player navigates using one of the teams, who serve as the player characters. The teams consist of Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna; Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and E-123 Omega; Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, and Big the Cat; and Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, and Vector the Crocodile, respectively. Each team has its own campaign, called a story. Each also represents a different difficulty. Amy's team, for example, is designed for beginners, while Shadow's is aimed at more experienced players.
The game begins with a tutorial followed by fourteen normal levels and seven boss fights. Gameplay is generally similar in each story: the player must race through levels to advance the story and collect rings for protection and lives. Level themes vary from beaches to casinos. When the player reaches the end of a level, they are graded based on their performance; an "A" rank is highest, while an "E" is lowest. Enemy robots are scattered around levels and must be defeated by jumping on them or other means of attack. The level designs differ slightly between each story. Espio, Charmy, and Vector's levels are distinguished from the other teams' because they are mission-based, requiring players to fulfill a specific objective, like collecting items, to clear a level.
Teams contain three character types: Speed (such as Sonic), Flight (such as Tails), and Power (such as Knuckles), which the player toggles between. Speed characters can perform attacks that allow them to lock onto enemies and objects, dash across lines of rings, and can form whirlwinds to climb up poles. Flight characters can temporarily fly and attack airborne enemies, while Power characters can break through objects and glide on gusts of air. By acquiring certain items or enemies, characters can level up, becoming more efficient when fighting enemies.
By collecting keys hidden within levels and reaching the end of a level without getting hit, players can enter special stages. In special stages, players dash across a tube, collecting spheres containing boost power while avoiding obstacles. There are two types of special stages: Bonus Challenge and Emerald Challenge. Bonus Challenges are optional and award the player with extra lives. Emerald Challenges task the player with catching a Chaos Emerald before it disappears. If players collect all seven Emeralds and clear each story, an additional Last Story is unlocked. The Last Story reveals the plot was orchestrated by Metal Sonic, Eggman's top enforcer and a robotic copy of Sonic, in an effort to destroy his namesake. Outside the main game, players can unlock promotional trailers to view and music to listen to. The game also features a split screen multiplayer mode, in which two to four players can race or battle. Challenges in the multiplayer mode include kart racing and collecting as many rings as possible.
Reception
Reviews for Sonic Heroes were "mixed or average", according to the review aggregator Metacritic. Some reviewers felt the game was better than the previous 3D Sonic games but still below the quality of the 2D games. The PS2 version's reviews were considerably worse than others; reviewers noted clipping, graphic faults, and its lower frame rate.
The aesthetics and sound were generally well-received. IGN lauded detailed, varied, and realistic character models, and wrote that the textures were detailed and crisp. They also praised the realistic shading and lighting effects. Although GameSpot thought the graphics were not much of an improvement from previous games—comparing them to "a glorified Dreamcast game"—they still praised its steady frame rate, art design, and vibrant colors. Eurogamer disliked the shiny models, but was still pleased by the imaginative aesthetics. In regards to the soundtrack, Game Revolution found it upbeat and catchy, offering particular praise for the music of Bingo Highway. Although they called the music laughable and not an improvement from previous games, IGN thought the rest of the sound was high quality, and praised its "perfectly implemented" sound effects running in Dolby Pro Logic II.
Multiple reviewers wrote that the gameplay was very similar to that of the Genesis Sonic games. GameSpot found Sonic Heroes the closest Sonic Team ever got to recreating the classic 2D Sonic gameplay in 3D. They praised the game for stripping away the shooting and hunting elements from the Sonic Adventure games, and called it "a purer, more action-packed Sonic experience" than previous games. IGN considered Sonic Heroes a major improvement from Sonic Adventure, writing "Sonic Heroes does an absolutely sensational job of re-creating the intensely fast and unpredictable looping, corkscrewing stages from the classic games in 3D". 1UP.com and GameSpy agreed that the game was a step in the right direction for the series. Reviewers called the casino level, Bingo Highway, a highlight.
Reviewers were generally divided over the team-based gameplay. GameSpy argued it was well-balanced and thought it greatly increased the replay value. IGN offered similar praise, praising its easy-to-learn, strategic controls. Game Revolution wrote the system added diversity. However, IGN also thought it was not as ambitious as expected and did not change the overall experience. GameSpot agreed the controls were easy, but considered the large number of teams unnecessary: "no one cares about these peripheral characters... People play Sonic games to play as Sonic the Hedgehog". 1UP found the concept was more repetitive than innovative. Eurogamer considered the gameplay original but "boring and obvious" and thought that the controls were clunky and unorthodox. While Eurogamer argued Sonic Heroes was not difficult, Game Revolution described it as hard to a fault, exclaiming they "died all the time."
The game was criticized for not addressing the problems of prior Sonic games. 1UP wrote the problems with the camera and "hit-or-miss lock-on attacks that leave you plunging to your doom" that plagued the Sonic Adventure games were still present in Sonic Heroes and hurt the experience greatly. GameSpot said although the camera worked well most of the time, coordination between camera position and character movement caused problems, such that pushing forward may not move the character in the same direction the camera is facing. They also wrote that the game suffered from problems with the collision detection and noted all the shortcomings were present in the Sonic Adventure games. IGN agreed the camera had not been improved. The voice acting was especially derided; IGN joked players should "turn down the volume during cut-scenes", and GameSpy compared the voice work to the likes of Playskool.
