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Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment

Game Review: Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)

With a flawed camera and terrible control, Sonic the Hedgehog shows up DOA on …

I've been playing the original Sonic the Hedgehog through the Virtual Console, and while Nintendo fans may claim that Sonic was a poor Mario rip-off that made up for in speed what it lacked in design, I've always enjoyed the games. Sonic is a great character, and there is something to be said for a platformer that is interested in mind-numbing speed. The addition of roller-coaster-like loops and huge jumps added to the feeling of having your heart in your throat.

Sonic became somewhat hit or miss when it made the move to 3D, although I liked the Sonic Adventure games on the Dreamcast more than many. I missed Sonic the Hedgehog when it came to the 360; I was deterred by the terrible demo. Now it's out for the PS3, so I thought I'd give it a second chance. Have some good level-design, let me speed around each area, and this may be worth some time over my weekend. Right?

 The problem with Sonic the Hedgehog—and this should be taken as a cautionary tale—is that no matter how good your game is, if you mess up one of the core elements the entire experience is spoiled. Sonic the Hedgehog messes up two huge things: the control and the camera. With these two strikes against it, there is very little the game can do to come back and convince me to keep playing. I knew things were going to be bad when in the first few minutes of walking around the hub-level the camera started flying around wildly. What was it trying to show me? The very act of walking across the screen started to make me ill. The camera never gets better. Action levels will be filled with deaths as you get hit by enemies you can't see, or you careen off the side of a cliff just as the camera pans to let you know it's there. 

It doesn't help that the game is hard to control. Sonic moves quickly, we know this, but in this game the controls feel too slippery to be of any use. There are parts of the levels where you have to keep a constant speed as you run over water, and in these areas it's very hard to turn. If you hit an obstacle you lose your momentum, causing you to sink in the water, and then you die. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen into the water—without a splash animation mind you—and the camera watches the spot for a second, as if confused. Then the game takes a life away and you start over. On the chase levels, if you get caught behind an obstacle, Sonic will start to do backflips for a few seconds before dying. The game feels unfinished, and fundamentally flawed. Also: this is the PS3, so why is there slowdown even when nothing interesting is happening on the screen?

Even the cut scenes are creepy. Apparently this is a world filled with regular humans, and no one bats an eye at a talking, super-sonic hedgehog. Seeing Sonic carry the human princess is jarring; he almost looks like a cartoon dropped into the real world. The art style just doesn't work, and I preferred the days when Sonic lived among other talking animals instead of the odd disjointed approach of putting him next to people.

With the fundamentals of the game so badly bungled, there is nothing here worth your time. Stay away.

Verdict: Skip
Price: $60
System: PS3
Developer and Publisher: Sega of America
ESRB Rating: E10
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