What Made Sonic Heroes So Great

My boy big the cat was actually good and thats refreshing

"It's no use... but why can't I defeat you." That line always got me. Somehow after putting you through all that, he makes you feel sorry for him

“Let’s blast through with Sonic speed!” “Okay!” “Alright!”

Nobody Vector: “Who is this broad” Best scene of the whole game Lmfaoo

So refreshing seeing Sonic Heroes' being given the analysis of the characters and story that it deserves rather than just being classified as a return to form simple genesis story that's hokey.

It's implied that Team Chaotix' missions were an effort to stymie Neo Metal Sonic's plans. Neo Metal Sonic was presumably capturing Chao in order to obtain Chaos' data, destroying all the robots in Grand Metropolis/capsules in Bullet Station would deplete Neo Metal's robot army, etc. Pretty sure Seaside Hill is the only mission that's supposed to be a test.

Two more hints that Shadow was the real one: his ability to use Chaos Control, and at the start of Egg Fleet when he reacts to Rouge talking about space.

It’s kinda ridiculous how good Team Dark’s “This Machine” song is. Have it downloaded and I’m not even a Sonic fan.

"Who's this broad?" Top tier, I wonder if this would fly in a Sonic game these days.

Haven't even passed ten seconds and I'm already singing "WHAT COMES UP MUST COME DOWN"

Sure Amy may be the slowest of the Speed Types, but she's actually the strongest despite not sharing the Slidekick with Sonic and Shadow. Her hammer is spammable and while the Homing Attack is better for tearing through badniks, Amy floors any other Speed Type by just spamming her hammer. No seriously, have Sonic and Amy go 1v1 with no teammates and Sonic just gets flattened. She's something like the "Peach" of this game in that she can also extend her jumps by floating for a brief moment. As a bonus, I find this to be her best portrayal, her voice is the best it's ever been (before she started sounding like Minnie Mouse) and she's an absolute treat to listen to here just as much as everyone who isn't Tails.

The attempt at "comedy" in Sonic for the past decade has been terrible. Heroes did something pretty well though: Team Chaotix. The rest of the story, everyone else had serious stakes that pertained to the characters while Team Chaotix's story was kind of just a "goof off" type story of in a way. It's funny that they're broke, get treated like literal shit/get blown off for no reason by everyone, and all get annoyed with each other while every other team/character gets along pretty well (even if it had to happen gradually, like Team Dark). That's honestly how I think Modern Sonic games could have a healthy balance of the "light-hearted/goofy" area of Sonic and the serious side of Sonic. Make the Sonic games serious again and just have Team Chaotix be the "goofy" aspect they seem to have been attempting at for the past decade (unsuccessfully).

“And now that Shadow’s Mission is Done he can just be friends with Rouge and Omega.” Iizuka: Laughs in mandates

It was my first sonic game. Filled with nostalgia, lol

42:06 According to some unused lines, Metal Sonic was originally supposed to have copied Espio's invisibility power and would've used it during the final battle. Who knows why it was removed.

Heroes is honestly my favourite appearance of Shadows largely because of how it tackles bringing him back. So let me elaborate; After SA2, everyone, both in-universe and the audience, are led to believe he's dead. So when we see Shadow, much like Rouge, we're unsure of whether to believe if he's the real deal or not. And this forms the basis of his arc. Shadow doesn't know who he is and is confounded by Rouge supposedly recognizing him and herself being confused as to how he's even alive. This kick-starts his existential crisis about his identity. His whole journey is him obsessing over whether he's the original or something else, a concern which only becomes amplified after the team finds a base filled with Shadow android clones. But Shadow gradually starts to lose interest in this goal. He starts having fun, genuinely connecting with Rouge, a jewel thief who's gone out of her way to put her own interests aside to help Shadow, and Omega, a robot specifically designed to kill Shadow who is now his ally. Through these two Shadow comes to the conclusion, as he announces at the start of Egg Fleet, that whether he is or isn't the original doesn't matter to him, regardless of whether he's the original or a recreation, he's still himself, and knowing the answer to that question isn't going to change that. Just like Rouge and Omega defy their roles and are truly unique individuals, Shadow grows to adopt a similar set of values to the original Shadow. he puts his delusions aside and prioritizes stopping the doctor's scheme for the sake of the world and being able to live on within it, not just for himself, but for his new-found friends. Heroes maintains the ambiguity of whether Shadow is or isn't the original and weaves that into his arc, which keeps SA2's sacrifice intact, while still keeping the character around for narrative and marketing purposes. It's a fantastic execution of bringing a character "back from the dead", which is why it frustrates me that the next game in the series, Shadow's stand-alone title, completely undermines everything Shadow's story in Heroes stands for. It gives definitive answers, undermining SA2, it undoes the progression of Shadow overcoming his crisis through the experiences with his comrades, undermining Heroes, and it ultimately undermines itself by coming to pretty much the exact conclusion Heroes does, That Shadow doesn't need to be tied down by his past, which makes Shadow 05 pretty redundant. In both Heroes and STH 05, Shadow concludes that WHAT he is won't define WHO he can be. But STH 05 treads all over previous installments while itself just being a horribly messy journey to that goal, that it doesn't seem worth it outside of how it ends leading into Shadow's position as a G.U.N. agent in '06. Anyway, I got sidetracked for a bit there. The point is, Shadow in Heroes is awesome.

It does have it’s imperfections but it was definitely one of the last great highlights of a modern era and the three member team concept was amazing.

"Shadow should've stayed dead in SA2, bringing him back made his death less impactful" True, although I do like a lot of what we've got from Shadow since SA2, not everything god no, but I'm honestly glad he's become a mainstay of the series, don't get me wrong I absolutely despise how he's been treated in recent memory, however, I do love Shadow being a series regular regardless. Heck if SA2 was his only appearance, I doubt he'd be one of my favourite Sonic characters, a great one for sure, but his subsequent appearances really cement him as one of my favourites.

“They still have sign-posts showing you what characters to use, did they think the kids couldn’t handle it? Maybe it wasn’t the ki-“ XD

Sonic Heroes was how I was introduced to the franchise, even if it was through the PlayStation 2 version, but even with the inferior port, I still regard it as my favorite entry in the series.