Sonic Heroes is a Lovable Mess

31:04 For real though, Sonic was more surprised to see Amy at the end of Power Plant than he was to see a guy he thought was dead

Heroes is probably the closest thing we'll get to 'classic Sonic' aesthetics in 3D. It's so colourful, creative and surrealist. Really reminds me of the Genesis games.

This game was one of my favourites on the GameCube. I had just turned 12 and the idea that I could play as not only Sonic but 11 other characters was mind blowing. I spent so long in the Casino level because I just loved the aesthetic and music. I’m not actually sure I ever completed the game though, and I may have to rectify that… at the age of 29.

I think the in-stage dialogue adds a ton of charm to these characters, hearing Sonic and Shadow get spooked by ghosts while Charmy simply laughs at them always gives me a warm smile

Kinda crazy how strong the flight characters can be. That maxed out thunder shoot is insane.

If it's one thing I absolutely love about Sonic Heroes is that the levels have a sense of scale and being just memorable. For that alone I can ignore all the other flaws.

This games story when compared to how future ones do it just feels passionate. Forces, Colors, and Lost World feel like they are making fun of themselves while Heroes instead revels in its cheese with positive energy.

I have so much nostalgia for this game. My favourite memory is still thinking Knuckles shoulds "SHIT! ROCK! YEAH!" During his punch combo

I've always liked Sonic Heroes more than I feel most do, I just think it has an incredibly energy. The soundtrack is so, so good and the visuals I think are really gorgeous for the time - and even if the core gameplay isn't as exciting as the best of 3D Sonic, at least Sonic Team actually COMMITTED to a gameplay style and didn't bog it down with silly gimmicks like so many other 3D Sonic games. I think the game gets a really bad rap, it's not amazing but it's not bad at all

When I see this game I'm reminded when Omega had personality once, he wasn't just generic robot 3637 AND was actually funny. Whenever he shows up in the newer games with his generic robot sounds to remind us that he's indeed a robot (as if it wasn't obvious enough) I roll my eyes. It was especially soo bad in 06 and Forces.

I'd love to hear more. Is there, perhaps, a playthrough of Sonic Heroes featuring you and three other gamers where you definitely don't avoid talking about the game at all costs until giving in to Eggfleet cause of how sublime it is?

This is unrelated to the game but your voice is ridiculously soothing to listen to

there has never been a more true first 5 words to a video title I'm choosing to ignore the last one

My opinion on Heroes has gone back and forth like crazy over the years, and now it's up there as one of my favorites...provided I have access to save states to mitigate the jank. For all of its issues, I think Heroes strikes kind of a beautiful balance in gameplay variety with the 3 formations (once you know how to best use each one at least). The stages are amazing aside from Casino Park, Bingo Highway and Rail Canyon (which are unfortunately all back to back so you get a bit of a slog halfway through). If I could change the course of Sonic's history, I think I'd have a direct Heroes sequel happen after the first that would take the fundamental gameplay, polish it all up, adjust the roster in a way that makes each team a bit more distinct mechanically (think how knuckles and omega differ from big and vector and apply that more to the other formation characters).

Advice for anyone playing this game: In the special stages use the power character (gathers the most orbs) and HOLD the boost button down this will effectively change all of the special stages to easy mode

30:53 This was right after Shadow saw a destroyed robot version of himself, so I think the line is fine. Also Rouge started a fight with Team Chaotix because she thought they were after Eggman’s treasure, she says something along those lines right before the fight starts.

I commented on one of his community posts last week "Still waiting for that Sonic Heroes Retrospective" and I couldn't be more happy. Thanks King K lol

That Ocean Palace music.... man it hits me right in the nostalgia.

26:19 They're not looking for snails, why would eggman task team chaotix with hunting snails? That makes no sense. They're looking for hermit crabs, which is much more logical

Personally, I feel like Heroes IS the unofficial Adventure 3. It follows the reduction in gameplay variety that happened between 1 and 3, but also suffered the same sort of gameplay issues.