Poor Sonic. Sega's breakthrough mascot helped the Genesis climb to the top of the 16-bit heap, but has had trouble recapturing his former glory since. A series of misteps and even a high-profile game cancelation left his 32-bit career in shambles, and he only recently began to return to respectability with the Sonic Adventure titles for Dreamcast and GameCube. But even there critics sniped mercilessly, saying that the games had too much extraneous junk and not enough Sonic. Well, it seems Sega was listening, because its new Sonic Heroes is the purest, most back-to-basics Sonic game in years. Scavenger hunts? Gone. Mech battles? Nope. Sonic Heroes focuses strictly on the platforming, for better or for worse.

I guess they can't all be winners. Shut up, Big.
However, the other characters haven't disappeared along with their old gameplay styles ... anything but. There are actually four teams' worth. Hero Team is predictable enough -- Sonic, Tails, Knuckles. Dark Team is like a Sonic Adventure reunion, featuring Shadow, Rouge and Omega (a robot similar to E-102 Gamma). The ultra-cutesy Rose Team has Amy Rose, fan-favorite Cream and fan-hated Big the Cat. Last but not least (that'd be Rose Team) is the Chaotix Team of Vector the crocodile, Espio the chameoleon and Charmy Bee. I never thought we'd see these guys again -- their sole claim to fame is appearing in the ill-fated Knuckles Chaotix on Sega's 32X. It's cool to see them in a better game. Each team has an entire game to go through, with similar but ultimately different stages. Team Rose's levels are more geared to beginners, for example, while the Chaotix levels can require a bit more puzzle-solving. So, you might be wondering why they're in teams to begin with ...

Teamplayer!

Time to defy physics!
No matter which team you choose, each character falls into one of three categories: Speed, Power or Fly. Speed characters like Sonic and Shadow excel at high-speed racing, and can go offensive with the traditional mid-leap homing attack. Power characters like Big the Cat and Knuckles can attack with combos on the ground, and are great for destroying walls and blocks that might bar your path. Lastly, flying characters like Cream and Charmy can give everyone else a lift, as well as bring flying enemies down to the ground for the Power characters to deal with. This system makes everyone feel useful -- even Big.