Sonic Classic Heroes - Rise of the Chaotix Review by: Mohammedroxx3 - 9.7/10
3 times the Awesomeness! Even Awesomer!Well, hey guys. It has been one heck of another while for me ever since I made a game review. So today, I will be making a game review of Sonic Classic Heroes - Rise of the Chaotix. This is basically like a newer version of the last Sonic classic heroes game but even awesomer and it now has team chaotix! I have already made a game review of the previous version of this game but why not review this one? Anyways, enough of the talking and let us dive in right to the game review!
Intro: Anything special or unique?There is definitely some awesome and unique things about this Sonic hack. To basically explain it, the first thing you will notice is that you can play as 3 sonic characters. You can choose to play as either Team Sonic (featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails The Fox, and Knuckles) or Team Chaotix (featuring Vector the Crocodile, Charmy the Bee, and Espio) Not only that, you can also play ALL and I mean ALL of the Sonic the hedgehog 1 and 2 levels! I don't think there is any other Sonic hack that does the same like this one. Also, this has a pretty unique main menu and other features which I will (try) to explain in the upcoming sections! That is about it for the Intro!
What are the differences between the previous version of this game and this one?
Well, to list them out:
1. Team Chaotix is in this game with all abilities and sprites from knuckles chaotix.
2. You can play in the Chaotix style with both teams as if you are playing an awesomer version of knuckles chaotix!
Thats pretty much it I believe. But still, those 2 differences definitely mean a lot to enhance this version!
Gameplay: 10Here is where all of the good stuff about this sonic hack is all about. From what I have seen, some sonic hacks have all or most of their awesomeness either in the gameplay and/or graphics and sound. I guess for this game, it mostly goes with the awesomeness being in the gameplay portion. The gameplay is just awesome and seems very flawless in my opinion. If you're a sonic fan and you played this hack, then you (maybe) will agree with what I'm saying. There are 2 ways to play this game. If you love knuckles chaotix, then you can play the sonic hack in chaotix style! If you love the good old normal way like Sonic the hedgehog 2 and 3, then you can play it in the normal style. (Forgot whats that called... if it is called in a certain name...) Anyways, I'll divide this gameplay section in to 2 sections so it can be organized.
Normal Style Gameplay:You can play as Team Sonic or Team chaotix. In this mode, you can switch between the 3 characters in the team and use all of their special abilities. Team Sonic's special abilities are simply from Sonic the hedgehog 3 and knuckles (Knuckles' gliding and climbing ability, tails' is flying ability and the ability to carry both Sonic and knuckles, and Sonic's up dash and super speed. Of course, they can all do the spin dash.) Team chaotix's special abilities are simply from knuckles' chaotix. One thing I want to mention is that usually in Sonic the hedgehog 2 & 3, tails may tend to get lost if you go to fast but in this Sonic hack, they seem to be much smarter so the team mates don't usually get lost as often as the original games and they seem to move fast and comeback to you faster. Thats about it for this mode.
Chaotix Style Gameplay:If you played knuckles chaotix, then you probably already know how this will be like. You can of course play as either Team Sonic or Team chaotix in this mode and use all the characters' special abilities just like normal. Just except for one thing, all 3 of the characters will be tied together. It can be annoying for others, and it can be awesome for others. I really love this mode. It's very perfect for netplay too. Player 2 can never get lost and it feels more like a real co-op compared to the other mode. And it's fun too. Like you can glide as knuckles through the whole stage while tails and sonic are just hanging and rolling in to a ball and hitting other enemies but they don't always roll. They tend to just stand and get hit instead but sometimes it can happen though. The only disadvantage is when you are in netplay and the 2 players don't work together and keep moving and bouncing everywhere. Especially if the session lags which happens quite a lot depending on the server and connect and what not. Thats all for the chaotix style! Also, this is pretty much it for the gameplay portion of my review!
Graphics: 9
Well, as all or most of you probably already know, it is pretty much about the same like the original sonic game. The Sonic, tails, and the knuckles sprites was pretty much from Sonic the hedgehog 3 and Vector, Charmy, and Espio sprites is pretty much from knuckles chaotix. But still, the original sprites are pretty much good. I mean, it's much better to use the original than messing up the original yourself. Just ask yourself this question, lets say you had a CD with your favorite game. Would you just use the CD like normal and enjoy it? Or would you rather mess it all up and destroy the CD yourself? Obviously just use the original. The only exception is if you were to really enhance it! Also, thats not all, just look at the title screen, How would you describe that? It is just awesome! It features the 3 awesome Sonic heroes standing together heroically. It's just epic to see the 3 of them together and it looks pretty good. They are like standing there ready to start an adventure and beat up that fat evil Dr. Eggman like always! Also, another thing to mention is the main menu where all of the save slots and other stuff are. The background is pretty cool. It has the 3 circles were it usually kinda symbolizes the team and they have different colors and backdrops to use in the options. They look pretty cool, especially for something on the sega genesis! Uhh... Yep. That is pretty much everything I had to say for the graphics section of my review!!
Sound: 8
Not too bad. Not bad at all. Well, actually you guys already know that it is pretty much the same like Sonic the hedgehog 1, 2, and 3 sounds. But still, just because of that doesn't mean I rate it low. I must rate it exactly the same way like the original game. To basically talk a little about it, majority of the background music in this game is pretty good. Like green hill zone is very relaxing and fitting but yet it gives you the inspiration to "Gotta go fast". All or at least most of the other zones are just fitting and inspiring you to move fast. My real favorite background musics in this game is green hill zone from sonic the hedgehog 1 and chemical plant zone from sonic the hedgehog 2. I also like all other background musics but those 2 are just the ones I mainly enjoy the most. It's almost undescribeable for me to be honest. I just like it. Also all other sound effects (like the ring sounds, jumping... etc) are the same like the original and the main menu music is from the options music in Sonic the hedgehog 2. I'm not really sure if there are any other things to point out for say about this portion in my review. Thats pretty much it for the sound!
Addictiveness: 10
Ahh... Looks like here is another major awesome part about this game. This game is just extremely addictive. I'm just that type of person who likes all or most of the Sonic characters mainly because of their abilities. And thanks to this game, I can play as team Sonic or chaotix so I got all of what I love all at the same time! Since I have all of that from this game, it will make me addicted to it! If you are the same type of person like me, then you will probably be very addicted to it too. You just always feel like playing the zones again and again and you are just having this crazy feeling of moving faster than the last time with your favorite team with all of your favorite abilities. It never gets boring because of all of the awesomeness from this game. The gameplay of this game is what basically explains why this game is addictive so I don't have much else to say or else repeating what I have just said is pretty much cheating. Thats all for this part of my review.
Story: 7Now, just like all other Sonic games and hacks, here is what is pretty much the somewhat bad area here. The story is just too simple and not much like all other sonic games. It's all the simple, "Stop Dr. Eggman's evil plans!" and what not but it is either team Sonic or Team chaotix stopping Dr. Eggman. But still, it is sufficient enough to be considered a story and it still makes some sense so this section will just go with a passing 7. Not much to else say here but it is all just "Adequate" for this story.
Depth: 10
Yep. You guessed it. Another awesome part about this sonic hack. This game heck has a lot to offer. Though I kinda already explained nearly everything about it in the previous section. You can play as team Sonic or team Chaotix, all with their special abilities as all 3 characters, a very nice co-op game, you can play the normal and the chaotix style in the game, and it's very perfect for netplay. Except, I do not think it is actually possible to do 3 players on netplay, sadly, it just seems to be 2 players only and some spectators. Oh well. It is still good enough. Also, the main menu got some pretty good things. You can have up to like 12 save slots! Also, like other Sonic games, there is the sound test options and the backdrop (background) switcher for the main menu. Not sure what the backdrop is exactly for but I guess switching around with different backgrounds is pretty cool! Yea and thats about it for this section!
Difficulty: 6
I'll give this a 7. I mean, it kinda varies depending on the zone you are in. Like green hill zone is a piece of cake and labyrinth zone is a killer as most sonic fans already know. It kinda goes like this: Sonic 1- Easy to hard. Then once sonic 2 comes: Sonic 2: Easy to hard. There isn't really that much to talk about here. And with the special abilities of team sonic or chaotix, it will be much easier than the original sonic games. Thats all for this section!
Overall: 9.7
Despite the low ratings for difficulty, story, and sound, this still is nearly a perfect sonic hack! Especially since the gameplay which is one of the most significant part about game is great, then most of the game is also great! Now here is an extra:
Suggests for future versions of this hack:
1. Include other teams like team dark and rose with their special abilities.
2. Allow to fuse the teams. What I mean is to be allowed to make your own team. Like make a team with knuckles, charmy, and tails... etc. And you can save the teams and put a custom name.
Thats all I have for the suggestions for now and that is all for my game review. I really look forward to some feedback for my review and thanks for reading! (if you actually read it) Have a nice day on vizzed my friends! :D
Graphics
9 Sound
8 Addictive
10 Depth
10 Story
7 Difficulty
6