Sonic Heroes (2003) (Vivendi Universal)

Sonic Heroes is a 2003 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and Eurocom Entertainment Software and published by Sega and Vivendi Universal Games. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to defeat Doctor Eggman. Within each level, the player switches between the team's three characters, who each have unique abilities, to overcome obstacles. Sonic Heroes downplays the action-adventure and exploration-based gameplay of its predecessors Sonic Adventure (1998) and Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) in favor of returning to the linear style of Sega Genesis-era Sonic games. Heroes was the first multi-platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, produced for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows. Sonic Team USA's Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka led the game's 20-month development. The team wanted Sonic Heroes to appeal beyond Sonic series fans and so designed a game that did not depend on the continuation of its predecessors. The team revived elements not seen since the Genesis Sonic games, such as special stages and the Chaotix characters. Sega and Vivendi Universal Games released Sonic Heroes in Japan in December 2003 and worldwide in early 2004. It was a commercial success, with 3.41 million copies sold by 2007, but received mixed reviews. Critics praised the focus on fast gameplay and similarities to the series' original 2D entries, a choice that some considered an improvement from the Sonic Adventure games. Reviewers also highlighted its graphic design and detailed environments and textures. However, they felt it did not address the problems of previous Sonic games, such as the camera and voice acting.

Story added by jasonhansen on April 24, 2026