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Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game)
Encyclopedia
Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2006 platform
video game for the PlayStation 3
and the Xbox 360
that was made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. It was developed by Sonic Team
, published by Sega
and directed by Shun Nakamura
.
The game shares its name with two earlier video games
, a manga, a television series
, a comic book series
and their eponymous main character
. To disambiguate, the game has been called by a number of different aliases, including, but not limited to, Sonic 06, Sonic 2K6, Sonic 360, Sonic Next Gen and Sonic 2006 Variety.
It was released during the course of 2006 and 2007 to critical ire. The game was also made available on Xbox Live
's Games on Demand
service on August 11, 2009, but was later delisted during September 2010 in order to increase the value of the brand.
, Silver or Shadow the Hedgehog
. Sonic's levels generally focus on speed, with some sections having him run at full speed while dodging obstacles. Other segments see him escorting Princess Elise, who uses a barrier to protect him from certain hazards. Shadow's sections are similarly speedy albeit more combat focused, though some segments see him riding vehicles, such as a buggy. In contrast, Silver's levels move at a slower pace, and revolve around his use of telekinesis to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. In certain areas, control is switched to an amigo character (Tails and Knuckles for Sonic, Rouge and Omega for Shadow, and Amy and Blaze for Silver), each with their own abilities. Although each character plays the same levels, each character's unique abilities allow him or her to get to different areas of each stage, and deny them from accessing certain items. Once players have completed all three stories, the Last Story is unlocked.
In each story, the player will navigate through Town Stages where they can converse with townspeople to progress the story. The main gameplay takes place in Action Stages which become accessible as the game progresses. Some Action Stages require certain abilities to access (for example, one stage requires the Ring Dash move to be unlocked). While in Town, players can take Mission Stages to earn rings, which can be spent on upgrades to their characters.
Several downloadable extensions have been released that add features to single-player gameplay. These include 'Very Hard' mode, a more difficult version of the game; 'Boss Attack' modes, which allow a playable character to engage in continuous battles with all of the game's bosses; and 'Team Attack Amigo' mode, which sends players through a multitude of levels in a set order, changing to a different amigo character every two levels, culminating in a boss fight.
The game features two multiplayer modes: Tag, where two players must work together to clear levels and collect Chaos Emeralds; and Battle, where two players race against each other.
, Shadow the Hedgehog
, and Silver the Hedgehog in a story intertwined in their respective gameplay modes.
In Soleanna, the Festival of the Sun's opening ceremony is disrupted by the arrival of Doctor Eggman
who seeks the Flames of Disaster from Princess Elise, as well as the Chaos Emerald she possesses. However, Sonic the Hedgehog arrives and escapes with Elise and the emerald intact, but Elise is quickly captured and she tosses the emerald to Sonic. Sonic meets with Miles "Tails" Prower
and they rescue Elise, Tails distracting Eggman's robots while Sonic and Elise escape. Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge the Bat
meet up armed with the Scepter of Darkness stolen from Eggman's base, but it is dropped, unleashing Mephiles the Dark, a creature in Shadow's image who reveals Shadow sealed him within the scepter ten years ago, before opening a wormhole which transports Shadow and Rouge to the future. Silver and his friend Blaze the Cat live in a post-apocalyptic world caused by the Iblis Trigger, who unleashed the Flames of Disaster, actually a fiery monster named Iblis. The two meet Mephiles who reveals Sonic is the Iblis Trigger, and sends the two back in time using a fake Chaos Emerald.
Silver and Blaze are separated upon arrival, with Silver witnessing Eggman's attack on Soleanna and Sonic's departure. He meets Amy Rose
who accompanies him to find Sonic, but defends Sonic when they find him, while Elise gets kidnapped again. Sonic flees, meeting with Tails and Knuckles the Echidna
who go to rescue Elise. However, they are lured into a trap by Eggman and warped into the future where Tails discovers Elise and Eggman died the day before Iblis was released. Shadow and Rouge find a shutdown E-123 Omega, and then reunite with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. They gather several of the Chaos Emeralds, and return to the present save Shadow who confronts Mephiles, but learns in the future he was imprisoned by Omega, blamed for the destruction. Shadow escapes to the present-day thanks to Omega.
As the story progresses, Shadow and Silver join forces and travel ten years into the past. They learn Iblis and Mephiles are the result of the Duke of Soleanna's project to harness the power of the city's god Solaris. The Duke gives Shadow the Scepter of Darkness, which he uses to seal Mephiles, while Iblis' flames are contained by Silver and placed within a young Elise's tears, the dying Duke asking his daughter to never cry for her tears could release Iblis. Sonic fails to reach Eggman's ship with Elise inside it before it explodes, but Silver helps Sonic go back in time so he can save Elise. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Silver and Blaze return to the future to eliminate Mephiles and Iblis. Mephiles is defeated by Shadow, while Silver tries to seal Iblis' flames in his own soul, only to be rejected. Blaze steps in and seals Iblis in her soul, but is trapped in another dimension.
Mephiles survives Shadow's attack, and kills Sonic by running him through with a crystal blade, causing Elise to cry and unleash Iblis. Mephiles bonds with Iblis, recreating Solaris and ripping apart the time-space continuum. As everyone mourns Sonic's death, Silver theorises that the Chaos Emeralds might have the power to resurrect Sonic and defeat Solaris, prompting everyone to locate the emeralds. Elise uses the emeralds to resurrect Sonic as Super Sonic, Shadow and Silver transforming into their super forms and destroy Solaris. Sonic and Elise go back in time, finding Solaris' original form to be a single white flame. Elise blows out the candle, rebooting the time-space continuum and erasing Solaris from existence, erasing the story's events. Sonic passes by the Festival of the Sun, he and Elise showing signs of recalling their friendship.
. However, such a port would have taken a long time to create, and Sega wanted to release a Sonic game much closer to the Wii launch
. So instead, the company developed and released the 2007 video game Sonic and the Secret Rings
.
The stage Crisis City is included in the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 version of of the game Sonic Generations
Also, in both the console and handheld versions of the game, Silver the Hedgehog appears as a returning boss.
from Sonic X
in the English version. The Japanese version has mostly the same voice actors from the previous games. In addition, Lacey Chabert
, the voice of Meg Griffin
in season one of Family Guy
, who is coincidentally a long-time Sonic fan, voices Princess Elise, marking the first time in the franchise that Hollywood talent has provided voice-over work for a Sonic game.
and Matty Lewis
of the band Zebrahead
. Crush 40
also performed a different version of His World.
HipHop/R&B Artist Akon
has done a remix to the Dreams Come True song "Sweet Sweet Sweet," a song from the album The Swinging Star
. This track was originally composed by Masato Nakamura
, and sung by DCT's Miwa Yoshida
. Added as the ending theme for Sonic the Hedgehog 2
for the Sega Genesis, the song is entitled "Sweet Sweet Sweet ('06 Akon Mix)," in Japanese and "Sweet Dreams" in English. It is Sonic's ending theme for the game.
A number of other songs feature vocals by other artists as well. Shadow's theme, "All Hail Shadow," one of the vocal songs from the Shadow the Hedgehog
soundtrack, was rearranged by Crush 40
; it was originally sung by the band Magna-Fi
. Silver's theme, "Dreams of an Absolution," by Lee Brotherton (from the Remix Factory, AKA Bentley Jones) was written by Mariko Nanba
and Brotherton. Elise's theme, entitled "My Destiny," was performed by singer/songwriter Donna DeLory
.
The in-game music is composed by Tomoya Ohtani, Mariko Nanba, and Hideaki Kobayashi
, with Namano Mushrio, and the Japanese Geroinic Band & Symphony.
recorded the average score as 49%: the second poorest average for an Xbox 360 title at the time of the game's release. Sites like IGN
admitted that "it offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control." GameSpot
called it "a mess from top to bottom," while GameTrailers
concluded that the game is "flat-out unfinished, unfairly difficult, and most importantly, just isn't much fun." GameTrailers also rated the game #9 in their countdown of the "Top Ten Most Disappointing Games of the Decade." In 2009, GamesTM
named it #1 on their top ten "Videogame Franchises That Lost Their Way," commenting that "The blue hedgehog's next-gen efforts have been nothing short of appalling, none more so than his 2006 appearance." In late 2009, the game was named "Worst Video Game of the Decade" by ScrewAttack
.
Dave Halverson
of Play Magazine
is notable for initially giving the game its biggest praise; a score of 9.5 for the Xbox 360 version. This was dropped down to 8.5 in the next issue, with Halverson explaining how he was incorrectly told that the load times and glitches in his review copy would not be in the finished product. Later, Halverson gave the PS3 version a 5.5, expressing his disgust not only for how the glitches and load times had not improved, but how the game actually ran marginally worse despite the extra development time.
In a February 2007 interview for Kikizo
magazine, Sonic Team
producer Yojiro Ogawa was asked to comment on the game's glitches, control problems and loading times:
called the story "ridiculously overwrought" and "conceptually challenged," while GameTrailers commented about the plot elements to be "pretty ridiculous stuff" and that "You might actually be better off reading Internet
fan fiction
."
GameSpot stated that "While the character variety might initially seem like a good idea, most of them aren't too interesting," GameTrailers commented that "even if you like the characters, the convoluted manimal melodrama is poor quality," while Eurogamer
mentioned that "Rather than fleshing the game out, the supporting cast often just annoys."
The implied romance between Sonic (a hedgehog) and Princess Elise (a human) has also been heavily criticized. GamesRadar called their kiss "the most bizarrely cringe-worthy kiss in video game history," and in another article, concluded about the pairing that "True love has never been so disgusting." GamesTM went so far as to say that "...Sonic's relationship and kiss with Princess Elise truly marked the point the [Sonic] series had veered off into absolute nonsense."
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
that was made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. It was developed by Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
, published by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
and directed by Shun Nakamura
Shun Nakamura
Shun Nakamura is a game designer for Sonic Team, whose works include Samba de Amigo, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, and Sonic the Hedgehog.-Production history:* Sonic R — Game Designer* Sonic Adventure — Field Designer...
.
The game shares its name with two earlier video games
Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)
The game's soundtrack was composed by chiptune musician Yuzo Koshiro. He adapted several pieces of music from the original 16-bit version, while the rest of the soundtrack consisted of his own original music. One of his original pieces, the "Bridge Zone" theme, was later sampled in Janet Jackson's...
, a manga, a television series
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...
, a comic book series
Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)
Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Sega's mascot video game character of the same name. The comic book series debuted in the United States as a 4 part mini-series published between November 1992 and February 1993...
and their eponymous main character
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
. To disambiguate, the game has been called by a number of different aliases, including, but not limited to, Sonic 06, Sonic 2K6, Sonic 360, Sonic Next Gen and Sonic 2006 Variety.
It was released during the course of 2006 and 2007 to critical ire. The game was also made available on Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
's Games on Demand
Xbox Live Marketplace
The Xbox Live Marketplace is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content...
service on August 11, 2009, but was later delisted during September 2010 in order to increase the value of the brand.
Gameplay
Each story mode has the player control either SonicSonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
, Silver or Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog
is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Shadow is an artificially-created life form. His trademark hover shoes propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic, and with a Chaos Emerald he has the ability to distort time and space using "Chaos Control." Often referred to as being...
. Sonic's levels generally focus on speed, with some sections having him run at full speed while dodging obstacles. Other segments see him escorting Princess Elise, who uses a barrier to protect him from certain hazards. Shadow's sections are similarly speedy albeit more combat focused, though some segments see him riding vehicles, such as a buggy. In contrast, Silver's levels move at a slower pace, and revolve around his use of telekinesis to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. In certain areas, control is switched to an amigo character (Tails and Knuckles for Sonic, Rouge and Omega for Shadow, and Amy and Blaze for Silver), each with their own abilities. Although each character plays the same levels, each character's unique abilities allow him or her to get to different areas of each stage, and deny them from accessing certain items. Once players have completed all three stories, the Last Story is unlocked.
In each story, the player will navigate through Town Stages where they can converse with townspeople to progress the story. The main gameplay takes place in Action Stages which become accessible as the game progresses. Some Action Stages require certain abilities to access (for example, one stage requires the Ring Dash move to be unlocked). While in Town, players can take Mission Stages to earn rings, which can be spent on upgrades to their characters.
Several downloadable extensions have been released that add features to single-player gameplay. These include 'Very Hard' mode, a more difficult version of the game; 'Boss Attack' modes, which allow a playable character to engage in continuous battles with all of the game's bosses; and 'Team Attack Amigo' mode, which sends players through a multitude of levels in a set order, changing to a different amigo character every two levels, culminating in a boss fight.
The game features two multiplayer modes: Tag, where two players must work together to clear levels and collect Chaos Emeralds; and Battle, where two players race against each other.
Plot summary
The game follows Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
, Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog
is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Shadow is an artificially-created life form. His trademark hover shoes propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic, and with a Chaos Emerald he has the ability to distort time and space using "Chaos Control." Often referred to as being...
, and Silver the Hedgehog in a story intertwined in their respective gameplay modes.
In Soleanna, the Festival of the Sun's opening ceremony is disrupted by the arrival of Doctor Eggman
Doctor Eggman
, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
who seeks the Flames of Disaster from Princess Elise, as well as the Chaos Emerald she possesses. However, Sonic the Hedgehog arrives and escapes with Elise and the emerald intact, but Elise is quickly captured and she tosses the emerald to Sonic. Sonic meets with Miles "Tails" Prower
Miles "Tails" Prower
, better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....
and they rescue Elise, Tails distracting Eggman's robots while Sonic and Elise escape. Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge the Bat
Rouge the Bat
is a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, who is a determined treasure hunter and part-time government agent who plans to make all the gems and treasures of the world hers. Her main jewel obsessions are the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds...
meet up armed with the Scepter of Darkness stolen from Eggman's base, but it is dropped, unleashing Mephiles the Dark, a creature in Shadow's image who reveals Shadow sealed him within the scepter ten years ago, before opening a wormhole which transports Shadow and Rouge to the future. Silver and his friend Blaze the Cat live in a post-apocalyptic world caused by the Iblis Trigger, who unleashed the Flames of Disaster, actually a fiery monster named Iblis. The two meet Mephiles who reveals Sonic is the Iblis Trigger, and sends the two back in time using a fake Chaos Emerald.
Silver and Blaze are separated upon arrival, with Silver witnessing Eggman's attack on Soleanna and Sonic's departure. He meets Amy Rose
Amy Rose
, known earlier as Rosy the Rascal, is a video game character who appears in most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team, debuting in Sonic CD as the third recurring protagonist. Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino and based on one of Kenji Terada's...
who accompanies him to find Sonic, but defends Sonic when they find him, while Elise gets kidnapped again. Sonic flees, meeting with Tails and Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles the Echidna
Knuckles the Echidna is a video game character of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, including spin-off games and comics. His first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released in 1994 to introduce a new rival for Sonic. He was presented as an antagonist who was tricked by Dr. Eggman into...
who go to rescue Elise. However, they are lured into a trap by Eggman and warped into the future where Tails discovers Elise and Eggman died the day before Iblis was released. Shadow and Rouge find a shutdown E-123 Omega, and then reunite with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. They gather several of the Chaos Emeralds, and return to the present save Shadow who confronts Mephiles, but learns in the future he was imprisoned by Omega, blamed for the destruction. Shadow escapes to the present-day thanks to Omega.
As the story progresses, Shadow and Silver join forces and travel ten years into the past. They learn Iblis and Mephiles are the result of the Duke of Soleanna's project to harness the power of the city's god Solaris. The Duke gives Shadow the Scepter of Darkness, which he uses to seal Mephiles, while Iblis' flames are contained by Silver and placed within a young Elise's tears, the dying Duke asking his daughter to never cry for her tears could release Iblis. Sonic fails to reach Eggman's ship with Elise inside it before it explodes, but Silver helps Sonic go back in time so he can save Elise. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Silver and Blaze return to the future to eliminate Mephiles and Iblis. Mephiles is defeated by Shadow, while Silver tries to seal Iblis' flames in his own soul, only to be rejected. Blaze steps in and seals Iblis in her soul, but is trapped in another dimension.
Mephiles survives Shadow's attack, and kills Sonic by running him through with a crystal blade, causing Elise to cry and unleash Iblis. Mephiles bonds with Iblis, recreating Solaris and ripping apart the time-space continuum. As everyone mourns Sonic's death, Silver theorises that the Chaos Emeralds might have the power to resurrect Sonic and defeat Solaris, prompting everyone to locate the emeralds. Elise uses the emeralds to resurrect Sonic as Super Sonic, Shadow and Silver transforming into their super forms and destroy Solaris. Sonic and Elise go back in time, finding Solaris' original form to be a single white flame. Elise blows out the candle, rebooting the time-space continuum and erasing Solaris from existence, erasing the story's events. Sonic passes by the Festival of the Sun, he and Elise showing signs of recalling their friendship.
Development
Sega originally planned releasing a port of the game as the first Sonic game for the WiiWii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. However, such a port would have taken a long time to create, and Sega wanted to release a Sonic game much closer to the Wii launch
Wii launch
The Wii launch was the release of Nintendo's seventh generation video game console. This successor to the Nintendo GameCube was released in most territories in November and December 2006...
. So instead, the company developed and released the 2007 video game Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic and the Secret Rings
is a video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega as part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released exclusively for the Wii on February 20, 2007 in North America; March 2 in Europe; and March 15 in Japan. It is the first Sonic game for the console, released in place of an...
.
The stage Crisis City is included in the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 version of of the game Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations
is a 2011 platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, produced by Sonic Team for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 3DS...
Also, in both the console and handheld versions of the game, Silver the Hedgehog appears as a returning boss.
Cast
This game features the cast of 4Kids Entertainment4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...
from Sonic X
Sonic X
is an anime series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. It was produced in Japan by TMS Entertainment with the partnership of Sega and was created by Sonic Team and Sonic Project. In the United States, 4Kids currently owns and manages copyright and branding of the series.- Series 1 ...
in the English version. The Japanese version has mostly the same voice actors from the previous games. In addition, Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
, the voice of Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
in season one of Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, who is coincidentally a long-time Sonic fan, voices Princess Elise, marking the first time in the franchise that Hollywood talent has provided voice-over work for a Sonic game.
Music
The main theme for the game, His World, is performed by Ali TabatabaeeAli Tabatabaee
Ali Tabatabaee is one of two main vocalists in the band Zebrahead. He is from California. He attended high school in La Habra, California, where he met the other members of Zebrahead...
and Matty Lewis
Matty Lewis
Matty Lewis is the rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer of Zebrahead, and is a native of Papillion, Nebraska. Lewis took up playing the guitar and writing songs at age 12.-Jank 1000:...
of the band Zebrahead
Zebrahead
Zebrahead is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, which fuses elements of Rapcore, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, and Funk Metal.-1996–98: Formation:...
. Crush 40
Crush 40
Crush 40, formerly known as Sons of Angels, is a Japanese-American hard rock band formed in 1997 that is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of several video games, predominantly the Sonic the Hedgehog series...
also performed a different version of His World.
HipHop/R&B Artist Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
has done a remix to the Dreams Come True song "Sweet Sweet Sweet," a song from the album The Swinging Star
The Swinging Star
The Swinging Star is a 1992 album by the Japanese trio Dreams Come True. Not only is it the most popular album of their career, it also holds the dual distinction of being the first Japanese-language album to sell more than three million copies, as well as one of the biggest-selling...
. This track was originally composed by Masato Nakamura
Masato Nakamura
is a Japanese musician, bass guitarist, and record producer.- Life and music career :Nakamura was originally a session musician before forming the "Cha-Cha & Audrey's Project" with Miwa Yoshida. In 1988, they formed the band Dreams Come True....
, and sung by DCT's Miwa Yoshida
Miwa Yoshida
is a Japanese musician, and the lead singer for the band Dreams Come True.Yoshida also fronts a Dreams Come True side-project called "Funk the Peanuts", and has released two solo albums, Beauty and Harmony and Beauty and Harmony 2...
. Added as the ending theme for Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 16-bit 1992 platform video game that was developed by Sonic Team members working at the Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1992 and in North America and Europe on November 24, 1992...
for the Sega Genesis, the song is entitled "Sweet Sweet Sweet ('06 Akon Mix)," in Japanese and "Sweet Dreams" in English. It is Sonic's ending theme for the game.
A number of other songs feature vocals by other artists as well. Shadow's theme, "All Hail Shadow," one of the vocal songs from the Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)
Shadow the Hedgehog is a 2005 video game developed by Sega Studio USA, the former United States division of Sega's Sonic Team. Featuring the titular fictional character Shadow the Hedgehog from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game inauguration of...
soundtrack, was rearranged by Crush 40
Crush 40
Crush 40, formerly known as Sons of Angels, is a Japanese-American hard rock band formed in 1997 that is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of several video games, predominantly the Sonic the Hedgehog series...
; it was originally sung by the band Magna-Fi
Magna-Fi
-VerseChorusKillMe:VerseChorusKillMe is the second album of Magna-Fi.-Singles:*Where Did We Go Wrong*Down In It*Who I Am*Kiss It Away*Breaking Up*Save Me*Me The Enemy*Hey, Loser!*Hearts and Minds-Gameography:...
. Silver's theme, "Dreams of an Absolution," by Lee Brotherton (from the Remix Factory, AKA Bentley Jones) was written by Mariko Nanba
Mariko Nanba
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring many recent Sonic the Hedgehog games, as well as her work on Panzer Dragoon Saga.-Scores composed:* Knuckles' Chaotix - with Tatsuya Kousaki and Junko Shiratsu...
and Brotherton. Elise's theme, entitled "My Destiny," was performed by singer/songwriter Donna DeLory
Donna DeLory
Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker, Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, Laura Branigan, Belinda Carlisle, Mylène Farmer and Madonna...
.
The in-game music is composed by Tomoya Ohtani, Mariko Nanba, and Hideaki Kobayashi
Hideaki Kobayashi
Hideaki Kobayashi is a game music composer for Sega. He is perhaps best known for his music for the massively multiplayer online title Phantasy Star Online.-Works:*Phantasy Star Online — Sound Creator...
, with Namano Mushrio, and the Japanese Geroinic Band & Symphony.
Reception
Sonic the Hedgehog has been widely panned by critics for its poor camera system, its long load times, and its numerous gameplay glitches. Across 41 reviews, Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
recorded the average score as 49%: the second poorest average for an Xbox 360 title at the time of the game's release. Sites like IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
admitted that "it offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control." GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
called it "a mess from top to bottom," while GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
concluded that the game is "flat-out unfinished, unfairly difficult, and most importantly, just isn't much fun." GameTrailers also rated the game #9 in their countdown of the "Top Ten Most Disappointing Games of the Decade." In 2009, GamesTM
GamesTM
GamesTM is a UK-based, multi-format video games magazine, covering many video game platforms including PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC games, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Arcade machines...
named it #1 on their top ten "Videogame Franchises That Lost Their Way," commenting that "The blue hedgehog's next-gen efforts have been nothing short of appalling, none more so than his 2006 appearance." In late 2009, the game was named "Worst Video Game of the Decade" by ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
.
Dave Halverson
Dave Halverson
Dave Halverson is the founder of video game magazines GameFan, Gamer's Republic, Play and currently the new version of "Gamefan," which comes in digital PDF versions as well as print....
of Play Magazine
Play (US magazine)
Play was a U.S.-based magazine focused on video games, anime, manga, film, DVD, television, comics, music and media. Published by Fusion Publishing, Inc. since 2001, Play magazine also had a separate Internet presence on its website, Play Online...
is notable for initially giving the game its biggest praise; a score of 9.5 for the Xbox 360 version. This was dropped down to 8.5 in the next issue, with Halverson explaining how he was incorrectly told that the load times and glitches in his review copy would not be in the finished product. Later, Halverson gave the PS3 version a 5.5, expressing his disgust not only for how the glitches and load times had not improved, but how the game actually ran marginally worse despite the extra development time.
In a February 2007 interview for Kikizo
Kikizo
Kikizo is a B2C web publisher and B2B design & content solutions partner founded by Adam Doree in 2003. The company publishes the entertainment and lifestyle website Kikizo.com, and is traditionally known for its original 2003 property of the same name, which rebranded as Video Games Daily in 2009...
magazine, Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
producer Yojiro Ogawa was asked to comment on the game's glitches, control problems and loading times:
Plot
The game's plot was also widely criticized. GamesRadarGamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
called the story "ridiculously overwrought" and "conceptually challenged," while GameTrailers commented about the plot elements to be "pretty ridiculous stuff" and that "You might actually be better off reading Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
."
GameSpot stated that "While the character variety might initially seem like a good idea, most of them aren't too interesting," GameTrailers commented that "even if you like the characters, the convoluted manimal melodrama is poor quality," while Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
mentioned that "Rather than fleshing the game out, the supporting cast often just annoys."
The implied romance between Sonic (a hedgehog) and Princess Elise (a human) has also been heavily criticized. GamesRadar called their kiss "the most bizarrely cringe-worthy kiss in video game history," and in another article, concluded about the pairing that "True love has never been so disgusting." GamesTM went so far as to say that "...Sonic's relationship and kiss with Princess Elise truly marked the point the [Sonic] series had veered off into absolute nonsense."
External links
- Official English Site
- Official Japanese site, accessed from the Sonic Channel