Brandon’s World: After 18 Years, I Defeated Sonic Heroes
Yes, you read the title right!
Yes, the Brandon’s World column is back!
And yes, it took me 18 years, but I FINALLY conquered my childhood demons!
Ever since I was five, I’ve been a fan of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series. I remember playing the old Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 games on the Sega Genesis at my grandma’s house. I vividly remember in 2003 getting my GameCube (that I still currently use) for Christmas and feeling pumped when Sonic Adventure came with it. I spent hours, days and years of my youth grinding levels, yet I was never able to complete “Big the Cat’s” fishing levels.
The same problem struck me while playing Sonic Adventure 2 as I could never finish that puzzle in the Sonic level, “Crazy Gadget” (skip to 2:30 in the video below to see what I’m talking about!).
In 2003, I remember around my birthday seeing a commercial for the newest game in the Sonic Series, Sonic Heroes, and I was hooked right away!
Based off of the events of Sonic Adventure 2 (which at the time I did not complete), four teams of three compete to try and stop Dr. Eggman, the series’ long-time antagonist, and eventually Metal Sonic — Eggman’s creation to try to stop the series’ main star — in intense, high level gameplay.
For the first time in the 3D world of the Sonic Series, gameplay would be based off of teams. Each team included a speed member (Sonic, “Shadow the Hedgehog”, “Amy the Hedgehog” and “Espio the Chameleon”), a power member (“Knuckles the Echidna”, “Omega the Robot”, “Big the Cat” and “Vector the Crocodile”) and a flight member (“Tails the Fox”, “Rouge the Bat”, “Cream the Bunny” and “Charmy the Bee”). Each team member was vital to completion of each level, and each team had their own different skill levels.
Team Sonic (Sonic, Knuckles and Tails ) featured typical Sonic the Hedgehog series elements in terms of difficulty dealing with enemies and completing missions. Team Dark (Shadow, Omega and Rouge) played exactly like Team Sonic but had more enemies and was made for more experienced players. Team Rose (Amy, Big and Cream) was the easiest team to play with and featured shorter levels, including a training level, and easier robots (It was meant for brand new players to the Sonic Series), and Team Chaotix (Espio, Vector and Charmy) was the most unique team in the game. Instead of trying to run through to the goal ring like a typical Sonic game, Team Chaotix mostly had missions you had to complete to finish their stages, such as collecting 10 hermit crabs or destroying every robot. Their difficulty was similar to Team Sonic.
With all four teams readily different, it made the game not seem as repetitive. Yes, you are playing the SAME 14 stages, and the SAME seven boss battles with ALL four teams, but each stage and each boss battle had its own uniqueness based on what team you were using.
For years, the stage that would always trip me up was “Lost Jungle” with both Team Sonic and Team Dark. The second of the jungle stages, and the №10 overall stage in the game, “Lost Jungle’s” last section featured a rope gliding game where you had to continuously spam the “action button” (“A” on GameCube and Xbox and “X” on PlayStation 2) while in flight position to escape a chopping alligator in the river, and if you slipped (which you did because one little mis-hit, and you were dead!), you were done for (skip to 4:38 in the video below to see what I’m talking about!)!
For 18 years, I couldn’t do it! For 18 years, I would get to that section flawlessly and die! It wouldn’t matter how many lives I had! You could give me one or 50; I wasn’t beating those vines!
Then… it happened!
On June 5, 2021, I conquered my childhood demons!
I had been in the mood to play Sonic Heroes again since I graduated from Kent State, but I wanted to find the right time to grind the game. On that fateful Saturday afternoon, I found time, and I grinded Sonic Heroes again like I was 7-years-old.
It took me a few hours, but I finally reached my “House of Horrors”: “Lost Jungle”, the final section with Team Sonic.
I took a deep breath, switched to flight formation with Tails, jumped on the spring and away I went like a mad man, spamming the “A” button with all I had, and a miracle happened: I didn’t fall off one time, and I completed the stage!
“YES!” is all I could scream in my house once the feat was done (Thank goodness nobody was in my house!)! I knew I had just done something monumental in my life!
I stopped playing Sonic Heroes for the rest of the day, trying to recover from the shock my body felt from completing “Lost Jungle” flawlessly and receiving an “A” rank for my hard work! The next day, I sent out the following tweet, which will age like fine wine!
Over the next few weeks, I completed all four teams’ stories, which wasn’t as difficult as I thought. Once you get past “Lost Jungle”, it really is smooth sailing! Yes, the levels and bosses become a little more challenging as you advance, but the game was not made as difficult as Sonic Adventure or Sonic Adventure 2 (which it took me 16 years to defeat both of those games, and I swear it was ONLY because of YouTube (say I cheated all you want, there’s no way I’m defeating Big’s fishing levels or that crazy gadget last section without the internet!))! Sonic Heroes just took patience and big brains!
Once I completed all four stories, I saw a message pop up on the screen, “Go get all 7 Chaos Emeralds”, and I instantly whispered to myself, “Oh no!”
I knew what that meant… the “special stages”!
In every Sonic Heroes level, there is a special gold key a player can retrieve in a box. Once they acquire the key, they cannot be hit for the rest of the level, or they lose the key. In every “Act One” stage, the key takes you to a practice special stage, where you can practice the stage you will need to defeat in “Act Two”. Defeating the special stage in “Act Two” grants you a Chaos Emerald.
I would occasionally try the special stages in my youth, but I was never any good at them past “Special Stage 2”. Beginning with “Special Stage 3”, bombs were placed in the way of your quest to get the Emeralds, and they were too much of a pain for me, but I knew now was my time, so for a week straight, I replayed every “Act Two” stage of Team Rose, so I can easily access the keys, and I completed every special stage with a lot of sweat, nervousness and passion! Once I completed all seven special stages, I went back to the “play” menu, and there it was… the final story!
I didn’t waste one second jumping into the final story. I had waited 18 YEARS to see how Sonic Heroes REALLY ended, and I wasn’t about to waste any time! The basis of the final story is Metal Sonic becomes an unstoppable beast, and you have to use all four teams to try and take him down! Team Rose, Team Chaotix and Team Dark versions weren’t terrible, but then we got to Team (Super) Sonic!
Yep, that’s right! Metal Sonic *somehow* gets even more powerful once you knock him around with the other teams that Sonic, Knuckles and Tails have to use the power of the emeralds and become Super to defeat the beast! The final boss, “Metal Overload”, is super overpowered and can only be dealt damage by “Team Blast” ( a new feature in the game where once you fill up your gage by collecting enough rings and destroying enemies, allows you to wipe out every enemy in a given range by pressing the “Z” button on GameCube, “RB” on Xbox and “R1” on PlayStation 2. It takes five “Team Blasts” to defeat the beast and isn’t necessarily hard, but time consuming. It took me an hour to defeat “Metal Overload”.
Once I delivered my fifth “Team Blast” to the monster, I was relieved! I had done it! I had defeated Sonic Heroes! All my hard work over the years had paid off! Listening to those final credits lifted 18 years of heavy bricks off my back!
Overall Impressions:
After finally beating the game, I can say Sonic Heroes is my second favorite Sonic game of all time, right behind Sonic Adventure 2. While the gameplay has some faults (mainly too slippery at times, and the camera angles sometimes being terrible), the game plays fast, fun and furious and gives everybody something they like (which is what the developers intended to do)!
I would love a Sonic Heroes sequel in the future!
Grade: A
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Favorite Team to Use:
This is a touch choice between Team Sonic and Team Chaotix, but I’m going to go with Team Sonic. They’re the original characters, Knuckles’ power is more fun to use than Vectors’, and I find Espio a little useless in most of Team Chaotix’s levels, (besides the ones where you literally have to use him to stay invisible to avoid the green frogs in “Frog Forrest” and the robots in “Egg Fleet”.
Least Favorite Team to Use:
Without a doubt, Team Rose. No disrespect to Amy, Big and Cream, but their levels are ridiculously easy!
Favorite Team Blast:
If this was an aesthetics award, this would go to Team Dark. I love the way Omega swirls around the Chaos Emerald, and I love how time stops once you use it. However, Team Chaotix singing and giving you extra rings depending on the amount of enemies is wonderful, entertaining and useful!
Least Favorite Team Blast:
A “Team Blast” is never a bad thing, but there’s some levels with Team Rose where you don’t even need it, so that’s my vote!
Favorite Level:
“Seaside Hill” is the first level of the game. It is an OG level as it is also in Sonic Generations (along with “Ocean Palace”), and it does have awesome music, but I’m going to go with “Frog Forrest”. It’s an easy level with all four teams, has great music, a great layout and a chilled-back vibe!
Least Favorite Level:
I’m not going to go with “Lost Jungle”. Even though the last section with Teams Sonic and Dark ruined my childhood, the level overall is a lot like “Frog Forrest” in terms of its music, layout and vibe! The level I don’t like playing in this game is “Hang Castle”. The №11 stage in the game, and the “Act One” stage of the haunted house stages, Hang Castle is creepy, long and especially confusing trying to find the 10 lost keys with Team Chaotix. It took me longer than usual to find the keys!
Favorite Boss:
There’s no question in my mind the answer to this question is simple: Fighting one of the teams at the end of either “Power Plant” or “Lost Jungle” (For the “Power Plant” fights, Team Sonic fights Team Rose, and Team Dark fights Team Chaotix. For the “Lost Jungle” fights, Team Sonic fights Team Shadow, and Team Rose fights Team Chaotix). These take 30 seconds to complete if you just spam “Thundershoot” with the flight character (“B” on GameCube, “X” on Xbox and “Square” on PlayStation 2).
Least Favorite Boss:
There’s no doubt to this question either: “Metal Overload”. Like I said earlier, the boss isn’t necessarily difficult, but it’s time consuming, and I don’t enjoy boss fights!
Favorite Music:
Even though I can’t stand facing “Metal Overload”, the final boss theme, “What I’m Made Of” by Crush 40 is an absolute banger!
Least Favorite Music:
Everything that has to do with “Hang Castle” and “Mystic Mansion”, the haunted house levels of the game, and stages No. ‘s 11 and 12 overall!
