The Sega Nintendo love fest is about to continue with the release of Sonic Lost World for the Wii U and 3DS today (18.10.13). Spinning into action with a whole new 3D platformer, the lightning bolt blue hedgehog has just pipped his old plumber foe to the finishing line with Mario 3D World not due out until the 29th November 2013.
It may not be the first 3D platform adventure to grace the Nintendo super computer, but when it comes to Mario and Sonic every little victory counts. However, there appears to be a big change in the line up for Sonic in this latest installment as he faces off against a whole new set of baddies, in a new world in which Dr Eggman, (he’ll always be Robotnik to us), has managed to take control.
Storyline
For some reason unbeknownst to any right thinking individual, Dr Eggman has kidnapped a bunch of Sonic’s cute and cuddly animal chums and sprinted off with them into the ether. With Tails and the blue ninja in hot pursuit he manages to take control of a group of baddies known as the Deadly Six on a world called Lost Hex. When the do-gooding duo arrive to dish out some justice to the nasties the Dr loses control over the six and they rise up against him, with Sonic and Tails getting the brunt of their wrath in the process.
Somehow this results in Sonic, Tails and Eggman putting their life-long differences behind them to team up to reign in the Deadly Six. With notes from the Dr on how to launch their animal rescuing mission, the random team of a two tailed flying fox and a hyper speed blue hedgehog set out to save the day once again.
Gameplay
Classic side-scrolling 2D platform fun is also a big part of Sonic Lost Worlds, as well as the slightly restricted 3D platform adventure game style, which creates a bit of diversity as you traverse between the two. In essence, it combines elements of the original Sonic games on the Megadrive with the more recent 3D incarnation to build a platformer mash-up of old meats new.
You travel around the various worlds using a combination of old and new move sets (more on this later) to rescue your animal kingdom pals and systematically eradicate each of the Deadly Six. As with most Nintendo Wii U games, Sonic Lost World benefits from the off screen play feature thanks to gamepad screen, so while your mam’s watching Countdown or Going for Gold you can still decimate the Deadly Six.
Both 3DS and Wii U versions of the game come with multiplayer gameplay options, as well as providing the ability to share content, like vehicles, between the different versions of the game. On the 3DS, there’s a local and online multiplayer option for up to 4 players and on the Wii U there’s both co-op and a head-to-head race multiplayer for 2 players. While it’s cool that the game has added multiplayer options into the game we think it’s a bit of a light inclusion that could have gone a whole lot further to build even more multiplayer options.
Moves
One of the coolest additions to the Sonic legacy is the new dash button that allows you to go from a casual pace to Sonic’s top gear with the click of a trigger. This also enables Parkour-like manoeuverability similar to Ratonhnhaké:ton in Assassins Creed 3 to give the blue blur the ability to climb and scramble through the various worlds a bit easier.
The game also reprises the Colour Powers, which first entered the fray in Sonic Colours. They’ve been added to with more powers in Sonic Lost World and there’s a bit of variation between the Wii U and 3DS versions, but in general the powers include:
- Drill – burrow through the ground to get to wherever you want to go. It’s a returning power with Sonic turning gold and spinning though the earth.
- Laser – also a returning power with which Sonic can photon up to singe out the pain.
- Rocket – the last of the old Colours powers, this one sends the blue spiny one into the stratosphere as a gold rocket of doom.
- Eagle – this is the first of the new powers, giving Sonic the wonder of flight as a red eagle.
- Black hole – this one turns you into a screeching vortex (of dooooom) sucking in everything in your path.
- Rhythm – arguably the least exciting new power, sonic turns into a jumping musical note and while it’s probably fun, there’s definitely no doom about it.
In terms of his general moves, the homing attack is back again with a slight upgrade that allows Sonic to take out multiple targets in one fell swoop, and the developers have included a kick attack for bigger impact and a double jump capability to extend his range of movement.
Graphics
Graphically, the game is fast, crisp and colourful in a basic cartoon style. It’s a long way away from pushing the boundaries of what the Wii U can do, but the 3DS version is probably the best looking hand-held Sonic adventure we’ve ever seen.
Deadly Six Edition
As well as the standard Wii U version of the game, Sega will also be distributing a limited run of the Deadly Six edition, which includes an extra level where Sonic faces off against each of the 6 and their supersized monster steeds. The monsters they fight on are apparently inspired by creatures from the Nights Into Dreams games, do if your a fan you’ll definitely want to hold of the Deadly Six edition.
Sonic will also be featuring in Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games later this year, so it looks like the Nintendo and Sega partnership will be here to stay for a good while yet.
