An Okay, Albeit Disappointing, Sonic Game
346853
While Sonic: Lost World is a way better game than the absolutely awful Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, it has so many issues that really make it a lot less enjoyable than it should be.

Many compared the level design and look of the game to Super Mario Galaxy, but it does nothing as good as those two games. Listen, I grew up with Sonic and always preferred the Sonic games over Mario games, but Lost World proves that Mario has aged better. With that said, I do, however, think that both Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were exceptional games and on par with recent Mario games. Sadly, though, Lost World isn't half the game that Colors and Generations were.

My main issues with Lost World:

- Controls feel off and imprecise
- Much of the level design doesn't cater to Sonic's strengths as a character
- Villains are pretty lousy
- Difficulty spikes

Lost World started out looking like it had the potential to be an incredible Sonic game but, sadly, given all of the issues, it's just an okay one.
4822384
I'm an avid gamer that love classic games but I never owned a Genesis. So, I was excited to play some of the games that I missed out on for so long. Well, 75% of these games are completely throw away. That's disappointing. But it's not nearly as disappointing as playing the so-called 'classics' that are just not that great. The RPGs are grind-ridden, the platformers are second rate, the lack of decent puzzle games is disappointing, and stale and the Sonic games just aren't all that fun. They're tiring and uninteresting. either you get a sense of speed with no control over sonic, or it plays like a lame mario. The bosses are just pitiful. All the levels feel same-y and the platforming is pretty standard fare. It's obvious that Sega wanted Sonic to be a more "cool" Mario, but looking at it 10 years later, it's just pitiful.
There's an over-saturation of fighting games in this collection. Most of them are awful and aged horribly as well. The exception would be Streets of Rage...though still the game consists of pressing the punch button ad nausem from beginning to end. At least Streets or Rage has some polish to it, which makes it stand out from the rest of the other 40 games.
I love Treasure. One of my favorite developers in the world, but even their game for the genesis was just dull and lame.

I guess without some kind of sense of nostalgia, these games don't cut it. I played this collection with an open mind with no expectations. This is a real shame, because the Dreamcast has a very good collection of games that haven't aged like these games have. ChuChu Rocket for instance has aged better than the entire collection of Sonic combined.
1008288
The game is fun for quite a while, but after a few hours it grows a bit repetitive. Toward the end of the game, the plot essentially falls apart and just turns into an unfinished and quickly thrown together mess. If you're familiar with Konami's recent events and the fallout with Hideo Kojima, then you probably understand to some degree how this is all possible.
If you're not familiar, the short version is Konami is working it's way out of the console video game business and rushed this game to release by cutting the story short and leaving loose ends unresolved; made worse by Konami saying they aren't going to release any additional content for the game, so we may never get those loose ends tied up which is a real shame for such a storied series.
Otherwise, the game looks great and the open world experience makes the game more entertaining by giving you various ways to approach situations/enemies. The story also gives you a few twists and turns like you'd expect from a MGS game to keep it interesting/weird. Unfortunately the game grows stale once you gain access to better weapons by making almost all encounters so easy they barely require any effort. This is worsened by the 'boss fights' in the game being pretty simple, straightforward, and uninspired compared to previous entries in the series.
Kiefer Sutherland's voice work is largely lost on this game due to Big Boss/Snake having woefully low levels of dialog and very limited interaction with other characters. Almost all other characters have more dialog.
It isn't a bad game, but with the lacking levels of dialog and story, the plot feels less 'there' than in most MGS games, with very little of the sense urgency you'd expect and was often found in previous games.
I'd still recommend buying it if you're a fan of the series, but just to temper your expectations and not expect a terribly compelling story despite the strong opening it gives you. If you're new to the series(and shame on you!) it's definitely worth getting since you aren't familiar with what to expect from the previous games.
2500775
So i got this right when i got a ps3.  I was so excited, i had seen trailers, and i had been waiting a long time for a good sonic game....I never even got past the first section of the first level.  The controls and camera are just terrible.  i Literally could not move where i wanted.  I tried for about 5 more minutes, then gave up.
2523936
Splinter Cell 3D should be more accurately referred to as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 3D as SC3D is somewhat of a portable remastering of Chaos Theory on a handheld. As a 3DS debut title, SC3D met with the usual gruff response that almost all of the 3DS launch line up was met with, that is to say it wasn't viewed very highly and to some degree rightfully so. SC3D is a watered down version of Chaos Theory, which to many fans of Splinter Cell is seemingly considered the hallmark title of the series up to this point.

Since the negative reception to SC3D has likely scared off most I think it's fair we get the negatives out of the ways first before moving along, mind you I am relatively new to the Splinter Cell series and this is my first time owning Chaos Theory (I have played demos on the PC and such before). For starters, the multiplayer "Spies vs Mercs" doesn't exist on SC3D. This is one thing that's repeatedly touched upon in reviews of this version but honestly I don't think Nintendo and think multiplayer all the time when it comes to titles like this so I didn't expect it admittedly. Graphically even though the 3DS is graphically capable of standing along side the GameCube (a system SC:CT was on) the graphics look fairly below par. Sam himself looks mostly okay and the environments can look decent but enemies use some fairly drab textures. Also noticeable is that in talking sequences the models don't show up as actually talking. SC3D feels like it's closer to a PS2 game than GameCube or Wii, so that's not a positive. Meanwhile the game's 3D incorporation is a bit light but okay. Sam himself will show well enough from the depth of his environment when the 3D is cranked up and occasionally other features will show decently too. Lastly, the game's framerate isn't the highest, and gets a bit jittery in some places. In a way it's similar to the later released Metal Gear solid 3D.

The next hurdle SC3D faced in reviews were its controls. Since SC:CT was designed at the very least for twin analog sticks the developers had to compromise camera control to the face buttons. This is actually reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid 3D (also on 3DS) when not using the Circle Pad Pro attachment. Unfortunately SC3D was developed before the Circle Pad Pro so it's a title that couldn't benefit from the added stick. Playing the game as-is doesn't feel impossible though. If anything every title the Circle Pad Pro works with can still be competently played without it and SC3D, while not supportive of the add-on, is no different. You have access to 2 weapons mapped to the touch screen as well as your grenade goods. In addition you also have your handy scanning goggles and zoom-in function placed on the top corners of the touch screen. The other main section of the touch screen controls is the contextual zone, where actions such as picking locks, silently opening doors, or grabbing nearby targets are mapped. While functional the zone doesn't have the benefit of enough space, as the touch button on the left and right side of this screen section feel a bit small. All in all though everything feels possible to access.

Overall Splinter Cell 3D seems okay if you're new to the series or are looking for a stealth game on the 3DS. Granted, Metal Gear Solid 3D outshines this game on the 3DS, it's still a seemingly alright companion to said title. At the original $40 price I could understand it being difficult to forgive the flaws (probably more so if you're already a series fan) but if you snag SC3D for about $15 or below (I actually tried it due to a daily deal at Best Buy making it $5 new) it may be worth a detour.

Pros:
- Single player Chaos Theory on the go
- 3D is okay
- Controls are tolerable for what they are

Cons:
- Graphics are not up to par generally
- Frame rate issues occasionally
- Bits of the game feel downplayed in this version, such as the importance of hiding enemy bodies
- No multiplayer (but I don't see this as a big deal for a handheld iteration like this anyhow)
426943
I've played a lot of Star Trek games in my life. I've been through the greats (Elite Force series) and the not-so-greats (STO anyone?). Star Trek's latest game, the first for the reboot timeline, is sadly in the latter category.

Let me start with the redeeming qualities. First, it's a decent storyline. I love the connections to the original series; the re-imagined Gorn make decent enemies; and it's about time you get to play as Kirk and Spock. The game play itself is okay at times: good space exterior levels (I appreciate the 360-style levels) and, for the most part, the cover and climbing system is passable. Finally, the best part for me is the interior shots of the Enterprise. I'm a techno-geek at heart: I like exploring space ships. I know some people dislike the redesigned Enterprise, but I grew up with the Enterprise-D/Enterprise-E. The original Enterprise never made much sense to me, so I appreciate the redesign.

Those highlights alone warrant two out of five stars. Unfortunately, everything else is lack luster. I was surprised by the graphic quality. Granted, a 5GB download is nice, but I can't help but feel like shortcuts were taken with the graphics when you compare them to modern standards. It gave me the same feeling I had when playing Bridge Commander for the first time: surely the technology is better than this? Beyond this, the graphics fail to capture the artistic essence that the 2009 and (presumably) the 2013 films bring. Yes, they're computer games, but you can't tell me they can't achieve an artistic quality in their own right when games like the Halo, Gears of War, and Mass Effect series continue to break that mold.

More so, the storyline feels like it wants to fall back into the typical Star Trek "random mission action" trap. The 2009 movie obviously had the distinction of being an origin storyline that kicked off an entire new timeline. This game had the potential to explore many of the ramifications of where the movie left off: the destruction of Vulcan, the Enterprise's mission after Earth was almost destroyed, etc. Instead, it waters down these elements to focus on yet another action scene where the green aliens must die.

Finally, some of the gameplay issues are hardly excusable. Several puzzles took extra time in either figuring out the goal or confusing controls. Some tasks/screens had no obvious exit control or menu: I had to spend XP to upgrade just so I could exit the upgrade screen, and there is no obvious way to drop power cells. The AI driving the alt character (Kirk or Spock depending on who you're playing) is hardly solid. Half of the commands you send to the alt character are either ignored or require the character to be within a few feet of a panel, door, or enemy. I even had to restart a checkpoint a few times in joint tasks where the alt character never came and I was stuck: joint hacking and climbing into roof access points come to mind. The cover and climb system is rudimentary compared to more notable examples. What's more, a few tasks were complicated by slightly missed ledges or cover points that my character refused to enter/climb.

Overall, I was extremely disappointed with this game. I had high hopes, but it not only fails to live up to what I loved about the new movie(s), but also what I love about historic Star Trek games.
2734808
The Good: Superb visuals and audio, links with Metroid Fusion, lots of exploring, fun boss fights

The Bad: Doesn't evolve the formula, constant backtracking is tedious, lousy save system, funky controls, no multiplayer, getting 100% is nigh impossible without a FAQ

I could never really get into the Metroid series due to its lack of a decent story. While Samus Aran is a gaming pinnacle there's not much behind her besides she's an orphan raised by the Chozo race of Tallon IV. A "Great Poison" came to the planet from a meteor impact and ever since the Chozo had to flee their home world. Samus, being armed with Chozo armor and weapons, attempts to save the world from the Space Pirates and jellyfish...I mean Metroid. The game consists of five huge levels that you go back and forth from finding upgrades to your suit. There are a total of 4 weapons, 4 weapons upgrades, plus a few Morph Ball upgrades etc.

My favorite part of the game are the cool Morph Ball sections yet there aren't enough of them. You can, eventually, use the Spider Track Ball upgrade to click to ceilings and walls and there are some really cool segments for this yet only a few. You explore each level by needing to use a certain upgrade to get through such as a door needing a certain weapon to open it. You can also get missile expansion upgrades, power bomb upgrades, and energy tank (life) upgrades, but most of these are extremely hard to find and only die-hard Metroid fans will spend the time finding them. On the other hand there are tons of different enemy types and cool bosses. The game is just about exploring and now that it's in 3D Nintendo really makes you explore. The controls are "dumbified" for Nintendorks who were used to the 2D era and didn't know how to control an FPS so there is a lock on system (that is a bit annoying) and you use the L trigger to move your reticle. This can be really annoying for people used to standard FPS controls. You have to always stop to find out where to jump while enemies are attacking you. First hint: Nintendo this doesn't work! Secondly, there are a lot of different types of environments from water, to ice, to viney green lands.

Once you find your Gravita suit you can run through water with no problem so in turn you can explore more areas. After you get all of your add ons you have to find twelve artifacts to get to Metroid Prime. Basically, if you've played other Metroid games this is exactly like those except in 3D. I hated the constant backtracking and lousy save system. You will be in one level but the next add-on is two levels away. Instead of warping there you have to run through every single level and the enemy respawning doesn't help either. The best thing I liked about this game was the visuals. They look amazing for a launch title, and what's amazing are all the effects. Water and steam will hinder your vision, there will be static on-screen when your electronics are disrupted, Samus' face will reflect off her visor.

The sound, on the other hand, isn't so great with Ecco the Dolphin esque music and creepy techno. While some of it works it just sounds really old. There is also no multiplayer at all so this is another disappointment. You can link your Metroid Fusion GBA game for extra stuff, but I couldn't try that out. The game also sports the lamest endings ever (and I got the second best one). Overall, if you hated Metroid before you still will, and if you loved it before you'll love it more. Newcomers stay away if you don't like your FPS formula messed with. I don't hate Metroid I just wish it would evolve more.
4270163
I did not play last year's game, so I cannot comment on how much of an improvement this game is over that one, but I will set the record straight for anyone curious about whether or not this game is a bold step forward: it is not. If you've played any of these games from 2K10 onward you've played this one. Yes, this year's game has a terrific roster and some good production values, but it feels like it was built on the exact same engine as its predecessors, only now they have altered the pacing through irritating in-match mini-games and adding a cost to reversals. The control system itself is in many ways worse than the older games, as this emphasis on "realism" results in very slow, sluggish control response...almost to the point of absurdity. You have the feeling that you are not really controlling your character, but simply guiding him/her through a set of animations and quick time events. This clunky stitching together of animations based on context does make the whole thing look like a match, but you feel rather detached from what you are seeing on screen.

As a result, the player is presented with a clunky, antiquated game engine slathered in a vibrant and appealing coat of WWE paint. In that sense, it is the wrestling equivalent of Madden-an aging, substandard mess that manages to represent its license with enough appeal that you stomach it out of fandom and nostalgia. At the end of the day, if you grew up with wrestling and the great wrestling games of the late 90s, it is nice to have a new wrestling game to play. The game is good enough satisfy the wrestling urge for half-our or so, but then reality sets in and I, anyway, am compelled to move on. If you only grew up with these games, then perhaps it is good enough, but if you are a veteran of games like No Mercy and Fire Pro, you will be bitterly disappointed by this effort.
3234446
Let me start out by saying this game is fun - if you go into it expecting something different then your old genesis Sonic Game. Well Kinda.

The basic gist of this game is that there are three main types of game
Night
Day
World

Night gaming is akin to Star Fox Adventures and lego star wars - beat up baddies, solve a few puzzles, progress to the next mild puzzle.

World game is a very dumbed down world that Sonic Adventure 1 had. Less to do, and more claustrophobic.

The day game is where this shines. Perhaps, in this reviewers humble opinion, is the best sonic experience since the game went 3-d. Levels have an incredible amount of speed, and change between a 2-d and 3-d style very well. In all honesty it's the pinnacle of Sonic Gaming.

This game is great for kids, the night time levels would be a lot of fun, and the colors are great. The humor and the plot would be a lot more appreciative to a young kid than a college student.

For older audiences, the game will really shine on the day stages (no pun intended!), and the night stages will prove just mildly annoying, if not overly drawn out.

This ins't a bad turn for the Sonic series, by any means. Certainly there have been much worse games, and certainly none of them have nailed the speed factor quite like this one.

If you can get on the psn network, try out the demo. You'll really get a sense for what the day scenes are like. I got hooked on it. Makes it worth going through the night stages, just to get some more of the fun daytime levels.

Thanks developers for putting a lot of work into this game. It shows in the levels, though you really need to work on the world - a lot!
2220613
This game had some nice graphics, but other than that it was pretty disappointing.  The dialogue was stiff and at times very awkward, leading me to wonder if maybe it had been translated from another language.  I don't mind swearing in games, but a lot of times it felt like they were swearing to try to make the game seem bad@ss - it was stilted sounding, like when kids try it out for the first time to get a reaction rather than because it's a natural part of their speech.

The plot had some really laughably stupid parts, things that would never work in real life.  For example, ***spoilers*** at one point the Origami killer instructs Ethan to go to a power plant and basically crawl through some ducts which are strewn with broken glass through the whole duct system.  So this guy had time to do this whole setup and what? break a bunch of glass and make multiple trips into these ducts, unnoticed, to spread broken glass throughout every foot of them?  Or before that, Ethan is told to retrieve a car, which it turns out was waiting at this garage for 2 years and is a pretty nice sports car that Ethan manages to get pretty smashed up before he's done with it.  How much time and money has this guy invested into torturing Ethan?  Or Norman the FBI agent freeing suspects and finding dead bodies all over the place without calling anything in, and meanwhile his PD partner intimidates and harasses every witness and suspect they encounter in a ridiculously over-the-top manner. ***end spoilers***

Besides the bad dialogue and silly plot stuff, the movement and camera angles were often awful.  Why set it up in such a complicated way for movement?  You have to hold down R2 just to move your character forward, and then try to steer based on your camera angle.  Any time you have to fight or negotiate terrain (or do random things like tie someone's tie or make scrambled eggs), you have to watch to hit the right buttons at the right time for the right amount of time.  I was so busy watching the freaking button signals that I couldn't watch what was happening with the characters.  It was distracting and annoying.  I guess they were trying for something original with the interface, but most of the time it felt pointlessly complicated.  Sometimes if I missed pushing the right buttons, the action proceeded along anyway, so I was left wondering how much it really mattered if you participated in the button mashing at all.

Don't even get me started on Madison Paige - the female character whose sole contributions are to variously strip or repeatedly nurse Ethan back to health.

The story was interesting enough that I'll finish out the game (I'm about 3/4 through it), but I won't bother playing it again and can't recommend it to anyone as being worth spending the time on.  I really don't understand all the rave reviews.
2790895
hi kids  and  gronups i think that sonic is  the onley  game i play ahhhhhhhh  yeap. it  is but  i  do  play my other games but you don't care about  me.  soooo sonic is  fun but the onley thang i  hate about it is some times i get 1or2times to go and  do  the lap if you losa thows 2 laps than game  over but the pont  is  that i  still like  the game so thanks  for reding my poma p.s. i  may not of  spald all  the  thags right bye.
1035151
There really is not much to say about this game, when it's day time you are regular Sonic and you have levels where you run very fast until the level is over. One cool thing about this game though, is that there are a few quick time events to make sure you are paying attention, and I thought they were pretty well placed enough (usually) to make things seem faster paced, which the game does anyways, as I have yet to play a Sonic game where he runs this fast. The night levels you are a "were-hog" or something like that; half wolf, half hedgehog, either way it's not your usual Sonic. Levels are slow and combat based, which is like making a Mortal Kombat game where ninjas sprint around the ring instead of killing each other, but as long as Sonic still has some running around stages I guess I can put up with it. Story doesn't make the slightest bit of sense and the other characters suck, but that's nothing new here, and since Sonic Team quit caring about those details somewhere around 2005, we Sonic fans might as well too. Graphics are pretty good, best graphics so far in a Sonic game that I have seen. Compared to the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, this game is pretty much as awesome as a flying robot shark (which is pretty awesome). If you can get it for a decent price then you should totally buy it if you are a Sonic fan, but if you can't or you are not a Sonic fan then I recommend buying a pizza instead.
465170
I was a very young kid in the 1980s, but I still remember PAC-MAN. It was one of the first video games that we owned and I believe it came included with the Sears Atari 2600 that we owned. MS. PAC-MAN was a bit more fun because it was more colorful and the mazes were a little more challenging. I also remember the 1980s PAC-MAN tv series. Therefore, I was really excited when I had the opportunity to see a promo copy of PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES: GHOST PATROL.

Sadly, like Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, G.I. Joe, and even the Looney Tunes, Pac-Man has suffered from being "updated" for the modern era. The Pac-Man outside of the original video game was a husband and father and the guardian of his village. The Pac-Man of PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES is kind of a bratty teenager; he's an orphan and the last of his kind (the yellow Pacs), but that's no excuse for brattiness. Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde, are still ghosts, but instead of trying to defeat and foil Pac-Man, they're actually friends of his from the "Netherworld". Also, in this series Pac-Man is pretty much unstoppable as he can become just about anything by eating berries from the Tree of Life.

Besides the changes in the characters, PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES also suffers in the animation department. It's not terrible animation. However, it's not all that great animation either. The animation in the episodes I watched reminded me of those inexpensive knock-offs of name brand movies (e.g. there's a movie called WINGS that has packaging extremely similar to Disney's PLANES). There's not much detail or shading involved and much of the scenes lack depth. Compared to the 1980s series (which was done by Hannah-Barbara), PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES is a big disappointment.

I can understand why some children might like PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES: it's got lots of pretty colors, most of the adults are clumsy or idiots, there's lots of silly physical humor, and there's very little storytelling or characterization involved. However, even the 1980s series was based upon a video game and was silly at times, there was some characterization, the storytelling was better, and the animation was of a much higher quality. Therefore, even if you have younger children, I'd recommend staying away from PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES and instead find a copy of the old PAC-MAN tv series instead; you'll enjoy it more and it's better entertainment for the kids, too.
1221768
I have loved the rest of the series, but this game was a severe disappointment to me.  This game is good, but clearly over rated after playing through it completely.  The game play has a few annoying glitches in story mode where you have to stand or move just so.  There is one fight that is just a button mashing pain in the butt.  You also have to do so much annoying mundane crap at certain points before you can move on.  I play games to escape reality and not to live someone else's boring life.  The story line overall is good and I'd watch it as a movie aside from the already mentioned mundane tasks.  So worth playing overall, but hold out longer until it is cheaper to satiate your urge to see the end.
855109
I really loved Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations so I had high hopes for this Sonic game!  Also exciting was the inspiration behind Lost World--an old canceled SEGA Saturn game called Sonic X-treme!  Lost World is a fun game but only when it works--which isn't often.  Sonic has new moves that let him run on walls and over obstacles but it's very finicky and never works as well as you'd like it to.  This game implements motion controls that are completely broken--trying to shoot Sonic out of a cannon is a nightmare.  The power ups from Sonic Colors are back but unlike before these never seem to help out. Due in part to bad level design and bad controls.  Sonic can still home in on enemies when he jumps but strangely now it can send you way off course and to your death.  I've learned to run past every enemy in this game to survive.  There are also many dumb side scrolling levels that feel very out of place in this Sonic game.  The new boss characters are lame too as are most of the boss fights.  Unlike the two previous games in the series most of this game's dialog is very cringe worthy.  Like I said earlier this game is fun but only when it works.  It's really too bad.  The last Sonic games were so good, I can only think that Lost World needed more time in develpoment.
3629246
Sonic Generations is easily the best of all of Sega's 3D Sonic games. Easily. I love SA1/2, but they just don't compare in terms of sheer quality.
And I'd put Generations up there right next to Sonic 2 in terms of quality [to be fair, I don't like Sonic 2 that much, but that's just because I think Sonic 3+K does everything it did better] but below Sonic 3 and Knuckles [still Sonic Team's magnum opus].

It has it's flaws though. I have the PS3 version, so some issues listed might be specific to it.

the good
1: absolutely stunning visuals. The graphics are a sight to behold, like you're playing a Pixar movie.
2: classic Sonic controls pretty faithfully to the Genesis games. Not perfect, but it's miles better than say, Sonic 4 [even if episode 2 of Sonic 4 fixed a fair few things]. Even the SA2-style insta-spindash he gets in this game feels right, apart from its lowest charge speed being way slower than doing a 1-rev spindash in the Genesis games. Also, you can control your movement after jumping from a roll, unlike the Genesis games. This is great.
3: the soundtrack is top-notch. Sonic games have great music, this is no exception.
4: the level design is great. Sega's been spot on for the last 3 major Sonic games, Colors, Unleashed, and this. The levels are enjoyable enough that you'll try to go for best times and the like, and they're full of branching paths like the original Genesis games, something that was sorely missed in Sonic games from SA1 onward.
5: there are loads of extra challenge stages. They're pretty easy, but they're interesting and fairly fun.
6: it includes Sonic 1 in its entirety to play. There are better ways to play Sonic 1 [especially considering how many times Sega's ported it], but it's there.
7: pure Sonic fanservice. You'll recognize bits and pieces of the original levels, you'll notice that some levels are designed to reference ones that didn't make it into the game, and the whole premise of the game is a trek through Sonic's history. Longtime Sonic fans should be happy.

the bad
1: too short. Yes, it's a Sonic game [if you were to make it 20 hours long, you'd need either crazy amount of levels or non-Sonic segments], but you're left wanting more a fair bit more. There are loads of things to try to extend the length of the game, but it is still a short game. At least it's not made really long by really crappy or slow segments [see: Knuckles/Rouge stages in SA2, Big stages in SA1, the Werehog in Unleashed, etc], it's very focused in delivering enjoyment to the player instead of padding things out.
2: the boss battles actually aren't that good. The Rival battles are pretty cool, but the main bosses all suffer in some fashion [the worst offender is the Death Egg Robot, feared in Sonic 2, down in almost no time here]. It's a shame, because Sega picked some really cool bosses too.
3: modern Sonic handles like a sack of bricks. As much as the Sonic Adventure series had its faults, Sonic's control was spot on there. Here, something like turning is a slow process. Sonic can go very fast, but he's no longer as nimble as he used to be [they can get lots of speed quickly, but they start off moving way too slowly]. This is a problem with Unleashed as well, and it feels wrong. It wasn't a problem in Colors though...
4: there seems to be a delay in jumping. I press the button, and it's like 6 frames before he actually jumps. Tried it on a CRT [so no lag from the TV], and no other moves have that issue.
5: the last boss is stupid and explains nothing about what to do. Bleh.
6: framerate. 30fps, and it drops at spots. Even when running in 480i. Shameful. It's a pretty game, but I'd appreciate a cut in visual quality for a full 60fps experience.
7: the provided emulation of Sonic 1 is horrid, soundwise. That has to be the least accurate Genesis sound emulation I've heard outside of one of those plug-and-play things, which is a shame.

It's a great game (even if it's awfully short) and it's the best 3D Sonic game. Pick it up if you like Sonic at all.
2975344
I really, REALLY wanted to adore this game. I feel like if there was just a little more care to this one, it could've been a real hidden gem among the Wii library. Mega Man 9 is often credited for having popularized the idea of "modern retro gaming", but a few rarities have attempted to capture the classic feel even before then; this game was released in 2007, and was originally planned to be a Pocky & Rocky sequel until for whatever reason the developers couldn't retain the rights for the series. But instead of scrapping the game, they decided to replace the characters with original ones whilst keeping just about everything else intact, which HAS been done for certain greats out there, so it's not a bad idea per se.

Heavenly Guardian stars a snow goddess named Sayuki who sets off on an adventure to create a cure for her beloved, a boy in a town village.....battling billions of baddies along the way. The game feels almost like as if it was ripped out of a Sega CD, with its neatly pixelated graphics, unique soundtrack, and...a sound effect straight from Sonic the Hedgehog (when the enemy gets hit)?? As with its roots, the game plays like a shooting game, yet you can roam around the environments freely. It's a fun style, and there are even several ways to go at it thanks to the use of power-ups and multiple paths with varied enemy types.

So what's wrong with this title. Two things. Two. Extremely. Major. Things.

First up is the difficulty! I usually welcome a challenge; after all, I've beaten about a dozen classic Mega Man games without using continues. BUT THIS IS BORDERLINE RIDICULOUS!!! The first stage isn't so bad; in fact, it's what I wish the whole game was like, but then as soon as it gets to the first boss, things get haywire from there! The boss battles look all neat and cool, but are frustrating pains in the ass thanks to the game not prepping your health or anything for the fight and the bosses themselves racking up tons of health and using attacks that can involve quick reflexes. The stages after the first end up becoming long marathons full of many kinds of enemies that could possibly ambush you or attack in ways you wouldn't expect; keep in mind that you only have three hit points! And there only ever a few extra hit points or lives hidden around per stage! This gets exhausting FAST and it turns the entire game into a painful endurance test, especially with my incoming point...

Second, THERE'S NO SAVE FEATURE!! Here, we have a game. A retail game. For the Nintendo Wii. A seventh generation console. This game was released about 20 years after The Legend of Zelda showed the world that you can save progress. YET THIS RETAIL WII TITLE FROM 2007 DOESN'T FOLLOW SUIT!!! You have to play this frustratingly painful endurance test IN ONE SINGLE SITTING!!! There IS a stage select, granted, but that's AFTER YOU BEAT THE GAME...........IF YOU COULD EVEN MANAGE TO DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!