Game» Sonic Heroes Basic Guide

Sonic Heroes, available on all 3 major platforms (GameCube, PlayStation 2, XBox) is Sonic Team's newest adventure.

Instead of single players, the game is played in teams of 3: Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles), Team Rose (Amy, Big, Cream), Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge, E-123 Omega), and Team Chaotix (Vector, Charmy, Espio). Each team has their own goal in the game, with Team Rose's game being easiest and Team Dark being the hardest (more enemies, tougher styles of clearing levels). If you're a beginner to Sonic games, start with Team Rose, as the levels are short and good for getting a feel of the levels. If you're an experienced player, you may want to start with Team Sonic, they are full length and average difficulty. If you're advanced enough, you can start off with Team Dark - there are more enemies and trickier paths.

Each team has a Speed, Flying, and Power character.

Shadow is speed. His moves include:
Spin - Hold the action button to roll into a ball, either to move quickly or attack enemies.
Attack - Hold the action button and release to do a flying kick forward.
Homing Attack - Press Jump 2 or more times to homing attack a la previous games.
Light Dash - Also a la previous games, press Action near a row of rings to dash across them.
Rocket Accel - Hold down Action and then release, so the other characters will push you forward at high speed.
Tornado Spin - When near an enemy, jump and press Action to spin around them, which will either shoot them up and make them fall (or blow away their shield if they have one). When near tall poles, use this move to swing on them.
Triangle Jump - When near a narrow pathway, use Homing attack to jump left and right on the walls in order to clear gaps with no floors. This works somewhat like Jump Panels from Sonic Adventure.

Omega is power. His moves include:
Forward attack - Press action once to attack enemies directly ahead.
Remote attack - Press action twice to attack. He can also break things with this move.
Wide attack - Press Action three times to use Omega's machine gun fire in a 360 degree attack.
Fireball Jump - Press Action to grab the other characters, then Jump to spin them at surrounding enemies.
Fire Dunk - Same as Fireball Jump, except you press Action once more to toss the other characters at enemies or at the floor, causing major damage.
Triangle Jump - Different from Speed's Triangle Jump. Press Jump twice and hold to make all characters hold hands in a triangle formation and float upwards if over a fan, or descend slowly if in midair.

Rouge is flying. Her moves include:
Flying: Press and hold Jump to fly. To ascend rapidly, press Jump repeatedly.
Thunder Shoot: Press Action in fly formation to shoot the other characters at enemies (usually flying enemies) to stun them and bring them down. If they don't die immediately, switch to power or speed to finish them off.
Bomb Rings: Rouge can drop explosive fake rings when not holding on to other characters. Be careful not to mistake them for real ones!

The number of moves may seem overwhelming, but you will see how they all work in the first one or two levels. The game is actually much easier than it seems at first.

Team Blast

Team Blast moves are special moves that can be used by filling the Team Blast gauge by:
- collecting rings
- killing enemies
- doing attacks
- getting a Team Blast item box

Team Dark's Team Blast is Chaos Inferno. It stops time for a few seconds via Chaos Control. The other teams have blasts that do damage, and they can use this against you in Team vs. Team battles. They're pretty much unavoidable, so look out.

Levels

Characters now have the ability to "level up," increasing their attack power. You can level up by collecting the colored orbs dropped from defeated enemies, collecting them from item boxes, or reaching a checkpoint (whichever character goes through it gets a level up). Levels are lost if you die or go to a new stage. It is important to level up your characters because not only will it mean more points in the end of the level, your attacks will become more powerful. For example, level 1 Omega shoots bullets. Level 2 Omega shoots flames. Level 3 Omega shoots powerful missiles.

Grinding

The grinding in the game is a big step up on the grinding in SA2. You can press Action to accelerate, and move from rail to rail by pressing left or Right and Jump. If you slow down, you will not just fall off the rail like in SA2. The entire grinding system is a big improvements.

Carts and Bobsleds

Sometimes you will ride about in carts or bobsleds. You can steer toward rings and balloons, and dodge danger by jumping. Everytime you run into something, you lose a character. If you lose Speed, your cart will slow down. If you lose Flying, you won't be able to jump.

Switches

There are tons of switches in this game. Some are locked up and you will have to take on enemies to make them open. Some have to be pulled or pushed. Some of those are in the air and you will have to fly up and grab them. Some doors require three switches to be hit simultaneously. Each character will grab a switch when you run and hit them. Whenever confronted with a locked door, search around for a switch - they may be very close or very far off.

Enemies

The enemies in this game are different because they don't die instantly - they have energy gauges and require several hits. For grounded enemies, use Speed. For flying enemies, use Flying. For armored enemies or enemies in large groups, use power. One of the enemies you will run into is a giant robot with a giant hammer. Use power to defeat him, he's easy BUT! - there is a second version of him wearing armor. To take him out, come close to him so he uses his spinning hammer attack. When he's about to fall, use Thundershoot to knock him over. Then use power to hit the glowing light on his head, his only vulnerable spot. Repeat as necessary.

Bonus & Special Stages

In each level there are keys in cages you can collect (use Power to open the cage) to access the Extra Stage when you clear the level. Some keys are right in the open and some are somewhat hidden - search around for them. If you die or take damage and lose your rings, you will lose the key, so be careful once you collect it. The bonus and special stages are similar. In the Bonus stage, you will have to race to the goal line in time while dodging bombs and collecting spheres to boost your Power Gauge. If you have ample power in the gauge, you can dash by pressing Action. In the Special Stage, you have to do the same while chasing the Chaos Emerald. Your goal is to catch up with it. Most people find it easiest to use Team Rose to accomplish this - it is easiest for them to get through the level without losing the key and since Big is wide, he can collect many more spheres at once than Amy. Use him and dash continuously to get the emerald in mere seconds.