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SONIC LOST WORLD (WIIU)
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Publisher: Nintendo.
Developer: Sonic Team. Released: October 2013. Genre: 2D & 3D Platformer. Other versions: PC. Posted 17th June 2020. By Shane Battams © 2020 |
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Sonic Lost World echoes the trajectory of the blue hedgehog’s 3D outings as a whole: often showing moments of greatness, but undermined by frustrations as things unfold. Sonic’s debut on the Wii U reaches some satisfying highs, showing genuine imagination and rapid, colourful level design. However, a litany of difficulty spikes, control issues and technical woes may begin to erode your goodwill. Despite these issues, younger players as well as patient supporters should still enjoy it, and it’s nowhere near the bottom of the 3D Sonic pile.
As Sonic and Tails chase Eggman by plane, a dropped pod and clean shot see the duo crash into an unknown planet in the sky, later dubbed Lost Hex. They eventually unravel a plot involving Eggman and his control over six indigenous Zeti, a “Deadly Six” if you will, as well as expanding his robot army. As things begin to open up, Sonic soon finds himself attempting to thwart the end to his planet and even find himself working with his enemies to avoid certain doom. The story is pretty run-of-the-mill, despite seeing the return of Ken Pontac and Warren Graff as writers. The Deadly Six show a disappointing reliance on clichés and tropes that border on parody, and fails to drum up a sense of threat. There’s some interesting detours and moments, but otherwise, it’s pretty average.
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Lost World dips its toes in a number of platforming styles. Jumping between 2D side-scrolling and full-3D on a spherical base, in a clear nod to Super Mario Galaxy, Sonic brings his trademark speed to the proceedings but with a twist. Sonic, by default, moves with moderate speed, but a press of the trigger not only speeds him up but also allows you to parkour – including wall running and hopping over smaller jumps. Returning from Sonic Colours are Wisps, which give a short-timed power including levitation, atomizing and drilling into the earth. Outside of completing main levels, players can enlist in missions to earn power-ups during gameplay, find hidden bonus levels and collect stars in each level. There’s certainly no lack of variety here, swinging from fast-paced dashes akin to classic Sonic, to slower and methodical platforming, with initial level design seeming inventive and promising.
Unfortunately, Sonic Lost World’s successes begin to fall away once you break the mid-point. Instead of clever and inventive designs, it seems like Sonic Team were in a rush to complete this one, with a bigger reliance on obscured hazards and cheap deaths, which are often a facet of the less successful 3D Sonic games. These difficulty spikes reach their apex in the final world, with frustratingly lengthy levels that feature multiple bosses, hair-pulling level design and a bland series of volcanic, dingy locations. Bugs begin to pop up, such as one instance where Sonic became stuck between a jump pad and a wall, forcing you to wait on a timeout – and loss of a life – for normal service to be resumed. This is all a shame, because Lost World seems on the right track to success, but ends up missing the target towards the end, though earlier levels still prove a highlight.
Lost World has decent legs, with a healthy dose of levels and secrets to uncover. Each stage contains both creatures to save and Stars which unlock bonus features once you find all in a Zone. The game can even be played with a second player, but it doesn’t pan out too well. The second controls an RC vehicle, which proves difficult to keep up with Sonic and adds little to the game. You can also partake in competitive matches, which sees you vying to beat each other to the end. The Wii U functionality is also uneven, with mini-games seeing you trampolining and shooting characters into balloons proving pretty uninteresting. Wisps often rely on gyro and touch control though, and prove well-suited to the mayhem. There’s enough here to keep you going well over 10 hours.
Unfortunately, Sonic Lost World’s successes begin to fall away once you break the mid-point. Instead of clever and inventive designs, it seems like Sonic Team were in a rush to complete this one, with a bigger reliance on obscured hazards and cheap deaths, which are often a facet of the less successful 3D Sonic games. These difficulty spikes reach their apex in the final world, with frustratingly lengthy levels that feature multiple bosses, hair-pulling level design and a bland series of volcanic, dingy locations. Bugs begin to pop up, such as one instance where Sonic became stuck between a jump pad and a wall, forcing you to wait on a timeout – and loss of a life – for normal service to be resumed. This is all a shame, because Lost World seems on the right track to success, but ends up missing the target towards the end, though earlier levels still prove a highlight.
Lost World has decent legs, with a healthy dose of levels and secrets to uncover. Each stage contains both creatures to save and Stars which unlock bonus features once you find all in a Zone. The game can even be played with a second player, but it doesn’t pan out too well. The second controls an RC vehicle, which proves difficult to keep up with Sonic and adds little to the game. You can also partake in competitive matches, which sees you vying to beat each other to the end. The Wii U functionality is also uneven, with mini-games seeing you trampolining and shooting characters into balloons proving pretty uninteresting. Wisps often rely on gyro and touch control though, and prove well-suited to the mayhem. There’s enough here to keep you going well over 10 hours.
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Sonic’s latest outing benefits from colourful, technically proficient presentation. Crisp visuals and a mostly-consistent frame rate, levels are often brightly lit and feature unique designs, including the pun-tastic Dessert Ruins. Character designs, particularly the Deadly Six, all look good, as do the cut-scenes. The sound is perfectly acceptable, with solid voice acting, clear sound effects and a script that sometimes hits the mark, and sometimes misses it. The music is the real highlight, with plenty of catchy tunes and more bombastic accompaniments which heighten the drama, when appropriate, and it all fits nicely.
Sonic Lost World is a game that’s equal-parts fun and frustrating, but cumulatively the positives outweigh the negatives. While the latter half of the game will test your patience and perhaps lacks the ingenuity of the first half, a bounty of levels and challenges will please fans of the series and younger players. Not everything works well, but Lost World manages to capture the best moments of the series during certain sequences – the flashing sense of speed over a rollercoaster ride of hazards – and for that, it stands above the lesser entries of this SEGA platformer. It doesn’t quite reach the highs of Sonic Generations, but fans will still find something to enjoy.
Sonic Lost World is a game that’s equal-parts fun and frustrating, but cumulatively the positives outweigh the negatives. While the latter half of the game will test your patience and perhaps lacks the ingenuity of the first half, a bounty of levels and challenges will please fans of the series and younger players. Not everything works well, but Lost World manages to capture the best moments of the series during certain sequences – the flashing sense of speed over a rollercoaster ride of hazards – and for that, it stands above the lesser entries of this SEGA platformer. It doesn’t quite reach the highs of Sonic Generations, but fans will still find something to enjoy.
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VERDICT
“Sonic Lost World is a game that’s equal parts fun and frustrating. The quality begins to ebb with extended play, but it will please younger players, as well as fans of the series” OVERALL: 6/10 |