Coming off of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes (2004) is an underwhelming bummer in the story department. But it is, without a doubt, the most clever game in terms of integrating the series’ ensemble cast into the way you play. Heroes stars four teams of three, each made up of a fast-running speedster, a powerful tank, and a flight-based hero. Heroes has you swap between these characters on the fly, making use of their unique talents to overcome obstacles, defeat Eggman’s robot forces, and occasionally face one of the opposing teams as their interests collide.
Heroes was foundational in defining who the Sonic the Hedgehog cast would be for the next 20 years. It brought back recent favorites like Shadow and Rouge, as well as more obscure characters at the time like Team Chaotix. Rather than having these characters just be cameos in a crowded room, Heroes’ team-based gameplay gives every character a chance to shine, and manages to do so without bloating the game with too much nonsense or cumbersome modes.
Like most Sonic games of the era, Heroes hasn’t aged perfectly, and some of the imprecision and clunkiness can frustrate 20 years later. But it’s still the best example of a 3D Sonic game doing right by its cast and weaving their distinct abilities together into level design. Over the years, the Sonic franchise has struggled to marry its huge, much-beloved cast with the speed-centric expectations that come with the Sega’s speed demon. Heroes is the best example of everything clicking into place. Its story may be underwhelming after the Adventure games, but a game all about the power of friendship and teamwork that gives everyone equal spotlight can hit just as hard.