Heroes was my first 3D Sonic, and I never played it again since then. Revisiting the series now, I was afraid that it wouldn't be as good as I remembered. Man, what a relief. It's better!

For starters, my console growing up was the PS2, and that version is fucked up. Going with the GameCube version now, the solid 60fps alone was enough to make me smile. But shit, there's so much more that I appreciate here now.

I LOVE the music. It immediately takes me back to my childhood bedroom, blasting through Ocean Palace at 2 o'clock after school. Character models are a bit too plastic-y but environments are super charming, especially the flat-ass skyboxes. Every "zone" is very distinct from one another, tons of visual variety all around.

Actually playing the game was great too, like slipping back into a comfy pair of socks. There was some occasional jank of course, like dropping momentum at the loop corners or falling off platforms with a Power character mid-combo, but let's not pretend like that's not the case for every 3D Sonic game up to this point and beyond lmao
Speaking of Power characters! The combat here is so one-note that, in a weird way, it kinda works? Blasting enemies away with Knuckles, Omega and Vector was great, I took every opportunity to stop and clear the room when I could.
And speaking of Vector! Team Chaotix is just Adventure 1's mission mode, which I GREATLY appreciate.

Also! The Special Stages! They don't ask you to pixel hunt around every single fucking corner for 10 Chao or SP Rings! Just hold on to the Special Key(which there are multiple of per-stage) until the end and you're golden. THIS is how you do it. The stages themselves are fine, great music, but god damn do you end up in the ceiling way more than you should.

The story is very simple, but that's always my favorite approach when it comes to Sonic. It plants some seeds for future events like the stuff that happens with Shadow, but it never made me roll my eyes as was the case with Adventure 2.

All that said, I never finished the game when I was little. I kept playing through Team Sonic and Team Shadow's routes ad nauseum, so needless to say I was really excited to finish the last story segment this time after listening to What I'm Made Of so many times. It was... Disappointing. In terms of gameplay, that is; the presentation for the final battle is raw as all hell, thanks in large part to the aforementioned theme. But man, only being able to damage Metal Sonic with a Team Blast? A Team Blast that interrupts AND SKIPS the background music, at that? Nah, this could've been much better. (Also, what's with Tails and Knuckles not getting anything special for their Super forms? Like, I get that Sonic is the one transforming, but come on... They're a team. Give Tails his flickies and Knuckles some ancient Echidna markings on his body, fucking ANYTHING but a glowing ball)

This was super fun. Few games are able to turn back the clock for me, but this one takes me back to simpler days very easily.

Sonic Heroes introduced a unique team-based approach to the classic Sonic formula. You control three characters at once, switching between Speed, Power, and Flight formations to blast through levels and overcome obstacles. While the bright visuals and fast-paced action provide a burst of fun, Sonic Heroes suffers from camera issues, occasionally unintuitive level design, and a repetitive mission structure across its four campaigns. Ultimately, it delivers a flashy yet somewhat flawed 3D Sonic experience.

Sonic Heroes was one of my childhood games, no doubt. The game for sure doesn't quite hold up very well, Sonic and his mates constantly control like they're running on ice. The general move-set for all of the teams often feel weird, like sometimes you'll jump and you won't quite go as far as you'd like to. Asides from actually controlling the characters, the game itself isn't too bad. Music is splendid, sound effects are nice, dialogue is well written and funny sometimes, it's all good. I honestly really enjoyed this game when I played it!