Sonic Wars, released by Diablo on Sonic’s Birthday (that explains the familiar icons appearing at the title screen), is your average Sonic platforming adventure. But, although this seems good for a game that’s rushed (hey, it wasn’t me that said it, Diablo admitted it ^_^), there are a few flaws that stop this game from getting as good as it should have been.
To be quite honest, the graphics aren’t all that imaginative, but then again, neither are the graphics of many other fan games. This uses the same graphics as Sonic Pocket Adventure, the odd little Sonic 2-alike handheld outing for the Neo Geo Pocket Color (grr, American spelling).
Some of the features have changed, for example, the rings and score counter (“big wow” – shut up), but the amount of rings you collect in an Act will determine whether you get a life or not. At the end, you see Sonic heading for a life, and his journey furthers depending on how many rings you have. Whether this bit was put in for originality, or if it was because Diablo couldn’t be bothered to program in a life when a player got 100 rings in a stage, isn’t known.
Of course while things look OK graphically, there are a few niggles with the game. The spin attack is not present – Diablo said he couldn’t be bothered. Fair enough. Sonic games are supposed to give you a sense of speed though, and in this game jumping whilst running at full speed will put you at a dead stop when you land – which means you have to run back up to speed. Nothing major, granted, but quite annoying if you’re in that speedy mood.
I must commend Diablo for at least putting in a challenge for the game. Unlike other games, it’s over all too quickly. But again, the rushed development shows, as jumps aren’t up to scratch and you can never get your leaps accurate enough for the ledges. A prime example of this is in the second level, ‘Factory Work’, where you come across platforms to jump across. Irritating to say the least.
This game is good as a time killer, and is well created for the amount of time it was under development. But, the rushed release and other glitches make this game far from perfect. This is one to play after you’ve sucked the whole life outta Sonic Adventure 2. Wait for Sonic S-V 2 instead.
Developer: Diablohead
SFGC Score: 4 out of 10