Sonic Lost World (Wii U) Initial Thoughts

Hold your horses, or furry blue hedgehog.

This isn’t your typical Sonic game.

The fast and furious gameplay that made the character legendary is still there, but it appears Sega’s has taken a line out of John Hughes’ “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off.”

“The world moves pretty fast sometimes. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. ”

With a revamped control scheme and focus on exploration, Sonic Lost World feels like Sega’s first attempt at making a more traditional platformer than the speed-infused adventure many of their most dedicated fans are used to. The early feeling is that it works, but takes time to get used to.

Think Super Mario galaxy with an undeniable Sega flair.

For the first time in the series, Sonic will not run unless you make him. With a press of the right shoulder button, Sonic will run and be able to access parts of the level he couldn’t by walking. With animals to free and red coins to find on every level, Sonic is rewarded for slowing down and taking in the scenery for a few seconds.

Dashing is also more focused. Requiring a press of left shoulder button, Sonic is once again slowed down, further emphasizing the exploration of each level.

The controls do take time to master. Those familiar with the series may get miffed at first, but will eventually find the changes a bit smarter and even inviting. After two decades of the same controls however, hardcore fans may be less receptive to change. For this reason, this step in the franchise may be a great introduction for younger games. The speed and difficulty of the few levels playable this far however will latch on to older gamers.

What will entice seasoned fans of the franchise further are the beautiful environments and alludes to former games. If you’ve played a game in the series over the last 22 years, you’ll find a nod to it here, from springboards, bumpers and enemies. Sega has done a solid job, even at this early stage of changing the sonic formula enough to make the game different and pertinent, but has kept enough of the old to make sure diehards get their full.

Control changes aside, Sonic Lost World is fast, fun and far from a futile effort. If anything it’s a fresher take on an iconic character that needed a few more reasons to bring back the fans that made him an icon.

And with plenty of time left in development, there’s no reason why Sonic Lost World can’t dash it’s way into your heart this holiday season.

Check out photos from the Wii U version below:

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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