Sonic Lost World Hands-on: Not so Fast

Everybody wants to go fast, but sometimes fast isn’t good enough. This is the sentiment that the team at Sega brought to the newest iteration of Sonic, “Sonic: Lost World.”

The game marks the return of the blue hedgehog with new enemies and an unlikely alliance as the blue blur has to join up with Dr. Eggman to stop the Deadly Six on the brand new continent of the Lost Hex.

“This is a big change of pace. Usually you fight Eggman at the end of the level or at the end of the game. But this time he’s front and center and that is ground we want to dig into,” said Aaron Weber of Sega.

Weber otherwise known as “RubyEclipse” is a huge Sonic fan and brought that love of the spiky hero with him to this new game. For over two years, Weber and producers like Samuel Mullen worked to refine and refresh the game and its engine into a new product for a new generation or Sonic fans.

The biggest addition to the game is the “Super Mario Galaxy” styled levels of the Lost Hex. These levels feature tiered environments that force you to slow down every now and then while avoiding the perils of the lost continent or failing off the edge to your unlikely demise.

The platforming is tight and the WiiU remote gives you access to a variety of moves like the famous homing kick and now a new parkour system. The new control system introduced in this game makes use of having Sonic move at a moderate pace to avoid lasers and shielded or prickly enemies. Want to go fast just hold down the trigger button to engage his running speed. Want to shift into a second gear click an additional trigger allowing Sonic to use his spin dash.

Yet, I found myself clinging to walls with Sonic to maneuver across obstacles and run up walls while the run trigger is held. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

The WiiU flexes a little muscle by giving you access to the Wisp powers introduced in Sonic Colors, and they can be activated using the touch screen. Alongside the color powers returning powers such as Drill, Laser and Rocket, new powers include Eagle, which lets Sonic fly through the air, Asteroid, which atomizes objects in his path, and Rhythm, which lets him bounce along a path of notes. The new move system will let you traverse the levels in your own special way and also add replay value.

Enemies from the past and present will litter the levels so be on guard if you want to go for pure speed.

Want to get it all? Sonic can rescue small animals by destroying enemies, collect Red Rings that unlock additional content, and find Gold Cannons that unlock new paths.

“We found that giving people especially kids the freedom to move made the game more enjoyable. They played it in ways that I as a designer would have never thought about,” noted Samuel Mullen, Producer for “Sonic Lost World.”

The freedom is new for Sonic games that could have been thought to be on rails. But the dynamic of the story has changed. There is a bigger danger at play.

“The ‘Deadly Six’ are a threat to not just Sonic and his friends; but to Dr. Eggman. You have to work with him to end the threat. Who would have ever thought these two would be on the same side,” said Weber.

Mullen on the other hand loves the way that Tails shows his almost constant distrust of Dr. Eggman.

“This is the version of Sonic that I wanted to play, I want to use him as the hero I know he can be. While making you the playing always look over the shoulder at Eggman,” Mullen said.

Sonic is flexing new muscles as the WiiU and 3DS versions of the game hit stores on Oct. 18, 2013. Along with new game play, this is the first time a 3DS version of the game has fully 3D game play, making it the first handheld game in the series to do so.
The handheld version also feature different level designs from its WiiU counterpart as well as certain Wisp powers unique to each version of the game. The 3DS also offers four player local and online multiplayer modes and connectivity with the WiiU version of the game and even use the handheld as a second player for the WiiU version.

“I just can’t wait to see what kids are going to do with the new system and how they attack the world. It’s going to be great,” exclaimed Mullen.