Sonic Fighters

Until the GameCube era, Sonic the Fighters was always a curiosity of mine. I am a massive fan of Sonic the Hedgehog and this was one of those holy grail type games that I always wanted to play. Well, the game has been re-released about a million times over the last decade or so and I thought today I would share my thoughts on what it was like when Sega thought to make a fighting game with Sonic characters was a good idea.

What Is Eggman’s Problem

One of the most surprising things about Sonic the Fighters is the fact that Sega actually bothered to create a story for this game. Eggman is up to no good again, this time he and Metal Sonic are building a space station and the Sonic crew are having none of it! I know it is not much, but the game has a pretty cool intro sequence that showcases this and I think it is done very well, especially for the time this was first made.

Super Slick Sonic

The presentation of the game is fantastic. The character models look good, even more so when they were first released and the level of animation is quite well done also. There are many different stages and these all have a fair bit of personality to them and many little details in the background. A little bit of trivia for you, this was actually the first 3D Sonic game to be released and I think Sega did a hell of a job. The game features a solid cast of characters. You have the ones you would expect in Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. However, you also have more obscure characters like Bean the Duck, Polar the Bear, Fang the Wolf, and so on. I think the roster is pretty solid for a fighting game from the 90s.

Sonic the Vipers

The gameplay of Sonic the Fighters is best described as a button masher. The game is made with the Fighting Vipers game engine, but it is very, very stripped back. You have a punch, kick, and a block and that is that. Each character has special moves that they can do, but they are incredibly unbalanced. You can unlock Metal Sonic, but he has this dash across the screen attack that is completely overpowered. When I play this in multiplayer, Metal Sonic is banned.

You can just button mash your way to victory and the AI is either super easy to defeat or they play super cheap! It makes for a rather uninspired experience when you are playing by yourself, but in multiplayer it can be a lot of fun. It is the kind of game that can be played by anyone. I do not think there is much to master here, but I do not think it was ever made with being a deep fighting game in mind.

I know that many people like to make fun of Sonic the Fighters, but I feel the game is better than many people give it credit for. Yes, it is a mindless button masher with very little skill required, however, there is something charming about this game that is very hard to explain. The single-player mode is going to see you breeze through it and then get very frustrated when you fight Metal Sonic! The multiplayer though, is a lot of fun to play, especially as anyone can get into it.

Pros:

• The game has a great selection of characters
• The character models hold up very well
• The soundtrack has a very “Sonic” feel to it
• Anyone can pick up and play this game
• It is a fun game to play with other people

Cons:

• There is not much skill required here at all
• Metal Sonic is cheap as hell