I vividly remember finally nabbing that final star in Mario Galaxy 2. It had taken weeks of planning the ideal route, and timing every button press to steer Mario across that agonising selection of spinning platforms and deathly gravity traps. In a means, it was an oddly torturous experience, but–for that feeling of elation upon reaching the wonderful golden star–a wholly worthy one. Sonic Lost World so desperately desires to capture that feeling. The effort is, where Galaxy presented its harder challenges only to those that actively chose to pursue them, Lost World bombards you with arduous platforming trials at every turn.
The first level, for instance, is a tackle the classic Green Hill zones of past Sonic games. Long grass-covered cylinders and floating planetoids are home to complex spring arrangements and rolling spiked balls that leave just the tiniest of gaps with the intention to squeeze through. Then there are the enemies–some heavily armoured, others camouflaged onto walls–that lie directly within the path of speed boosters and on the end of long spring-aided jumps. It is all the inordinately tricky platforming of Galaxy with none of the gentle trials had to ease you into it.
That’s odd considering it is a game that shamelessly lifts ideas from its plumber-fronted rival. Each of its levels are full of the identical free-floating islands and gravity-based trickery that made Galaxy so successful, or even includes those super tricky tunnels and half-pipes that slide you along at a pace when you nudge into rings and avoid deadly spikes. Frozen Factory throws slippery surfaces into the combo, with one wrong move hurtling Sonic off into space, while Tropical Coast throws you right into a lush tropical environment packed with some familiar-looking planetoids. Even the boss battles are similar, with one fireball-dodging session a nearly like-for-like replica of Mario’s Bowser battle atop a small planet.
This is a game that shamelessly lifts ideas from its plumber-fronted rival.
Lost World’s copying isn’t necessarily a nasty thing. Of course, in case you are going to take ideas from anywhere, it could possibly in addition be from Galaxy. Sometimes this approach works. You could have to exploit gravity to steer an incredible apple right into a mincer on a small planetoid, carefully avoiding enemy fire before leaping into the stream of juice to catapult to a different area. Or, you’ve gotten to deftly guide a Sonic snowball around a chain of intricate platforms, very like the degrees in Galaxy where you manoeuvre Mario atop a large ball.
Unfortunately, most of the time Lost World lacks its rival’s finesse. Sonic’s raw speed sits uncomfortably alongside the gravity-based platforming, making it far too easy to suddenly leap off into oblivion. And whenever you can no less than slow Sonic all the way down to a more sedate pace, his overly twitchy movement makes it tricky to land on certain platforms, or perform definitely the right movements had to nab some of the many red coins hidden amongst a degree. Plus, a loose sense of depth means it’s difficult to leap precisely onto switches to free trapped critters, and line up jumps, making the already difficult levels more taxing.
Lost World’s own ideas often fall flat too. Rings placed alluringly up the edges of walls may be reached with a place of parkour, but its implementation is clumsy. All too often i discovered myself cursing on the screen as Sonic didn’t leap smoothly from a platform to a wall-run and frustratingly plunged to his death in endless space. The wisp powers of Sonic Colors, reminiscent of drill, which helps you to burrow in the course of the ground to gather extra rings, and rocket, which helps you to jet off to distant planetoids by aiming with the motion sensor, make a return, but they’re more of an amusing aside than a vital part of Sonic’s arsenal.
Then there are the brand new powers, corresponding to eagle, which uses the motion sensor to fly Sonic in the course of the air, but does so erratically, with an imprecision that makes collecting the bonus rings it puts tantalizingly nearby a nightmare. Each power is time limited too, and relating to eagle, in case you drift off target as a result of frustrating motion controls, you’re dropped off the planet in your death. Again.
Lost World fares better in its 2D sections, where probably the most classic Sonic platforming magic makes an appearance. Zipping Sonic through loop-the-loops and smashing badniks to free the cutesy animals trapped within is excellent fun, with the depth and control niggles far less of a subject here. And while the challenges aren’t all that imaginative–avoiding falling blocks and navigating banks of bouncy springs–they’re far more enjoyable than the frustrating mishmash of speed and exploration present in the 3D sections. Unfortunately, here too a misjudged level of difficulty stifles progress; I defy anyone to not develop an unhealthy hatred of the all-seeing owl that unleashes an insta-death flurry of bats whilst you wander into its evil, gazing spotlights.
The incontrovertible fact that these moments are thrown into the principle story arc is baffling and immensely frustrating too. As a minimum you are not missing much relating to the tale, which plays out like a Saturday-morning kids’ show, complete with grating 90210 voice acting and a gross overuse of the word “bro.” Plus, while it isn’t going to win any awards for its art style, Lost World’s colourful visuals are easy at the eye, or even raise a grin or two during its more esoteric moments, with the candy-based platforms of Desert Ruin being a distinctive highlight.
Sonic Lost World desperately desires to be Mario Galaxy, but in overtly coveting the nice Italian plumber, it smothers the abilities of its blazing blue hedgehog.
If you choose for the 3DS version of Lost World don’t expect a dramatically different, or better experience: both the tale and zones are an identical. There are some redesigned levels to house the 3DS version’s simplified powers (paying homage to the shield-based power-ups from Sonic 3), however the same design, control, and difficulty issues remain.
That some inoffensive visuals and some fun 2D sections are the highlights of a largely 3D game is telling. Sonic Lost World desperately desires to be Mario Galaxy, but in overtly coveting the nice Italian plumber, it smothers the abilities of its blazing blue hedgehog. There have been moments after I thought it might probably all come together, when Sonic’s fun, if slightly erratic, speed could be matched to levels that were intelligently designed to take advantage of it. There have been some brief glimpses of that, but for probably the most part, Sonic Lost World is confused and derivative, and tries far too hard to be clever with none clever design to back it up.