Celebrating the 15th anniversary since Sonic hit the Mega Drive, Sega has released Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 as a new leaf in this classic gaming series. Unfortunately, ever since Sonic made the jump to 3D, in an effort to compete with Nintendo, the series has been on a downward spiral and this reinvigoration is sadly no exception.

Wrong. It's just plain wrong!

Looking back to the original Sonic games, it's easy to understand their appeal. The instantly accessible platformers gave gamers a super-fast hero with massive multi-path level design and one simple objective; run from one end of the level to the other before the timer ran out. Time rarely became an issue in the games, but no gamer can deny they didn't attempt to race to the goal as fast as they could, due to a slick system of speed and momentum supported by terrific level design. It was a simple formula, but it worked and captured the world with it.

With their latest release, Sonic Team has disregarded this winning formula, to conform to the conventions of modern 3D platforming. Sonic's pursuit for the Chaos Emeralds has been backed by a heartfelt love story as Sonic seeks to help the good people of Soleanna and save them from Dr. Eggman's latest devious plan. Beginning the game as Sonic, as you progress you unlock the intertwining storylines of both Shadow the Hedgehog and newcomer Silver, all with separate abilities. The game revolves around the town of Soleanna, which acts as a large, open hub world for your progress through the game. It is here where you will assist the townsfolk through a series of minigame-like tasks and explore the city to unlock the next stage. These tasks range from mediocre speed and attack based challenges, to tedious 'guess how many boxes are in the pile' tasks. When you have accomplished the necessary predetermined task, you are whisked off to the next zone, typically a platformer based level with the occasional boss stage or Super-Speed zone.

Sonic gets his Gangsta on.

At its basis, it is a concept that shows promise but is terribly hindered by ill-conceived level design, game mechanics and character design, among numerous technical errors that make the game almost unplayable.

The decision to place Sonic and team in a human world is an unnecessary step that truly detracts a lot from the charismatically cute inhabitants we'd grown accustomed to. The use of realistic humans, especially as Sonic's love interest, feels entirely awkward and makes Sonic seem ridiculous. The realistic character design reflects upon the town of Soleanna, which is such a bland and monotonous location. It is sparse, but the majority is filled with streets of identical houses, making it a chore to proceed through. Whilst an attempt to add a greater depth to the series, it serves only to slow down the action. There is a division between fantasy and reality and I think this was one area better left untouched.

Load times are absolutely horrible and the worst I have seen on the 360 let alone in the past few years. They are truly at a game ruining level. You experience about five load screens before you can even start to play the game and it only gets worse from there. The in game stages are fine with no in-level loading, but when it comes to the city of Soleanna, it's a wonder the game ever made it through quality control. There are load times before movies. Load times after movies. Load times in the middle of movies. Accepting a citizen's challenge will take you to another load screen so the citizen can say an extra insignificant comment (which is all text based mind you), before loading the actual challenge. One challenge in particular features frequent loading within the challenge as you answer questions, complete with loading before, after and during each question. It is beyond ridiculous.

Who needs to be able to run when you have wheels as pimp as Shadow.

Perhaps most detrimental of all is the game's take on speed. For such a simplistic game, the original Sonic featured ingenious complexity through the use of speed and momentum. On the 360 though, they are all but non-existent. Shadow and Silver are neither based around speed, instead focusing on traditional platforming elements of exploration, which all feel dull considering paths are entirely defined and linear. Speed is still present in the game, but this time around is entirely forced. Sonic's top speed has been toned down to little more than a jog in this iteration and can only reach decent speeds through the use of speed pads littered around the level. Level design is based around these speed pads so you never feel in control of your actions. This in itself is partly due to a control system that leaves you moving Sonic with the precision of butter in a frying pan. Playing the Super-Speed stages in Sonic you'll be fighting against the controls to make Sonic move how you want, losing your rings at every jump. These could have worked quite well, dashing between obstacles at high speed like the speeder bikes in Return of the Jedi, but with the control system it is a test in frustration rather than skill.

Unfortunately the controls aren't the only battle you'll face to enjoy the game, but the camera also works against you, ruining two fundamental aspects of gaming. You have control of the camera for the majority of the time through use of the right analogue stick and shoulder buttons, but at random when moving through sections of a level, the camera will change as it feels, for more cinematic angles. On a snowboarding level midway through the game, the angles change at will during a tense escape from a massive snowball. Unfortunately with each angle change, the controls change too according to the angle, which coupled with snowboarding controls that leave a lot to be desired, breaks the flow of the game and leads to numerous unnecessary deaths. Through all its faults, the game quickly becomes a chore to play, not a pleasure.

Note: Actual speed of gameplay.

Admittedly, Sonic the Hedgehog is still playable if you give it time to adjust and fans of Sonic Adventure series will still find an enjoyable experience beneath its faults. What makes the game so horrible is that this reinvention of Sonic is a pale imitation of what it could have been, nay, should have been. The graphics are actually quite nice and crisp, supported by some nice effects from the physics engine. Levels, although linear, are vibrant and impressive in size. The boss battles against Eggman's robots maintain the distinct strategic pattern based gameplay that became a staple throughout the Sonic series. One particular boss battle even featured distinct Shadow of the Colossus style of gameplay, which was a nice inclusion. The concept of playing through the game as Sonic and then being able to tackle both Shadow and Silver's storylines separately is incorporated quite well and the distinct different characteristics of each character keeps things fresh.

Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 is a major disappointment. For a game that seemed ready to finally properly translate Sonic into 3D, the 360 iteration has missed the mark and distanced the series even further from its roots. The release of New Super Mario Bros on the DS demonstrated that there is still room for a classic 2D platformer to return to its roots and still be a success in this generation of gaming. Whilst you might feel ripped off to pay a hundred dollars for a 2D Sonic in this day and age, you wont feel as ripped off as if you'd purchased this sub-par platformer. Sonic Team, it is time to look back to the past and embrace what made Sonic a superstar. As for me, I'm off to go play some Sonic 2 on the Mega Drive.