Sonic Lost World Review

[Zera]

Intro: Greetings folks. This is my review of Sonic Lost World, a game released for Wii U and 3DS in October 2013, and ported to Steam in November 2015. Specifically, I'm reviewing the Wii U version. When this game released, critical reception was seemingly random, with scores ranging from 9/10 to just 2/10. Overall, it has a Metascore of 63, which is not very good. I recently acquired this game for $15 in an eShop sale and played it to completion, so here are my thoughts...

Presentation: Sonic Lost World has a simple, colorful style that feels more authentic to the Genesis games than other 3D Sonic titles. It's easy on the eyes, and is the first HD Sonic game to run at 60 frames per second. Shocking, isn't it? As per series standard, Sonic Lost World has some very good music. Here are some of my favorite tracks -

Frozen Factory --- Hidden World --- Juice Archipelago --- Midnight Owl ---Snowball Waltz

Gameplay: Sonic Lost World takes the gameplay of Sonic Colors adds many new mechanics to it. You can lock on to multiple enemies and destroy them all with a chain homing attack, or lock on to a boss multiple times to deal more damage with one attack. You can crouch and roll to stop Sonic on a dime and ignore terrain, or bounce on the ground to destroy enemies and reach even higher than a double jump. You can spin dash continuously, making it easy to speedrun stages if you know what you're doing. These are all great mechanics. A not-so-great mechanic is the kick attack, an alternate homing attack whose entire purpose is to kill enemies who are arbitrarily immune to the homing attack.

The biggest additions are the run button and parkour. By holding the run button, Sonic goes from "slow" to "not-so-slow". Just like in Mario, you'll probably hold this button 90% of the time. If you touch a wall while holding the run button, Sonic can perform a variety of running and jumping actions on them, as well as grab ledges. The game doesn't explain the nuances of this system, but learning it opens up new possibilities for traversal and provides a safety net for slightly-missed jumps. The only catch is that you may accidentally grab ledges and run up walls you don't want to unless you release the run button.

3D stages typically take place on tubular planets with different paths on each side. There are anti-gravity tunnels and spherical planets as well. The 3D levels provide a nice sense of vertigo not unlike the cancelled Sonic Xtreme or Super Mario Galaxy, and are arguably the best stages in the game. There are also 2D stages, where Sonic actually moves a bit slower. These are good, but they're not as creative and interesting as the levels in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Compare

Silent Forest Zone 4 versus Fruity Factory

Sky Road Zone 3 versus Rodent Ruckus

(Which levels look more interesting to YOU?)

Finally, there are a few gimmick stages. In addition to Sky Road Zone 3 which apparently nobody likes, Frozen Factory Zone 2 is entirely spent in a giant snowball. At least one critic said it was one of the best stages in the game, while another said it was one of the worst. So who's right? I dunno. But I thought it was a pretty decent stage aside from the checkpoints, which are placed such that you must restart the entire stage to collect a missed Red Ring.

Sonic Lost World is not a very long game, with only 28 main stages, but they do have some replay value. Finding Red Rings hidden in stages unlocks circus tents where you can play Breakout-esque minigames to pop balloons and free animals to unlock more worlds. Collecting all the Red Rings in the game unlocks the ability to play as Super Sonic. There is also a Time Trial mode with letter ranks and online leaderboards, which is nice.

There are 100 optional missions you can complete to earn items. Items are also obtained from Miiverse after clearing a stage. However, you can only have three random missions and five items at a time. Because of these limits, I found myself constantly replaying stages to complete tedious missions like "Collect a f***ton of rings", and discarding nearly all my items. It would have been far better to scrap the missions entirely and place items in the stages like the old Sonic games.

There is a disappointing coop mode where Player 2 controls one of several RC vehicles, but all of them are useless except Omochao, which can grab Red Rings. The 2-player versus mode fares much better. Speed Race, Expert Race, and Ring Race each have five stages to choose from. The frame rate is cut in half, and the stage selection could be bigger and better, but this is nonetheless a decent multiplayer mode.

Finally, I want to mention that the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World has two exclusive, free DLC stages - one based on Yoshi's Island, another based on The Legend of Zelda. These stages are quite good, and make the Wii U version the superior one in my opinion.

Difficulty: Sonic Lost World is a moderately challenging game. However, the last couple worlds get frustrating. Lava Mountain Zone 2 is "That One Level" of this game, and will be the bane of your existence until you understand how its inconsistent air physics work. Not fun. A couple bosses were very trial and error because they required knowledge of unique mechanics that were never taught. Other than those specific moments, however, the difficulty and design are generally well balanced.

Now, before I end this review, I want to address some common criticisms found in other reviews... that are invalid.

"Lives are way too stingy, and Game Overs too common. You don't even get a life for collecting 100 rings anymore!"

Two months after release the game was patched so collecting 100 rings DOES earn an extra life. Whether this was a response to criticism or a glitch fix is unknown. Regardless, you could always get 99 lives at the end of Tropical Coast Zone 1, which may be the best spot for farming lives in the entire Sonic franchise.

"The motion and touch controls for Color Powers are awkward!"

This was also covered in the 100-ring patch. By pressing the R button, you can activate a Wisp and use standard controls for any Color Power except Rhythm.

"Sonic's too slow! Why can't he be fast like in Generations and the better half of Unleashed?"

Last I checked, the title of this game is not Sonic Generations 2. The point of this game is not to be Generations, which already exists. Besides, Sonic is still faster than Mario, so complaining about his speed is kinda dumb.

"The lock on doesn't always work!"

To get a lock-on, you must face the enemy, and it must also be on-screen. If you face 90 degrees away from the enemy, you'll lose the lock on. That's all there is to it.

"The double jump and homing attack use the same button!"

Actually, they don't. If you don't want to accidentally use homing attacks, just use the B Button to jump instead of the A button. (Side note: The tutorials tell you to use B to jump and A to homing attack anyway, so I'm surprised at how many people had this complaint.)

Conclusion: Sonic Lost World is an somewhat underrated game. The game sometimes lacks the consistency and creativity of other platformers like Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropcial Freeze, and as a result it would not be my first recommendation. However, the mechanics and presentation are good, and the levels are designed well enough that they are generally enjoyable. If you find this on a sale like I did, I recommend you give it a chance.

7/10 Good!

Edited August 8, 2016 by Zera

[Alex95]

Besides, Sonic is still faster than Mario

Have you seen Game Theory?

This is actually one of the few Sonic games I want to play, and not just because of the Mario Galaxy resemblance. It's because of the DLC :P

I haven't had much of a chance to play this game as Sonic games in general have been a little low on my "too buy" list. But I DO want to get it at some point. Saving up my money to buy the NX at this point, but I'm sure I'll get the game some time.