@@redhood7778 Far from it, the gameplay is broken. Speed is way to uncontrollable, homing doesn't always work, the casino parts are fucking nightmares to finish, you have to do the same levels 8 times each with exceptions of the bosses and getting A ranks means hell on some levels like Team Dark's second mission for Ocean Palace. Sonic Generations was much better. Heroes was decent for casuals but if you dared to even think about clocking it you'd be stuck there for months and I'm saying that from experience. I spent almost every night for months on end in 2020 trying to A rank atleast one level per night. When I finally made it I got to Final Fortress on the super hard mode I don't think I've bothered to finish it. Shadow The Hedgehog was much better than Heroes and was fron the same era, talk about oMg GuNs all you want but the actual game was pretty fun to play, still play 2 player mode with my 12 year old sister sometimes. With Shadow you also had to do every mission 3 times an every ending 2 times and it is still much better for MOST levels.
Man Sonic Concept Art is the coolest thing ever, i love this phantasy but realistic style for the series, Heroes to me really is a great mix of the Adventure games with the Classics structure
Always wondered why the Egg Fleet was sea animal themed now we know. Just chalked it up to Eggman having an interest in aquatic life or something, it was always so cool to see either way.
I remember playing Sonic Heroes back when I was a kid in 6th grade. I got it the day it came out. It was amazing. I was shocked at Knuckles' glide being... basically nothing. Eldarin though, I gotta say, your output is amazing! This is yet another fantastic video from you! I hope you're not stressing yourself out too much to get these out. Sonic Heroes is such a fun and unique game too. I don't think it gets enough credit for what it tried to do and these concept art pieces are amazing! My favorite stage is definitely Egg Fleet and I would love to see more of that stage and how it developed. You said that the art for that bone-spine thing Sonic was running on reminded you of Pirate Storm from Secret Rings. I can totally understand why, but my mind instantly went to Skeleton Dome from the same game. Either way, it's a really cool idea. I absolutely ADORE how cool and stylish Sonic looks in the concept art where he's doing that dodge, sleep, punch thing. Those sketches capture a real 'tude with the character and it just gives me goosebumps. Yet again, you made another great video and I hope you feel proud, man. You're doing amazing and your positive passion for Sonic is felt and reciprocated!
Hey Dennis I appreciate the kind words!! Heroes is such a unique game and those concept art designs really are something I agree. Now that you mention it, I COMPLETELY forgot Skeleton Dome was even a stage LOL! But yes 100% that used some inspiration as I checked gameplay and that whole spine thing is 1to1 in the stage! Thanks for watching :))
Early prototypes of the game also used a lot of SA1 / SA2 placeholders, such as textures and music. It was generic stuff, but it shows they still viewed Heroes as a sort of spiritual successor to the Adventure titles.
That's...not necessarily true. While I'm sure they did see it that way, reusing assets especially early in development is just par for the course in game development, and virtually every Sonic game reused assets from the previous ones- even when the final products were very different. Shadow 05 was built off a lot of the framework from Heroes, Unleashed took a lot from 06, Colors from the storybook games, Forces from Lost World, etc. That's just how game dev tends to work.
The facial expressions at 8:50 remind me a lot of the little face Doom Guy has in the old DOS DOOM games. Some DOOM ports have support for unique skins, so maybe I could mess around with that a little...
Daaang, I totally forgot about the scrapped zone concept art! Cool to see how they possibly reworked them into future titles. Makes me wish they delayed Heroes to give it the extra polish and content it deserved. Still love the game though!
Really wish some of these concepts didn't get scrapped. Casino levels could benefit from having more mechanics than just pinball tables, for example. The concept art of those trains is amazing, too.
This is a really good video. Sonic Heroes is my favorite Sonic game and it's cool to see a piece by piece analysis of the available material from it's development stages.
17:42 “Wait, is that a freaking Brachiosaurus?!” Lol, as a paleontology nerd, I think that sauropod looks more like a Diplodocus. Though the one in Secret Rings looks more like Agustinia with the spikes jutting out from the sides of its back. Yes, a dinosaur like that actually existed. This video had a ton of other moments that made me laugh, like the potential box art with the creepy killer Tails, and Amy and Cream drinking from Martini glasses. And Big in that storyboard also had larger eyes like a traditional Sonic character. I’ve always questioned why he has tiny yellow eyes and other cats like Blaze and Honey don’t. I also find it funny that you don’t encounter the giant alligator during the Chaotix’s portion of Lost Jungle. Which only would have drawn more attention to how weird it is that one crocodilian is animalistic and Vector is anthropomorphized. It also reminds me of a giant extinct crocodile called Deinosuchus, which lived in the late cretaceous period and ate dinosaurs for breakfast, so it could have been a remnant of that same scrapped concept as the sauropod. I really like how in this game Rouge’s ears move as she emotes, and its cool to see that was planned all the way back in the storyboards. I honestly think they should bring that detail back in the modern games. I found that scrapped Japanese ruins zone really interesting as well. Hopefully SEGA recycles that idea for a future game. I knew this was your most requested video and I was blown away learning all sorts of new stuff like Takashi Iizuka losing 22 pounds during the game’s development. Great job as always. I guess next Heroes thing to do would be the music just like the Adventure games. Until then, I’m excited to see what you do next.
Sorry for the late response Granditamias but just wanted to say thank you for watching the video and im super happy to hear you got alot of laughs out of this video! There was alot of crazy stuff with the development that I too found super funny or interesting! Thats also super interesting about the Agustinia as I didnt know that kind of dinosaur existed!
Thank you for not only showing off Sonic Heroes but also putting some respect on SA2B in this day in age! 💯 I was nodding my head in the intro when you mentioned how SA2B was one of the best Sonic games and I 100% agree. I don’t regret getting all 180 emblems with multiple chaos chao(s)
Interesting facts about me is that while SA2 was my first ever Sonic game, Sonic Heroes was the first NEW Sonic game I had ever played at the time. My earliest memory of this game was like.. 2004. I was like around like 8 years old, I'd remembered my mother and me waited outside a best buy late at a school night to purchase this game.. Man I feel old.
Heroes was definitely one of if not my first 3D sonic games myself. Crazy to think time flies like it does hahaha. That’s so cool you remember doing what sounds like a midnight release for the game. Thanks for watching Bomber!
Oh yeah, I had played Sonic with friends growing up, loved the cartoons, etc. but never had a Sega console myself. So when Sonic was starting to come to the GCN I was beyond excited for Heroes! I even have the CD OST still.
I love Heroes so much man lol. It’s super nostalgic to me too, might’ve been the the first game I ever played. Man I wish we got ports of everything onto modern hardware, it’s killing me not being able to relive this and all the other games from this time on PS4. Anyway though, awesome job on the video dude, also concept art you showed was unbelievably godly especially that Hang Castle one
the way i always interpreted it, stages that share assets are the same place, just different "acts"; seaside hill is act 1, ocean palace is act 2, casino park is act 1, bingo highway is act 2, etc etc
I think thats what the devs intended, just wasnt called acts because heroes is kind of a mix of classic and adventure and they went with the adventure naming method
I first played Sonic Heroes in a McDonald's playground area with a kiosk with the Gamecube version of Heroes which became one of my favorite Sonic games, I also remember the Mini LCD Sonic Games from McDonald's!
I’ve just started watching and your topics exhibit what I want the sonic franchise to be remembered by, some of the funnest platform games of all time with memorable characters, locations and DAMN GOOD MUSIC!
This probably has one of the most interesting concept arts I have ever seen for a Sonic game. Makes me wonder how the game would of been if they kept a lot of the stuff that were in the concept art. I do think a lot of the concepts ended up being reused for later games since the main series console game that come out after Heroes (besides Shadow the Hedgehog) was 06 and Secret Rings was supposed to be a Wii version of 06 so it makes me wonder....
That is a good point! I forgot about the 06 split on the wii turning into secret rings..I suppose they had to go to the vault since they didnt have the time to get think of a bunch of new zones maybe? Not sure. Anyways, thanks for watching MetaKnux!
@@Eldarin though that dose make me wonder if the 06 Wii port idea was done in full, how different would the game be? Of course it wouldn’t be the same as Secret Rings (or Wild Fire as it was called early on) but if we use Unleashed as an example, ironically another game that came right after 06, the next gen versions and the Wii/PS2 versions of Unleashed was fairly different. Not story wise but there are levels that are either not present or designed differently. Not really sure if a dinosaur and Pirate ship level would be present but I think Shahra was ment to be the Elise of the game. Probably overthinking this but I am considering all possibilities.
When I became a fan like 10 years ago, I got Sonic heroes for Gamecube and played it a lot until a stage I couldnt beat, that was the crocodile part from frog forest. Then I tried the game once more a couple of times on these recent years, and its pretty fun and great, but with many glitches and bugs that could be easily fixed with a rerelease.
YES!!! finally i found someone who knows that originally we were going to have team hooligan but instead they changed it for team chaotix i wish so badly that it was team hooligan cause fang is one of my fav sonic characters and i would have loved to see a modern version of him in a sonic game and see how he would have sounded like if he talked and i wonder how their gameplay would have been like so many possibilities i kinda wish he said something about it in the vid but i guess this type of information was very very early in the game's development so i guess he didn't know about it oh well at least i found u darling!! also as for the working with neo...hmmm...very interesting~ i think u may be on to something~ darling OH YES!!
10:06 When I first saw that concept on the Sonic wiki, I thought the sleep was a scrapped idle animation. But now that I think about it, using it in a mocking manner against enemies as if to say “Wow, this is so easy it’s boring” would’ve been hilarious. The other dodge and attack moves are drawn really well, too. If only these older 3D games weren’t held back by technical limitations…
2:33 Metal Sonic originally being one of the playable team characters seems to imply he wasn't going to be the main antagonist in the early drafts and was gonna have a more heroic role. While I do like Metal as the main antagonist i'm a little sad this scrapped because Metal deserves to have more heroic roles in more games. The only game so far he does anything heroic is Rivals 2.
2:12 : Wait so the hooligans and Metal Sonic, Mighty and Ray were gonna be in Sonic Heroes? Few things to say. 1. Haven’t finished the video yet. 2. Mighty & Ray and those hooligans before their cameos in Generations and official reappearance in Mania Plus? 3. Metal Sonic, but wasn’t the main/mysterious villain in his weird Neo form? 4. Just realized Chaos, E102 and Big were a team WHAT? 5. Just also realized Amy, Cream and Rouge? That last team (I believe) was in my pitch from mid 2017 for Sonic Adventure 3 right before I left Middle School (no kidding)
3. They came with the teams first and then the story. That's why metal sonic is in a team. If they kept those teams the story would've been a different one (Also shadow wasn't a member because he was death and the team didn't know what to do with him, so the whole team dark, neither omega, would exist)
@@75JUNAKI Oh yeah. If they kept those teams the whole franchise would be different. Shadow wouldn't be alive, neither Omega, and Might, Ray, Fang would have a modern design. I hope there is some concept art of those characters by uekawa haha
Yeah those scrapped teams were crazy! I couldn’t believe that metal sonic was going to be playable. Kinda makes you wonder where they were going to take the plot in that case. Thanks for watching!
@@Eldarin There’s so much to take in, especially the characters like Mighty & Ray and others in a Modern Sonic game. Would’ve like to seen that tbh, I think they should’ve had there be more characters but maybe it’s for the best there isn’t.
Sonic Heroes was criminally underrated IMO. Yeah, it has its flaws like some level bugs that I encounter every walkthrough, but damn, the team gameplay and the level designs are just awesome. I wish this would be remastered instead of Colors :( Video was great good luck in future videos! :)
Sonic heroes was my first ever Sonic game, if not my first ever game I really got into! I love it. I should get back to playing with it. I loved the tornado attack and it introduced me to my favorite characters, Shadow and Metal Sonic! It formed at least a large portion of who I am today.
Once again very interesting! Concept art is the only type of source that shows how a game has changed without looking at prototypes. Sonic Heroes surely has changed in its development. The colored stage concepts are very beautiful.
Another great video. I’ve been waiting for a sonic heroes video. It’s unironically one of my favorite 3D sonic games. It’s kind of a shame the reception of the game is still a bit on the divisive side in the fandom
I really appreciate that you include sources and really dive deep into your research. Also, your setup, editing, and script as a whole is fantastic! You deserve a hell of a lot more subs!
I believe a lot of those stage art pieces was done by Hiroshi Nishiyama, who was the Field Art Director for Heroes, as well as SA2 and Shadow. He's recently returned to the series and is serving as Art Director for all media of the series including animation, merchandising and video games.
Yo! Loved this vid! Sonic Heroes is one of my most fav and nostalgic Sonic games. Real interesting to see the behind the scenes work. Looking forward to more Eldarin. 😁
23:10 They're also in some of the classic titles too! Especially the fiery ones that were in Hilltop Zone but I'm sure there were spikey ones before that.
i absolutely adore all this concept art, even more than some of the Adventure series art. ironic seeing how Heroes is my least favorite in the series lol
Sonic Heroes has to be one of my favourite Sonic games. I can only hope one day we'll get an updated rerelease with touched up graphics, while still keeping the core ideas/mechanics/etc
Great video as always dude With Rouge's black suit, I think maybe instead of red, I'd say that deep purple would be a better choice, but saying I am partial to abit of purple so there is that XD Also here's hoping we get a HD port of Heroes soon, and hopefully not caring over any of the "improvements" from Colours Ultimate, like the training wheels that permanently fixed to the game with the Tails Save and 100 to give you invincibility.
Thanks Demon! I hope we get a HD port of Heroes soon too! It honestly wouldn’t be much to port the GameCube version over and make it widescreen and such as the game still looks quite good in my opinion!
@@Eldarin yep, and having a playable Tails on your team is the only Tails Save you need. However if there was to be one new improvement I would like to see for Heroes in a remaster, and this would be a genuine one: have Tails, and the other Fly type characters, be able to run around just the same as the Speed and Power types. That was one thing I didn't like about it, as I'd prefer to see Tails and Rouge play more like their Adventure styles, however they'd still able to do the team moves ofcourse.
Yeah that is a good idea about the fly type characters. I have two things I’d propose for a remake: 1. Tweak to fly characters so they can glide a bit when running out of fly power snd 2. Being able to switch in middair and use abilities.Would definitely be interested to see what they do with it
@@Eldarin I think that could work, being able to swap whenever. Because that's what Marvel vs Capcom Infinite did with its tag team mechanic and it worked pretty well in it I thought.
I had a blast drawing the thumbnail art for this video, thank you again for having me do it man!! And the video is awesome, you've done it yet again!! :DD
I am now going to use this video and others like it to inform my headcanon of what the ideal heroes remake would be, a thought I escape into when I need reprieve from my depressive episodes 😌💗
Sonic Heroes is one of my Favorite games! The Music bring back so many memories. Man I miss those times. Stress free, Enjoying life, playing Sonic heroes and Also sonic and the secret Rings.
Heroes needs a remake or remaster for the switch. That would be so much fun with online play in the multiplayer mode. I remember foolishly having the ps2 version of the game and really thinking that’s how it played. Then a couple of years later I got the GameCube version and had a much better experience
2:53 in 2003??? Bruh I remember 2003 as if it was yesterday, I was 4 years Old and i remember EXACLTY how excites I was at MacDonalds cause I was about to get my Sonic toy thinggie! However those are not the ones I remember, the ones I got were one wit knuckles playing soccer with Eggman and one with shadow jumping some pole things or maybe i remember it wrong lol
It only just occurred to me how unique seaside hill and ocean palace are. I'm not sure which culture they took inspiration from at all! Is there anywhere in the world that has palaces with similar architecture and style? If not then they really did a fantastic job coming up with such a wildly unique location.
Hmmm, well that is a really good question. I’m not sure and haven’t seen anything in regards to that so when I say this it’s purely speculative..my only two guesses would be it’s remains from their South American trip for SA1 and the South American Indian cultures from there or from the California area Mexican/South American Indian cultures as this game was mainly developed there. They took a trip for both SA1&2 (South America and California) cultural inspiration to base the ideas for those games so maybe it was a mix of the two? I’m not sure but if you find anything on it let me know as that’s got me thinking now too LOL
Amazing work as always man. Always intresting to see the info you can uncover in your videos. Amazing work as always and good luck on whatever this 4th unrevealed video you have been working on for a while
Its so cool to hear more about this game that I didn't know of. Those pieces of concept art are absolutely incredible! This will always be my favourite Sonic game. Amazing work!
If there's one thing that I've learned after looking at storyboards of various films, they actually are often BETTER than the final product because of having less of a time crunch.
I imagine that the Eggman train with the revolver chasing Team Sonic concept art was originally going to be the mini/stage-boss thing for Bullet Station instead of the awful go-karting section, since every second stage for Dark and Sonic have a final challenge bit the and Bullet Station's is just one of the tunnels, the go-karting section and then getting shot at the goal ring. So it would have been the equivalent of Ocean Palace's rolling rocks, the Power Plant's rising lava stuff, the deadly bingo board at the end of Bingo Highway, the alligator in lost jungle, the character gauntlet in Mystic Maison and the rails at the end of Final Fortress.
Sonic Heroes was the first Sonic game I remember playing as a child. It is what brought me into the world of Sonic The Hedgehog and one of the games that brought me into gaming as a whole. One lifelong butterfly effect later and here I am, a Splatoon TH-camr who is still a huge fan of Sonic! I had to watch this this video as soon as I saw the thumbnail! This was so cool to look at! The funny thing is that I was just talking about Sonic Heroes last night with my friends and even presented a few ideas for a remake. This video will very much come in handy when I start writing my proposal for what I will call *'Sonic Heroes Righteous Reimagining'!* And I will definitely be sure to cite you!
Super happy to hear you enjyoed the video, thats awesome how Heroes brought you into gaming as a whole, thats a very special thing! For me it was a mix of Sonic advance 3, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror/Nightmare on Dreamland for GBA so i totally feel you. Best of luck on the Heroes video too :))
@@Eldarin Thank you! It won't exactly be a video, though. More like a script with a large table of contents at the beginning. X DD I'm excited to get working on it! I just need to find the time. Life stuff getting in the way of personal plans, am I right? lol
Let’s assume that the plan for the original teams in Sonic Heroes were the teams we got for the game. Here are my ideas for this: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles (Team Sonic) The story, gameplay, and theme song will be more or less the same. Amy, Cream, Rouge (Team Rose) The story starts with Amy relaxing at the beach. She wonders aloud what Sonic is up today and is approached by Cream the Rabbit. (This will be when Amy and Cream meet each for the first time. Mind you, I am going to be changing some lore in this hypothetical story.) Cream tells Amy that her mom is missing. Cream has found a ransom note saying that if she ever wants to see her mom again, she will have to hand over Cheese. Amy agrees to help Cream find her mother. The two are joined by Rouge who states that maybe she can get to do some treasure hunting along the way. Gameplay wise, Amy is speed, Cream is flight, and Rouge is power and Amy is the leader. Each level will be a fetch quest to collect chao. The Team Blast will have Amy, Cream, and Rouge perform a synchronized dance with flowers flying everywhere. The theme will be Follow Me. At the end of the story, Cream is reunited with her mom. Rouge states that even though she didn’t find any treasure, she still had a good time. Amy sees Sonic in the distance and goes after him. Chaos, E102, Big (Team Heart) The story opens with E102 navigating through a jungle. (This is a different E102 from the one we played as in Sonic Adventure.) We then get some backstory on E102. E102 was a robot built by Dr. Eggman that was powered up by a mysterious, pink ring Eggman found. The ring caused E102 to become stronger and more powerful as well as more intelligent and compassionate. Because of his newfound compassion, E102 didn’t want to work for Eggman anymore and thus abandoned him. E102 is now traveling around the world exploring and helping any animals he sees in distress. Just then, a frog jumps out of the bushes and lands on E102’s head. It’s Froggy. E102 removes Froggy from his head and examines him. E102 then hears Big the Cat calling out for Froggy. E102 questions if this frog he is holding is the Froggy in question. Just then, E102 spots a puddle approaching him. It’s Chaos. E102 learns from Chaos that chao are being abducted by an evil spirit. (Communicating with chao is another one of E102’s powers.) Tikal and Chaos were supposed to go rescue the chao, but the evil spirit kidnapped Tikal. Suddenly, Chaos reverts to his puddle form. When E102 asks what’s wrong, Chaos warns that the evil spirit is behind him. E102 turns around, but before he can attack, the evil spirit snatches Froggy and disappears. At that moment, Big arrives. Big asks E102 if he’s seen Froggy. E102 replies: “I believe I found your Froggy. Unfortunately, a malevolent spirit has stolen it.” To which Big exclaims: “Oh no! We gotta save Froggy!” E102 assures Big that they will save Froggy and assures Chaos that they will save Tikal and the chao. Thus the trio’s quest begins. Gameplay wise, Chaos is speed, E102 is flight, and Big is power, and E102 is the leader. The Team Heart Story will be the easy mode of the game. The Team Blast will have Chaos and Big latch onto E102 as the trio focus their combined strength on the laser E102 fires. The theme will be entitled We’ll Be There and it will be a cute, sweet song about helping others. At the end of the story, Chaos, E102, and Big save Tikal and Froggy from the evil spirit. They also find the kidnapped chao who have been freed by Team Rose. Espio, Charmy, Vector (Team Chaotix) The story and the theme will be more or less the same. The gameplay will be identical to the one in the original game except they will simply be collecting rings. Fang, Bean, Bark (Team Hooligan) The story begins with Fang, Bean, and Bark entering a temple. They have come looking for the legendary Sapphire of Shadows in hopes of selling it for a lot of money. They find the Sapphire of Shadows only to find that half of the sapphire is missing. So they set off to find the other half of the sapphire. Gameplay wise, Fang is speed, Bean is flight, and Bark is power, and Fang is the leader. The Team Hooligan Story will be the hard mode of the game. The Team Blast will have Fang firing his pistol, Bean throwing bombs, and Bark pounding his fists causing debris to fall. The theme will be entitled Hunters of Fortune. It will be a rock song that revolves around Team Hooligan. The story ends with Team Hooligan finding the other half of the Sapphire of Shadows. Metal Sonic, Ray, Mighty (Team Mighty) The story begins with Mighty the Armadillo on a date with Tiara Boobowski. Suddenly, the evil spirit snatches Tiara and knocks Mighty unconscious. (This is inspired by one of the story drafts for the canceled Sonic X-treme game.) Meanwhile, Ray is over at Tiara’s house playing with Metal Sonic. After the events of Sonic CD, Metal Sonic was discovered by Tiara’s father Dr. Boobowski. Dr. Boobowski fixed Metal Sonic up and changed his body from blue to white and his eyes from red to blue. (This redesign was inspired by Metal Sonic’s design in the fangame Sonic Future.) Dr. Boobowski also altered Metal Sonic’s programming so he won’t be obligated to follow Eggman’s orders anymore. Dr. Boobowski notices that Tiara and Mighty have not come back from their date yet, so he sends Ray and Metal Sonic out to see if things are okay. Ray and Metal Sonic find Mighty who tells them what happened. So the trio set off to rescue Tiara. Gameplay wise, Metal Sonic is speed, Ray is flight, and Mighty is power, and Mighty is the leader. Each level will have you beat it in a certain amount of time. The team blast will have Metal Sonic, Ray, and Mighty perform spin dashes. The theme will be entitled We’re In This Together. This theme will be a song by Crush 40 about the quest of Team Mighty. The story ends with Metal Sonic, Ray, and Mighty saving Tiara from the evil spirit. The stages in this hypothetical Sonic Heroes will be the same as the original Sonic Heroes. However, each stage will be just one act instead of two. And as for boss battles, the only bosses in the team stories will be the robot carnivals and the Egg Emperor. The way you unlock the Final Story will be the same as how you unlock the Final Story in the original Sonic Heroes. Final Story It’s revealed that the evil spirit was the one pretending to be Eggman. The real Eggman unleashed the evil spirit to use as a weapon to conquer the world. Unfortunately, the evil spirit took over Eggman’s robots and imprisoned him. The evil spirit then lured the teams into fighting it so he can copy their abilities and reach its full power. The evil spirit then transforms into a hideous monster and swallows Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Tikal tells the other teams that they need to work together to save Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as they are the only team in which all three members have gone super at some point and therefore are the only ones that can use the Chaos Emeralds to stop the evil spirit from destroying the planet. Thus the boss battle begins. The goal of the first phase is to attack the spirit’s stomach so it vomits out Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. You first play as Team Rose, then Team Mighty, then Team Heart, then Team Chaotix, then finally Team Hooligan. After you finish the first phase, a cutscene plays that has the evil spirit puke out Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Sonic thanks the other teams for saving them and he and Tails and Knuckles use the Chaos Emeralds to go super. The evil spirit recovers and prepares to finish off the teams, but it’s too late. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles stop the evil spirit’s attack and the second phase of the boss battle begins. The way you win the second phase is similar to how you win the second phase in the original Sonic Heroes. After you beat the boss battle, a cutscene plays where the evil spirit is sealed back into the Sapphire of Shadows. Tikal and Chaos return to the afterlife as Big, E102, and the chao wave goodbye, Sonic heads off with Tails and Amy following him, Cream heads home with her mother, Team Mighty heads home with Tiara, Rouge leaves for the Master Emerald with Knuckles in hot pursuit, Team Chaotix go after Eggman, and Team Hooligan decide to give the Sapphire of Shadows to G.U.N. so they can secure it.
Seeing the all the crunch, the multiplatform engine trouble, and the whole "appeal to new fans" thing, it's no wonder Heroes turned out the way it did. I feel almost guilty with how disappointed I was with Heroes, knowing now how hard they all worked on it.
@@GoodLuckHolly Yeah, the engine was a slippery mess, and the levels and enemies were such a chore. And it's still baffling as to why they gave us gimped versions of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles awkwardly grabbing each other, when they could've just had us tag between each unburdened character.
Awesome as always, also perfect time to launch a Sonic Heroes video because it's friends day! (At least is here on Brazil) To show the true super power of teamwork! Anyways it's kinda funny because Heroes is also my most nostalgic sonic game, it was my first game and i played a lot on the ps2 the worst version, it hold my favorite for years until i played Based Sa2, but it still holds a special place on my heart. It's also has a lot of sick concept art, especially for the stages, some of the early art were even better than the final one imo, but i think they didn't use because it doesn't fit with the tone the game has. Either way, going through dinossaurs in frog forest and lost jungle, a giant spine that sonic grinds on, a massive aquatic basic, all of the scraped other teams and etc is a really good example on how the developers went all out with the game and put passion to make the new series of Heroes games, sadly that didn't work but the final product was very good on my eyes, also props to based Iizuka, the man really did everthing he could to make the game the best as it could be, people bash him but things like this show that he definetly loves the franchise at tries everthing he can to make the best as possible! Can't wait to next video wich will probally be Sonic CD!
Hope you had a great friends day Felipe! Heroes did have some sick concept art. Major props to iizuka and the team for the amount of work they had to put in to get this thing on the right path. Hope you enjoy whats to come!!
i once said "sonic herpes" as a kid and thought i was the king of comedy
And as you grew older, you became more aware of the comedic genius that statement was filled with. 😌
you were ahead of your time
they hated him because he spoke the truth. a prophet before his time.
i once called myself "sonic but as a human" when i was a kid and thought that woman would fall into my feet
you are tho
Sonic heroes is by far one of the most creative sonic games
Oh for sure! The levels in this are gorgeous and scream creativity. Thanks for watching!!
Yes definitely inspired me as an creative artist 🥺
@Eduardo Ormond You spend most of the time as the speed character and only use the other two when you have to.
Still the best Sonic game
@@redhood7778 Far from it, the gameplay is broken. Speed is way to uncontrollable, homing doesn't always work, the casino parts are fucking nightmares to finish, you have to do the same levels 8 times each with exceptions of the bosses and getting A ranks means hell on some levels like Team Dark's second mission for Ocean Palace.
Sonic Generations was much better.
Heroes was decent for casuals but if you dared to even think about clocking it you'd be stuck there for months and I'm saying that from experience.
I spent almost every night for months on end in 2020 trying to A rank atleast one level per night. When I finally made it I got to Final Fortress on the super hard mode I don't think I've bothered to finish it.
Shadow The Hedgehog was much better than Heroes and was fron the same era, talk about oMg GuNs all you want but the actual game was pretty fun to play, still play 2 player mode with my 12 year old sister sometimes.
With Shadow you also had to do every mission 3 times an every ending 2 times and it is still much better for MOST levels.
so basically the idea for heroes initally was
just make every fucking sonic character who had ever appeared before in the franchise playable
What could have been.
- Only 2 Level Designers
- Still Gazilion Times better than 🅱️orces
Forces only had 3 level designers, 1 worked already on Lost World, and the other 2 never worked on a single Sonic title before.
100% Based
Man Sonic Concept Art is the coolest thing ever, i love this phantasy but realistic style for the series, Heroes to me really is a great mix of the Adventure games with the Classics structure
Sa2 might be my favorite but heroes nostalgic soundtrack and atmosphere is just amazing
Always wondered why the Egg Fleet was sea animal themed now we know. Just chalked it up to Eggman having an interest in aquatic life or something, it was always so cool to see either way.
I remember playing Sonic Heroes back when I was a kid in 6th grade. I got it the day it came out. It was amazing. I was shocked at Knuckles' glide being... basically nothing.
Eldarin though, I gotta say, your output is amazing! This is yet another fantastic video from you! I hope you're not stressing yourself out too much to get these out.
Sonic Heroes is such a fun and unique game too. I don't think it gets enough credit for what it tried to do and these concept art pieces are amazing! My favorite stage is definitely Egg Fleet and I would love to see more of that stage and how it developed.
You said that the art for that bone-spine thing Sonic was running on reminded you of Pirate Storm from Secret Rings. I can totally understand why, but my mind instantly went to Skeleton Dome from the same game. Either way, it's a really cool idea.
I absolutely ADORE how cool and stylish Sonic looks in the concept art where he's doing that dodge, sleep, punch thing. Those sketches capture a real 'tude with the character and it just gives me goosebumps.
Yet again, you made another great video and I hope you feel proud, man. You're doing amazing and your positive passion for Sonic is felt and reciprocated!
Hey Dennis I appreciate the kind words!! Heroes is such a unique game and those concept art designs really are something I agree. Now that you mention it, I COMPLETELY forgot Skeleton Dome was even a stage LOL! But yes 100% that used some inspiration as I checked gameplay and that whole spine thing is 1to1 in the stage! Thanks for watching :))
My first ever Sonic game. Still fun to play, though it can be frustrating.
I think it's ok, i just hate having to play perfectly to actually go to the special stages
Did you try holding b on the rails?
@@junglejuicejuno he's maybe talking about the level design. ngl i was also frustrated by the final level.
The emerald stages were pure hell rest of the game was fun
The difficulty shoots up way too fast, but the music slaps harder and harder
Fun fact: Sonic NEVER runs with his arms in back of him in this game.
I never used to care for Heroes, but I recently went back and started replaying it and I'm enjoying it a lot more this time.
Early prototypes of the game also used a lot of SA1 / SA2 placeholders, such as textures and music. It was generic stuff, but it shows they still viewed Heroes as a sort of spiritual successor to the Adventure titles.
That's...not necessarily true. While I'm sure they did see it that way, reusing assets especially early in development is just par for the course in game development, and virtually every Sonic game reused assets from the previous ones- even when the final products were very different. Shadow 05 was built off a lot of the framework from Heroes, Unleashed took a lot from 06, Colors from the storybook games, Forces from Lost World, etc. That's just how game dev tends to work.
17:06 Looks like the Sonic Mania Mirage Saloon Act 1 train, gigant gun and everything
DUDE OMG YES! I wonder if Whitehead's team got the inspiration for it from this picture..anyway, thanks for watching!
Not to mention, the front of the train looks like the head of Tails' (and Sonic's if you didn't get all the Emeralds) final boss in Sonic 3!
12:49 "Rock Shaped Whale"
Had to double take that one lol.
Right?
I played this game for so many years and never knew that holy shit that's cool
The whale shaped rock was genius! 😄🐳
The facial expressions at 8:50 remind me a lot of the little face Doom Guy has in the old DOS DOOM games.
Some DOOM ports have support for unique skins, so maybe I could mess around with that a little...
Daaang, I totally forgot about the scrapped zone concept art! Cool to see how they possibly reworked them into future titles. Makes me wish they delayed Heroes to give it the extra polish and content it deserved. Still love the game though!
Really wish some of these concepts didn't get scrapped. Casino levels could benefit from having more mechanics than just pinball tables, for example. The concept art of those trains is amazing, too.
This is a really good video. Sonic Heroes is my favorite Sonic game and it's cool to see a piece by piece analysis of the available material from it's development stages.
Thanks Seaside! Super happy you enjoyed the video.I agree its super interesting checking out the development for this game.
17:42 “Wait, is that a freaking Brachiosaurus?!”
Lol, as a paleontology nerd, I think that sauropod looks more like a Diplodocus. Though the one in Secret Rings looks more like Agustinia with the spikes jutting out from the sides of its back. Yes, a dinosaur like that actually existed.
This video had a ton of other moments that made me laugh, like the potential box art with the creepy killer Tails, and Amy and Cream drinking from Martini glasses. And Big in that storyboard also had larger eyes like a traditional Sonic character. I’ve always questioned why he has tiny yellow eyes and other cats like Blaze and Honey don’t.
I also find it funny that you don’t encounter the giant alligator during the Chaotix’s portion of Lost Jungle. Which only would have drawn more attention to how weird it is that one crocodilian is animalistic and Vector is anthropomorphized. It also reminds me of a giant extinct crocodile called Deinosuchus, which lived in the late cretaceous period and ate dinosaurs for breakfast, so it could have been a remnant of that same scrapped concept as the sauropod.
I really like how in this game Rouge’s ears move as she emotes, and its cool to see that was planned all the way back in the storyboards. I honestly think they should bring that detail back in the modern games.
I found that scrapped Japanese ruins zone really interesting as well. Hopefully SEGA recycles that idea for a future game.
I knew this was your most requested video and I was blown away learning all sorts of new stuff like Takashi Iizuka losing 22 pounds during the game’s development. Great job as always. I guess next Heroes thing to do would be the music just like the Adventure games. Until then, I’m excited to see what you do next.
Sorry for the late response Granditamias but just wanted to say thank you for watching the video and im super happy to hear you got alot of laughs out of this video! There was alot of crazy stuff with the development that I too found super funny or interesting! Thats also super interesting about the Agustinia as I didnt know that kind of dinosaur existed!
I sorry but 🤓☝️
I kept rewinding "Shadow Basketball" constantly
10:30
There is a final render of that concept art, with sonic looking serious, they are running out of a giant energy ring
Oh no way! Ill have to check that out, thanks for watching the vid!
No problem!
Love your channel fam.
This channel is literally the ultimate encyclopedia of entertainment. Fantastic video!
Thank you so much man!!! I appreciate the kind words from the GOAT himself
Premy would respect Iizuka a lot more if he knew that he designed so much of the level design in this game
Thank you for not only showing off Sonic Heroes but also putting some respect on SA2B in this day in age! 💯 I was nodding my head in the intro when you mentioned how SA2B was one of the best Sonic games and I 100% agree. I don’t regret getting all 180 emblems with multiple chaos chao(s)
I gotta say I love the proportions on Rouge in 8:1
Would be cool to see models like that.
Also, *Rock Shaped Whale*
Interesting facts about me is that while SA2 was my first ever Sonic game, Sonic Heroes was the first NEW Sonic game I had ever played at the time.
My earliest memory of this game was like.. 2004.
I was like around like 8 years old, I'd remembered my mother and me waited outside a best buy late at a school night to purchase this game..
Man I feel old.
Heroes was definitely one of if not my first 3D sonic games myself. Crazy to think time flies like it does hahaha. That’s so cool you remember doing what sounds like a midnight release for the game. Thanks for watching Bomber!
Oh yeah, I had played Sonic with friends growing up, loved the cartoons, etc. but never had a Sega console myself. So when Sonic was starting to come to the GCN I was beyond excited for Heroes! I even have the CD OST still.
I love Heroes so much man lol. It’s super nostalgic to me too, might’ve been the the first game I ever played. Man I wish we got ports of everything onto modern hardware, it’s killing me not being able to relive this and all the other games from this time on PS4. Anyway though, awesome job on the video dude, also concept art you showed was unbelievably godly especially that Hang Castle one
@@hebbocake all I got is a ps4
@@OmegaSon mod it and put an emulator on there
@@James-pb8xu no
the way i always interpreted it, stages that share assets are the same place, just different "acts"; seaside hill is act 1, ocean palace is act 2, casino park is act 1, bingo highway is act 2, etc etc
I think thats what the devs intended, just wasnt called acts because heroes is kind of a mix of classic and adventure and they went with the adventure naming method
I first played Sonic Heroes in a McDonald's playground area with a kiosk with the Gamecube version of Heroes which became one of my favorite Sonic games, I also remember the Mini LCD Sonic Games from McDonald's!
Nice to see someone research this game in the 2020's for proper critique instead of slander
I hear ya bro
I’ve just started watching and your topics exhibit what I want the sonic franchise to be remembered by, some of the funnest platform games of all time with memorable characters, locations and DAMN GOOD MUSIC!
Thank you so much Sacha, it truly means alot to hear you enjoy my videos! I am trying my best to show my love for the series! :)))
The Jōmon-Yayoi-Kofun level at 21:21 most likely became Gigan Rocks (and Device) in Sonic Riders: Shooting Star Story/Zero Gravity
This probably has one of the most interesting concept arts I have ever seen for a Sonic game. Makes me wonder how the game would of been if they kept a lot of the stuff that were in the concept art. I do think a lot of the concepts ended up being reused for later games since the main series console game that come out after Heroes (besides Shadow the Hedgehog) was 06 and Secret Rings was supposed to be a Wii version of 06 so it makes me wonder....
That is a good point! I forgot about the 06 split on the wii turning into secret rings..I suppose they had to go to the vault since they didnt have the time to get think of a bunch of new zones maybe? Not sure. Anyways, thanks for watching MetaKnux!
@@Eldarin though that dose make me wonder if the 06 Wii port idea was done in full, how different would the game be? Of course it wouldn’t be the same as Secret Rings (or Wild Fire as it was called early on) but if we use Unleashed as an example, ironically another game that came right after 06, the next gen versions and the Wii/PS2 versions of Unleashed was fairly different. Not story wise but there are levels that are either not present or designed differently. Not really sure if a dinosaur and Pirate ship level would be present but I think Shahra was ment to be the Elise of the game. Probably overthinking this but I am considering all possibilities.
Sonic heroes is an awesome game, it’s probably the most underrated 3D sonic.
I'd love to see some of the concept art for "Shadow The Hedgehog".
When I became a fan like 10 years ago, I got Sonic heroes for Gamecube and played it a lot until a stage I couldnt beat, that was the crocodile part from frog forest. Then I tried the game once more a couple of times on these recent years, and its pretty fun and great, but with many glitches and bugs that could be easily fixed with a rerelease.
We were so close to getting modern hooligans. Could have been really cool to maybe they could have been working for neo metal sonic.
YES!!! finally i found someone who knows that originally we were going to have team hooligan but instead they changed it for team chaotix i wish so badly that it was team hooligan cause fang is one of my fav sonic characters and i would have loved to see a modern version of him in a sonic game and see how he would have sounded like if he talked and i wonder how their gameplay would have been like so many possibilities i kinda wish he said something about it in the vid but i guess this type of information was very very early in the game's development so i guess he didn't know about it oh well at least i found u darling!! also as for the working with neo...hmmm...very interesting~ i think u may be on to something~ darling OH YES!!
Sega: No. Fang has no bean and bark anymore.
12:48 *ROCK-SHAPED WHALE.*
Sonic will forever be stuck midair posing
Wow amazing vid man!!!
Bro I've had this game since like 2005, and I've NEVER noticed the whale island in Seaside, that's nuts
10:06 When I first saw that concept on the Sonic wiki, I thought the sleep was a scrapped idle animation. But now that I think about it, using it in a mocking manner against enemies as if to say “Wow, this is so easy it’s boring” would’ve been hilarious. The other dodge and attack moves are drawn really well, too.
If only these older 3D games weren’t held back by technical limitations…
PS2 version was so glitchy and hard to control! But so iconic - epic soundtrack and level designs. I loved this game!
hell yeah!
2:33 Metal Sonic originally being one of the playable team characters seems to imply he wasn't going to be the main antagonist in the early drafts and was gonna have a more heroic role. While I do like Metal as the main antagonist i'm a little sad this scrapped because Metal deserves to have more heroic roles in more games. The only game so far he does anything heroic is Rivals 2.
Yeah, it would be nice for him to fight his programming or compete with sonic like how Shadow does.
I remember owning the rare PC version I found at a random store as a kid. I have fond memories of this game, and still one of my favorite today.
2:12 :
Wait so the hooligans and Metal Sonic, Mighty and Ray were gonna be in Sonic Heroes?
Few things to say.
1. Haven’t finished the video yet.
2. Mighty & Ray and those hooligans before their cameos in Generations and official reappearance in Mania Plus?
3. Metal Sonic, but wasn’t the main/mysterious villain in his weird Neo form?
4. Just realized Chaos, E102 and Big were a team WHAT?
5. Just also realized Amy, Cream and Rouge?
That last team (I believe) was in my pitch from mid 2017 for Sonic Adventure 3 right before I left Middle School (no kidding)
3. They came with the teams first and then the story. That's why metal sonic is in a team. If they kept those teams the story would've been a different one (Also shadow wasn't a member because he was death and the team didn't know what to do with him, so the whole team dark, neither omega, would exist)
@@riqopowpow
Oh make sense now, still didn’t expect the hoolagins (misspelling) and Mighty & Ray.
@@75JUNAKI Oh yeah. If they kept those teams the whole franchise would be different. Shadow wouldn't be alive, neither Omega, and Might, Ray, Fang would have a modern design.
I hope there is some concept art of those characters by uekawa haha
Yeah those scrapped teams were crazy! I couldn’t believe that metal sonic was going to be playable. Kinda makes you wonder where they were going to take the plot in that case. Thanks for watching!
@@Eldarin
There’s so much to take in, especially the characters like Mighty & Ray and others in a Modern Sonic game.
Would’ve like to seen that tbh, I think they should’ve had there be more characters but maybe it’s for the best there isn’t.
Sonic Heroes was criminally underrated IMO. Yeah, it has its flaws like some level bugs that I encounter every walkthrough, but damn, the team gameplay and the level designs are just awesome. I wish this would be remastered instead of Colors :(
Video was great good luck in future videos! :)
Sonic heroes was my first ever Sonic game, if not my first ever game I really got into! I love it. I should get back to playing with it. I loved the tornado attack and it introduced me to my favorite characters, Shadow and Metal Sonic! It formed at least a large portion of who I am today.
Once again very interesting! Concept art is the only type of source that shows how a game has changed without looking at prototypes. Sonic Heroes surely has changed in its development. The colored stage concepts are very beautiful.
Another great video. I’ve been waiting for a sonic heroes video. It’s unironically one of my favorite 3D sonic games. It’s kind of a shame the reception of the game is still a bit on the divisive side in the fandom
Glad you enjoyed it! I got one more video of Heroes on its music underway right now. Thanks so much for watching
Sonic Heroes is my second favorite 3D Sonic game next to Sonic Unleashed, it's a very slept on game in my opinion.
I really appreciate that you include sources and really dive deep into your research. Also, your setup, editing, and script as a whole is fantastic!
You deserve a hell of a lot more subs!
Thank you! It truly means alot. Super happy to hear you enjoy it :))
It's crazy how much love this game gets now. Back in the day everyone hated on it, at the time I felt like the only person who liked it.
12:48
"Rock shaped whale."
Imagine that lmao
waking up - shadow the hedgehog - ost is my favorite sonic heroes song
Pfttt! Fist Pump is my favoritw track on Sonic Heroes
Ah yes, You're my number one - Sonic R OST
My favorite Heroes track
Ay yes, Sonic Mania...my favorite Sonic Heroes game
I love these storyboards shown here.
I believe a lot of those stage art pieces was done by Hiroshi Nishiyama, who was the Field Art Director for Heroes, as well as SA2 and Shadow. He's recently returned to the series and is serving as Art Director for all media of the series including animation, merchandising and video games.
Yo! Loved this vid! Sonic Heroes is one of my most fav and nostalgic Sonic games. Real interesting to see the behind the scenes work. Looking forward to more Eldarin. 😁
Thanks so much Samic! Also thanks for stopping by man...means alot! Glad you enjoyed the video :DD
Tons of interesting stage and storyboard art... nice. Thanks for compiling it all together like this, your videos are great.
Thanks so much it really means alot :D
23:10 They're also in some of the classic titles too! Especially the fiery ones that were in Hilltop Zone but I'm sure there were spikey ones before that.
I played this game for the first time in my father PC when I was 6 or 7 years. Good memories in these days I play some time :I
Hey, I remember reading that GameInformer Article!
i absolutely adore all this concept art, even more than some of the Adventure series art. ironic seeing how Heroes is my least favorite in the series lol
If I can ask, why is it your least favorite? :
@@gaetanodepaola2ndchannel179 physics mostly
Adventure 1, 2 and heroes are my favourite out of the 3D games
Oh and sonic riders the first one, sonic generations is also great
Also Sonic Venture Plus it really makes you feel like sonic, and Sonic Robo Blast 2
Sonic Heroes has to be one of my favourite Sonic games. I can only hope one day we'll get an updated rerelease with touched up graphics, while still keeping the core ideas/mechanics/etc
I was amazed when I saw the in production intro on one of the mega collections
Great video as always dude
With Rouge's black suit, I think maybe instead of red, I'd say that deep purple would be a better choice, but saying I am partial to abit of purple so there is that XD
Also here's hoping we get a HD port of Heroes soon, and hopefully not caring over any of the "improvements" from Colours Ultimate, like the training wheels that permanently fixed to the game with the Tails Save and 100 to give you invincibility.
Thanks Demon! I hope we get a HD port of Heroes soon too! It honestly wouldn’t be much to port the GameCube version over and make it widescreen and such as the game still looks quite good in my opinion!
@@Eldarin yep, and having a playable Tails on your team is the only Tails Save you need. However if there was to be one new improvement I would like to see for Heroes in a remaster, and this would be a genuine one: have Tails, and the other Fly type characters, be able to run around just the same as the Speed and Power types. That was one thing I didn't like about it, as I'd prefer to see Tails and Rouge play more like their Adventure styles, however they'd still able to do the team moves ofcourse.
Yeah that is a good idea about the fly type characters. I have two things I’d propose for a remake: 1. Tweak to fly characters so they can glide a bit when running out of fly power snd 2. Being able to switch in middair and use abilities.Would definitely be interested to see what they do with it
@@Eldarin I think that could work, being able to swap whenever. Because that's what Marvel vs Capcom Infinite did with its tag team mechanic and it worked pretty well in it I thought.
Another great video as always.
I had a blast drawing the thumbnail art for this video, thank you again for having me do it man!! And the video is awesome, you've done it yet again!! :DD
I am now going to use this video and others like it to inform my headcanon of what the ideal heroes remake would be, a thought I escape into when I need reprieve from my depressive episodes 😌💗
Hey, Eldarin. You should do a video on the art of Sonic Heroes soundtrack!
Sonic Heroes is one of my Favorite games!
The Music bring back so many memories.
Man I miss those times.
Stress free, Enjoying life, playing Sonic heroes and Also sonic and the secret Rings.
Omega's design in the storyboard looks like Commando Man from Mega Man 10
He reminds more of Napalm Man, but yeah, he looks like a Mega Man character.
This game is my 3rd favourite sonic game. It's a unique take on the adventure style of gameplay and I think it's really fun!
Wow I though forces dev's had troubles but heroes is something else
Doooope! Heroes's world is so wacky, makes it so unique compared to all the other ones.
Right?! It’s crazy how it’s able to blend the classic and adventure styles so well. Thanks for stopping by and watching the video :))
@@Eldarin Yeah! And I've been wanting to watch these all for a while, gonna be a fun marathon! :D
@@Prima_Media xD well I hope you enjoy them!
Heroes needs a remake or remaster for the switch. That would be so much fun with online play in the multiplayer mode.
I remember foolishly having the ps2 version of the game and really thinking that’s how it played. Then a couple of years later I got the GameCube version and had a much better experience
2:53 in 2003??? Bruh I remember 2003 as if it was yesterday, I was 4 years Old and i remember EXACLTY how excites I was at MacDonalds cause I was about to get my Sonic toy thinggie! However those are not the ones I remember, the ones I got were one wit knuckles playing soccer with Eggman and one with shadow jumping some pole things or maybe i remember it wrong lol
Another great video as always
Thanks so much Matthew!
It only just occurred to me how unique seaside hill and ocean palace are. I'm not sure which culture they took inspiration from at all! Is there anywhere in the world that has palaces with similar architecture and style? If not then they really did a fantastic job coming up with such a wildly unique location.
Hmmm, well that is a really good question. I’m not sure and haven’t seen anything in regards to that so when I say this it’s purely speculative..my only two guesses would be it’s remains from their South American trip for SA1 and the South American Indian cultures from there or from the California area Mexican/South American Indian cultures as this game was mainly developed there. They took a trip for both SA1&2 (South America and California) cultural inspiration to base the ideas for those games so maybe it was a mix of the two? I’m not sure but if you find anything on it let me know as that’s got me thinking now too LOL
Another fun fact: All the CG cutscenes were animated by the same studio behind the animated Tech Deck commercials from the early 2000s!
I used to love those when I was younger! That’s so cool, I didn’t know that. Thanks for watching!
Amazing work as always man. Always intresting to see the info you can uncover in your videos. Amazing work as always and good luck on whatever this 4th unrevealed video you have been working on for a while
Thanks so much SL! Means alot, and itll be released shortly ;)
@@Eldarin looking forward to it buddy
Its so cool to hear more about this game that I didn't know of. Those pieces of concept art are absolutely incredible! This will always be my favourite Sonic game. Amazing work!
If there's one thing that I've learned after looking at storyboards of various films, they actually are often BETTER than the final product because of having less of a time crunch.
This is beautiful!
Shadow should’ve been in space jam 2
Wow 😐
we already have big chungus in the movie so we don't need him.
Lol 😂
I imagine that the Eggman train with the revolver chasing Team Sonic concept art was originally going to be the mini/stage-boss thing for Bullet Station instead of the awful go-karting section, since every second stage for Dark and Sonic have a final challenge bit the and Bullet Station's is just one of the tunnels, the go-karting section and then getting shot at the goal ring.
So it would have been the equivalent of Ocean Palace's rolling rocks, the Power Plant's rising lava stuff, the deadly bingo board at the end of Bingo Highway, the alligator in lost jungle, the character gauntlet in Mystic Maison and the rails at the end of Final Fortress.
2:50 i was just thinking about those recently. i really actually enjoyed those, and LOVED the designs
17:22 I love how the train has Robotnik's face on it.
Sonic Heroes was the first Sonic game I remember playing as a child. It is what brought me into the world of Sonic The Hedgehog and one of the games that brought me into gaming as a whole. One lifelong butterfly effect later and here I am, a Splatoon TH-camr who is still a huge fan of Sonic! I had to watch this this video as soon as I saw the thumbnail! This was so cool to look at! The funny thing is that I was just talking about Sonic Heroes last night with my friends and even presented a few ideas for a remake. This video will very much come in handy when I start writing my proposal for what I will call *'Sonic Heroes Righteous Reimagining'!* And I will definitely be sure to cite you!
Super happy to hear you enjyoed the video, thats awesome how Heroes brought you into gaming as a whole, thats a very special thing! For me it was a mix of Sonic advance 3, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror/Nightmare on Dreamland for GBA so i totally feel you. Best of luck on the Heroes video too :))
@@Eldarin Thank you! It won't exactly be a video, though. More like a script with a large table of contents at the beginning. X DD I'm excited to get working on it! I just need to find the time. Life stuff getting in the way of personal plans, am I right? lol
Let’s assume that the plan for the original teams in Sonic Heroes were the teams we got for the game. Here are my ideas for this:
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles (Team Sonic)
The story, gameplay, and theme song will be more or less the same.
Amy, Cream, Rouge (Team Rose)
The story starts with Amy relaxing at the beach. She wonders aloud what Sonic is up today and is approached by Cream the Rabbit. (This will be when Amy and Cream meet each for the first time. Mind you, I am going to be changing some lore in this hypothetical story.) Cream tells Amy that her mom is missing. Cream has found a ransom note saying that if she ever wants to see her mom again, she will have to hand over Cheese. Amy agrees to help Cream find her mother. The two are joined by Rouge who states that maybe she can get to do some treasure hunting along the way. Gameplay wise, Amy is speed, Cream is flight, and Rouge is power and Amy is the leader. Each level will be a fetch quest to collect chao. The Team Blast will have Amy, Cream, and Rouge perform a synchronized dance with flowers flying everywhere. The theme will be Follow Me. At the end of the story, Cream is reunited with her mom. Rouge states that even though she didn’t find any treasure, she still had a good time. Amy sees Sonic in the distance and goes after him.
Chaos, E102, Big (Team Heart)
The story opens with E102 navigating through a jungle. (This is a different E102 from the one we played as in Sonic Adventure.) We then get some backstory on E102. E102 was a robot built by Dr. Eggman that was powered up by a mysterious, pink ring Eggman found. The ring caused E102 to become stronger and more powerful as well as more intelligent and compassionate. Because of his newfound compassion, E102 didn’t want to work for Eggman anymore and thus abandoned him. E102 is now traveling around the world exploring and helping any animals he sees in distress. Just then, a frog jumps out of the bushes and lands on E102’s head. It’s Froggy. E102 removes Froggy from his head and examines him. E102 then hears Big the Cat calling out for Froggy. E102 questions if this frog he is holding is the Froggy in question. Just then, E102 spots a puddle approaching him. It’s Chaos. E102 learns from Chaos that chao are being abducted by an evil spirit. (Communicating with chao is another one of E102’s powers.) Tikal and Chaos were supposed to go rescue the chao, but the evil spirit kidnapped Tikal. Suddenly, Chaos reverts to his puddle form. When E102 asks what’s wrong, Chaos warns that the evil spirit is behind him. E102 turns around, but before he can attack, the evil spirit snatches Froggy and disappears. At that moment, Big arrives. Big asks E102 if he’s seen Froggy. E102 replies: “I believe I found your Froggy. Unfortunately, a malevolent spirit has stolen it.” To which Big exclaims: “Oh no! We gotta save Froggy!” E102 assures Big that they will save Froggy and assures Chaos that they will save Tikal and the chao. Thus the trio’s quest begins. Gameplay wise, Chaos is speed, E102 is flight, and Big is power, and E102 is the leader. The Team Heart Story will be the easy mode of the game. The Team Blast will have Chaos and Big latch onto E102 as the trio focus their combined strength on the laser E102 fires. The theme will be entitled We’ll Be There and it will be a cute, sweet song about helping others. At the end of the story, Chaos, E102, and Big save Tikal and Froggy from the evil spirit. They also find the kidnapped chao who have been freed by Team Rose.
Espio, Charmy, Vector (Team Chaotix)
The story and the theme will be more or less the same. The gameplay will be identical to the one in the original game except they will simply be collecting rings.
Fang, Bean, Bark (Team Hooligan)
The story begins with Fang, Bean, and Bark entering a temple. They have come looking for the legendary Sapphire of Shadows in hopes of selling it for a lot of money. They find the Sapphire of Shadows only to find that half of the sapphire is missing. So they set off to find the other half of the sapphire. Gameplay wise, Fang is speed, Bean is flight, and Bark is power, and Fang is the leader. The Team Hooligan Story will be the hard mode of the game. The Team Blast will have Fang firing his pistol, Bean throwing bombs, and Bark pounding his fists causing debris to fall. The theme will be entitled Hunters of Fortune. It will be a rock song that revolves around Team Hooligan. The story ends with Team Hooligan finding the other half of the Sapphire of Shadows.
Metal Sonic, Ray, Mighty (Team Mighty)
The story begins with Mighty the Armadillo on a date with Tiara Boobowski. Suddenly, the evil spirit snatches Tiara and knocks Mighty unconscious. (This is inspired by one of the story drafts for the canceled Sonic X-treme game.) Meanwhile, Ray is over at Tiara’s house playing with Metal Sonic. After the events of Sonic CD, Metal Sonic was discovered by Tiara’s father Dr. Boobowski.
Dr. Boobowski fixed Metal Sonic up and changed his body from blue to white and his eyes from red to blue. (This redesign was inspired by Metal Sonic’s design in the fangame Sonic Future.) Dr. Boobowski also altered Metal Sonic’s programming so he won’t be obligated to follow Eggman’s orders anymore. Dr. Boobowski notices that Tiara and Mighty have not come back from their date yet, so he sends Ray and Metal Sonic out to see if things are okay. Ray and Metal Sonic find Mighty who tells them what happened. So the trio set off to rescue Tiara. Gameplay wise, Metal Sonic is speed, Ray is flight, and Mighty is power, and Mighty is the leader. Each level will have you beat it in a certain amount of time. The team blast will have Metal Sonic, Ray, and Mighty perform spin dashes. The theme will be entitled We’re In This Together. This theme will be a song by Crush 40 about the quest of Team Mighty. The story ends with Metal Sonic, Ray, and Mighty saving Tiara from the evil spirit.
The stages in this hypothetical Sonic Heroes will be the same as the original Sonic Heroes. However, each stage will be just one act instead of two. And as for boss battles, the only bosses in the team stories will be the robot carnivals and the Egg Emperor. The way you unlock the Final Story will be the same as how you unlock the Final Story in the original Sonic Heroes.
Final Story
It’s revealed that the evil spirit was the one pretending to be Eggman. The real Eggman unleashed the evil spirit to use as a weapon to conquer the world. Unfortunately, the evil spirit took over Eggman’s robots and imprisoned him. The evil spirit then lured the teams into fighting it so he can copy their abilities and reach its full power. The evil spirit then transforms into a hideous monster and swallows Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Tikal tells the other teams that they need to work together to save Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as they are the only team in which all three members have gone super at some point and therefore are the only ones that can use the Chaos Emeralds to stop the evil spirit from destroying the planet. Thus the boss battle begins. The goal of the first phase is to attack the spirit’s stomach so it vomits out Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. You first play as Team Rose, then Team Mighty, then Team Heart, then Team Chaotix, then finally Team Hooligan. After you finish the first phase, a cutscene plays that has the evil spirit puke out Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Sonic thanks the other teams for saving them and he and Tails and Knuckles use the Chaos Emeralds to go super. The evil spirit recovers and prepares to finish off the teams, but it’s too late. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles stop the evil spirit’s attack and the second phase of the boss battle begins. The way you win the second phase is similar to how you win the second phase in the original Sonic Heroes. After you beat the boss battle, a cutscene plays where the evil spirit is sealed back into the Sapphire of Shadows. Tikal and Chaos return to the afterlife as Big, E102, and the chao wave goodbye, Sonic heads off with Tails and Amy following him, Cream heads home with her mother, Team Mighty heads home with Tiara, Rouge leaves for the Master Emerald with Knuckles in hot pursuit, Team Chaotix go after Eggman, and Team Hooligan decide to give the Sapphire of Shadows to G.U.N. so they can secure it.
Seeing the all the crunch, the multiplatform engine trouble, and the whole "appeal to new fans" thing, it's no wonder Heroes turned out the way it did. I feel almost guilty with how disappointed I was with Heroes, knowing now how hard they all worked on it.
Well you know, effort doesn't make A's and all that
@@GoodLuckHolly Yeah, the engine was a slippery mess, and the levels and enemies were such a chore. And it's still baffling as to why they gave us gimped versions of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles awkwardly grabbing each other, when they could've just had us tag between each unburdened character.
dude, your channel is criminally underrated. These vids are of the highest QUALITY.
Thank you so much and it really means alot! :DD
Bro, why you cut away from my boi Shadow dunkin that B'ball like LeBron James. Shadow basketball is legendary meme status
I may have hated Sonic Heroes and never enjoyed it as a game, but it's still interesting seeing it's concept art.
Awesome as always, also perfect time to launch a Sonic Heroes video because it's friends day! (At least is here on Brazil) To show the true super power of teamwork!
Anyways it's kinda funny because Heroes is also my most nostalgic sonic game, it was my first game and i played a lot on the ps2 the worst version, it hold my favorite for years until i played Based Sa2, but it still holds a special place on my heart.
It's also has a lot of sick concept art, especially for the stages, some of the early art were even better than the final one imo, but i think they didn't use because it doesn't fit with the tone the game has. Either way, going through dinossaurs in frog forest and lost jungle, a giant spine that sonic grinds on, a massive aquatic basic, all of the scraped other teams and etc is a really good example on how the developers went all out with the game and put passion to make the new series of Heroes games, sadly that didn't work but the final product was very good on my eyes, also props to based Iizuka, the man really did everthing he could to make the game the best as it could be, people bash him but things like this show that he definetly loves the franchise at tries everthing he can to make the best as possible! Can't wait to next video wich will probally be Sonic CD!
Hope you had a great friends day Felipe! Heroes did have some sick concept art. Major props to iizuka and the team for the amount of work they had to put in to get this thing on the right path. Hope you enjoy whats to come!!
What comes up must come down. Yet my feet don't touch the ground.....
My favorite game of all time ❤️
I was just thinking of Heroes concept art today... good work esper Eldarin.
New Eldarin upload = indescribably BASED
Thanks so much Rigby :)))
This is a great thing to wake up to great vid like always
Thanks so much Diplomatic! It means alot!