What to play: Sonic Lost World

by the Opaque Senator, GGR Contributor

Welcome back one and all!

Took a bit of a break from the gaming world as work restarted post-COVID lock down (what will likely be the first one at the time of writing this article). So...who on here owns the client Steam for their computer gaming needs? For those that don't, do it! If your computer can run today's games it's a great client. And for both groupings of people, take advantage of the Steam Summer and Steam Winter sales. I bought many new games for dirt cheap.

So many games, so little time…

Among my crop of buys was a little romp I'd looked to play for quite awhile now, and that game is Sega and Sonic Team's 2013 title Sonic Lost World.

This game came out originally only on the Nintendo Wii U, which I do not and have not owned at any point. So this was one of the few Sonic games that had eluded my grasp to this point. Well, thanks to the aforementioned Steam Summer sale and my browsing of Sega titles, I saw this game was ported to the PC, and $7 was a pretty excellent price tag; though I'm missing out on the Nintendo exclusive content.

As many of you who have read my earlier articles know, I am a HUGE Sonic the Hedgehog fan. I've been playing the games since I was a kid, and I always look forward to when the next game comes out. I started a little later with the Sonic Jam collection on the Sega Saturn, which contained the first four 2D games minus Sonic CD. Since then, I've bought new and played nearly every Sonic game that's come out over the years (save for the more recent Rise of Lyric, Shattered Crystal, and Fire and Ice).

The blue blur...has had a bit of a checkered history with his games. Unlike his rival Mario on Nintendo, there have been some misses when it comes to Sonic games, especially when he made his transition to 3D. The Adventure games were pretty good to me, though certainly not up to par with the 2D side-scroll platformers of old. Then the likes of Sonic '06 and Sonic Genesis (a really bad port of the original game on handheld) came out really put the hedgehog off track.

Sonic was then thrown into numerous types of games, including the storybook series with the aforementioned Black Knight and Sonic and the Secret Rings (which I really enjoyed but is looked at today much more poorly due to the Wii motion controls). So, what would Lost World bring to the table?

I'll begin with this...

The soundtrack to this game, as is true with nearly every Sonic title ever made, was simply fantastic. The link above is to my favorite in the game, called Sea Bottom Segue which is played on both rail-grinding sections of the game in Tropical Coast Act 3 and Lava Mountain Act 2. Feel free to enjoy the soothing track as you read the rest of this article. The rest of the soundtrack is stellar as well, with a nice combination of energetic themes, to relaxing, to intense, and everything in between. There are probably only two or so Sonic games that do not garner kudos for their soundtracks, but this one is up there among the upper echelons with Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania. Download this and all of them if your looking to bob your heads to some great music.

Graphically, this game was also excellent. Again, this is a 2013 title, so we are 7 years ago now, but it's still a bright, colorful adventure as come to be expected from modern Sonic games. The visual flair made me feel very at home in a Sonic game. The story has gone back to a more basic formula from the convoluted Adventure series and Sonic 06.

You’re in control of just Sonic this time, and with your trusty side kick Miles “Tails” Prower, your in pursuit of Dr. Eggman. Side note, I miss the days when he was Robotnik, but I'm glad they gave him that name in the movie. Eggman though has enlisted the aid of what is known as the “Deadly Six,” a group of one-note personality quirks that serve as this game's primary antagonists.

These guys, though colorful, are not a high note in the game. They're pretty boring compared to Sonic's typical antagonists. Sonic realizes how Eggman is controlling this group of misfits, and destroys that mechanism. This, instead of helping them become good guys, actually makes them turn on everyone and work to destroy the world using a modified machine that Eggman had built. Sonic, Tails, and Eggman team up and make their way through the Lost Hex, the world we find ourselves on, together. Honestly, not the best story line, but I don't play these games for stories. So...not a deal breaker. The game play though is the make-or-break part of a Sonic game. And this game’s controls...are okay. I've read tons of reviews that the controls for the Wii U were challenging and got lots of flack. For myself, I played on PC using an Xbox controller, and did not find too many issues controlling Sonic. There were definitely certain parts of certain levels where there was a glitch or difficulty with control, but overall I felt I had a pretty comfortable ride with the blue blur.

This game takes a lot of visual cues from the Mario Galaxy games. There is much by way of cylindrical level design, with a character like Sonic moving pretty quickly through it all. Again, did not have too much issue with this and appreciated the changes this game showed off. It also debuted the parkour system for Sonic, where he could wall jump and run wall to wall to reach places on the levels he couldn't before. If you have any momentum running towards a wall, Sonic will try to run up it. There were definitely times this happened when I wasn't expecting it, but never on any do-or-die parts of the levels for me. The levels were fun for me, especially the rail grinding and exploration levels. There were a couple that were not fun and will try to avoid on replays. Frozen Factory was the worst offender. The world wasn't great, ice physics were not fun to work with unlike in many other games, Act 2 where you keep getting sent back to the beginning of the level or last check point were super frustrating. Lava Mountain, the final area, was also challenging bordering on frustrating. But these couple of acts did not hamper my total enjoyment of the game. They did really reek of experimentation though.

Another addition, as Sonic Team is apt to do, was the DLC of the NiGHTS into Dreams portion of the game. It was a single level, that was done entirely in the theme of the NiGHTS series, and again, as those who have read my articles on here know, that game and series is without a doubt my all time favorite. It was great seeing the characters I've grown to love, listen to the tracks, and play it. And this DLC was also a great way to stock up on lives if I encountered a particularly challenging level, so I revisited often. It never got old for me. My hope is to see another NiGHTS game in the future. As far as Sonic games go, this game was certainly challenging. Taking exception to the couple of levels I mentioned where some of the challenge was frustrating or not fair, the rest of it was fair.

There were do-or-die segments a-plenty, and I used many, many lives during my play through. The nice thing is, the game was patched years ago so collecting 100 rings scores you another life, and there were plenty of places available in addition to the DLC I mentioned where you could stock up. But for the casual gamer, this game can definitely frustrate. I am not a completionist style gamer, either. Those types will also most definitely struggle with their enjoyment if they aim to grab every secret and achievement, as many are challenging. Red ring hunting, animal saving, Super Sonic, the Wisps, and the fact that there are 100 achievements, that is not an easy adventure, and I will NOT be trying that. Speaking of wisps, they are back from Sonic Colors, and they're fine. There's some cool ones for sure, but also awkward ones. They’re inclusion feels tacked on and unnecessary honestly, but they also did not hamper my enjoyment of the game either. 

So what's the bottom line? I liked this game. There's nostalgia in here, some great game play and set pieces, wonderful music and DLC content, and a TON to do if you want to complete challenges and like post-game content. It's definitely not a perfect game, and I can certainly see some people not enjoying their time completely; especially the classic Sonic lovers. Catch it during the Steam Winter sale in November or December for $7, and you definitely won't be disappointed, but I’m glad I didn't spend $40 on it either. In this truly opaque world, I hope that makes things a little more clear.