Sega Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut GameCube Games

Despite claims of improved graphics, this still looks very much like a Dreamcast game. Sega have added new lighting and a few other special effects but unfortunately the frame rate and draw distance are all distinctly 1998. Most irritatingly, the camera still hasn't been sorted out; this really does impact on the enjoyment to be had in the otherwise well-designed action levels.

Indeed, as a so-called "director's cut" this is a bit of a failure--except when it comes to the hidden extras, which include over 60 bonus games and all 12 Sonic titles for the Game Gear (Sega's powerful but short-lived answer to the Game Boy). The fact that it's so time-consuming to unlock most of these extras is highly frustrating and means that only hardcore Sonic fans are going to get the best out of a re-release that has missed opportunities. --David Jenkins

Sonic Heroes is basically the action segments from Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 stripped of all the insanely dull pseudo RPG elements but unfortunately still containing far too much storyline and the largest and least interesting host of secondary characters ever seen in gaming. Sonic Heroes also inherits many of the older titles' camera and control problems, although here they are now occasional rather than constant irritations.

All this may seem as if it's painting a rather poor picture of the game, but despite all its problems Sonic Heroes is actually a lot of fun. Its main gimmick is that you actually control three characters at a time, with each one having a special ability of either speed, flight or the ability to smash through blocks. Thankfully this doesn't overcomplicate the controls and instead adds a modicum of depth to the otherwise non-stop running-'n'-jumping action.

You still occasionally get the feeling that the game is trying too hard to fit a round peg in a square hole, but on balance more of it works than doesn't, and it's certainly the best Sonic title since the Mega Drive era. --David Jenkins