Gameplay Today - Because You're Always Gaming

With the launch of the N-Gage, Nokia has managed to get many big names on board. Alongside Lara Croft and Tony Hawk, Sega's famous Sonic the Hedgehog graces the new mobile platform with SonicN. The game is a port of 2001's terrific Sonic Advance for the Game Boy Advance, but unfortunately, there are too many problems with the title on N-Gage to allow it to shine.

Sonic Advance was a remarkably well designed 2D platformer which took the Speed of Sonic games and mixed it with solid level design, allowing for plenty of exploration. As SonicN is a port of that game, the same is true on N-Gage, but the experience is severely hampered by the game deck's screen ratio. Because the screen is taller than it is wide, a side-scrolling racing game (or the almost any game, for that matter) suffers from a lack of peripheral vision. This is especially true in this case when you're racing along at high speeds and trying to avoid upcoming spikes and enemies, you'll be forced to rely on guess work most of the time, which basically ruins the experience. In a Sonic game, not being able to see more than two character widths in front of you is a big problem; why this problem wasn't addressed even before the game was considered for the platform is beyond us.

It should be noted that, if you go into the game's options, you can try to fix the problem by letterboxing the screen so that the camera pans out. This comes at the expense of decent visuals, however, as the game looks pretty atrocious from a distance. There are also, strangely enough, some frame rate problems with the game, which is baffling given the N-Gage's ability to handle fully 3D worlds.

SonicN's levels are well thought out and play very well, even though there are only 12 of them. There are four selectable characters in the game, (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy), and they all play through the same set of levels, but certain characters can access certain areas specifically designed for them, which gives the game a substantial amount of replay value. For example, some levels will feature sections only accessible with Knuckles, because of his ability to climb up walls.

SonicN's replay value could have been massively improved if the game supported N-Gage Arena, but unfortunately it can only be played by one person. Believe it or not, you can't even play locally over Bluetooth. Why a game like Tomb Raider would feature a shadow racing option online yet a game all about speed features no such competitive features confuses us, as it confuses many potential N-Gage owners. For most Sonic fans, this will be a real disappointment.

The game's audio and visual presentation, (aside from the fact that the game play is entirely unsuited for a vertical screen), is passable but nothing more. As mentioned, there are some frame rate problems in certain spots, and the game's music sounds digitized and muffled, which is especially evident when you're playing the game with headphones.

The bottom line is this; the game's more enjoyable on Game Boy Advance, and it's cheaper too. The N-Gage version doesn't offer any connectivity functionality or features not found in the Game Boy Advance version, and what's more, its performance and playability isn't a patch on the original. Unless you're a serious Sonic fan and have to have every piece of merchandise, it's safe to let Sonic loose the race on N-Gage.