Sonic N |
N-Gage |
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Review by Matt Paprocki |
Sega |
Platform |
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Graphics: 8 |
Sound: 8 |
Gameplay: 7 |
Overall: 7 |
Another port from a Game Boy Advance game, N-Gage players will find Sonic
N familiar. It's a direct translation of Sonic Advance, a fantastic 2-D
title in the series. Any flaws here are due to the hardware, and in this case, it's nearly
enough to ruin the playability.![]() This is a short game, and if you're familiar with the layout, it shouldn't take more than an hour. Technically, you need to collect all the chaos emeralds (why are these still laying around after all these years?) with each character to truly complete it, but the bonuses are minimal at best. If this is your first experience, expect to spend around two or three hours. On the N-Gage, Sonic N brings a second layer of challenge: the vertical screen. There are two viewing choices, one in a squished letterbox view or cramped full screen. The graphics are not re-done for the letterbox mode, and look pixilated. Enemies blend in with the backgrounds, and screen size is ridiculously small. Playing full screen makes it impossible to see an incoming enemy since the horizontal view is limited. Sonic's speed has always made this difficult, but with the screen eliminating any chance of avoiding death, this is inexcusable. Given how sparsely populated the enemies are in every stage, there are only a few times where this is a major issue. However, it's enough to feel cheated by the hardware's orientation. ![]() It's not hard to figure out that this is a Sonic entry far better played on the Game Boy Advance. If that's not an option, and the technical hurdles don't bother you, this is one of Nokia's easiest sells for their console. It would have been nice to a see a completely new adventure for different hardware, but if we're going to get ports, this is (almost) the way to do them. |