Sonic Lost World - Nintendo 3DS

Let me start by saying that I do not own the Wii U version of the game, so I cannot make any comparisons. I plan on getting a Wii U soon and playing that game, which I will review too, so keep posted!Anyways, this game is absolutely great. The level design is great (Dimps really is great at thinking outside the box when they take their time) and is a nice mash-up of classic Genesis platforming and Sonic Adventure 2 maneuvering. There are so many different paths you can take in one level that it will take you ages to take every route possible in each level. With mini-bosses within the levels and proper amounts of challenge, the level design here is definitely something I am a fan of.The graphics look great on the 3DS, especially when 3D is clicked on. Dimps really took advantage of the 3DS' capabilities. The frame-rate has not dropped once for me yet, even with 3D on. The backgrounds of the levels are blurry and add a great sense of depth even with the 3D off. Nothing looks like it was lazily ported from the Wii U version. If anything, this could pass off for a Wii or Gamecube game!The soundtrack is great, just take a listen for yourself. The tracks are fun to listen to and also fit the levels and situations perfectly.The bosses in this version are nothing amazing but, from what I've seen, they beat the bosses in the Wii U version. Just look up videos of the first boss in the Wii U version and the 3DS version and you'll see what I mean.The controls work extremely well, but you have to get used to them first. I naturally learn things very quickly but not everyone does. There is not much of a learning curve, but you will be so used to previous 3D sonic games that this one will take getting used to. I still occasionally find myself forgetting to hold R to run and I don't make jumps. The turning is a little weird, too. This will push a lot of people away from playing this game, so don't let that happen to you.The special stages are my only gripe. You are flying around collecting orbs and you have to use gyro controls to move. That means you rotate your body and look up and down. If you could tilt instead of rotating your body or if the rotating was less stiff-feeling, the special stages would be much better. It's not TOO bad but could be improved. At least it's not another half-pipe.Overall, if you don't have a Wii U or you want a great 3D sonic game on-the-go, definitely buy this. It's worth it.

I just beat the final boss and collected the 7th chaos emerald. I am highly satisfied with this game because of the surprise waiting for me after beating it. I unlocked a "Hard Mode" which has nearly doubled the play time and added an excellent challenge! The controls are smooth and fast (don't forget to hold down the right shoulder pad!), but they do take some getting used to. Leave the hints on because there are quite a few new features in this title. Overall, I am fairly impressed with this title. It's slightly better than what I expected. The one negative thing for me was there were too many in-level puzzles. I dislike having to solve puzzles in Sonic games.

Based on the novelty alone, I think Sonic Lost World is already a promising game. After all, it's the very first true 3D portable Sonic game. Finally, after many years of waiting, and with games like Sonic Rivals and Sonic Generations 3DS failing to live up to that concept, we finally have a Sonic game where you can roam around in a full-3D environment. Sure, there's still some 2D levels, but even those have been built for the new kind of gameplay this title has set.Yes, you've read that right. Gone are the days of Sonic Rush boost-platforming. Sonic can now do...Pretty much what he's done in the Sonic Adventure titles and Sonic Colors. He can run, bounce, collect floating Rings, Spin Dash, use his signature Homing Attack, and use Wisp power-ups to help on his journey. Now Sonic can also use a kick attack which is useful for enemies shielding themselves, and more importantly, he can now run on walls! This parkour feature is a unique mechanic that's pretty fun to do, especially when you figure out how to handle it better.Actually...That's what I'd have to say for the game as a whole, to be honest with you. Believe it or not, the difficulty is surprisingly HIGH for a Sonic title, let alone a handheld one. Coming from previous installments, I was unprepared for the beating that I was given as I traveled through the game's six zones (I'd count Lava Mountain as a last zone if it wasn't a Boss Rush divided into three acts). This wasn't the kind of game where you could just Boost through the thing in a jiffy. Oh NOOO. Here, you may want to be careful a little more often. I'm just saaaaying. At first, it was kinda off-putting, but I've recently grown to appreciate it a bit more actually. It felt like it was trying to go for an oldschool feel, because I ended up trying to master some of these levels almost like how I would with a fairly difficult NES title.Fortunately, though, there's still a huge abundance of extra lives and rings, similarly to how the Mario series would have laid out its coins and 1ups.One other major thing that needs to be discussed is how big the levels themselves are. I personally welcome levels of any length (as long as it's not twice as long as these), but jeez! I haven't played levels this long since Sonic Heroes! Compared to the little-more-than-an-hour I've spent to complete Sonic Generations, Lost World can go on for maybe five hours+ if you're like me and have played a Sonic game before. If you don't like levels that can possibly take 10+ minutes to beat, then this game may not be for you.And then there's the minor things that kinda bug me about the game. First off, the Special Stages are crap for one reason and one reason only - The need to tilt the 3DS as you would in the built-in 3DS game, Face Raiders. Just make sure you do these in an empty room if you don't want to look dumb and if you want to unlock the ability to transform into the pretty radical Super Sonic. Second, why are the Wisps in this game? The storyline doesn't mention or refer to them a single time, while Sonic Colors was obviously all about the Wisps. Speaking of story, it's mostly just fine (especially great writing with character interactions!), but the Deadly Six/Zeti just simply want Sonic dead, with no explanation why. The Zeti themselves don't make for interesting bosses, but then again, not a lot of Sonic bosses have been truly great. I just wish the video quality for the cutscenes was a little bit clearer.For everything I have to criticize in the game, though, there's plenty of fun to go around. The 3D platforming is nice and fluid (considering Sonic's variety of moves), the soundtrack and graphics are excellent, and there's definitely a considerable amount of effort put into the game as a whole in comparison to the previous aforementioned 3DS outing. To make matters better, the 4-Player online Vs modes are addictive and robust (The Special Stages are even in their own mode so you won't be forced to play them)! It is also a good way to get you to replay certain levels and become better at progressing through them. Sonic Lost World isn't exactly what I'd call a GREAT game, but it's still pretty good.Just beware when it comes to the long levels, difficulty, and tilt-required Special Stages.=============================================================================================================================UPDATE (3/24/14): My overall opinion hasn't really changed much since this review, but I have a few things to note. As time went on, I got progressively better (As I do with every Sonic game, I guess), and managed to clock in between 2-3 hours per playthrough of this game, which still beats Generations 3DS's length.I don't believe I've mentioned this already, but there are some times in this game where a giant enemy would stand in your way. These instances can get rather annoying, but most of them have a weakness or way to bypass each one (Whether it's via Wisp power or hopping right by). When in doubt, "charging" the Homing Attack can come in handy. You do this by waiting a moment after attacking it, and then using the Homing Attack again. This works wonders on giant baddies like the fish robots in Tropical Coast, and you'll NEED to do this on the final boss (The boss sucks btw).When I wasn't playing the single-player adventure though, I was racing in the Online Multiplayer mode! This actually gets more addictive than the online in Generations 3DS, and it totally helps when there's multiple Sonics seen onscreen, and the fact that up to 4 players can race each other at once!