Item - Stormin' Sonic

This book is quite similar to the previous one, but marginally better while still not being very good. After a brief introductory segment, the reader has the choice of exploring four different locations (each with different strange weather) in any order. After a particular two of these areas have been explored, the last stretch of the adventure is unlocked (but going there without having completed all four sections is fatal). This structure makes for good replay value at first, but once the individual areas have been cracked, it becomes extremely tedious to work one's way back to the endgame (which will almost certainly be necessary, as the last part of the book features a rough time limit); this is definitely a book where some sort of "save game" mechanic would have been most welcome (though admittedly not in keeping with the video game that inspired the book). As with the rest of the later books in the series, though, the real problem is that there's no reason to bother with the gameplay because the story simply isn't interesting and the writing lacks flavor. There are a few moments that are almost weird enough to be fun (camel-riding penguins with exaggerated French accents, for example), and the presence of a section styled after Donkey Kong surprised me (after all, this is inspired by Sega, not Nintendo), but the whole thing really fails to come together as a story. I almost hate to say it, but somehow, in the absence of a real plot, allegedly cool anthropomorphic animals don't work as well as generic fantasy cliches. This series stopped being worthwhile the moment James Wallis stopped writing for it, and I'm really pretty relieved to be done with it.

My High Score - 5 rings

More reviews by Demian

[Rating: 1/10]
[Recommended? NO]

Challenged and underwhelming, the quality departure from the series' first two titles is definitely present, what with "Stormin' Sonic"'s elementary writing style, cheap interior illustrations, painfully poorly-designed gameplay, lack of immersiveness/proofreading, high difficulty level, overextended length and complete absence of passable humor. Definitely not recommended - and hardly playable, either. ^^

(Mysteriously disappears into the shadows.)

More reviews by Shadeheart