Sega's booth at E3 this year was an impressive affair and featured several dazzling new titles from Sonic Team.

Ah yes, it's time to report on all things Sega from E3 2003! In my opinion, this was a great year for Sega at the show. When you've got the first original games from Sonic Team since Sonic Adventure 2 in 2001, how bad can things be? Billy Hatcher and Sonic Heroes looked like some very promising offerings (the developers showed off Phantasy Star Online III as well). More new content from Sonic Team than it's put forth in years . . . fans were beginning to worry that the group would endlessly port its old Dreamcast games!

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is the first new platformer-type game from Sonic Team since, well, Sonic. The team hasn't really attempted a game of this kind besides its flagship mascot series. In the past, the closest thing in the same vein was the unique NiGHTS into Dreams for Sega Saturn, a game that couldn't really be categorized as a platformer or as much of any other type of game seen before. Hatcher definitely is a 3D platformer, but it's much different from the norm.

I'll forgo a long description of the game's setting and mechanics since by now details are widespread. Basically, you are a type of "egg herder" character who picks up different magical eggs and swats enemies with them. If you run over fruit scattered about the levels, the eggs get successively larger and more powerful, yet harder to control. And if you pick up enough fruit, the eggs hatch into cuddly little buddies who will join up and assist you in level objectives. Oh yeah, there are also golden eggs that have to be taken to certain nesting areas to be hatched, often across perilous jumping sections like a rickety bridge. And bosses that need to be slammed with eggs in order to be defeated. Got all that?

To give you a better idea of the gameplay, here's how it controls:

Billy Hatcher's control setup on GameCube is simple, flexible, and intuitive.

Hatcher not only managed to be one of the better games on display in Sega's booth, but also one of the better ones in Nintendo's!

Now besides Billy Hatcher, there was another highly-anticipated game on display from Sonic Team: Sonic Heroes.

Side-by-side demo stations for the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox versions of Sonic Heroes. The PS2 version looked notably inferior.

Heroes is the latest in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and no, it's not just another port of the old Sonic Adventure games. It's a brand-new, multi-platform Sonic game featuring a unique new group dynamic: three characters all running along at the same insanely fast pace, all able to be toggled into the lead (read: controllable) position at will. Here's a quick rundown of the game's highlights:

• The character team on display in the E3 demo was made up of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Sonic burns rubber as usual, Tails soars over dangerous gaps, and Knuckles busts up any baddies that get in your way as your team speeds along.
• All three had unique attacks: Sonic has his Dash Attack, Tails shoots Sonic or Knucles out like a projectile boomerang (very cool), and Knuckles does what he does best - punches enemies like a prizefighter!
• All characters are fast and switching between them is instantaneous and effortless! No more boring gameplay as a less-appealing Sonic side-character. Here it's easy, painless, and the choice is always up to you.
• The final version will feature four groups of three characters apiece, with favorites like Dr. Robotnik, Shadow the Hedgehog, Big the Cat, Amy, and others returning.
• The two playable levels shown were a beach course (reminiscent of Sonic Adventure's Emerald Coast) and a high-flying, rail-sliding course over a huge canyon. The focus was on speed and collecting rings, much like in the classic Genesis games.
• Feels more like old 2D Sonic gameplay than ever before in 3D! (That's a good thing.)
• The Xbox version was by far the best-looking and -playing. The controller was especially well-suited to the game, as the yellow and red buttons switched you from Sonic to Tails and from Sonic to Knuckles accordingly. Color-coded!
• The GameCube version was a touch behind the Xbox; however, the PS2 version was the markedly worst of the three, with frame rate problems and jagged, lower-polygon modeling.

Sonic Heroes could be the best 3D Sonic game if it follows through on the amazing demo's early promise. The release in Quarter 1 of 2004 can't come soon enough!

The focus at Sega this year seemed to be on Sonic, as the company turned to a barrage of multi-platform titles featuring its well-known mascot to maximize sales power.

One Sonic game that did not fare as well was Sonic Adventure DX for the Nintendo GameCube. Suffering from major frame rate issues, slowdown, choppy and blurry textures, pop-up in the near horizon, and even a crash requiring a system reset while I was playing it, the title seems like an extremely rough and rushed port. It simply does not look or play as well as the original. With the release date less than a month or so away, there's not much hope the issues will be sorted out before it goes gold. Oh well, everyone knows that the original Dreamcast versions are always better anyway, right?

Other games shown at Sega's booth included:

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. A revamped and expanded version of the very popular VF4 for PS2, featuring additional arenas and outfits, tweaked attacks, maybe an extra character or two, etc. Sure to be popular with fans of the AM2 fighter, and the attractive price of $19.95 helps too!

Phantasy Star Online III: C.A.R.D. Revolution. The latest installment of Sonic Team's multiplayer RPG on GameCube goes the card battle route made popular by games like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Lost Kingdoms, and others. Not everyone's cup of tea, but an interesting experiment and has the eye-pleasing graphics the PSO series is known for.

Virtual On: Marz. A new entry in the giant-robot fighting series and the first to debut on PlayStation hardware. Looks and plays much like Virtual On: OT from the Dreamcast era. Will there be twin sticks?

Headhunter: Redemption. The sequel to the somewhat-popular stealth-action game that was first seen on the European Dreamcast (and later ported to domestic PS2). Sort of in the style of Metal Gear Solid and only sort-of fun, based on my brief hands-on experience. Didn't seem like anything special, but then again, deep strategic stealth gameplay doesn't lend itself to pick up 'n' play at E3.

Altered Beast. The first new sequel to the venerable old game that is best known as the original pack-in title included with the Sega Genesis. You kick butt, then transform into wild man-best creatures and kick more butt! Not playable at the show as far as I know; only on video.

Vector Man (not pictured). The classic Genesis series gets a 3D update for the PlayStation 2. Vectorman was an engaging third-person action/shooter title, but still had some pesky control issues to iron out. From my brief hands-on, I thought it played like Jet Force Gemini (N64), Ratchet & Clank (PS2), or even a bit like Grand Theft Auto 3's hand-to-hand combat (not entirely a good thing).

Vectorman has a huge arsenal of weapons at his disposal and switching through them is relatively easy. A shoulder button on the right toggles through your weapons, while a shoulder button on the left toggles tools. Mostly I thought that the tools were a waste of time in the demo (enemies teed off on me and the tools didn't cause them damage), but I'm sure they'll have uses in the final game. Available are a grappling hook, tractor beam, etc.

The demo took place in an industrial warehouse setting, and Vectorman had to blast evil robots down in droves as they set upon him. The various weapons (rocket launcher, grenades, laser, flamethrower, mini gun, etc.) were fun and featured a satisfying sense of impact when connecting with the surroundings, but the aiming system was clumsy. Only direct-pitch aiming was available as an option (up on control stick = crosshairs move up the screen), but I prefer inverse-pitch, which is vice versa. The crosshairs moved at an annoyingly slow rate. Vectorman's action was a little routine by today's standards and felt a little "been there, done that." It has some promising aspects though, so I'm hoping it's just a rough early demo. The release is still a ways off so there's time for improvement!

Another game on display inside Sega's booth was Worms 3D.

Sega is publishing the next-generation installment of the comical, light war strategy game Worms. I didn't have time to go hands-on with Worms 3D, but it looks to add a new perspective and depth to the frantic and fast-paced online war game.

Sega also had video running of a new action title featuring a scarf-wearing, katana-wielding female ninja, Kunoichi (which incidentally, means "female ninja" in japanese). If Shinobi had a sister, this would be her! The game looked stylish but little-to-no actual in-game footage was revealed in the trailer. Kunoichi basically runs through an urban cityscape, flying all over the place and slicing enemies to ribbons in the most fantastic ways. Seems to be extremely early in development.

The final game I have to report on is Otogi - Myth of Demons. This one looked like a samurai third-person action slasher much like Capcom's Onimusha, but with more fantastic abilities (flying, high-jumping over buildings) and a completely free 3D camera. The playable demo of Otogi featured the main character (who looks like a demon himself in samurai armor) fighting evil spirits and critters in a traditional feudal Japanese village. One cool thing I remember is that you can use a power-up move to soar over buildings and even storm through them! Land a good wallop on the enemy's kisser and you'll send him crashing right through a huge feudal mansion that then crumbles to the ground. Now that's demon power! Otogi is actually developed by From Software and only being published by Sega in North America. It's scheduled to be an Xbox exclusive.

A final parting glance at the glorious Sega booth as we must say goodbye until next year . . .

And that wraps up this report on Sega's E3 presence! Not the deepest or most varied offering of software from the former console maker, but there were three brand-new Sonic Team games (one of them an excellent Sonic game) and several other promising titles. What more can a Sega fan ask for these days?

· · · Teddman