From Sega's SonicTeam development studio, Sonic Heroes brings Sega's signature character to fans of all consoles...and he brought a few friends along.

Sonic Heroes gives players the opportunity to control teams of three characters at the same time. Strategically putting different characters in the lead at different junctures in play will be the key to success.

Sega says the final game will have a total of 12 playable characters in four teams - Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose and Team Chaotix. Each team having different story lines and specialized stages.

In the E3-playable Team Sonic, putting Sonic in the lead lends his great speed to the group. Knuckles in the lead gives the team great power to bash through obstacles. And Tails in the lead gives the whole bunch the ability to fly. (The daisy chain visual effect of that is really cool.)

Since Sonic Heroes is still many months from its first-quarter-2004 release, the game was at an earlier stage than many of the other games on the show floor. Even so, the game already shows signs of being a solid offering. The environments that were shown strongly evoked a sense of the first Sonic game in a 3-D world.

Fans of the speedy one should watch this one carefully as it continues its development cycle. If Sega delivers on the promise shown in this early build of Sonic Heroes, it will be a game worthy to carry the name of Sega's flagship character.