Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the great characters of gaming, but he has never recaptured the superstardom he attained on the Sega Mega Drive console more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, this latest spin, in which players control Sonic’s dark alter ego, is unlikely to bring back the glory days.

Shadow the Hedgehog opens promisingly enough, with a neatly rendered video sequence explaining that Sonic, now known as Shadow, has lost his memory. To regain it, he must collect crystals hidden around the game’s 20-plus levels. It’s a scenario familiar to RPG players, an impression reinforced by the fact that Shadow can also affect the outcome of the game by switching sides.

Shadow advances through some stages at breakneck speed with a trademark mixture of rollercoaster corkscrews and loop-the-loops. But such gymnastics — once so exciting — now hold a player’s attention for a short time only. Shadow’s all-new weaponry, one of the big selling points of the title, proves awkward to use, and there are also niggles with the camera angles.

Unlike the early games, which were developed to show off the speed of Sega’s new hardware, Shadow the Hedgehog offers nothing new. Instead, Sega seems to be lazily exploiting a franchise that appears way past its sell-by date. Reinvent the character by all means, but give him back his sharp edges.

TIM WAPSHOTT