Sonic Heroes is a 3D action-platformer where you control a team of three characters with special abilities. The goal is to race through levels as fast as possible while defeating enemies and collecting rings. Your progress is tracked by your time, ring collection, and enemy defeats.
The game features different teams of characters, each with unique challenges. Team Sonic has an intermediate difficulty, while Team Shadow offers a harder experience. Other teams include Team Rose for easy play, and Team Chaotix with new mission objectives.
Gameplay includes four modes: Story Mode to play through the levels as the story unfolds, Challenge Mode to replay cleared levels, Battle Mode for multiplayer racing or battling, and Tutorial Mode to learn the game's basics.