Sonic screens
PREVIEW
Are you sitting comfortably children? Right then, we can begin. Once upon a time there was a hero named Sonic. But he was no ordinary hero, he was a hedgehog. But he was no ordinary hedgehog; he was bright blue with red sneakers and Mickey Mouse gloves. Trust us, he was much cooler than he sounds. Anyway, one day Sonic found himself…
That’s the beauty of Sega’s speedy hero, you could pretty much end the above sentence any way you choose and no-one would bat an eyelid. One of gaming’s most unlikely heroes, Sonic is equally at home in an apocalyptic industrial landscape as he is in a colorful fantasy world. And that’s exactly what Sega’s Wii-exclusive spin-off series of Story Book Adventures is all about. It worked wonders with Sonic and the Secret Rings, a migraine inducingly colorful reimagining of the Arabian Nights stories with an added lick of speed.
Sonic and the Black Knight is the second game in the series, plucking its themes from an equally rich and well loved story by plonking our hero into the court of King Arthur. Yep, Sonic’s been summoned to a reimagined Camelot to do battle with the evil Black Knight. To do so he’ll be using his trademark speed, but the only way to really defeat a medieval ne’er-do-well is with a hefty blade. Thus for the first time in his 17-year-history Sonic will wield a weapon.
Unlike in The Secret Rings, Sonic’s movement is now controlled with the Nunchuk, leaving the remote free for sword-swinging duties. The game plays an awful lot like Sonic Unleashed with a focus on speedily traversing pretty landscapes with a mix of 3D and 2D platforming. The difference is, of course, the sword. Frequently Sonic has to slow down and slash his way through errant knights and obstacles. Better yet the blade can also be used to scale and descend sheer walls with style. There’s also an emphasis on collecting items and impressing townsfolk. Doing this will unlock hidden content and gain Sir Sonic followers. The more followers he gains the more effective a knight he’ll become, which in turn allows him to level up and access new abilities – much as he did in The Secret Rings.
There are issues we’d like to see addressed, mind. For instance, constantly curbing your speed to hack through enemies could make the pace feel a bit stuttery. Why not give Sonic a running attack to keep things moving? Also the old criticism of it being too on-rails applies – though this has been admirably sidestepped in Sonic Unleashed.
Still in its early stages, Sonic and the Black Knight is shaping up to be a thrilling tale of swashbuckling adventure powered by a jet engine. It’s another clever sidestepping of the traditional formula that adds something refreshingly different. Aside from the gorgeous Zelda-like visuals it looks to be fast, varied and, with emphasis on simple mission-based play, rewarding and fun. Following The Secret Rings was always going to be tough, but it looks like Sega might pull it off. With the Arabian Nights and Camelot taken care of, we’re already starting to wonder where the Story Book series will take Sonic next. Sonic in Wonderland, perhaps. Or Sonic and the Beanstalk even. How about Sonic in space? Now there’s a thought…
Yeah it is funny, but he repeats it so often you feel like there's truth there.
That's weird.
Just listened to the podcast, it sounds awful. Watching the video review now.
Wow, visuals are fantastic. Not my sort of game at all though. I can understand his feelings if all you do is stop and waggle at enemies.
Gamesradar-review
The result is that you barely feel in control of Sonic, but the thing of which you do have control feels even worse. Sonic’s smart-mouthed talking sword should be what sets this title apart from his other adventures, and it does, but for the wrong reasons. The Wiimote isn’t responsive enough and sword attacks feel sluggish. Trying to grasp a high speed character and an ungainly attack system simultaneously proves frustrating.
The result is a stuttery experience that demands you to marry high speed sections with the constant stop/start nature of its combat. That the combat is as shallow as a hedgehog’s bath doesn’t help either. Sonic fans are an obsessive lot, and some may find something to enjoy here. The stages become more interesting as the game progresses and there’s always the throwaway multiplayer to get to grips with. But for those still not convinced by Sonic’s icon status, steer well clear.
6/10
Gamedaily-review
After playing Sonic Unleashed and the dreadful Sonic and the Secret Rings, we were less than enthused to pick up the hedgehog's latest video game, Sonic and the Black Knight. No matter how bad his games look, however, we're always ready to give Sonic another chance, and surprisingly, we had fun with it, thanks to a wonderful presentation, lots of hidden items and plenty of sword fighting.
Black Knight's biggest issue is its difficulty, or lack thereof. Players with just a limited amount of video game experience should easily breeze through most of the levels. In addition, the forced exploration robs us of Sonic's trademark speed; there aren't enough ramps, loops and hills. Despite these criticisms, however, the game remains somewhat enjoyable, in large part because of the combat and hidden content. As you play, you'll unlock the soundtrack, character profiles, unusable items from the game world (spongy bread, swords) and cut scenes.
Finally, the game comes with limited offline multiplayer modes and online features. Battle Mode lets you and three other players duke it out across 10 different types of matches. For example, Ring Battle challenges players to snag more rings than their opponents, while Evasion Battle forces you to dodge the Grim Reaper. While a neat concept, we couldn't get into it in large part because there's very little strategy to these games; you just waggle and hope for the best.
In addition, you can upload scores from completed missions to an online leaderboard, and send presents (acquired items) to friends via Wi-Fi (Friend Codes required). Again, it's a novel idea, but we fail to see the point in sending someone spongy bread they cannot use. Great, a friend mailed us digital bread?
With Sonic and the Black Knight, Sega continues its annoying trend of replacing Sonic's trademark speed with strange gimmicks. While not a terrible video game, the repetitive combat, easy missions and limited controls keep it from greatness. That said, it's still worth a rental, thanks to its attractive presentation, decent combat and bonus content.
7/10