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…
Well I hope to play it. The Wii is on a freaking roll, I am thinking of all the games I want to play and there are like 3 games out this month, MadWorld and Sonic next month. But crap, I got no money, I will use my birthday money to get Killzone and RE5.
Seriously i have no idea how I am going to play this game. I dont think i can buy it at launch (with RE5 coming out there really is no point as that will take all my time). I dont know if I want to rent it cause I like to own all the Sonic games, so if I dont rent it I have to wait till I can buy it which will be who knows when. I try not to think about it but I know when its released it will kill me to not play it.
I tend to watch games development incessantly for reasons like "this engine looks cool", "hope they do this with that" and then either not pick them up or get them a year later. But it takes good reviews or tons of impressions from forumers to persuade me - unless I see a great deal and impulse buy. Bully was the greatest impulse buy deal ever.
If you aren't getting this, I don't know if my curiosity will be enough, the previews say that it's not finnicky and the controls are smooth but I'm concerned it will be shallow.
I just picked up three games and for some stupid reason all the decent Wii games recentely are all coming out at once. Madworld and HOTD, Tenchu and Deadly Creatures. And they mostly all fit into the niche curiosity type of games I go for. Then Little Kings Story out soon and RE5?
I wasn't going to pick up Deadly creatures, but after hearing that THQ wont be TV advertising it and me believing that a game about insects fighting will fail. I almost feel like buying it out of... pity. Or just to support them. And I've never done that for a game before.
Sonic-&-the-BK-Percival-trailer
Click watch in high quality. Looks good. The lava bit especially.
Real purrdy like. The outside with the carts was quite nice, I thought.
Japan trailer
Gamedaily-preview
After an evil force corrupts the legendary King Arthur, Merlin's granddaughter pulls Sonic into the world of Camelot and asks his help. Unable to resist a quest to save the world, Sonic agrees to smite evildoers and do whatever it takes to restore order to the land. What ensues is a mixture of trademark speed merged with slower paced exploration and combat.
To attack, you waggle the Wii Remote to unleash multi-hit combos. In addition, you can jump into the air and perform diving strikes or go on the defensive by erecting a temporary shield to repel the dark knights and other baddies. If you want to lock onto Sonic's foes, press the B button and watch as the action slows down and the game targets the nearest enemy. Once killed, it'll automatically move to the next closest adversary. Finally, you can hop into a giant crossbow and launch Sonic over castle walls and other hard to reach places.
As you explore Black Knight's 13 environments, you'll rescue civilians, upgrade attacks and acquire up to 247 items. You can then use the WiiConnect24 feature to share them with friends (using friend codes, of course). The game also has an online leaderboard so you can compare scores with the rest of the world, and an offline battle mode lets up to four players compete against each other as popular franchise characters.
After the disappointing Sonic Unleashed and Secret Rings), we can't trust Sonic's newest adventure. Like always, Black Knight represents a new chance for Sega to deliver a game that does its mascot justice. Look for our review next week.