Sep 27 2008
The Reason To Own A Nintendo DS: Sonic Chronicles
First off, normally I don’t get really excited for Sonic games, as Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t exactly seen his best form as of late. The next-gen version of Sonic? Awful. But this looks extraordinarily intriguing for two reasons.
- It’s an RPG
- It’s an RPG developed by Bioware.
Yes that’s right, the creator of such fantastic titles as Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, and Mass Effect is undertaking the Sonic franchise reinvention. With enough fresh ideas to make the series much more interesting than it’s been since the early days of the Sega Genesis home console.
For example, the game doesn’t look to be breaking any RPG handheld boundaries so to speak, but it’s got some cool ideas for how to bring classic RPG turn based combat into the Sonic world. Such as Sonic’s speed being so high he can attack three times every round. The game will also feature different Chao eggs that can power up your characters in a variety of different ways, i.e. strength, speed and such. The game also features classic locations like the Green Hill Zone, and hopefully the various Casino inspired worlds found in just about ever edition of Sonic that’s ever come to pass.
Characters will also have unique tasks they can perform to help the group along the way. Sonic’s speed will allow you to chase after enemies that attempt to flee combat, Knuckles will be able to scale walls, Tails can fly the team to higher altitudes, and Amy can stand around and be a useless cash in for the female audience as she was intended.
But all of this is completely meaningless compared to the fact that it’s developer Bioware behind Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood. I don’t care what the game is based off of, I will play anything Bioware undertakes. They can’t miss, I’ve never known an RPG developer to have such a long running string of excellent titles. And I can’t wait to see how they rejuvinate and maybe reinvent the Sonic games, because the franchise has needed an overhaul for years now.
Did I mention the story is told through awesome looking comic panel stylized videos?
Here’s to hoping Sonic v Eggman can reclaim the fun it’s been missing since I was a young kid, and controllers only had a d-pad and three face buttons.
