Sonic and the Black Knight
We talk with Sonic Team and play their latest
Sonic and the Black Knight is the sequel to the Arabian Nights-themed Sonic and the Secret Rings on Wii, one of the better Sonic titles we've seen in the last few years. Taking another familiar, oft-told story and chucking Sonic headlong into its fantasy world, Sonic and the Black Knight once again sees Sega's cobalt mascot along way from the Green Hill Zone.
Sonic and the Black Knight has Sonic wielding a talking sword named Caliburn, which grants him a range of slicing and dicing moves with which to dispatch the evil minions of darkness. Bear with us for a second though, because as bad as that sounds, the remote waggling swordplay is actually less of a gimmick than you'd expect. Black Knight plays in the now traditional 3D Sonic way, with the blue streak running into the screen as you nudge the analog stick forward on the nunchuk. So far so predictable perhaps, but it's a little jarring when you first realise that Sonic no longer has his trademark spin attack, instead relying entirely upon his newly discovered sword swiping prowess.
Surprisingly, the swordplay emerges as a fully realised and intuitive gameplay mechanic that almost succeeds in making you forget Sonic ever had a spin attack to begin with. Swiping gestures made with the remote activate slashing with the sword while jumping with the A button and swiping with the remote launches an aerial spinning attack that cleaves through several enemies at once. During the early opening stages you'll also unlock the Soul Surge meter, which enables Sonic to slow time and target several enemies at once. Holding the B trigger on the remote summons Soul Surge, simultaneously slowing time and providing Sonic with a large red reticule with which to target enemies. Once the target is locked, a swift wave of the remote takes care of the unfortunate antagonist and for as long as the meter lasts; Sonic can use Soul Surge to vanquish several bad guys in the air or on the ground in quick succession. Recharging the meter is a simple case of collecting red fairies (seriously), which replenish a hefty chunk of the Soul Surge bar.
Visually, Black Knight is one of the nicest looking games on the Wii, with verdant medieval environments and bold chunky character models. Even the cut-scenes are rendered in charming hand-drawn frames complete with fanciful pencil marks that lend them a tangible fairytale quality. On the whole the presentation is coherent and slick - there's obviously been a great deal of effort made to ensure Sonic and the Black Knight is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor.
From our hands-on time, it was evident that Sonic Team has also made a concerted attempt to ensure there's plenty of variety on offer. Therefore, most of the missions are preceded by specific objectives. The problem is that these objectives aren't very clear and had us scratching our head for a short time working out what to do next. For a game apparently aimed at kids, this is sloppy work. For instance, presented with the task to 'Finish the level using Soul Surge on the ground' - which to us meant destroying the final enemy with Soul Surge on the ground - actually meant 'destroy 10 enemies using Soul Surge.' Clear as mud. The next sticking point came during a mission to give 80 rings to the townspeople. Obtaining the rings is simple enough - collect gold fairies - but actually distributing them to the weeble-like villagers proved impossible. With no hints or clues to help, we found ourselves mashing the buttons in a vein attempt to trigger a response of any kind from the villagers. Instead we ended up harming them. Good.
Given time, we're certain we would have sussed out what to do, but then this is a game for kids and as such the objectives should be clear, not obfuscated by a lack of decent signposting. Were Sonic and the Black Knight aimed at older children, this might be forgivable, but as it is the game's tasks remain a little on the cryptic side. A wealth of seemingly superfluous collectibles that can be gathered and identified in exchange for points don't help matters either, although this pointless collecting aspect may appeal to the game's core audience.
With the promise of upgradeable moves and some light RPG elements, there's plenty of positive stuff in Sonic and the Black Knight that we're sure will appeal to the young Wii demographic. The usual roster of Sonic characters turning up in various roles is something we're looking forward to for once and the sight of Tails the Blacksmith and Shadow in the guise of Sir Lancelot bodes well for the rest of the characters, although we're not too sure about Amy Rose as The Lady of the Lake.
Sonic and the Black Knight marks a welcome return to the 'Storybook' series on March 13th and is shaping up to be as good as, if not better than Secret of the Rings. And to think we scoffed at the idea of Sonic with a talking sword.
Comments
Out on 3rd March in the US, or TBA dates elsewhere.
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I found in many places on the internet that its coming out Maarch 13th but i could be wrong
Is this game suitable for my 5 & 7 year olds? they are competant wii players on Lego Batman/Lego star wars and many more! Thanks