'Sonic And The Black Knight' (Wii)

Also available on: N/A
Developers: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action / Adventure
Release date: March 13, 2009

Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog character has recently been navigating some rather troubled waters. Long gone are the days of whizzy adventures on the Mega Drive when stating a preference for the blue hedgehog or Nintendo's Italian plumber Mario was like Oasis Vs Blur in the heyday of Britpop. The recent quality of games featuring the spiky blue hog has been patchy at best, not least with the Jekyll & Hyde disappointment of Sonic Unleashed. Unfortunately, Sonic And The Black Knight not only fails to arrest this trend but further muddies the Hedgehog's legacy.

What should first be noted is that there is still a great appetite for Sonic as a character. Last year, a poll of 500 people at the London Games Festival placed the Hedgehog at the top of a list of favourite gaming icons, ahead of Mario in second and Tomb Raider's Lara Croft in third. However, in recent years Sega has largely failed to produce the right games to back this up. Therefore, the Sonic Team has decided that the best way to reinvigorate the franchise is by going back to the world of Arthurian legend for Sonic And The Black Knight.

The story is rather a bastardised take on history and myth, in which the fabled King Arthur has become evil and also strangely camp (check out his pink scarf. It's fabulous, darling). While spreading his brand of evil throughout the Middle Ages, King Arthur corners Merlina, granddaughter of the famed wizard Merlin. In a bind, she calls out for help, which results in Sonic falling out of the sky with, bizarrely, two hotdogs in his hands. Thus triggers the hedgehog's quest to defeat the dastardly king and bring peace back to the world. As terrible as this may sound, it is not actually that bad in realisation as the story proves a reasonably well placed, if not a rather curious, take on popular mythology.

The first thing you will notice in the game is the high level of graphical polish. The opening cut scene is beautifully realised with fantastic looking scenery, well animated characters and good weather effects. Decent-ish voice actors (barring Sonic, who sounds like a Butlins Redcoat mixed with a village idiot) do their best with some rather terrible dialogue. Sound effects are also fairly well-delivered, but the pop-rock soundtrack feels a little jarring.

Over the quest, you will visit various mythological locations, including the castle of Camelot. There is the usual range of challenges, including reaching an end-point of a level or killing a certain number of enemies, alongside new tasks such as giving rings to townspeople (involving a rather frustrating button pressing sequence). However, the level design is often poor and uninspiring, with each stage feeling linear and also a tad short. There is also evidence of the old Sonic complaint regarding the game 'playing itself' during high-speed sections where the action simply goes ahead without much input from the player. However, this is the least worrying of all complaints that can be aimed at the game.

Essentially, the biggest problem with Sonic And The Black Knight is in its gameplay, or lack thereof. The trademark speedy sequences are rather shoehorned into the quest without much care or attention. Any gameplay innovations also feel basic, particularly in terms of the combat. Sonic has a talking sword to hand called Caliburn, who is not quite as annoying as Chip from Sonic Unleashed, but is still fairly irritating. It is certainly quite odd, though, to see Sonic having a conversation with a sword, especially when the blade is hopping alongside him.

Controls involve using the Nunchuk joystick to steer Sonic, while the Z button delivers a blocking mechanism to protect the hedgehog from oncoming foes. The Wii Remote can be swung left and right to slash the sword, while the A button jumps and the B button triggers a special move known as the Soul Surge. If the Soul Gauge is fully charged, this move can be activated to dispatch enemies in sequences by locking on and delivering some medieval justice. Combat, though, is particularly uninspiring as a rather tedious array of enemies lumber towards you to be dispatched without a great deal of joy. Most of the time it is preferable to speed around these foes instead of being dragged into a fight.

There are also boss fights with famed medieval knights who have all been made to look like series favourites such as Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze. These boss encounters generate one of the biggest issues with the game in that it fails to properly explain what is going on. Clashing swords with a boss enemy has to be done in a particular way which is never really made clear. This, alongside other grey areas, can make the game a very frustrating experience in which victory is occasionally achieved by accident rather than intention.

During the main campaign, players can also upgrade Sonic from a knave to a knight via a rating system at the end of each stage. The exact basis for this rating is a tad mystifying, though, which makes it feel inconsequential to proceedings. Sonic can also collect items as he goes, but this is equally weak and confusing. The main story can be whipped through in about six hours, but there are additional challenges for the completists. Multi-player is also available - via local rather than online - for up to four players, including tag contests and arena battles. However, this seems to be rather an afterthought and will not hold appeal for long.

Overall, Sonic And The Black Knight is a simplistic and poorly designed package, which does not develop its interesting concept or decent level of graphical polish. The levels are basic, the game-play is often imprecise and confusing and the whole game just doesn't feel like a proper Sonic experience. Something has to click with future Sonic games to bring the kind of success which Nintendo's Mario has enjoyed in recent times. As painful as it is to suggest, if this does not happen then maybe now is the time to hang up Sonic's running boots forever. Certainly any more quests such as this could permanently wreck the Hedgehog's status as a legend in the history of video gaming.


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