‘Sonic and the Black Knight’ Review (Nintendo Wii)

When Sega released Sonic Unleashed at the end of 2008, I wondered, “Is Sonic finally ready to stage a comeback?” Glossing over the nighttime scenes, Unleashed’s daylight scenes were a tribute and a revival of the Sonic I grew up with. The same Sonic that told Mario it was time to “step-off” because there was a new hero in town; this one moved with enough speed to make even the Flash’s jaw drop. Sonic Unleashed had stunning visuals, amazing landscapes and rekindled the sense of intense speed and control that only Sega’s prize Hedgehog could have.

After playing through Unleashed, all I could think was that Team Sonic was back and whatever Sonic title came out in the next year or so would be a surefire winner. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Sonic would not only be coming back to the Nintendo Wii sooner than expected, but he’d be making another appearance in under four months from the release of Unleashed. How could this be possible?

My first question was obvious, “Are there any nighttime scenes?” The answer was a glorious yes. This Sonic title would be called “Sonic and the Black Knight,” and have no relation to the recent release of Sonic Unleashed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Outside of a semi-engaging story and a repeat performance by Team Sonic’s captivating visuals, “Sonic and the Black Knight” is everything Sonic shouldn’t be.

Sonic and the Black Knight starts off with one of the funniest, albeit random, Sonic openings of all time. The Black Knight has laid siege to the kingdom of Camelot. Apparently overwhelmed by the power of Excalibur, King Arthur has brought darkness to the same world he was supposed to bring salvation to. When the Black Knight corners Merlina, the wizard Merlin’s heir, she summons our blue haired hero to Camelot. Sonic lands in medieval times with a question mark on his brow and hot dog in his hand. Your story begins as you engage the world with your sword Caliburn, a talking sword with a lot of aristocratic attitude. Every character Sonic meets from Lancelot to the Lady of the Lake is a character from the world of Sonic with a British twang.

The story unfolds through a resplendent storybook style design, characteristic of Sega’s Storybook Series. You feel like you’re watching a moving tapestry or something out of a Harry Potter movie with every cut scene.

Sonic and the Black Knight really wins out on the lush backdrops and crisp textures achieved on the Nintendo Wii. Everything from the richly blue lakes to the textured walls of the castle you slide down will immediately thrust you into this vivid story. By just looking at the environments you play through and the cut-scenes, you will begin to feel like your not playing a video game but living through a your favorite quirky kids book.

Unfortunately, story and graphics are where “Sonic and the Black Knight” begins and ends. The actual gameplay is utterly flawed. Let’s start with the sword. You’re given a sword in typical medieval fashion to rival the Knights of the Roundtable. At first this seems like it would be a cool addition to Sonic. However, after shaking the living daylights out of your wrist a few times, you will quickly rethink that notion. The swordplay involves way too much Wii-waggle for any human hand to have to suffer through. This is especially prevalent in the irritating boss fights. The fights require anything but skill. After locking swords with your opponent, you wait for the screen to signal the waggle-blitz and you begin to test just how long you can shake your wrist before you break it. It would have been nice to see some creative use of the sword. For example, if there was a two edged sword, and sonic spun in a ball with each sword edge jutting out to slice down opponents.

What’s even more annoying about the sword is that you don’t even really need it to get through the board. For some reason, you can just walk through crates at semi-normal speed and they just break open. More importantly, you can actual just get through a board by not hitting anything.

Does this affect you in anyway? Not really. Which brings us to another problem with “Sonic and the Black Knight.” There’s a rating system that apparently serves no purpose and is based on some unwritten laws. You’ll never know if the reason you got two stars or four was because of moving too slowly through a board or not killing enough enemies. I sped through a board without touching a soul and got four stars. Yet, another time I killed nearly every enemy and ended up with two stars. Did it affect the overall outcome of the game? Not really. You probably won’t find enough enjoyment to play for unlocking secrets.

This title is designed with an overwhelmingly linear feel. Sonic can only move straight. Well, that’s not completely true. He can also do a backflip to move backwards. You won’t be able to move Sonic in a sidestepping fashion more than two or three paces to the left and right. Outside of that you’re pretty much just pushing forward on the Nunchuk control stick. The feeling you get is like being trapped in a tube throughout the game.

All of these problems pale in comparison to the games major flaw. You can’t control Sonic. Throughout the game Sonic performs a barrage of amazing moves. You slide down walls. You skate along rails. All controlled by some heavenly force that’s not you. You can pretty much close your eyes while pressing forward on the control stick and repeatedly hitting the A-button to finish a standard board. Then shake the crap out of your wrist when you’re ready to fight a boss.

There’s nothing overwhelmingly appealing about the music track for this title. The voice acting is very good, but at times the characters feel like they’re repeating clichés. However, the VO and the story are probably where you’ll get most of your enjoyment on this title.

Sonic and the Black Knight is everything we wouldn’t expect from a Sonic game. The lack of classic Sonic mechanics and smooth gameplay are an immediate buzz kill. Hopefully, when Team Sonic goes for their next Hedgehog release, they throw out any ideas of building on this title’s design. Instead, they should look at taking all the positives out of Sonic Unleashed and making it into one stellar Sonic game.