Sonic, as someone said, was NEVER based solely on speed. Speed just happened to be his thing. Please don't overlook that today, Sonic is much faster than he ever was. Sonic was and is Sega's mascot and Mario's rival, and even the famed Italian character had to fight a few turtles now and then. Why shouldn't Sonic have a combat thing? People keep calling them "Gimmicks." Let me ask you guys something. Would you all REALLY be satisfied with a Sonic game whose whole objective is run really fast? No awesome, progressive storyline, nothing interesting to do in the meantime, just run and get through level after level to stop Eggman from doing some weird thing? Running really fast is awesome, but without something to go with it, eventually there wouldn't be much more to the series. Even Mario hasn't done much in awhile besides that Sonic/Mario Olympics game and, of course, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Sonic Unleashed, though its concept was rather interesting, had some issues, particularly in the Nighttime half of the gameplay. The daytime levels were positively thrilling. Players are on the edge of their seats, trying not to blink for fear of missing something (which blinking could very well cause). Sonic and the Black Knight revisits Unleashed's awesome daytime gameplay with that trademark speed, and you blast through enemies without even needing to slow down. The only difference is that instead of Sonic's typical curl-up-and-roll attack, Sonic uses a sword. Why would having a sword make the game any worse? Fine, call it a "gimmick." It's the same Sonic speed with an allegedly great plot, terrific graphics (easily surpassing those of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which were pretty good for the Wii--check out the preview videos and pictures if you don't believe me) and a much-improved multiplayer mode. And hey, you've gotta admit, Sonic and Calibur look pretty freakin' awesome together.
Speaking from an unbiased point of view, I can't help but ask what exactly gamers want from Sonic. You want speed, I know. You've already got it--as I mentioned, Sonic is faster now than he ever was before. Any game has to have a good plot--so far, Sonic Team has been delivering some passable storylines. Some people complain that they have to play as Knuckles or Shadow sometimes (e.g. Sonic Heroes). Others complain about rather small things like using a sword instead of Sonic's usual rolling attack (not necessarily talking about anyone within this conversation; I've heard similar complaints here in the real world) or a flame being on Sonic's chest, or other things that truly do very little to alter gameplay. Truthfully, I can understand complaints about the werehog--that just wasn't Sonic. However, besides the werehog transformation, Sonic has always been Sonic: fast and confident with plenty of attitude.
If you really want to revisit the old Sonic games, I suggest Sonic the Hedgehog, available on XBox 360 and the PS3. There's an awesome storyline and no "gimmicks." He uses his usual attacks and blasts through levels like always.
I agree with the author of this thread. Give the game a try. Rent it, or wait for more reviews, but don't shut it down just because Sonic has a sword. That doesn't make much sense at all.
Log in to comment