Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Had Sonic Chronicles simply been a standard RPG with generic characters in it, it would still have been a fantastic title. The fact that it actually features familiar faces and backgrounds only adds to the enjoyment.

A welcome return of a quality Sonic title that brings back memories of first playing Sonic 1 on the Sega Mega Drive. With great graphics, great gameplay and a developed storyline that’s not overly serious, Sonic’s a great addition to all gamers. The only downside is the somewhat odd battle system.

If you like either Sonic, or RPGs, you have to buy The Dark Brotherhood. It’s as perfect a handheld RPG as we’ve ever played.

If there’s one game to get this month, Sonic Chronicles is it. It’s brilliant in every way, and we can’t get enough of it.

Sonic Chronicles is good for dedicated (and lapsed) fans, the BioWare faithful, and anyone just looking for a decent RPG on DS.

Sega’s blue hedgehog comes back with his most unlikely incarnation: an RPG. Developed by BioWare, Sonic Chronicles is a good game, with a great pace, an interesting roster of characters, many things to do (especially side quests, BioWare’s favourites), and charming visuals. Sonic is back at his best, and we hope it’s the beginning of a new era for the hedgehog.

Graphically the game is every bit a Sonic game, with the bright colors and key level design choices you will recognize from the other Sonic games. There are plenty of big loops and curvy tracks which add to the entire experience. The characters you play with such as Sonic and Tails as well as the ones you fight the robots and even the basic animals you will fight are all designed well and animated very well. The game is done so well graphically, and even if you did not know you were going to look at a Sonic RPG, you could just see a couple of screens and easily see that the game is a Sonic game.

At last, Sonic discovers the RPG games world in a title which disguises the blue hedgehog's universe with some of the best BioWare features. The result is probably one of the best Sonic videogames of the last years and an inevitable purchase for the fans.

Sonic Chronicles may annoy you at times, but it certainly won't ever bore you. [Nov 2008, p.96]

Shines with hog-tastic potential, but the actual 'role playing' bits need beefing up. [Nov 2008, p.70]

If you're a Sonic fan Chronicles really is an essential purchase. It's one of the best Sonic games we've played in ages (given the quality of some Sonic games in recent years this doesn't come as a surprise) and, despite it not being as in-depth an RPG as we'd hoped, it's really a lot of fun while it lasts.

It’s a bit formulaic in its design, but levels are a nice slice of gaming on the go that require almost no level grinding.

An odd and unique fusion of Eastern and Western RPG conventions, Sonic Chronicles is a difficult game to qualify. On one hand, it's weak when compared to other Bioware titles, and even some other RPGS, such as the easily comparable Mario RPG. On the other hand, though, it must be evaluated based upon what it really is: a handheld Sonic RPG.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood could have been awful, but it's not. It's a joy to play, every bit the Bioware experience but mixed in with the instant arcade style thrills of Sonic's glory days on the Mega Drive.

The decision to hand of an rpg featuring Sonic and pals to experienced developer Bioware was a good decision. Great characters and beautifully crafted environment make up the atmospheric experience and combined with the engaging battle system Sega finally has a new game with Sonic in that's actually any good. The only major flaw here is a somewhat low difficulty level.

Sonic Chronicles may be hard to recommend to those who fancy Sonic for its sheer speed, but this is an RPG that uses the characters in completely appropriate ways.

We can call this the best Sonic game in years considering the pretty low quality platform Sonic games we have played recently. This game still has some issues to deal with however.

It would have been a pretty good RPG without a bunch of famous characters in it, but the characters add plenty of visual charm and personality to the game.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is a must for any of the hedgehog's fans. And to all other players, it's worth a try. Bioware did a great job which deserves to be seen by everyone.

Despite being a slow starter, it reboots the Sonic franchise with style. There are plenty of solid foundations here for a potentially brilliant sequel. Go to it, Bioware.

The presentation of the game is probably its strongest point – it simply looks really good.

Sonic Chronicles is not a bad game by any means, and I had a fantastic time when the combat worked like it promised it would.

Falling short of the excellence usually offered by Bioware, as it invests in some repetitive elements of exploration and combat, this game has a simple mechanic, puzzles and a nice tactical element in battles. Despite the story’s slow start, in general it makes good use of the Sonic universe, presenting many known characters. [Oct 2008]