Hello everyone .
To continue my adventure through past Sonics, going to talk about a game that I personally feel many overlook.
This is the sequel to Sonic & The Secret Rings, a motion controlled game that originated as a port of Sonic 06 for the Wii but turned into its own thing. I enjoyed that game a good deal but it was very flawed for one big reason; forced motion controls.
Sonic was locked on a single path and you tilted the controller left and right, which means platforming and navigating levels was a pain early on . You got upgrades and have a skill system to make things better by the end but still, it makes what should be a fun simple game into a rough time for people. I liked it but it was very flawed. A hell of a lot better then 06 (which came out a few month's earlier) though.
Why talk about this when discussing Black Knight? Well, due to being a sequel, the game takes a lot of elements form Secret Rings. Mission systems, skill system, core gameplay mechanics and level design style (going through forward-tunnels with some platforming along the way) are all rooted from Secret Rings.
That WOULD be a problem it was as flawed as Secret Rings.....but thankfully it isn't . I loved Unleashed despite its problems (personally think its a great game) and this continue's Sonic slowly getting better; just a fun fact, this game was made by the same team that made Colors and we all know how great that game is !
Okay, going into Black Knight, the gameplay gimmick this time out is Sonic having a sword. Considering this is on the Wii, you shake the controller to swing the sword left, right or thrusting it forward. The swinging is more or less a motion-controlled button and it works thanks to the fact you are moving sonic with the Nunchuck's analog stick and jumping is a lot better compared to Secret Rings.
In that game, you held the button to charge but due to this coming out after Unleashed, some elements from that bleed there way into Black Knight; Sonic can hop by taping the button, pressing A three times has Sonic stomping, and you go into 2D sometimes during set-pieces. Its nice seeing the Unleashed systems bleed there way into Sonic from here on out honestly .
The sword combat has a few layers of depth; you can shake the remote while homing attack to preform a powerful chain of attacks, you can shake it while moving backward to go in the air with a slash, and you have a Soul Surge gauge that lets you swing by shaking the remote (with you doing it timed with Sword Glows to extend how long you can do it) or shake the Nunchuck to preform a kick attack. Its a lot of fun and it makes the on-the-rails set up worth while this time out.
The level design is my only real issue with the game, as like Secret Rings its to tunnel focused. You have some platforming and it is fun, but coming right after Unleashed.....you wanted something similar to that and the fact you have control with the stick makes the focus on tunnel level design all the more questioning.
But that is honestly my only issue with this game; in my mind, this is the closest we got to a 'perfect' 3D Sonic before Colors and Generations released.
Firstly, gameplay is fun. Like I said before, the sword mechanics are well done and are fun but despite the level design being weak, the core gameplay makes it enjoyable. Plus the locations do have some creative gimmicks; caves with polls to swing across, walls to climb on in Camelot Castle, carriages to to ride on and more.
Secondly, the presentation is very strong with everything just clicking. The visuals are amazing looking on the Wii, as they have so much detail, great texture work, some strong animations and story scenes looking a lot better compared to Secret Rings.
It has such a great style and its nice seeing Sonic and friends fitting the King Arthur setting so well. And the music is great, mixing nice pieces with orchestra and Sonic Adventure Rock. Here are some examples:
Great Megalith
Shrouded Forest
Knight of the Wind
It Doesn't Matter
With Me
Seven Rings in Hand (Remix)
Love this soundtrack and like every Sonic OST, its very strong .
Thirdly, the story is well acted and one of the strongest Sonic stories next to Unleashed and Colors to me . The style with the scenes is really well done, the GC Scenes are great and the voice actors (the final time we got the 4Kids cast before we got the new VA's starting with Colors and Free Riders) have their best performance in the series here.
Sonic is great here, Amy's voice is well done, nice seeing Blaze have a bigger role in a 3D game, and everyone as a whole is well acted. Unleashed's story was great too, but its nice seeing that continue with Black Knight.
And my last point....its just a really polished Sonic game. Like Unleashed, everything is polished. The controls work with no issues, the visuals look clean, the soundtrack is great, the core gameplay is fun with little to no problems and overall, its a great Sonic game.
The level design is a problem but with everything being so strong, I can forgive that one issue. This is the final Storybook game (first being Secret Rings) and it is a nice send-off for this style of gameplay before moving onto Colors the following year.
By this point in Sonic's life (2009), the series got better and better, and its great to see it start here. I know many will disagree with my praising of this game, as the motion controls could be an issue, you can play as Sonic's friends (which many hate, despite this time out they all control like Sonic with one or two unique abilities) and the game has 'Sonic has a gimmick' trope. But I feel its a strong game despite its issues and I hope you all consider giving it a shot .
To continue my adventure through past Sonics, going to talk about a game that I personally feel many overlook.
This is the sequel to Sonic & The Secret Rings, a motion controlled game that originated as a port of Sonic 06 for the Wii but turned into its own thing. I enjoyed that game a good deal but it was very flawed for one big reason; forced motion controls.
Sonic was locked on a single path and you tilted the controller left and right, which means platforming and navigating levels was a pain early on . You got upgrades and have a skill system to make things better by the end but still, it makes what should be a fun simple game into a rough time for people. I liked it but it was very flawed. A hell of a lot better then 06 (which came out a few month's earlier) though.
Why talk about this when discussing Black Knight? Well, due to being a sequel, the game takes a lot of elements form Secret Rings. Mission systems, skill system, core gameplay mechanics and level design style (going through forward-tunnels with some platforming along the way) are all rooted from Secret Rings.
That WOULD be a problem it was as flawed as Secret Rings.....but thankfully it isn't . I loved Unleashed despite its problems (personally think its a great game) and this continue's Sonic slowly getting better; just a fun fact, this game was made by the same team that made Colors and we all know how great that game is !
Okay, going into Black Knight, the gameplay gimmick this time out is Sonic having a sword. Considering this is on the Wii, you shake the controller to swing the sword left, right or thrusting it forward. The swinging is more or less a motion-controlled button and it works thanks to the fact you are moving sonic with the Nunchuck's analog stick and jumping is a lot better compared to Secret Rings.
In that game, you held the button to charge but due to this coming out after Unleashed, some elements from that bleed there way into Black Knight; Sonic can hop by taping the button, pressing A three times has Sonic stomping, and you go into 2D sometimes during set-pieces. Its nice seeing the Unleashed systems bleed there way into Sonic from here on out honestly .
The sword combat has a few layers of depth; you can shake the remote while homing attack to preform a powerful chain of attacks, you can shake it while moving backward to go in the air with a slash, and you have a Soul Surge gauge that lets you swing by shaking the remote (with you doing it timed with Sword Glows to extend how long you can do it) or shake the Nunchuck to preform a kick attack. Its a lot of fun and it makes the on-the-rails set up worth while this time out.
The level design is my only real issue with the game, as like Secret Rings its to tunnel focused. You have some platforming and it is fun, but coming right after Unleashed.....you wanted something similar to that and the fact you have control with the stick makes the focus on tunnel level design all the more questioning.
But that is honestly my only issue with this game; in my mind, this is the closest we got to a 'perfect' 3D Sonic before Colors and Generations released.
Firstly, gameplay is fun. Like I said before, the sword mechanics are well done and are fun but despite the level design being weak, the core gameplay makes it enjoyable. Plus the locations do have some creative gimmicks; caves with polls to swing across, walls to climb on in Camelot Castle, carriages to to ride on and more.
Secondly, the presentation is very strong with everything just clicking. The visuals are amazing looking on the Wii, as they have so much detail, great texture work, some strong animations and story scenes looking a lot better compared to Secret Rings.
It has such a great style and its nice seeing Sonic and friends fitting the King Arthur setting so well. And the music is great, mixing nice pieces with orchestra and Sonic Adventure Rock. Here are some examples:
Great Megalith
Shrouded Forest
Knight of the Wind
It Doesn't Matter
With Me
Seven Rings in Hand (Remix)
Love this soundtrack and like every Sonic OST, its very strong .
Thirdly, the story is well acted and one of the strongest Sonic stories next to Unleashed and Colors to me . The style with the scenes is really well done, the GC Scenes are great and the voice actors (the final time we got the 4Kids cast before we got the new VA's starting with Colors and Free Riders) have their best performance in the series here.
Sonic is great here, Amy's voice is well done, nice seeing Blaze have a bigger role in a 3D game, and everyone as a whole is well acted. Unleashed's story was great too, but its nice seeing that continue with Black Knight.
And my last point....its just a really polished Sonic game. Like Unleashed, everything is polished. The controls work with no issues, the visuals look clean, the soundtrack is great, the core gameplay is fun with little to no problems and overall, its a great Sonic game.
The level design is a problem but with everything being so strong, I can forgive that one issue. This is the final Storybook game (first being Secret Rings) and it is a nice send-off for this style of gameplay before moving onto Colors the following year.
By this point in Sonic's life (2009), the series got better and better, and its great to see it start here. I know many will disagree with my praising of this game, as the motion controls could be an issue, you can play as Sonic's friends (which many hate, despite this time out they all control like Sonic with one or two unique abilities) and the game has 'Sonic has a gimmick' trope. But I feel its a strong game despite its issues and I hope you all consider giving it a shot .