BioWare’s Sonic RPG Revealed

By Skyler Sutter on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 5:20 PM EST

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The latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine has an exclusive cover story on a game many people have been excited and wondering about for months now: a Sonic game developed by RPG giants BioWare, makers of games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur’s Gate. We hadn’t heard anything else about the game since it was originally announced back in June of 2007, and many people had begun to worry that it had been cancelled. Well lay your fears to rest, because it’s officially here.

The game is entitled Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and one of the most interesting things about the game is it’s hand drawn, water-color style graphics which will be complimented by fully animated cutscenes and remixes of classic Sonic tracks. There can be up to 4 characters in your party at a time, with over 11 to choose from (currently announced: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow and Big the Cat). Sonic Chronicles has many of the typical gameplay elements often associated with RPG games (experience points, turn based battles, special attacks) but BioWare has chosen to do away with random battles; instead, you can see your enemies in the gameplay field. The game is also controlled exclusivley with the stylus, ala The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

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As for the game’s storyline, it is set two years after Sonic last defeat Dr. Eggman. Sonic gets a call from Tails who informs him that Knuckles has been kidnapped by a group called the Marauders, and that a total of six chaos emeralds are missing. The story will also be told in two acts, one taking place in the standard Sonic universe and another in a darker, more mysterious world.

We’ll bring you more information on what is shaping up to be one of the year’s most anticipated DS games as it’s released. For now, you can check out the full story in the February 2008 issue of Nintendo Power magazine.