Black Knight pretty, has familiar Sonic flaws
Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 7:37pm by Derek
Or so says IGN’s Matt Casamassina in an elaborate hands-on preview.
Casamassina has criticized several design decisions made by SEGA’s Sonic Team in recent Sonic games, but he is impressed by the Black Knight’s polish and sharp visuals.
Unfortunately, it suffers from a set of flaws that have hindered Sonic games over the last decade.
“SEGA’s latest Wii-exclusive Sonic offering has production values to spare, whether it’s the slick fully rendered cinematic, the amazingly stylized graphical interface or the in-game engine, which regularly spits out fast-moving and detailed environments,” praises Casamassina. “Speed junkies will probably be pleased with some of the high-octane scenarios we’ve seen so far.”
But pretty games aren’t always as exhilarating to play, and according to Casamassina, the Black Knight’s reliance on unnecessary gimmicks and waggle-heavy combat controls significantly mars the experience.
“The game’s biggest issue is once more tethered to the unrefined gimmick that Sonic Team has utilized as the backbone for the project,” says Casamassina. “If the developer can quickly present some control alternatives before Black Knight ships, the end product may still impress. But all the loose waggling that comprises the present package is just as frustrating as interesting.”
For more information on the Black Knight, including its level design, control scheme and online features, check out IGN’s full preview.
Sonic and the Black Knight is the second entry in SEGA’s new Sonic Storybook Series. It follows the Feb. 2007 Wii exclusive Sonic and the Secret Rings, which has sold more than two million copies worldwide.
Sonic and the Black Knight blasts onto store shelves Mar. 10.
February 7th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Well, I just saw the new gameplay for Sonic & The Black Knight last night. And I’m a very tiny tad bit impressed with the game so far. Now, that doesn’t present this game with the issue of becoming a game people are gonna hate like some did with Sonic & The Secret Rings. The only thing I hope changes is the continuous waggle from the Wii-Remote in fights like the fight scene that was shown when Sonic battled the Black Knight while the Black Knight was on horse. I say, give the Wii-Remote more freedom with the way how you swing the sword to fight like how you would do with a real sword. This is one Sonic game that I am VERY LOOKING FORWARD TO picking up on March 10th or 11th. I just hope that something from this game doesn’t irritate as much as Secret Rings’ sideways NES style movement of the Wii-Remote did after awhile.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:36 am
I… really don’t get IGN’s bitch about waggle combat, they didn’t complain about it in other big titles like Zelda or Okami, infact they praised it, do they just like to bitch about sonic games for the sake of it?
The combat in this sounds possibly over-simplified, but it still sounds like it’ll be fun, and as long as it isn’t literally non-stop the waggle here just doesn’t sound like a significant gripe at all… and to suggest mapping jump to C and A to attack instead? The C button is about as comfortable and quick to use as the GC Z button, that would make the game fiddly and awkward. I do hope they intend to include classic controller and GC control schemes to satisfy some people before release though.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I HATED Secret Rings. The game didn’t look that great, and it controlled terribly. I did not like the fact that I had to play twister with my hands just to get Sonic to backstep. However SBK looks amazing. I’m not concerned with the waggle controls. I’m accustomed to those on the Wii now so it doesn’t bug me.
However. the graphics are AMAZING. Sega let’s make a deal between gamers and you. Stop these stupid ideas, put sonic in a game where all you need to do is run and jump and hit some capsule or signpost at the end of the level. Do that for about ten hours with this graphics engine on the Wii or the Hedgehog engine (Sonic Unleashed) for the PS3 and 360 versions and all of us gamers will fall in love with the Sonic games again and buy it. That’s all we want is straight up Sonic and speed. That’s it. You got it right with Sonic Rush (just didn’t call for a new character), do it again like that on Wii. My other idea would to let Shigeru Miyamoto have a go with Sonic for one game and see what happens. Look at what he did with Mario Galaxy. Pure fun. He could put the pure fun back into Sonic. That or he could end up making a real Mario and Sonic game that’s worthwhile.
Speaking of Mario and Sonic. Isn’t it about time that they bring back that rivalry and put them into some kind of real platforming game together. That Olympics crap is not the way I’d expect the two to settle their differences unlike Brawl. I’m just saying Super Mario and Sonic together to take down Robotnik (STOP CALLING HIM EGGMAN!!!!!!) and Bowser’s nefarious plans to take over Mobius/Mushroom Kingdom, would be a great love letter to all those who grew up with the rivalry back in the 90s.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I’ve been hoping for Sonic Team to stop calling Dr. Robotnik, Eggman for a long time now. There are a few things about this game that irks me a bit. But every Sonic game recently has seemed odd, until they go back to the classic style of Sonic, I probably won’t be 100% pleased..
February 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Lance: It doesn’t bother me that someone dislikes the game, but Secret Rings didn’t look great? The games visuals are it’s best feature.
Also don’t give Sega any credit for the Rush series, they took the credit in game by throwing the ‘Sonic Team’ logo in there, when infact they were both completely developed by Dimps, not Sega.
February 7th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Wow, those graphics are quite impressive. Too bad I can’t stand Sonic in 3d, but . . . .