Bioware developing Sonic RPG
Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 1:19pm by David
All you can really say here is that Bioware is developing a new RPG for the DS starring Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s expected to come out in 2008. Also, it boggles the imagination.
Is Sonic really RPG material?
June 21st, 2007 at 1:23 pm
If they can make Mario into an RPG, they can make Sonic to an RPG.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Short answer? No.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Sonic and RPGs are pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of game pace, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with it.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Finally, an RPG with blast processing!
June 21st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
AeroZeppelin, I’d completely forgotten about that. Thanks. I have a little more faith in this game now…
But that had Square characters (or rather, Square influenced characters) in it and it STILL didn’t have much of a story.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Mario has evolved over the last 20+ years to become a jack of all traits, so he can pull off action, rpg, sports, racing, puzzles, etc. Sonic, however, I don’t feel fits successfully into more than the fast-paced action platformer genre. As hard as Sega may try, I don’t think Sonic could ever be the third Mario Bro.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Bioware can do anything. The are the RPG kings in my book. The idea of a Sonic RPG is definately strange, but Bioware’s history of fantastic games makes me more than confident in the product. While I don’t care for the IP and wont buy it, I bet it’s a good game. This reminds me, I need to go get the Jade Emprire sndtk….
June 21st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Guys, this game is not developed my SEGA (thank god), it’s developed by BIOWARE. They’ve developed such classics like Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, KOTOR, and Balder’s Gates. I have full confidence that they can create a great game even with the Sonic license.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Um…..okay, first off, Square was capable of making Mario into an RPG, yes (and that was old-school Squaresoft, at that….that company doesn’t even exist anymore). But this is Sonic the Hedgehog we’re talking about, the original speed demon of video games, relying solely on real-time player-skills based game play. And now someone thinks they can successfully turn this into a stats vs. stats take-your-sweet-time-to-make-near-meaningless-decisions RPG? Sounds like a really bad idea…..Does everyone remember Sonic Heroes? I don’t care if it is Bioware working on this, the game is going to be totally disconnected and non-cohesive. IT’S A BAD IDEA. If anything, Sega should take a good look at New Super Mario Bros and say “this is what we need to do with Sonic.”
June 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Kale, it looks like you’re contradicting yourself.
So, Mario was capable of being an RPG just because it was developed by Square? You’re forgetting Mario also relied solely on realtime player skills based gameplay.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:15 pm
The first RPG where the “run” command will be an offensive move.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I think a Sonic RPG certainly holds a lot of potential. Who is to say that it can’t capture the style of Sonic gameplay? It may be an RPG, but even Paper Mario added all sorts of Super Mario-esque elements into the game, and Mario & Luigi really took it to the next level.
Point: A Sonic RPG doesn’t necessarily translate to slow, turn-based gameplay. BioWare is an experienced developer with a large number of high-quality RPG’s under its belt. They are also self-proclaimed “huge fans” of Sonic, and so obviously they must realize that the first and strongest elements of the Sonic franchise are the ones involving its speed.
BioWare must realize that different names, and different IP call for drastically different situations. They’ve worked with Star Wars, they’ve created titles like Baldur’s Gate, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to successfully adapt their unique skills to the Sonic franchise.
I can see this turning out magnificently. I will be keeping my eyes on this one.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:45 pm
I can already see people intentionally killing off Tails as often as possible in this game.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:50 pm
hey, bioware’s making it. anything’s possible
June 21st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Well, as far as I’m concerned, all an RPG needs is a good story line, and beyond that, it really doesn’t matter WHO the characters are whatsoever. I mean, I don’t see why they couldn’t just make a good RPG and then insert sonic characters and make all the items, attacks, etc sonic-related. You can’t tell just because of the characters of an RPG if it’s good or not, so just be patient.
Having said that… I probably won’t bother with it. But I could be surprised. We’ll see.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
kevin my friend you shouldn’t use sayings when you don’t know what they mean. Mario would be a “Jack of all Trades” not traits, what are you looking at his mustache and facial features? Finally it goes “Jack of all trades and a master of none”.
June 21st, 2007 at 6:14 pm
No, Sonic is no RPG material! Not with THAT voice!
June 21st, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Square specialized in RPGs using custom and unique rule sets that the company itself created. Bioware technically specializes in RPGs as well, but if you disect all their games, everyone of them is merely a reskinned D&D. All of them are based on a common D20 rule set. If they’re actually going to attempt such a thing as to adapt Sonic the Hedgehog, they will have to take serious risks in abandoning their working formula. Don’t get me wrong, KOTOR and Jade Empire are incredible (best west-made RPGs ever), but Sonic had better be a unique and NEW experience or the whole thing will turn out incredibly LAME. Every Sonic title since Battle Adventure 2 has been criticized for abandoning the original Sonic style and game play formulas, and now Sega is going to try and put the square peg in the round hole? It’s a move of desperation and I cry at the notion that this is how far Sonic has fallen from grace. BTW, anyone ever played Hotel Mario or the Legend of Zelda: Wand of Gameleon? Random change-up or reassignment of genre to an existing IP is ALWAYS a bad idea, especially when licensing the property out to a third party.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Kale makes the same point I was about to bring up. Bioware makes Dungeons and Dragons RPGs. DnD can be quite flexible, as KOTOR and Jade Empire shows, but even with how great they worked it doesn’t take long to see how they were held back in some ways by the DnD rules. They utilized DnD in those games because that’s how they make their rpgs, and it’s also just simply faster to use an established system rather than develop a new one of your own. Just think of how much cooler some of the elements in KOTOR could have been, like force powers and light saber combat, had it used a custom system designed with those particular elements in mind. (As I can only hope will be the case with any potential future KOTOR games) I can’t even begin to imagine Sonic being converted to DnD rules and still maintaining any kind of “Sonic” feel. Then again, I’m just not a fan of DnD to begin with. I think it works great for it’s original purpose, tabletop, but is a limiting factor in video games where so much more is possible. Not to say I don’t enjoy the games. KOTOR was great, and Neverwinter Nights was pretty good too. The Balder’s Gate series was decent too, just a tad too generic for my tastes. Hell, one of my two favorite games of all time uses DnD rules, Planescape Torment. (Tied with Chrono Trigger for top favorite game ever.) I’m not that big a fan of Bioware either I guess. They do okay, but I always prefered Black Isle’s games back in the day. (Planescape being a shining example.) I’m not saying the Sonic RPG will be bad or anything. I guess I just don’t think everything Bioware touches turns to gold. In the end, they may very well abandon their tried and true DnD for this game, and it my be the greatest thing ever in the history of the universe. Unless they say that’s what they’re doing though, I can only expect the tried and true from them.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Sonic jumped the shark when they expanded the cast, added voice acting and muddied up the story. Which pretty much means that an RPG is going to suck.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:49 am
So condescending ¬_¬ Anyways, I’d love to see how a Sonic Rpg would turn out. It’ll be interesting, specially since it’s not being worked on by Sonic Team. But, I’d like to play it before I can really judge.
June 22nd, 2007 at 6:29 am
I would be more excited if it wasn’t Sonic.
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:52 am
Sega have gangbanged Sonic since day one. Actually, I think gangraped is more appropriate. Why they keep putting him in these shitty games is beyond me. Even when they have a premise that could work wonders, they still mess it up.
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:24 am
Booger: Thanks for the correction. My point is that Mario has established himself as a character who has already worked successfully throughout many genres. Sonic is still primarily associated with speedy platforming. While I don’t think Sonic’s image will necessarily ruin the game, especially if the foundation of the game is solid, I’d rather he not be shoehorned in. He just doesn’t seem to be a natural fit for an RPG, and may carry expectations that can’t/won’t be met. I hope I’m pleasantly surprised.
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I figure they didn’t just say “HEY LETS MAKE A SONIC RPG NOW” and buy the rights. I’m gonna trust that they have a plan to make it work.
I mean, we could have another super mario rpg on our hands…
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/5198/rawestforestck2.swf
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:59 pm
kevin: i was just teasing i got your point and agree completely, but maybe just maybe we’ll be surprised.
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I dunno. Sonic has sucked in so many different genre’s that I’m left with little hope in this title. The Sonic characters just aren’t as fun, interesting and as consistent as those in the Super Mario Universe. Where as Mario has had a pretty stable and robust cast of characters from day one, Sonic hasn’t. We get news ones introduced all the time and the enemies are all stupid little un-imaginitive, unmemorable robots. It’s not like Sega have got Monty Moles, Koopas, Goombas, Rex’s, Bullet bills, Dry bones’ and Boo’s to work with.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Remember that Sonic had his “own” TV show many years ago. New characters were created and new locations not seen in the video games. If you can use a character and create a successful TV show you can do the same with an RPG. As seen with KOTOR, Bioware is good at taking an established idea and creating a new universe and characters around it.