It’s not often that we are invited to see the folks from Sega and this event was certainly no exception. FastFeet Media, along with a whole host of other websites that are dedicated to the community such as Sonic Wrecks, the Sonic Stadium, Sonic Yoda, Radio Sega, Sonic Cage Dome and various others all attended this event held at the Wii Flat in central London. All of us were there for one reason and one reason only; to have an exclusive look at Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

After arriving at Tottenham Court Road tube station I met up with Dan Dyer from our neighbouring network site DoubleDMix. To avoid being late we set off for the Wii Flat which was a short walk away, fortunately though we ended up at the flat before anyone else with the rest of the Sonic crew gathering soon after.We were then welcomed into the Wii Flat, which is like a normal flat with the exception that it looks like Mario had switched from being a plumber to an interior decorator.

Once everyone had settled down we were all expecting to get our greasy mitts on a DS and go to town on Chronicles. Instead the nice folks at Sega decided to treat us to a brief playtest of Samba De Amigo due out on the Wii later this year. Although some people may not be looking to invest in a game such as Samba De Amigo, I have to say I found it extremely fun to play. Even though it was a brief look of the game it seems that everything from the Dreamcast original had been ported over with some new additions too. But the main factor here of course is that you don’t have to spend extra wads of cash to go out and buy the maraca accessories, instead you’ll be using the wii-mote and nunchuk combo to rattle away to your heart’s content. So far it looks like a great party game and definitely one for fans of the original to capitalise on.

So after a sneaky peek and a quick shake or two we went on to play Sonic Chronicles. Unfortunately we were not allowed to film any gameplay as the game is still in development. Whilst there weren’t many copies floating around it meant we had to share, this wasn’t so bad as this Sonic game is an RPG which always makes life easier if you have two heads instead of one to think your way through the game.

It’s all about presentation

The first thing that impressed me with the game is the artwork and anyone else who was there will tell you the same. Far from the like of any sprite or modelling used in previous Sonic games, Chronicles showcased some fantastically rendered artwork and some of the best portrayal of characters so far. Above all it’s used in the right places – loading screens, between chapters of the game and in cut scenes between important areas.

On the topic of timing another well used element in the game is the sound. Notably no voice actors have been hired in for this game and it’s a very good decision by Bioware. First of all voice acting in Sonic games has been hit and miss at times to say the least as discussed on the day by all of us. Above all, a lot of the good RPG games that I have played and enjoyed did it without voice acting, such as Final Fantasy VII. The music used in the game has been well chosen too with music and sound effects ranging from many of the classic games such as Sonic 1 & 2 as well as Sonic 3D as well as original compositions.

Don’t spoil it!! (*Spoiler Alertz*)

But let’s get to the gameplay. Bioware have said that they’re all keen fans of Sonic, hence why they have been brought in to develop the goods this time round. The first chapter (instead of zones or acts) starts you off in Green Hill Zone which is nice as we haven’t really played the zone since the very first game! All you know so far is that Knuckles has been kidnapped and that you’ll have to work out where he is, drag him home and give a good slapping before carrying on with the next portion of the game.

So like any other RPG you’ll have to find clues in order to work your way through to the next chapter. In Chronicles this is achieved by asking people or locals for clues, so far it seems that most of them will want a little help in exchange for a little information adding in more minigames into the game. But as far as dialogue is concerned, either you will choose to speak to someone or an event is triggered, in either case you are given some flexibility as to how you want to proceed. Sometimes you will be given a single reply to give or a whole range of responses, which will either get you back into gameplay quicker or even show a little sarcastic comment from Sonic for example. Generally the communication and development of story has been neatly structured and makes it easy to research around and have some fun at the same time as a RPG should.

Chests of fun

Once again Bioware have been implementing RPG traditions into Chronicles. There are many items which will help you make your way through the game, with the better ones appearing later in the game. Whilst playing your character essentially has HP (Health Points) and POW (Power Points), HP is obvious, but POW provides your characters with the ability to pull off special moves which can be earned using EXP (Experience Points) from winning battles. You’ll find chests dotted around the map that will provide you with useful items to replenish health, power or even supply you with a special item – we found a pair of boxing gloves that were for Sonic (we thought they’d be better for Knuckles!). Most of these power ups come in the form of a candy or chocolate though which I thought was a little odd, it’s hardly sending the right messages to kids for example – what happened to Sonic eating some good old chilli dogs!?

But if you’re thinking all of this collecting treasure and wandering is a little boring and tiresome then think again. For starters it’s a Sonic game so there needs to be quite a bit of action to keep us interested at least anyway. When you’re walking around the map of Green Hill for example, you’ll find Sonic is still quite fast and can zip around the place quite swiftly, whilst other characters will be able to fly (Tails) or climb (Knuckles) over to areas other characters cannot so it’s essential that you have the right party of characters together. If you’re still hungry for some more speed some battles involve chases whether it’s you or the enemy running (reminding me of the old 2D boss chases at times), this requires you to have cat like reflexes in order to avoid obstacles and run as fast as possible. I might add this is especially tricky with 4 characters on screen though!

Finally the games interaction has been well implemented. The stylus feels very natural to select options and navigate your way around the game. Battle sequences are easy to work out with only a few options available to keep things simple, even allowing you to undo commands if you’re not quite sure whether that last tactic might actually kill half your party members. Asides from that you can call up your inventory and missions diary to make sure you know what you have on you and what you’re doing.

In the end we only had around 2 hours play of the game, and whilst others got further into the game than others what we saw was a very good start to a Sonic RPG game. Everything has been very nicely presented and a lot of thought has gone into creating a game which brings the old in with the new as well as tying in a new and hopefully original storyline. We all left feeling very happy with what’d we seen at the Wii Flat and started making our way to the nearest bar, although that came after we crammed into the smallest video games store in London and probably freaked out the store owner just slightly. Hopefully we will be back in London soon to experience some Sonic Unleashed!