Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good entertainment, but not long enough, June 27, 2009
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
I asked my kids for a review of this game, as my youngest just got it for a birthday present. The little suckers polished off $40+ of fun in only 2 hours!!!! The birthday boy loved it, but he always loves any game he picks. Older son said 'eh-- not long enough'.
As a parent, I say 'wait until you can buy used for cheap!' Compared to something like Super Smash Brothers Brawl, which has provided endless days of personal time for my wife and I, I feel cheated! $20/hr. of babysitting, punctuated with the typical mid-game brawl, was not worth it!
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Three words: REDUNDANT TEST RUN, June 7, 2009
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Great game similar to Sonic Unleashed! It has very good replay value, but must give it a break after 20 minutes or so. Unless you do much jumping and doing much trial and error, you won't survive for long. Like Paper Mario games, there is too much dialogue you can't skip for the most part.
You keep doing the same test run through different stages, and to me, it is redundant, and IMO quite a learning curve. What you do is not so much tedious per se but confusing, and what do all those items mean? I don't know how to access the inventory. It is difficult to do better than two of five stars unless you have practiced long enough.
The one nice thing other than great graphics, sound, and retro effects during the cut scenes like watercolor on film and paper is that, unlike most Sonic games (especially during the Genesis days, and man those were some awesome graphics back in its day), you don't lose all your rings in The Black Knight. To survive the (so realistic, wow!) dragon, you must get as many rings as possible, because it is hard to dodge those large bites. Just be sure that you truly know how to swing your sword, or you are a goner!
Minor annoyances, confusing inventory, and detraction from what a sonic game used to be, I give this game a B- or B. I have not played it long enough to state whether it would be recommendable.
I have been to England and France somewhat recently, and truly appreciate how awesome the Sonic Team went with this release. IMO Sonic Unleashed is a better game, though a bit more challenging, but less confusing.
Hope this is helpful. In some ways, video games in this genre remind me of Castlevania, and very much graphically reminiscent. In fact, this newest Sonic game featuring King Arthur sounds very much like a candidate for the Castlevania series. After all, they take place in Europe, so there you go!
Zelda: Twilight Princess has some similarities too, but I do not own it and have not played it. Best of all, the Wii is almost perfect--no technical glitches or bugs, but the Wii remote does go through batteries rather quickly.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than sonic and the secret rings..., March 5, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
...but is that really saying much? Fortunately, yes.
Again, SEGA is innovating with its mascot character. Now, our brave young hedgehog has been summoned back to the realm of King Arthur, charged with saving the lands from the King's recent evil transformation and tyranny. At once we are presented with an opening cinematic that is rather well executed (the ravens are particularly good), though not quite as polished as the stunning first movie of Sonic Unleashed. Here is where Sonic is summoned by the granddaughter of Merlin----Merlina. After a brief confrontation with King Arthur, Merlina whisks Sonic and herself away to a safe location.
Here is where the player comes in. The first two levels are simple tutorials, where one learns how to control Sonic and wield the sword, traversing across a field filled with wooden targets. Right away, the player discovers the nature of the gameplay. The way Sonic travels is the same as in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Sonic can travel on only a narrow path through a three-dimensional world, generally only forward. There is no manual camera control, and if one wishes to retrace their steps, the camera does not follow Sonic's movements, forcing the player to walk into places they cannot see. This takes some getting used to, and is admittedly not my personal favorite method of gameplay. I much prefer the free-roaming three-dimensional environments of games like Sonic Unleashed and Super Mario 64. However, it is unique, and certainly acceptable once the player becomes familiar with the layout. Concerning the game's controls, they are very fluid and responsive. The swordplay is controlled by the movement of the Wii Remote, and adds a fun, interactive element to the game. Do not expect the sword to follow the Remote's movements exactly, as it only follows the direction the Remote is swung in, but this method is fun nonetheless. It is a lot funner than slamming down button combinations. Also, there are plenty of little goodies one can collect along the way. Some of these can be used to give Sonic better abilities, or forge new weapons for the other playable characters (Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Blaze the Cat, which are unlocked during the course of the game).
The story is quite well written, I believe. Some have said it is `too juvenile', but I wonder what they were expecting. It is a game for kids, is it not? And it is no sillier than most games, even ones that are constantly lavished with praise from the critics (Ratchet and Clank, anyone? Not that I dislike that series...). Really, the basic tale was not silly at all. I found it to have a timeless message concerning where our loyalties should lie. We are not to make idols out of mortals, obeying them even if it contradicts morality. Men are not infallible, no matter how they might have lived before. In addition, the humorous parts are actually funny, and there is not an unwanted character in the storyline. Also, as the game moves on, the story keeps getting better, with surprise twists and good messages, as well as touching moments.
How do the game environments stack up? They are masterfully done, from the graphic quality and lighting, to the incredibly minute detail (watch the thousands of individual grass blades blow in the wind). The sky is especially well done, and everything captures the feeling of a medieval world very well. When Sonic encounters the enemy knights (wispy creatures from the underworld that take the form of the armor they wear), his sword becomes very useful. It is fun to cut down these cloudy foes, but herein lies one of the game's less desirable traits. Here, the violence definitely warrants this title's E-10 rating. Though there is no blood, the way the smoke dissipates following an enemy's destruction imitates it rather well. Though it disappears quickly, this can get a little much over time.
Now we come to the music. The game's theme is good, mixing classical music with electric guitars rather well. The music in the menu screens is also well done----a good modern take on medieval music. Many of the levels themselves have very good music, with a minimum of electric guitar. But there are other levels (especially the boss battles) where the music suddenly becomes harder, and less connected with the feel of the game. This is the one major fault, in my opinion, of this game. Thankfully, hellish vocals are not constantly screaming in the background, like they are in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Even with this said, the score as a whole is excellent.
Overall, this is a very fun, enjoyable game. It is not perhaps as good as Sonic Unleashed, but it is still great. This is yet another title that shows Sonic is still running strong.
Ryan Robledo
Author of the Aelnathan:
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