Also as asinine an explanation is that this game is for ‘younger players’, as if Sonic wasn’t already for kids or something.īe it for toddlers, adults or ducks, as far as Sonic the Hedgehog in a medieval land goes, it works quite well. Yes, while elements such as storyline and play concepts are subject to deviation from the norm, it’s truly the implementation of such ideas that determine whether the ‘spinoff’ argument really works. Or at least that’s what ‘they’ reckon, ignoring the train wrecks that Banjo-Kazooie and Crash Bandicoot have become. Of course, t’is but a scratch spinoff, right? Surely some alternative action has to transpire in these games, otherwise we’d just have a stale franchise. Between this, Beijing and the Werehog, it almost feels like Sonic doesn’t want to be a platforming game anymore. Rather than ‘do a Sonic 2′ and simply work on the things that ticked players off, we now have a sword-swinging mechanic that ultimately proves more troublesome than its worth. While Sonic and the Secret Rings was by no means perfect, it provided a solid base of gameplay that was instantly accessible and focused on nothing but Sonic’s abilities (or lack thereof at the start of the game, as we sadly reminded ourselves). Sonic and the Black Knight is another case of missed opportunity for the Japanese team. The studio's solution, rather than pivot to meet the needs of fans, is to answer with more of the same. It’s bittersweet, given that this new-age Sonic Team – a studio that’s opening their hearts and making games with the best will in the world – are embracing fan input where it’s positive, yet ignoring feedback about rushed developments, poor gameplay mechanics and passionless level design. Almost all of them recount classic moments in the franchise’s history, pulling from Sonic CD, Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2 among others. One of the first things you can do in Sonic and the Black Knight is view a slide show gallery of artwork, created by blue blur fans around the world.

Sonic and the black knight characters