Sonic Battle

"Sonic's back and as good as ever"

That's right! Sonic's back for another round on GBA in the new Sega masterpiece Sonic Battle. You play as Sonic as he runs around town meeting various Sonic characters and has battles against his typical foes including Shadow and Rouge. At first I thought this might be sort of a flop, I mean a Sonic fighting game? Well after playing the game I realized quickly that it actually was a good game after all keeping Sega's reputation for making Sonic goodness continue to last.

Graphics (9/10)

Above average considering some of the butchering's we've seen on the GBA lately *cough*Taiketsu*cough*. It's not totally 3D, but it's not completely 2D either, which is becoming more of a popular style lately. The characters themselves are quite well done without the normal rough edges and stuff we see on rushed games. The move animations during the battles don't suck and move smoothly during the execution of the move. During the story mode talking sequences simple large seemingly cardboard cutout close ups are used which isn't bad, it's just not spectacular, but this is GBA anyways. Overall, good graphics by Sega on this one.

Storyline (8/10)

Well what can I say? It's a typical Robotnik/Eggman is up to something we've gotta stop him classic Sonic storyline. While some might say this is kind of repetitive I think it's necessary to the Sonic series and get disappointed when game producers take classic games and give them completely new unheard of stories. It's nothing complex, but it's far from bad. Considering this can be considered an action/fighting game it actually has a good storyline when comparing to other fighters, especially those on GBA. So nothing great, but it's above what games have had lately on the system.

Gameplay (9/10)

For the overworld/town before you enter into the battles it's rather plain. You run around the area finding event spots and the like where you either battle, talk to a character, or sometimes both. It runs smoothly, there's nothing too hard about this area, but what really gives gameplay points for Sonic Battle is the battle system. When Sonic is engaged in combat it's nothing too hard, nor too easy. It is actually well done, even sporting a pre-battle option to choose what you want your ground/aerial attacks to be.

Controls (9/10)

The battle controls are good. They aren't too hard but they allow you to be able to pull of some combos. Simple attack spamming will allow you to win your first few encounters, but later you will be forced to actually find some combos and special moves. Easy to learn and pull off gives this game a plus on that side, even if it does subtract from the difficulty. This is obviously a game for all ages however so I wont dock a while bunch of points for it being ''too easy'', especially when it's not. Moving Sonic around the overworld is kind of annoying/difficult at times. Instead of simply being in direct control of Sonic, you are instead given a cursor and Sonic attempts to follow, sometimes leaving him stuck behind buildings and such which reminds me of certain warcraft III pathing issues... Basically it comes down to seeing that the battle controls are very well done, and that is the main portion of the game, so it achieves a very high score.

Sound (8/10)

Omg! Sound that I can stand listening too! Sonic Battle actually gives a good musical score to it's already good graphics/gameplay. It doesn't hurt your ears, and when you play long enough you wont even realize it's there, so it doesn't get annoying or repetitive. This rounds out a great game by Sega.

Overall (8/10)

Sonic Battle is a good relief for me because it is the best Gameboy Advance release since Mario & Luigi. Lately I have been seeing so many poorly put together and rushed Games that this is a very welcome change. Sporting a good score in all 5 categories, Sonic Battle is definitely a game to try. I'd say rent however, unless you're a diehard Sonic/Sega fan, otherwise you may get bored of it eventually. It's fun however, and a very good game to say the least.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/03