Sonic Battle

"Sonic goes off the beaten path."

We all know that since 1991 Sonic, the blue hedgehog has been a big hit, fighting many enemies and saving the world. But now he is starting to fight in a different way, a more literal way I guess and this takes place in one of the best Sonic games yet.

Game Play 10/10
This game is really easy to pick up on and it is really fun to play. While each character has different attacks and specials attacks the basics for each character are the same and they are easy to use. One of the good things is that the game is divided into 8 ‘stories' in which you can play as different characters and although some are longer or harder than others this helps you learn how to play as different characters. So each time you battle with Emerl he will receive a card that has a skill on it, one from every person in the battle, so when you are playing you can use these to help Emerl get stronger and to use attacks that other characters use. This way you could actually ‘turn' Emerl into another character by getting all their cards and putting them on Emerl. This game has many little things that you don't really notice at first and there are some strategies for winning battles as certain players. There is also more than one mode of game play that you can chose. So why not have fun and try them all and while your at it hook up with a friend and then battle with each other.

Replay Value 9/10
Sonic Battle has a lot of replay value and no matter how many times you replay the game it is still fun. After you beat a story not necessarily the whole game but even just one story you can either play the next one or play another one you have already beaten. The only reason I gave this a 9 and not a 10 is because sometimes replaying a story can get repetitive if you don't get any new cards so if you play a whole story over again and don't get any new cards it kinda sucks.

Story 8/10
This story I guess is ok but it lacks ambition, it doesn't seem to be as urgent when you aren't rushing through things like the normal Sonic games and it sort of makes the game seem a little slower paced. Although the story is a little slow it is good in the way they go to everybody's story and how you get to see the whole picture through somebody else's eyes. That part is good and I think it was well thought out. The thing I like about this story is that it houses many characters other than the normal few and a couple of the others can actually be played as now. Amy, Cream, Gamma, and Chaos even shows his face. This story isn't very complex but it is very well put out because when you play some one else's story you can see other characters doing things that you have already seen them do but it is from a different perspective so it all seems different.

Graphics 10/10
The graphics in this game are very good for being on a gameboy advance and the graphics during cut scenes are definitely something else. During cut scenes the characters are 2D and they all have more than one expression that they use and I like the way the scenes are laid out. As for the graphics of the normal game they are pretty good and the characters all seem to have their own style and overall the graphics of Sonic Battle are just really good.

Sound 9/10
The sound effects for the attacks in the battles are pretty good and even though there are full talking parts the voices that they do have are very good and done quite well. The music of the game is pretty good and it just blends with the game when you play as if you almost don't notice it there. And that deserves a compliment.

I think that you should buy this game because it is very good and very fun. Although it is rather short you can have so much fun by replaying the game over and over. But if you are the type of person that doesn't like change from normal things go ahead and rent it first to see if you like it but I think it is a really good game worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/06