Sonic Chronicles has had a significant amount of hype behind it for a DS title, and for good reason. Fans have long clamored for an RPG starring their favorite hedgehog that could rival Super Mario RPG. Like Nintendo did with Super Mario RPG, Sega called on another company to develop the title. The developer, Bioware, did an admirable with the ailing Sonic franchise. Bioware is known for producing RPGs with a multitude of character customization options and deep combat systems. They also tend to make non-linear RPGs with several dialogue choices that can alter the outcome of your game depending on what you choose. Sonic Chronicles follows some of these traditions--it has plenty of character customization and an innovative combat system that makes great use of the DS, but the story plays out in linear fashion like most JRPGs. Bioware chose to implement a dialogue tree system similar to their earlier games, but what choices you make merely allow you to hear more of the story; you can't become evil like in previous Bioware games. Frankly, I think this was a good choice, because most Sonic fans don't want developers meddling too much with what makes Sonic great.
For being a Bioware game, it is surprising that Sonic has more in common with JRPGs than Western ones. Everything from the linear narrative to the turn-based battle system will remind people of games like Final Fantasy and Super Mario RPG. Thankfully, Bioware decided to take a unique approach to much of Sonic Chronicles' gameplay. In Sonic Chronicles, you only use the stylus to control the action. You simply drag the pen in the direction you want to go, and Sonic will follow. As your game progresses, you will encounter a variety of friends and foes from previous Sonic games that will join your party (Come on. What RPG would be complete without a party?). You'll meet fan favorites such as the flying technophile Tails, Knuckles the Echidna, and not-so-favorites such as Big the Cat and Cream the Rabbit. Even your arch-nemesis will join your party temporarily, as Bowser did in Super Mario RPG. These party members not only serve as useful allies in battle, but they also have their own unique functions in each zone. In Sonic Chronicles, you enter a variety of zones from previous Sonic games, as well as many new ones, and each of these contains a variety of puzzles and obstacles. Your party members have abilities that will enable you to pass obstacles--Amy can smash boxes in your way, Knuckles can climb seemingly unscalable cliffs, Shadow can teleport through certain walls, and Sonic can use his famous dash ability to run through loops. These abilities are essential, so you'll sometimes have to take certain characters with you regardless of whether or not you like the characters. This can be annoying at times, but thankfully some characters possess a few of the same abilities, so you'll rarely have to stick with a character you don't like for long.
Each zone--from Green Hill Zone to towns such as Central City have numerous quests and items to discover, in addition to your main objective. Every area of the game has numerous rings and Chao eggs to discover that are optional. Rings serve as currency in Sonic Chronicles, so it is important to find as many as possible, since you don't earn them after battles. Chao eggs are also important to find, because they hatch into Chao which can be equipped on your characters. Each Chao has a unique ability: they can raise your max HP, cause enemy attacks to miss, add a fire element to your attack, and more. Completists will want to scour each zone for these valuable treasures. Rings and Chao aren't the only valuables to discover--you'll also find a plethora of optional quests. These quests are useful, because they give you additional experience, which is invaluable for leveling up your characters.
Now that the basics of zone exploration have been discussed, I will move on to the core of this RPG--the battle system. In Sonic Chronicles, you'll encounter enemies by running into them while blazing through various zones. After you encounter an on-screen enemy, you'll be placed into a battle arena where everything is turn-based. Unlike many RPGs where you scroll through a menu to pick an option, Sonic Chronicles has you actively engaged in each battle. By using the stylus, you can select various options such as attack, POW attack, guard, item, and flee. This is where the similarities to traditional battle systems end. Sure, selecting attack, item, or guard will have your character perform the selected task automatically, but the other two options, POW attack and flee, will have you actively engaged. In Sonic Chronicles, POW attack is the term used for special move. Sonic can use his signature spin dash from Sonic 2, and then drop on the enemy from above. Tails can use tech moves to heal or shield allies. Knuckles can give the enemy an uppercut with his fists. Amy can give the enemy a splitting headache with her hammer. You get the idea. These attacks are all performed by skillful use of the stylus that requires timing and precision. Some attacks will have you tapping an area of the screen rapidly. Others will have you performing a stroke across the screen, while staying inside of a moving circle. The last type of POW move requires you to tap certain areas of the screen when a shrinking outer circle overlaps an inner circle. More advanced moves utilize a combination of these techniques, and they are also used in defensive maneuvers. This keeps the combat exciting long after it would have worn thin in other RPGs.
Fleeing is also unique in Sonic Chronicles--your characters have to jump over numerous obstacles and hit speed boosts in order to escape. If you hit too many boxes, the enemies will catch up to you and they'll attack you again. The enemies sometimes try to flee as well, and you will go through the same routine to catch them. Surprisingly, this part of the battle system is the part about Sonic Chronicles that feels most true to Sonic's roots. Some critics have blasted Sonic Chronicles for feeling too similar to Mario RPG, but I beg to differ. While both games' combat includes timing and precision, that's where the similarities end. The types of techniques executed are completely different from Mario and they make the game a fresh experience.
The battle system is one of Sonic Chronicles' best features, but what about the story? The story is better than standard Sonic fare, but still pales in comparison to most RPGs out there. Bioware did an excellent job with the source material and the writing is top-notch, but the area in which it fails is humor. The Mario RPG games have all featured gut-busting self-referential humor, even though the stories are fairly basic, and I would argue that that is one of the reasons for their success. Despite Bioware's failure to include enough humor, their writers successfully capture the essence of each character in Sonic--Sonic is cocky and has attitude, Tails is shy and loves machines, Amy is boy-crazy, and Eggman is as diabolical as ever. Unfortunately, the characters don't have on-screen animations or sounds to complement their dialogue, so the presentation is a little lacking in comparison to the recent Mario & Luigi games. The artwork for the character portraits is visually pleasing however.
Sonic Chronicles' story begins like the end of a typical Sonic game--Eggman is being defeated, but you soon find yourself fighting a new enemy--the Marauders, who hold a secret that has long been forgotten. The game will have you traverse many familiar Sonic locals such as Green Hill Zone and Angel Island, but you will even travel through the vast reaches of space. During the space missions, you will encounter many characters that are new to the Sonic Universe. Perhaps Bioware was inspired to bring Sonic to space after having completed their last space odyssey--Mass Effect. The final missions of the game feel fresh, and some of the enemies will pose a challenge if you don't have high enough levels, or didn't equip the proper abilities. My characters were at high enough levels that I didn't feel the need to fight anymore, so I simply fled from most battles, while zipping through the final zone. The game ends with a climactic battle that will bring back great memories for those who truly completed Sonic 3.
So what is not to like about Sonic Chronicles? The music stinks more than Big the Cat when he forgets to take a bath. It sounds worse than most 8-bit tunes, and provides no nostalgia value whatsoever. I was expecting a score that was at least on par with the Sonic games on Sega Genesis, but what we were left with was a soundtrack that sounds like it would accompany Bubsy 3D. I also felt that the plot could have been better, but then again Bioware didn't have much to work with from the beginning. One other minor gripe I have about Sonic Chronicles is that the gameplay sometimes doesn't feel like Sonic. Something that was special about the Sonic games of old was the brilliant level design and sense of speed. This game doesn't really bring you that, but still, the gameplay is enjoyable, and the artwork and character personalities are faithful to Sonic. I don't know if we'll ever see another sequel to Sonic Chronicles now that Bioware has been purchased by EA. Still, this was an impressive first effort by Bioware, and it breathed some much-needed life into this stagnant franchise.