fun and challenging
Sonic Chronicles is very fun and it is also challenging even though I haven't beaten the game yet. I also like it because it keeps me entertained and it's a really good game. It is also hard and fun to play. The hardest part is that I can't seem to open the door in Chapter 4. I am stuck on Chapter 4.

Brimming with potential, but not nearly what it could have been.
Positive: + excellent graphics + some of the POW moves are really cool + the Sonic universe is portrayed well +

Negative: - dreadful camera - battle system could use some help - pretty boring - poor sound effects - annoying enemies - Big the Cat! -

Sonic is in desperate need of a great game. Sure the Sonic Rush series has been doing well, but he still needs some kind of huge success to get him back on his feet. In an attempt to bring about that desirable future, BioWare has brought Sonic into the wonderful world of RPG's in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Does it succeed in bringing our beloved hedgehog back or does it only put him in more desperate need of revival?

Sonic Chronicles starts off by having you rescue Knuckles, who was captured by the Marauders when they invaded the earth. Upon finding Knuckles, you befriend Eggman and proceed to infiltrate the Marauder's headquarters. And that's as far as I got before I got sick of the game and started writing this review. The story didn't seem too bad but I couldn't bring myself to play it enough to find out how it ends, or progresses, for that matter.

Being an RPG, Sonic Chronicles naturally relies heavily on its battles for gameplay. In these battles you get to use four characters at once, which is cool. There are quite a few characters too but to change your party you have to go all the way back to your `base of operations' (so to speak, the first of these is Tails' place), and this is pretty annoying.

The battles progress in rounds: you tell each of your characters what to do, then you watch them do it. Unless you have them do a POW move, in which case you will have to drag or tap circles with good timing to execute the move right. This way of doing the attacks is pretty fun and easy to learn, and overall it's not bad. There are many attacks that use combinations of two to four characters, and despite the fact that they can be really cool, they're not always worth doing as they take a turn and the amount of PP from each character involved.

One annoying thing about the battles is that your characters miss too much, and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. Another gripe I have is about the enemies, I mean do I really enjoy fighting enemies that come back to life all the time? There are way too many self-regenerating enemies in the game that come back unless they are the last enemies you defeat in the battle, and they don't stop coming back until you end it. Too long!

Enough about the battles, now let's talk about the gameplay outside of battle. Well, actually, I'd rather not... but for the sake of a review I will reminisce. The first thing I noticed about the bird's-eye view gameplay is just how AWFUL and DREADFUL the camera is! It is CONSTANTLY shifting and shaking, not to make you lose track of your character (thankfully) but it does make my eyes hurt when I play it for very long. This is definitely one of the big problems with the game.

There are puzzles to solve outside of battle too. These involve you moving your characters around on switches to get to the next area! Uh... woo hoo? That's what I thought. Not much fun. Then there are the characters' abilities, which are good and bad. Tails' flying is fine, Knuckles' climbing is ok, and the power ability is neat, and thankfully everyone can JUMP, but what's up with Big the Cat? Why did they bother putting poison gas in the game? So they could annoy you by making Big the only character that can walk through it? Let me know if you think of a better reason.

On a more positive note, the graphics in Sonic Chronicles are excellent, maybe some of the best on the DS. They're super smooth (except when the camera is shifting) and the cel-shade effect makes the game look REALLY nice and clean.

Unfortunately not all the technical aspects of The Dark Brotherhood are good: the sound and music could use some help. The sound effects range from the classic Sonic sounds we all love to a "BOING!" when you kill an enemy... yeah, that's what I want to hear when I fight bad guys in a video game. The characters also make funky sounds when they get hit. The music isn't necessarily bad; it just isn't very good either. There's not much to describe in that section.

Overall, Sonic Chronicles isn't a bad game... it's just not very good either. It earns enough merit to make some people like it, but there's also enough bad stuff in it that can make people (like me) really not enjoy it. So I personally recommend you pass this one up, but you there's a chance you would enjoy it. All the potential the game has seemed to go to waste, and if there's a sequel I expect a LOT more.

Gameplay: 6.5
Graphics: 9
Sound: 6
Value: 6

FINAL SCORE: 6.7/10

I think it's very good
It is very cleverly written and is doing a good job at keeping me engaged.

I would have given it 5 stars but the POW moves can be very frustrating at times.

Nice jump into the RPG genre
After playing through the game twice, I believe I now have a say on how good Sonic Chronicles is. Does BioWare make Sonic's leap into the RPG smoothly, or does he fall into a continual rocky slope of past mediocrity from six years running?

Story: 9/10
The structure of the story is simple, and feels a lot like Sonic X at times. However, it's not so simple that it's boring. Intertwined within the story fabric is humor and good characters that actually aren't mundane at all. I was definitely reminded strongly of the episodic sagas of Sonic X, and it felt like I was playing a game for Sonic X (minus Chris of course, thank you God.) If you don't want to see the story, you can easily skip by touching the screen repeatedly. You also have the choice to choose what Sonic can say to other characters. You can be kind, always ready to help, or snarky, where Sonic always wise-cracks about something. Despite the variation here, the story is locked on one course, so anyone you make mad won't stay mad at you for long. No worries on losing party members that way.

Gameplay: 7/10
As expected, Sonic Chronicles plays like any RPG. You explore an overworld, fight bad guys, do mini-quests and find or buy/sell items and equipment. Enemies walk visibly on the overworld, so you can run around them if you want, but in some environments, this is almost impossible on narrow paths. The combat is turn-based and easy enough to use. Using POW moves can sometimes be a hassle for to successfully use them, you have to touch prompt circles in the right way, and some POW moves flat out fail if you miss just one. The reward for a successful POW move usually is worth it, however. Mini-quests are simple and not hard to figure out. Decent rewards are received upon completion, and are usually helpful items plus XP. The XP amount tends to me meager however. Leveling-up is a simple prospect, but tends to be nothing but a drudge as it takes forever early on. Early on, battles usually only give like 10 XP each fight, while only fights that continue the plot of the story actually give you more, but even then, it's in mediocre amounts. It's only much later in the game when you reach XPs in the 1000 range, and there one can level up quickly. Every character in the story levels up at the same pace as everyone else, but not at equal amounts (for instance, Sonic can have 500 HP at Level 22, but Cream may only have 350 HP at level 22). Bosses can be challenging enough, but things like recovering HP points in multiple ways and having regular hits that can outshine the bosses' POW moves can cause much frustration in the long run.

Presentation: 7/10
The game definitely caters to the easy-going RPGer and the Sonic fan. RPGs tend to be slow, and Sonic is known for speed. Answering this contradiction, BioWare added classic Sonic staples into the game, like springs, booster pads and the trademark loops. Plus, zones from classic Sonic games make a return, like Green Hill Zone (Sonic 1), Metropolis (Sonic 2), Mystic Ruins (Sonic Adventure) and Angel Island (Sonic 3 and Knuckles). New zones are featured as well, like Blue Ridge Zone and the Twilight Dimension. Chao play a crucial role in the gameplay, as equipping each character with one will directly effect the game, depending on the chao itself. Effects include but are not limited to elemental attacks or defense, altering POW attacks and finding more items after combats. Some problems are prevalent in the game's presentation which keep it from becoming a great one. One problem is that it tends to be too short for the experienced RPG gamer, who likely is used to the 40-hour stories displayed in Final Fantasy and other RPGs. Sonic Chronicles will probably give 10 hours at most for the experienced RPGer, while rookies to the series might take a little more then 20. Add a somewhat faulty POW combat system and enemy strategy that causes much frustration, and it can sometimes be a headache.

Despite some drawbacks and some broken mechanics, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is definitely one of the finer Sonic titles to bear the hedgehog's name. The franchise seems to always be slugging through poor or mediocre titles on the mainstream systems, but Sonic has found a foothold in both the DS and the RPG genre. With an ending that suggests more to the story, we can hope that BioWare plans to continue the new story of Sonic Chronicles. Welcome Sonic to the world of role-playing.

8/10

Surprisingly good!
I was super excited to get this game in the mail, however after playing it for about an hour I was worried that I wouldn't like it. The game style is very different, even for an rpg, and I couldn't make out much of a story. For the gameplay, it took me a while to get used to POW moves, and how to use defense to regenerate POW points. In most other RPGs, I've never used the defense option, but in this game it's actually extremely useful. Graphics aren't bad. Many people complain about the sound effects, but I actually like them, they give the game an old-school feeling, and the BOING, though a strange choice for a KO, is amusing to me. After a few hours of playing, getting into the story, and getting used to the controls, it has become very addicting! The story has a slow start, but don't let that stop you because it gets better and better. If you are a Knuckles fan, like myself, you will be especially surprised. I do hope that they are working on a sequel!