User:TheJoebro64/drafts/BK

Sonic and the Black Knight is a 2009 platform game for the Wii, and the sequel to 2007's Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Gameplay

• http://www.siliconera.com/2009/01/15/what-does-sonic-and-the-black-knight-use-wi-fi-for/

Development

Like its predecessor, Sonic and the Black Knight was developed for the Wii (pictured)

Following the success of Sonic and the Secret Rings, Japanese developer Sonic Team, a division of Sega, decided to build another Sonic series game using a storybook theme. Sonic Team's Tetsu Katano, who previously worked on the Sonic Adventure games, led the effort to create Sonic and the Black Knight. Katano conceived a sequel to Secret Rings in January 2007, shortly before that game was completed. Like its predecessor, Black Knight was developed for Nintendo's Wii. Sonic Team chose to develop on the Wii again because the game was a sequel to Secret Rings, and because it hoped to make the most of internal resources. Black Knight was revealed in the July 2008 issue of Nintendo Power magazine, followed by a Sega press release confirming an early 2009 release date. Sega also showcased it at Nintendo's pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference in October and at New York Comic Con in February 2009.

While Secret Rings takes place in the world of Arabian Nights, Katano chose to set the new game in the world of King Arthur; he wanted its setting to be one of swords and magic. He also hoped to include more playable characters, as Secret Rings only featured Sonic. Katano gave some ideas to writer Shiro Maekawa to start. The initial story featured appearances from Big the Cat and E-123 Omega, both of whom were cut from the final game. During development, Sega did a focus test in the United States to determine the most popular Knights of the Round Table to include in the game; Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot were the ones Sonic Team deemed most popular. They used recurring Sonic characters Shadow and Knuckles to fill their respective roles. The game also features Percival, whose role is taken by Blaze. Sonic Team faced a minor problem with this; as Blaze is female, they could not refer to the character as "Sir". Unlike Sonic Unleashed, which primarily focused on level design and speed, Sonic Team prioritized combat and a cinematic presentation for Black Knight. As the swordplay concept was new, creating the game without a model challenged them. Black Knight uses PhysX, the physics engine Secret Rings also uses.

Jun Senoue composed the soundtrack with assistance from Yutaka Minobe, Richard Jacques, Howard Drossin, and Tommy Tallarico. For Black Knight, Senoue wanted to work with composers who worked on previous Sonic games rather than the other Sega composers he usually collaborated with. He first contacted Jacques and Drossin; although Tallarico had never composed a Sonic soundtrack before, Senoue also brought him on because they had been good friends for years. Two soundtrack albums were released under Sega's Wave Master label on April 8, 2009: Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight - Vocal Trax and Tales of Knighthood: Sonic and the Black Knight Original Soundtrax.

Sega released Black Knight in North America on March 3, 2009. Prior to release, Sega held a contest in which fans in the West over the age of 13 could submit their own art of Sonic or other franchise characters. 20 individuals won a free copy of the game and got their art featured in it. In Japan, Sega released it on March 12 and in Europe the following day. Sega delisted Black Knight from retailers in October 2010, following its decision to remove all Sonic games with average or below-average scores on Metacritic, a video game review aggregator, to increase the value of the brand.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JGTI9WXKcg - interview w/ the writer

Reception

According to Metacritic, Black Knight received "mixed or average reviews". Media Create reported that the game entered the Japanese sales at 30th place, while the NPD Group said it was one of the top 10 bestselling Wii games of March 2009. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association gave Black Knight a "Silver" sales award, indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. Many reviewers felt that Black Knight represented another missed opportunity for a franchise increasingly defined by disappointment.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20121104113713/http://www.1up.com/reviews/sonic-black-knight-review
  • Average
  • Looking for pixies and upgrading special attacks adds some depth, but the game mostly consists of just fighting the same enemies over and over
  • The game can be completed easily by just shaking the Wii remote
  • Pretty graphics; both the 2D cutscenes and the in-game visuals are polished. Lots of variety in the environments, and bosses are impressive
  • Perfunctory multiplayer modes; players will most likely ignore them
  • Verdict: C+. Competent game, but the overly simple swordplay outshines the classic Sonic gameplay. Younger fans will be pleased, but others will be let down.

• • Unleashed's nighttime levels may have been bad, but it looks pretty good when compared to this game
  • The pre-rendered cutscenes look great, as do the hand-drawn cutscenes. Good voice acting, but terrible dialogue.
  • Tons of attention to detail and great presentation. Medieval-looking interface, realistic map, dozens of unlockable items, and tons of fan service.
  • At a glance the game looks polished. Dazzling graphics, detailed and varied environments, and cool special effects. Flaws in the presentation include occasional frame rate dips and a poor camera system.
  • Unfortunately, Black Knight is destroyed by its gameplay. Gets rid of all the defining traits of the classic Sonic games.
  • Action is slow and repetitive
  • Sonic moves like a tank
  • Controls are unresponsive and all you have to do is shake to win
  • Horrendous multiplayer
  • Verdict: 3.9/10. Wonderful presentation but ruined by poor design choices. "There isn't a level in Black Knight that is even one tenth as compelling as a single daylight mission in Sonic Unleashed."

• • Not terrible, but still another disappointment
  • Some parts are fun and the missions are good, but the main story will take less than four hours to complete and the swordplay mechanic is unresponsive and frustrating to use
  • Controls are fine for the most part, but the motion controls are unresponsive
  • Short. Missions are a mixed bag; some are interesting but others aren't
  • Legacy missions, which bring back traditional 3D Sonic elements, are the game's best missions
  • Decent upgrade system. Not a lot of variation but still nice
  • Multiplayer doesn't have much variety or depth
  • Verdict: 6.5/10. Not terrible, but just another mediocre Sonic games.

• • Despite shortcomings, feels like a genuine attempt to make Sonic relevant again.
  • "Black Knight isn't terrible, just awkward, and it's not broken, just misjudged."
  • Looks incredible: detailed and imaginative worlds, not to mention good-looking menus, FMV, and hand-drawn cutscenes. Only Mario Galaxy matches Black Knight graphically
  • However, environments are reused a lot, feels like Sonic Team struggled to give players something to do in levels
  • Levels are really narrow and have little to offer once beaten
  • Handling and combat both weak. Fighting is mostly just shaking the Wii Remote, and Sonic is usually just going forward and his movements are sluggish
  • First half has no meaningful challenge; "the videogame equivalent of one of those Reader's Digest lotteries that you literally cannot lose."
  • Second half marred by frustrating spikes in difficulty
  • There are some enjoyable parts; a few levels are actually quite fun
  • The item collecting, leaderboards, and multiplayer add little
  • Verdict: 4/10. While Sega is going through a renaissance with games like MadWorld, Infinite Space, and Bayonetta, it's hard to see how Sonic is still relevant.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20131030235156/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/7455/reviews/sonic-and-the-black-knight-review/
  • Another example of Sega botching an otherwise good Sonic platformer with an unnecessary gimmick
  • The sword works fine as a character, good voice acting and less annoying than past supporting characters like Chip from Unleashed and Shahra from Secret Rings
  • However, the use of the sword as a game mechanic is flawed. The game is good when you're moving at a brisk pace, but swinging the sword stops you. It's hard to use it properly
  • Frustrating because, when ignoring the sword, Black Knight is a drastic improvement over Secret Rings. The analog controls are much better than the motion controls of its predecessor, the annoying Skill Ring system is gone, and the graphics are better, with lush landscapes, great lighting, and a good frame rate
  • Soundtrack's good too, anyone who's enjoyed the music in recent games will enjoy it here too
  • The main problem is that it's impossible to tell who this game is supposed to appeal to. There are Easter eggs that reference Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, but the story is clearly aimed at younger players. Younger fans will love the cutscenes, but older ones will cringe. The sword just adds frustration to an otherwise enjoyable game. Had Sonic Team made the game more similar to Secret Rings but added the nunchuck control scheme of Black Knight, they would've been delighted.
  • Verdict: 78%. Sega came close to making a good Sonic game but had to go and add a sword. "You don't need a fancy sword to make us love you, Sonic... But you keep making things complicated, and it tests our relationship."

• https://web.archive.org/web/20131225181419/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/210614/reviews/sonic-and-the-black-knight-review/
  • Taking the concept of Secret Rings and adding melee elements is a promising idea, but the removal of the predecessor's tilt-based gameplay in favor of something more traditional is awkward and frustrating
  • Lack of speed
  • Combat is annoying and distracts: "the game, prioriti[zes] speed over combat and then punish[es] you for not battling more carefully."
  • Dislikes the variety of stages. Boss battles initially impressive and "the swordplay at least looks entertaining"

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090312000324/http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/209138/sonic-and-the-black-knight/

• https://www.gamesradar.com/sonic-and-the-black-knight-review/

• http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/03/sonic_and_the_black_knight_wii

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090323041341/http://wii.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r36041.htm

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090331170936/http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3614/blackknightcr1.jpg

• https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/sonic-and-the-black-knight-review/1900-6206013/

References

• https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/02/10/sonic-and-the-black-knight-good-cop-bad-cop