IGN: Sonic & the Black Knight Review

Sonic & the Black Knight is a disappointing mess of presentational highs and design lows. The game will wow with its crisp cinemas, slick interface, online functionality and pretty in-game graphics, but when you sit down to play it, you will quickly discover a slow, clunky, boring affair ruined by stupid design choices. The intense speed, loop-de- loops, and pinball jumps that Sonic is known for have been altogether removed for insultingly bad swordplay tied to retarded Wii waggle that will leave your arm sore and your heart broken. There isn't a level in Black Knight that is even one tenth as compelling as a single daylight mission in Sonic Unleashed.

This is a Sonic game that craps all over everything that has ever made the series interesting and then adds pointless waggle.

Presentation - 8.5
Graphics - 8.5
Sound - 7.5
Gameplay - 3.0
Lasting Appeal - 3.0
Overall -

[nightfallinicedearth]

Haha wow. Is anyone really surprised?

[Ratchet_Co]

GOTY confirmed. There was no contest.

On a related note, I bet Sega knows what they have to do to make a good 3D sonic game. They are just lazy to create a game like it. I believe that's the reason why they added night time levels in Sonic Unleashed, they were to lazy to make more "day-time" levels because they would have to be long and detailed.

[Blaze929]

Sonic Adventures, amazing game....years later we're here -_-

[Lord_Ash]

I'm a bit surprised, I thought it's going to be in the range of 5-6 not 3.9 damn.

[rucky]

Sega has destroyed one of my childhood icons :(

[Shoko]

Sega, just give Sonic to Nintendo already. They know how to actually make good games. I'm tired of you going lazy on Sonic. I stopped being a Sonic Fan after Genesis.

[spunnups]

that about sums it up.

[callahan09]

Sega still makes amazing games, they just can't make a good platformer to save their lives anymore. The majority of the problem is Sonic Team. Other than some Phantasy Star titles that are at least decent, they've really been pretty awful the past couple of years. The rest of Sega's teams have been doing bang-up jobs though, with Virtua Fighter, Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza, etc.

[Shoko]

Yea you're right. I mean sonic Team, cause SEGA makes some great games (Valkyria Chronicles being one of my favs)

[LeGenDx]

i kidd...

[princejb134]

OUCHHHH!!!!
This was the first thing i said to myself ones i saw the score

[Abash]

Sell the rights to Sonic games to good game developers!

[TriforceLightning]

Sonic's been going downhill since Yuji Naka left and it shows.Thank God and Nintendo for VC because that's where the real Sonic is not more 3D crap.

[Mahr]

"Sonic's been going downhill since Yuji Naka left and it shows."

Sonic was going downhill long before that. God help us if we're acting like things were going peachy up to and including when Naka put a gun in Shadow the Hedgehog's hand.

[Xander-RKoS]

I think I'm still going to get this game...IGN not only kinda misses the point with this game (they are still thinking that this is suppose to be like the old 2-D Sonic games when it clearly isn't), but time and time again they have proven their inability to hold a wii remote properly, constantly claiming unresponsive controls when the controls are pretty are actually pretty tight, and they in-fact, hate the Wii (if it wasn't obvious before).

I'm willing to bet that anyone who liked Sonic and the Secret Rings will like this game, IGN likes to over-exaggerate.

[darthpat10]

so your opinion is that people actually like sonic and the secret rings? that's almost as preposterous as someone actually liking the wii!

[Nugan]

Actually, IGN has been a lot kinder to the Wii than some other sites (see: GameSpot). They have consistently given the system's better games both the hype (see: MadWorld) and the scores (see: de Blob, HOTD: OVERKILL) they deserve, unlike some other sites (once again, see: GameSpot).

That said, this review seems to be 50% legitimate criticism (awkward camera, sluggish movement, zero difficulty) and 50% "this isn't the Sonic I grew up with." Also, I would have liked more explanation of what is wrong with the multiplayer. One dismissive sentence is not enough. That said, I suspect that, while probably not a 4, this game is probably fairly mediocre.

[Cheeseknight28]

So you enjoy playing a game where all you do is rush forward sluggishly at enemies and shake the Wii Remote like a retard? Well, it's your $50 that you're blowing in a recession.

[doshey]

so what sonic game we on now, number no one gives a crap about this game anymore

[NateNater]

Poor Sonic... RIP old friend. You will be missed :(
May you always be remembered by what you were and not by what you have have become.

[NMC2007]

Jesus Christ in a headlock, why is it that Sonic games are scored so low? I don't think these Sonic games are as bad as these reviewers make them out to be, it's become a contest on who can bash Sonic the most it seems, Sonic Unleashed was my favorite game of 08 and thus you know why I don't give a damn about some reviewers opinion on the games, these days it seem like lots of reviewers don't even play the game, it's like they watch a video and then review it, I am mainly speaking of IGN, those bastards couldn't properly review a T-Shirt.

[Trebius]

If Sonic Unleashed was your favorite game of 08, i'm sure you got your little brother to do the nighttime levels for you...

Cause if the game was all daytime, I would almost agree with you.

The Sonic Team needs to go back to making 2D side scrolling sonic...every Genesis fan would go out and get it. It could be a mix of 2D and 3D like Contra for the PS2 or LBP. It can be done, lets just see if they drop the ball again.

Sonic REPRESENTS Sega!!

WHY dont they realize this???

They dont even have a respectable mascot anymore, they whored him out and now he's just a mess.

[batman2million]

I bet the pre orders on this are crazy...

[BigMassacre]

The Sonic Team either needs a complete revision, or rid of completely.

Sonic has joined Crash and Spyro as platforming icons that went down the gutter as soon as their original creators ditched them.

[brycespitler]

crash isnt even made by the same company anymore

naughty dog completely dropped it

i think they stopped after crash warped (which was really fun)

idk about spyro

your comment made me think of losing one of my favorite icons

now im going to go cry

thanks asshole

[OhMyGandhi]

Eh...
need I say more?

[Superduper09]

Sonic needs to rest for a while lol

[SinnedNogara]

What they should do is work on a new Sonic for at least two years. And make it like Sonic Adventures for Dreamcast. No gimmicks like the Werehog or Sword. Just make a very large Sonic game and get some fan feedback.

[TriforceLightning]

They could learn alot from that game in its design and its controls.Nintendo made use of the Wiimote in clever ways that were not difficult to pick up and play or did they feel tacked on or gimmicky.Yuji Naka needs to come back and overhaul Sonic Team and renew the franchise back to its glory days.

Note*Yuji Naka has not been involved in a Sonic game since the Dreamcast.

[Mahr]

"Note*Yuji Naka has not been involved in a Sonic game since the Dreamcast"

Um, every source available says he was on Sonic Team up through 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

"On May 8, 2006, Naka left the group with ten other members of Sonic Team to establish an independent game developer, Prope."

http://www.mobygames.com/de...

"Games Credited
Sonic Riders (2006), SEGA of America, Inc.
Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), SEGA of America, Inc.
Sonic Gems Collection (2005), SEGA Corporation
Astro Boy (2004), SEGA Corporation
Feel the Magic XY/XX (2004), SEGA Corporation
Puyo Pop Fever (2004), THQ Inc.
Sonic Advance 3 (2004), THQ Inc.
Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004), SEGA of America, Inc.
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003), SEGA Corporation
Sonic Battle (2003), THQ Inc.
Sonic Heroes (2003), SEGA Corporation
Sonic Pinball Party (2003), SEGA Corporation
Sonic Mega Collection (2002), SEGA Corporation
Sonic Advance (2001), SEGA Corporation"

http://www.giantbomb.com/yu...

"The final game he made for Sega was Shadow the Hedgehog."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/con...

"Producer Yuji Naka"

http://xbox.gamespy.com/art...

"GameSpy: Out of all the characters currently in the Sonic story, why did you choose to focus on Shadow for a new game?

Naka: When we took a look at which Sonic characters were popular among fans, Shadow was ranked right behind Sonic. We've also wanted to do a "gun action" game for a while now, and he seemed to be the best fit for that idea. He and Sonic have a very different identity, after all. Finally, as we've been building the Sonic brand, we've had ideas of doing a spin-off series, so perhaps that's what Shadow will lead to."

"GameSpy: Many people were initially surprised to see Shadow with a weapon, which is unusual for the Sonic series. Why did you decide to give Shadow the ability to bear arms?

Naka: Well, there have been some shooting sequences in the Sonic Adventure games before, but they've been more "stand-and-shoot" style bits. We really wanted to challenge ourselves and do a high-speed gun action game. We decided that Shadow would be the perfect venue by which to try our hand at this genre."

How exactly will bringing the guy behind this mindset back to the table fix any of Sonic's problems?

[ChickeyCantor]

Mahr,

He invented Let's Tap >=D...
But he is working on a bigger project now =) im actually interested in what it will be though.

[Mahr]

"He invented Let's Tap >=D..."

Well, according to Edge, that game *is* better than Killzone 2 and Halo Wars, so I'll concede the point.

[Jerk120]

Why do you keep killing it more and more?

It's not the same cashcow it was and adding a sword, gun and werehog isn't going to change that.

Scrap it and go make yourself a new damn game or something.

[frictionini]

don't really know why they turned Sonic into a hack n' slash wannabe...

[REALgamer]

Sega should give development duties of future Sonic titles to THQ Australia. Why? They're the guys behind the only great non-Nintendo platformer on Wii, De Blob.

Sega should stop trying to kick Sonic's poor rotted corpse in the hope it'll somehow drag itself back to life and instead start developing Jet Set Radio 3!!!

[hatchimatchi]

that is all

[Myst]

Everything else seems to have been good except for the lasting appeal and the game play. I wonder if those two were changed what would the score have been..

[fatstarr]

um at least it got good graphics =] lol

but dayum dayum no comments i just hope mad world and the conduit do better

[celldomceen1]

why dont they just put 3d sonic out to pasture and make a old school 2d sonic and release it on psn/live. Im sure they can still make a good 2d sonic right?

[ChickeyCantor]

it was geared towards kids though =P.
To bad Sega.

[ChickeyCantor]

Forgot to add,
Bring Angel island back.
I wanna start in a forest, go into a water level, into a casino/circus, into wastelands...and then space or a cave whatever....
you guys get the point.

I miss the old world of Sonic, the music was so much better in that dimension xD

[AWBrawler]

Sonic is and always was for KIDS. Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast was a fluke, they accidentally did a story adults could enjoy. the sooner they stop comparing everything to that, the sooner they'll realize Sonic 2006 was decent, Secret Ring Rocked!, Unleashed was awesome (even the werehog), and Chronicles was a cool DS RPG. Why are reviewers so hard on sonic knocking it for every little thing. Sonic's voice is annoying -1, Amy's Pink-4, Shadow said "Maria" -25. They nitpick sonic to pieces. If they think this'll stop me from buying it with their lies, guess again. Go ahead and disagree. I don't care. Like Will Smith said "Great do need hate to survive." Sonic Forever!!!!!

[Smacktard]

Sonic hasn't been good since he stepped into 3-D. Give the game a rich hand-drawn or beautiful 2.5D atmosphere and leave it at that. Also, no more of this "press right to win" games like half of Unleashed. Put some interesting platforming into it.

[Death701]

IGN's rating is criminal. I've only played the demo, but come on... 3.8? They give crap shovelware better ratings than this game, which even if you don't like, is still fairly well put together. Irresponsible journalism.
Personal preference shouldn't account for more than a point or two off a review. The game gets a 7.8 from me based on the demo I played I just can't help but think that they turned on the game, played 2 minutes saw enemies coming at them and turned it off. They complain the waggle, they contradict themselves at times and they use unprofessional language. No story elements mentioned either. They say Sonic's speed is like a crawl and too many enemies...did they forget there is a jump button? I can't help but think this was only a rushed review to let out the rage they had cause sonic was given a sword.