TSS REVIEW: Sonic Battle

Sonic Team are on a roll here. Shortly after their dry patch of useless updates and ports, we received Sonic Pinball Party, an adequate and faithful ball-bashing (pun intended) experience with a heavy dose of Sonic. Next came Billy Hatcher, which despite its lack of interest from most people, is a damn fine game to play. Now Sonic Heroes is around the corner, and along with it comes a new GBA Sonic game. Does Sonic Battle do itself justice by yet again parting from Sonic's platform-hopping roots?

The thing you realise when you begin to play this game is that Sonic Team and Dimps knew exactly where they were going with this. The atmosphere and art style is just right for a handheld brawl, and the music is jumpy and excessively head-banging (albeit tinny head-banging, obviously) compared to the sane and peaceful tunes we're used to from the Mega Drive titles. But while this is a completely new departure for Sonic, the music, maps and general feel of the game has got Sonic Team's stamp all over the place. You KNOW there's magic just up ahead.

The story? Sonic finds a mysterious robot at his home in Emerald Town (don't start, all you continuity geeks out there), that just several days before had been owned by Eggman (who kicked them out for being useless to him). Absorbing Chaos Emeralds, the robot (affectionately called "Emerl" for its need for the gems) establishes a 'link' relationship with Sonic, and from that point on, everyone seems to wants a piece of Emerl.

Whether it's Tails attempting to research the robot's roots, Rouge using it as an elaborate jewel-snatching accomplice, or even Shadow wanting to discover the connection between his existence and Emerl's... character after character jumps into the fray to take control. The whole crew are are present and correct; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow, Rouge... and even Gamma and Chaos make welcome appearances. Although Gamma is not exactly how you'd remember him...

The main feature of the game - Story Mode - is completely engaging and immersive to all players, old and new. The cutscenes are presented with jazzy graphical flair, and surprising (yet always welcome) Sonic-oriented joking about - one chapter ends with Knuckles confiding in Emerl to keep a secret (yes, Knux gets tricked by the fat doc once again). After acknowledging "their little secret", Emerl immediately goes and yells it out to all and sundry, making for hilarious fun.

The Story Mode itself is very satisfying in length; you play each episode one by one, with each chapter focused on a particular character. Beginning with Sonic and ending with Emerl, battles with other characters ensue as either "boxercise" - friendly warm ups (between allies) - or serious stand-offs. Playing as Rouge with Emerl while battling a hyped-up Sonic and Amy tag team really packs the pants.

The battles themselves are very well laid out. Each stage has a basic 3D composition - rectangle playing field, with a 3D box (detailed as something different each level) here and there to jump on. However, the action's all in the action rather than the level design. The 'A' Button acts as your jump, and a double jump move can be performed to evade danger. The 'B' Button is your standard punching and combo move, useful for looking fly. The 'L' Button can be a shield (tap it once), or you can hold it to charge your health back up whenever you have a spare moment. Healing also energises your 'Special' Meter, but more on that later.

Before you start each life, you are requested to pick two special moves. These are assigned to your 'R' Button, and there is a different one for when your character is on the ground or when they are in midair. You can choose either a "Shot" (usually a projectile attack), "Power" (strength move), or "Set" (usually mines and bomb placement) assignment to your "Ground" and "Air" specifications. The third option is not used, and is instead reserved for a blocking move. When your 'Special' Meter (tiny bar above your thick Health Meter) is full, your character begins to flash. Using a Special move (Ground or Aerial) on an enemy in this mode nets you an instant KO if it connects.

Each character has different varied abilities - Shadow's heal power is very slow, for instance, but his moves are harder to avoid, whilst Cream may be weak in power, yet can regenerate her health meter the fastest.

Then, of course, there is Emerl. Emerl is effectively a customisable character, learning attack and defence techniques (in the form of cards) from standard characters simply by watching them fight or being attacked with the moves itself. The joy with Emerl is that, as long as you unlock them, you can use mix and match moves from any of the other characters - you may wish to have Sonic's first attack, Knuckles' second, Shadow's Heavy Attack and opt for Tails' standing pose.

Each time you win a battle with Emerl, you win Skill Points for him - these are spent on using ability 'cards' that you collect during battle. Many moves require stars to be used by Emerl - each star requires 5 Skill Points, which means that if you want to excel in one particular area, you may have to compromise on others. Emerl is a fantastic extra that you'll want to toy around with whenever you're on the move - until the next time you fight a bout with a friend who also has a copy of Sonic Battle.

When playing solo, there is one loophole discovered when playing against computer opponents. Only one Special Attack (R Button) will be effective against a computer opponent (either your midair attack or ground attack). To beat them it's mostly a case of finding out which one is effective, and using that over and over again until they die. Then, when they respawn, use the other Special Attack instead to get the same effect.

It makes playing the Solo mode a little shallow and can dampen the need for players to actually learn the combos and jumping manoeuvres in tandem to look like a pro. Of course, when you have human players up for a round that know what's going on, you're not going to get that chance often. And this loophole usually becomes necessary when playing against seemingly cheap battles. But really, you should get better at the game, and not cheat. 

Aside from the Story, there's a Battle Mode, where one to four players can enjoy a random custom battle on any stage (Green Hill becomes playable once you complete the Story Mode, as an incentive) on any setting. You can also pit your Emerl builds in this mode too, to see which out robot is the best-customised.

Challenge Mode is a one-player affair where you have a string of five matches to play on various difficulties. The point of Training Mode is obvious, and the Mini-games section grows with cool little side-games collected during the Story Mode. These range from multiplayer quickies to one-player minute-long modes, such as a Minesweeper-like featuring Knuckles. The groovy thing about this mode is that you can send mini-games over to a friend's empty GBA for them to play later on.

Sonic Battle has everything a "Sonic" game has to offer: a compelling gameplay hook that will have you begging for more, a lasting story mode (compared to Pinball Party's laughable 'Story'), extras galore, and a multiplayer mode that just won't let up! Seriously, slam in the cart with some like-minded mates and you'll never stop playing. You'll be laughing or cursing together as they learn moves, you learn better moves, and then they kill you. The music is spot on, and everything is wrapped in an energetic presentation that will have you wish you hadn't been so unsure when looking at this game.

To those who are doubting it: rent or import it (since it's only available in Japan at the time of this review), play with a couple of friends, and all doubts will be lifted from your mind. This is the best Sonic spinoff ever created and, without a doubt, is the "Smash Brothers" for the Game Boy Advance. Let's Battle!

NOTE: This was given a score of 10/10 at time of original publication. We have converted its score to the below 5-star rating based on this score, and adjusted to best represent the original intent and sentiment of the overall article. This is not a re-scoring of this review.