With the upcoming March arrival of Sonic and the Black Night, sequel to Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed, gamers will take a gamble.
For many franchises, the transition from 2-D to 3-D has been difficult. A developer has to decide what to change and what not to change in order to maintain a game's core concept.
When the popular fighting series Mortal Kombat arrived in the dimension in which us humans live, problems were encountered with projectiles. Once but a mass of pixels, these iceballs, fireballs, and more could only be blocked, or if you were a skilled kombatant, jumped over. Now any novice can dodge by pressing up on the joystick to sidestep.
When Sonic arrived in our dimension, it seemed he might lose the hard earned nickname "The Blue Blur". Players were constantly running into walls, crates, spikes, etc. Granted, these were all present on the Dreamcast, but they never caused nearly as much of a problem.
In an effort to expand Sonic's horizons, Sonic Team released Sonic Unleashed with the slogan, "The Difference is Day and Night." Gameplay featured two distinct environments. Daytime was the almost classic Sonic game, complete with loop de loops and corkscrews. However, night was a totally different game. No longer was the main character a hedgehog but a werehog. This werehog whose name was actually Sonic gained a few pounds. He could no longer run through these loop de loops and corkscrews without falling on his head. Instead, the game became a Gauntlet style, button mashing third person action brawler. Sonic the Werehog used his claws to beat bad guys in way similar to a certain X-men character.
Sonic and the Black Knight, set in the realm of King Arthur, will return to the storybook theme of its predecessor Sonic and the Secret Rings, set in the world of the Arabian Nights. SEGA has promised much fanfare, including Shadow as Lancelot and Amy as the Lady of the Lake.
Hopefully, Sonic Team will fix the issues it has been presented with and deliver a Sonic game that stays true to its high-speed roots.
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