'Sonic Chronicles' has solid gameplay for pre-teens and up

Game Title: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Platform: Nintendo DS

Studio: BioWare/Sega

Rating: E for Everyone

Score: 7.5/10

THE REVIEW:

Gameplay: When people think of Sonic the Hedgehog, they probably think of the speedy blue hero of the 16-bit Sega Genesis. Although Sonic has starred in a host of different games since then, he's still best remembered for high-speed loops, collecting rings and giving attitude. On the other hand, game design studio BioWare is better known for making epic story-based role-playing games like "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and "Mass Effect." Bringing that sort of depth (and slow-paced gameplay) to the Sonic universe seemed a little odd. But it works well, creating an entertaining RPG meant for kids but enjoyable by anyone.

The setup is standard Sonic fare: somebody has stolen the all-powerful Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic has to organize a team of his friends to go after them. But instead of the traditional side-scrolling levels, full of loops, jumps, speed boosts and power-ups, Sonic explores the world map at a slower pace, battling enemies by selecting attacks from a menu as he goes. These attacks make good use of the DS stylus controls, as different motions have to be followed across the screen as Sonic moves. This helps alleviate the boredom that can sometimes set in after so many menu-based battles. Each character can equip a number of powerful items, including little critters called Chao that bestow different elemental powers. The world map also features various obstacles that can only be overcome by certain characters — Sonic can dash through his trademark loops, Amy Rose smashes stuff with a large hammer, Tails flies over gaps, etc. With all this going on, and rings to collect on top of that, players are rarely left with nothing to do.

BioWare is famous for creating deep, intuitive dialogue options — they're a large part of what made games like "Knights of the Old Republic" and "Mass Effect" so fun, since you felt in charge of your character and the story. That same principle exists in "Sonic Chronicles," just in a much simpler form. The dialogue choices here are amusing, but never essential. Kids will enjoy them; older gamers will move right along.

Graphics: A real strong point. Sonic's world glows with comfortable, bright colors and a nice cartoonish detail. Battles utilize an effective 3D-style viewpoint, while the world map action has a smooth polish.

Audio: Solid tunes and sound effects, but nothing spectacular.

THE WRAP-UP

Parent's take: Cartoonish action all the way through, nothing offensive. Lots of text to read, though.

Final word: "Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood" seems to be a game aimed more at kids (and certainly not at the retro gamers of the 16-bit era). They'll eat up the dialogue and brightly colored trappings, but younger children may have a tougher time really grasping the battle system. Meanwhile, older gamers will balk at the cutesy story and wish for even more strategy. But the core gameplay is very solid for pre-teens and up, especially boys, and others willing to give it a chance will find a lot to like.