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.