New Sonic RPG for the DS

[Toologist]

This may sound too good to be true, but so did Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Source 1: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/21/bioware-creating-sonic-the-hedgehog-rpg-for-nintendo-ds/
Source 2: http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2007_06_21_Sonic_DS/

Bioware creating Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for Nintendo DS
Posted Jun 21st 2007 11:42AM by Ludwig Kietzmann

No, seriously. You'll be covered in all sorts of painful pinch marks if you don't realize you're awake and start believing the headline by the time we get to the next sentence.

Sega has announced a new partnership with BioWare that will see the Canadian role-playing gurus creating a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for the Nintendo DS. The currently unnamed game is scheduled for release in 2008. "BioWare is one of the hottest names in RPG development in the world," notes Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffery. "Everyone at SEGA has huge confidence that Sonic is in the safest of hands, and that BioWare can create the ultimate handheld RPG experience for gamers of all ages."

Sega's unlikely to be the only one to be confident. BioWare's track record, which includes the like of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and the highly anticipated Mass Effect certainly indicates that when it comes to role-playing, BioWare is the industry's frighteningly convincing and never wavering cosplayer. The success of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can also be seen as a testament to their ability to deal with cherished (at least when it comes to older incarnations) properties.

"We're thrilled to be working with SEGA on Sonic, one of the industry's most enduring and compelling icons," explains Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare. Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer of BioWare adds that, "As huge fans of Sonic ourselves, we're committed to delivering a truly amazing story-driven experience within the Sonic universe, focusing on capturing the character's broad appeal and placing him in a completely original adventure."

Alright, back to pinching your masochistic selves then.

With the almighty gods known as Bioware at the helm, this could be the comeback Sonic needs, IMO.

 

[Volrec]

Ugh, RPGs for the lose


I want a fighter, like sonic the fighters. Not like battle though, that sucked.

 

[Toologist]

Sonic needs an RPG a lot more than he needs another fighting game.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

The only fighting game Sonic could use, if any, is a sequel to Sonic Battle.

Anyway, it's not surprising that Sonic finally went the way of an rpg. Mario has done it already, so this isn't exactly a new idea.

 

[Mr.GAW]

Sonic...
RPG...

I really don't see how this is gonna work.

 

[ChRed2AKrisp]

Sonic equips chainmail and use spin attack-->Autokill

 

[Toologist]

Well, knowing Bioware, it's probably gonna be real-time. Turn-based would be pretty bad for Sonic, IMO. And seeing how in the press-release that it was mentioned the game would have a compelling story, I can't wait to see how Bioware will put their twist on the Sonic franchise. It seriously needs a rebooting.

 

[McFox]

The only fighting game Sonic could use, if any, is a sequel to Sonic Battle.

Correction: The only fighting game Sonic could use is an appearance in Brawl.

 

[OmegaXXII]

hmm.. I never thought i would see Sonic in an RPG, sounds interesting because I love RPG's

 

[Pit 42]

Once again, Sega proves that it CAN, in fact, stoop down and try to match Mario when it comes to RPGs. Yuck. Why doesn't Nintendo just buy Sega so we can stop this garbage?

 

[Toologist]

So far Sega has nothing to do with this game. This is all Bioware, who's pretty much lending help to Sega while they're trying to break into the handheld market. This is a good move.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Correction: The only fighting game Sonic could use is an appearance in Brawl.

I'm not talking about cameos or appearences, but actual full games. Sonic Battle 2(for the DS would be nice) is a good idea, unfortunately, many people were rather annoyed at some of the rediculous things in Battle. Anyhoo...

Personally, I'd rather have turn-based, as Real Time Strategy is OVERUSED right now. Same as Action RPGs. The classic style is a lot more fun IMO. Don't get me wrong, Sonic does seem to work better in action, but a change could work.

 

[demoncaterpie]

I don't see why everyone's so upset about this. It's not like Sonic Team is making this game (honestly, they should stick to 2D games at this point. We don't need anymore Sonic Heroes or Next Gen Sonic the Hedgehog). THIS IS FRIKIN BIOWARE!!! Of all the people who could make this work, it would deffinitely be them.

Real time would make the most sense, since they want to utilize the franchise's sense of speed, which you really can't do when you're waiting for your opponent to attack.

Though there is also the possibilty of a Square Enix style turn-based system (I can't remember what that's called right now).

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

It's just called a Turn-Based System. Are you sure you're not thinking of the Time Guage system? The Time Guage was used in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 8 and 9.

Square-Enix really doesn't have a style for Turn-base, it's just a system related to characters taking a turn. There's multiple variations of it, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Toilet Paper]

Correction: The only fighting game Sonic could use is an appearance in Brawl.

Quoted for truth.

 

[Zane Fleia]

Great, Bioware. Despite their ungodly amounts of success, I can't get into their games. Ever. They all stop for me in the middle, and I never pick it up again. Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, you name it. All their games just die in the middle for me. Of the above, I've only completed Baldur's Gate and Jade Empire. The former was fun for the most part, the latter took willpower to finish up. The fighting sucked.

All in all, there are other choices I would prefer over Bioware. Such as Square Enix. I finish most of their games happily. But Bioware, in my opinion, never fails to lose the game somewhere in the middle.

 

[El HP]

I was expecting a new series from Bioware oh well.

 

[Devastlian]

I wouldn't mind a turn-based Sonic RPG...

It'd be cool if they adapted the comic's story for an RPG, though. That comic's awesome.

 

[Doggalina]

As long as the story's engrossing and the gameplay's solid, I'll get it. Since Bioware's developing it, I'd better put some money aside just for this.

 

[SonicMario]

When i 1st heard of this i was like "Whoa no way, How is is this gonna work?"

But perhaps with BioWare's earlier successes, what bad could come out of it? It would just have to depend on the story at least. What else i'd liek t know is that what TYPE of RPG are we looking at? Is it turn-based like traditional RPGs? Or more complex like KOTOR & Jade Empire?

What also bothers me is if there are gonna be alternate storylines affected by dialougue you say just like KOTOR & Jade Empire. But what other kind of ones? Sonic becomes evil? Sonic dies, Tails becoming the new hero? Or even Shadow & Amy get together?

And i hope the game still consists of something on Sonic's speed. Because Sonic games are about speed, not fighting till everyone is dead (Except Sonic Battle & Sonic the Fighters).

And also people may not think this will work. But this is NOT the only time a platformer character went to RPG. If any of you know Mario and Super Mario RPG (SNES, 1996), i bet many mario fans doubted it. And guess what, despite being one of the most unknown Mario games. It got good feedback, which led to other great Mario RPGs like the Paper Mario series & the Mario and Luigi series. So just hope that this will work.