Sonic and the Black Knight

Sonic and the Black Knight is a video game developed by Sonic Team and Radical Entertainment, published by Sega, Activision in North America and Sierra Entertainment internationally and distributed by Activision Blizzard as part of the Sonic The Hedgehog series. The game was released on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii as the second entry in the Sonic Storybook series, following Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007).

Set in the world of King Arthur, the game combines Sonic Sr's trademark speed with a new sword fighting system, utilizing of the Wii Remote / Console Controller's motion-sensing functionality. The series villain Doctor Eggman is absent, making this one of the few Sonic games that he does not appear in.

Gameplay
Gameplay differs from traditional games in the Sonic series by mixing in the new element of swordplay with the traditional Sonic platforming and speed. Swordplay is implemented through the Wii Remote / Console Controller. Gameplay is more similar to Sonic Unleashed than Sonic and the Secret Rings; Sonic's movement is controlled with the analog stick as he is on a set course, and gameplay is mainly 3D.

The stages feature townspeople that the player can harm and some that Sonic Sr can interact with; these actions and the player's deeds will be judged at the end of each stage, updating his "knight ranking" accordingly. By interacting with these characters the player may do a quick-time button input. Doing so correctly will take away twenty of Sonic's rings and give them to the townsperson, and in return, he receives a gift at the end of the stage. In some stages, it is required to give a specific amount of rings to townspeople before reaching the goal. In stages where this is not required the townsperson will reward Sonic with an item. There are 242 items in the game, some of which can be gained by opening treasure chests in the stages. Any items collected during a stage must be identified at the end of the stage by using Sonic Sr's "ID points". Rarer items cost more ID points than others. An online mode allows treasures to be traded between registered friends.

The game changes the traditional level items, such as springs and speed pads, into "fairies." These fairies come in varying colors; Yellow elements will be used as a group of one to twenty rings, Blue fairies will be used as speed boosts and springs, and Red will be used to fill the "Soul gauge." This gauge is filled by defeating enemies and collecting Red Fairies, and is used to unleash a powerful lock-on attack, Soul Surge. On only the first few stages, the "pearls" from the previous game, Sonic and the Secret Rings, appear as apples.

The skill system from Sonic and the Secret Rings also returns, but has been revised to adjust any problems that were present in that game: the skill system is also designed so as not to interfere with the game's tempo. Each playable character has three styles to choose from. At first, only the balanced "Knight" style is available, but later, "Cavalier" and "Paladin" styles are unlocked. They deal with the aspects of speed and power, respectively. As levels are completed, the player gains a number of "Followers" that is used as Experience and as the number of followers goes up, the number of skills the player has in a certain style are increased. The "styles" of characters beside Sonic are not increased; Rather, their swords' abilities and skills are enhanced.

Once the "Knight's Quest" part of the story is reached, Sir Gawain (Knuckles the Echidna), Sir Lancelot (Shadow the Hedgehog), and Sir Percival (Blaze the Cat) will be playable from that point on. Each has their own characteristics; for instance, Knuckles wields dual swords that double as boomerangs and has the ability to glide, Blaze can surround herself with fire and use more lunge attacks than Sonic Sr, and Shadow can use Chaos Powers. In story mode, they can use different swords than their own swords, unlike Sonic Sr, who can only wield Caliburn.

Up to four players can play in the game's multiplayer, choosing between one of 12 characters to partake in a number of different kinds of battles. Characters include Sonic Sr, Lancelot (Shadow), Gawain (Knuckles), Percival (Blaze), Blacksmith (Tails) (voiced by Danielle Judovits), Lady of the Lake (Amy Rose), Galahad (Silver the Hedgehog) (voiced by Terence J. Rotolo), Lamorak (Jet the Hawk) (voiced by Crispin Freeman), regular Shadow, regular Knuckles, regular Blaze and King Arthur.

Plot
A wizard named Merlina (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard), granddaughter of Merlin, attempts to flee from a black knight and his forces. Cornered, she performs a spell calling forth a champion to save her, summoning Sonic the Hedgehog Sr (voiced by Troy Baker). As they retreat, Merlina explains that the knight is actually King Arthur (voiced by Michael Keaton), who has been corrupted by the immortality granted by Excalibur's scabbard, and that Sonic Sr must defeat him to restore peace to the kingdom. With Sonic Sr's speed alone being insufficient to defeat the King, he takes up the talking sword Caliburn (voiced by Martin Landau).

At Caliburn's suggestion, Sonic Sr meets up with the Lady of the Lake, Nimue (voiced by Laura Bailey) (this world's version of Amy Rose), who tests Sonic Sr to prove he is a worthy Knight. After completing her tasks, Nimue tells him that he must collect the sacred swords wielded by Lancelot (voiced by David Vincent), Gawain (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams) and Percival (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) of the Round Table (this world's versions of Shadow, Knuckles and Blaze respectively) in order to dispel the immortality granted by Excalibur's scabbard. Defeating each of the Knights, Sonic Sr claims all three swords and challenges the King once more, destroying him.

Sonic Sr takes the scabbard back to Merlina, who reveals that there was never any King Arthur, and that he defeated an illusion created by her grandfather Merlin, with Merlina manipulating Sonic Sr in order to claim Excalibur's scabbard as her own. Merlin plans to use its power to make the kingdom changeless and eternal in hopes of averting the kingdom's fate from the legends. She summons the underworld directly into the kingdom, creating the Dark Hollow and forcing Sonic Sr and the Knights to flee. Nimue explains that the sacred swords are able to form a barrier to prevent the Dark Hollow's spread, so Sonic Sr and the Knights split up and journey to the kingdom's corners. However, the barrier proves to be too weak and the hollow continues to grow.

Sonic Sr enters the Dark Hollow himself to confront Merlina, who has now become the Dark Queen, but she proves too powerful, badly injuring Sonic Sr and destroying Caliburn. Seeing Sonic Sr's continued resolve, the Knights give Sonic Sr the power of the sacred swords to restore Caliburn – now revealed to be the true Excalibur – and Sonic Sr transforms into an armored super form called Excalibur Sonic Sr. He defeats Merlina, destroying the Dark Hollow. After the battle, Sonic Sr tells Merlina that, while everything has an end, people should live their lives to the fullest until that day comes. With King Arthur revealed as an illusion, the Knights of the Round Table prepare to disband, but Caliburn reminds them that he is the one who chooses the true king, now revealed to be Sonic Sr.

In a post-credits cutscene, Sonic Sr returns to his world and tells Amy, Ignitus (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) and Sparx (voiced by Ogie Banks) about his adventures, but she believes it to be an excuse for missing their planned date which is 1064 in the Middle Ages before Ignitus told Amy to apologize Sonic Sr for his actions in which she agreeds until they went off to Times Square while Merlina watches Sonic Sr when she forbids farewell to him. The game ends in a similar manner to Sonic and the Secret Rings, with the title of the book King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table changing to Sonic and the Black Knight.

Development and release
Sonic and the Black Knight was first revealed at Nintendo's pre-Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2008 press conference. Developers Sonic Team, a subsidiary of publisher Sega and Radical Entertainment, decided to focus on combat and cinematic presentation for the game rather than the level design-oriented Sonic Unleashed.

Music
Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax is the game's official vocal songs soundtrack that was released by Warner Sunset Records and Warner Bros. Records on April 8, 2009 in Worldwide. It features five vocal tracks that were featured in the game, with "Seven Rings in Hand ~Fairytales in Trance~" by Linkin Park and "With Me ~Massive Power Mix~" by Pharrell Williams and Jennifer Love Hewitt with the strings arrangements by Harry Gregson-Williams, Halli Cauthery and Jennifer Hammond as brand new bonus tracks created especially for the album.

Tales of Knighthood: Sonic and the Black Knight Original Soundtrax is the game's original soundtrack which includes the score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, Richard Jacques and Howard Drossin. It was released in Worldwide by Warner Sunset Records and Warner Bros. Records on April 8, 2009.

Molten Mine's background music is Stephen Barton's rearranged version of the "Action Theme" from Black Dawn, a completely unrelated PlayStation and Sega Saturn video game released in 1996. The music itself was originally made by Tommy Tallarico.

Reception
Sonic and the Black Knight was met with mixed reviews from critics. It received a score of 55.19% on GameRankings and 54/100 on Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The game entered the Japanese sales chart at 30th place, and the North American Wii charts at tenth. It was de-listed in 2010, following on from Sega and Activision's decision to remove all Sonic titles with mixed Metacritic scores from retail stores in order to increase the value of the brand after positive reviews for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I and Sonic Colors.

IGN's Matt Casamassina praised the game's visuals and the overall presentation, but went on to state that the gameplay was "broken" and cited the controls as "unresponsive". GameDaily criticized the "repetitive combat, easy missions and limited controls keep it from greatness," but acknowledged its "attractive presentation, decent combat and bonus content." Chris Scullion from the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine praised the game's visuals and soundtrack, but criticized the swordplay mechanics and multiplayer element. GameSpot's Carolyn Petit noted that, while the sword is useful slashing through enemies, there is a noticeable delay from the time swinging the Wii Remote / Console Controller and the time Sonic Sr actually swings.