Sonic Battle is packed with plenty of content for the most ravenous fans of Sega's mascot, though most gamers will find this Super Smash Brothers knockoff to be just one more step in the downward spiral the blue one has taken in recent years.
At the core of Sonic Battle is a robot, by the name of Emerl. As you fight in the game's story mode, you'll gain points to upgrade said robot; as well as a plethora of swappable special moves. The special move sets of each character are entirely customizable, and may be changed after each death. In addition to the requisite story mode, there's a challenge mode, as well as a multiplayer battle and minigames.
At its core, Sonic Battle is a very basic, almost shallow game; which explains the insertion of so much filler content and modes to make up for it. You can jump, attack, block, and execute special moves. Truthfully, this is all a cover-up for "mash buttons as fast as possible", but I digress. The special move system is more complex than it needs to be, and can even be a bit confusing if you don't take the time to fully read the instruction manual – not a good thing for a genre that emphasizes pick-up-and-play mechanics over all else.
Still, if you take the time to learn the controls, you will find a very stylish game waiting for you – environments seem to be fully rendered using a primitive 3D engine, and the sight of watching these melee battles unfolding in such an environment on a Game Boy will no doubt reaffirm the versatility of this little device. Character sprites are all well drawn and feature fluid animation, and fans of the "expanded" Sonic universe will find a lot to love here, thanks to the (somewhat trivial) inclusion of anime-like cutscenes which flesh out the story mode.
Trouble is, for most longtime Sonic fans, this expanded Sonic universe isn't very compelling, and we continue to love the series in spite of it, not because it is there. Any game such as this has to have an instantly recognizable cast of characters in order for the concept to work. Smash Bros. worked because almost every character in that game is recognizable to any gamer worth his or her salt. Sonic Battle doesn't have that kind of "name recognition."
Indeed, perhaps the biggest problem with Battle is that most of its characters are only recognizable by Sonic diehards, the sort of ravenous fan of all things Sega that has every issue of the Archie comic series. While Mario vs. Link has an exciting "Freddy vs. Jason" sort of ring to it, Shadow vs. Rouge just doesn't generate those same feelings of tingly nostalgia. Neither does Amy vs. Knuckles, or Cream vs. E-102r - whoever the hell those two no-names are. Half the appeal of these melee games lies in giving gamers the ability to toss well-known, well-loved mascots against each other in mortal combat. Out of Sonic Battle's list of ten playable characters, I only count two which fit that description, three if you include Knuckles.
Even though the presentation is top-notch, when you mix the snail's pace at which you gain Emerl upgrades with the tedious combat, Sonic Battle comes out as a good deal only for GBA multiplayer fanatics and loyal-to-the-death zealots of Sega's franchise. Everyone else can find a better game elsewhere.
-George
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