Sonic and the Black Knight

Lore & Background

Sonic and the Black Knight is an action-adventure platformer with elements of hack and slash. The game is primarily played in 3D, occasionally transitioning to a fixed 2D plane. It is controlled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, with the remote used to attack or dodge enemies and the Nunchuck used to move Sonic.

Like Sonic and the Secret Rings, player movement is limited as the player is on a set path, only able to strafe left or right, backflip to reverse, and automatically run forward, though movement is now controlled with the analog stick. Players swing the Caliburn sword to attack enemies and defend themselves. Fairies act as traditional Sonic items: yellow fairies give rings, blue fairies increase speed and jump height, and red fairies fill the Soul Gauge, allowing a homing Soul Surge attack when full.

Beating stages with higher ranks rewards the player with items for the blacksmith (Tails) to create or upgrade equipment. Initially the player can only play as a balanced Knight style, later unlocking speed-based Cavalier and power-based Paladin styles, as well as Sir Gawain (Knuckles the Echidna), Sir Lancelot (Shadow the Hedgehog), and Percival (Blaze the Cat) as playable characters, each with unique abilities. In multiplayer, all characters plus eight others are playable in minigames.

Reader's Guide

Sonic and the Black Knight received mixed reviews. Reviewers praised the graphics, presentation, story, and large amounts of bonus content, but criticized the controls, swordplay mechanics, and multiplayer aspects. The game was de-listed from retailers in 2010, following Sega's decision to remove all Sonic series titles with sub-average Metacritic scores in order to increase the value of the brand. Black Knight would be among the final games in the series to feature the English voice cast from the Sonic X anime, most of whom would be replaced starting with Sonic Free Riders (2010).

Development began in 2007 shortly after the completion of Secret Rings, involving designers of both Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Sonic Heroes (2003), led by producer Tetsu Katano. Black Knight was conceived to attract new audiences to both the series and the legends of Knights of the Round Table among console users, with Sega holding focus groups to choose which characters would appear. Visually, the game was stylized after Sonic Unleashed (2008) and uses the PhysX engine. Various composers from the series, particularly Jun Senoue, Richard Jacques and Howard Drossin, returned to write the soundtrack.