Sonic and the Black Knight revisits the myth of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, without necessarily going into candy pink as Nintendo knows so well with its mustachioed plumber. We take things with a minimum of seriousness therefore, which is always a good sign when we are about to start an unfortunately short quest here. King Arthur, bewitched by the evil power of the legendary sword Excalibur which transformed him into a Dark Knight, sows terror in the kingdom of Camelot. This is the reason why the divine Merlina will seek Sonic's help by teleporting him directly into his medieval universe. To put an end to the reign of King Arthur's demonic shadow, our hero will have to follow the wise advice of the magician who will lead him straight to Caliburn, the sacred weapon whose use requires a pure soul and a chivalrous profile. Naturally, the cast of Sonic and the Dark Knight brings together the most well-known characters from the Sonic saga, and it's rather amusing to see that the developers of Sonic Team have insisted on respecting the codes that govern the Arthurian legends. Thus, Amy will take on the costume of the Lady of the Lake, while Shadow, Knuckles and Blaze will play Lancelot, Gawain and Percival respectively. Tails, meanwhile, will occupy a more anonymous role – that of any blacksmith – but no less important since it is at his place that he will have to go to perfect his equipment. Contrary to what we feared until now, Sonic and the Dark Knight has a mouthful and offers the opportunity to visit places that come out of the visual canvas to which the Sonic Team had been restricted in recent years. Colorful, using some striking light effects, the game displays medieval landscapes that illuminate the screen; within the technical limits imposed by the Wii of course. We are even surprised to notice many attractive textures which prove that the game was not painted in an afternoon. However, Sonic and the Dark Knight does not offer an infinite field of action, which reduces the risk of falling on a polygon drawn by hand or on a castle with two missing bricks, and also recalls the commanding character of the game. As for the animation, it knows almost no slowdown despite the many elements that sometimes pile up under the eyes.
Die knight!
If Sonic and the Dark Knight is quick, the dismal handling of the title refers to the mediocre performance of Red Steel, when demonstrating the immersive features of the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The shortcomings are the same as those of Ubisoft's titles: the constant imprecision that we feel during the fights does not allow the opponents to be eliminated in a minimum of blows. Whether you tilt your wrist to the right or to the left, Sonic will tirelessly execute the same attack. Frustrating. There are two or three combos that can be used for style, but again the possibilities are limited. Useless in the first levels, the parry proves to be lifesaving when you have to face a horde of enemies. It's not Soul Calibur's impact guard, but it helps. In addition to these basic movements, Sonic is able to climb a wall or slide along a wall using his sword; a bit like the Prince of Persia and his gauntlet in Prince of Persia. In fact, the concern is that the blue hedgehog has trouble playing the game and sometimes gives the impression of being lost in this kingdom that does not match his personality. As if he had lost the vivacity, the punch, the vista that characterized him since his birth on Megadrive. Sonic and the Dark Knight isn't a rusty game, that's not the point. But it is clear that the genre in which the Sonic Team got stuck does not suit his character, whose sprints are constantly interrupted by fights which then chop up progress in the courses. The multiplication of confrontations is justified by the possibility of modifying the status of one's avatar - Knight, Paladin, Cavalier - by accumulating experience points. The Knight Style offers the perfect balance between Sonic's swordsmanship and sprinting skills, while the Paladin Profile favors combat over running. Exactly the opposite of the Cavalier style which allows you to break records when it comes to facing the clock, especially online. If this triptych is a good idea in itself, it is unfortunate that it has no direct impact on the control of the character. Indeed, we would have liked a fighting ace to have additional combos – without going through the star system – or access new attacks. For a born athlete, it would have been smart to provide him with extra movements to make him more agile. Still it would have been necessary that one cannot change status from one level to another, which greatly undermines the interest of the title and does not make the evolution of the character decisive. The possibility of improving its equipment and that of its partners will not satisfy the fans of the RPG, while the crappy mini-games to which it is necessary to lend themselves to scratch a few items from the inhabitants will annoy more than anything else.
