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Sonic and the Black Knight

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10.

  • Is it any good?

    2.0
  • Common Sense says

    Speedy hedgehog's decent story marred by shoddy controls.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 10 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Not an issue.
  • Messages:

    Sonic is out the save the world from the corrupted King Arthur. Along the way, he philosophizes that there must be more to life than simply serving a king.

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Even thought Sonic and his cohorts wield massive swords, face off against knights of old, and fight enemies with lances and crossbows, the enemies simply disappear in a whimsical smoke when vanquished.
  • Sex:

    Not an issue.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    Sonic is a franchise of characters, comic books, video games, and television shows. This game furthers the commercialism of the Sonic brand.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Sonic and the Black Knight was written by Jeff Paramchuk

Parents need to know that this is the second game in the Sonic Storybook Series, which means it takes Sonic on an adventure through a classic tale, but with a twist. This is not your typical fast-paced, collect-rings-as-Sonic-dashes by game. This tale of corruption due to too much power features a lot of fantasy violence with enchanted swordplay, but the action is usually so fast and furious it's tough to get a feel for exactly what is happening onscreen. The game does offer an online mode, which amounts to leader boards for challenge levels. Also, a local only multiplayer mode offers up to four players battles, or co-operative play to fight some in-game characters.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about the tale of King Arthur and his knights as well as Merlin the Wizard. What is it about this story that makes it so popular? What about the notion of magical swords that grant power? Do these stories translate well to video games? Or is Sonic the Hedgehog best left in his own world of ring-collecting and fighting Dr. Robotnic?
Did this review help you decide?

OK for Your Kids to Play?

Do you play it? Review It!

More on Sonic and the Black Knight

What’s the Story?

SONIC AND THE BLACK KNIGHT is a departure from the classic side scrolling Sonic series that adults have known for decades. This time around, Sonic is transported from his world into the world of King Arthur, who has been corrupted by the absolute power of Excalibur. It's up to Sonic and his friends to save the world from the evil that has come out of the enchanted sword and face off with an ultimate baddie, the Dark Queen.

The game is broken up into very small segments of gaming lasting anywhere from one minute to upwards of ten. These segments have Sonic moving forward at a high rate of speed, slicing and dicing enemies on his way to a goal marker at the end of the level. The bite-sized gaming segments usually end with a short movie that helps advance the plot forward – making the game to video ratio quite low. The player collects and identifies various items that are stored in a treasury viewable from the main menu. Some of these items can be used in game to boost certain attributes, while others are there to trade with friends who also own the game and have shared Wii Friend codes.

Is It Any Good?

The story segments of the game help drive the title forward, but the gaming segments are quite short and could leave older kids slightly disappointed with the lack of action. Objectives in levels range from giving coins to villagers via a sequence of button presses, to simply making it to the end of a short obstacle filled path. While moving through the levels, Sonic can move forward at a quick pace through a predetermined path – with only slight variations of positon on the track. In later levels, multiple paths do open up offering a little more choice.

Unfortunately, Sonic is quite tough to control. Swinging the Wii Remote to control the sword sounds fine in theory, but in practice the imperfect motion controls can cause players to miss enemies and open themselves to attacks. Even something as simple as the left and right positional movement on the otherwise static paths is almost always fatally flawed; and any sense of speed gets lost due to this buggy control scheme. Even diehard Sonic fans might want to rent versus buy.

Publisher’s Details

Developer: Sega of America
Released on: 3/12/2009, Price: $49.99, online enabled
ESRB Rating: E10+ for Fantasy Violence

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Our Members Say

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See 5 member reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 5.0

    perfect for anybody even rude anti duck man

    if anybody got any complantes about my though go on and knock yourself out! i like sonic he's one of my fav games the other is mario

  2. Kid Reviewer Age 10
    I rate this title on for age 5 and give it 4.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    MIGHT GIVE NIGHTMARES

    Its fine its just that could give nightmares to little kids and can be violent with sword fighting and all that.

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    I rate this title on for age 11 and give it 3.0

  4. Kid Reviewer Age 11
    Lives in Louisiana
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 2.0

    i like it

    i want to play it right now please

  5. Kid Reviewer Age 10
    Lives in Georgia
    I rate this title on for age 9 and give it 5.0

    sonic

    sonic game

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