Sonic Battle Article Index for
Sonic
Website Links For
Sonic Battle
 

Information About

Sonic Battle





CVG| Information

  developer Dimps
  publisher THQ
  released December 4 , 2003 (JP) <br> January 5 , 2004 (NA) <br> February 27 , 2004 (EU)
  genre Platformer
  modes Single Player , Multiplayer
  ratings : 7+
  platforms Game Boy Advance
  media 32-Megabit Cartridge


''Sonic Battle'' is a Fighting Game in the Sonic The Hedgehog Series , developed by Dimps (under the guise of Sonic Team ) and published by THQ for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance . This is the second Sonic fighting game, the first being the 3D arcade game Sonic The Fighters . Like most modern-day Sonic games, it fits within the official canon.


STORYLINE

About 4000 years ago, a Sentient weapon was created by an ancient civilization. After being lost for millennia, the weapon, called a Gizoid, was unearthed and researched by Dr. Gerald Robotnik . It remained dormant for another half century before being discovered by, of all people, resident would-be ruler of the world and Gerald's grandson, Dr. Eggman . Frustrated at his inability to get the dormant Gizoid to work properly, Eggman dumped the contraption at Emerald Beach... where it was discovered once again, this time by planet's resident hero, Sonic The Hedgehog .

The Gizoid , which Sonic dubs Emerl , gets wrapped up in the affairs of Sonic's friends, allies and rivals. Through his encounters with Sonic, Tails , Knuckles , Amy , Cream , Rouge , and Shadow , Emerl grows and evolves from a soulless robot into a fun-loving mech with personality traits from all of the above. But while the gang is having fun raising their new mechanical toy, there are those who recognize Emerl's true power. Now that the Gizoid is working again, Eggman's got his eye on it, Rouge wants to turn it into a master thief, and Shadow senses that, despite their efforts to humanize him, Emerl is still designed and programmed to be a weapon of mass destruction...


GAMEPLAY

The following characters are Playable : (going in order in which you play all the until Emerl)


ARENAS

  • Emerald Beach (Sonic)

  • Tails Lab (Tails)

  • Chao Ruins (Knuckles)

  • Battle Highway (Shadow)

  • Club Rouge (Rouge)

  • Amy's Room (Amy)

  • Library (Cream)

  • Metal Depot (Chaos Gamma)

  • Crater (Chaos)

  • Death Egg (Eggman)

  • Colosseum (Virtual Training and Multiplayer only)

  • Green Hill (Multiplayer only)



TIMELINE

There is some confusion about exactly when Sonic Battle takes place in the Sonic timeline. Although this confusion has led many fans to reject the game as a part of the Sonic Canon , other fans feel that it can be explained through careful deduction based on references to other games in the Sonic canon.

The game clearly takes place after Sonic Heroes , despite its 1-day earlier release date. This is because Rouge, in Sonic Battle, comments on how Chaos Gamma reminds her of E-123 Omega , whose first appearance was in Sonic Heroes . It probably also occurs after Shadow The Hedgehog , because Shadow has apparently regained his memories by the time the events of Sonic Battle come to pass, which doesn't happen until Shadow The Hedgehog . It also is noted that in Sonic Battle, Shadow uses a move similar to Chaos Blast, which he does not learn until Shadow The Hedgehog is released. However, Shadow The Hedgehog was made after Sonic Battle, which suggests that (among other things in that loophole) Sonic Battle is not canon.

Sonic Battle also makes references to Sonic Adventure by having characters recognise Chaos Gamma as the original Gamma, Sonic Adventure 2 by making Shadow's arena the Battle Highway, possibly a reference to the level Radical Highway where Sonic and Shadow first met, and to Shadow The Hedgehog , with an area called Central City, which is a level in the video game. Most notably, ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' was produced after Sonic Battle.

Sonic Battle must take place ''before'' Sonic Advance 3 , which makes a direct reference to it. In Sonic Advance 3, Dr. Eggman finds Emerl's damaged parts and rebuilds him as his new super-robot, Gemerl , which bears a startling resemblance to Emerl . Because of this close connection, rejection of Sonic Battle as canon must lead to rejection of Sonic Advance 3 as canon as well.


RESPONSE

Fans of Sonic Battle have commended it for its deep storyline, good character development, and other story features not usually seen in the Sonic series. However, there has been a fair amount of criticism - some criticise the gameplay, calling it dull and repetitive (although this mainly comes from the fact that sometimes after you defeat someone you are forced into another battle with them), while others target the story.

Even most fans of ''Sonic Battle'' agree that Emerl's Episode of the story in particular could have used work. For example, according to Eggman, the Death Egg can blow up entire solar systems millions of Lightyears away within seconds, which seems very far-fetched, even considering the technology the people of Earth had access to at the time. Of course, that statement could have just been a bluff on Eggman's part. Also in the final story, the Master Emerald appears out of nowhere aboard the Death Egg. Others feel that Shadow's Episode was equally thin and insubstantial, and that the makers of the game didn't know exactly what to do with him.


CONTINUITY ERRORS

This game has a few errors in continuity with the rest of the Sonic games:
  • The game says that there is more than one Master Emerald, because when the Master Emerald appears before Sonic, he says "A Master Emerald". This could, however, be attributed to ignorance on Sonic's part or poor translation.

  • All the Chaos Emeralds in this game are green. Seeing as how they only appear for a few seconds out of the whole game, it's most likely because the designers didn't find it necessary to color them in for what little time they're seen, reinforced by the fact that the sprite is the same as the one used in the intro of Sonic Advance .

  • Professor Gerald 's diary talks of him wanting to save humanity after Maria 's death, however the diary in Sonic Adventure 2 talks of him wanting to destroy humanity. This may or may not be an error, as one of the recordings in Sonic Adventure 2 describes that he went insane, and this may have been after he wrote the diary.

  • Cream lives with Amy in this game, although it has been shown that she lives with her mother in Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic Rush . Cream could however just be on a visit at the time.



TRIVIA

  • The Japanese version had an English language setting, which revealed a few profane remarks. Such language has been removed from the American version.


  • This game has also featured Shadow The Hedgehog using Chaos-Enhanced abilities without using any Chaos Emeralds for the first time in the series (Although the later-released Shadow The Hedgehog features him using them without the emeralds as well, and ShTH takes place before Sonic Battle).


  • Though there is no direct comic adaption, the cover of Archie's Sonic #148 resembles Sonic Battle's concept art.


  • Sonic's move "Sonic Cracker" is a possible reference to the cancelled Sonic title, Sonic Crackers .



EXTERNAL LINKS