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Bioware Making a Sonic RPG on the DS

Posted by Zonk on Sat Jun 23, 2007 02:28 PM
from the oddest-title-i've-ever-written-out dept.
Portables (Games) Role Playing (Games)
1up has the news that Bioware (makers of classic RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights) is collaborating with Sega to make a Sonic the Hedgehog roleplaying game for the Nintendo DS. "Sega's latest effort clearly illustrates the company's increasing interest in (and reliance on) Western content developers and Western audiences ... Now all we need to do is sit back and wait for the patented Bioware mid-game reveal which unmasks Tails once and for all as the evil Dr. Robotnik. Who needs Mass Effect? When the angst-ridden backstory of Knuckles the Echidna is your muse, the world is your spiky-headed oyster." For the record? I need Mass Effect. Now.
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[+] BioWare Shares Information on Sonic RPG 49 comments
Once again, it's not a strange dream: BioWare is making a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for the Nintendo DS. Since the announcement back in June there have been precious few details. Luckily, Wired's Game|Life had the chance to speak with BioWare's CEO Ray Muzyka and President Greg Zeschuk about more than just Mass Effect. They discuss the genesis of the game, the depth of the title's story, and a bit on what gameplay will be like: "Game|Life: BioWare's previous efforts have been for the PC and the Xbox (and now the 360 with Mass Effect). What is the appeal of designing for the DS? Ray Muzyka: The handheld group at BioWare is certainly very excited about the innovation that can take place on the DS platform. We're really innovating what a BioWare RPG is with this title - we're looking forward to offering new and unique ways to enjoy a fast-paced, story-driven experience with tons of exploration, customization and progression. We're very excited by the opportunity to use all the cool features on the DS, and to make BioWare's first handheld RPG, one with a lot of action too, since it's based in the Sonic universe!"
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Bioware Making a Sonic RPG on the DS 49 Comments More /

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  • I always had my suspicions about Big however...
  • for someone to make a nice RPG of Sonic. With bioware heading up the project it would be pretty fun, even if a little kiddie. I can see something similiar to Mario RPG. A Quake RPG or something would be fun as well.
    • Quake would have been pretty close had they stuck with the original design ideas. It has always been the best of Id's games anyway, dripping with Lovecraftian ambiance. It's too bad they fudged it all up with the Borg and Arena sequels, which were great games in themselves but certainly took the series in an inferior artistic direction.
    • Sega inked a deal over a year ago for Obsidian to do an RPG for them, and I wasn't sure what the IP was.

      I wonder whatever happened to that?
      • As far as I can see, it's an Alien francise RPG [obsidianent.com] and appears to still be in development. Wikipedia also mentions a "Project Georgia" as an apparently separated Sega RPG deal of a new franchise.

  • Finally, a "Role Playing Game" (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I remember when I played the orginal Sonic back in the day, all I wanted was to stop running, running, running all the time and just live in his world for a while..

    And please, allow me to, as Sonic, to walk around asking the vaguely Japanese-yet-Medieval European townspeople the same questions over and over, as well as allowing me to boldly stroll into their houses and rifles through their belongings for heal potions.
  • It was bad enough when they started making Sonic about exploration, even though everyone who played Sonic to begin with liked it because it was about racing through pretty scenery and neat little set pieces as quickly as possible. Now they're making a Sonic game in the genre which is the complete antithesis of this style of game? Come on, Sega, you're killing me here.

    On the bright side, if you're going to make a Sonic RPG, you might as well have BioWare do it.

    Rob

    • I, for one, loved the first Sonic Adventure. It seems to catch a lot of flak these days, but remember that it got excellent reviews [gamerankings.com] in its time.

      That said, I can understand why fans of old school Sonic did not like the new direction of the series, even if it was quite well executed, and I readily admit that Sonic Adventure 2, Heores, etc. were less fun. I have high hopes for this new title - the change in genre doesn't bother me at all.

    • I think this doesn't really apply, unless Sega bills the game as being a proper Sonic game. This is rather akin to when Nintendo made Super Mario RPG, imo. The important thing to remember is that Sonic is a setting as much as it is a game, and using that setting in a different style of game doesn't violate the originals at all.
      • It's a fair analogy, but I never thought that a Mario RPG was ever quite as completely ridiculous as a Sonic RPG would be.

        Rob
    • I think the problem is not so much that Sega wants to put its favorite icon in all sorts of game. The problem is not so much that they made these games, but that they STOPPED making classic sonic games. That's the sad part. There's no reason they can't do both. I think it's been long overdue that game makers get over their phobia of 2D.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by bigstrat2003 (1058574)
        Yeah, it's true. New Super Mario Bros was like a breath of fresh air for me, I haven't played a Mario game I liked since Super Mario World (I recognize the popularity of SM64, but I just think Mario should not be in 3-D. Ever.). Maybe the success of that game will lead to more 2-D platformers, here's hoping!
      • I agree completely. Fortunately, there are signs that Sega does have an inkling of understanding of this problem, as they have made a few relatively simple 2D Sonic games for handhelds over the past few years. I don't know how good they are, though.

        There's no real reason why a good old-fashioned Sonic game can't be 3D, though. All you have to do is make a decent camera and move past the idea that all 3D platformers have to have extensive exploration in them. Interesting level design is really the easies
        • Actually, Sega didn't make them, but a company named Dimps. From what I hear, Sonic Advance was passable, and the two sequels dropped the ball. It's with Sonic Rush that they got it right.

          Sega has severed contact with Dimps since then, though, apparently. :(
      • "but that they STOPPED making classic sonic games."

        Bullshit; Sonic Rush is out on the very system this article is referring to.
        • What's the point in Sonic Rush though? It doesn't have anything that Sonic 1 on the Gamegear didn't have. Except it has more boring levels.
          • The same could be said about Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles.
            • They came out 15 years ago, how can they release a game like that today and call it 'new'?
              • Because people wanted just that, the mechanics of an old game with a new set of levels?
              • This is a great conversation. "Sega doesn't make games like the old ones anymore" "Yes, they do" "Who wants to play that old shit?"
                • That's the point though, after fifteen years of technological innovations, surely they should be able to come up with something better? Otherwise they may as well just re-release the megadrive.

                  • That's the point though, after fifteen years of technological innovations, surely they should be able to come up with something better? Otherwise they may as well just re-release the megadrive.

                    Well, there's only so much they can change while keeping the classic gameplay and feel, which the original posters were calling for, bunt, IMHO, they have changed a lot since their megadrive days. I haven't played Sonic Rush, but I think the 3 Sonic Advance are great, and they mixed things up with different charact

    • It can't be all that bad if Sega aren't responsible for making it. I haven't seen a good Sonic game from them since 1996.
    • Sonic Rush is still old school sonic, and its really good. Check it out if that's what you're looking for. I think a sequel is in the works too.
    • On the bright side, if you're going to make a Sonic RPG, you might as well have BioWare do it.

      I hope it's fun.... I was reading the post about Mario RPG and was thinking "Hey, that would be awesome!", I started having a lot of old school memories and thought how great such a game would be with the Sonic universe. Somehow a Bioware game would seem to me like the antithesis of that! As long as opinions are being thrown out, it's not exactly what I would want. But who knows, it could pull a Metroid Prime

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Dr. Eggman (932300)
        I've thought the same thing, incidently thinking about it the day it was announced so it was quite a pleasent suprise to hear the announcement. As far as Bioware itself, yeah I guess Mario RPG style isn't really there thing, but then again they're quasi-real time combat style from KOTOR does seem a little better suited than (imho the superior) turn-based system. Atleast for a game staring Sonic as it's main character, it would.

        I think they could pull this off, but they'd have to provide levels/zones/enviro
    • But i'm enjoying Sonic and the Secret Rings, its pretty much just go real fast, jump on bad guys, its not fantastic, but its pretty good.
  • Obviously the submitter doesn't understand the whole concept of development teams (of which, IIRC, Bioware has 3 or 4), and that this in no way affects the release of Mass Effect.

  • Mario RPG (Score:5, Insightful)

    by moosesocks (264553) on Saturday June 23 2007, @03:38PM (#19622629) Homepage
    For a quick history lesson, Square did the same thing for the Mario franchise way back in 1996, with Super Mario RPG [wikipedia.org]. It is widely regarded to be one of the best Mario games, and one of the best RPGs ever produced.

    The fun bit is that it appealed both to first-time RPG players, and to experienced RPG veterans.

    Now, if only Square (and the rest of the industry) would get its act together, and start releasing games for multiple consoles, I'll be a very happy man.
  • Note how they are listed in the summary as makers of KotOR and NWN... I would've thought that the classic Baldur's Gate would've been of greater importance (I heard that NWN was only worthwhile with the expansion sets, made mostly by a dedicated community), but I could be wrong. I suppose it's all relative.
  • I never had that much fun with sonic games. They tended to be more frustrating Mario clones. They had their moments and I enjoyed Sonic CD but it hasn't aged well. I think the brand name has been repeatidly tarnished. Not much more you can do to make it worth less.
    • If you think Sonic is a Mario clone then you aren't really paying attention. They only real similarity is that they are both side scrolling platformers. The gameplay is significantly different between the 2 titles.
      • Similarities

        -Mascots for respective companies
        -Champions of Fanboys of each side
        -Jump on enemies to kill them
        -Power ups give you an extra hit before you die
        -hidden area contain more power ups
        -collect X items for a free man
        -Every so often there is a boss
        -Some power ups give you temporary invincibility
        -certain geographic features allow you to jump higher

        They aren't the same and there were neat things in Sonic but they are close enough. It's initial intention was to create a rival mascot Mario. Sonic appears ve
        • You just named off commonalities between a million platformers out there. Also, the "XTREME" market you are talking about did exist int he way it does now, so I think you are trying to look at something developed in the early 90's with the filter of recent marketing. Regardless of your opinion of how Sonic was developed (and I think you are very mistaken) it has been a fairly good series (with the exception of the last game) and that's what matters the most. That's how iteration works, someone develops a ge

        • Jump on enemies to kill them

          That's how you do it with Mario, but with Sonic you just have to be spinning. Be it by jumping, rolling on the floor, or a Spin Dash.

          Power ups give you an extra hit before you die

          With Sonic you could still grab some of the rings he lost, which were also widely available in the levels. Not so with Mario.

          • hidden area contain more power ups
          • collect X items for a free man
          • Some power ups give you temporary invincibility
          • certain geographic features allow you to jump higher

          T

  • I wonder how the control scheme will work out for a Sonic RPG? Could Bioware make a battle system that mixes both RPG elements and the speed people want from Sonic games? Would there be a slew of attacks, possibly activated by the touch screen? In my opinion, this sounds like an interesting idea that could make for an awesome Sonic game.

    • Could Bioware make a battle system that mixes both RPG elements and the speed people want from Sonic games?


      Bioware, you say? Well sure they can. You can be rolling through the scene at 100 [pause] mph [pause] while still [pause] having plenty of [pause] options in controlling your character's [pause] actions [pause].

      Alternatively, you could let it play through at full speed, while you sit there saying "WTF! Why the hell did you do that."
  • "The rage of the blue hedgehog! UNLEASHED!"

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