Bioware Making a Sonic RPG on the DS

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.

Re:Has Sega completely forgotten the point of Soni

[bigstrat2003]

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!

Just have to wait and see...

[supersysscvi]

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.

Re:Has Sega completely forgotten the point of Soni

[Dr. Eggman]

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/environments suited towards some rather well defined characters. We can't have Sonic fast just because he gets a +3 speed bonus over other characters for every level he earns. The RPG portion would have to run in the paths of abilities (like different jumps, rolls, attacks) rather than stats, levels and weapons (though it might work for some characters.) The environments themselves would have to be a lot more "on-rails" designed than other RPGs, or you again lose the feel playing as Sonic. Personally,I don't think an RPG really seem like it would work with Sonic, atleast not for everybody. A complex, traditional, multi-path RPG does however seem perfectly suited towards a certain villain of 300 IQ in the Sonic Universe...