Sonic has enjoyed a long and storied history throughout gaming, taking part in a number of different videogame genres. Sonic got his start on the Genesis with a platformer, but since then he's been involved with kart racers, sports games, and even pinball! The one genre Sonic has never tackled, however, is the role-playing game genre…until now. The game wasn't even on my interest radar up until now, but after getting some quality time with the game at E3, I'm already anticipating plunking down money for a pre-buy.

I didn't really get a chance to experience the story of the game, but I was told it involves an evil force that has overthrown Eggman and is wreaking havoc on the world. I was assured that - despite the overthrow - Eggman would still play a part in the game. In what capacity remains to be seen – villain, hero, or a mere story point – but for those looking for the rotund man of evil, rest easy that the Big Bad will still be involved in the game in one way or another.

Attack Sonic

I did get to experience, however, the gameplay of Sonic Chronicles, and I must say that it was fantastic. The default party I had consisted of Sonic, Knuckles, Cream, and Shadow. The game has an old school charm in terms of character traits, mainly because the game confines characters to preset habits. Unlike more recent RPGs where a character can be anything they want to be, in Sonic Chronicles everyone has their specialty they are good at. For example, Sonic is so fast he can get in multiple hits during a turn, while Knuckles in a powerhouse and Cream is the healer of the group. I particularly enjoyed this aspect of what I played, because I'd hate to see a secondary character such as Cream pack the same walloping power as mainstay Knuckles. Cream sucks in terms of power – as she should given the fragile nature of the character – but she's an extremely important member of the team for when your crew is really taking damage.

There weren't any quests or dialogue to experience, but I did get to roam about a field until the combat kicked in. The combat is one of the most interactive and fun RPG systems I've played recently. Unlike some RPGs where you dial your attacks in and then let everything play out, you actively have to be involved in the combat of Sonic Chronicles. The best way to describe the combat is imagine combining the traditional turn-based system of a Final Fantasy game with the circle tapping gameplay of Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan (a personal favorite series of mine on the DS). It's still possible to just push an attack button and have the characters do simple moves, but the more advanced Power Moves require proper skill in order to be as effective as possible. The tapping minigames aren't overtly difficult once you've experienced them a few times, but it's still fun to properly time everything and unleash a massive dose of pain on your foes. The main Elite Beat Agent-esque moments had players needing to tap within a series of circles or dragging them along a pre-determined path.

The Chao will also be present and accounted for, acting as special helpers and buffers in the game. There will be 40 different Chao in the game, each offering their own special powers to help players in combat. Equipping different Chao will grant players increased attack power, higher defense, and offer up the chance to earn more items after battling enemies. Though the main characters are confined to specific party roles, the implementation of the Chao system will allow players a chance to still customize their characters to make them feel like their own.

In a time when Sonic has become fairly synonymous with mediocre games, I was hesitant to even pickup the DS and give the game a try for myself. With so many games at the show needing my attention, did Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood really deserve any of my time? I'm glad I went against my better judgment and went ahead and checked the game out, because otherwise I would've missed out on what turned out to be my favorite DS game of E3.