It's not bad but it could've been so much better.
I've had a hard time reviewing this title because I'll admit, ever since I played the gold encrusted gem of glorius RPG greatness known as Super Mario RPG, I always kind of wished for a Sonic RPG but the fact of the matter came up in "Sonic is fast. RPGs are slow." And essentially it's like the combination of lemonade and chocolate. Still in the hands of a great developer like Bioware, it seems like it could work.
The biggest problem comes first of all in the story. It's not terrible and compared to the last ten or so games, it's nice to have competent writing in a Sonic game. The problem comes is that as hard as Bioware is trying, the story fails to suck you in. In the beginning, Sonic and pals battle with Eggman, defeat him and two years pass. Sonic gets word that Knuckles has been kidnapped and Sonic and pals set off on a new adventure, teaming up with Eggman…again, learning of Shade and the Mauraders and a whole slew of Sonic friends show up including "OMG-not-you-again-you-fat-purple-retard-from-Sonic-Adventure" though I'm sure there are fans out there having a fit because Silver or Blaze wasn't in this game and Big was though at least in this kind of game they're actually useful (except Rouge). Cream will heal party members. Big can poison foes and Omega is a tank of destruction and I will stand behind Shade as one of the better female Sonic characters who, like Blaze, actually acts like a person and not a stalker tweener, a whiny brat or a skanky bat. In the end, the story lacks the emersion that the best RPGs are known for nor does it have the brilliant humor of Mario's RPG. However I will forgive some of this in that unlike Square's games, this one does not have an entire mini-series worth of cut scenes.
One thing it does include is Mass Effect's branching conversation system, but in this game, it's mostly a distraction though I will say that being able to be a total dick to Amy will remove all animosity you ever had towards her character despite her attempts to make Sonic jealous with her new*ahem* "boyfriend."
Bioware is clearly getting ideas from the Mario RPGs from timed hits, team based combat (though Chrono Trigger introduced that idea) and using party members to traverse the enviroment. It's amazing the Mauraders didn't fly in on a giant sword. Sonic travels around a top down environment exploring, fighting enemies and collecting items. I do like seeing enemies on the field and not having random encounters. However Sonic's land seems to be affected by the economic crisis in that you don't get rings when you win battles, which is a pain when you want to buy health and POW (magic). However you almost always get items for winning battles and it wasn't long before I had enough POW drinks to throw a kegger. Also scattered throughout the world are Chao eggs. It's nice to see the return of Chao to the Sonic universe even if you can't really raise them rather, they are bonded to you to enhance skills though sadly they are randomly generated so you may go a while before you find one that's really useful, hence the use of the online "chao trading with friends."
Sonic's pals bring their skills to the adventuring. Knuckles climbs, Tails flies and Big can get through poison smoke. Though another petty annoyance rears it's ugly head in that you can't switch out party members in the middle of a field. You have to return to what I'll call a "safe house" which is like inns in other RPGs except you don't pay for it. You go to your ship, Tails's house or Eggman's lab, where you'll at least be able to restore your health and POW. But many times you'll reach an area and realize you need Amy's hammer to break certain blocks, or need someone who can fly or Big to get through the smoke and you'll have to back track and this game is going to be condemned to the four corners of gaming hell for having constantly respawing baddies. Also at times, the maps can be confusing to navigate and objectives are sometimes unclear and while there are a few side quests, they're mostly fetch quests.
So eventually you'll have to stop exploring and get fighting and once again, tiny petty annoyances creep in. The Elite Beat Agents stylus moves do add something to the fights and make you feel like you're more involved as opposed to just selecting moves and watching the outcome, but at times the game gets really picky about perfect pinpoint hits (an annoyance I had with Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga) and missing one thing can ruin your attack. You can also use this same system to dodge enemy attacks which is good except for the fact that enemies often have the unavoidable basic attacks that will chop off ¼ of your health in a flash. Battles also simply last too long thanks to many enemies having crap like evasion, countering and just your friends missing way too many hits. One noteably annoying fight occurs between your friends and three SWAT bots (SatAM reference). They have high defense, 200hp and just as some sick joke from Bioware, you have to kill them ALL in the same turn or they'll self repair making it one of the longest and most frustrating battles in the game.
Graphically the game has a nice look to it. Once again returning the more lighthearted, colorful look of old games. Green Hills has checkered cliffs and of course the landscape is full of loop de loops though you get the impression those are there just because they're "sonicky" like having mushrooms in Mario games. Character models are nicely animated and very few DS games look nicer than this.
Music is a bit of a disappointment. Why Bioware chose music from Sonic 3D Blast is a mystery. Wouldn't it have been nice to have the old Green Hills theme for Green Hills or Sonic Adventure's Mystic Ruins's theme? The Battle music is good which is important in an RPG given you'll have to listen to it a lot. Great guitar riffs play through the battles. I know the DS isn't exactly CD quality sound but games like The World Ends with You prove DS games can have good music.
I've had a hard time reviewing this game because part of me likes it and yet there's so many little annoyances that break up the flow and despite Bioware's best efforts, the story fails to be overly engaging. But as I play, it seems more like a lot of good ideas that just didn't quite gel together. This does have potential to be a good spinoff series for Sonic, but it needs a bit more work.
And Bioware, no one likes Big the Cat.