Software:Sonic Battle

From HandWiki
Short description: 2003 video game
Sonic Battle
Developer(s)Sonic Team
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Tomoyuki Hayashi
Producer(s)Yuji Naka
Designer(s)
  • Tomoyuki Hayashi
  • Asahiko Kikuchi
Writer(s)Asahiko Kikuchi
Composer(s)
  • Tatsuyuki Maeda
  • Kenichi Tokoi
  • Hideaki Kobayashi
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: December 30, 2003
  • NA: January 7, 2004[1]
  • PAL: February 27, 2004
Genre(s)Fighting game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sonic Battle[2] is a 2003 Fighting game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Game Boy Advance. It is the second fighting game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the first game being Sonic the Fighters. It was released in Japan in December 2003 and in North America and Europe in early 2004. The game received an indifferent response from critics.

Gameplay

Shadow the Hedgehog participates in a battle with Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna. The 3D stage features a grassy environment with Chao-themed ruins.

Battles are fought in 3D arenas with up to four players. Each character has a set of attacks and abilities. Most attacks are used with B, including the combo (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Attack), Air Attack, Upper Attack (used to knock opponents straight up), Heavy Attack (used to knock opponents away), and Aim Attack (used to pursue an opponent after the Heavy Attack). The A button is used to jump, and the L button lets the player block attacks, or heal damage if the button is held. The playable characters also have unique special moves, the three types being Shot, Power, and Set. Shot moves center around using a projectile to damage the opponent from a distance. Power moves focus on dealing damage quickly in a single move. Trap moves generally involve using a type of bomb to surprise-attack the enemy. However, only a limited number of special moves can be selected. Shot, Power, and Trap must be allocated to three slots: Ground, Air, and Defend. The special move the player sets to Ground will be used when pressing R on the ground. The move the player sets to Air will be used when pressing R in mid-air. The last slot, Defend, has a different function; when a player sets a certain type of special move to Defend, then every time an enemy uses the same type of special moveset, it will automatically be blocked.

Each player has two vital stats, a health bar and an Ichikoro Gauge. When health is completely depleted, the player is KO'd and loses one life (in a survival match) or the one who KO'd them gets a point (in a KO match). The Ground, Air, and Defend settings are chosen at the beginning of the match, and every time the player respawns. As a player takes damage, blocks attacks, or heals, the Ichikoro Gauge fills up. When it is full, the next special move the player does will instantly KO anyone it hits. However, if they chose to defend against that type of special, or successfully block, their Ichikoro Gauge will be filled instantly. Players healing damage will also slowly fill up their Ichikoro Gauge, but are still vulnerable to attacks.

Characters

The game features ten playable characters. Eight are playable in the game's Story Mode: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Cream the Rabbit, and the original character Emerl. By defeating opponents in the Story Mode, the player will gain "skill cards", which Emerl can equip to customize his moveset and utilize other characters' abilities. Two additional characters, E-102 Gamma and Chaos, can be unlocked for use in Battle Mode and Challenge Mode after they are defeated in Story Mode.

Minigames

The game includes five mini-games. The only mini-game available at the beginning of the game is "Soniclash", in which players try to knock their opponents off the fighting arena to gather points. In "Tails' Fly and Get", players fly around and try to collect more rings than their opponents. "Knuckles' Mine Hunt" is a single-player game based on the computer game Minesweeper. In "Amy's Treasure Island", players move around and search for emeralds. In "Shadow's Speed Demon", the players race against each other.

Plot

While studying the diary of his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Eggman learns of an artifact Gerald had unearthed: a 4000-year-old sentient weapon called the Gizoid created by an ancient civilization. Eggman attempts to get the dormant Gizoid to work properly, but is unsuccessful and abandons it at Emerald Beach. Sonic the Hedgehog finds the Gizoid, which activates and develops a link with him after Sonic demonstrates his abilities.

The Gizoid, which Sonic names Emerl due to its ability to use the Chaos Emeralds, demonstrates the power to perfectly replicate any moves it sees and quickly gets wrapped up in the affairs of Sonic's friends, allies and rivals. Through his encounters with Miles "Tails" Prower, Rouge The Bat, Knuckles The Echidna, Amy Rose, Cream The Rabbit, and Shadow The Hedgehog, Emerl learns of the world and of concepts like friendship. As they train together, the group discovers that Emerl becomes stronger and develops more sentience with each Chaos Emerald which he obtains, and begin searching for the remaining Emeralds to help the robot develop. While searching, they are repeatedly attacked by the forces of Eggman, who now wants to retrieve the weapon, including a rebuilt E-102 Gamma and a series of imperfect Emerl duplicates under the name "E-121 Phi".

Eventually, all the Chaos Emeralds are obtained and Emerl achieves full sapience. In a last attempt, Eggman decides to lure Emerl onto his new Death Egg to capture him. The two battle, and Emerl emerges victorious, but Eggman uses his new Final Egg Blaster to force Emerl to override his link to Sonic with Eggman's own. However, this overloads Emerl, deleting his personality and making him go haywire. The rogue Gizoid then turns the blaster towards the planet Earth, and Sonic is sent to stop him before the world is destroyed. Sonic defeats Emerl, who briefly reverts to his previous personality and bids his friends farewell before overloading with energy and exploding, leaving the shards of the Chaos Emeralds he acquired behind. Sonic returns home to his friends, who are saddened by the loss of Emerl. When asked if he believes Emerl is truly gone, Sonic reassures everyone that they will see him again someday.

Development and release

The game was officially announced at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and Tokyo Game Show, both of which featured playable demos.[3][4] The game was released in late-2003 in Japan as part of the "Year of Sonic",[5] and early-2004 by THQ in the United States following a deal between both companies.[6][7] Internationally, the game was published by Sega Europe and distributed by THQ as part of a Game Boy Advance co-publishing agreement made by the two companies.[6]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic69/100[8]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Game Informer6/10[9]
GameProStarStarStarHalf star[10]
GameSpot7.7/10[11]
GameSpyStarStarStar[12]
IGN8/10[13]
Nintendo Power7.4/10[14]

The game received generally mixed reviews from critics, according to review aggregator site Metacritic.[8] While some critics praised the game's "surprisingly deep arena-fighting gameplay", graphics, and multiplayer mode, others dismissed it for its "limited moveset" and use of 2D sprites on a 3D fighting arena.

IGN gave the game a positive review, saying "It does try hard to be what Smash Bros. is, and even though the game doesn't quite reach the same status Nintendo and HAL created for the Nintendo consoles, Sonic Battle has enough stuff to make it one of the top original fighters on the Game Boy Advance system."[13] GameSpy also gave a positive review, saying "A solid and pleasantly deep arena beat-'em-up with lots of longevity, and though the presence of the Hedgehog and his posse adds absolutely nothing to the game, it's nice to see them getting work in these tough economic times."[12] Nintendo Power gave a more mixed review, saying, "Moves are limited, but the overall experience is tons of fun."[14] GamePro also gave a mixed review, criticizing the game's story mode, saying "The biggest problem with Sonic Battle is the poor game design in Story mode. Earning Skill Points, and thereby new abilities for Emerl the Robot, is a grueling ordeal."[10]

References

  1. ↑ Dubin, Jayson (2012-05-04). "Sonic Battle Ships For The Game Boy Advance" (in en-US). https://www.gamezone.com/news/sonic_battle_ships_for_the_game_boy_advance/. 
  2. ↑ ソニック バトル
  3. ↑ IGN Staff (May 16, 2003). "E3 2003: Hands-on: Sonic Battle". https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/05/16/e3-2003-hands-on-sonic-battle. 
  4. ↑ Torres, Ricardo (September 23, 2003). "TGS 2003Sonic Battle Impressions". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/tgs-2003sonic-battle-impressions/1100-6076070/. 
  5. ↑ Kevin, Gifford (January 1, 2000). "Sonic Battle". http://www.1up.com/reviews/sonic-battle. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Calvert, Justin (September 11, 2003). "THQ to copublish Sega Europe GBA games". http://uk.gamespot.com/gba/action/sonicbattle/news.html?sid=6074923&mode=recent. 
  7. ↑ Calvert, Justin (January 7, 2004). "Sonic Battle ships". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sonic-battle-ships/1100-6086170/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Sonic Battle for Game Boy Advance Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/sonic-battle/critic-reviews/?platform=game-boy-advance. 
  9. ↑ Juba, Joe. "Sonic Battle". Game Informer. https://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/A7DC60C2-C786-463E-9524-FF760ED92E66.htm. Retrieved July 24, 2021. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dinobot, DJ (January 13, 2010). "Sonic Battle Review from GamePro". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/32479/sonic-battle/. Retrieved September 9, 2013. 
  11. ↑ Provo, Frank (January 13, 2004). "Sonic Battle Review". http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/sonicbattle/review.html. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "GameSpy: Sonic Battle - Page 1". http://gba.gamespy.com/gameboy-advance/sonic-battle/494463p1.html. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Harris, Craig (13 January 2004). "Sonic Battle". https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/01/13/sonic-battle-3. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Sonic Battle". Nintendo Power (177): 119. March 2004. 
  • Official website (in Japanese)
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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