Sonic Shuffle

Infobox VG| title = Sonic Shuffle


caption = North American box art
developer = Sega, Hudson Soft
publisher = Sega
designer =
engine =
released = vgrelease|NA=November 14, 2000vgrelease|JP=December 21, 2000 vgrelease|PAL=March 9, 2001
genre = Party
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Everyone (E)
platforms = Sega Dreamcast
media =
requirements =
input = nihongo|"Sonic Shuffle"|ソニックシャッフル|Sonikku Shaffuru is a video game for the Dreamcast and was Sega's answer to the Nintendo party game, "Mario Party". The game was co-developed by Hudson Soft, who also developed "Mario Party".

tory

The story involves Sonic and company getting caught up in a mess in a world land called Maginary World, which they inadvertently stumble upon one day. A villain named Void has shattered the Master Precioustone into many pieces, resulting in chaos in every part of the world. Lumina Flowlight and the rest of Maginary World are counting on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy to restore it and bring Illumina back, who mysteriously disappeared after the disappearance of the Precioustone. At the end of the game it is revealed that Lumina and Void both are Illumina, and that Illumina doubted herself. Sonic and friends leave Maginaryworld knowing that it is now safe again and during the credits, the four head off to their next adventure.

Overview

In "Sonic Shuffle", the player can select one of the main characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The game supports 1 player in Story Mode and up to 4 players simultaneously in Versus Mode and the Sonic Room. Further to the simultaneous play, the game allows for players to play in teams and play against one another on a giant game board, going around and playing mini games to collect Emblems. Whoever has the most emblems at the end of each board wins. The overall goal of each board is to collect the most precioustones, out of a total of 7. There are 5 boards in total: Emerald Coast, Fire Bird, Nature Zone, Riot Train, and Fourth Dimension Space.

The game also featured 8 playable characters, each with their own unique abilities, and 4 of which needed to be unlocked. The available characters were: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Super Sonic, Big the Cat, Gamma, and Chao.

The game featured around 50 mini games and around 30 mini events. Mini games ranged in variety and challenge and they were divided by Teams of 2, Teams of 3 versus a Single Player and a Free-For-All. The mini events generally involved a little story, or event, and usually a choice given at the end to determine your prize or punishment. As well as having a single-player Story Mode and a two- to four-player Versus Mode, the game had a “Sonic Room” where you could play your favorite mini-games, after unlocking them, with your friends without starting a full game in a place called the "Toy Box", as well as a stereo to play your favorte soundtracks. Both of these must be unlocked by buying Photos from the Photo Album.

Gameplay

The game play involves playing randomly given cards. The deck of cards has four of every card numbering 1-6 and four wild cards. Three of the wild cards have an “S” and the remaining card is the “EGGMAN” card. Playing the cards would dictate the distance your player would move on the board. The S cards could be played as a 7 if you had decent timing as the card changed from 1 to S. The "EGGMAN" card was bad fortune for one or all of the characters and would generally cause trouble for the players in myriad ways. A full game could take anywhere from 20 minutes to two and a half hours, depending on how many precioustones you decided to be available to you at the beginning.

Playable Characters

*Sonic the Hedgehog
*Miles "Tails" Prower
*Knuckles the Echidna
*Amy Rose

Unlockable Characters
*Big the Cat
*Chao
*E-102 Gamma
*Super Sonic

Each character had their own unique ability. With the exception of Chao, who only had one ability, each character has an ability for the Board and an ability for Battles.

Other Characters

Lumina Flowlight

Lumina Flowlight is the guardian of the Precioustone in Maginary World, along with the world's goddess, Illumina. She is a pink, fairy-like being that Cosmo bears some resemblance to. In the beginning of the game, she brings Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and (unknowingly) Eggman to Maginary World in order to get their help to repair the Precioustone, which was shattered by Void. Later, she and Void cancel each other out, following her revelation that Void is the nothingness in the imagination that allows people to dream. She and Void are actually the two halves of Illumina that make her a complete entity.Lumina and Illumina are voiced by Elara Distler in the game.

Void

Void is the imp-like villain from "Sonic Shuffle". At the start of the game, Void shatters the mysterious Precioustone, which controls his world, Maginaryworld. Sonic and friends then set out on a quest to defeat him and repair the stone. Throughout the game, Void shows signs of depression and loneliness which touches the hearts of Sonic and his friends who, in turn, want to help him amidst the evilness within him. At the end of the game, it turns out that Void is needed for the balance in Maginaryworld, as he is the nothingness that gives people the ability to dream. He is in fact one half of Maginaryworld's ruler Illumina. Lumina is the other half. As such, Sonic and his friends do not destroy him, and leave Maginaryworld knowing that Lumina and Void cancel each other out. Cosmo from Sonic X bears a resemblance to both Void and Lumina. He was voiced by Lani Minella in the English version and Urara Takano in the Japanese version.

Prototype storylines for the Archie comics included a mention of Void as an upcoming antagonist, undoubtedly for a Sonic Shuffle adaptation that was never published. [ [http://archive.sonic-hq.net/newsite/comics/kbsonicoverview.php Sonic HQ Comics Info - Karl Bollers' SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: One Year Later ] ]

Mini Games

There was a wide variety of mini-games found within Sonic Shuffle. In some mini games, the players all play against each other, while in other mini games the players are split into 2 teams of two and 1 vs. 3.

Reception

Sonic Shuffle generally had negative reviews. Ratings from online gaming sites include:

*Planet Dreamcast: 5.5/10 [http://www.planetdreamcast.com/games/reviews/sonicshuffle/index2.shtml]
*IGN: 4.7/10 [http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/164/164711p1.html]
*Gamespot: 4.5/10
*GamePro: 4/5
*Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK): 55%
*Gaming Age: C [http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/reviews/review.pl?sys=dreamcast&game=sonicshuffle]
*Game Revolution: B- [http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/games/dreamcast/sim/sonic_shuffle.htm]
*Electronic Gaming Monthly: 5.5/4.0/6.0

Criticisms

Sonic Shuffle was not as successful as its competitor, "Mario Party". Some positives about the game were its graphics and concept. However, some viewed Sonic Shuffle in a negative light which resulted in some bad reviews and opinions, including the following:

*Many of the available mini-games, were confusing and/or frustrating.
*The loading times between the mini-games and the boards were very long.
*The music was annoying, even "horrendous" [http://www.planetdreamcast.com/games/reviews/sonicshuffle/index2.shtml] , for some.
*The game's manual was not as helpful as it could have been.
*The game's tutorial system was not as explanatory/detailed as it could have been.
*The computer-controlled players would very often cheat at the game, stealing the best cards from other players to get to the Precioustones first, and making the game very difficult when computer-controlled players were used.

Cast

External links

*moby game|id=/sonic-shuffle
* [http://www.atarcade.com/cms/sonic-shuffle.html Sonic Shuffle Manual]