After I was able to spend a few minutes with Sonic Chronicles earlier this summer, I keep telling people that if they’ve played at least a little bit of iNis’ Elite Beat Agents, they’ll have a head start on learning Sonic Chronicles’ battle system. It’s extremely similar in the inclusion of contracting circles and moving beach balls.

Of course, there’s a little more strategy in being able to power up your battle moves before hand and skill in being able to execute combo attacks. Oh, and while perhaps I couldn’t really hear the game over the noise of the crowded convention center, I’m pretty sure the fact that you’re not performing the touch-based combos in rhythm with the background music will make things a little more challenging.

I’m almost 100% sure the enemies and overall story in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are complete originals from the team at BioWare. That said, the main enemies remind me somewhat of the “Dark Legion” cult from the comic series (from Archie Comics). They just so dark with an aura of mystery and power.

And then there are the “easy” enemies. These things look more like robots than any of Eggman’s recent creations. It’s actually pretty refreshing to be fighting so many robots again. Ironically, I don’t think they’re Eggman’s…

Hopefully you’ve gotten a chance to see the first developer diary from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, because the duo of Raymond Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are back for another entry. They and a quartet of key figures working on the game show us just what it’s like bringing the characters and the environments in the game to life.

Of course, it’s always nice seeing projects like this take shape, step by step. Come Tuesday, all you’ll have time to think about is how to get further in the game, and whether or not BioWare will be the one officially bringing Sonic back into prominence. Correct?

Sonic fans out there that aren’t living under a rock are probably anxiously awaiting the release of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for the DS… unless they don’t have a DS. Or they live in Europe. So, to celebrate, I’ve upload 61 new images for/from the game, which you can check out after the break.

There are a whopping 43 screens of the game which look noticeably better than earlier screens from the game, 11 pieces of character art, two copies of the logo, the UK box art, and four images of game art that might just make for some great wallpaper.

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We’re less than a month away from Bioware’s take on the Sonic franchise, and we’re entering the home stretch by being treated to a series of developer diary videos. This first one, “The Vision,” features Bioware CEO Raymond Muzyka and president Greg Zeschuk talking about what it’s been like merging Sonic with the RPG genre, getting to work with the license, and their high hopes for the game. I’ll let you enjoy the video for yourselves, so have at it.

The video gives a pretty good feel towards a lot of the game. There isn’t too much battle footage, but that looks like a pretty standard turn based affair anyway. I’m a fan of the style, and with Bioware’s track record Sonic Chronicles could turn into a real winner as long as it isn’t rushed to shelves. *coughMassEffectcough*

Surprisingly, there were rarely any lines or crowds waiting to play the Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood demo at SEGA’s booth at E3. Sure, it’s an unfinished demo at this point in time, and that demo does leave a little to be desired… but what’s there is a solid foundation for an RPG. I had a chance to play the game for a few minutes as the game’s project lead, BioWare’s Mark Darrah, walked me through the game.

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To accompany the brief E3 impressions I’m writing at the moment, three dozen screens of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood have been added to the game’s gallery after the break. There aren’t any major revelations in the screens to my knowledge, but that could just be because I’ve gotten somewhat familiar with the game by now. :P

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