Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, called Sonic Chronicles: Yami Jigen kara no Shinryakusha (ソニッククロニクル 闇次元からの侵略者) in Japan, is an RPG developed by Canadian developer BioWare for the Nintendo DS. It was released in September 2008 in North America and Europe, with a later Japanese release in August 2009.

Story
The story of Sonic Chronicles is split into two acts, which are further divided into several chapters. The first takes place in Sonic's world, with the team attempting to unravel the situation they are in, whilst also stopping the Master Emerald from being taken. The second act sees Sonic and the team traveling to another dimension, called the Twilight Cage, in order to stop a new threat to their own world.

Sonic Chronicles opens by detailing Eggman's defeat, and presumed death, some time ago after the destruction of the Egg Carrier at the hands of Sonic and friends. In the present, Sonic is on vacation when he receives a call from Sally, Tails, stating that Knuckles has been kidnapped by a group called the Marauders, who have stolen the Chaos Emeralds. Traveling with Amy Rose to meet Tails, they are escorted by Rouge the Bat to meet the G.U.N. Commander, who informs them that they have been watching the Marauders for some time, and know where to search. Having no luck, they eventually locate the Marauders' base in the Mystic Ruins, and with the help of Cream, Big the Cat, and Cosmo they find Knuckles, who is found escaping from some robots; leaving the base, they find Angel Island has gone. Devices found in their initial search help them locate Eggman, who claims to be a reformed character, revealing that he survived the crash of the Egg Carrier by anticipating his own defeat and making a robot that would rescue him. He informs the team that Angel Island is being pulled to Metropolis, the location of the Marauders' main base.

With Metropolis as their next destination, they meet Shadow and join up in order to find E-123 Omega, but are attacked by Shade and her Marauders. She reveals herself to be an Echidna of the Nocturnus Tribe, leaving Knuckles, supposedly the last of the Echidnas, shocked. After her defeat, the team head to Angel Island to get the Master Emerald before the Marauders, but are shot down; they confront the Nocturnus leader, the Grand Imperator Ix, who reveals his plot to take over the dimension. Shade is shocked, having believed that Ix merely wanted to bring her clan back to Earth, as they had been sealed in an alternate dimension called the Twilight Cage. Tails and Eggman arrive with a non-lethal weapon, using it to transport several of the Nocturnus back to the Twilight Cage, but Ix escapes and steals the Master Emerald. This causes Angel Island to fall from the sky, and Knuckles saves Shade as the island crashes into Metropolis.

Tails and Eggman build a vehicle, dubbed the Cyclone, that will transport them to the other dimension, but Eggman claims he must remain to ensure their safe return; as they leave, he reveals that he has a more sinister plan in mind for them. Once in the Twilight Cage, the team encounter the rock-like Kron Colony, who assist them on their journey by providing them with a Chaos Emerald. Next, they meet the N'rrgal Colony, who will give the team their Chaos Emerald if they take a weapon from their enemies, the Zoah. Having gained the Zoah's weapon by defeating their leader in combat, the team discover it is another Chaos Emerald — the two races realize they have been duped by Ix, who gave them the Emeralds to keep each other in check. Two further Emeralds are found in the Voxai Colonies, inhabited by a telepathic race who have been controlled by a group of three Voxai known as the Overmind, whose dominating telepathic power stemmed from the use of Chaos Emeralds. The team defeat them, and the new leader gives them the two Emeralds that had been given to them by Ix.

With the remaining two Emeralds on Nocturne, the team gathers the leaders of all encountered colonies and carries out a plan to invade the Nocturnus home world. The Voxai find weaknesses in the force field around the planet, the N'rrgal suck energy from it, and the Zoah launch a missile created by the Kron that can penetrate it. Splitting into two teams, they defeat two Gizoids who each use a Chaos Emerald to wield the elements of fire and water, and also lower the force field surrounding Nocturne in order to allow the invading forces from the other Twilight Cage races to attack. Both Knuckles' and Sonic's team then fight Ix, and are victorious; Ix then uses the Master Emerald to achieve a Super Transformation, but Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic, and defeats him. As Nocturne begins to fall, and is nearly destroyed, the team escapes to the Cyclone and heads back to Earth. Once back in Metropolis, they find Eggman waiting for them with a rebuilt Metropolis, and the team take the Cyclone to confront the new Eggman Empire. The game ends at this cliffhanger moment.

Playable Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Princess Sally Acorn
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Amy Rose
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Big the Cat
 * Cosmo the Seedrian
 * Shade the Echinda
 * Dr. Eggman

Gameplay
As with many RPGs, two main types of gameplay will appear: exploration, and combat. During Exploration the character is directed by using the stylus while obstacles are cleared by pressing an action button. The combat scenes also be controlled with the stylus. By rhythmically tapping the stylus special attacks can be performed at the cost of POW points. Certain special attacks require certain characters to be in the party as they participate in it. After a winning victory currency, experience points, and possibly items are left behind.

Characters will also be able to collect and equip Chao, each with their own ability, to enhance a team member's status. These Chao will be collectible and can be stored in the Chao Garden, and using the Wi-Fi link, players will be able to swap the Chao they have collected.

Chapters

 * 01: Hostile Reception
 * 02: The Search For Knuckles
 * 03: Egghunt
 * 04: A Wolf In The Shadows
 * 05: Battle For Angel Island
 * 06: Black Hole Sun
 * 07: Quest For The Chaos Emeralds
 * 08: Sector Scylla
 * 09: Sector Charybdis
 * 10: Citadel Showdown

Voice Cast

 * Jason Griffith as Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Amy Palant as Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Dan Green as Knuckles the Echidna
 * Tara Strong as Princess Sally Acorn
 * Rebecca Honig as Cream the Rabbit
 * Lisa Ortiz as Amy Rose
 * Cassandra Lee Morris as Cosmo the Seedrian
 * Oliver Wyman as Big the Cat
 * Kathleen Delaney as Rouge the Bat
 * Maddie Blaustein as E-123 Omega
 * Laura Bailey as Shade the Echidna
 * Mike Pollock as Dr. Eggman