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Sonic Battle

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Sonic Battle title.png
Sonic Battle
System(s): Game Boy Advance
Publisher: Sega (JP), THQ (NA/EU)
Developer:
ROM size: 16 MB
Genre: Strategy
Release Date RRP Code Rating
Game Boy Advance
JP
2003-12-04 ¥4,980 BSBJ8P
Game Boy Advance
US
2004-01-12  ? BSBE78
Game Boy Advance
EU
2004-02-27  ? BSBP8P

Sonic Battle (ソニック バトル) is a 4 player isometric fighting game based on the Sonic Adventure era characters, differing heavily from Sonic the Fighters, the first Sonic fighting game. It had a single player story mode which received a great deal of praise from fans; not taking itself too seriously, while at the same time doing a lot to flesh out characters' personalities.

The story centered around the ancient mechanoid Emerl. Emerl could be upgraded, but it was long and tedious to do this, which some gamers found to detract from the game. He gains XPs from each fight, but about 10 fights would need to be completed to gain a new move.

It is also the first Sonic game to feature swearing - in Japan, Rouge calls Eggman a "bastard" for hacking into a computer before she did. The Japanese version actually has an English translation in it which contains the swearing. When the game was released in the US the dialogue was altered.

Sonic Battle's storyline was loosely adapted for TV in episodes 45 and 46 of Sonic X, entitled Sonic Battle - Face Off!! and Sonic Battle - Finale!! respectively. Its plot was also heavily referenced in the 2008 Sonic game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

Gameplay

Battles are fought in 3D arenas with up to 4 players. Each character has a set of attacks and abilities. The majority of attacks are performed with the B button, including the combos (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 home in on an opponent after the Heavy Attack). The A button is used to jump, and the L button lets the player block attacks, or replenish health if the button is held.

The playable characters also have unique special moves, the three types being Shot, Power, and Set. Shot moves are projectiles which can damage an opponent from a distance. Power moves can deal 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 you set to Ground will be used when you press R on the ground. The move you set to Air will be used when you press R in mid-air. The last slot, Defend, has a different function; When you set a certain type of special move to Defend, then every time an enemy uses the same type of special to attack you, you'll automatically block it.

Each player has 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.

Battling with Emerl

Emerl, the Gizoid, forms the basis for Sonic Battle's story.

The main gimmick of the game is called the Skill Capture system. Emerl can imitate the actions and attacks of every other character. He starts out with slow, incomplete captures of Sonic's abilities, which serve as the default moves. As the game is played, the abilities of other characters are recorded as Skill Cards. After each fight, certain skills are captured this way, one card per character per fight (so if Emerl fought Tails, he would get a Tails data card, and if he fought Sonic, he would get a Sonic data card.) The capturable actions consist of not only the attacks and special moves each character performs, but their individual abilities in running, jumping, mid-air actions, and the like. These can be allocated to their corresponding slots in Emerl's ability list, and doing so gives Emerl the new moves to use in battle. (Note: What the charaters do ingame does not determine what the Skill Card will be.) Sometimes you will get a rare skill such as one of the skills on the third page of Emerl's skill-edit list (ex: fight pose, color 1, attack support). There are 309 skill cards to collect in all, though the rarest can't be acquired by fighting combatants in normal battles. Emerl's ultimate battle cards can only be earned through Tails' virtual training in the final chapter of Story Mode. Secret character-centric abilities can only be obtained via passwords.

However, all these abilities cannot be used simultaneously. A limit is placed on the amount of non-default Skill Cards that can be used, in the form of skill points. Each card has a certain number of stars shown on the corner, and for each star, five skill points must be available to use on it. The total number of required skill points of all the allocated Skill Cards cannot exceed the current maximum of skill points Emerl has accumulated. Like the Skill Cards themselves, the skill point maximum is increased slightly with each battle, to a maximum of 500.

Since Emerl is powered by the Chaos Emeralds, there are cutscenes in the Story Mode episodes in which the Emeralds are used to enhance Emerl's abilities. Each Emerald raises the skill point maximum by 10, a rather large amount considering that most of the time, individual battles raise it by 1-5 (depending on performance). The player can choose to replay a Story Mode episode after it's been completed, but the Skill Card/Point data is still saved. Oddly enough, the skill point maximum is raised at the Chaos Emerald cutscene every time the player reaches them. This means the same Story Mode episode can be repeated to raise Emerl's skill points faster than normal.

Mini Games

In addition to the principal Story Mode with overworld exploration and battle arena fights, there are a number of other game modes available in Sonic Battle for single or multiplayer (by connecting the Game Boy Advance with up to 3 others via a link cable). These include "Battle", "Challenge", and "Training" modes, where one can specify the specific characters, opponents, and arenas to spar in, as well as a selection of 2D mini games largely unrelated to the fighting motif. These include:

Screenshot Description
Sonic battle soniclash!.png Soniclash! - The only minigame to be available for play at the start of the game, Soniclash! sees players bounce around a pinball-like arena, rolled up in spin dash. Multiplayer only. Players: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow
Sonic battle flying get.png Fly & Get - Unlocked by beating Tails' episode in Story Mode. Fly & Get is an aerial ring-collection game which inspired a later Sonic Cafe mobile phone release, Tails' Flying Get. Multiplayer only. Players: Tails, Cream, Gamma, Rouge
Sonic battle mine hunt.png Mine Hunt - Unlocked by beating Knuckles' episode in Story Mode. Here Knuckles plays a game of minesweeper. Due to a design oversight, there is no way to exit the minigame once it is started. However, no data is lost by turning off the system while playing Mine Hunt. Unlike the other minigames, this is for one player only, although you can transfer it to another Game Boy Advance with no cartridge inserted.
Sonic battle treasure island.png Treasure Island (called Treasure Hunt occasionally) - Unlocked by beating Amy's episode in Story Mode. Multiplayer only. Players: Amy, Cream, Knuckles, Rouge
Sonic battle speed demon.png Speed Demon - Unlocked by beating Shadow's episode in Story Mode. Multiplayer only. Players: Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles


Timeline

Despite being created after Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle may not be in the timeline directly after Heroes.

Secret Combo Cards

Combo Cards representing each character can be obtained by entering a code in the Sonic Team building in the Central City area during Emerl's story.

  • Sonic: 75619
  • Tails: OTrOI
  • Knuckles: yU3Da
  • Amy: alogK
  • Cream: ZAhan
  • Shadow: ArmIa
  • Rouge: AhnVo
  • Gamma: tSueT
  • Chaos: EkiTa

Note: Shadow's card code is an anagram of Maria. Knuckles' code is a reference to Takashi Yuda, his designer, and his first game Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Manuals

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic Battle manuals

Also Released On

Sound Test

NOTE: This game's Sound Test does not feature corresponding titles.

# Title Usage
0 Title Title Screen
1 Main Menu Main Menu/Mode Select Screen, Mini Games Select Screen
2 Character Select Episode Select (Story Mode), Link Setup, Character Select (Challenge Mode)
3 Challenge Challenge Mode Demo
4 VS Result Results (Battle & Challenge Mode)
5 Record Continue (Story Mode), Training Mode Setup Screen, Battle Record
6 Congratulations Challenge Mode Clear
7  ???  ???
8  ???  ???
9 Sonic Stage Emerald Beach
10 Tails Stage Tails' Lab
11 Knuckles Stage Chao Ruins
12 Amy Stage Amy's Room
13 Shadow Stage Battle Highway
14 Rouge Stage Club Rouge
15 E-102γ (Gamma) Stage Metal Depot
16 Cream Stage Library
17 Chaos Stage A Crater (Holy Summit (Arena))
18 Chaos Stage B Blackboard Eraser
19 Eggman & Emerl Stage Final Boss (Death Egg (Arena))
20 E-121Φ (Phi) Stage Colosseum
21 Demo 1 Comedy Demo/Story Demo 1
22 Demo 2 Shadow Demo/History Demo/Story Demo 2
23 Demo 3 Confrontation Demo/Story Demo 3
24 Demo 4 Eggman Demo/Story Demo 4
25 Demo 5 Emerl Demo/Story Demo 5
26 Battle Start Character Introduction Demo
27 Battle Result 1 Card Capture Demo
28 Battle Result 2 Rare Card Capture Demo
29 New Character Character Unlock Demo
30 Skill Edit Emerl Customization Menu
31 Ending A Staff Roll (all stories except Emerl), Staff Roll 2 (Emerl Story)
32 Ending B Staff Roll 1 (Emerl Story)
33 Emerald Town Emerald Town (Overworld)
34 Night Babylon Night Babylon (Overworld)
35 Holy Summit Holy Summit (Overworld)
36 Central City Central City (Overworld)
37 Gimme Shelter Gimme Shelter (Overworld)
38 Death Egg Death Egg (Overworld)
39 Green Hill Stage Green Hill

Production credits

Producer: Yuji Naka
Director: Tomoyuki Hayashi
Battle Mode Planner: Tomoyuki Hayashi
Story Mode Planner: Asahiko Kikuchi
Planning Support: Mizuki Hosoyamada, Ai Mashima
System & Com Programmer: Yoshihiko Toyoshima
Story Mode Programmer: Takahiro Hamano
Battle Mode Programmer: Tomoyuki Hayashi
Minigame Programmers: Nobuo Nakagawa, Yoshihiko Toyoshima
Chief Animator: Yasuda Denneikoushi
Character Animators: Sachi Nakamura, Asao Furukawa, Hiroaki Ishige, Ryuta Kawasaki, Kentaro Sakamoto
Map Designer: Toru Kawaguchi
Advertise Designers: Takeshi Ichimura, Miho Hyakutake, Takao Kawase
Minigame Designer: Takao Kawase
Illustrator: Hisanobu Kometani
Design Coordinator: Yuji Uekawa
Character Design Support: Hiroshi Tanigawa, Tomoki Miyazaki, Arito Chujo, Noriko Shibuya, Norichika Neguro, Masaru Kuribayashi
Special Thanks: Yasuko Maruyama
Sound Created By: Wave Master
Sound Creators: Tatsuyuki Maeda, Kenichi Tokoi, Hideaki Kobayashi
Character Voices (Japanese): Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Sonic the Hedgehog), Ryo Hirohashi (Miles "Tails" Prower), Nobutoshi Kanna (Knuckles the Echidna), Taeko Kawata (Amy Rose), Taiten Kusunoki (Chaos Gamma), Kouji Yusa (Shadow the Hedgehog), Rumi Ochiai (Rouge the Bat), Sayaka Aoki (Cream the Rabbit), Chikao Otsuka (Dr. Eggman)
Character Voices (English): Ryan Drummond (Sonic), William Corkery (Tails), Scott Dreier (Knuckles), Jenny Douillard (Amy), Jon St. John (Chaos Gamma), David Humphrey (Shadow), Lani Minella (Rouge), Sarah Wulfeck (Cream), Deem Bristow (Eggman)

Sega Corporation

Executive Management: Hideki Okamura, Masanao Maeda, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yukio Sugino
Marketing Dept.: Miutsuru Takahashi, Naoko Ooka, Marino Takeda
Public Relations: Yasushi Hagumo, Youko Nagasawa
International Business & Product Development: Tatsuyuki Miyazaki, Yusuke Suai

Sega Logistics Service Co., Ltd

Product Management: Junichi Shimizu
Product Support: Akira Nishkawa, Akira Terasawa, Kazuhiko Morii
Product Test: Yutaka Kawasaki, Daisuke Izichi, Satoshi Yamane, Junko Ota, Sou Ishida
Package & Software Manual Production: Yoshihiro Sakuta, Satoru Ishigami, Kazuaki Jikuhara, Hisakazu Nakagawa, Asako Niyajima
Customer Support: Kazunori Yagi, Shoko Goto

Sega of America, Inc.

Director Of Product Development: Osamu Shibamiya
Localization Producer: Jason Kuo
Test Director: Deborah Kirkham
Project Lead: Shawn Dobbins
Executive Vice President: Shinobu Toyoda
Product Manager: Heather Hall
Senior Media Specialist: Teri Higgins
Creative Services Manager: Arianne Mccarthy
Public Relations Manager: Bret Blount
Special Thanks: Yosuke Moriya, Lori Von Rueden, Klayton Vorlick

Sega Europe, Ltd.

President/COO: Naoya Tsurumi
Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing: Mike Sherlock
Executive Vice President Product Development: Jin Shimazaki
Localization Producer: Akiko Uchida
Senior Producer: Matt O'Driscoll
Technical Producer: Elliott Martin
European Marketing Director: Matthew Woodley
European Marketing Manager: Gary Knight
European Product Manager: Mat Quaek
QA: Darius Sadeghian, David Smith, Roy Boateng, Chris Geiles
Executive Producer: Hisao Oguchi

Resources

Transcript of Gerald's Journal - The deceased Professor's notes, gradually unlocked while clearing the game a second time.

Artwork

Wallpaper

Official wallpaper available from the Sonic Team website:

Physical scans

Game Boy Advance, US
SonicBattle GBA US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSbattle-box-us.jpg
Cover
Game Boy Advance, UK
Sbat eu boxart back.jpgNospine-small.pngSbat eu boxart.jpg
Cover
Game Boy Advance, FR

Game Boy Advance, DE

Game Boy Advance, ES

Game Boy Advance, JP
Sbat jp boxart.jpg
Cover

References


Sonic Battle
Sonic Battle title.png

Main page
Comparisons
Credits


Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles
Reception


Development
Hidden content
Bugs
Technical information

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
Game Boy Advance
 2001  Sonic Advance | Tiny Chao Garden     2002  Sonic Advance 2     2003  Sonic Pinball Party | Sonic Battle     2004  Sonic Advance 3 | Sonic X: A Super Sonic Hero     2005  Sonic Advance & Sonic Pinball Party | Sonic Advance & ChuChu Rocket! | Sonic Advance & Sonic Battle | Sonic Battle & ChuChu Rocket! | Sonic Pinball Party & Sonic Battle | Sonic Pinball Party & Columns Crown     2006  Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis    
 Demos  Sonic Advance 3