BioWare has clearly done its homework in the creation of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. The game stars the best of Sonic's extended roster of friends and the straightforward tale revolves around places and events from past Sonic games. Strong characterization and plenty of combat underpin the game, which is easy to recommend to those who love either the blue blur or BioWare, but not to anyone outside that fandom.

Taking a cue from the Mario & Luigi role-playing games by Nintendo, Sonic Chronicles casts villains other than Sonic's usual nemesis, Eggman. This nicely differentiates the RPG from the main series of action games, though the ever-present Chaos Emeralds play a major role. The storytelling is perfectly entertaining for children, but below the standard of most other BioWare games, mainly because the dialogue is snipped down to the absolute minimum. That's a blessing in disguise, though, because it keeps you focused on the best part of the game: combat.

The battle system is part Final Fantasy, part Mario & Luigi and even some Elite Beat Agents. Standard attack, defense and item usage make up the bulk of your encounters, but the Sonic changeup comes from Chao usage and character-specific power moves.

Chaos are those adorable little ? things that Sonic first had to nurture in Sonic Adventure. Here, they act as buffs to your characters, giving them extra offense, defense and utility stats. They're also tradable with friends who own their own Sonic Chronicles game. Trading them -- wirelessly of course -- buffs the buffs, so to speak, providing even more backup to your team. It's the best usage of these little guys since they first appeared, and while their abilities aren't always evident on the game screen, their stat boosting and utility is unquestioned.

POW moves are analogous to the Bros. moves in the Mario & Luigi games, often requiring two or more characters to execute. They do maximum damage to your foes and are often the only way to inflict the damage necessary to win difficult fights. The touch-screen is integral to successfully executing POW moves, as you have to tap rhythmically or slide the stylus along set lines in time to get the full effect. When you're on your 100th battle and beyond, you still welcome the chance to do some pointer gymnastics to stay involved in the game, and POW moves fill that void. The downside is that the patterns don't change, so they become almost as automatic as the single taps of attacking and defending each turn.

Leveling is notable because it tops your characters out per chapter by rewarding near-zero XP if you try to outgrind the level needed for the next bit of story in the game. It's a nifty way to maintain some challenge while also allowing less stylus-adept players to avoid using POW moves constantly. Kids can use it to plow through everything, though they'll spend a lot more time fighting than the average adult player.

As good as the combat system is, it eventually does wear on you, especially if you're unsure where to go next and are spending way too much time bumping into wandering enemies. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any penalty for fleeing a battle, and the action mini-game you play to get out of trouble is a running race that suits the series' history and is a cool change of pace. Stylus skills come in handy here, too.

Despite good turn-based combat action, a decent story and good use of the DS' touch-screen, though, Sonic Chronicles never seems to rise above mediocrity. There are a number of reasons for this, the first being the suitability of the content to this style of game in the first place. Sonic fans have labored for years with titles that do everything but the one thing we all want to do: run at ridiculous speeds through gorgeous, well-designed levels.

An RPG is about as far from the original series as one can get without making Sonic's world into a puzzle game -- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, anyone? The extended Sonic roster beyond Tails and Knuckles has also been a source of constant derision -- Big the Cat is easily one of the worst videogame creations in the history of the franchise. Here, you get pretty much all of them short of the Knuckles' Chaotix gang (who do make a cameo). It's also hard to stomach a full-blown story-based game set around a superficial good versus evil plot.

The 3-D graphics used for the battles are also a missed opportunity. BioWare seems to have spent a lot of time on the 2-D overworlds and character art, but the 3-D graphics for the fights lose so much clarity and personality due to the DS' meager power. If the art were up to the standard of the combat system itself, it would be far more satisfying to revisit battles time and time again. The 3-D is also sluggish, slowing down the pace of the entire game. Surprisingly, even the system of menus is on the slow side, though BioWare has clearly brought its PC talent to the interface -- making it feel like you're playing with a mouse. In fact, the d-pad and buttons are not used at all.

It's hard to get too critical of what is clearly a kids' game. For Sonic fans from the ages of eight to about 15, Chronicles is going to be awesome stuff -- especially those that always wanted to see Robotnik/Eggman work side-by-side with the hedgehog. It's even got a little bit of BioWare's trademark relationship angle, with Sonic's gal pal Amy hoping her favorite hedgehog will make certain choices in the dialogue tree to win her back.

Nonetheless, there's nothing groundbreaking about Sonic's first trip into the role-playing genre, and that's ultimately what holds it back from being anything more than a sideshow to a series that desperately needs a re-grounding in its historic past.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.