Unlike the previous Sonic games, this time Sonic has to fight a completely
new enemy called Void.
Void has locked up the power of the
Precioustones, which are crystals made
from the dreams and hopes of people everywhere. Of course, a Guardian Angel
called Illumina can't allow this to
happen, so she calls Sonic and friends to recover the
Precioustones and save the
land of Maginary Whirl (I'm sure NiGHTS fans will
immediately feel at home with this storyline).
"Sonic Shuffle" takes place on a 'game board' and features
about 50 different mini games, and although it can best be compared to
"Mario Party", there are still a few differences. Here the
movement is determined by drawing cards from a digital deck, that tell you
how many spaces to advance, but they feature more prominently into the game
as well.
Available from the start are five boards, each with a different 'theme' (much line the 'zones' in the previous games). Landing in certain spaces on the board will give you Power-Ups or penalize you. The real area of interest comes about when you and the other players land in the various colored spaces. Depending on your arrangement on the board, the whole lot of you will enter a mini game, where it's everyone for himself, two on two, or three on one. During the game, you will also get valuable hints from Illumina.
Up to four players can play the game simultaneously and choose from up to eight different characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and four 'secret' ones). Of course, each character retains his trademark moves, with Sonic moving at lightning speed, Tails being able fly, Knuckles being able to climb, and so on.