Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most iconic characters in all of video games, but not all of his games were hits. Sonic and the Black Knight is allegedly one of those games, but associate editor Charles Harte remembers playing it as a nine-year-old and feeling like it might be the coolest game of all time. Nearly 17 years later, we're revisiting this medieval adventure to see whether or not he was correct.

Originally released on March 13, 2009, Sonic and the Black Knight is the second and final game in the now-abandoned Sonic Storybook Series, which began in 2007 with Sonic and the Secret Rings. Both games see Sonic get sucked into the worlds of classic folklore, with Black Knight whisking him into the world of Arthurian legend. Armed with the legendary blade Caliburn, he embarks on a quest to save the kingdom. Critics at the time of release were less than enthusiastic about the outing; Sonic and the Black Knight was released to mostly poor reviews, including a 5/10 on page 87 of issue 193 of Game Informer.

Join Charles Harte and Marcus Stewart as they wield a Wii remote and travel back in time to the mythical days of 2009. You can tune in live each Friday on Twitch or YouTube at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET, or check out past episodes below:

Part 1 - Starting a Medieval Marathon

Part 2 - Attempted Regicide

Part 3 – Merlina The Mastermind

Last November, Nintendo hosted a Direct for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, sharing a new trailer and behind-the-scenes details about the sequel to 2023's box office hit. Even though the movie is only a few more months away, today the company announced a second livestream, which will presumably provide even more detail than the last. The stream will also air during the weekend, which is abnormal for Nintendo, on January 25 at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET. When it's live, you can watch it on Nintendo's YouTube channel, right here.

Additionally, the messaging around this Direct has been clear that it's strictly limited to information about the movie. If Mario fans were hoping for some kind of video game announcement or tie-in, they'll be disappointed; a description for the event on Nintendo's website includes the line "Please note that no game information will be included in this presentation."

The last look at The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showed us some of the movie's major new characters, including fan-favorite Rosalina (played by Brie Larson) and Bowser Jr. (played by Benny Safdie). It also included updates from executive producer Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri, like the fact that the studio was weeks away from putting the finishing touches on the movie. For more Super Mario Galaxy, you can check out the movie's reveal trailer, watch some gameplay of the newly released Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 bundle, or read Game Informer's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

Vampire Survivors took the gaming world by storm in 2022, thanks to its extremely effective hook, absurdly approachable gameplay, and a ridiculously low cost of entry. Though many games have borrowed elements from Vampire Survivors to great effect, fans of the genre have been waiting for a Survivors developer Poncle's next game. In November of last year, we learned of Vampire Crawlers, a spin-off title from Poncle that is a deck-building dungeon crawler. Today, we received more information about the anticipated spin-off title.

Described by Poncle as a "turboturn deckbuilder," Vampire Crawlers attempts to deliver turn-based combat without the trademark waiting. According to the developer, you don't need to pause for animations to complete before executing your next move, as the game stacks and executives your inputs in a way that minimizes downtime. The goal is to turn the often-slow tactical combat that sometimes typifies the genre into a more fast-paced and visually exciting experience. Poncle also shared that players can use gems to customize cards with various effects, ranging from damage multipliers to weapon evolutions.

You can see Vampire Crawlers in action through the first part of a new video series called "Let's Explore Vampire Crawlers," which will detail new gameplay mechanics with each subsequent episode.

Vampire Crawlers arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android in 2026. It will receive a free demo on Xbox and on Steam as part of Steam Next Fest on February 23.

Developer Playground Games, which is primarily known for the Forza Horizon series, finally lifted the curtain today in a big way for its upcoming Fable – a game that was originally officially teased back in 2017. Playground Games has been working on the game for a long time, but we will finally be able to play it this Fall.

The game's director, Ralph Fulton, was on hand during today's Xbox Developer Direct to share details for the game and finally show extensive gameplay. Fulton paid his respects to the work of the original Fable trilogy's creators, Lionhead Games, saying the team is eager to carry on its legacy, and referred to the game as an open-world action RPG and that it represents a new beginning for the franchise. We, of course, assumed the game would be an open-world action RPG, especially considering Playground Games' history and the genre of the original trilogy, but it was nice to get proper confirmation.

As was the case with the other Fable games, you start the adventure as a child before learning you are a rare hero, the first in a long time. A calamity affects your home village of Briar Hill, turning everyone into stone, including the protagonist's grandmother. And then you're off on your adventure of being a hero. Apparently, the open world will be available to the player pretty early in the game, and you will find yourself stuck between two rival gangs fighting for power.

 

Footage for the game showed off imposing castles, inviting fields, gardens of oversized vegetables, and magical mushroom forests. The protagonist was also seen riding on horseback as they explored, but I didn't see a pet dog, however, which was a big element of Fable II and III.

Fulton says the ethos of the game is "What does it mean, to you, to be a hero?" You will be able to create your hero, dictating their look and clothing. Combat seems familiar to the first three games, with a split between melee action, long-range action, and magic. The player can use light and heavy combos, execute finishers, use magic like electricity, as well as attacks like the one that turned enemies into chickens. The player character got into plenty of battles in the gameplay footage against familiar Fable enemies like Hobs, but we also saw them fighting a giant fire-breathing chicken.

The bigger question mark for Fable, however, came later in the presentation, where Fulton and other members of the team talked about how the population will react to the player and what the player can do outside of combat. You can buy property and business, get married and have kids, and there are more than 1,000 named NPCs who will have individual reactions to you as well as their own lives. You can apparently follow any of the denizens of Albion and watch them wake up, go to work, relax, and go to bed.

Among the examples Playground mentioned in terms of how NPCs will react to you is that you can own property that NPCs will live in. They will react to you as their landlord, or you can kick them out of your house, effectively making them homeless. Expectedly, they will not be your biggest fans if you do this. Characters will praise or insult you depending on your reputation as you walk around and explore. This was an element in the original games, but it seems much more in-depth and specific to your choices here.

And speaking of choices, Playground highlighted the idea of "Your choices change the world," where some of the decisions you make will make radical changes to the environment of the game. An early example offered is related to the giant seen in previous trailers played by British comedian Richard Ayoade. You can choose to spare or kill Ayoade's character, and if you choose the latter, his massive corpse will remain in the environment for the rest of the game, serving as an undeniable landmark that will affect property prices nearby.

The big element missing from Playground's presentation, which is admittedly hard to get across in a developer diary like this, is Fable's humor. It remains to be seen if the new Fable will effectively borrow the tone of the original trilogy. The inclusion of comedians like Richard Ayoade certainly inspires comedic confidence, but we will have to wait and see in the Autumn of 2026.

While Game Freak is best known for its work on the Pokémon games (the series is so large that it's hard to see how it wouldn't be), it does develop other games from time to time. That said, Beast of Reincarnation, the studio's upcoming post-apocalyptic action role-playing game, is a big swing even by the studio's standards. After seeing the game in action during today's Xbox Developer Direct, we got a much clearer vision of what to expect when it launches this summer.

Set in Japan in the year 4026, Game Freak describes the game as a "one-person one-dog action RPG." The person and dog in question are named Emma and Koo, respectively, and they live in a time where the human population has been decimated by a parasitic plant called "blight." Somehow, Emma is able to seal that blight within her body, so she's known as a Sealer. Unfortunately, this is an ability people fear, causing her to live in isolation from the remains of society.

After forming a bond with Koo, a magical white dog with a tail made of vines and branches, Emma is told (by the a hologram of perhaps the most cyberpunk-looking guy of all time) to defeat the titular beast of reincarnation to save the Capital. To do so, she'll have to defeat "malefacts," corrupt fusions of animals and blight. I assume "malefact" is pronounced less like "male fact" more like "artifact," but given that the word was only provided in the Japanese speakers' subtitles, this is just a guess. Extremely powerful malefacts, known as Nushi, are the bosses of this world. They can create blighted forests full of enemies and obstacles players will have to overcome before facing off against the deadly beasts.

Emma is particularly suited to this task thanks to her ability to absorb and dispel blight, but also because of her trusty sword, magic abilities, and vinelike hair. Her sword is her main weapon in combat, and can be upgraded with spirit stones to get special effects when she parries. She and Koo can also use Blooming Arts, powerful magic moves that slow time and allow them to harm or hinder foes. Each character also has a skill tree, and the abilities from one character impacts the other's; the developers also hint that the two will unlock more powers as their bond deepens. Finally, Emma's hair can be used in various ways for platforming, like as a bridge that extends forward over gaps or as a long stilt-like extension of Emma's leg. 

 

The duo will also have to face golems – robots with corrupted human souls – and meet other human characters, like Brad, Kagura, and the mysterious swordswoman Kunai. The dystopian elements are a bit on the nose, but game looks beautiful, especially for a studio that's been criticized for the poor technical performance of recent Pokémon games. It helps that this game, at the time of writing, is not coming to Switch or Switch 2, and is instead launching on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. We're excited to check it out when it hits shelves this summer.