Scheduled for release in North America in Autumn of this year, reports suggest that SEGA’s upcoming Nintendo DS RPG, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood will arrive in Europe a fair few months before - in June 2008.

Chronicles is set two years after Sonic last defeated Dr. Eggman. Presumably while chilling out, Sonic gets a call from Tails who breaks the news that Knuckles has been kidnapped by a group called the Marauders, and also that a total of six chaos emeralds are also missing. However, Dr. Eggman is not the main villain, possible because developer Bioware wants to re-introduce a bit of credibility to the character.

There are two acts, one taking place in the standard Sonic universe and another in a darker, more mysterious world. In addition, there is talk of a “twist” between Sonic and Dr. Eggman, something that alludes to their encounters in previous games.

Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood will make extensive use of the stylus and touch screen in controlling Sonic and his pals (Phantom Hourglass-stylee, we imagine), but also to interact with a variety of context-sensitive elements. One recently seen example shows Sonic obligingly hopping on a springboard and spinning in a loop to reach a new platform. The game’s puzzles will also require ample stylus use and the unique abilities of each character in Sonic’s team.

As for combat, Chronicles will be a turn-based affair similar to Mario and Luigi’s past RPG efforts. While each battle begins with a basic attacking and defensive menu, scuffles are interspersed with mini-games and other little tests to spice up proceedings (rhythm or pressing-buttons-in-the-right-order-at-speed-based moves, maybe).