Sega's once-venerable Sonic the Hedgehog series has become a bit of a punchline in the gaming industry in recent years. With entries ranging from decent to mediocre to horrible, each new release is met with trepidation and well-earned cynicism. Sonic just hasn't been fully on top since his 16-bit heyday, and while his original 3D outings, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, were well-designed fan favourites, various modern titles in the franchise have struggled with poor controls, game design, visuals and gimmicks that seem to forget or ignore what gamers love about the blue blur — he once took on Mario and almost won, let's not forget.
Nintendo has had varying success with Sonic since the Wii, with Sonic Colours being hailed as a return to form for the series, while Sonic Lost World was reasonable but often criticised as a largely uneven experience. Unfortunately, Sonic's latest adventure, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, is yet another disappointing addition to the Sonic library, throwing out most of the familiar aspects that gamers love in favour of a watered-down, sluggish affair that often feels like a game based on a licensed property — as opposed to the next entry in one of gaming's most iconic brands.
As Sonic Boom is a new initiative by Sega to "reboot" the characters for western audiences, Rise of Lyric was not created by mainstay series developer Sonic Team, and it shows. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric was developed by newcomer developer Big Red Button, and is a tie-in to a new Cartoon Network series. The missteps begin right from the start; while the Sonic Boom cartoon series eschews deep, complex story arcs in favour of short form comedic adventures, Rise of Lyric appears to take itself a bit too seriously, with an arguably valid but heavy-handed environmental message about the importance of organic life. While the story occasionally has some fun twists and turns, most of the game will be spent listening to inane one-liners from Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy.
One of Sonic Boom's main selling points, of course, is that you can play as any of the four characters at any time. Each character plays slightly differently. Sonic is light on his feet and agile; Tails can hover and use his "Buddy Bots" to deactivate machines and other obstacles; Knuckles can climb on designated walls; Amy can triple-jump and swing her hammer. Unfortunately, none of these characters are remotely fast. Sonic's signature speed is essentially removed here, never running faster than anyone else. Aside from on-rails stages that attempt to emulate classic Sonic gameplay — with loops and high jumps and awesome acrobatics — Sonic fans can forget about clever level design, bright colours and high energy. The rest of Rise of Lyric is spent exploring a mostly-empty open world, completing mindless missions for the few supporting characters, unlocking new areas, and collecting various items like rings. Self-contained stages have Sonic and friends splitting up into pairs and traversing generic laboratories and forests to collect special crystals.
The on-rails running sequences would be the most fun part of the game if they ran well. Like most of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, these sections are severely inhibited by a choppy, strained frame-rate. The entire game is poorly optimized, with constant stuttering and noticeable lag in even the most mundane, barren areas. The performance is smoothest during cut-scenes, of which there are arguably too many, but even then the framerate is never locked.
The game attempts to make up for the lack of speed with a more nuanced combat system, but it feels half-baked and frustrating. Each character fights slightly differently, and stringing combos together will give you a rank from D to S; the system feels like a kiddie version of a Devil May Cry-style brawler. There's no real reward for multiple combos, other than rings, which is pretty cheap considering rings are inexplicably capped at 100. Getting hit by an enemy results in lost rings, but characters usually only lose 10 rings after being hit and there's no recoil or feedback upon being struck, so most players will just keep fighting and recollecting rings as the battle goes on.
That lack of consequence is one of Sonic Boom's more consistent traits. There is never any real penalty for death other than some lost rings and gear. Gear is used as a currency to make upgrades to characters and fixing dilapidated areas of the game's open world, so losing it after being killed should lend a sense of urgency and danger to combat. Players will quickly learn, though, that gear is collected so frequently that there will always be enough to use for upgrades and fixes. Respawning after being defeated usually occurs at the exact place the player died, so there's really no challenge and all other collectibles are retained.
Aside from upgrades that grant novel but generally unnecessary enhancements such as more rings per enemy, completing quests for supporting characters will award the player Glyphs that can be equipped to each of the four heroes. The Glyphs are actually useful, giving players a temporary shield when they're out of rings, making them stronger or faster in combat, and other minor improvements. Again, none of these feel particularly necessary within the context of the experience, but they are welcome nonetheless.
The music and voice work in Sonic Boom is quite strong. The four main heroes are well-acted and fit the look of each. The few supporting characters are all stereotypical caricatures, but that's intentional, and the voice actors nail each one, from the high-strung French chef to the crazy old fisherman. The music will surprise anyone who's played recent Sonic games, as it forgoes rock/electronic pop in favour of moodier, appropriate melodies; thankfully, the classic sound effects are mostly accounted for, especially the classic ring effect.
For the most part, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is playable despite the constant mediocrity on display. Younger kids won't notice most of the technical hiccups, with the exception of the wonky, unstable camera. Platforming and exploring are relatively harmless besides the visual hiccups; there are also half-baked attempts at using the GamePad for finding hidden items and areas (think of a particularly dumbed-down Detective Mode from the Arkham games), but it feels tacked-on. Playing with a friend may extend the 6-8-hour quest, but don't count on wanting to spend more time in this world; it's just not that interesting.
Conclusion
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is a worrying misstep for Sega. While we applaud the idea of refreshing the characters for newer audiences, Rise of Lyric feels like a mishmash of ideas that never got to fully develop. Big Red Button spoke enthusiastically about the development process throughout the promotion of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, which makes us think that the disappointing final product is a victim of being rushed out the door to accommodate the cartoon's release. As a result, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is recommended only for those starved for a new adventure platformer and patient enough to sit through the poor technical performance.
Comments 126
What a big, big fail.
@Tops The show's surprisingly good. Give it a watch if you have the chance, especially episode 2, the brilliantly named "Can an evil genius crash on your couch for a few weeks?"
Oh Sonic. How the once so speedy Hedgehog came to a screetching halt. Oh well, it's another glitchfest for glitchfans to try out I guess?
they should have waited and released it later instead of rushing it out to meet the tv shows release date
on a plus note the tv show ain't that bad
Aaaand another Sonic game bites the dust.
Not surprised at all, really.
So stupid they rushed development...
@Sega
I had hoped for another awesome sonic title. Guess it won't happen anytime soon... :-/
and... the predictions were correct.... again.
As expected...
Seriously they didn't even make sonic fast???
My expectations were very low the second I saw the redesigns, because every time Sega tries something new with Sonic typically spells some amount of disaster, but I didn't think it'd reach '06 levels of terrible. Sigh...
Glad I cancelled my pre-order. It screamed rushed all the way, if there was anything but absolute silence about this game. Tried the 3ds demo, and it had way too long loading times too begin with...
Maybe they should sell it to Nintendo and let EAD or HAL do the next game? Just dreaming.
BIGREDBUTTON why you no add run botton in ze exploration segmentzzzz!
Sad... especially in light of the fact that the animation has gotten some good reviews. That sort of turns things on their head.
Had the powers that be pulled their heads out of their asses and allowed the game to develop to it's full potential, and had they been willing to cut the things that just weren't working, even at the expensive of the launch date, perhaps this would have been a much needed one-two punch for the IP.
It seems to be the worst Sonic in years, and that's saying something. Any interest I had is gone. Hopefully they'll make a good Sonic game next year... and change Knuckles back.
I knew it wasn't gonna be good from the very beginning.
I can't believe Nintendo did this deal when it didn't benefit them at all.
I actually enjoyed the 3ds demo! Might pick it up when price goes down.
"and while his original 3D outings, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, were well-designed fan favourites"
I thought the adventure games were pretty bad as a teenager and I don't remember many fans amongst my fellow Dreamcast owners. I sometimes think it's only because Sega have plumbed new depths almost annually with worse, slightly broken games that the adventure games are remembered so fondly. Hopefully the abysmal sales of this game will deter Sega from all this Sonic abuse and make them consider revisiting IP that might actually translate well into a modern game.
So Pacman and the Ghostly Adventures 2 is a better game for my son huh?
Never again. Never again...
Poor Sonic...
The SEGA I used to admire during my childhood is no more. A pale shadow it it's former self...
No direction.
When I first saw this I thought it was a reskinned Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, but now it sounds more like a bad Skylanders game (I like the Skylanders games). Which makes me think they had some grandiose ideas to make this a winning game, but Sonic was never a good fit, and the people making it weren't capable of getting it done on time, so what we get is just a thrown together mess.
Too bad, graphically it looked pretty nice (my kids have watched a playthru, and glitchfest but it's hard to tell the difference w/ this one), much better than Sonic '06 which was an unfinished gray wasteland.
Ouch, that's a harsh review, but I can't say that I disagree. And I'm also VERY disappointed by the graphics: the CryEngine could have done so much more for this game. The floor textures look like they were ripped from a GameCube/PS2 game, and there are WAY too many octagonal shapes that should have been perfectly rounded: with the capabilities of both the game engine and the Wii U itself that should have easily been possible. There's no excuse whatsoever for what this game displays in that department, first time developer on this franchise or not.
They're experienced programmers and they had some powerful tools at their disposal so they could and should have done more. Their excuse will probably be that these shapes are the art style that they were going for. This will be an instant fail what with all the flaws that it is now already showing. Bargain bin material at the very least, if they're lucky. Somebody somewhere along this process should probably have pressed a Big Red Button to stop this game from ever being published in the first place...
@Nintenjoe64 The adventure games were enjoyed by quite a few people and were largely considered good and successful games by most media/sites that reviewed them at the time. They were definitely not just deemed good in retrospect of everything that has come out since, they've stood out on their own strengths. And the Sonic character and it's franchise could still have some entertainment value, the racing games showed at least that much. Now if they could only do the same for a Sonic platformer...
@maneauleau Pacman would indeed be a much safer bet from what I've seen. Although depending on what age they are, kids can be somewhat more forgiving towards games sometimes, so maybe go for Pacman now and buy this Sonic game when it goes down in price.
Just like all other scores. I wish the scoring was more original.
Huh. This is the first review to actually praise the music. I'd heard the music actually doesn't match at all, for example, calm soothing music will play during a fight.
But everything else seems accurate.
What took so long though?
Seriously people, only ONE LOOK is needed to judge a Sonic game if it's bad or good. The whole "don't knock it til you try it" does not apply to Sonic games. At this point, a gamer should be able deduce whether or not a Sonic game is good just by looking at it. He's just special like that.
This is ridicoulus... I hoped the Sonic Boom franchise was made for expand the Sonic Universe and give new life and spotlight to the Blue Blur, but instead it seems we got a game that is litterally a game based on a tv show and aimed at kids -.-;
I doubt I'll get this game, unless I'll see it very very cheap in a period lacking any good release.
Still Sonic is almost the symbol of my childhood, despite all I'll still wait and believe one day we'll get to see a good game of the hedgehog (yap, I'm hopeless XD)
Sonic is a tie-in for a cartoon property, nothing more any more.
Expecting anything more than a THQ Spongebob game is unrealistic.
@TheRealThanos
Sigh, really wish that Crytek could've gotten EA to let them release the finished Wii U version of Crysis 3. Performance concerns aside, it could've served to show us just what CryEngine 3 and Wii U were truly capable of together.
The reviews for this game are disappointing. I may still buy it for library/collector purposes, but not until it takes a significant price cut.
The worst thing is that, apart from Lost World (which I personally thought was a great game, but some disagree), Nintendo got very little out of exclusivity deal with Sega. I wish Nintendo had found a way to exercise more control over/collaborate more with Sega on these games, like it's done with some other third party studios that have published for the platform.
That, or included some clause in the exclusivity agreement that guaranteed Sega was devoting its best efforts to the project. My guess is that in between wanting to rush the game out for the tv show and in allocating resources elsewhere, Sega greatly half-assed most of the games in this deal.
It's sad to see Sonic Boom in such an unfinished state, especially considering the potential this still has. It would require a lot of finetuning and bugfixing, but everything present feels like good ideas that weren't matched up to one another.
The funny thing is, it's rumored that several parts of the game were only placeholders, especially the music, which was supposed to be just as much rock as all Sonic games since Adventure. But the actual assets weren't done due to a lot of problems with the CryEngine 3, with several of BRB's staff talking about "working against the engine" many times.
The whole situation is grossly similar to Sonic The Hedgehog (generally known as Sonic '06), which was also rushed, to the point where an actual beta was submitted instead of a more stable version that wasn't ready for print yet.
@AVahne Yep, from what I've heard back then, CryEngine 3 was running like a charm on Wii U with some pretty advanced effects switched on and no frame rate issues in sight. Oh, well...
Worst thing about this though, is that this game will once again support all the naysayers that claim that the Wii U is the little engine that can't and will help to further cement it's bad rep with third party developers.
Where's the watch dogs review?
@Laxeybobby It was hacked, so now they have to do it all over again...
haha sonic at 0:24! I remember the trailor, but how the freak could you let sonic look like that to introduce the game
I guess If I need a Sonic, I will get Lost World instead! Too many other games though lol
I bought it. Wasn't expecting it to be great, but Sonic's one of the game series I collect and there was nothing else fighting for my cash last week.....anyway, whilst I'm not gonna disagree with the review above and think it's mostly fair, I will say that Sonic Boom is a much better game than Sonic '06 at least...the glitches in Sonic Boom can be annoying at times whereas the glitches in Sonic '06 (along with the horrendous loading times) made it nearly unplayable. And I say that as someone who struggled right through to the last stage of Sonic '06 before deciding enough was enough.
Sonic Boom's just very average for the most part, and a little below average the rest of the time. The side on 2D platforming sections are decent and there's a couple of good action sequences but inbetween it's dull and slow paced, constantly having to swap characters gets annoying fast, and the combat is just uninspired button mashing with no skill involved or any sure fire way to rack up decent combos (not that it makes any difference )
On a side note, even though the rings meter/energy bar is capped at 100, you still need to keep collecting them as you need them to unlock artwork and music bonuses in the 'collectibles' section from the main menu. And you need to collect literally thousands of rings for the unlocks
Yet another third party Wii u game bites the dust.
This is not good when Nintendo needs every game released for the Wii u to count.
This seems as though this is going to be the first Christmas I can remember (In the last 20 years) that I will not be putting a Nintendo game on my Santa list.
What annoys me about this game is that someone is trying to pull the wool over our eyes as consumers, because the game is clearly not optimised or anywhere near being finished and yet that still didn't stop them releasing it to try and make a quick buck from its unsuspecting fan base. I really hope it bombs and lessons are finally learned from this.
Final score of the Nintendo Sonic deal: 5,6/10 (5,1/10 based on the aggregate websites). I somehow hope Nintendo get's their money back.
It scored as highly as 4? I'm shocked.
Hopefully everybody on the team at least had a good time and learned a lot.
This title appeared doomed since its earliest reveals.
Sonic 4 Episodes I & II have been my favorite offerings in years.
@maneauleau I'll tell you a general rule about Nintendo games, you always buy first party games, and not stuff like Pacman. Buy The Wonderful 101 or Pikmin 3 instead. I'll really bet your kid will like it a lot more.
Metacritic scores (A while back, dunno about now) listed Sanic 06 higher than this game score-wise...wow. If Sanic 06 gets a higher score than a game, it must be terrible. Like, seriously.
How many times, exactly, is Sega going to rush the development of Sonic games? By now how have they not learned their lesson? It's beyond bad planning at this point. It's willful stupidity.
I'm still going to buy it, and it will make a (hopefully) great bargain bin title. And I highly doubt that this game is nearly as bad as Sonic 06. This game honestly looks like a mediocre game at worst. I'll probably enjoy it more than some Mario games (like some NSMB games and perhaps even Sunshine). You gotta love that Hedgehog Hyperbole after all.
I knew from day one that this game is going to flop. Hopefully Sega learn from this and just continue what they did with Sonic Colors and Lost World. Rushing a game out to promote a cartoon just doesn't work.
@Sergio151 No. This is an average/lackluster game. Sonic '06 was much worse than that. (Though the Metacritic scores say otherwise.)
I would only get this if I was offered this for free, or paid to keep a copy.
If you want to experience sonic boom, watch the TV show as it is a way better type of thing than the games. But seriously, the cartoon is beyond amazing.
The game honestly wasn't that bad for me. Sure, it isn't a Sonic game at heart and there are flaws that lurk about (I've encountered freezes in this game, and so did the Lego games), but having four playable characters and a clunky but satisfying combat made up for those for me. Overall I'd say it was fun for what it was and I'd give it a fair 5.5/10. I personally enjoyed it a bit more than Lost World Wii U.
4/10 is way too generous for this steaming pile of useless garbage. The only pitfall of digital download is I bought this from eshop and after 15 minutes i realised it was an utter waste of money that would have been better spent on pokemon this week.
This in no way resembles a sonic game. Alarms bells should have rang when a full franchise reboot was not being headed by sonic team. If a rebrand and relaunch of mario was announced but it was to be carried out by an unheard of company and not nintendo, it would've been panned before it began.
Why were sonic team not involved? What are they doing that was so important that meant THIS was allowed to happen tonl sonic. Sega are finished. Somebody should buyout sega and save those legendary franchises from what's sadly become one of the worst developers currently in existence.
I'm not expecting another reboot any time soon, since people say the new tv-series and comics are good. At one point, I even considered buying this. Good 3D platformers are rare nowadays. After seeing two reviews and the game in action, I've decided to save my money and spend my gaming time on other titles that are more worth it.
@SuperWiiU
At least they had a better deal with Platinum Games, though those game are just too awesome for most people and haven't sold much.
The hatred for this game shows a serious level of biased going into it before its played.
The level design was great, the gameplay was fun, and the characters were far better than they have been in years.
But considering this is a review coming from a site that is literally foaming at the mouth with anticipation for a game as awful as captain toad, I can understand how this review happened.
@Prime well actually I should have said he is 6. We have these games but it's too advanced for him. Also he likes Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 but it's not as easy and brainless as Skylanders for example. I was looking forward to Sonic Boom for him but it looks like even for him it might be a bad fit
@Dark-Luigi
Aaaand another smart-donkey comment from someone who clearly doesn't like Sonic in general. At least, I'd assume that's the case when games like Generations and Colors exist.
Not surprised at all, really.
@AugustusOxy what about your level of biased against captain toad before you've even played it?
I don't get the hate for Lost World. In my opinion, it was better than Sonic Colors, which many consider to be the best Sonic game in years.
But whatever. Opinions are opinions.
OdnetninAges wrote:
My lack of hype was right. I'm not even disappointed.
I will admit I like the TV Show and Shattered Crystal 3DS game, though.
I'll get it eventually if I find a good deal, if only to form my own opinions.
From what I've seen, I gotta say I disagree with one of the review's few praises: the music. It sounds like generic orchestrated crap rather than the very characteristic uplifting tunes the series is known for.
Peg on nose time ... such a shame i was with sonic from sonic o the master system.
I really liked Sonic Adventure on tm DreamCast. Unfortunately this wasn't something that creative.
I don't think there's any coming back from this.
Xbox and Playstation have already forgotten about Sonic, and I don't see Nintendo giving them the time of day after this mess.
The only way they can keep selling the franchise now is to follow the cartoon with more shovelware, making an easy buck off uninformed parents.
Of all the changes they've made to the characters and series mainstays, I can't for the life of me work out why they replaced the classic "spring" with something constantly referred to as "bounce pads".
@OdnetninAges You have absolutely no right to call me a "smart-ass". Just because I don't like a videogame character or their games doesn't mean you have to get all THAT defensive about it. Don't like what I said THAT much? Don't comment.
Yep, they cant recapture what made the original great. 4 Episode 2 was moving towards the right direction for me, refine that further SEGA, and make Shenmue 3, or get Alex Kidd out of retirement!
I was playing Sonic Adventure on my PS3 last night, for Dreamcast nostalgia, and to be honest that game is seriously glitchy. Its kind of fun to see how much you can break the game though, like getting characters into stages they are not supposed to visit.
@AugustusOxy The hypocrisy in this post is hilarious. LOL. But yeah, Captain Toad is a VERY overrated game. Makes me not want to buy it.
Wow these comments make me feel like vomiting. This is not the end for Sonic. There hasn't been a rushed Sonic since 06, wtf are u people talking about. This is just a freakin' spin off that should've never happened. What I'm really looking forward to is the next real gen Sonic game that has been in development right after Lost World which will be multi-platform. I think it's going to be awesome since the last multi sonic was Generations and that game was good. Hopefully this next one is even more better and takes advantage with other characters with the hedgehog engine.
I actually was looking forward to this game, but was slowing losing hope with all the rumors that was floating about. I'll still probably pick it up eventually just because I like the Blue Blur.
Buy Bayonetta 2 instead! Unbelievable how high they set the bar in Bayonetta with hardly any framerate issues. I don't get why Sonic Boom had so much problems with that
An expected score. I really hope SEGA isn't making these games on purpose to ruin the Wii U. If so, that is pretty sad.
I actually loved Sonic Lost World despite the few problems it had. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best Sonic game I have played in a while. It's a shame this one isn't even worth mentioning, but I completely expected this after the video about innumerable glitches occurring in the game.
Eh, I think Rise of Lyric is decent. I can finally play as Sonic's friends alongside him again, instead of them being on the sidelines.
Well I'm still getting this game. I loved Lost World despite the reviews. I've been wanting Rise of Lyric for a while. I've seen that people enjoy the game regardless of the hardcore critics' opinions (which i disagree with most of the time). People LOVVVVE to throw stones.
When a system can offer you Super Mario 3D World, Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros., why would anybody want to waste their money on a game with the word "Sonic" in the title?
Quite simply the franchise is as good as dead. Everybody thought Sega was on the right track with Colors and Generations, but then came the crash-fest that is Lost worlds (and gameplay-wise Colors is a lot better too). And now this mess of a game, and a hugely uninspired 3DS counterpart. I don't have much faith in this franchise anymore.
Eh, a failed attempt and nothing more. I see Sonic Boom as more of an experimentation rather than an overhaul. It happens with time — give something a few decades and it will probably get redesigned.
Hopefully next we'll see a more traditional Sonic game that's actually good. In the meantime, the TV show is decent...
@Dark-Luigi
"Don't like what I said THAT much? Don't comment."
Don't like Sonic THAT much? Don't comment. Haters like you completely ignore critically acclaimed games in the series like Colors and Generations, and when a game that gets mixed to negative reviews like Lost World or Raise of Loorack comes out you are all just like "lol another bad sanic game, noting new"
I don't want to argue with you any further, so let's just agree to disagree on the matter.
@Diddy_kong
Because there are people who like to try out new things.
@OdnetninAges ...Uh...since when did I say I hate/ignore Genrations and Colors?...
...But yeah, fine. I'm ending it now before this gets any uglier.
God, fanboys these days...
I would have used those Sonic funds for this instead.
https://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimg33.imageshack.us%2Fimg33%2F8820%2Fti3f.jpg&key=Z9dTwhXiziZdNZ8Bt5AJHg&w=600&h=292
The best way to experience this game, is probably watching the Game Grumps videos. One of them even has a frame by frame look at the cutscenes, which seem to be all over the place too.
Sonic Boom is an awesome game, and it saddens me to see all you people throwing your hate over Sonic, just cause of a small score or not even trying the game first.
This game has plenty of issues, but I still enjoyed it! There is WAY too much hate going around for this game. Its nowhere near perfect, but its not that bad of a game.
Also I just pretended that this game took place in some bizarre universe separate from the typical Sonic universe and suddenly the strange character designs stopped bugging me.
I was actually expecting a 3 or less.
@Baker1000
That's what I'm thinking. A 4 is generous! This game is close (but not quite at) the level of Sonic '06.
Here's why this games sucks:
http://www.tssznews.com/2014/11/15/reports-suggest-brb-exodus-ahead-of-sonic-boom-launch/
Here's how Sega is going to deal with it:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/10/08/sega-wants-embarassing-games-off-shelves.aspx
Lots of rumors flying around as to the details, but I think it's safe to say the development team became increasingly disillusioned with the project at various intervals, for various personal and/or management-related reasons.
Keep in mind Sega did not make this game, they only published it. It was outsourced to Big Red Button, founded by Bob Rafei, once Art Director of the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series. With all the previous Naughty Dog employees and their masterful expertise with platformers, Sonic Boom was expected to be a very good game.
It seems like they never got to reach their vision this time around... Even the concept art was VERY different from the typical Sonic fare.
Sonic's reputation takes another hit yet again. Honestly how long will it take for Sega to learn from their past mistakes? Generations and Colors laid a solid foundation for modern Sonic games. Yet Sega continues to experiment and produce mediocre results.
I told ya'll this game would bomb when that article about a glitch was written on here.
@FX29 Sonic's unsalvageable reputation suffering is worth it if it means games like Sonic Lost World get made.
At this rate sonic is doomed.
Off topic, I wish sega would just get on the wii u vc shop already!! It would remind everyone what a great videogame company/developer they once were.
And I'd expect sonic team to be very upset with this iteration of their star character & franchise!!
I am honestly enjoying it more than Sonic Lost World. Lost World was just... too familiar. This game feels more like a new Sonic Adventure. It is terrible, but I can't help but love it.
It's sad to see all the marketing efforts they put into this game. I would at least buy Sonic Lost World as it looks enjoyable but for like 25$. This, I would never buy, the anoying character conversations is enough to justify it.
@TheSonicdude97
Don't worry about it. Some of these people don't care and they aren't even trying. On the other hand I would get the game since the worlds look pretty interesting and most people on Miiverse say it's not that bad, but at least at $40 I would buy it though.
I think I am done with holding out for hope. They hyped these games like they would be the next Sonic 2. They raised everyone's expectations and hopes that this would be a really good game. This die-hard Sonic fan has given up. At the very least, the show actually reminds me of when I used to watch the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog when I was a kid. (Not the good one, the goofy one.) It's pretty stupid and pointless, but it's not unwatchable.
@OdnetninAges I love Sonic Lost World — currently playing it all over for the second time. Colors and Generations are good, but Lost World is a true successor to the 3D sonic series.
Therefore, I suspect that people hate Sonic Boom because they just have this prejudice against Sonic games. Mario games just cannot excite me that much (including the highly acclaimed Mario Galaxy). I remember playing Galaxy 2 and the only thing that excited me was the flying stages (and they are probably the least Mario stages).
"4/10" Oh... How unexpected...
(note: add sarcasm)
All I can hope is that Sonic Team have been secretly working on a Sonic game since Lost World - and that it's good. Sucks that the last Nintendo exclusive Sonic game was such a flop. Hope this doesn't discourage any future Sega and Nintendo partnerships.
I really enjoyed Sonic Lost World ... Was a Good Game ... Sad to hear new game is no good
@TheHumbleFellow Where can I watch the show?
aww and the sonic games were on the rise, now there falling again. Oh well
@polivar4 Try Youtube. There might be some episodes floating around there.
@Moon
Sonic Team is working on a new Sonic game since Lost World! There was an article back in February on Nintendo Life that confirmed this. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/rumour_2015_sonic_title_to_hit_wii_u_alongside_ps4_and_xbox_one
Hopefully it's Sonic's next big gem...
It flatlined!
@PlywoodStick Interesting articles and always funny to see the "experts" in the comments below the article. Also, that's an interesting point you made. I agree that it might be exactly that, especially with the rumored pressure put on the team to rush the game to coincide it being published alongside the new TV show, which would at the very least partially account for the bugs, the mixed bag of graphics and so on.
@SuperMalleo No offense intended, but I honestly have to wonder if you know what the pun in that tagline is based on...
Considering your age I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, though.
@TheRealThanos I don't either.
↓ That's right, I don't get the joke.
@BearClaus Don't what? Get the joke?
@BearClaus Besides the obvious jab at the title of the new Sonic game itself, it's probably also referring to this:
The original game is from 1991, so that is why I made that comment.
There is a current version, though. As you may well know, and the same sound is still in there, albeit modernized:
Sonic went
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Operation_Upshot-Knothole_-_Badger_001.jpg
The Sonic Cycle continues once again.
@TheRealThanos Or the fact there is a Sonic song called Sonic Boom. And don't get at me because of my age, I have played my fair share of retro games.
@themac2001 Sorry if I'm misreading you but are you taking offense at an observation not directed at you (and one that wasn't meant to insult in the first place)?
But if we are going to get technical and nitpicky: I played all the Sonic games and whatever famous retro game on whatever console you can think of, live at the time they were released, not many years later. Yes, I'm that old. And Guile's Sonic Boom was there well before the Sonic song; 2 years to be exact...
BOOST RING!
I think we now know why the Big Read Button people were Ex-Naughty Dog employees
This has got to be the first time in my thirty years as a gamer that I am completely baffled. I thought this game was great.
Am I even playing the same game as everybody else???
Let us remember the 16-bit Sonic from the 90's, pour some liquor on his grave and move on.
@SuperMalleo Holy sh**. I feel sorry for the green guy.
Change Knuckles back. Sonic-" no time like the present" Knuckles-"there are presents?" Holy crap, the waving hair, too
Worse than Sonic 06.
@TheRealThanos Thats Zim. And that robot is so cute :3
You know what I hate? Every time an European gets their hands on SONIC they tend to ruin it for the rest of us. I will admit the original Sonic-Cartoon is an smash-hit along with the SATAM Animation but this thing is awful.
The whole entire show plays out like an terrible written children show on Public Broadcasting. They do not have any real "Cartoon" jokes ( meaning for both mature and immature audience ) at all. The characters ( all of them ) have an IQ lower then the worst scoring student in most regions.
This game is not an Sonic game. It is like Rayman ( that game publish by UbiSoft ?? )
but it lacks the point all together. They are dumbing down children even worst with this material. I am sorry they need to have something different then repeat action. Children ( young players ) of today will never know the splendor of STHH charm that has been crippled by the Dreamcast debut of Sonic II. It is like an love and hate situation with Sonic.
WHY IS SONIC SHOOTING BOLTS OF LIGHTING FROM HIS HANDS? Oh I remember tails made special thingys for them to use. In the past Sonic could literally WALK ON AIR and dive through most hazards with an spin-dash. This makes him helpless.
Forget about Sonic look at poor Crash Bandicoot. He has an complete lobotomy done to him.
My son at 8 actually enjoys this game. Yes it does not give this feeling you get from a good Mario game but for a Young Sonic fan who also likes Skylanders this is fun.
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