Sonic Boom Discussion Thread (TV, Games, and Everything Else)

[Barry the Nomad]

Has anyone given thoughts on the 3DS version? I just finished the one stage in the demo and really liked it. Seems a lot more polished than the WiiU version and strikes that balance between being a Sonic game and being unique from other Sonic games.


If the full game is like the demo, then I'm seriously not understanding the low scores for the 3DS version.


Edit: just to chime in on the TV series. Just saw ep 3 and 4. It's fantastic. They really have a winner with the TV series.

My review copy should arrive Tuesday, with a review shortly thereafter, so I'll try to get my thoughts on it out there asap. But yeah, from the 3DS demo and the Wii U game, the 3DS game is far more Sonicy.

[Barry the Nomad]

TSSMB collected a ton of links to concept art, check them all out here:

https://www.facebook.com/rcraigharris
https://www.facebook.com/nicolas.p.villarreal
http://armandserrano.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sonic-boom-rise-of-lyric.html
http://nicolasweis.com/blog/en_US/2014/11/10/sonic-boom/
http://sivartruiz.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/sonic-boom-drops-today-i-had-blast.html
http://sivartruiz.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/heres-smore-sonic-boom-art-in-my-first.html

Sonic has several different iterations including some very wild and off model drawings. Lyric was planned to be an Owl at one point, Chao were small dragon-like creatures, the game's codename was Project Apollo, and there is a hillbilly Eggman.

[Randroid]

Awesome stuff! The new character designs are growing on me day by day.

Old school Knuckles just looks weird to me now.

[Berto]

For anyone who's seen the stories for Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal, is there any backstory on Sticks or not?

I bought and played the 3DS version and I can say there isn't in it.
Most of the cutscenes is just chars talking to each other.
I don't know about the WiiU version though.

[pirovash88]

I'm far more interested in the 3ds version too, well, if I had to choose one anyways. Looking forward to your review Barry.

[George]

Is there a back story to anything? Like Rise of Lyrics makes no sense, it feels like large portions of the story where removed or never fleshed out. Like, you randomly are fighting Eggman, escape to some ancient tomb (with Sonic characters just acting like they know everything that is happening) and they open some door that unleashes lyric... then you sorta 'face off with him' and ... erupt cutscene ends and..

Your in a open world finding someone I never met, who just tells me about the legend of Lyric. The voice performances feel dialed in and the comedy... is this comedy?

[Sharky]

Just when you thought the final product couldn't have been any worse:

[pirovash88]

Looks like a wanabe Mickey Mouse..

George, when will your review be up?

[Berto]

Is there a back story to anything? Like Rise of Lyrics makes no sense, it feels like large portions of the story where removed or never fleshed out. Like, you randomly are fighting Eggman, escape to some ancient tomb (with Sonic characters just acting like they know everything that is happening) and they open some door that unleashes lyric... then you sorta 'face off with him' and ... erupt cutscene ends and..

There is a backstory in Shattered Crystal at least, but in the form of in-game digital comic book (about 25 pages). It tells some about Lyric's backstory and motivation, and some about how Shadow became "evil".

[Shigs]

I just finished the game tonight and....

I like it ! I really liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah, it's glitchy as hell and the frame rate during the speed runs is atrocious, but despite the rushed mess this games is, there's still an engaging game there. I loved traversing the world int different ways. The fighting didn't get tedious thanks to constant new enemies and changing styles by switching characters and boss fights were very satisfactory. I was lucky enough not to have had such bad glitches as having the floor drop beneath me or anything. I know it kinda was a "Your mileage may vary" kind of thing.

[max_cady]

Yep, that Penny Arcade comic was just... a little too much.

Since I don't have a WiiU, I'll just chat about the new cartoon. These new episodes were fairly good. That Universal Translator was the big highlight.


The overall impressions I'm getting from the game is that it seems to emulate Jax & Dexter.

[ROJM]

Just when you thought the final product couldn't have been any worse:

Look we can all bash Sharky in the other thread and try to convince ourselves there's nothing wrong with SONIC BOOM..but we just have to see what Sega themselves have done. They downgraded the forecasts of sales for this game among other things. So obviously they are not happy with the game's results..and this was a big deal because of the cartoon and licensing. And now the fan boy hate brigade has come in determined to make sure that the game will get low scores.
Its funny how the closest to a real Sonic game in years..and i mean Sonic as a character was in SMB ...done by a Nintendo guy. It says a lot where Sega is with Sonic.
The character needs to go back to basics..back to  the attitude personality...no complications in gameplay..a straight up platformer..no gimmicks...no sidekicks or pals..just Sonic on his own...with a core game play mechanic. SONIC GENRATIONS was on the right track...in parts..but i want that without the DC version of Sonic...and a more gorgeous MOEBIUS world enviroment rather than a real world one. and create a stonking good solid game. However that won't happen.

[MadeManG74]

I only watched a few minutes of Ep 1, and watched Ep 3 the other day. It's pretty good, typical Saturday Morning fare. I would have loved it to bits if I was 10 or so, but still has some enjoyable gags for adults. I quite like the 10 minute format too.

[Happy Cat]

I quite like the early concept art. Makes me think of a PlayStation platformer, which is obviously what BRB was trying to make with Sonic Boom, its so obvious. Having said that, those designs don't fit the Sonic brand at all, So I can see why Iizuka-san was disgusted with Big Red Button.

Bob Rafei, CEO of Big Red Button, told GameSpot that early designs were downright "traumatic" for Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka.

"Early on, when we had our first review of all the crazy things we wanted to try, Iizuka-san came down to Los Angeles and looked through all the different concepts," Rafei said. "I felt sorry for the guy because sometimes he couldn't actually look at the screen ... it was too traumatic seeing all the crazy stuff we wanted to do."

[pirovash88]

The concept art makes me think that Big Red Button hates Sonic..