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SEGA Lets Out a Sonic Boom of Gameplay, Screenshots, Art and Info

It’s pre-E3 week, meaning that publishers who aren’t sure if their game will get noticed during E3 are revealing their games early. And SEGA is doing this with its two Sonic Boom games, which have suddenly gotten a bit of a name change.

First up is Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for Wii U developed by Big Red Button Entertainment. The video above shows gameplay of normal Adventure-style levels, one speedier stage and boss battles. The normal levels are slower-paced than your usual Sonic game, seemingly playing more like a PS2-era platformer with beat-em-up sections and character switching. There’s also the new Enerbeam which can be used to find alternate paths, grab and throw enemies, and zip-line across gaps. The speedier levels look a bit more like something you’d play in Sonic Unleashed or Generations, though a bit more automated. The boss battles have all four characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy) battling either Eggman or a robot. Like the name suggests, the primary villain isn’t Eggman but rather a cyborg reptilian named Lyric.
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Then there’s Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for 3DS developed by Sanzaru Games. Unlike the Wii U game this is a 2D Metroidvania with levels which focus on exploration along with some 3D levels where you use the quickstep and swing around with the new Enerbeam. You’ll be able to switch between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the recently introduced Sticks, all of whom have unique abilities. Amy couldn’t make it on account of being kidnapped by Lyric. There used to be a video preview with gameplay footage from GameXplain, but apparently SEGA wasn’t so keen on gameplay being out there already. You can still find it along with a bit more Rise of Lyric gameplay footage if you look in the right places though. (*coughforumscough*)
Beyond the jump you can also find screenshots and concept art of both games along with a list of previews from other sites.

Previews

Destructoid – Sonic Boom plays pretty much exactly as I expected
Gamespot – How Do The Two New Sonic Booms Compare?
Game Informer – The Different Faces Of Sonic Boom
Kotaku – The Explanation Behind Sonic’s New Look
Gamesradar – Rise of Lyric on Wii U might be too simplistic for the average Sonic fan
Gamesradar – Shattered Crystal on 3DS is a throwback to classic 2D Sonic
Siliconera – Eggman Defeated By Sonic’s Electric Lasso
VentureBeat – Don’t call it a reboot: Sonic Boom is just a ‘different branch’ of the Sonic universe
Polygon – Sonic Boom shows an appreciation of platforming

Rise of Lyric Screenshots

Shattered Crystal Screenshots

Concept Art


 
[Source: SEGA Blog]

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27 Comments

  • Reply

    Aaaaand it looks just as crappy as I thought it would. Slow-paced, boring combat, speed sections that look more automated than Sonic Unleashed’s daytime stages. This is like a gathering of everything that was wrong with past Sonic games in one giant turd.
    Meh, I’ll definitely pass.

  • Reply

    Yeah, no thanks, not even going to try this one.

  • Reply

    It looks OK, but this isn’t the future for Sonic.

    • Reply

      Well, yeah, that’s what SEGA has been telling people since the reveal of these games. They’ve said multiple times that this is a spin-off franchise somewhat like what Ultimate Spider-Man is to regular Spider-Man.

  • Reply

    Gee, everyone’s instantly put off by the speed stage shown, when that’s clearly the first one. It’s bound to get harder as you progress (duh)
    However, I’m rather disappointed by the excessive amounts of combat. All in all, I may try it, but I’m not touching it till I read some reputable reviews.

  • Reply

    I have to admit.. that first speed-stage looks pretty bad. I did however like the look of the slower combat-based levels. Some of the animations during the speed stage looked lazy.
    The falling animation and running animations do not look good at all. Game’s still early in development isn’t it? I don’t even know. Hopefully they fix some of that.

  • Reply

    This game shows all the boring and awful things people hated in Sonic 06 and Sonic Unleashed
    – enemies with big healthbars, lenghty combat
    – lasso mechanic which is similar to Silver’s wonky telekinesis
    – badniks who look more like generic mecha and bland
    The first speed stage also look very… bland and “dead” compared to earlier Sonic running stages.
    The only things I liked were how Knuckles and Amy controlled. It sucks that we finally got to play with them in a bland Sonic game such as this.
    The art style also SCREAMS something you’d see in generic western cartoons rather than the japanese anime-inspired Sonic games.
    It has lost all the original flair it had.
    It’s like SEGA didn’t learn from their past failures.

    • Reply

      “It’s like SEGA didn’t learn from their past failures.”
      This game isn’t made by Sonic Team but by a Big Red Button Entertainment, which has ex-Naughty Dog people. So this isn’t exactly a case of “not learning from past failures”.

    • Reply

      Nor is it a case of failure at all. People fail to understand that this isn’t meant to be like a Sonic game. They told us, right up front, the day they announced it, that it would be focused less on speed, and more on combat. In terms of the enerbeam, it’s so obviously more usable than Silver’s psychokinesis that it seems like this is first impression hate I’m seeing here. Third, everything shown is still a work-in-progress build, not to mention that it looks completely fine.

    • Reply

      In addition, so the art style screams something you’d see in generic western cartoons vs the generic Japanese anime-inspired art style that media is bandwagoning on now and days?
      What original flair?
      I think that the art style looks fine and does it’s best to keep the sonic-style look while making some artistic changes that haven’t been made to this series’ characters before.

    • Reply

      “People fail to understand that this isn’t meant to be like a Sonic game.”
      Then don’t slap “Sonic” in its title nor use Sonic characters in it.

  • Reply

    @TimmiT
    But SEGA should have advised the people they hired beforehand.
    Imagine paying them and giving them no directions only to recreate the Sonic 06 universe. Waste of time and money.

    • Reply

      We’re not talking about people who are completely new to making games here. The people at Big Red Button have experience at developers like Naughty Dog, Insomniac and other studios where they mainly made PS2/PSP platformers. Besides that, they don’t need directions because they’re not trying to make this like previous Sonic games. They should be able to make a competent game without having played Sonic’s previous failures.
      For an unfinished game, I think Sonic Boom looks fine for now. I also haven’t had the chance to play it yet, so I’m not really commenting on the combat and such yet until I’ve had a go at it for myself.

  • Reply

    The gameplay looks like a mix of the daytime and nighttime stages from Sonic Unleashed, only more colorful and nice to look at, I hope the game turns okay, I’m not expecting much though but I hope I’m wrong!

  • Reply

    Generalization of these comics:
    Change = Bad

  • Reply

    well i wrote that wrong

  • Reply

    I’m disappointed by the lack of support I’m seeing here, and again, a large part of it is just the fans not being very open-minded about change.
    I, personally, like the look of it and its approach of things, and think it’ll be something worth trying. Reminiscent of the same old Sonic but has put a new spin on it that could be interesting. And, story! Huzzah! That’s something the past couple of games have been frustratingly lacking in. Maybe Sonic Boom will remind Sega that it was the stories that had helped set Sonic apart from the rest…
    Whatever the case, I’m at least sold on the art style. Very colorful, detailed, and universe-building. Lots to look at present in a style all its own, as it should be.
    And personally, I think maybe the detract from speed might be a good thing, or at least something worth trying. Sonic hasn’t ALWAYS been about JUST speed. Sonic Adventure, for instance, was very NOT speed oriented, not really. As the name suggests, it was more focused on the adventure, and Sonic Boom here seems intent on taking a similar approach, and I see nothing wrong with that.
    I must admit though, that even though I’ve seen only the screenshots of the 3DS version, I’m more impressed with the Wii U version that the 3DS version, which does feel like a step down in terms of polish.
    Other than that, I having a hard time really saying anything all that bad about it…other than maybe its a bit heavy on the in-game dialogue, something that has never really worked that well for Sonic in the past; in part because there’s too much going on for the player to pay attention to it, and in part because the game doesn’t exactly need an endless stream of smart-alecky remarks while playing the game.
    At least the voice acting seems decent enough (even though you can’t hear it all that clearly).
    All in all, I think Sonic Boom may still surprise the fanbase yet. And if failing that, it’ll definitely obtain a new fanbase all of its own, that much is inevitable.

    • Reply

      Yeah, but Sonic Adventure was far faster than this. Seeing as these LEGO game combat sequences are the main bits of the game, as we’ve been told, I can expect that even though this will be a good platformer, just in the Jak and Daxter sense rather than the Sonic sense. If I were BRB I would at least speed up the characters and give them some ramps or upward slopes, like the one that SONIC HAD TO SPINDASH ON TO USE. They can obviously do it. I would love if they sped up Sonic, made Tails a bit faster, and Amy and Knuckles keep their current speeds. This would be a great system for family co-op, if that’s what they’re aiming for. I’d choose Sonic, because his speed is difficult to control but rewarding, and my little bro could be Knuckles or something because he was a big fan of Jak.
      BAM. Audience appeal.

    • Reply

      Not really, actually, I just compared the two. They’re largely running at about the same speed…in fact Sonic Boom might actually be FASTER…save where Sonic hits a speed boost in Adventure, but I always wondered if the speed boosts were ever really that needed in the Sonic franchise (shouldn’t Sonic be able to run that fast by default, without the added aid? He IS the fastest thing alive, after all).
      Now I’ll admit that Sonic Boom is a departure from previous games, and certainly isn’t perfect, and that’s not going to be some people’s cup of tea. But that doesn’t mean its a BAD GAME by default. I say it again, I think Sonic Boom has potential, and might yet surprise the fanbase by being a success.

    • Reply

      One of the main reasons I want Sonic Boom for the Wii U (If I get one) is because HOLY CRAP A SONIC GAME WITH COOP MY DREAMS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.

  • Reply

    this is an amazing i just hope it wont turn into another sonic 2006

  • Reply

    FYI, the RSS feed is broken. 404 error.

  • Reply

    I’m open minded and I still believe the Sonic cycle is back.

    • Reply

      If Sonic Boom does well, it def will be back for many years to come.

  • Reply

    I can’t believe you guys.
    This is FRICKIN’ EX-NAUGHTY DOG! These people aren’t familiar with making clunkers.

  • Reply

    My only real complaint is that they’ve gone back to the Sonic Heroes style of the characters talking all the damn time in the stages… ugh… that’s like the one thing they shouldn’t have even considered doing.

  • Reply

    Um, ya’ll do know that holding your arms behind your back is for going really fast to prevent yourself from falling forward……though sonic isn’t going THAT fast. 😛

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