Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[Enesephus]

I see a a lot of people complain about the use of Skrillex in the game trailer, but I didn't actually mind it. I don't have anything against dubstep or "brostep" or whatever, and I thought it fit the trailer fairly well (of course, Sonic Boom from Sonic CD does fit better to me, I just don't mind the music they chose for the trailer). I've seen an unbelievable amount of people (not really around here) complaining about it and praying that dubstep doesn't make it into the game's soundtrack, when I think it's unlikely anyway. And even if it did get in the soundtrack, I doubt it would make up enough of the track to be a big deal.

[Crippled Espurr]

Off-topic maybe.

 

Here are some of my thoughts about Boom: 

 

The new designs doesn't really bother me, actually I quite like them. Yes, even Knuckles', even though it's kinda stereotypical because of the strong = muscular guy design.  

 

The art style, in my opinion, is quite interesting. Pretty much all of the screenshots of the game so far look pretty damn gorgeus, and I really like this kind of art style. In my opinion, it has a Heroes touch, but it mostly reminds me of a Jak & Daxter game. The only thing that kinda bugs me about the visuals of the game so far are Sonic and Knuckles' models. The aliens and the other enemies seem just OK to me.

 

The locations that have been shown so far in the game and in the concept art really caught me as well, especially the one shown in the trailer when Tails says "Hey guys, check this out; a secret room!". 

 

The gamplay looks nice. I think they are aiming for something kinda similar to the SA/Heroes because of the emphasis in combat. It's also nice to see we finally get to play with more than one character that is not a Sonic variant. The level design looks really open and Co-op-ish, thing which I like. I also hope to have that Marine-looking character as a playable character (though I doubt it's Marine).

 

That's pretty much all I have to say for now.

[Blue Blood]

This is kind of on topic since it was in the trailer, was there a particular reason that Bangarang was picked as the trailer song? I don't think Skrillex has been used in Sonic trailers before...

 

Nope. No particular reason. They use any old tracks for Sonic games. Kele's Tenderoni for Generations, Nero's Promises for ASRT, and much more. It's nothing to be read into.

[Tani Coyote]

That just makes me miss when every game's theme song was being used as the trailer theme.

Guessing we're going to get another non-vocal theme for this one.

Shameful in my view; to me one of the most distinctive aspects of Sonic soundtracks is they have so many vocal themes.

[MegasonicZX]

Yeah, it just hasn't truly felt like a sonic game lately without a vocal theme at all.

[Tani Coyote]

At least SEGA's courteous enough to keep Crush 40 around for older fans despite their not being relevant in Sonic games for years.

I guess they've just decided to retire vocal themes the same way they retired traditional art for 3D models. Which I find shameful. Regardless of someone's personal preferences on vocal themes, they were one aesthetic that helped Sonic stick out from the rest of the platforming crowd, I think.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Guessing we're going to get another non-vocal theme for this one.

 

Now, now. Let's not make an ASS of U and ME.

 

Let alone, going off of two games, one of which still had plenty of vocal tracks, not to mention a theme that didn't make it in due time budgets and whatnot.

 

'Cause that's a pretty big assumption to make on such indecisive notes.

[Lady Soniko]

I wonder if giving this game a vocal theme akin to a crush 40 like song would just appeal even more to the western fans in this case? Crush 40 certainly causes more of a stir here than it ever did in Japan, it makes me wonder if it'll add to the overall complete feel that's been lacking from a main series Sonic game since Colours, although I'd argue that Black Knight had the last classic styled buttrock theme song.

[Tani Coyote]

Let alone, going off of two games, one of which still had plenty of vocal tracks, not to mention a theme that didn't make it in due time budgets and whatnot.

 

'Cause that's a pretty big assumption to make on such indecisive notes.

 

Generations is cheating given Sonic Youth had no importance to the main game and all the other vocal songs are remixes of earlier ones.

Vocal themes have essentially been retired.

 

I wonder if giving this game a vocal theme akin to a crush 40 like song would just appeal even more to the western fans in this case? Crush 40 certainly causes more of a stir here than it ever did in Japan, it makes me wonder if it'll add to the overall complete feel that's been lacking from a main series Sonic game since Colours, although I'd argue that Black Knight had the last classic styled buttrock theme song.

I am somewhat optimistic about that, actually. I think Crush 40 ultimately is indeed something that came to exist for Western audiences... so hopefully they'll be brought back in some way for this. It would just make sense. It'll give them a new song to perform at SoS and Sonic Boom anyway.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 

Generations is cheating given Sonic Youth had no importance to the main game and all the other vocal songs are remixes of earlier ones.

Vocal themes have essentially been retired.

 

Give me actual decisive evidence that goes beyond fearing over a game who's theme didn't make it in and and a game without a vocal theme for once, and then we'll talk.

 

'Till then, no dice on this drastic assumption.

[Dizcrybe]

We've had like two games without a vocal theme. Calm down, y'all.

[Lady Soniko]

TWO GAMES TOO MANY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyperventilates in corner/

[Tani Coyote]

When you've had a vocal theme for more or less every game for 11 years straight... 3 years is a pretty big amount of time.

Transformed should be counted as well, given that the first All Stars Racing had So Much More. So even spinoff titles can be counted as generally having a vocal theme.

My pessimism that vocal themes are being retired is justified.

[Dizcrybe]

When you've had a vocal theme for more or less every game for 11 years straight... 3 years is a pretty big amount of time.

 

3 measly years compared to over a decade of vocal songs. Doesn't really match up.

[Tani Coyote]

3 measly years compared to over a decade of vocal songs. Doesn't really match up.

That's one third. Hardly negligible.

Generations was easily explainable because they didn't want to be polarizing.

Then Transformed didn't have a vocal theme despite the first game having one.

Then Lost World didn't have a vocal theme despite all the pre-Generations main titles since Adventure having one.

I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly hopeful that games are going to have vocal themes anymore. At least for Sonic Team-based games. I can remain hopeful for the Boom branch, I suppose.

I know there's no shortage of people who don't care about a lack of vocal themes, I get that. But me personally, I always thought it was one of the aesthetic qualities that set Sonic apart from similar titles. Does Ratchet, or Mario, or Sly Cooper have something like It Doesn't Matter? How many other franchises can you literally sing lyrics to the final boss?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

When you've had a vocal theme for more or less every game for 11 years straight... 3 years is a pretty big amount of time.

Transformed should be counted as well, given that the first All Stars Racing had So Much More. So even spinoff titles can be counted as generally having a vocal theme.

My pessimism that vocal themes are being retired is justified.

No not really. In fact, it's rather grasping to try and use a racing game to justify such assumptive pessimism. And if we're going to dive as far as to count the first one and her theme, you'd have to also count Generations its themes and "Sonic Youth".

[Tani Coyote]

In fact, it's rather grasping to try and use a racing game to justify such assumptive pessimism. And if we're going to count the first one, you'd have to also count Generations.

No, it's not. The first racing game had a vocal theme. Ergo it seems peculiar the second one did not. I know Lee Brotherton and SEGA got into it with each other and that explains a lot about that part, but it's still odd.

Sonic Youth is an unofficial main theme song, so I'm not counting it.

Sonic Colors was the last console title to have a vocal theme. I'm inclined to think there's a high chance they're being retired as part of the "new Sonic" that Iizuka was looking after.

The Unleashed trailer had Endless Possibilities. The Black Knight trailer had Knight of the Wind. The Colors trailer had Reach For the Stars. Since Generations, we just get generic popular music for trailers; the themes might fit the trailer, but they're still licensed from someone else rather than original pieces. There's a reason I assume the vocal themes are gone; they're not used for trailers like they used to be. And then when the game itself comes out, no vocal theme there either.

I have zero reason to be optimistic.

That or I have to assume Skrillex has become SEGA's new composer in which case I need to go cry.

[Meow]

Honestly I personally hope vocal themes don't make a comeback at all for this game, or any of the other games. That is me being completely selfish of course because I honestly can't stand them in this series - especially any of the ones by Crush40. An unpopular opinion to be sure and if they were to return for Sonic Boom it wouldn't really kill the game for me (not that I'm really looking forward to it anyway), but I've been loving the trend lately of expanding beyond the cheesy rock the series had wallowed in for a while and being something a lot more musically interesting and reminiscent of old SEGA soundtracks.

In the case of Marine the Not Marine, whether it is her or not, it is the only redesign/design in general from this game that I've looked at and went 'yeah I like that' so regardless of who it actually ends up being I guess I finally have my 2nd positive thing to say about this game, the first thing being that I like the backgrounds.

[Tani Coyote]

In an era where Sonic is always being accused of ripping off Mario or someone else, having some design changes to separate him from other franchises is for the best, I think.

The vocal themes accomplish this.

At a Mario or Zelda convention, you'd just have a bunch of humming and attempts at a capella. At a Sonic convention, the crowd can actually sing in unison. "Up and down and all around," anyone?

I have stated that if Boom ignores the older fanbase and lures in lots of newer fans it would be a good business move... so I guess this is just an extension of that.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Need we be reminded that ASRT isn't just a Sonic, but really a SEGA Allstars game, a game of the

Sega Superstars (series)

? ANd it's certainly not the first to not have a vocal theme, *ahem*\

 

I've still yet to see decisive evidence for the assumptive pessimism.

 

And it's quite a stretch to use a racing game yet, disregard the presence of vocal tracks and themes on Generations

[Lady Soniko]

The only 3 Crush 40 Sonic songs I can say I like are Live & Learn, Open your Heart & What I'm made of. Honestly the only reason they seem to stick out to me is because they were literally "Dreamcast/end of Dreamcast era" and I honestly associate cheesy "buttrock" with that time frame when Sonic was jumping into 3D to keep up with the big bad platforming kings. So I automatically group Crush 40 with typical and stereotypical cheesy American rock because that was literally the type of music to associate Sonic with at THAT time whilst Drummond was his "Radical cool dude" personification before SEGA dragged him through the hormone tree.

 

I can say now that a Crush 40 song still wouldn't garner hype from me if they were ever announced for Boom! Because of the music they produce simply not fitting the new age Sonic any more, I do like and miss me some rock tracks in the games though, even Nintendo have made more use of an electric guitar than anything SLW had to offer us.

[Tani Coyote]

Need we be reminded that ASRT isn't just a Sonic, but really a SEGA Allstars game, a game of the

Sega Superstars (series)

? ANd it's certainly not the first to not have a vocal theme, *ahem*\

I've still yet to see decisive evidence for the assumptive pessimism.

And it's quite a stretch to use a racing game yet, disregard the presence of vocal tracks and themes on Generations

Generations is a main title. It gets extra scrutiny.

The All Stars brand is a Sonic game at the end of the day. The non-Sonic SEGA brand is just there as a gift for fans. They could have easily made these Sonic only games and it would have sold just as well; SEGA's (homebrewed) non-Sonic brand is pretty much nonexistent now. To raise this in the context of the discussion, SEGA makes use of non-Sonic characters in those games as a gift to fans the same way Crush 40 is hired for concerts despite the fact they are likewise no longer relevant.

All Stars Racing being used is primarily to lend some extra support rather than anything else. Furthermore, All Stars Racing 1 established the precedent of a vocal theme being used in the All Stars brand. It is easier to never have something at all, then to have it and suddenly not. You feel deprived in the latter case. The same way vocal themes wouldn't be an issue had they never been used. For Sonic CD, for example, it was a one-time thing, so it didn't really matter. Then the Adventure era had them every single game, and so it became an expectation.

As for pessimism... need I remind you what franchise this is?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 

"Up and down and all around," anyone?

 

That's not a main theme. By using that tune, you contradict the notion that the vocal tunes used in Generations supposedly wouldn't count.

 

This pessimism seems rather unfounded.

The All Stars brand is a Sonic game at the end of the day.

And yet, three of the four games in said brand don't host a main vocal theme. Not like it's really tradition for even that sub-series now.

As for pessimism... need I remind you what franchise this is?

A franchise that's "up and  down and all around" with what it does, for better or for worse. Whether or not there'll be a vocal theme next game in Sonic Boom is a mystery box in and of itself, which can blindside those who ASSUME.

[MegasonicZX]

Dude I know that you know that he was only using the "up and down and all around" thing as an example of lyrical songs at a convention and he wasn't even trying to connect it to a main theme at all.

 

Also, Ogilvie I do understand the pessimisim but lets at least give it 2 more years at best since I will admit even I'm starting to lose a bit of hope for a new theme.

[jords]

I'm getting used to having no vocal theme, it's a shame because I liked a lot of vocal themes.

 

But it makes me wonder what kind of intro they will have in TV. They gotta have something right?