Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[Tani Coyote]

If this game does well, I'm hopeful they'll make the designs permanent and integrate them into the main titles.

They can always make some tweaks here or there, like they've done for the past 15 years while keeping the overall Modern design. Those legs definitely need some work... if nothing else, make it so their legs curve rather than actually bend; abuse toon physics!

How? I'm seriously thinking that I've missed something here.

Besides looking good overall, the fact they gave the dev work to an ex-Sony team shows a lot of promise. I can't remember the last time I was genuinely this excited for a Sonic game.

 

Sonic Chronicles, and the rivals series.

I mean in terms of main console games. Sonic Team is always hit or miss, whereas Sony or Sony-related teams have fairly consistent quality.

All SEGA needs to do now is abolish Sonic Team and let Insomniac make the console Sonics from now on, and I'll be one happy Oggy indeed.

[SuperLink]

Calming down about it, quite simply, my problem with Sonic Team is this:

 

After Unleashed, Colours and Generations, things were looking up. I actually started to feel like I could trust them with Sonic. Lol nope. Lost World proved I still couldn't, in many ways. And quite frankly, that game broke my heart. I've stuck up for 3D Sonic for so long, and waited so long for him to be well and truly a respected series again. I'm fed up.

 

I'm fed up of Sonic hype being a "WILL IT BE GOOD OR WILL IT BE TERRIBLE!?" affair. I'm fed up of getting so excited over nothing, of being cynical in order to keep my own hopes in check. No other game franchise has to put up with this.

 

Why can't Sonic just have a "man I can't wait for this really good game to come out!" kind of hype like so many other developers and franchises deliver without fail? Why can't we be confident that we will get a good game every time like other developers can accomplish? Why is it that Sonic fans have to put up with this?

 

That's why I hate Sonic Team. Because the character and franchise who means so much to me deserves so much more than this. Sonic deserves to have hype that doesn't almost completely revolve around whether it'll be good or shit. Sonic deserves to have games that are always good without worrying.

 

This isn't about what Sonic Team are or aren't doing. There are fucking amazing games that are simple with no story. There are fucking amazing games that are complex with a complex story. Only with Sonic Team do you have to worry if it'll be good or not regardless of all those factors. All the "what if Sonic Team did this" in the world doesn't detract from the fact that we still have to worry if it'll actually be good or not.

 

And that, my friends, is why I hate Sonic Team right now. It's not a matter of "they just didn't try with SLW!". It's the fact that they allowed SLW to happen at all when that kind of "not trying" doesn't really happen with most of today's successful developers. Fed up of telling myself to not be excited, fed up of disappointment. Being a fan of other games is so much more fulfilling. I was so fucking stoked for Lost World after Colours and Generations. I thought it was finally "safe" to be excited for Sonic games again without worrying. Why does being "safe to be excited" even have to be a problem in the first place? :/

 

(Sonic Boom has nothing to do with this btw, that's just how I feel about Sonic Team.)

[Mauro Fonseca]

Christ no. If this branch is successful, which for all my anger I hope it is, but if it's that absurdely successful, I rather they kill off SEGASonic than try to blend Boom in as far as aesthetics go.

[MegasonicZX]

@superlink SLW wasn't really even bad by any means though, its just not what a majority of the fanbase wanted (and no im not saying its perfect either) honestly, its literally just one game and unless its the superman 64 of this series or something then it doesn't instantly mean that sonic team is automatically going to suck now.

[azoo]

The sad part is, I understand where the likes of Azoo and Nepenthe are coming from, I'd be frustrated too if something I liked wasn't going a direction I preferred, meanwhile something else is off to a decent start doing what should done. But while I do understand and sympathize, I can't bring myself to agree.

 

 

 

The one thing I have wanted out of Sonic for a long time, not for the plot to be better, or characters, that's just the icing on the cake, but for developers who probably can communicate with the fanbase; do you realize what having a Western developer means, it means our voices might actually be fucking heard for a change, as in, if Sonic Boom doesn't do as good as we hope, that means that there will be some way to contact the developers and have them address the problems in the sequels, leading to....better games, but without too much change and  FUCKING CONSISTENCY. 

 

 

Forget playable characters, forget plot, forget slops and shit; this is my ultimate beef with the series, the lack of consistency and any attempt at being so. If Boom manages to be consistent and actually continuously improve, then I can't really bring myself to be sad about this.

 

And I seriously cannot give a single shit about something staying consistent if I don't like a single bit of it! :v

 

I support consistency too, you know. I want Sonic to consistently feel like it always has and not like something else! To take good ideas and roll with them, but expand beyond that! This may be a spinoff, but I also see this whole thing as reinventing the wheel like everything else the series does every 3 or 4 games, but this time to a larger extent than anything else. 

 

Sorry I cant be happy for the people getting what they want with Boom. Boom isn't not what I'm here for, and going by what we're seeing (Enerbeams? seriously?) it's not going to even remotely be.

 

 

And that, my friends, is why I hate Sonic Team right now. It's not a matter of "they just didn't try with SLW!". It's the fact that they allowed SLW to happen at all when that kind of "not trying" doesn't really happen with most of today's successful developers. Fed up of telling myself to not be excited, fed up of disappointment. Being a fan of other games is so much more fulfilling. I was so fucking stoked for Lost World after Colours and Generations. I thought it was finally "safe" to be excited for Sonic games again without worrying. Why does being "safe to be excited" even have to be a problem in the first place? :/

 

And of course I agree with you, SuperLink. I'm way past fed up (hue) with it, too.

 

But I'm also not willing to accept this either because it looks like it's Sonic in name and aesthetic only, and its barely even that. Sure, it'll be looking forward to a good game, but will it be a good Sonic game?

 

Ech.

 

Its this reason alone why I don't like this game and what it is, or what it could bring. Its like there's no winning here until Sonic Team actually delivers.

[Tani Coyote]

I dunno, SuperLink. I'd say your post has PLENTY to do with Sonic Boom. The fact this game isn't made by Sonic Team (or Dimps if one wants to get nitpicky about that) is already a great start. That it's folks who've worked on acclaimed titles in the past gives me great hope.

Honestly if this does well I want Sonic to be permanently in the hands of third party developers. SEGA's tried to make stuff in-house for too long and it doesn't work. Give it to people who actually know how to make good games rather than play roulette.

 

Christ no. If this branch is successful, which for all my anger I hope it is, but if it's that absurdely successful, I rather they kill off SEGASonic than try to blend Boom in as far as aesthetics go.

That's what I meant.

[Chooch]

Speaking as a huge Eggman fan? Sorry, Chooch, but I just can't level with that jazz.

Besides my big hangup with the whole "addition by subtraction" nonsense that we've been suffering from for the past few years, having only one character as the antagonist would get hella boring, hella FAST. I mean, really, even SpongeBob Squarepants had multiple antagonists for its (light) conflicts. Instead of just lazily tossing them to the wayside, I'd rather have the Deadly Six developed so that they're NOT "cringeworthy and lame" as you claim they are.

Having just Eggman and only Eggman for a couple of games would actually be a massive change of pace (pun intended). And if you develop the Deadly Six so that they aren't cringe worthy and lame then they aren't the Deadly Six anymore. XP

 

They're mostly confined to the Lost Hex anyway so they're pretty much forced into the position of being one shot characters. Do we really want to go to the blocky ass Lost Hex that is randomly inhabited by Wisps again? I don't fucking want to, honestly. I'm not sure how tossing the Deadly Six aside is lazy when they're already the epitome of laziness in the first place given their extreme lack of dimension.

 

Having only one character as the antagonist is only really boring if you make it boring. If you really insist on having different antagonists or secondary ones, I'd advocate reusing characters that predate the Deadly Six and making them temporary antagonists before the Deadly Six just off of the basis that they're far more interesting.

 

I'm always one for seeing the latent potential in characters but even I can't really see what the Deadly Six bring to the table that countless other characters can't. Other characters can just naturally do what they do better even. I really think they're crap and I don't wanna ever see them again.

[SuperLink]

@superlink SLW wasn't really even bad by any means though, its just not what a majority of the fanbase wanted (and no im not saying its perfect either) honestly, its literally just one game and unless its the superman 64 of this series or something then it doesn't instantly mean that sonic team is automatically going to suck now.

If Sonic Team was as talented as Nintendo or Mediamolecule or tons of other devs, SLW would be objectively enjoyed by far more people regardless of its changes. It's not just disliked because it's Sonic, it's disliked because objectively it's a mess of game design with good ideas in it. People don't hate change, people hate badly executed change. SLW wasn't terrible, but it sure as hell isn't as good as Sonic deserves. 

 

It's not that "Sonic Team suddenly suck", it's that for the last 20 years Sonic Team have been "WILL IT BE GOOD OR WON'T IT" and that clearly hasn't changed when what Sonic really deserves is the confidence that every release will be good.

 

 

And of course I agree with you, SuperLink. I'm way past fed up (hue) with it, too.

 

But I'm also not willing to accept this either because it looks like it's Sonic in name and aesthetic only, and its barely even that. Sure, it'll be looking forward to a good game, but will it be a good Sonic game? Ech. Its this reason alone why I don't like this game and what it is, or what it could bring.

Don't worry mang I wasn't talking about Boom, just Sonic Team in general. I don't have the most faith in Boom either, I just like some of the ideas and directions they're taking with it and appreciate SEGA's idea to give outsourcing a try.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 

And if you develop the Deadly Six so that they aren't cringe worthy and lame then they aren't the Deadly Six anymore. XP

 

 

Not in the slightest. If that were true, the same could be said for Silver back when all he had was 06 on his resume.

[Chooch]

That comment was totally not facetious and meant to be taken 100% seriously.

 

For real tho', even Silver has more potential as a recurring character than these Zetis or whatever the fuck they're called. I'm still totally for him being a time cop and kind of randomly appearing in the past when the future gets fucked up every few games or so.

 

"I am from the future" or "I am from an alternate dimension" actually give more freedom to a writer than "I am from the Lost Hex."

[Marcello]

Having just Eggman and only Eggman for a couple of games would actually be a massive change of pace (pun intended). And if you develop the Deadly Six so that they aren't cringe worthy and lame then they aren't the Deadly Six anymore. XP

In Colors and Generations he was the only villain. Which is two. Which is a couple =P

 

Not in the slightest. If that were true, the same could be said for Silver back when all he had was 06 on his resume.

Nothing has changed there, though. =P

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

That comment was totally not facetious and meant to be taken 100% seriously.

XD! BUT of course.

[Komodin]

Eh, fair enough, Chooch. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this matter - I just really think the Deadly Six deserves a chance, is all.

[Mauro Fonseca]

That's what I meant.

The difference being I said it with a feeling of utter despair, you say it gleefully looking forward to it.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

One of the main reasons I want Fang back (or for the Deadly Six to be better developed) is because as good a villain as Eggman is, having only one villain can get boring, and that isn't because Eggman's bad, it's because we don't want to ruin one of the strongest characters the series has by overplaying them.

 

Other villains with other kinds of motives could really shake things up, especially if they're well done.

I can agree with this, ought to be interesting to see who shows up other villian wise in boom, especialy since they plan to bring in more anthros, we might get more than just monsters of the week, recurring secondary villians are likely(I still hope for Nack of course!)

 

 

And how in the stinking world am I out of likes already

[MegasonicZX]

If Sonic Team was as talented as Nintendo or Mediamolecule or tons of other devs, SLW would be objectively enjoyed by far more people regardless of its changes. It's not just disliked because it's Sonic, it's disliked because objectively it's a mess of game design with good ideas in it. People don't hate change, people hate badly executed change. SLW wasn't terrible, but it sure as hell isn't as good as Sonic deserves. 

 

 

I guess, I just like to give sonic team the benefit of a doubt on this one mostly since I have been for the most part enjoying what they've been putting out and its not like I wouldn't mind sonic being handled by somebody else but I see good things coming out of ST in the next few years, call it blind faith if you will but I do have hope for them.

[Tani Coyote]

The difference being I said it with a feeling of utter despair, you say it gleefully looking forward to it.

Well of course. I'm liking the look of this new branch as is, and from a corporate perspective I think it'd be a great move to expand the brand (never mind I'm very often a SEGA shareholder)... overall I don't see anything wrong with such a move.

At least, on a personal level. There will of course be fans who wouldn't approve of the move, but that's going to happen no matter what direction Sonic goes in. Division is this fanbase's forte. I'm sure when Adventure changed everything around there was lots of disagreement, but now Adventure (and its sequel, as loathe as folks can be to admit it) is highly praised.

Change can be good or bad. No matter which one it is, people tend to not like it at first.

[Mauro Fonseca]

I know, just saying, feels a bit facetious to go "yeah I agree" when the meaning and emotion is clearly different between the two statements

[Chooch]

In Colors and Generations he was the only villain. Which is two. Which is a couple =P

You're 100% right by technicality, but Generations is such a laughably awkward example for obvious reasons. You don't really get the idea that he's the real big bad until the very end and it's presented in a very lazy and haphazard way that it just doesn't sit right with me.

 

I dunno I'm just sick of Eggman always attempting to control some all powerful mystical being. Why can't he just make all powerful robots and shit to fight with? Back in the day all he needed to do was make a Metal Sonic.

 

Fucking hell, now that I think about it.. That didn't last either because even Metal Sonic decided to turn on his master in Sonic Heroes. How many times is Sonic Team going to use this same stupid "twist?" The "twist" has been used so fucking much it's not even a goddamn twist anymore. Playing everything straight and narrow from beginning to end would actually be mind blowing.

[Kiah]

Okay, now that I have gotten some sleep and let my thoughts and opinions settle, I would like to give my take on Sonic Boom-the video game, anyway. Seriously, my head was spinning in reference to all the news and reveals that we received yesterday.

I find it odd, yet interesting to see that this game won't be produced by Sonic Team. Yet at the same time I commend SEGA for allowing a different game developer to take a crack at Sonic in hopes of improving his games' quality. Even though Sonic Team really hasn't proved it otherwise with recent games, I honestly feel that they are capable of making an outstanding Sonic game if they tidy up a few things and really apply themselves with effort and dedication as they currently have somethings right and stellar even such as the music and art design. In the meantime, I am curious to see what product and experience Big Red Button brings to the table.

I am with those that feel like Sonic Boom doesn't really look like Sonic. Sure the clip showed Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy with their various abilities, but aside from that it didn't look like or feel like a Sonic game IMO. I know it was just under a minute of footage, but the fact that it lacked Sonic staples aside from the rings concerns me. Don't get me wrong as I found the visuals to be very nice and detailed, but it doesn't look "Sonic-y" to me. Guess I am too used to the bright colors and creativity among the levels with the staples mixed in there, even if they lack coherence.

I do admit that I am excited about additional playable characters and the variety among them. Having playable characters in Sonic games has been on my wishlist for a long time, as well has having an actual plot and decent story, which Sonic Boom looks like that it has the potential to come through on both accounts. I can't wait to see the character interaction among Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles as such has seriously been lacking in Sonic games.

I'm honestly not fond of Sonic Boom being a sub-series, although I am glad and relieved that it isn't part of the main series. I just see this as another means of further dividing the fanbase with this currently happening due to the other continuities that already exist. But speaking strictly of the games, I don't like the idea of having 2 entirely separate canons with various directions in gameplay, art style and character designs just seems to be so unnecessary to me. Even amid the issues, I don't see why SEGA won't stick to one canon as opposed to introducing a second one to complicate matters, even if the second one is considered to be a "spin-off" or sub-series. Not to mention the potential it has to cause confusion. I'd rather see Sonic games be improved by Sonic Team as opposed to seeing the issues being addressed by someone else, and somewhere else like what is happening now.

All that said, I am going to blow off Sonic Boom and not give it a chance? No, I'm not. As "un-Sonic-y" and different as this game looks to me in some ways so far I'm still interested and intrigued with what Sonic Boom has to offer aside from those hideous character designs (Amy, Tails and Dr. Eggman look fine; it's Sonic and Knuckles' looks that ruin everything for me). As long as Sonic Boom doesn't imitate the likes of Shadow, '06 (excluding playable characters and the music of course!), or Chronicles in any way, shape or form, I am willing to give any and all new Sonic games a chance, and Sonic Boom is no exception to that.

I'm hoping for Sonic Boom to be a fun experience with an actual plot, non-questionable controls, and good characterization among the main cast. I'm looking forward to seeing Dr. Eggman and I hope Orbot and Cubot show up in the game as well. Even though I want Sonic Boom to do well, I cannot lie though when I say I am actually looking forward to the next game in the main series, even more so now after this as I am not really feeling it or excited for Sonic Boom at this point, to be honest.

[Soniman]

I just want to add that I really like the D6 and would love to see them again..

[Tani Coyote]

I've always wondered this. What do folks mean when they say something doesn't look or feel like a Sonic game?

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm serious; the games change so often I don't think there really is such thing as "feeling" like a Sonic game apart from some supposed representation of speed. Beyond that it's only the characters themselves that really seem to tie the games together.

[Briraka]

The only thing I would like to see change about the art direction is that they put some sort of checker patterns in the dirt. I don't really dig the Adventure 1/Unleashed take on the environments.

[Kuzu]

And I seriously cannot give a single shit about something staying consistent if I don't like a single bit of it! :v

 

I support consistency too, you know. I want Sonic to consistently feel like it always has and not like something else! To take good ideas and roll with them, but expand beyond that! This may be a spinoff, but I also see this whole thing as reinventing the wheel like everything else the series does every 3 or 4 games, but this time to a larger extent than anything else. 

 

Sorry I cant be happy for the people getting what they want with Boom. Boom isn't not what I'm here for, and going by what we're seeing (Enerbeams? seriously?) it's not going to even remotely be.

 

 

And that's why I said I understand where you're coming from, Boom doesn't appeal to you as a Sonic fan, and Sonic Team aren't doing what you want for a Sonic game.

 

For me, its like what Oglive is saying below; Sonic has changed so much through the years, its hard to cling to a single idea on what he should and can be, which is why I'm more accepting of Boom; Yea, its changing the wheel like you said, but on that note, then its not really different than what's been taking place for the past decade, the change is larger this time, and I'm not the type to shun something just because its different from what I know or want.

 

Its how I am.

 

I've always wondered this. What do folks mean when they say something doesn't look or feel like a Sonic game?

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm serious; the games change so often I don't think there really is such thing as "feeling" like a Sonic game apart from some supposed representation to speed. Beyond that it's only the characters themselves that really seem to tie the games together.

 

 

I think when people say something "doesn't look like Sonic" its more along the lines of "This doesn't look like what I want out of Sonic", because Sonic has been so many fucking things that I barely even have a grasp of what the series anymore beyond vague things like Speed, Platforming, and other aesthetics.

 

But yea, the only thing really tying the series together are those vague concepts soooo.

[Mauro Fonseca]

I've always wondered this. What do folks mean when they say something doesn't look or feel like a Sonic game?

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm serious; the games change so often I don't think there really is such thing as "feeling" like a Sonic game apart from some supposed representation to speed. Beyond that it's only the characters themselves that really seem to tie the games together.

I'm not liking what this game is doing to me, my first response mentally to this was a rude snappy answer

We've had this discussion on SSMB before, actually. How Sonic is actually very coherent in terms of visual design, mostly having three branches of which the most different is the "realist" one. For the majority of games though, you can clearly tell a Sonic level. Colourful, full of slopes and rings, clever use of geometric shapes and patterns, etc.

This is nothing like it. This has much more subdued colours, with both levels and enemies being on the more Crash Bandicoot-Jak-Ratchet line of being more like something out of a Chuck Jones cartoon made 3D.

I'm at work so I can't give more text right now, but honestly at this point I'm a bit despaired I need to explain it at all. I can understand liking the new direction, but the fact people apparently can't see how soringly different it is is befuddling me.