Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Frustrating indeed. Optimism can only take moi so far. Hopefully some fears will be tenderized at the very least, at E3 tomorrow.

[LovieHats]

Better res:

 

 

 

 

And a few more hax'd images...

 

 

Best I could do.

what is Lyric holding? some ancient ball thing? 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Obviously it's the morph ball. Sonic Boom has been a crossover with Metroid this whole time.

[Tani Coyote]

We all know how SEGA has a tendency to drop something, pick it back up and hide it, deny it ever existed, and then reveal it within a day or two.

I anticipate that trailer could very well be for Nintendo's conference tomorrow.

Let's hope!

I'm just looking forward to playing it tomorrow myself.

[Blue Blood]

Well, if not in the Nintendo conference then anytime tomorrow really. It's E3, and obviously the E3 trailer.

[Tani Coyote]

I just hope they really wow us with whatever they unveil in the next few days. If there's really an explosion of news as planned...

[Blue Blood]

I just hope they really wow us with whatever they unveil in the next few days. If there's really an explosion of news as planned...

If I see another trailer that looks brilliant, I'll be calling shenanigans cause the game has already fooled me once with the awesome initial trailer. Raw gameplay footage and impressions are what've got to convince me now.

[Kuzu]

If I see another trailer that looks brilliant, I'll be calling shenanigans cause the game has already fooled me once with the awesome initial trailer. Raw gameplay footage and impressions are what've got to convince me now.

 

But we just got that a few days ago, hueHuehue :V

[Tani Coyote]

We're probably going to be waiting for a few more months before we get a game that both looks and plays good for the average person's tastes, unfortunately.

I do find it obscene that Knuckles takes 6 hits to beat an enemy, though. He's supposed to be the strong one.

I'm hopeful that's only if you fight with your fists and don't use more advanced techniques or equipment.

[TheLaw34]

Well Like ive said to me it will never problem of how much it takes to kill an enemy.

Its a matter of you not enjoying every hit.

in a good fighitng game it could take 50 hits before you bring down an enemy but every hit feels important, fun to watch,Satisfying to hear every hit makes you still have to concentrate to not get killed.

This doesnt do that.

It not about having to hit any enemy 6 time its that all you do is press a button 6 times and gain nothing from it.

[Hero of Legend]

[Kuzu]

yay.....a bigger screenshot...woot.

[JaidynReiman]

I'm still mixed. I don't hate it, but it looks kinda "meh" to me. Even then it definitely doesn't look like it fits well in the Sonic series as a whole. It might still turn out good, though, so I'm going to give Stephen Frost the benefit of the doubt for now. I don't think it looks like "shit" like others are saying, but it does look mediocre.

[Sega DogTagz]

I'm hopeful that's only if you fight with your fists and don't use more advanced techniques or equipment.

 

I guessing that's the case. In that same batch of footage, we can see Sonic bust out some much more powerful attacks at the end of combo tree's that would obviously pack more of a punch.

 

Thats also probably the most basic way of forcing the gamer to utilize a more dynamic and varied fighting style, unlike Unleashed, where mashing the attack button yielded the same results as learning the combo tree, Boom may well be down the path of discouraging simply hammering the attack button.

[Blue Blood]

But we just got that a few days ago, hueHuehue :V

I know you're joking, but that's actually what I'm saying. The initial trailer looked great, but the recent footage and previews have given a very different impression. More footage that actually looks good and some positive previews are what are going to change my mind.

[Autosaver]

Obviously it's the morph ball. Sonic Boom has been a crossover with Metroid this whole time.

But can Sonic crawl?

[Metal the Mario]

Practically all day I was trying to figure out who Lyric's face reminded me of, and then I finally remembered:

 

 

Now I'm hoping he challenges Sonic to a race at some point in the game

[Salamander]

Not liking a game is fine.  Constructive criticism is fine.  But I feel like I've read one too many comments that someone wouldn't say to Stephen Frost's face if he were physically in the room with them.

 

Better res:

 

 

 

 

And a few more hax'd images...

 

 

Best I could do.

 

The middle image looks like it could be the same orb McGuffin Lyric is holding in the big shot.  I want to say that I can see Tails's tails in the middle left of the bottom image.  In the highest-res version of the Lyric screen, you can also see a red-coloured enemy, I think, reflected in the bottom-right of Lyric's visor - yeah, he has a visor in this scene, or rather, some kind of glass globe around his face.

 

 

[Mauro Fonseca]

I've read one too many comments that someone wouldn't say to Stephen Frost's face if he were physically in the room with them.

...fuck's sake.

Yes, you're probably right. Thank god then that this isn't Stephen Frost's email, or personal forum, but a general forum for Sonic fans, a space for the fans, in which a developer chose to walk in. I'm not changing my usual behaviour for that and refuse to be shamed by it. These are not the Frost Message Boards, he's just another member.

[Willsy]

Okay, I think we should change the subject back to the game now. We wouldn't want to be too busy arguing while news is released about the game now, would we?

....Chances are we'll all end up arguing over the news anyway. Oh well...

But yeah, where do you guys think we'll see Boom first, at SEGA's booth or at Nintendo's presentation?

[JezMM]

Took a while to catch up, this topic really moved ahead.

 

 

Regarding the footage... yeah remaining very "middle of the road" about my optimism for the gameplay.

 

The dialogue was fine, but all the humour lines like "Rings omnomnomnomnom" I expect to never hear again during a playthrough.  Even if it only appears on that level, it should be a random chance of playing, I hope.  Otherwise yeah... this dialogue is gonna get annoying.

 

 

 

But the music is definitely the biggest disappointment for me.  It's exactly what I feared, generic "serious cartoon" orchestra-but-with-no-oomph stuff.  And the constant music fading so someone can talk is super annoying, especially when it happens for really tiny lines.  Completely breaks the reality of the game world for me, and is kind of developer language for "we consider the music less important than these other elements" when building a game world the player can buy into means every element is as important as each other.

 

 

The only tune I liked the sound of was when Sonic and Amy were being chased by the guardian boss thinger, since that had some rock going on.  The music in the speed gameplay is... forgiveable, it suits the jungle aesthetic - but I certainly hope more technological areas later on bring in modern elements.

 

The mine music is godawful though.  Not only is it completely unSonicy, it doesn't even suit what's going on.  It's so quiet and sinister but that doesn't suit all the combat happening at all.

 

 

I know we're supposed to be embracing a new identity for Sonic but "generic action cartoon music" is not a new identity.  It's the same identity as every other "serious" kids platformer on the market.

 

The other day I was thinking how "Sonic Boom being a western release only means we probably won't get an OST, booo..." but if this music is final, and representative of the game's music on the whole... no major loss.

Also what's happened to Sonic's speed? During the chase sequence, Amy looks like she's actually running faster than Sonic? Because her legs are moving faster than Sonic, it looks wrong, it looks like the sequence is artificial and that you're not really in control, it just looks so slow, and please don't say 'oh well Amy isn't that fast,' it's a videogame, we're allowed to take some liberties, but just compare that segment to Sonic Heroes, it just looks so slow.

 

This was ages back but just wanted to respond.  Sonic takes long strides and is clearly not running at his full potential to make sure Amy can keep up.  Amy meanwhile is pumping those guns like no tomorrow just to keep up with Sonic at half-speed.  They're both running the same speed, but Sonic does it with no effort while Amy must work her arse off.  That's why Amy's running animation is faster than Sonic's.

 

Having said this, I hope that animation isn't final because it looks really jerky and awkward.

[KingIgort]

Sonic takes long strides and is clearly not running at his full potential to make sure Amy can keep up.  Amy meanwhile is pumping those guns like no tomorrow just to keep up with Sonic at half-speed.  They're both running the same speed, but Sonic does it with no effort while Amy must work her arse off.  That's why Amy's running animation is faster than Sonic's.

 

I just went back and watched the footage and this is bang on target. It's a real nice detail too. Also really fits Sonic's cocky attitude that, while being chased by a giant death machine, he's not even gonna give it his all while running away.

[Kuzu]

I just went back and watched the footage and this is bang on target. It's a real nice detail too. Also really fits Sonic's cocky attitude that, while being chased by a giant death machine, he's not even gonna give it his all while running away.

 

Or not be a dick and leave Amy to die.

[Willsy]

Sonic could just pick up Amy and run like hell. But maybe Sonic is so mentally young that he thinks cooties are real?

[Enesephus]

Sonic could just pick up Amy and run like hell. But maybe Sonic is so mentally young that he thinks cooties are real?

Maybe he'd rather give her the chance to outrun the robot herself, but is still keeping with her because he's not a jerk. Amy's an adventurer like himself, Sonic doesn't need to carry her just because a giant killer robot is chasing them. Plus, Amy's about as big as he is, so I imagine he wouldn't want to carry her unless he absolutely had to.