Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

[Cyrus]

A Sonic game's been announced and I have little to no interest. If someone told me from a few years ago that this will eventually happen, they'd most likely get slapped. If Sanzuru ditch the forced exploration from the last game and the run button, I might give the demo a try. Maybe.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Whoever's idea this was should be fired. Ice-ee no reason why they would do this.

[Celestia]

SEGA is Patrick Star. Patrick, despite seemingly being simply life-endangeringly stupid like SpongeBob, is really a sociopath who feigns stupidity so he can torture everyone he knows to death for the sake of it. See Mr. Enter's Top 10 Worst Patrick's a Prick episode to see why Patrick is a bigger Complete Monster than Mr. Krabs or Plankton. Like that, SEGA are a bigger Complete Monster than Activision or EA (though Konami and Zynga might be even worse), feigning idiocy so they can finish Sonic off.

Um...yeah, this is definitely taking things too far. Undoubtedly this was a strange decision on SEGA's part--assuming there aren't factors we just aren't aware of--but can we please not insult them in such a ridiculous fashion that doesn't help anyone? This isn't even venting, it's just...toxic.

[Tara]

Agreeing with that general notion and I'm going to kindly ask that all opinions be constructive and critical rather than piss shots and personal attacks.

[Nepenthe]

I agree that we can express our dissatisfaction without the environment becoming riddled with the kind of petty, immature toxicity that pervaded over the Boom forums the last time to the point that people requested a topic to express positive viewpoints without ridicule. Unless you can mail me an obituary listing where this game literally killed a beloved family member, then try not to act like it did.

EDIT: What Tara said. 8P

[Cradily Lover]

Well.... I don't think anyone expected this announcement.

 

...Hopefully it will least improve on Shattered Crystal? With no episodes of the show in production at present, maybe they were at least able to get the writers from the show to write the story this time.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

At the end of the day. The game will likely just be another in the long line of average to bad games that Sega stupidly made. It's their own fault when everyone criticizes them more because they're idiots.

[Dr. Detective]

This game is going to come and go. Nobody's really going to remember it in the long run whether its good or bad. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

This game is going to come and go. Nobody's really going to remember it in the long run whether its good or bad. 

[Gabz Girl]

Also, what about Knuckles? Him fixed?

 

 

Eesh, just noticed now how weird Knuckles' mouth looks. Reminds me of those Archie!Sonic mouths.

 

 

I did not know that was an edit lol. xD;;

Edited June 9, 2015 by Gabz Girl

[Crippled Espurr]

So... Amy Rose is now playable, there are more bosses, and the visuals and environments are more detailed and varied. This already seems like a huge improvement over Shattered Crystal. However, I'm worried about the following problems returning on this new game:

1. Being forced to collect badges in order to proceed. I understand they were trying to make the game longer, but that just comes off as tedious, really.
2. An unbelievably short main campaign and very limited replay value.
3. Poor rewards for 100%ing the game.
4. Automatic segments that drag for way too long
5. Repetitive-at-times level design and lack of unique gimmicks for each level.
6. Atrocious writing (please SEGA, you did good on getting rid of Big Red Button, so PLEASE get rid of Pontac & Graff already...).

Still, I don't get why someone thought it'd be good to make a sequel. I enjoyed Shattered Crystal, but nobody asked for another Boom game in the first place, not to mention both versions sold extremely poorly. I can already see this game selling even worse than SC. But they, let's be positive here, at least it's not a sequel of Rise of Lyric!

[Badnik Mechanic]

Eesh, just noticed now how weird Knuckles' mouth looks. Reminds me of those Archie!Sonic mouths.

 

 

 

That's because the poster of that image has photoshopped it.

[Soniman]

I seem to recall people saying that for the first Boom game... look how that turned out.

But it's just a 3DS game this time and not a console game so im sure the burn we got from Boom 1 wont  be as severe when this game gets a cold reception.

[Nepenthe]

To be fair, I don't think about the bad games all that much because my fandom isn't tied to only those specific experiences. When I watch the Boom show for example, I don't think about RoL. And considering the industry as a whole has other games and happenings to look forward to, I would be willing to stick my neck out and say the only reason the bad games are relevant still is because a vocal minority is obsessed with always trying to drill into people that the franchise is dead or has no redeeming qualities.

[Dejimon11]

Ok serious question I haven't played shattered crystals how is it and why is the reception meh?

[Doctor MK]

Well I never.

 

In the space of a week we've gone from having no new Sonic games at all for this year, and now we have two. One is a Mario & Sonic Olympics crossover, the other is a Boom game. And they're both Nintendo exclusive. Sound familiar...?

 

This is the absolute last possible thing I thought SEGA would do. The first two Boom games were shockingly bad and they sold like complete rubbish so this is a hugely surprising announcement to me, and not in a positive sense. But, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I saw the promo art, it looked pretty cool, I'll give it that. Fire and ice gimmick huh, that sounds like it could be interesting, add a new spin to the Sonic formula...

 

And then I watched the trailer. And it's literally just Shattered Crystal with Amy and some elemental powers.

 

Yuck.

 

I'm not even going to be cautiously optimistic for this one, because if it's anything like the way it looks right now, it's going to be mediocre at best and painfully monotonous at worst. The only saving grace is that it's a sequel to the slightly not quite so terrible version of Sonic Boom, so even if it does end up being insignificant, it'll at least only be a passing disappointment and not an outright trainwreck like Rise of Lyric.

 

I live in hope, but that hope is awfully slim.

 

Roll on 2016 and the inevitable 25th anniversary game. By jove, it better be something special after all this.

 

Merry Christmas, Sonic fans!

[Goldenlink64]

Sega is just pathetic. They don't know when to quit, they don't know when to stop being awful. Nobody asked for this. Literally, one of the worst video game companies I've ever witnessed.

 

...So which company is on the chopping block now? Is Big Red Button in charge of this trainwreck or did they find some other poor sap to be part of their awful development practices only to sabotage the entire company like with BRB?

[Dr. Detective]

I seem to recall people saying that for the first Boom game... look how that turned out.

 

No. I don't remember that at all with Rise of Lyric. I remember the entire internet blowing the hell up over it's heavy promotion and how different it was. It was shoved onto that high pedastol not only because of how different it was but because, for some reason, Sonic games that come out onto home consoles are remembered.

 

If you put your stuff out on a handheld console, people only ever bring it up if it's convenient for the specific conversation they're having at the time. The Advance, Rush, and Rivals games aren't considered for anything when people address the state of Sonic, whether it's good or bad. Your typical list from a forum goer down the line of Sonic games doesn't have Sonic Colors DS or Generations 3DS as one of their more memorable factors concerning Sonic's legacy.

 

The only smart move about this is the fact that it's on the 3DS. It's going to get forgotten and it's not anywhere near in the same position those first games were because we already suffered through the shock and awe of the first wave. Any passing interest in this is going to go the way of all those other minor titles and that'll be in.

 

Years from now, no one will give a shit. I'm willing to bet tangible money on it. People barely ever talk about Shattered Crystal unless it's relevant towards something, which is why it's being talked about now all of a sudden again.

[Tara]

Ok serious question I haven't played shattered crystals how is it and why is the reception meh?

The gameplay is extremely repetitive.  The game consists of only a few basic elements that are repeated over and over throughout the course of the game.  Not helped by the fact that you have to collect medals, which is both tedious and time consuming, to unlock stages and the fact that the controls are pretty bad but not the worst I've seen.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

My opinion on Shattered Crystal in a nutshell:

 

In my opinion, it's just so meh. The music is pretty generic, the story and writing is the absolute worst in the series to date (Especially if you're a Knuckles fan where he says such things like ''Amy thinks I'm a piece of meat and nothing else....WHICH IS AWESOME!''), the graphics are pretty bad for the 3DS. 

 

The gameplay is alright but there's a lot of backtracking, levels are locked off until you collect all things in levels and earn emblems and basically you can't blast through like you normally would in a Sonic game but rather you have to keep backtracking around the level, trying to find parts, and it can get annoying to the point it doesn't feel like Sonic gameplay in the slightest, and overall, it just isn't very good in my opinion. There is a demo on the 3DS EShop so you could try that if you want but personally, I'd say skip it.

[Tani Coyote]

I'm mostly concerned they went with Sanzaru again...

 

I really hope they at least gave the Sanzaru devs a lot of overtime pay to get them to work around the clock on this one. A year... isn't that much.

 

I mean, a year was enough to deliver some great PS2 games but I'm not sure if it would work for the 3DS, even with the lower quality graphics vs consoles.

 

Fingers crossed this doesn't suck.

 

BUT HEY, NOW I HAVE REASON TO ANTICIPATE SONIC BOOM 2015. VROOM VROOM EXCITE BIKE!

[Jason Berry]

Ok serious question I haven't played shattered crystals how is it and why is the reception meh?

 

http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/11/tss-review-sonic-boom-shattered-crystal-3/

 

Here's my review. Basically the demo showed well off in previews at different events because it focused on the platforming gameplay. However, the full game was much more about exploration and you couldn't progress in the game without finding certain items. It dragged what could have been a decent Sonic game down to a halt and made it boring and cumbersome.

 

I'm hopeful for this next one, but not excited. Make exploration and collectibles a SECONDARY goal while pumping up the "Sonic Rush" style of gameplay and you could have a fun Sonic game. There's a good Sonic engine there if done right.

 

Anyone else notice the box art shows no enerbeams on any of the characters?

[Dr. Detective]

Again, the only reason people are even talking about Shattered Crystal now is because it's relevant to the conversation about this game. But when this game comes out, it'll fall to the wayside as well.

 

People only ever take the home console games into heavy consideration. I don't know why that is but it's true. The handhelds all come off like an after-thought. 

[Failinhearts]

Last time I checked this thread, we had 3 pages. Look at it now.

The controversy is real.

[Kuzu]

Again, the only reason people are even talking about Shattered Crystal now is because it's relevant to the conversation about this game. But when this game comes out, it'll fall to the wayside as well.

 

People only ever take the home console games into heavy consideration. I don't know why that is but it's true. The handhelds all come off like an after-thought. 

 

In this case, Rise of Lyric was so broken that it sort of became infamous because of it. Shattered Crystal is nowhere near as bad, but its not really good either so its kinda boring and underwhelming as a result.